Design Simply http://designsimply.com Simplicity in design, photography & code. Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:12:51 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Prescription for High Performance http://designsimply.com/2010/06/21/prescription-for-high-performance/ http://designsimply.com/2010/06/21/prescription-for-high-performance/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:34:32 +0000 Sheri Bigelow http://designsimply.com/?p=408 Is talent immaterial compared to disciplined work? Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrrated suggests as much. Colvin prescribes that deliberate, difficult, challenging practice is what leads to extraordinary performance. This book affected how I think about parenting and very much influenced my daily routine.

Here are a few of the most interesting ideas and quotes I found in the book:

  • Focus relentlessly on performance.
  • Be intensely specific.
  • “Practice activities are worthless without useful feedback about the results.”
  • “Trust is the most fundamental element of a winning team.”
  • “While it has often been observed that those who work the hardest seem to be the luckiest, the fact remains that if a bridge collapses while you’re driving over it, nothing else matters.”
  • “Above all, what the evidence shouts most loudly is striking, liberating news: that great performance is not reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone.”

The stories about memory research reminded me of one of my favorite Morning Edition commentaries: Speed Rules in Match Class. Math freaks… awesome.

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These are tiny details from my back yard. The red trillium shot is my favorite in the set, and capturing the bumble bee was a lucky break.

]]> http://designsimply.com/2010/05/30/tiny-details/feed/ 0 WordPress Engineering Populace http://designsimply.com/2010/05/15/wordpress-engineering-populace/ http://designsimply.com/2010/05/15/wordpress-engineering-populace/#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 14:50:14 +0000 Sheri Bigelow http://designsimply.com/?p=270 Here are just a few shots of the amazing people that make WordPress work—taken the week after WordCamp San Francisco 2010. Hat tip to Matt for inspiring me to pick up a dSLR again and for lending me a totally completely awesome D3S.
:) Who me? Say what? Chillin' Talking tech Smile even bigger! Fixing servers no doubt The beard, it's awesome Surprise! Study #1 Study #2 Netbook goodness Concentration and focus Portrait at Sparky's Author extraordinaire Elusive Photo war! Happy bunny Geniusifying Contemplating existence Hanging out on a break Chillin' at the after party Fisherman's Wharf Dinner at Scoma's Troublemakers Spray paint art Pier 39 at twilight What to do? 5-hour Energy Discussing code no doubt Gorgeous You are the HTML to my CSS Balloons portrait Talking shop no doubt Core WordPress Developers Core dev Core dev Core dev Good discussions White boards ftw WordPressifying Fixing bugs? You *can* get serious work done from a bean bag Too cute Red's Java House Automattic Lounge Updates Fork You Now... look serious Now... look... not serious Have the chairs shrunk?! Look!, it's a picture where you're not making a face Hi there Happy I like the boots Great smile Always has a good story Nice smile Pensive Working late Working Late Pier 38 Esperpento paella Mel's Diner Good morning Great picture Working at Pier 38 Working at Pier 38 Do I always smile that big? What? This laptop needs more stickers? Sunshine and shades Best food picture Looks serious All smiles Really great smile Working at Pier 38 Breakfast Breakfast Bay Bridge Mimosa close-up Crepes at Ti Couz Nutella crepe Lightbulb Ritual Roasters Working at Ritual Roasters Salvadoran cuisine Regia Extra Smile and strike a pose Good times Oh hai Sigh An example of a "good" influence Lifestyle Happiness Candlelight becomes you Cute Music at The Independent Musee Mecanique detail Vitalizer Skee Ball! The get away Very nice looking WordPress gear Great smile Nice hoodie! Sporting a WP hoodie and a great smile Sketches at Eddie Rickenbacker's Photo session at the pier Howdy Chillin' Hanging out at Eddie Rickenbacker’s Lighting at RN74 Chillin' at Eddie Rickenbacker’s Reluctant and not-so-reluctant photo subjects SF city lights, as viewed from an elevator Ozumo Sushi Boring picture of saké No words. Movie Night at Dolores Park The Snuggie RN74 Dessert Chai tea Best waffles I've ever had I love artwork like this

]]> http://designsimply.com/2010/05/15/wordpress-engineering-populace/feed/ 0 WordCamp NYC http://designsimply.com/2009/10/21/wordcamp-nyc/ http://designsimply.com/2009/10/21/wordcamp-nyc/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:34:15 +0000 Sheri Bigelow http://designsimply.com/?p=218 WordCampNYC – Nov 14-15I’ll be helping out with WordCamp NYC on November 14-15, 2009 this year. The venue is Baruch College, CUNY, and it’s shaping up to be a really nice WordCamp. Lots of Automatticians will be in attendance. The tracks, announcements, demos and Q&A all look really interesting. I live in NY but I’ve never been to NYC, so this should be good fun.

Follow wordcampnyc on Twitter to get the latest news. Tickets for WordCamp NYC are on sale now.

Also, we’re currently looking for volunteers, speakers, and sponsors. If WordPress helps you do your job, forms part of your business, or just plain makes you super happy every day, please consider becoming an individual ($250) or consultant ($500) sponsor. These tickets will get you full pass access and goodies, plus a little publicity and public thanks.

]]> http://designsimply.com/2009/10/21/wordcamp-nyc/feed/ 3 WordPress 2.8 is Cool, Smooth, and Simple http://designsimply.com/2009/06/11/wordpress-28-is-cool-smooth-and-simple/ http://designsimply.com/2009/06/11/wordpress-28-is-cool-smooth-and-simple/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:46:25 +0000 Sheri Bigelow http://designsimply.com/?p=192 The WordPress 2.8 Release is cool, smooth, and simple as Michael says in the latest video announcement. I like that. My favorite new features are the theme search and install that pulls directly from the WordPress.org Theme Directory (amazing!) and the new syntax highlighting that let’s you “navigate your way behind the code behind the poetry.” I’m so looking forward to the improved media handling coming up in the next releases. test

]]> http://designsimply.com/2009/06/11/wordpress-28-is-cool-smooth-and-simple/feed/ 4 WordPress 2.7 is Faster, More Customizable, and Prettier http://designsimply.com/2008/12/12/wordpress-27-faster-customizable-prettier/ http://designsimply.com/2008/12/12/wordpress-27-faster-customizable-prettier/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:06:55 +0000 Sheri Bigelow http://designsimply.com/?p=172 Goodbye, old. Hello World! WordPress 2.7 “Coltrane” is here. It’s faster, more customizable, and prettier. The hardest part about upgrading to WordPress 2.7 for me was making the backups beforehand.

Michael Picks‘ introduction video begins, “this Winter, a tale of heartwarming usability, breathtaking beauty, and thrilling flexibility…”

A completely amazing amount of user testing and community involvement went into this release. Everyone that participated has done a truly superb job. This is a brilliant way of developing software.

]]> http://designsimply.com/2008/12/12/wordpress-27-faster-customizable-prettier/feed/ 6 WordCamp Utah 2008 is a MUST Attend Event for Bloggers http://designsimply.com/2008/09/24/wordcamp-utah-2008-is-a-must-attend-event-for-bloggers/ http://designsimply.com/2008/09/24/wordcamp-utah-2008-is-a-must-attend-event-for-bloggers/#comments Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:42:35 +0000 Sheri Bigelow http://designsimply.com/?p=167 What is WordCamp you ask? It’s a conference of sorts where bloggers of varying levels get together to talk about all things WordPress such as blogging, web design, code, publishing on the web… what it means and where it’s going. WordCamp Utah 2008 has a seriously amazing line-up of speakers including Matt Mullenweg, Richard Miller, Cameron Moll, Thom Allen, Ash Buckles and Alex King. If you are interested in blogging or are a local web designer, and you will be in Salt Lake City on September 27th, then you MUST not miss WordCamp! 

WordCamp Utah 2008

Saturday 27 September 2008
Novell (1800 Novell Place) in Provo, Utah — Map
$20 gets you a ticket, lunch, and a t-shirt

 

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]]> http://designsimply.com/2008/09/22/dotgo/feed/ 2 Recent Print & Photography Portfolio Pieces http://designsimply.com/2008/08/21/recent-print-photography-portfolio-pieces/ http://designsimply.com/2008/08/21/recent-print-photography-portfolio-pieces/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:49:29 +0000 Sheri Bigelow http://designsimply.com/?p=158 Even though you can see some of my featured design work in my gallery and some of my earlier work from the U of U School of Business, the Junior League of Salt Lake City, and Myriad Genetics, Inc. on this older portfolio, I noticed there isn’t much print design work displayed on designsimply.com. So, I’m posting a few pieces of recent work here. Enjoy.

Here are some examples of a brochure, a registration form, and a banner ad that I designed:

Because of my interest in photography, I have always ended up serving as the official product and event photographer at most any job or event I undertake. Here are few product photography highlights from Myriad Genetics, Inc. in Salt Lake City, UT:

When it comes to stock photography, I am very proud of my iStockphoto.com/designsimply portfolio. Here are my most popular files on iStockphoto:

Another photography claim-to-fame, my duct tape picture was used on the NPR story page for “Best Tool Ever” by JJ Sutherland. I love this.

I will post more soon. Thanks for reading!

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