The Bloggery of Sean Berger. (@bergrbergr)

Workout Tunes.

2010-07-31T18:21:23Z

This year I’ve been working out every other day at this gym called the Young Men’s Christian Association. Really, it’s quite great. Except that I’m the only one there under the age of 35 before 8:00 am.

That brings me to a question for my readers: What music do you workout to? Reply with your favorite band or album. Here’s my current playlist on what I call my Truffle Shuffle:

Switchfoot, Hello Hurricane
Arcade Fire, Funeral
Smashing Pumpkins, Zeitgeist
Broken Bells, self-titled
Passion Pit, Manners
The Sailor Sequence, self-titled
William Fitzsimmons, Derivatives
MuteMath, Armistice
David Crowder Band, Remedy
Vedera, Weight of an Empty Room

A Moment in Interior Design

2010-07-31T17:57:19Z

I love this house. Check it out. I enjoy the way the floor plan allows a series of bookcases (pictured below) to lead back to a bedroom. The long hallway seems to be the metaphor for privacy instead of a door. Interesting, eh? See more photos of this home. Be sure to view the other homes on this blog in “related posts” at the bottom of the entry.

Kansas City coffeeshops.

2010-06-23T13:49:18Z

Smart people know better than to order their coffee from a counter worked by baristas in green aprons. Locals and travelers alike, most people prefer the local asthetic of a good ol’ fashion coffeehouse.

For the last five years of my life, I’ve frequented Kansas City coffee shops in hopes of finding the perfect atmosphere to enjoy a latte. Whether you’re a student in need of a second library or simply looking for a public landmark for a Craigslist deal, I’ve arranged mildly-comprehensive listing of the best hometown coffeeshops in the heart of Kansas City. With no further explanation, let’s get started.

Honorable mention: One More Cup. Waldo.

A humble little space, unknown to most. Small earthy vibe.

Honorable mention: Broadway Cafe. Westport.

The big windows running alongside Broadway Street serve to remind anyone seated inside just exactly where they are. Any sort of forced interior design plans wouldn’t exactly fly with the locals of Westport. That in-mind, this shop gets the award for offering a generous amount of space while not trying to over-think their atmosphere.

#5: The Coffee Girls. Waldo.

Probably my favorite coffeeshop right now. Two walls of windows bring just enough sunrise into the interior on a winter or summer morning. This place doesn’t have any of the foot traffic that some of the top shops on my list have. For that reason, it’s probably one of the best environments for relaxation. Their trendy seating resembles the latest from the IKEA catalog (website).

Smoothies: 2nd Overall

#4: Latteland. Country Club Plaza (west).

There are lots of friendly baristas at this particular location. And with those personalities, come an eclectic taste for music. If you’re into Andrew Bird or Depeche Mode, you will probably hear it on any given evening. And perhaps at a decibel level that’s a bit too loud for your own liking.

Regardless, this is no library. This remains to be a great place for students trying to hammer out that final page in their paper for summer class, as their summer hours keep them open until 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Since most local shops are open no later than 10 p.m., I’ve decided that this is most convenient coffeeshop to get office work done when I must take it home.

Big bonus to this local chain for an extra dose of outdoor seating at this location. It makes for great summer conversation. The shop’s door usually stands open and a summer breeze unifies the outdoor seating along the sidewalk with the customers inside.

Espresso: 2nd Overall
Smoothies: Best Overall

#3: Hi Hat Coffee. Mission Woods.

This charming little cottage offers outdoor patio seating and the occasional evening summer concert. Tucked away in the quiet neighborhood of Mission Woods, you’ll have to be careful not to drive right by their little brick building. This cozy little nook is located right along the Kansas state border to Missouri. It’s even rumored that Kansas City Royals’ hall of famer George Brett prefers himself some Hi Hat (map).

PS: Hi Hat is closed on Sundays.

HiHat Coffee. Photo by Amy Guerreri.

#2: The Roasterie. Brookside.

If you’ve ever been to this location on a Saturday morning in the summer, you’ve probably waited in line behind a few baby strollers and a coed team of cycling junkies, outfitted in their Boulevard biking gear. Yet no matter the time of day or year, The Roasterie has quickly become Brookside’s daytime hangout.

My most recent beverage choice at the Roasterie: an iced Vanilla Thrilla. Success!

The fresh redesign of this shop’s interior lands them at number two on my list. The interior – which saw to an appropriate branding update and much-needed expansion – brought the unique air-roasted branding you may have only once seen on grocery store shelves to indoor murals of their Brookside location. This shop has the best variety of morning beverages available to Kansas Citians and all of it is roasted in their Kansas City facilities. Namely, I enjoy the Ethiopian blend from their Clover machine and their dark Voodoo roast. All sorts of froofy drinks as well.

Espresso: Best Overall (website)

#1: The Filling Station. Downtown outskirts / Hallmark HQ.

The name defines the atmosphere for this location. Don’t choose this shop if you’re looking to read a book – the seating is conducive to moving a lunch rush in-and-out and the noise level mirrors more that of the NY Stock Exchange. However, this is a great morning stop for anyone commuting from midtown to downtown. The lunch menu is by far the tastiest and most complete of any shops Kansas City will offer. For morning goers, try their orange muffins or a fresh-fruit smoothie.

Smoothies: 3rd Overall

Nambu for Twitter

2010-06-19T22:27:01Z

Hey Mac people, if you love yourself some Twitter, you’ve got to try out the free Nambu client application. It’s hot. This app requires the most recent update to Leopard (10.5.8). If you have that, read on. If you follow any Lists, this app becomes super handy.

1. First, download the app from their homepage: nambu.com.

2. Install it & set up your Twitter account.

The app should look something like this after installation. (Bling!)

3. Next, toggle the view style in the top left corner of the window. I prefer the view below.

Alternate view (Nambu for Mac)

4. If you subscribe or follow any lists, click Lists in the left menu. Above the tweets you’ll see a handy dropdown menu to follow a particular list

You can follow Lists quite handily in the Nambu app for Mac.

The app’s most unique offering is its mute feature. Right click any person to put them on mute. You can also mute specific hashtags like #worldcup or #USA, if for some reason you’re not into sports.

On text messages & tweets.

2010-06-20T05:14:33Z

The people who run the Internet recently identified two differences* between texting and Tweeting.

Reason #1: Tweetin’ & drivin’ is legit. Yo.

It will soon be illegal to text while driving in Kansas. It won’t be – as my friend Noah points out – illegal to take a shot of the sunset and share it over TwitPic with yo’ Tweeps. While driving.

No matter how much more involved Tweetin’ and drivin’ might be, apparently Kansas lawmakers think it’s important to ban only one medium from drivers, in lieu of imposing a greater law against distracted driving. Kansas will become the 28th state to carry a ban on texting for drivers. Since I live in Kansas City, it’s only fair to mention that within the last year Missouri instituted a law to illegalize texting for drivers 21-and-under.

Reason #2: Twitter isn’t the new e-mail thread.

If you’re Tweeting back-and-forth between a friend or perhaps a dorm-room-full of your old college buddies, please start an email thread, a Google Wave or (really) anything less public. It’s safe to assume that your followers don’t carry that same unfiltered love for the North Dakota women’s lacrosse team** that you and your college buds apparently do.

Twitter may seem appropriate for all sorts of conversations to those who’ve signed up for an account in looking for the new Facebook, but it shouldn’t replace some of the more functional qualities of a good text message. Or – dare I say – phone call.

Twitter is what you make it.

I’ve found it hard to write this post, actually. Twitter is an open medium. Each update, for the user, is really what she makes of its 140 characters. I suppose an unfollow – be it potentially offensive – is an option for someone like myself who prefers not to filter through back-and-forth banter. I’d be interested to hear what readers have think about these sorts of Twitter threads.

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* Not for real. J/k. J/k.
** It is always appropriate to carry on long Twitter conversations about Taylor Swift.

Queens Club. The new album.

2010-04-05T19:30:42Z

: “Young Giant” from Queens Club

“Young Giant” from Queens Club
fresh stuff / released on March 23.
Tooth&Nail Records

Electronica rock pop awesome. Go buy it on iTunes & support Kansas City music! If you are familiar with MGMT, Passion Pit or Arcade Fire, I would classify Queens Club in the same genre.

Which Royals player has earned a bobblehead?

2010-02-10T18:50:55Z

23-year-old slugger Billy Butler had a breakout year in 2009. (photo credit: SportsGrumblings.com)

The following poll is provided by Google and supports your existing Google, Twitter, Yahoo! or AIM account.

Flash interface issues

2010-02-10T03:37:43Z

This quote is a follow-up to my brief mention of video players running atop HTML5. Someday one such prototype will replace the need for Flash and Silverlight video players, but for now we can accept that these plugins are the best way for the global Internet to consume video content.

This quote seems to put into words some of the usability problems I’ve always felt were inherit for users experiencing Flash content. Flash has its place for creative and web development teams — I’ve seen it used for much more good than evil. But that doesn’t change that its browser presentation has always given me the willies.

“Areas aren’t clickable, context-menus **** up and (the) selection of text, saving of images and all this stuff you expect from a web site is not working…You cannot just set an anchor – you have to code it. This is really important to understand. Flash is a whole new application inside on an application.”

–Thomas Maier, on Flash (read original post)

Foxdie

2010-02-07T04:03:27Z

If you’d like to beautify Firefox to look like other browsers (Camino, Safari), you should download this handy little add-on called Foxdie (Mozilla link). The add-on allows you to instantaneously change the browser’s buttons, color and tab settings (no app restart required) from the (web-based) settings menu. After having piloted it for about a month now, I’d also say it has relatively no footprint or interference with browsing speed.

Thomas Rye on self-defense.

2010-02-06T22:21:56Z

Thomas Rye recently posted a detailed piece on self-defense and martial arts. I think this to be the perfect follow-up reading assignment for anyone that hopes to defend their man-bag from the forces of darkness.

“There’s 1001 ways to hit a man, but the ones that are extremely efficient comprise a much shorter list.”
— Thomas Rye

Feature: Grant Blakeman.

2010-02-06T22:29:20Z

Grant Blakeman is a freelance designer and developer living in Boulder, Colorado. His clients include Carbonmade.com and The Autumn Film. He has posted a lot of incredible creative and tech content on his blog recently. The blog is one of my top reads, so you absolutely must add him to your weekly reading.

I’d like to call-out a few recent items from Grant:

1. A prototype for an HTML5-based Video player. It’s great to think that we’re only a year or so away from offering video without the use of Flash or Silverlight plugins. On a related note, at the end of January Google announced that they would no longer support IE 6 for Google Docs or Google Sites.

2. Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain’s design work. Jesse did some top-notch work for the redesign of Campaign Monitor in 2008-09.

3. The CGI work of Alex Roman (via IS050)

Grant is featured on my “Best of” list on Twitter — that list is always evolving, but I will quickly say that he would be the last person I’d remove from the list. Lastly, after all of the linkage above, you will more than likely appreciate his office space.

Grant Blakeman's office (photo by Grant)

Essential evolution: The man-bag.

2010-02-03T15:56:23Z

Warning: the contents of this post will be harmful to your health.

Some call it a knapsack. Others call it a satchel. And though your girlfriend may ask to borrow it for a position in her trusty purse rotation, hopefully you’ll never have to talk friends down from calling your latest purchase your new murse. Regardless of title — let’s face it, men — we have evolved. And all of those gadgets we’ve been toting around for the last few years need a home.

On Monday afternoon, I trekked out into the wild in search of such a bag. For those living in the Kansas City area, I recommend any purchase of this variety from the folks at Backwoods in Overland Park. I quickly found and purchased an all-black Patagonia Single Shot ($50 USD) with its signature feature: an infallible recycled seat belt shoulder strap. Nothing says earth-friendly like recycled seat belt. Apparently this particular bag (read: purse) is also owned by my friend Blakely, which fully confirms that my new purchase is eligible for any sort of duties in future girlfriend purse rotation. You can view additional color options for the Single Shot on Zappos.com.

Backwoods had two additional noteworthy man-bags on hand: the Patagonia Atom bag ($60 USD) and the Osprey Flip ($69 USD). For any serious shopper, both should strongly be considered.

I have evolved. Meet my new shoulder bag, the Patagonia Single Shot.

Note: an easy-access velcro flap. To the right, my Banana Republic sunglasses.

So let’s cut to the details. I figured it only appropriate to impart a full manifest of items that could be traveling around with me in the near future:

iPod. After months of getting acclimated to my Touch, I’ve finally cemented how I use the device. Four apps come to mind: Tweetie 2, 2Do Lite, LifeChurch.tv’s Bible and the Apple-engineered Notes. Tweetie 2 is the only paid app in that list, but all of them are worth it. As for my music, the last month of music listening has included The Sailor Sequence and MuteMath’s Armistice record. I’ve listened to those tracks continually. While doing any sort of writing or thinking, I absolutely need access to Sigur Ros and their side project Jónsi & Alex. Some others I would recommend, if you find yourself purchasing any new tunes in the near future: Ray Lamontagne, Sandra McCracken.

iPod wall charger.

Sandwich. PB&J or tuna salad are acceptable.

Camera. For me, my new Holga 120N, a Christmas present from my brother.

Latteland coffee sleeve. This is a great idea from a Kansas City coffee shop chain – a cardboard coffee sleeve that you’re to re-use as your punch card. I’ve had mine for nearly a year but always forget it in my car. Now it’ll be on my person at all times.

Sunglasses. You can find a good pair of shades in a lot of locations, but I found mine on sale last spring at Banana Republic. After seeing the Book of Eli last Wednesday, I believe Denzel UV-ray protection (pre- or post-apocalypse) is a good idea.

All of this? On my person?!? Unbelievable! Men should've thought of this decades ago!

Car & house keys. Nothing says, “Imma climb mountains in my free-time” quite like wielding one’s keys on a carabiner. And though the $1.00 version of such you bought while checking out at the local hardware store surely couldn’t suffice for mountain climbs, your friends won’t know any better so long as you don’t tell them. Conclusion: carabiners are the new pink are the new black.

Kleenex. For each of those late-winter sniffles you just can’t seem to shake. Which brings us to our next item…

Cough drops. Halls menthols will do, but for serious throat soreness, Ricola’s Honey Lemon drops are my cough drop of choice. What with marketing words like “natural” and “herb” on the package, these are sure to convince your friends that you belong in a hippy commune and clear up that cold all the same.

Possibly candy. But don't tell your mom I said that.

Journal and not just any pen. A man-bag of any kind is best suited for trips to local coffee shops. Where else would you carry all of this stuff? The grocery store??! Ridiculous! For anyone frequenting a coffee shop, you can’t possibly forget a handy-dandy journal.

I’ve been writing in a journal for roughly eight years and I’ve been writing with my pen of choice — the Pilot G207 — since my senior year in high school biology class. At some point that year, I woke up one day to realize that I’d been wasting my life finishing those lab reports with inferior writing utensils. Ever since, nothing but this pen will do. There are few pens quite like the G207; what I mean to say is that the folks at Pilot have really outdone themselves. I’d like to think the ‘G’ stands for gangsta, but something tells me it’s a subtle reference to the gel ink that each of these unbelievable inventions contain.

The Pilot G207.

College basketball fans can liken my Pilot G207 obsession to Digger Phelps's matching highlighter/tie wardrobe on ESPN.

Pocket knife. MacGyver made it through most all of his seven seasons on ABC without the use of a pocket knife, but for the less-resourceful, a Swiss Army knife can provide both utility and protection. If you, the reader, attempt to steal any of the above items from my satchel, I’m not afraid to use afforementioned knife in self-defense.

Editor’s note: the author of this blog does not endorse violence. And he won’t bring any sort of weaponry to the work place.

Okay guys, which items have I forgotten? What items and gadgets are you carrying around this spring? Please elaborate. And ladies, help us out!!

Hello, Garmin. (part III)

2010-02-03T15:57:26Z

It’s Saturday. And I am unemployed. And that’s kind of awesome. Okay, I’m employed. Technically.

I build stuff. I create stuff. And life’s too short to not be building and creating every day.

Soon I will step into a new position as Interface Designer at Garmin (GRMN), a position with their online user experience team. Since my early days in college, I’ve always been provoked to design for users, not clients. Working on the Garmin team should allow me to balance the challenge, tact and necessity for addressing the needs of both parties. Strategy, thought, design, user-testing and front-end development are all things I want to do daily. All are essential to the job description.

Budgets restrict good thinking.

To re-think how customers interact with your brand only when marketing dollars are allocated to such a project is the wrong way address business needs. Unfortunately, this is a side effect of the client-plus-ad-agency model. Inside of recession, less marketing dollars equates to less agency-driven thought and strategy in driving sales. Time and money should always be allocated to the effort.

Time well spent increases sales.

With this in mind, the best fit for me is a team where questions are continually asked of design and user experience. The primary budget is one of time. The primary question is, “Does this initiative merit our time?” Making sales is important to any company. When you’re ringing the cashbox for a company like Garmin, the products sell themselves.

Garmin's Forerunner 305, a watch for runners.

Grady tells me that Olathe means “beautiful.” It’s fitting. Well, not the suburbia part. Suburbia is beautiful to some, but I’m more of a midtown Kansas City guy. The opportunity to design for potential and existing Garmin consumers is direct and immediate. And that’s beautiful to me.

Credits. (part II)

2010-02-03T16:05:57Z

I know much of this has been said, but I want to follow up my last post with some specific thanks.

To Anthony, Arlo, TB, Riebs, Bobby, Adam, Grady, Shawn, Derek, JT, Drace, Krista, Ogggggggg, Swood, Sarah, Weidner, Brent, Jordan, Angela, Corley, Hattery and Paul’yee Prato I specifically say thank you for teaching me to be a better creative. I’m grateful for everything that was afforded to me in my time at BR. You guys took a chance on me. And I think it worked out for all involved.

And thanks to Steve Bernstein for running a great ad agency. You, Bob and family are top notch.

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This is the second post in a three part series: Read Part I | Read Part III

BR has been good to me. (part I)

2010-02-03T15:58:54Z

Friends! I have news for you.

This Friday is the last day I will ride the elevator to the ninth floor at 4600 Madison Avenue and step into the hallways of Bernstein-Rein’s creative department. Soon I will make my last flavored latte at the coffee bar on fifteen. It’s been a great three (nearly four) years at the Kansas City ad agency.

Hours upon hours of time with mentors and friends.

My experience at BR has been deeply rewarding both personally and professionally. So many team members have mentored me — I don’t know where I could possibly start or finish, so please understand that this paragraph isn’t comprehensive:

Anthony has shown me that creativity doesn’t exist merely on-screen, but it’s everything we live, sing and do … from day one Adam believed in my work. He also taught me how to create practically for clients in Photoshop. He’s great at communicating ideas and strategy from the creative perspective, while addressing tough client problems … Nathan’s approach to asking questions and creating design solutions has stayed with me … in my earlier days at BR, I continually studied HTML/CSS solutions from Brandon and Bobby … And Travis showed me that coding things from scratch and meticulous attention to detail aren’t silly concepts, but rather essential craftsmanship for those that want to be the best.

Bernstein-Rein’s work for household brands like McDonald’s, PetSmart and Hostess Snack Cakes will continue to receive recognition within the national ad community. The agency is capable both digitally and analytically – they dig deep to understand both consumer and marketplace. Most importantly, BR is a place full of great ideas that drive retail sales. I am blessed to have played a small part in our last few years of work.

So what’s next for me?

The ad world has been great, but the best fit for me is a position where questions are primarily asked of design. I have something lined up. More to come!