Posted by Shane Becker on
<p>Human creativity does not live in a vacuum. Of shoulders and giants, right? This is the short story of one thing leading to another.</p>
<p>I've been really inspired and motivated lately (largely) because of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/blackbeltjones/" title="Flickr: moleitau">Matt Jones's</a> make believe poster design that read <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackbeltjones/3365682994/" title="Don't keep calm and carry on. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!">Get Excited and Make Things</a> in response to an old WWII poster that said "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/18/keep-calm-carry-on-poster" title="Keep Calm and Carry On">Keep Calm And Carry On.</a>" I've been very productive and moving forward on a <a href="http://theveganstraightedge.com/" title="The Vegan Straightedge">new project</a>. </p>
<p>Shortly after that, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber" title="John Gruber - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">John Gruber</a> of <a href="http://daringfireball.net/" title="Daring Fireball">Daring Fireball</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_Mann" title="Merlin Mann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Merlin Mann</a> of <a href="http://www.43folders.com/" title="43 Folders | Time, Attention, and Creative Work">43 Folders</a> did a "panel" at <a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive" title="SXSW Interactive: March 12-16, 2010 | SXSW.com">SXSW</a> called "<a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive/talks/schedule?action=show&id=IAP0901308" title="Full Schedule of SXSW Interactive Sessions | SXSW.com">149 Surprising Ways to Turbocharge Your Blog With Credibility!</a>". Basically it was about how to not be a douche bag, do something great and incidentally make a little money doing it. Or there abouts.</p>
<p>There were several little nuggets of 'wisdom' that really resonated with me. But one had a great impact on me than the rest: Obsession Times Voice. <a href="http://daringfireball.net/2009/3/obsession_times_voice" title="Daring Fireball: Obsession Times Voice">Gruber seems to agree</a>. You can listen to the full audio of the session from <a href="http://www.43folders.com/2009/03/25/blogs-turbocharged" title="43f Podcast: John Gruber & Merlin Mann's Blogging Panel at SxSW | 43 Folders">43 Folders</a>. (While you're listening follow along with <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davegray/" title="Flickr: dgray_xplane's Photostream">Dave Gray's'</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davegray/sets/72157615766728785/" title="SXSW 2009 - a set on Flickr">speaker notes in comic form</a>.)</p>
<p>Obsession Times Voice. That's been ringing in my head for a few days. I decided to make it my desktop background for constant reminder, especially as I work on my new <a href="http://theveganstraightedge.com/" title="The Vegan Straightedge">vegan straightedge site</a>. </p>
<p>They are available for free download either as a PNG or a PDF. There are two variations: dark on light and light on dark. Both colors used are Daring Fireball grays<sup><a href="#bottom_footnote_greys" name="top_footnote_greys">1</a></sup> (hat tip). I made them very large to work with big screens. You can either crop them or just set them to center up on your desktop. I don't suggest scaling it down. </p>
<p>The URLs are:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969357/" title='Flickr Photo Download: "Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light'>Dark on Light on Flickr</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969357/sizes/o/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light on Flickr - Photo Sharing!'>original size PNG</a>. Or as a <a href="http://assets.veganstraightedge.com/photos/linked/2009-03-27/obsession-times-voice-dark-on-light.pdf" title="Dark on Light PDF">PDF</a>, if that's your thing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969353/" title='Flickr Photo Download: "Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark'>Light on Dark on Flickr</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969353/sizes/o/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark on Flickr - Photo Sharing!'>original size PNG</a>. Or as a <a href="http://assets.veganstraightedge.com/photos/linked/2009-03-27/obsession-times-voice-light-on-dark.pdf" title="Light on Dark PDF">PDF</a>, if that's your thing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969353/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark by veganstraightedge, on Flickr'><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3436/3390969353_b245e8a045.jpg" alt='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Light on Dark'></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/3390969357/" title='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light by veganstraightedge, on Flickr'><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3390969357_b1c7dc6ecf.jpg" alt='"Obsession Times Voice" Desktop Background - Dark on Light'></a></p>
<p><a name="bottom_footnote_greys"></a></p>
<ul>
<li>Dark Grey RGB (74 82 90)</li>
<li>Dark Grey HEX (#4a525a)</li>
<li>Light Grey RGB (238 238 238)</li>
<li>Light Grey HEX (#eeeeee)</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="#top_footnote_greys">Return to story</a></p>