Ryan Lum

You Can Call Me Happy Feet

It’s challenging. It’s social. It’s utterly addicting!

I’m happy to say I’ve continued taking salsa dancing lessons through the VAVi Sport and Social Club in San Diego. I think it all began when my parents started taking dance lessons. They always encouraged me and told me how much fun it was and that there were always a lot of single ladies!

It could also be the fact I value their marriage and found it comforting to see them dancing in the living room, practicing their new moves. It could also be the fact that my mom always watched the movie Grease.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just went in and told myself I’d have a good time. To this day, I’ve taken about 15 salsa dancing class sessions and I’m still learning and enjoying it!

I must say that the gemini in me takes over a lot of the time and I find myself looking for new skills to acquire and new hobbies to take on. I’m not sure where this post is going (and perhaps it is due to the fact that I’ve had a long day…which by the way was filled with work, a boxing class, salsa dancing class, and more freelance work) but I suppose I will leave you with 5 things I have learned while taking these salsa dancing classes.

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10 Little Things I Appreciate

I recently saw a TED talk that I really enjoyed about an individual who lost his best friend who decided to take his own life. This left the individual with a choice to either sulk or try to move on. He ended up starting a blog called 1000awesomethings.com. I absolutely love this site and I wanted to share 10 of my personal little things I appreciate.

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Forward Motion

“The only journey is the journey within.”- Rainer Maria Rilke

I have found a new calling in life. Passion is what drives individuals to be successful in life. When I speak of success, I’m not speaking in a monetary sense, but rather a personal growth sense. There are many times where we are presented with brick walls  and challenges where it seems impossible to overcome. One of my favorite speakers, Randy Rausch, said it the best:

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My 10 Essentials

Let me first start out that I don’t consider myself materialistic. Should I ever go traveling one day and live abroad, I’d hate to feel attached to an object. On the other hand, I’d like to share with you 10 things I do really enjoy:

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The Motorcycle Journey

I feel like I need to start documenting this journey. I’ve always wanted to ride a motorcycle for various reasons, and finally I bought one and am living the dream.

I was always am still scared of crashing and getting into an accident, don’t get me wrong. There are sooo many reasons why riding a motorcycle is dangerous and not worth it. On the other hand, I couldn’t see myself growing older and thinking what could have been. I know, I could still get one when I’m older, but I wouldn’t want to put myself in that sort of danger should I have family to provide for and be there for.

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Finding Balance

Sitting here at my workstation sorting through over a hundred emails. At home I get to wear all sorts of hats. From being a freelance creative/developer to an avid blogger…it’s all about finding a balance.

Not only do I work 40+ hours a week at my full-time job doing web development / creative, but I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle (sitting at a computer 10+ hours a day just doesn’t do it for me). After work, I tend to go to the gym for 1-3 hours. I know, it’s excessive. On Wednesdays I take a boxing class that lasts a little over 2 hours which puts me a little after 8pm in which I will go get food. After working out ( I tend to work out 3-4 times a week), I have to eat and wind down..a bit. Unfortunately, this leaves me at managing my guerrilla marketing blog and tending to my freelance clients at around 10pm.

You are probably thinking, blogging? That doesn’t take THAT much time. You’re wrong. I’ve had the privilege in  creating one of the top guerrilla marketing blogs and it has become internationally known. Creating content and a weekly basis if not more frequently takes a good amount of time (not to mention managing all the social media portals/seo/branding/etc).

Managing a personal brand image, a top guerrilla marketing blog, multiple freelance clients that have daily requests, maintaing a healthy lifestyle, and working a full-time job definitely has taken it’s toll.

Oh well, I’m starting off 2011 by being insanely productive (with the sacrifice of having free-time!).

Will The Social Network Kill Social Media.

After watching a screening of the movie, ‘the social network”, I can’t help but feel like social media has become the hot topic. Every brand wants it, every person knows about it and everyone uses it.

We can all agree that Facebook (once called The Facebook) has and is continuing to lead the way in terms of social media. My curiosity lies in how much opportunity is left. Not only are social media portals popping up every couple months, but they are, in my opinion, becoming less unique in nature.

I need an idea. Social media will be here forever…but what can we learn from it so that we can create the next best thing? Will it relate to social media…or will it be something completely and utterly…different.

P.S. Hmm.. I wonder what would happen if I lived like a whole year on facebook and documented everything via this social media platform…Would that be an interesting to follow? An individual’s life who uses social media (specifically facebook) almost as a way of life and communicate.

How I Got A Job In Advertising In Less Than A Month

How It Began

On April 6th, 2010 I set forth on a journey. I was unemployed, had a lot on my mind, and a dream. I told myself…I WILL get a job at an advertising / marketing company here in San Diego.

Click here to read my original post where I set my goal.

During this time I also did a lot of freelance so that I could pay bills and what not; however, this was not cutting it. I wanted something more. I wanted a career. So this is where my story began. A couple months ago I set a goal…I would get a job in my field before I turned 24 (in less than a month). I got this idea after watching a movie called Julie and Julia. Anyways, I digress.

The biggest challenge was actually getting responses. I would send out a couple resumes, make several phone calls and of course, I went through craigslist. Let me tell you that out of all these job hunting activities…none of them really worked.

What made a difference was when I started putting myself where the professionals were. That means joining clubs, networking on LinkedIn, engaging conversation on Twitter, following companies on Facebook. After I joined these networks, I was one of them. Well, I wouldn’t say it is that easy. You have to work at it.

I ultimately got my interviews through clubs I joined, networks I participated in and the through the people I knew. There is no 100% solution to this problem; however, I hope the following list of tools may aid you in your search. Let me know if it has helped you or of you have any other tips I missed!

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The Scariest TV Logos From Our Childhood

Yea I remember some of these. I think a bunch of them were before my time. It’s just funny to see how things have changed. These also bring back some good old memories :)

RyanLum.com…8 Years Later

It is interesting looking back on the past couple of years. I can’t believe I’ve been designing websites for 8 years!

I started my first website back in 2002 on an old Powermac G4 800 Quicksilver model. That thing was my pride and joy. I set up dual monitors, 3 hard-drives, a cheap Wacom tablet, and a speaker system that would knock your socks off. Today I will share some archive pages that I dugg up. All the posts were written when I was about 14 years old and have not been modified.

My high school career:
I would consider my freshmen year at high school as, well, interesting. I took the necessary courses in order to be set for college. I took English 1, World History / Geography, Spanish 1, Geometry, Pe / Health, Wood Tech, and Art 1. I would have to say the highlight of my day would be my Wood Tech class and my Art class. I always found the more creative courses fun and challenging, but almost easy at the same time. After school I went to Cross Country practice, and went home to conclude my day. I was so small, maybe 5’4″ that year, always being teased. But it was nice to have my bigger brother around to talk to on occasion.

Sophomore year wasn’t that much better. The courses seemed all to familiar. I took English 2, Spanish 2, Algebra 2, P.E., Biology, Photography, and Foods. Photography class was the best class I have ever experienced at the time. I got to know a friend better and I came to realize what I’d like to do for a living. It was a very inspirational class. Again, I did Cross Country after school. I must say Cross Country is a really fun sport, no matter if you like running or hate it. You meet cool people, and the environment is just soothing. It was a great team building experience.

Then came the dreaded Junior year. Junior year I was loaded with English 3, US History, Spanish 3, Math Analysis, PE,Chemistry, and yearbook. All the classes were demanding more from me, and were challenging me mentally. The only somewhat fun class was yearbook. To top it off I did Cross Country for my third year in a row, I was involved in the Frisbee club, and I started a Photography club.

Then came the best year of all, Senior year. I have first period off campus, Advanced Photography, web design for high school, English 4, government / economics, Pre-Calculus, and yearbook. I am currently deeply involved in the Frisbee club, now a team. I continued the Photo club, and I joined various other clubs like Youth & Government, Leo Club, and more. I am not involved in Cross Country this year, but I’m sure i’ll soak up as much high school life this year, before I head off for the College Life!

When I was a Sophomore in High School, I entered several art competitions. I ended up winning several Art Awards and received amazing feedback from some of my peers.

Ryan,
Hi! My name is Ray and I’m a grad student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I was shown your piece called “Seeing the Difference” and was really impressed by what you did. You are obviously pretty technically proficient with Photoshop, and I really liked your piece. You address many facets of your personality, from skateboarding, to music, and of course your dog. The piece flows really well from left to right, following the keyboard, the text, and finally into the image of you looking back on who you are and what you have done. The composition is really nice. Great job cutting your face out on the right there. Did you use masking tools? or did you just slowly select the piece out. You’ve also really done a good job with your layers and the opacities. Have you done any other pieces similar to this? How much have you been working with Photoshop lately. It’s a great tool which you will get a lot of use out of later on in your life. Trust me. Keep practicing. It’ll come in handy. It’s interesting that you chose to include such a personal bit, like your dog and your love for him. It really makes your portrait much more personal, when you consider it in addition to your many likes. Did you think about putting in things that you disliked in the piece? How about playing around with different fonts for your text? I’ve found that it’s fun to manipulate different fonts and texts after you type them into the image in photoshop. Try exploring some with the text tool. So…if you’d like, feel free to send me some more images. I’d love to see some more of your work. I’m a first year grad student here, and I’ve worked in the graphic design field for a little while in new york. I’m originally from New York City, and am an illustrator, painter, and graphic designer. I plan to go into community arts programming or museum education, mainly working with kids outside of schools to encourage learning about the arts. Well, good luck with all of your work and keep on with your art. You’ve got a lot of potential!

Sincerely,
Ray

Hey Ryan,
Thank you so much for sharing your self portrait with us.  I really enjoyed your interpretation and how you represented yourself.  The two images of yourself give off a different feel from each other and I like how neither image has you staring directly at the camera.  One is a profile and the other is a reflection of yourself.  We often see ourselves thorough other people’s eyes first, but that is only a portion of who we are.  Your image made me think about how other may people see me.  I am working towards my master degree and wish to work within a museum and challenge the way we view art in the pristine white-walled museum.  How can we engage the audience to challenge why a work of art is in the museum?  Sculptures from temples were taken from their countries in colonial times and now sit atop pedestals in the museum.  Why?  How were they bought and sold?  Just thought you would like to know a little bit about the person viewing your art.  Thanks again.  Your piece is wonderful and tells me a lot about you.  It is very effective.

Sarah

Hi Ryan,
My name is Carolina, I am a student in the MAAE program at the SAIC.  We have just viewed your identity portrait and those of three other of your classmates, here in our Techno Options Class.  We were impressed I believe by the skill you show in using the Photoshop, but more by the content.  The numerous symbols you used within your image revealed a few substantial parts of your persona, from your favorite things to do to one of your greatest vulnerabilities (i am referring to your tear and your dog).  Thank you for sharing your image with us.  I really enjoy seeing student work  and am amazed by the great ease students have these days in utilizing technology.  Your generation definitely has a vocabulary and practice set using computers.  Good luck in your future art making.

Carolina

A small segment of my About me page dated 2005

At the age of 17 going on 18, I’m preparing for college. I am pretty much heading for advertising. I hope it will allow me to study photography, film, web design, marketing techniques. I feel I have a good eye for design. From the clothes I wear to the work I create, every aspect of my life seems to revolve around design.

I started to become serious about my field my senior year of high school. The support of my peers and my teacher has really helped me grow and pushed me to try new ideas. I have helped students in the class with photoshop and other design tools. I have also given lectures for the class.

My favorite sport is Ultimate Frisbee. No one really knows of it, yet there are so many aspects of the sport that make it better than the rest. The reason why I play Ultimate Frisbee is because there is a thing called the “Spirit of the Game”. This aspect covers everything from dressing up in the most unusual clothing to singing a song with the other team after each game. There is no referee in the game, so the game is ruled by the players.

Being involved in such a sport has been such a pleasure. The teamwork and comradeship was something I have experienced only in this sport. I have tried sports from basketball, baseball, soccer, cross country, and the teamwork involved in Ultimate Frisbee surpassed the other sports I have tried.

I encourage you to check out how my pages and design has developed over the years by visiting the RyanLum.com Archive.