twentythreeseven » teehanlax

Now at Uproot: Me

Derek Vaz — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:43:32 +0000

It is truly bittersweet that I announce I’ve left the team at Teehan+Lax. My time there was amazing. Contributing to award-winning work with easily the most creative and down-to-earth people I’ve ever worked with made it hard to call what I did a job.

My next step is a Partnership at Uproot, a creative technology shop here in Toronto. At Uproot, our goal is to partner with all kinds of organizations to solve interesting challenges like connected agriculture, open government and next generation publishing. Like any web-savvy group, you can follow our progress on Twitter and Flickr.

Thanks again to T+L for the great times, without them I wouldn’t be ready for this next challenge.

Moving? Consider Image Spark

Derek Vaz — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:29:31 +0000

When it comes to where I live, I’m considering my next space. I’ve reached a point with my current apartment now where I feel it’s comfortable and complete. Without revealing too much, I have an idea where that next space is and this time around I have a great tool to consider and communicate what that space should feel like: Image Spark.

ImageSpark was always meant to be a tool for us, by us that other people could find value in. Using the moodboard to collect inspiration for decor, lighting, furniture and layout was never my intention, although it feels like that’s what it was created for. To me, those are the best experiences online – the ones that provide a specific utility but are a blank canvas for how you want to use them.

I’m eager to see how other people are using moodboards on Image Spark…as soon as find the right dining table.

Interaction 09 Recap

Derek Vaz — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:13:06 +0000

I’m back from Vancouver and posting my recaps of IxDA’s Interaction 09 conference on the Teehan+Lax blog. Enjoy.

Oh, and a word about Vancouver: Go.

It’s Alive – ImageSpark

Derek Vaz — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:23:18 +0000

ImageSpark officially goes live today.

This is one of the most creative and fun projects I’ve had the chance to work on. What started as a simple idea – to store, share and discover inspirational imagery – evolved over some long weeks (and weekends) into the site you see now.

Though the ImageSpark team was officially six-deep (IA, Designer, Developer A and B, Project Manager and a Partner overseeing it all) this project has touched many hands to get it to this state.

The best part is that this is really just the beginning (read:Beta); As we monitor feedback via Twitter (@imgspark) and use the site ourselves, we’ll be constantly considering how we can improve this great little tool.

Cheers to my colleagues at Teehan+Lax on a cool idea, now live.