I have the honor of announcing that one of Camp Creative Group’s designs has been included in the Market Smart: The Best in Age and Lifestyle Specific Design book that was released in May.

The design that was chosen was the business cards that we designed for Bellaziza, a company that designs and manufactures adorable barrettes for babies and young girls.

This design was chosen because it was an excellent example of designing for the target audience in the children’s fashion market.

Check it out sometime! We’re on page 150 under our maiden name, Bravos Media. You *could* buy it. It doesn’t support me at all, but it might make a pretty cool coffee table book that you could then say “Hey, I know this awesome person who is in this book” – great conversation starter, right?

You’re probably asking yourself where I’ve been. Or maybe you aren’t, because you’re used to me updating for a few days and then disappearing. But it hasn’t been all that long. I’ve just had a lot going on. I’m not making any promises, because I don’t like to break them, but I am making a sincere effort to try to update more often.

The problem is, this goes completely against our plans. My husband and I recently decided to spend more time together, and away from technology. This summer we are trying to enjoy our surroundings in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Oh, sweet Appalacia. Yeah, you’re right. I hate it. But mostly in the winter time. We figure, maybe if we spend more time outside in the summer it will make being here a little more tolerable. But how I would rather be at the beach…

So, anyway, Joe and I decided to splurge and purchase some Bikes. This was a pretty big purchase because we wanted to be sure we got nice ones, and somehow I managed to work it out so that we didn’t charge them to credit cards – I am so proud of myself!

What did we end up with? The brand spanking new 2010 model 4300D by Trek (the D stands for Disc Brakes!). They are hardtail mountain bikes, so when we get up the courage we can go on some trails and things. I’ll have to take pictures of them, because they are very awesome, and mine is lime green, which is pretty flippin’ sweet. For now, though, here’s a picture from somewhere online of the one that Joe got:

Pretty sweet, eh? We lucked out, too, because they upgraded the seats, which meant Joe didn’t have to get a new one, and they also added lockout to the suspension. All in all we are very happy with our purchase.

We took them out on Friday night, up the road. Which just about killed me. I am so not in shape, and biking on these mountain roads doesn’t do my body good. So, we went out again on Sunday, but this time went over to Ft. Richie, which is a little smoother. Don’t worry, though. I’ll get there eventually. I want to get in shape again. Wish me luck!

I haven’t had much time to play because of everything going on, so I am not going to write a full review here. However, there are many things that I think need to be brought to attention for those of you who may be thinking about getting this game.

The character creation mode is excellent in that you can completely customize everything (from colors – even highlights and lowlights for hair – right down to fabrics / patterns and colors for clothes). However, the lack of hairstyles and clothing that you start out with is pitiful. I am sure this is only to promote their online store where you can purchase more, but it makes character creation very frustrating. Also, there is no “curly hair” hairstyle, which I never understood, and it really aggravates me. What do they have against people with curly hair? Also, the male hairstyles are few and terrible.

There is no God mode. This version of the Sims is different in that you create a family and must immerse yourself in that family only. You can’t do multiple families in a neighborhood (so no making yourself and all of your friends in separate houses and making your own virtual world where everyone is happy). This is very disappointing for most people who’ve played The Sims that way, but I think that ultimately it is probably a better move. It promotes more people to actually play the game through the way it is meant to be played, instead of just trying to make simulations of their own lives.

I haven’t played much of the build and buy modes yet but they seem pretty nice. You can now put furniture on half-squares and you can also set furniture diagonally. They also added wall cabinets for the kitchen, which I never understood them leaving out.

Otherwise, you can preview land before you buy it (including houses and their furnishings). The draw distance once you are in your sims’ lot is very nice – you can actually see scenery and things that are further away.

From what I understand your Sims are more automated (or can be) and you can also set in your options how slowly they age.

And let’s not forget that they now have the “Evil” trait. Which I have not tried out yet. They also have “Kleptomaniac” which might be fun.

Of course, just like any other Sims game, it is made for them to be able to charge more money in the long run by not including anything. They give you $10 worth of Sim points when you buy the game to give you a taste of their online store, which is a bunch of stuff that should have come with the game. One dollar for a virtual shirt is balls.

The website we did for Brian Hansen (http://www.brianmhansen.com) was accepted on The Best Designs! They posted it tonight. Check it out!

So I heard back from DreamLabs today. I was very impressed with how professional and pleasant they were. It’s such a difference to see someone who is truly apologetic and sorry, that was tangled up in a mistake, over someone who got ‘caught in the act.’

I was shocked when I received your email to see that this site was a direct
copy of yours, Dream Labs had recently enlisted the help of a Indian
freelance/outsource developers: www.weblineindia.com. Before we used their
services I asked that they design and code a website for Dream Labs as a
test of their abilities in joomla and wordpress conversions. Unfortunately
during this process WebLineIndia chose to use Camp Creative Groups design
and copy.

I regret that this happened and have removed and deleted all the files from
the www.yummyarm.com site I have also contacted WebLineIndia with a copy of
your email and asked that they follow your requests, and threatened legal
action to be taken by Dream Labs because of the repercussions this could
cause.

I have also changed our profile on http://www.designfirms.org as the copy
seems to also be taken from your site.

Again I am very sorry and disappointed that it has gone this far before I
realised that the site was a direct rip off, and will no longer be using
their services.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience that this must have
caused you.

Kind Regards,

Ryan Adams

Unfortunately, I had found their Design Firms listing and flagged them before he had responded. I contacted Design Firms but haven’t yet heard back. Hopefully they get both emails before doing anything against him (or thinking I am a liar).