Global warming? Hot. Steam Studios' design? Hotter.

With global warming becoming one of the most important issues of our time, biodiesel and other alternative fuels gained much more prominence in 2006. Leading the charge is an Orlando-based company called Xenerga.

Xenerga provides biodiesel facilities, biodigesters and other means of alternative fuel. But when Xenerga needed to create its own brand identity, Steam Studios provided the vision. Working closely with Xenerga's top executives, Steam Studios created an entire identity suite: logo, collateral, advertising pieces and a website.

Each element in the suite serves to inform, educate and reinforce not only Xenerga's brand, but its commitment to combat global warming through the implementation of alternative fuels.

We here at Steam Studios are proud to have our innovative talents aligned with another company whose good works are powered by innovation.

Our El Guapo happens to be a big, scary Cat Stevens!

If that headline makes any sense to you, congratulations! You, like Steam artist Steve McCain, may be a pop-culture junkie. But unlike most pop-culture junkies, Steve might actually be able to make some money off his geekiness.

You may remember that last year, Steve and two teammates tried out for the first season of VH1's "The World Series of Pop Culture". Well, they're at it again, and the audition for season 2 is mere days away! So, kiddies, you've got some homework: If you have any pop-culture nuggets, any stumpifying questions, any trivial minutiae relating to movies, music or TV, send 'em Steve's way via email! Help Steve bring the pain while training his brain! (And yes, we promise to never rhyme like that again.) He won't share his prize money with ya, but he'll give you a thumbs-up when he drives by you in his new car...

In other news... Steam artist Samson Cranford has returned from his trip to Russia. While there, he jogged up a snowy mountain with a giant log on his shoulders, wore shorts with the American flag on them, and beat up on a scary Russian named Ivan Drago. Waitaminit... That's the plot to Rocky IV! (But in all seriousness, folks... Samson and his wife Vanessa, along with her sister Veronika, were all humbled by the extraordinary mission trip and came away from it with a renewed sense of gratitude for all of the riches we have here in the good ol' U.S. of A. To see pictures from the trip, just click here. And if you want to learn more about the trip, just drop Samson a line.)

Bitmap vs. Vector

There comes a time in everyone's life when you're talking to a graphic designer and the options of bitmap or vector images come up. What usually proceeds is a jargon-filled diatribe that sails completely over your head while you nod along, furiously pretending that you know what said designer is talking about. Well, those days are over, my friend! Now you'll no longer have to fake your way through a discussion of pixels versus points, thanks to our handy-dandy lesson...

Bitmap images:
Bitmaps are, on the surface, pretty self-explanatory: They're a map made up of bits.

But in normal english, this is how the image breaks down: A bit is the smallest amount of data that your computer can process. Bits add up to form bytes, bytes add up to form kilobytes and on and on. The higher the amount of bits, the higher the amount of data your computer is processing.

With bits you can designate colors on your computer screen. Adding up bits of data to form a color results in a pixel. When you combine these pixels of color (some green here, some blue there), pretty soon you'll have a picture comprised of dozens, hundreds, thousands, possibly millions of tiny squares of color. This grouping of pixels is the "map". (Get it? A bitmap is a group of pixels, which are created as bits of data, on your computer.) In fact, your computer screen is one big bitmap with lots of squares of colors forming whatever images you see on your desktop. Since these pixels of color are so small, the human eye cannot perceive them individually and instead sees a whole cohesive picture.

Bitmap images are usually photographs or highly detailed illustrations that have lots of shadow and texture.

Vector images:
On the other hand, vector images are defined not by pixels, but by mathematical points.

Instead of using groups and groups of pixels to form a square, vector images need only define 4 points in space. The computer then can use a little more data to define such variables as line weight, line color and the color of the square's body (called the "fill").

Vector images can be found in drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw and are suitable for simple illustrations.

See? That wasn't so hard. You now have the most basic distinctions between the two most widely used image formats. However, we've just touched the tip of the iceberg. There are pros and cons to both file types, various aspects to consider when creating and an almost infinite array of options. So, yeah, bitmaps and pixels will be seen again in another Design 101 lesson.

Just take heart that, for the time being, you can nod your head knowingly when your graphic design team starts talking about them again. Because they will.

In honor of Steve's attempt to rock this year's "World Series of Pop Culture", all of our Cool Sites have a decidedly pop-culture theme...

To wrap up February's newsletter, we leave you with this bombshell:

Samson's gonna be a daddy!

That's right... Steam Studios is getting a new addition sometime in June.

A bouncing baby boy is on the way for Samson and his lovely wife Vanessa, so break out the cigars and champagne! (Just not around the baby, mmmkay? It's not 1955.) To say that this bundle of joy is going to grow up well-versed in the graphic arts and Star Wars trivia is an understatement. To say that Samson and Vanessa are positively glowing is not.

Congratulations, you two crazy kids!