We are conducting a series of interviews with some of the Vietnamese Americans behind successful websites. First up is Donny Truong of Visualgui.com.

Donny Truong runs the popular Vietnamese American blog – Visualgui.com. We caught up with him to chat about running a website, the design business, and blogs.

Talking with Michael Nguyễn from Tiếng Magazine

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Donny. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What is your background?

I was born in My Tho, Vietnam and came to the US 12 years ago. I am currently a web designer at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. I am also running a personal website (visualgui.com) and a tribute site to a talented Vietnamese singer Ngoc Lan (iLoveNgocLan.com) with a couple of dedicated fans. I love design and it is probably the only thing I am good at.

Your site Visualgui was rated best Vietnamese blog by a couple sites. What do you think goes into creating a successful blog?

Oh really? I am not even aware of it. From a designer perspective, a successful blog must be attractive, accessible, and easy to use. Obviously, content is still the heart and soul of the blog. I write regularly and I choose topics that interested me. For example, Vietnamese food, Vietnamese music, hip hop music, design books, and inspiration.

Has your Vietnamese background influenced the way you design websites?

Good question. I don’t think my background influenced my design but Vietnamese music has inspired my work. For example, the motion piece I created called “Một Chút Quà Cho Quê Hương” was inspired by Việt Dũng’s emotional lyrics and Ngọc Lan’s remarkable performance.

Could you describe the Vietnamese American community (if there is one) over on the east coast? Over here on the west coast the community is quite large – how does it compare over there?

From where I am living now (Poughkeepsie, NY), I can’t even find a Vietnamese person, except for the nails parlor at the mall. I wish there is a Vietnamese Community here.

Did you immigrate here with your family?

Yes! I came here with my mom and older sister.

Has the internet made it possible for you to find a Vietnamese community online?

Yes! The Internet rocks. It made it possible for me to get to know many Ngoc Lan’s fan around the world. Even though we have never met, they are like a big family to me. We even call iLoveNgocLan.com our home on the web.

On my own site, I have met quite a few fine Vietnamese folks who have great taste in music and I learn a lot from them.

Last questions, where do you see the Vietnamese community online heading? Have you noticed a bigger presence online? What’s in the future for you?

Obviously there are tons of Vietnamese organizations on the web but I think we are still behind with technology. I haven’t seen too many sites that use Web Standards and CSS. Fortunately, I see that in Tiếng Magazine, good job! I am glad that you have started on online mag gearing toward young Vietnamese American. I don’t see anything in the future for me as far as the Vietnamese Community.

Thanks for the interview, Donny.

The new Jewish Studies site has been re-launched with a fresh new face, XHTML markups, and CSS driven.

The design was challenging because I had no images to work with; therefore, I had to rely on typography to communicate the edgy look and feel that the program wanted to convey. I spent tremendous amount of time on playing with different type treatments. Thanks to the fascinating shapes of Hebrew letters, I was able to incorporate them into the navigation. I also wanted to give the site a sense of liveliness by providing a set of colors that are warm and elegant.

The redesigning of Jewish Studies website was a great learning experience. Though the process was much more than what I had expected, it was worth invested because the result is pleasing to both the client and myself.

Update:
The compliment below is from Jeffrey Kosmacher, Director of Media Relations at Vassar. I am sharing his words because he touches on the main points that I wanted to communicate with the Jewish Studies site. Thanks Jeff!

Donny,

I love your colorful and elegant use of the Hebrew alphabet, surely the most universal aspect of Judaism. It was also very clever how you tied together each key English word on the page to a corresponding Hebrew letter. For those of you who don’t read Hebrew, the sound each of those Hebrew letters makes corresponds to the first sound of the English word Donny connected them to.

There is one exception, because no one letter in Hebrew makes the “j” sound, but the design has a great solution: it uses the first letter in the Hebrew word for Jew/Jewish.

Mazel tov (couldn’t resist),

Jeff

Sam Brown from explodingdog.com gave an entertaining talk at Vassar last night on how he came up with his idea for the website. The concept is simply picturing texts. Visitors send in their titles and Sam draws stick figures based on his interpretation. He spent first half hour talking about the history of the site and spent the rest answering questions and drawing as the same time. It was an enjoyable experience. For those who haven’t been to his site, check it out for an archive of amusing drawings.

Damian Allen’s Motion: Revolutionary Motion Graphics is the first book I read from Apple Pro Training Series and I am impressed with the clear, straightforward, and easy to follow instructional approach to learning the software. I am the type that gets impatient easily when it comes to reading and doing exercises at the same time, especially when I get lost. Fortunately, Allen knows how to craft short and concise lessons to retain readers’ attention. He understands that if an exercise is built upon the previous one, readers will get frustrated if they get lost in between. To avoid this problem, he provides projects along the way so that readers can pick up and move forward. It’s a clever teaching technique that keeps readers in tune. Many hands-on training books lose my interest by the time I get to chapter 3 if I get confused and reluctant to advance.

Apple Motion software is an amazing tool for creating motion graphic, but I wouldn’t know its power without the guidance from Allen. The Grand Tour manual that comes with the software does not help much. With Allen’s Motion, I get to understand the way Apple Motion works as Allen carefully walks through the essential features, including Generators, Layers, Objects, Particles, Behaviors, Keying, and Keyframes.

While Adobe After Effects and Macromedia Flash rely heavily on their Timelines for animation, Apple Motion comes with a Timeline, but not necessarily as its main feature. As a Flash veteran, I could not imagine creating motion graphics without a Timeline (except for ActionScript programming), but Allen proves me wrong. Throughout the lessons, I rarely pick up the Timeline and still am able to create animated effects with the “Mini-Timeline,” Behaviors, and Particles. Not having to invest tremendous amount of time to get comfortable with the Timeline is an advantage for beginners. They can jump right in to create dazzling motion design.

Although Motion is 500 plus pages, it takes me about ten hours to complete fourteen chapters. Each lesson is clearly explained with step-by-step instructions along with full color screenshots to complement the exercise. The hands-on trainings progress seamlessly from introducing the fundamental concepts to using templates to producing title sequence and a DVD motion menu. Allen’s sense of humor helps keep the reader moving through the lessons quickly and painlessly. After completing this book, I am ready to leave Flash to pick up Motion for producing web motion graphics and then go back to Flash for interactivities.

The strength of Apple Motion is its ease of use and its professional result. Experimenting is a great way to learn, but understanding the way Apple Motion behaves will save you an enormous amount of time, and that is where Allen’s Motion comes in to play. Read the book, comprehend the basic concepts, and go wild. As for Apple Pro Training Series, I am looking forward to other titles for the well-thought out exercises to learn Apple’s products.

I read Song Vinh’s journal every day. Once in a while, he reveals a poem or two; therefore, I’ve already gotten a glimpse of his work. When he announced the release of Huong Mua, I was excited and could not wait to get my hands on his book of poems.

Huong Mua is a gift from Song Vinh to many of us, expatriate Vietnamese, whose bodies are living in other lands but whose hearts and souls will never leave our homeland. In “Thang Tu, XXIX,” he shares, “Toi thanh goc My coi long Viet Nam.” Even when he becomes an American citizen, his roots are still in Viet Nam. He uses the words “luu vong (in exile)” and “tha huong (release from homeland)” repeatedly throughout his poems to describe our lost state of mind. His words speak eloquently the reality of our lives in other countries. In “Than Phan,” he expresses, “Gom thay cai canh tha huong / hai muon nam van khong thuong que nguoi.” Twenty years later, he still cannot fall in love with another ground. I am sure many of us feel the same way.

Beside the love for our homeland, Song Vinh is also a kind-hearted man who appreciates everything around him. In “Dem o B645/E207,” he describes his bitterness, witnessing an elderly Vietnamese man who takes out the trash from his office, even though there is nothing wrong with being a janitor. He reminds us in “Thi Tham Voi Nhau” to dream of simple life instead of desiring the whole heaven. He goes into his personal life in “Thinh Thoang” as an orphan child who misses his mother.

From reading his work, I truly respect Song Vinh for his use of language. His rhyme schemes are minimal yet he is able to paint images that are both aesthetically beautiful and easy to visualize. I like his use of personification in “Chuyen Mua” as he describes, “Xe lan nhip moi qua cau / Cham cay den do cho lau cung danh.” He gives the car human characteristics as she rolls tiredly over the bridge, hits the “tree” (a red light) so she must stop. Many of his wordplays are artfully constructed. In “Thang Tu 2” he forms a line of eight words consisting of Trinh Cong Son’s song titles such as “uoc mi bien nho mot loi chia tay.” The technique is both innovative and clever.

Christmas is around the corner and what could be better than a gift filled with beautiful poetry in your native language? Huong Mua is unquestionably a perfect present for any overseas Vietnamese. For those, including me, who would like to learn and broaden our native language, this book is highly recommended. His words are simple yet they are filled with emotion and liveliness.

Why a double album loads with boring fillers instead of one solid LP? Street’s Disciple contains enough songs for one disk but not two. Nas needs to drop half dozens of the boring tracks that serve nothing but interrupt the experience. In contrast, why didn’t “Serious” featuring AZ make it to the album? It’s a beautiful teamwork joint.

Nas is undoubtedly a talented lyricist. His rhymes are as sharp as always. On “A Message to the Feds, Sincerely, We the People,” the beat hits hard, Nas spits harder, especially when he switches up his flow on the second verse. “Nazareth” and “American Way” continue to bring the noise with his lyrical skills. On “These Are Our Heroes” and “Disciple,” he flow fearlessly on the beats. “Sekou Story” has a cool funk vibe that blends in with Nas’s smooth delivery; however, I would prefer AZ instead of Scarlett on Nas’s collaboration. Speaking of joint effort, Nas and his pop (Olu Dara) surely are “Bridging the Gap” between blue and hip-hop. “Street’s Disciple” is another beautiful work between father and son. Nas has done a clever job of telling Rakim’s life/rap story on “U.R.B.” Can’t wait to hear the unauthorized biography of KRS-1. “War” is another fine flow and literal lyrics from Nas. The descriptive lyrical content on “Thief’s Theme” establishes his incisive mind.

With a handful of hot tracks, Nas proves to have something that everyone still wants to hear even he has been in the game for more than 10 years. Street’s Disciple, once again, demonstrates his highly literate street aesthetics. Although the double album wastes some spaces, it is still worth purchasing.

Tinh Music are having a tough time moving forward with their 12th video even though they had spent a year in production. The success of their previous video (Tinh 11) has raised the bar in creating Vietnamese MTV. They have move beyond pasting performers on the scenes, which no one cares to watch. I have seen many of these boring karaoke-like videos in the past and recently from Blue Ocean Music.

Tinh Production have improved their cinematography with beautiful settings and computer generated effects. With the opening “Lien Khuc Cha Cha Cha,” the beats are fresh; the chics are hot (especially Minh Tuyet and Ha Vy); and the special effects are edgy. Minh Tuyet did it again with an emotional performance on “Dau Co Muon Mang.” Phi Nhung’s “Ao Xanh” is the best video on the entire DVD. Her singing is good but the little girl’s performance is exceptional. The story behind “Ao Xanh” based on Phi Nhung’s childhood drama when a car accident killed her mother. The little girl is so convincing and she has some characteristics that resembling Phi Nhung. Props to the director for casting a perfect character. Truong Vu’s “Lien Khuc Con Nho Nguoi Yeu” is another well-crafted video with a plot. We all know about the trend of marrying the girls in Vietnam and the divorcing 3 years later after she gets her Green card. It’s the kind of story that we can relate to. Beside the performances mentioned, the rest are from average to straight boring.

Even though the cinematography has improved tremendously (the gorgeous filming on Diem Lien’s “Vang Toc Roi”), the lacking of storyline behind the video is a major drawback on Tinh 12. The filming is beautiful but viewers will get tired of it if there is nothing to draw them in. The music arrangements are fresh but Tinh productions are still recycling too many old songs. The comedy skits are tedious and the hosts (Minh Nhi and Phi Nhung) are hideous. What were they thinking? Putting Phi Nhung on the hosting spot? She is cute and all but doesn’t have the talking skill. Que Huong Tinh Yeu va Tuoi Tre 12 is a huge disappointment.

On the first encountering of Hong Nhung’s performance in Trinh Cong Son’s “Nho Mua Thu Ha Noi (Recollection of Ha Noi’s Fall),” I had a feeling that she would do well on any song that is relating to the lovely Ha Noi capital. After many hours of searching through the old CD piles from three different Vietnamese music stores in Philly, I found Doan Khuc Mua Thu Ha Noi, Hong Nhung’s debut album featuring 10 songs written about Ha Noi. As I had predicted, Hong Nhung performances were exceptional and I was hooked on the album.

Although I was not borned and raised in Ha Noi, I could imagine its attractiveness qualities through Hong Nhung’s emotional vocals and the writers’ descriptive lyrics. Her natural delivery is the key success in these performances. Her voice sounds simple on the outer surface but packs with deep emotionalism down inside. From Hoang Hiep’s “Nho Ve Ha Noi (Remember Ha Noi)” to Hoang Duong’s “Huong Ve Ha Noi (Toward Ha Noi)” to Duong Thu’s “Mong Ve Ha Noi (Desire Ha Noi),” she takes listeners on a tour of Ha Noi along the gorgeous Ho Tay river, passing the green tree-lined streets, breathing the fresh scent of the buddings’ cream (Hoa Sua), and feeling the gentle breezes of Ha Noi’s autumn.

Elsewhere she blows new vibes into Trong Dai’s “Ha Noi Dem Tro Gio (A Windy Night in Ha Noi),” Truong Quy Hai’s “Ha Noi Mua Nhung Con Mua (Missing Rains of Ha Noi),” Tran Thu’s “Chieu Ho Guom (Evening of Ho Guom),” Phu Quang’s “Em Oi Ha Noi Pho (My Dear! Ha Noi City),” and Trinh Cong Son’s “Doan Khuc Thu Ha Noi (The Symphony of Ha Noi’s Fall).” She has done a fantastic job of expressing and renewing the writers’ poetic lyrics. Even with Doan Chuan and Tu Linh’s “Gui Nguoi Em Gai (To the Girl Going South), Hong Nhung comes close to Tuan Ngoc’s untouchable performance with her unique style.

Doan Khuc Thu Ha Noi is perfect in every aspect. The theme, the lyrics, the performances, and the musical productions are flawless. It’s rare to see such a cohesive collection where every track carries its own weight and the scale would tip if a song were left out. Much love and respect to Hong Nhung for this precious work of art.

My English tutor uses Picturing Texts by Lester Faigley, Diana George, Anna Palchik, and Cynthia Selfe to develop my writing. I must confess, this is the first textbook that I read from cover to cover, and many revisits are necessary. Design has always been my passion, and I am working on my writing; therefore, this book matches my interests.

Picturing Texts breaks down into seven detailed chapters, from exploring (“Picturing Texts”) to analyzing (“Looking Closer”) to evaluating (“Making Lives Visible,” “Representing Others,” and “Constructing Realities”) to recognizing (“Picturing Argument”) and to constructing (“Designing Texts”) the visual texts. The authors have done an exceptional job of explaining each topic with visual examples along the way to make their points clear. The strength of Picturing Texts is the insightful essays written by professional writers and designers. My favorite pieces include: the disturbing family home video of “What’s Wrong With This Picture” by Michelle Citron, the psychological driving behind advertisements “Shock’s Next Wave” by Bruce Grierson, the interesting theory of “Squaring the Circle” by Jessica Helfard, the creative process using comic and words of “Through the Door: Digital Production” by Scott McCloud, and the misrepresentation of “In Brochures, What You See Isn’t Necessarily What You Get” by Jennifer Jacobson.

Of course, you can’t get away with writing and designing assignments from a textbook; however, these exercises are well developed to help you expand your writing and juice up your creativities instead of stressing you out like a Biology textbook does. Furthermore, the book features work from the provocative concept designer Tibor Kalman, the brilliant typographer Paula Scher (check out her brief documentary video from Adobe Studio), and many other well-known artists to get you inspired.

The Web is a perfect medium for bringing words and images together. While Picturing Texts makes many references to the Internet, it does not delve into hypertexts and online writing. Other than the lack coverage for Web writing, Picturing Texts is an essential textbook that appeals to both writers and designers. Thanks to my English tutor for sharing the book. Now I hope to pass it on to you.

Want to turn your sleepy eyes into glamorous eyes? Proceed with caution (actual surgeon photos) Upper Eyelid Asian Blepharoplasty. I think my piggy eyes are looking just fine.

Chai Vang (sounds like a Vietnamese name) killed 5 hunters. He is out of his damn mind.

The misuse of Photoshop could be quite hurtful. Via Song Vinh.

The Anal Massage straight from Target for $35.96. What a perfect gift! In case the link breaks, here is the screenshot