my life in 10 weeks

I am wrapping up yet another quarter. I have just one more project to turn in before I have three weeks of break which include a trip to Miami! While you might not be able to tell from my blog I've actually been doing very well on my photo taking. As I browse through my last few weeks I find that you can tell that my life revolves around classes and projects because that is what a majority of my photos chronicle. I really like that I think to document some of the mundane moments and my process because it's such a large part of my life that it amuses me to have people "like" these photos when they're viewed out of context.

I thought I'd do a little round-up of my school-related photos from the previous 10 weeks.

1. A slide that make me chuckle from a speaker at the Design Ethos conference that SCAD hosted.  2. A bit of process for my 3D project.  3. My friend's extraordinary interview skills for her thesis project.  4. Some napkin sketching action during drinks with a friend.  5. Practicing printing transfer for my final packaging projects.  6. Fun vinyl stickers that I made for my 3D project.  7. Actual PB&J sandwiches that I made and packaged for my class to enjoy.  8. Final's weekend to-do list that I'm still in the process of completing.

inside my school bag

A new SCAD quarter just started yesterday and while it's still a tad organized I thought I'd share what I routinely have in my bag.

Clockwise from top left: I've given up on folders and resorted to these great envelopes because I was never one to keep them very tidy anyway. It has a great front pocket on each where I can keep my syllabus handy and it keeps everything in one spot. I always have my mini stapler, glue stick, and white-out on me. My calendar that I rely on to tell me everything. I usually have a couple rolls of washi tape in my bag somewhere because they are great for taping things into my sketchbooks or calendar. An assortment of pens and markers. I'm very loyal to my felt tip marker that I take notes with and it's essential to have large markers handy for brainstorming. My headphones, id card, and chapstick are always inside my wallet. Lately I've taken to carrying a large container of ibuprofen around. And lastly, an assortment of post-its. Very important, and I always find myself searching the bottom of my bag for them!

Quaker – A typeface

This is probably my biggest design accomplishment to date, and it's only halfway done.

This quarter I took the course Typeface Design where I began work on my first typeface entitled Quaker. So far Quaker includes uppercase glyphs, numbers, and primary punctuation. I'll continue working on them next quarter and complete the full set.

It was inspired by a vintage canvas sugar bag that I saw in an antique store. The starting point was the A and during the design process it is one of the few forms that did not experience significant revisions.

I have a lot of process documentation for this project because I intend to show this in my 45 hour MFA review. Below is a video that shows the designing process for the original six key glyphs and the E. I have over 10,000 frames from the duration of the project so I have to find a way to display them without it becoming an hour long motion picture. I think it is safe to say that I would be the ONLY person interested in that.

sign painting

The focus of my current research project for the Visual Culture course that I am currently taking is the current resurgence of hand painted signage. One of my primary cases studies that I have been using as an example is the company Colossal Media who have successfully established themselves as purveyors of hand painted outdoor media. Their work can be seen in several of the U.S.'s major markets and is (I believe) contributing to the medium's reemergence. Watch this video and you'll understand. One thing that I think has assisted in the public's* sudden interest is the focus on the process. The development of these works become an installation piece and we can very easily attach a face to the work being created. This skill straddles the line between the fine art and the graphic design, especially when used for advertisements like the work of Colossal Media. It is ironic that I compare this skill to the fine arts because historically and even contemporarily it is rare that those who possess this undeniable skill are considered "artists" in the traditional sense of the term,  instead labeled as craftsmen. This idea of a "craftsman" is also of great interest to me but that is a topic for another time. Primarily because I need to complete a lot more reading on that topic to fully form my opinion. But I digress. I feel that I have happened upon this subject at just the right time because many within my university community (and definitely outside of Savannah too, such as this, this, and this) are also thinking about it.

However, this is also somewhat unfortunate because I would always like to hope that my ideas are new and different but nay, they are not. This brings about another question, though maybe not question but proof, that you are indeed a product of your surroundings. While I don't think sign painting has become a sudden interest to me it has definitely become a new research interest and I wonder how much of that is affected by my surroundings. What have I seen, heard or been exposed to that nudged me in this direction?



*I say public but then quickly realize that as a graduate graphic design student my knowledge of "public" is very skewed. So let's consider this just my small corner of the public.

image from Colossal Media.

background noise

I am rarely not surrounded by some sort of noise; I am your typical twenty-something in that regard. I wake up to music, I walk to class with headphones, and then have an assortment of ways to be auditorially distracted while doing homework. As I write, my favorite Pandora station—Ben Folds—is playing. I am lucky enough that a large chunk of what I do can be improved (or at least made more enjoyable) by having these distractions. Laying out type can get tedious otherwise.

I have quite the system for deciding my distraction of choice so I created a little flow chart of my thought process.

 

Yes, that's right, news. 

I've compiled some of my favorite podcasts that I regularly listen to.

This American Life / Stuff You Missed in History Clas

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me / Radio Lab

Podcast images from iTunes.

SPARKS gallery show

I made my Savannah gallery debut this past Friday in an exhibition featuring the work of my Design Methodologies course that I took over the summer. The show was a smashing success with a fantastic turnout and everyone was extremely encouraging regarding our work.

The entire group and our Professor.

My work.

Just a small sampling of our fantastic turnout!

book work

For my Typography course this quarter I had the opportunity to try my hand at bookbinding for the first time. It took me several attempts to get my stitch down for the style binding I ended up using but I am very happy with the result! Here's some quick photos of the finished product before I turn it in this evening.