33. take field trips

words cannot do this place justice, so i'll let the photos do the talking. just know it's even crazier in person.

please support globe and buy some of their legendary show posters. they would sure make good christmas presents (not that i'm considering doing that for anyone or anything...) and are worth way more than these modest guys would ever admit.

you can also check out this recent city paper feature for more about globe.

things i wish i had thought of

here's to the things i come across that make me wonder why i even bother. (and i mean that in the least self-discourging way possible.) classic tibor kalman. geeky graphic design for the pure enjoyment of other graphic designers. tara donovan (my newest discovery.) and the clever napkin notebook i spotted at urban outfitters. (that kind of started this collection to begin with.)

proccess

this past sunday night i was extremely anxious about an assignment. (something i usually steer away from admiting.) all for this final picture. and a whopping five minutes of individual critique.

for gd 1, bernard asked for stories to relate to words in our expressive type project. (a project that began with another maddening 30 words x 30 sketches type thing.) and, seemingly, the more bs in the story the better. out of five final ideas/stories/words, i decided to go with "panic" and do something with lists. it was easy (at first) and i knew i could do it well (where the comfort zone comes in.) it wasn't until this last phase of development that i realized i was stuck with something stagnant.

i asked tara for help on this one. i had emailed bernard last week an orderly picture of a to do list with panic written on my hand. i saw nothing to be concerned about with it. it was a good piece of design. his response? make the list longer. write sloppier. mispell things. take away the student context. get rid of the check boxes. which was exactly tara's reaction. i am so used to keeping it all together, that even when i should be allowed to panic, i put up this front of calm and order. and have been, for this most part, unaware that this is how i work.

an hour or so later, and after tara helped me devise a stress simulation for stephanie to write out a list of things to do, i went back in my room and set up the lighting and re-drew the word on my hand and started taking pictures. until tara came in and stopped me again. i still had way too much control. (puts "let go" in a different light. but that's another tangent...) she started dumping my carefully color coded pen cups and throwing my books around. and there i had it.

it was a small art school milestone for me. first, i usually don't ask for outside help or opinions. i don't know quite how this idea developed, but i came here thinking that you should push yourself to discover the solution on your own. i didn't factor in the fact that you inevitably end up going in circles in your head and an outside opinion becomes desperately needed. but i'm getting better with that all. and i know that i am being pushed out of my comfort zone here. such arbitrary design is not my cup of tea. but i hope that eventually what i will develop is a way of designing that falls somewhere between simple and straightforward (and usually cliche) and totally random. i'm thinking a lot about hashing out the details of what makes my approach to design unique. (i started a word document a few days ago for a personal design manifesto.)

here's something related/unrelated that i jotted down a few days ago. just some more thinking out loud. (kind of the point of the blog to begin with...)

you learn a lot about who you are as an artist by analyzing other artists you like. for me, i struggle with feeling guilty for making art void of intention, and i put this pressure on myself to make art with a purpose. so much so that the process is forced and the purpose becomes fake. (like using "we are the world" as a rallying cry. i don't ever want the stuff i do to come off like that.) but when i think of music i like to listen to (sufjan stevens, kanye west) it's stuff that has subtle undertones of scratching at something bigger. because music/art gives you the venue to do that in a creative investigative state (ambiguity over the limits of analyzation.) and i realize that i would like my body of work to be seen in the same light. as overall moving towards something more meaningful that pure art, but without loosing perspective. or forgetting that i should be having fun with it. ultimately you want to enjoy what you do, and any impact it prompts will be an added bonus. (and coming from a more genuine place.)

social studies

some notes from the social studies conference
(i apologize for the hierachy, or lack thereof, in this one.)

-the biggest danger is not teaching the craft. creativity will come as the challenge arises. we don't have to worry about that. the biggest danger is lack of vision.
-be open to what you didn't necessarily train for. go outside the field.
-this is where knowing how to kern means nothing. this is all about being a creative thinker.
-walk to participate in daily life. to disengage from constant productivity. walk for fresh air.
-face to face sometimes makes for more distance.
-what's the difference between a forager and a looter? a patriot and a shooter? it's all in the marking, my friends. it's all in the marketing.
-it's not about building rome, but building the bricks for someone else to build rome.

because this was a conference for design educators, there were different teaching goals that kept popping up. there was a presentation on "designing the next paradigm" that did a good job summarizing what skills in particular design educators should be fostering in students today:
-relinquishing control (what's the point in a beautiful rag when someone can just ctrl+ or ctnl-)
-handling complexity
-designing for participants not users
-thinking critically (filtering through information overload into something clear & useful)
-listening
(and then how exactly they should go about promoting the above...)
-dump the simple to complex method
-remove the idea of ownership
-allow students to lead sometimes
-instill social responsibility
foster a broader education

it's nice to see the flip side of the coin, and know what i should be demanding from my classes. and don't quote me on this (ever) but it did make me (kinda) want to be a teacher. just because i started thinking in my head what my design philosophies are, and how cool it would be to be able to pass them on in a classroom. a lot of what the presenters got at reminded me of an article, "what your students want, even if they don't know it yet," that i stumbled upon through the project m lab website. (it's labeled "future history", the link is under "articles.") and a lot of the strategies the article suggest actually reminded me of finding baltimore.

and, finally, some scott stowell genius:
-i don't want to make something that i don't want to exist, or help people i don't want to help (on choosing projects)
-i want to make videos for people that hate jazz. you already have the jazz fans. what about the people that have been dragged here by their spouse? we want to get you more fans. (on target audience for the jazz at lincoln center videos)
-try to work on something more than you are allowed to. (on working with clients)
-hire people that are better than you. (on building a team.)

(personal notes: this conference made me want to stop using trade gothic. and made me appreciate bernard's demand to "tell me a story." because without that presentations suck.)

design (re)affirmation

after sitting through a day (plus some) of the social studies design conference ("educating designers in a connected world") being put on by the mica graphic design mfa guys this fall break, i am reassured more than ever that design can move mountains. even if it is by simply going back to the basics and designing a poster with a purpose. a message. i've been taking so many notes, but for now i just want to share a link, beautiful angle, that was suggested to me by someone during the conference. it's two artists in tacoma, washington who are using letterpress to design a discourse in their city. i can't think of a better connection between all of the design educator's discussions at the conference and my own focus right now on community arts/social design/urbanism by way of "studio baltimore." (scott stowell aside. obviously.) some really good stuff and thoughtful words.

practice voting for something a little less heavy

check out the designs that have been nominated for the people's design awards at the cooper-hewitt and cast a vote or two. it's part of their national design week, which i guess actually starts today!

visionary thinking

today i took a group to the american visionary art museum (part of my little "museum a month" series as a program manager.) they had just opened their new exhibition, "the marriage of art, science, and philosophy." and after being blown away by the last one ("all faiths beautiful") i was a little disappointed. the things that were so engaging before, like the wall text in particular, seemed to only be re-canned (the fonts were exactly the same), just with different content. i was able to get some awesome quotes. but, unfortunately the experience felt like nothing new. (i hold my praise for innovative exhibitions that flawlessly combine the two.)

spending less time at that exhibition did, however, give me the chance to venture over to a building of the museum i had never looked in before. upstairs was a small installation about jim rouse, a maryland urban planner. seeing this social visionary among the artistic visionaries shown in the rest of the museum (outsider art, obsessive compulsive creations, prison art) was a suprise. and much more up my alley. a social visionary, as defined by avam, champions and furthers what is best about being human. that simple. that huge. i sat infront of this wall text and copied it word for word. i love when i find a "manifesto" like this that says so much in such a straightforward way.

1. expand the definition of a worthwhile human life.
we must hold fast to the realization that our cities are for people and unless they work well for people they are not working well at all. as the peopl of the world learn what is possible, they will demand that their cities be geared to the humane and the beautiful.

2. engender respect for and delight in the gifts of others.
surely the most civilized city would be one in which the dignity of the individual human being would be so elevated that the bringing forth of his gifts and talents for his own fullfillment in the service of man would be the ultimate objective.

3. increase awareness of the wide variety of choices available in life for all - particularly students.
approach the world out there confidently, optimistically, with brilliant expectations. it is a world full of exciting opportunities beyond anything that you can imagine. i envy you your futures. pay no heed to the no-sayers, the preachers-of-gloom, and the heavy hearted who see the world dismally.

4. encourage each individual to build upon his or her special knowledge and inner strengths.
thus, the most important single fact is that we have in our hands the opportunity to make our city - in our generation - the most livable, the most beautiful, and the most effective city in america.

5. promote the use of innate intelligence, intuition, self-exploration, and creative self-reliance.
the best way to attack any problem is to ask what things would be like if they worked.

6. confirm the great hunger for finding out just what each of us can do best, in our own voice, at any age.
the way to find new opportunities is to discover needs or yearnings of people that are not being satisfactorily met. the way to prosper is to do that well.

7. empower the individual to choose to do that something really, really well.
for many years i have worked with the conviction that what ought to be, can be, with the will to make it so. may we rise up in this country in an army of thinking that this job aught to be done, can be done, will be done.

-the seven educational goals of the american visionary art museum, with wisdom from jim rouse.

i finally met with mike patterson on friday to share my leadershape project/vision. i mentioned it briefly before, but never really explained what the thought was. here it goes (this is from my leadershape "breakthrough blueprint"):

i want to create a future where mica students and baltimore communities are connected. where students are challenged to break the mica bubble and bridge the gap between art for arts sake and art that makes things happen. i plan to implement a program (using the "finding baltimore" foundation elective as inspiration) that gives the entire student body the opportunity to explore a batimore neighborhood in three stages. 1. visiting the neighborhood/debriefing the experience. 2. developing a plan of action. 3. returning to the community and implementing something that initiates change.

that's my project. distilled to its simplest elements. there is a lot more that i won't get into right now. before i could let myself start to really pin it down and putting it on paper, i was kept getting hung up on branding. what the heck do i call this? how do i sum it all up? the first idea out of mike's mouth? "studio baltimore." and that's it. perfect. i feel like things are ready to come together. especially after stumbling across the above words at avam. and getting an email from donaghy with this link to ideo's design for social impact guide. and finally sitting down to watch the wire last night. i'm excited to start fleshing it all out.

good timing for a fall break...

ps. here's a little glimpse into my crazy color mind. why orange? it's the color of my dorm walls in the gateway. the color of the post titles on this blog. the color of the couch in the wire. it's the color of the crab in the new baltimore logo. it's part of the extended palette of the new mica logo. and it was my class color in high school.

dive into graphic design. get dirty.

one thing this summer was good for: spending time on design websites and following links without end from the comfort of my own home. i'm calling it preparation. because this year i actually take graphic design classes. even though my ocd design sensibility found its way into just about everything i did foundation year anyway, i am still a little nervous to start taking classes for real. i totally have to step up my game. it's been so nice to kind of just do my thing design wise without judgment or guidelines. but it's time for that to change. it's too easy when it's just on your own terms. i need to add in the pressure of insanely good peers and insanely challenging professors. and i've been told that the technical tricks of photoshop/illustrator/etc. never really get taught. you just have to come in knowing those things. so i'm trying to soak some of this in, without "soaking it in." there are lots of designers (fellow students, recent grads, and old folks) out there doing crazy cool stuff.

so here are the fruits of my summer labors, a short list of people and links...

alex ostrowski
amin musa
ethan bodnar
kasper ledet
leslie kwok
matthew burvill
monica nelson
nikolay saveliev
rose reeves
thomas brooks
william davis

graphic designers are geeks (and we like it that way...)

i live under a rock. but last night i found myself at a show in a pretty cool gallery (with a map of baltimore painted on the walls that i couldn't take my eyes off of...) called the current gallery. the baltimore music scene is something i don't really know a lot about (rock, remember.) but it's thriving. thriving enough for rolling stone to name baltimore the "best scene of 2008." and there are so so many places i haven't even been and bands i don't even know about. on the plus side, i have three more years here to find things out...

how did i end up out from under said rock? i was told that a band comprised of two gd faculty would be playing. which sounded enticing. and, no, unfortunately, it wasn't ellen lupton. but it was just as good: two totally geeky graphic designers, bruce willen and nolen strals, from the design group post typography. post typography is already amazing. but when i realized that they also had a band... i was impressed. i was joking when i asked if they played music about graphic design. they do. really loud music about graphic design. with screaming lyrics about graphic design. (the band is called double dagger. come on...) they were so entertaining to watch.

all i can says is... i can't wait to have these guys for experimental typography! so ridiculous.

community, connecting, and change

donaghy once told me that as soon as you start finding dots and accepting the challenge of connecting them, the more they start flying out at you. that couldn't be more true than right now.

i met today with someone who is an osi fellow in baltimore. she has been working towards this idea of displaying "art banners" in neighborhoods, and came across "a neighborhood called baltimore" when we had a table set up at the walters a few weeks ago. she sent paula an email, suprised that she had never heard of our project, because it was so similar to what she was working on. i gathered a group of mica students who are all simultaneously working towards the same sort of baltimore oriented stuff (lauren and stephanie from ancb. carey who is working on selecting colors with and for communities. and andy who is making a vectorized map of baltimore, something that has some pretty huge potential.) and we all met with her at cafe doris to hear her plans. i didn't quite know what to think afterwards. what is our role in all of it? besides the obvious connections. and can i really commit to another collaboration? to be honest though, i think she needs us on her team.

afterwards, carey and i talked, each trying to figure out how we felt about the meeting and idea. we're both graphic designers, so the way we see things is very similar. besides the font and color choice on her mock up, there were obvious flaws in her concept that we were able to pick up on just from the work we've done in the community since coming to baltimore. sometime during our conversation we realized that we both have bernard canniffe next monday for graphic design 1. carey started talking about all of the amazing things bernard is doing. and the role he sees graphic design playing in baltimore. he told me about piece studio, which i was clueless about. i had him send me the link to the website right away.

i had the weirdest feeling as i watched the page load and began to read the text. maybe its the feeling that the world isn't as big as you had once thought. that it's even smaller. so many of us are on the same page. how can i have been here for so long, and not know this existed? i can't believe that such a force was coming out of mica, and i had no idea.

and especially to find this all after leaving my critique with fabienne yesterday a little bit unsure about the direction i would be pushed in by the graphic design department next year. now, more than ever, i know that this is where i need to be. next year i will get to learn from, and work with, these extremely talented designers who are practicing design in a way that gets me really giddy. and to go back even further and make a connection... two of them have been big players in something called project m. they did some incredible stuff last summer that i remember reading about in good magazine. i ripped it out and stuck it in my cap sketchbook last summer. because that is truly my idea of community arts.

helvetica!

mica gd majors and closet typography enthusiasts from the community gathered tonight to, in the words of ellen lupton, "celebrate and worship our favorite typeface." helvetica. this was my first time seeing the documentary. i've been waiting. (all i wanted for christmas was the helvetica gift set... but unfortunately the helvetica coffee cup was sold out. caffeine and typography... i really cannot think of any better combination.) and waiting. (i had to live vicariously through tara when she watched it in her first intro to gd class.) & i've been told by so many other graphic designers that it will explain "why you are the way you are." (so true...) the documentary thoughtfully covers both sides of the helvetica debate. & it is as much of an investigation/appreciation of visual society as it is an investigation/appreciation of one swiss typeface that has rocked the world of graphic design for fifty years. such a fun night.

here's some hard core helvetica links if you want to turn up the typographic heat...
helvetica, the film
the history of helvetica
happy birthday, helvetica!
helvetica: homage to a typeface
quiz: helvetica or arial? (very tricky. thanks for showing me this one, dan.)

book a week (pt. two)

i'm still on a design stint in the book department. this time around i grabbed books with interesting internal organization. i'm really interested in the process of writing a book... how to make each page efficient & effective, and contribute overall to a cohesive book. & i picked "problems of design" because i'm suddenly interested in the shortcomings of this graphic design obsession. i need to be able to intelligently hold my ground when confronted with justifying art for a purpose. i need to be aware of the flaws and push myself to confront them. i don't even know if that will really be what the book addresses (especially since it is copyrighted 1957. should be interesting.) but i liked this already from it: "truth is a most important quality in design of any dimension and people tend to recognize it when they see it."

week two:

"problems of design"- george nelson
"readymade: how to make (almost) everything, a do-it-yourself primer"- shoshana berger & grace hawthorne
"designing for people"- henry dreyfus

design blog binge

last night i was on a roll. i can't even remember where i started. or how many windows i had going on at once. so i figured i'd share some of the design bookmarks i've been accumulating. here's some old favorites and some new finds. enjoy.

abby clawson low
aesthetic apparatus
aiga design archives
ali edwards
bembo's zoo
bruce mau
compendium inc.
cooper hewitt
design 21
design sponge
ellen lupton
emigre
ideo
i love typography
kate spade
open
pentagram
push me pull you
post typography
quipsologies
speak up
urban forest project
veer
you are beautiful

and i'm sure i'm missing something. but i'll just keep adding to this post as i come across more.

"the best design does not come from knowing 2,000 typefaces and 6 macintosh programs by heart. it comes from having a life and being observant and involved in the world at large."
-randal balsmeyer

on the campaign trail

disclaimer: usually i'm not one to shove political beliefs down peoples throats. but this election is important. if it bothers you, get over yourself and read the next post or something.

i didn't have cable at school, so being back at home has let me watch a little bit more news. recently, a news clip of barack obama caught my eye. all i saw behind him was the word believe in big white helvetica on black. (look familiar? it should. talk about drawing connections.) presidential campaigns means some seriously crucial typography. i'm not preaching, obama just has some good graphic design.

so is it completely unfounded to have your vote swayed by a savvy ad campaign? (check out this critique of the campaigns: it's called "reading tea leaves and campaign logos.") not so much. i've made a lot of choices based on subtle signs. and they've worked out so far. (except for when i rented "babel" from chart hits video because i liked the graphic design on the front. ooops.)

moral of all this psuedo-political banter:
you have good instincts. trust them.

back to watching the democratic debates. change is such a loaded word...



EDIT: juste pour rire from my friends at speak up

if i were a font, what font would i be?

my metaphorical self-portrait from drawing today.

if i were a font, i would have to go with a bold all caps helvetica, a little bit of adobe garamond, with some signature up in there.

graphic design and a bang up time

"certain people get their energy from problems they bring to themselves. they become sculptors, painters... other people get their energy from solving problems that others bring to them. they become graphic designers. " - chris pullman

the baltimore musuem of art held a super cool symposium tonight called "design for community" as part of the free fall baltimore series. i had been looking forward to it for awhile... (and it was a much needed pick me up after spending the morning getting pieces of glass removed from my feet. long story... but it involves my shoes coming off while in a mosh pit at the gogol bordello concert. gypsy punks bring out a rough crowd.) this event was a chance to hear about graphic design in action, from a perspective outside of MICA and CAP. (even though everything said totally related to both... & reaffirmed my purpose here.)

it was so refreshing to see 5 designers setting the bar high for the design. there tends to be an assumption that the general public is unsophisticated, and graphic designers should lower themselves to their level. the designers presenting could not have been better examples of the fault in that generalization. each project they undertook was prompted the needs of others around them, and they evaluated what their design talent and passion could bring to the table. i don't think enough people use that process in their professions.... "what does the community need?" and "what can i do to make it better?" why can't the carefully selected font of a subway installation or clarity of composition in a census redesign contribute to a community?

i was giddy the whole night. it was just a fun, happy atmosphere. those are my kind of people.

check out some of their work below...

sheila levrant de bretteville: new york a train terminus
wendy brawer: green map
sylvia harris: information design strategist
chris pullman: WGBH boston
mark randall: worldstudio foundation, the urban forest project

ahhhhhhhh!

ok. so i know it's late. but i just had to share this.

www.posttypography.com

i love stumbling across stuff like this. i feel like i just hit the jackpot.

warning: do not go to this website until you can spend quality time with it. trust me, you'll never be able to tear yourself away from it...

workplace perks

yup. i have a job. no joke. i totally stumbled into it… & right when i was starting to get way too comfortable with my summer lifestyle. (all the sleeping in & such...) i went to just help out with the opening of the store, and left that day with a key to the place. crazy, right? anyway, i'm working with all things interior design. which brings me to perk #1…

perk #1: yes, it’s been years since i've even thought about interior design, (aside from the occasional dosage of hgtv… divine design shout out.) but, way back when, i was totally into it. i actually did the whole job shadow thing (with the designer i’m working for now) for careers class back in 7th grade. but the point of that trip down memory lane is… i’m being exposed to a different kind of design. i’m recognizing the differences (all of the furniture company names that i don’t even have any idea how to pronounce) & the similarities (the way it all just comes down to playing with space… colors & objects & the untangible aspects that make something “work”).

perk #2: i’m also being exposed to a new leadership style. the owner is so nonchalant about everything… i love it. i don’t know how she does it all. but she is living her dream (opening this home & garden store), running her own business (even though i’m sure she doesn’t need to), managing to be super mom, & is still totally grounded.

perk #3: decorative packing tape. so cool. the one thing in the store that got me giddy. a must have.

perk #4: a paycheck. enough said. just working on keeping it in the bank.

perk #5: i finally know how to use a fax machine. will come in handy for any office related job i may have in my future as a starving artist.

perk #6: i’m learning how to run a store from a behind the scenes pov. i’m soaking everything in while the wheels in my head are turning and planning. i could do this. & i’ve always wanted to own a scrapbooking store.

right now:

totally energized. i am literally at the edge of my seat... eyes wide open staring at the computer monitor. i love being able to start at any given website and let myself be pulled in different directions. tonight was no exception. totally inspiring.

i started with good magazine. (http://www.goodmagazine.com/. i forgot how much more i could delve into that one issue i picked up at the lake forest book store - the only good thing that came out of that college visit. no pun intended.)

good directed me to the design 21 website. (http://www.design21sdn.com/.) absolutely genius. so many words of truth. and comforting to read of other people thinking about the same things i think about.

design 21 led me to their blog & jennifer leonard. (also genius.) who just happens to have co-written massive change by way of the institute without boundaries. and despite the amount of obsessing i have done over massive change...

i realized i had never really looked into the institute without boundaries. (http://www.institutewithoutboundaries.com/.) so that was where i was pulled next. still on the edge of my seat. it's crazy... but i'm left with this overwhelming feeling that i need to be there. and that four years can't go by fast enough.

yup. bruce mau will do that to me.


thoughts i thought were worth noting on social design:

it’s more like a revolving panorama of anecdotes from all layers of life and all sorts of skill sets that individually and collectively give us reason to keep on keepin’ on.

it’s about those characters out there who give a damn and make an effort because their soul urges them to and won’t let them rest if they don’t.

when someone alters his or her behavior in a positive way in response to any deliberate message that ultimately could benefit the greater good, that is social design. the message could be a poster, campaign, product, or a modified environment, etc. but it provokes and challenges people to think beyond themselves.