connect in context

"there he stood, coordinating all of these thoughts with the intensity of one who knew that if he did not, all would fall apart."

words from james barth, an artist featured in mica's "dark poets" exhibition.

trip to the craft show

the good life

by the time friday rolls around, the whole week is basically a blur. good things from this past week:

making hundreds of quarter cards to advertise my trip to the craft fair. & then going to look at the sign up sheet & realizing it was already full. after only one day.

going to the foundry to see some guy liquify granite as part of his senior thesis. seriously the coolest thing.

talking to mike patterson about mica and baltimore and orientation. and higher expectations (for all of the above.)

bringing paula out of hiding and arranging to work at mica's cap convening during spring break.

reaching a new level of my sleepless life.

finishing the a neighborhood called baltimore summary. (it was like project planning all over again... and i loved every minute of it.)

meeting jackie (in her mica shirt) at the airport.

revisiting connect

raw art sale

my first event at mica as the arts & education program manager in student activities. not that i had to do much... the raw art sale is something that pretty much runs itself. it's a really cool opportunity for students to get rid of art & make money. a lot of students took advantage of it this time around. there was so much art to display this morning! & not just prints, which typically dominate, but jewelery, embroidered purses, screenprinted shirts, hand made journals and zines, photography, and some drawings. i found a sweet letterpress orange alphabet for $1 (what a steal!) & set it aside in the back room for when the parents dropped by. which was a good idea. as soon as 10 am rolled around the parents swooped in, grabbing whatever they could find and making off like bandits with stacks and stacks of art. it should be interesting to see what's left for tomorrow!

find the art in the everyday

color spectrum for elements made from found flyers.

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.)