It’s a wonderful life

Pickin’s are slim at my house for Christmas this year so I decided to have a DIY Christmas. There’s nothing like decorating to kick-start Christmas cheer! I made these easy (not to mention free) decorations out of paper. It was so easy. If you’re like me the paper snowflakes that you made in elementary school always looked like ancient Aztec symbols; but I looked up a few different online templates on Pinterest to figure out how the flakes work, and it was so easy after that! I also made these stars and this paper Christmas tree while I was at it.

Decorations aren’t all that you can DIY for Christmas, I also made a few headbands along the way. So far I’ve made a few out of tee shirts and embellishments and a few knit pieces. Hopefully I can finish up before Christmas is here!

If you’re having trouble with money this Christmas it never hurts to give a hand made gift!

Work and Play

Hey guys! Its December, and you know what that means…exams! Well I will start off by saying thank goodness for the end of the semester! It’s been a toughie! But with hard work comes hard play, and so I couldn’t miss MAINX24 last weekend!

If you’re from around here then you probably already know that MAINX24 is a giant block party thrown by the all the businesses on Main street. The celebration lasts 24 hours, beginning with lard fried doughnuts at the local bakery, Niedlov’s Breadworks, and ending with the burning of a giant wood sculpture and The Main Event at Track 29, featuring The Wailers. It was a fun filled day!

I finished out the semester with my final Typography II digital portfolio, my book, Bite Me: Mom Libs, and it’s promotional website. I have learned so much this semester! It’s been a great first semester since my acceptance into the program, and I can’t wait for what’s next.

View my Typography II portfolio on SpeakerDeck. 

View my book on Blurb.

These next two and the video are from MAINX24. The first is my friend Nick walking in the Collective Clothing fashion show. The second is a shot from the Velo bike derby. The third is a video of my friend Nick riding the electric bull. He did pretty well if I do say so myself.

50 Albums 50 Days 50 Typefaces

The first assignment we received in Typography II was the 50x50x50 project. Each Monday we turned in five album covers, all of which followed mildly strict guidelines.  The assignment was clear:

• Use a different album and typeface for each cover

• No color; gray scale only

• Content must include artist name, album title, track numbers, track times, and track titles

• No imagery, use only line, stroke, and type

• You must complete the design in the time it takes to listen to the album

So after ten weeks here is the finished result! Some are much more refined than others, but it was a great weekly exercise that enabled quicker design decisions and a chance to think outside the box. I’m going to miss my weekly play time!

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Happy Halloween!

I have had a productive weekend! I started out with pumpkin carving on the porch.

Then my roommates and I hosted a Halloween party at our place.

I finished up the weekend with a Typography project. We were assigned articles and a small set of images to layout on a four page spread, but there was a catch: no computers! It was a refreshing exercise, and a great way to wrap up the busy weekend.

Charting the Territory

Since I started learning about all of the different processes and materials in the print world I have been itching to design with my new knowledge.  I have always been interested in translucent papers so when I heard that you could print on vellum I was inspired. Naturally when the opportunity presented itself I took advantage.

Each year the Department of Music hires one  Typography II student  to design posters, matching postcards, and jewel case inserts for its Faculty Concert Series.  First we each have to produce the designs, and then the head of the Department of Music will choose the “winning” design.

I focused my design on the concept of layers because it is one thing that I feel applies to both design and music.  I design in layers, and so do composers when they write music.  You can print on both sides of some vellum papers which can create an interesting layered effect, so I ran with it.

Above is a digital rough of  the poster series.  I am picking up the finished pieces tomorrow at Wonder Press, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out (I will post a shot of the finished series when I get it)!  Although you can print on vellum using a laser jet or a copier at home, I decided to let the professionals handle it.  Vellum doesn’t take ink as well as other materials so it can get smudged or smeared very easily.  I hope it turns out according to plan!

Made You Look

photo courtesy of Colours From the Lost http://coloursfromthelost.com/?p=206

I have been reading Made You Look by Stefan Sagmeister.  I’m not finished yet, but I am about half way through it.  Basically this is a biography of Sagmeister’s path to success in the design world, and it’s delightfully refreshing.  In Sagmeister’s traditional bad boy style the title of the book is not shown on the cover, but on the ends of the pages–when you bend the book to fan the pages a message appears.  Sagmeister doesn’t stop there the book is filled with surprises and innovative design along with hand written notes accompanying the text.  This book truly does make you look: I find myself constantly changing the orientation while I am reading to catch every bit of text and detail.

Aside from the stunning design of the book, the bio is equally inspiring.  I find myself relating to Sagmeister’s anti-establishment, humorous, devil-may-care attitude.  It reminds me of my younger high school self.  Reading about Sagmeister’s processes in his designs is fascinating.  I feel like every time I think about design lately my mind goes to Sagmeister.  He truly is an innovator and a rule breaker.  You can’t have innovation unless you break rules…and you can’t break rules without guts and confidence in your designs.  He really is an inspiration.

my freshman year in high school--my mullet in all it's glory (yikes)

 

my graffiti project from Visual Literacy

If you like Sagmeister’s work–or even if you don’t– I recommend this book for sure.  You may also want to check out The Happy Film, Sagmeister’s full length film in which he pursues happiness through meditation, drugs, and other “strategies recommended by psychologists to improve one’s well-being”.

Art Journalist

I have been needing a small sketch book to carry around for my internship and my jewelry class.  I knew that I have tons of old ones lying around so of course I’m not going to go out and buy a new one.  I got out my old art journal from high school.  In my art classes we had to purchase a small sketch book and complete one art journal entry a week that was due on Friday.  Each entry had to include some sort of text and some sort of doodle or finished piece of a media of our choice–my entries were mostly short in their words and filled with doodles.   I came at the project each week (whether a week in advance or ten minutes before it was due) with what ever came to the page.  I find that when I can’t seem to get inspired it’s best just to doodle–let the piece make itself.

At the end of the year we customized our covers and presented our journals in the art show.  Sadly one of my favorite pages was torn out after the show; perhaps it was someone else’s favorite, too.  It may not contain my best work, but I will keep my art journal on my bookshelf as long as I have one.  Maybe it will hold some inspiration for a project in the future.