my old hood!

This is a map of my first home in Philadelphia. Working on a project for my friend Josef Reyes, the former editor of Conveyer, for his new zine about Philly. Be sure to click on the image to view the finer details.

sneak peak.

A preview of something I'm working on. ; )

empathy.

If you have a friend/child/parent/significant other who is a Graphic Designer, and yearn to understand what it is that drives them, well....good luck. No,wait, read The Cheese Monkeys, by Chip Kidd. Its a good place to start.

Lesson learned.

The announcement for the annual event Book, Paper, Scissors, held by the Philadelphia Center for the Book. They put a call out for design entries back in August. I submitted two. You can see them below.

I see alot of meaning in the winning design (above). I enjoy it because the graphic is clean and simple; it expresses the fundamentals of what this organization is all about: CMYK, printmaking, and ofcourse books and the paper and sharp objects that create them. The hands are symbolic because they reveal the reason why this organization exists: the enjoyment derived from their products appreciated only through the fingers, hands and eyes. Their art is meant to be touched, rubbed, flipped through, caressed, studied, inspected and handled.

The only thing I see lacking here is the typography. A sign that the creator of this flyer was not a Graphic Designer (this I actually know for a fact), but a printmaker.

When I created my original designs, I just went with the first ideas that popped into my head. After sharing them with a former teacher, I realized I should have researched the organization more before I started. My logo/illustration currently does not in any way convey the principals of the organization. Books like this would have been a great resource. I'm using this as a lesson and going back to "tweak" (or re-create, ha!) my original ideas. I hope to create several versions (a trip back to Vis. Comm 101). Stay tuned! Oh, and I hope you'll attend the event.

the proper way to eat a burrito

My coworkers are OBSESSED with the fast-food restaurant Chipotle, which I have yet learned how to pronounce correctly. We stopped in the other day to grab some burritos. I was instructed by my NAPKIN on how to flawlessly eat mine (burrito). What a great use of printing space! If you have to print legal/recycling info there anyway, why not look at it as a marketing opportunity. Well done, Chipotle, well done!

Little friends

love these guys. Check out their new posters.

Follow.

The Society of Design.

Nuclear Beauty

Over the weekend, some friends and I took a trip to the woods of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. We stayed at a quaint little campground/trailer park known as the Council Cup Campground. It being November and freezing, the place was pretty deserted except for the year-round residents. We met one resident who was the proud owner of a beautiful wolf named Sage. It made me a little sad/confused to see these people living permanently in campers, but who am I to judge...

But I will tell you, if you ARE interested in camping LATE in the fall, this is the place to go. It is quiet, scenic and friendly. My fellow campers and I had a great time staying up till the late hours of the night drinking spiked Cider and singing BonJovi. Although, unlike other camping trips, my most memorable moment from the trip was NOT Anthony catching his foot on fire, Eric eating 8 bowls of Chili nor waking up a victim of spooning. Oh no, this time it was the view of the Nuclear power plant.

Please take a second to glance at the pictures of the majestic Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, a nuclear power plant only a mile or two from our cozy campsite. Friday night, on our ride to Wilkes Barre, we discovered this wonder of nature in the middle of the night. It was truly a beautiful site I will never forget. The two towers, I'll call them "steam towers," stood tall, pouring thick, fluffy clouds of steam into the dark sky. The tall, curvy steam towers are an excellent complement to the very flat surrounding land. Perfect spot for a nuclear plant I suppose. I couldn't find any pictures of them at nite, maybe one day I'll go back and take my own. Its only two hours from Philly.

I remember my first thought being, "Will we see this from our campsite?" Next thought being, "Is the water safe?" I included a screenshot of my google map to show how close we REALLY were. I'll probably be talking about this for weeks, or days atleast. Thanks SSES!


Full-screen

K. Ward

Hahaha, I wish. This is the new album out by M. Ward, who ALSO just released a collaborative album, Monsters of Folk, with Yim Yames, and some guys from Bright Eyes. The reason I'm posting this is not only do I love the music, but the DESIGN OF THIS CD COVER IS SPECTACULAR. It is truly a beautiful piece. I ran into it at a used CD store down in Old City (first of all, this is one of those record shops where they still sneer at you when you ask about an artist that's not up to their music-obsesssed standards, just like High Fidelity). I didn't realize what it was when i first looked at it (now kicking myself for not buying it right there). Right away I recognized the superior design of the case. There was foil lettering and screened detail printed on the outside of the ACTUAL case, viewed overtop an image of old wallpaper. The same foil lettering is used on the back cover. Alot of detail went into this. Buy it!

Good Game.

I know this is over, but I CANNOT wait to see who wins. My money is on Ryan. He is quite the dresser, and pretty creative with his ties...

New Site Design!

I have officially redesigned my website. Be sure to check it out. MUCH simpler than the last design, and easier to navigate. Thanks Michael Estok for all your help!

Daily Drop Cap

A new website created by Jessica Hische displaying some beautiful typography. Be sure to check it out. She even includes how to use the drop cap in your site!