eight hour day

Eight Hour Day spoke some truth into a room full of designers last night. During another Hallmark Symposium I was reminded why I love this profession. People like them help me see the light at the end of the tunnel. Studio may be hard now, but I’m gonna get the chance to do what I love eventually.
They are a couple who have done crazy things. They traveled for an an entire year and ran their design studio online. WOW. Does that not make you want to do that? Like holy heck that sounds like the life. Exploring, traveling, and running a business while you’re on the go with your significant other. I envy them.
They do a lot of brand work, illustration, letterpress, you name it. I can see myself working somewhere like this– with all kinds of possibilities!

I especially enjoyed their story about glyphs. They created them for a company and then realized they caught on for tattoos, except most people thought there was more meaning behind these glyphs they had been tattooing on themselves. They even showed up on BuzzFeed’s 19 Tattoos That Everyone Got list.

    Besides that they gave a list of 10 things they’ve learned, like surround yourself with good people and avoid the red flags. I love seeing real designers doing things I could see myself doing, so I really enjoyed their presentation.

collage

Over spring break I had some extra time to work on a couple photo collages. The first one I did was of Linda, a folk street musician I found on Mass Street. She was interesting to say the least. I was nervous at first to approach someone on the street and ask if I could photograph them, but Linda was all for it! She told me she used to be a masseuse, but is now reinventing herself as a folk artist. She asked me who I listened to, recommended someone for me, and gave me a guitar pic in case I ever start playing. The interaction went smoother than I could have ever hoped! So, here she is:

She is so bright and fun and I think that really shows here. You get hints of Mass street and the weirdness you find there too.

The other collage I made, which will lead to my final collage for BDS, is of my sister and mother. Last year I took a PHMD course and I photographed my sister and my mother and showed the darker aspects of life that were passed down (depression, alcoholism, etc). I loved it so much that I expanded on it for my manipulation of time and space assignment. So now I have this:

It shows an interaction between a  mother and daughter, but has contrasting black and white photos that reflect the deeper meaning. In my final there will be old photos of my mom in hers and a journal entry from my sister. I’m excited to finish the project because I think it evokes real emotion.

photo inspiration

In one of my studios we’ve been learning about a photographer named David Hockney and I’ve fallen in love with his work! We’re emulating this artist by creating a photo collage that manipulates time and space. Some examples of Hockney’s work here:

   

I love the way these photos tell a story you can’t see in a video. You’re able to look at these from all angles, start from any side you wish, and stare at the details rather than the action. I started working on a few myself

I really enjoy making these and I can’t wait to see how my final one turns out!

social design

I felt really inspired after intending the Hallmark Symposium with Ryan Clifford, a social designer. I had never heard of social design before and after hearing him talk all I wanted to do was attend his class.

So, what is social design? Well his website describes what they do as applying “a collaborative design process utilizing research, analysis, visualization, idea generation, and communication to address social problems.” I’ve always wanted to find a way to mesh graphic design with doing good. I figured the easiest way for me to do that was to be a graphic designer for Young Life, or a church, or another organization like the two, so this presentation really sparked my interest.

One of the main projects he shared with us was his work with Baltimore’s farmers market. He and his students designed a mobile truck that would allow the farmer’s market to be anywhere. It eventually led to a delivery system. I think it looks pretty sweet myself. It was just really cool to see that students are doing this in his class and that this type of degree even exists.

wayfinding

In my design studio we’re exploring the concept of wayfinding. Until this project I had never really put much thought into it. There’s always been buildings and areas I’ve traveled that have been hard to navigate. Now after studying this concept I wonder why these places were ever designed like that in the first place. I was intrigued by all of the unique and creative wayfinding systems we explored. Here are just a few:

We get to choose our own location on campus that we deem to be confusing and create our own wayfinding system. I’m excited for this project!

amateur watercolor-ist

It seems like in all areas of life your passion are asked of you. “What do you do?” “What are you passionate about?” “What interests you?” So why is it so hard for me to answer these questions successfully? I’m not sure. I know I love design. I love playing on InDesign and having an excuse to create something. I love texture and patterns and typography and handwritten fonts especially. I love DIY projects (even thought half the time they are unsuccessful). I love making cards for friends (and perfecting my bubble letter). I love being fired up about topic and writing about it.

This blog is to display those passion. If only there was one specific thought that an entire blog could revolve around! For this post I will focus on a DIY though. I love watercolor graphics. Actually that’s an understatement. I am obsessed with watercolor graphics. I love it’s texture and the way it makes business cards, resumes, blogs, and websites look. I think it makes beautiful cards and gifts and paintings. I bought some Crayola watercolors (professional, I know) at Walmart so I could turn a sketchbook I got for Christmas into a planner. This was the first time I attempted to use watercolors and I am an amateur for sure. Hopefully I will learn to make something cooler than swishy lines. Anyways here’s how it turned out:

       

I’m also really into Jesus and that flows into every passion of mine. So naturally my watercolored planner has that implemented. I’ve made a few birthday cards with my Crayola watercolors as well. I’m not really sure how you learn to watercolor, but I would really like to be better at it!