go ahead, quote me.

brianprince says:
"graphic design is electronic music, while illustration is a band. both forms of art are neither less, nor greater than the other."

yeah, i said it.

kill poet press: i made it into issue 7.

i'm not sure how it happened, but i got a piece into kill poet's latest issue. i think this is my third time submitting and i finally made it in. i'm honored to be published with the likes of kill poet. scheck it out... killpoet.com

happy accidents: always something fresh.

david carson defined graphic design in the 1990's. "the grunge" look was at it's peak and designers were rebelling left and right, and creating design materials by digitally spewing on the page. i'm so guilty of it and as a matter of fact, that's one the reasons i was attracted to this field. on the regular, i'm all about order, but there's something about controlled chaos that really fits my personality. the ability to use a computer to make things precise and call it art was the answer to my lack of knowledge in art, and now, ironically, i love the printmaking-splatter ink-brush stroke-torn edge-crinkle smudge stain, kneeling-on-the-floor-sweating, hands-on aspect of the work i do.

today, "grunge" has found it's place (mainly in extreme sports and occasionally the wanna-be-youth marketeers) subsiding from the mainstream. and for a little stint, the ornate, curly-q, massive-layered-patterns reigned the mainstream, but now it's all about functionality. clean, clear, concise design with the the purest of typography. driven by, i believe, the explosion of 'screen' media.

the more i experiment with "the cut-up" process and relate it to design, the more i realize that i'm way behind the current times. and i'm fine with that. cutting up design is very similar to what david carson stamped on the industry years ago. my studies this semester led me to understanding rhythm more and it's active role in visual patterns, deconstruction, book design – including syntax and the grid, and in graphic design’s general flow. (paper 1 | paper 2)

now that the semester has gone to the wayside (or wastebasket), the thought-bubble just popped and david carson splattered all over my walls. i should have been researching him much earlier. his latest werks seem to still be very contemporary to me and not necessarily '90's'. check'im out:




david carson: the new architecture book by paul anderson(harvard) and david salomon(cornell)"the architecture of patterns" covers designs in progress, june 2009.


david carson: lucky disasters. art w/out intent.


david carson: cougar paper promotion.


david carson: part of the worldwide rebranding of western union. 2009.

more resources on th eking of happy accident s:
http://www.davidcarsondesign.com
http://www.creativereview.co.uk

on another note, i've been retrospecting, or contemplating my time in this program (and yes, still wondering the what, why, and how's of it) and went back one year to spring 2008 to see the work i did. none of it is related to my visions now, but it's still a piece of me. here are a few pages of my semester-end notes from ayear ago when i was supposedly just getting my feet wet. i believe it's even pre-projectartschool.com blog.


















umm, yeah.
i'm still getting my feet wet.
hmm.

steven heller called out my fate.

"I have finally come to the realization that my self-education was like a dormant childhood illness that has returned in adult life to haunt me." i had printed this summer-2005-article from eye magazine (eye opinion) just over a year ago and stuck it with my stash of articles that may benefit me or be of interest one day.

just like my box of inspiring printed pieces housing direct mail pieces, brochures and ads as well as my browser's bookmark folder stuffed with cool web sites, i tap into these inspiring archives when i get into a rut. i have an oversized folder with articles that i've collected from the Times, online, or Xeroxs from books and other pubs that i resort to when i seek inspiration.

i have a meeting with some gallery directors next week to discuss a show i planned on exhibiting at the end of this semester. it was for the last project in my Special Studies class in which i withdrew after 85% completion. the space wasn't available any how, but is open for the beginning of fall. my biggest dilemma is if i should still exhibit my intended show — my decades book – progress shown at the end of this blog)? or do i come completely off the wall and make a show from something unrelated?

this is why i began the search in my article archives. i have plenty ideas for an exhibit, just none have ever been flushed out... and the meeting is next week. and now after re-discovering this article, i can't help but to believe that i'm merely a "capitalist tool," as steven heller put so in-my-face-ly. but it's true. i have a knack for pleasing clients, presenting a clear message, and selling the goods. but, is my lack of formal training holding me from finding my purpose in the MFA program? am i really a graphic designer? or just a creative person with the ability to juggle administration...

i should have been accepted into this program based on a social issue/graphic design problem that i wanted to confront over the next 3 years. instead, i was accepted based upon my "corporate" portfolio. perhaps my experience proved that i could think for myself with hopes that something would surface. well, after a year and a half, nothing has surfaced and i find myself completely alone. no comradery. no direction. no push. just a demand to create my own curriculum and plan to present to a committee. the news flash is loud and clear: i just don't have it.

read heller's article published in eye magazine summer '05 issue 56: "Me feral designer" and you will see where i'm coming from.

as for the exhibit in the fall, i'm still going to attempt it. i can't give up that easily. below is where my book was going. the plan was to extract the spreads and blow them up to present in a gallery setting... now, i thinking i'll do something much more interesting. as for the book, i was exercising a flow as the reader flipped through the decades of commercial art in america starting in the 50's. a rhythm would maintain with the chorus of vellum spreads showing a graphic transition of each of the decade "circles" as they separate the decade spreads.

cover:


50s:



60s:



70s:


80s:


90s:


and the NOW is even more incomplete than the 80s and 90s... i didn't have time to massage anything and before i knew it the semester was over. as i've taken the W's this semester, i've also taken a lesson. i know who i am and i will never stop learning, i just don't have control of the time line.

finally, just for fun, even as i discovered that the decades mesh together with fuzzy borders, i wanted to explore type treatments that represent each in a poster:

project artschool: i am a serif.

spring 2009 has ended now, and...

there may be a change soon. on this blog, project artschool. since the last third of my first half of the graduate program withdrew nothing new and injected nothing progressive, i'm forced to rethink my purpose here. lack of direction. lack of motivation. lack of the knowledge or research to create a decent thesis statement. i'm lost. and i'm fine with it.

i have no regrets for anything. the past. especially these last three semesters. i learned a lot. i learned how to learn. i grew an interest in design literature. and discovered my place.

i am a serif. with flare. juggling more. and more. than any (one) thing compared. to. compare... ison. i can be extreme. wear boxers. and sweat passion. a tagline. for the who, what, where, and why. but that’s only the half. as i jeopardize. a reputation. i am alive. a living oxy moron. who dares. death. daily. exposed. knowing that one can only grow. with others around. as you will find on this index to my (school) life. online. is merely on line. and no one will truly know me until they find time. to sit in a coffee house. and sip fine conversations. with cream and sugar. sweet nothings. envisioning. a life that is bigger. traditional. realist. fictitious. dreamer. i am a serif.

so why all the long hours. drawn out. tail chasing. solitude. when i'm finding no purpose. when i dig up a graduate level graphic design problem that i want to explore, i will apply to an art school and hit it head on. i can't burn a bridge that was never built. until then, i will continue to be who i am.

there's no surprise why this time will be eliminated. the summer is now necessary. i need it.

my mind is currently focused on project artschool, the underground art&book supply...

Fullerton, CA

Orange, CA

Long Beach, CA

Big Ant Int'l: Global Coalition for Peace

here is my biggest "Why Didn't I Think of That" moment...

“What Goes Around Comes Around. Stop the Iraq War.”

Global Coalition for Peace
Gold Pencil for Design award (Public Service Poster) at the One Show Design Awards. Four posters were designed to wrap around poles, campaigning for an end to the war in Iraq.








for the other two in the series, check out http://bigantinternational.com under works

Advertiser:
Global Coalition for Peace
Agency:
Big Ant International, New York
Additional credits:
Creative director: Alfred S. Park
Associate creative director: Frank Anselmo
Art director: Jeseok Yi
Copywriters: Francisco Hui and William Tran

Source:

ditch poetry: international feature.

i just received notice that i'm an international feature in the Canadian poetry magazine ditch. two of my poems were selected and can be viewed ://here

typography, the original instrument.

not only an instrument or tool, but a necessity. as the gentleman referred to jazz in this video, you need to learn the instrument or the music will be horrid. typographic care is evident in a good designers work and attributes to both, the rhythm and intuition of good design.



as the famous alex "ajax" jackson once said:
"i was a better designer before adobe allowed for multiple "command z's" (edit undo's) because i had to think about every move i was making."

JoAnn Kuchera-Morin: AlloSphere

t(wo w)ords: holie molie.



JoAnn Kuchera-Morin demos the AlloSphere, an entirely new way to see and interpret scientific data, in full color and surround sound inside a massive metal sphere. Dive into the brain, feel electron spin, hear the music of the elements ... (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 06:28.)
source

abbott miller: everybody dance now

if i was somewhat close to new york, i'd be heading over to the AIGA National Design Center to see this show. Everybody Dance Now: 20 Years of Dancing in Print is an exhibit of visual and performing arts magazines Dance Ink and 2wice, designed by Abbott Miller.

somehow, i know it relates to the work i'm doing now.
have a look here: http://www.aiga.org




on another note, i've been pretty stale here on projectartschool.com. mainly because two-thirds of my life has been dominating one-third – school. i'm taking a big fat W in my 503A, grad problems class, simply because i do not have the time to dedicate to it right now. a W is a withdrawal. however, i'm still experimenting with some of the original concepts i started in that class, and as i won't get a semester's credit for it, i will be advancing my research towards a defined thesis topic.

in my other class, now my only credit-seeking class for spring, i'm working on a book that displays 6 decades of influential commercial art in america. it's been a lot of work, but has been very educational and inspirational. i'll be posting some of my progress soon.

this. spring break two thousand nine.

for reasons i cannot explain the brakes came on so easy this semester as i contemplate during spring break starting today a revelation that my classes are far too behind my thesis topic is hiding a mystery that quite frankly i'm tired of seeking all i want to really do is write but get guilty feelings like i'm wrong then i find myself searching my archives of works nothing to be proud of except the words.

somewhere in the middle of that run-on sentence i found this string of words that talks about this.

typography.

rules i strive to live
by.

always check your kerning. start off with negative tracking. at least negative ten. don't write vertical when communicating quickly. (hotel and motel are the exception.) nor with uneven or unbalanced words.

please don't leave your typesetting to a sign shop. they only own silly fonts have no taste in typographic usage and don't design with a purpose. this pome is for them. listen up.

location is key. place your type carefully. simply. in a second. always close-up double oh's. closer than your average kern. look. moon. poop. food. be sure the captial Tee and whY is close to your lower case oh. To. Yo.

and spread your double el's. million. brilliant. trillion. killer. don't ever use a font named after a city. ever. and move comic sans. to the trash can. on a mac. or recycle bin. if you're a user of i.b.m.

make a capital vee and a capital eay comfortable. VAGINA. ENDEAVOR. tighten the kern. the space between them. simple rules. of typography. watch and observe. it's easy to learn. use your keyboard with caution. perhaps go back to a pen.

know your printer. eat breakfast with them. drive in their car. always shake their hand. photoshop is not graphic design. neither is a computer.

idea is king.

it's solving a problem. it's a service. translating a message from one to
another. from bow to target. the arrow. straight. narrow. responsible for the end result. the viewers perception.

there's meaning. there's reason. visual plus verbal equals message. graphic design is a verb. a+b=c. providing closure. problem solved.

communication.
the life i'm ruled
by.

that was supposed to be read slowly. start over.

sound in motion.

words in motion.

Mos Def - Words - The Ecstatic - in stores Spring 2009

buckminster fuller institute.

i subscribe to the bfi.org e-newsletter and 9 times out of 10 i'm inspired by the innovative thinking out there. it always seems to put me in check and it gets me off my high-fineart-horse and brings me down to the science-designwithpurpose-earth.


check 'em out http://www.bfi.org

Bucky was one fantastic human being.

inspirational discoveries.

i came across some cool stuff on the Web today and wanted to share:

g-speak

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

a house designed to challenge growing old

the NY Times article.
watch the video.

Antoine Bardou-Jacquet: video for Alex Gopher.

this pretty much goes with everything i'm doing RIGHT NOW. the power of words/type, allowing the reader to interpret the design for themselves rather than have it told. the artist here is truly giving the viewer the freedom to form their own images with the type descriptions yet the storyline is still the same. it's freakin brilliant. not to mention my recent studies on electronic dance music and rhythm that is able to be translated in another medium.


video created by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet for the french dj Alex Gopher. a world made only with typographics. cult video for fonts lovers and graphic designers.

richard turner: contempt mandala

the only gallery i had a chance to visit this winter break was csuf's grand central art center in santa ana. as usual, it was very inspiring and i'm glad i made the effort to get out of my lethargic-inducing christmas pajamas and head down there. contemporary installation artist, richard turner transformed the GCAC with Contempt Mandala. it falls into one of the elements i want to explore in my thesis. he utilizes all media, from video to sculpture. i forgot my camera so these pics are from my camera phone. i only got a few, but i wanted to be sure i got his statement as it relates to calligraphy and mandalas, one element in my three-part thesis on rhythm (more on that later).



here is a model of the casa malaparte, in the isle of capri, which is the center of his story.



here is sparkOC's review:
Contempt Mandala is a multi media installation that takes, as its point of departure, Jean Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt. The film is about the making of a movie and the dissolution of a marriage. It simultaneously explores the creative process and the fragility of human relationships. The Buddhist mandala, a cosmic diagram, is the organizing principle of the installation.

to learn more go to http://www.contemptmandala.com

chip kidd: video presented by dwell

quote:
"the next step for graphic designers is to figure out how to meaningfully generate their own content...whether it's a book...music...a film...or whatever...it's the natural growth...rather than just strictly working for a client." —chip kidd

source:


lesson:
i'm in school now not to learn how to please clients. i'm not here to better my portfolio. or to add to my resume. i'm here to discover my own art.

in 3 short weeks i will discontinue any undergrad projects and in the days to come, i will focus solely on my thesis. it will mostly be very dense the next year as i research and write, research and write. but when the time comes to experiment, it's going to be explosive. a hint on what will be involved is: poetry, cut ups, dreams, kaleidoscopes, visual structure, and blowing my own mind.

TOYSPACE shopping bag on design spotter.

this is a project i did in the spring. it is now featured on design spotter, a german-based online magazine that publishes student work. it can be found in the Stores + Shops section. have a look...


check out design spotter.
check out the original blog back in may.