My Upcoming Show

That's right, dear readers, I have an exhibition coming up soon!

It will be from 10/10-10/14/2011,

at the Witt Gallery,

Kadema Hall

Art Department

California State University, Sacramento

6000 J. Street

Sacramento, CA 95819-6061

Of course, this means I have just over four months to prepare...and already I'm starting to worry, heh. Not only do I have to 1) select art, 2) finish, update, and otherwise retouch art 3) create new art 4) decide how to hang the art...

but also 5) design the poster/postcard for my show. And that's really starting to stress me out.

And then I remember that I am a graphic designer, and it's my job to do things like that. 

So...take a deep breath and jump into process:

1) problem statement

2) research

3) brainstorm

4) produce

5) revisit problem statement & refine

I may post some of the above steps here, because I know that showing process is (almost) always a good thing.

Typographical Thursday

One of the things that really energizes me about being a designer is all the cool type I run across now and then. The work of Alphabet Soup (created by designer and illustrator Michael Doret) is truly wonderful, a blend of early twentieth century nostalgia with present day digital sensibilities. Most of the typefaces he has created are packed with alternates, swashes, ligatures, that give them a hand-lettered feeling.

But what is truly astounding are the sample posters he has created for his typefaces:

What can I say but that I really want these faces now! A testament to what can be done with a little ingenuity, and a lot of design sensibility.


Alphabet Soup on MyFonts.com here.
Michael Doret's portfolio site here.

Reasonings

I've been pretty down on myself lately, feeling like I haven't been producing as much (in truth, I haven't) as I once did—measured, in this case, by the number of pages I filled on a weekly basis in my little Moleskine pocket sketchbook (some of which can be seen here).

And then I realized today what the major difference between "then" and "now" was: I am no longer in school, and therefore no longer sitting through mandatory lectures at sturdy desks with nothing to do to keep my pen active other than sketching (and taking the occasional note). Now, on the other hand, I'm always busy - at work, driving to and from work, walking from my car to work (and vice versa) - and don't have the luxury of being seated for most of the day (apart from work).


I am, it seems, far too hard on myself.

Nothing Without A Line

...which is the translation of the title of my blog, "Nihil Sine Linea."

This will be the repository of everything that doesn't fit on my website, including book reviews, neat-o stuff I've found, and musings on what it is to be creative.