…WERE WRITTEN ON THE STUDIO WALLS

(Sketches and notes for Contain Us [click to enlarge])

I revamped and rearranged my studio this past summer in order to give myself a more inspiring workspace. New paint color, found objects, new (old) furniture, and a slew of framed collectibles and photographs now adorn the walls. The best part is that I also covered the main wall in black chalkboard paint. This allows me to sketch, make notes, and paste up inspirational pieces.

Above is a photograph of the current state of things immediately surrounding my computer monitor. It's the sketches and notes that really helped me organize an upcoming slipcase-bound, 8-disc, 64-page hardcover book that I both created and designed. With so many pieces to keep track of, I relied on these quite a bit to keep my head straight. The book will be out in time for the holidays and is now officially 100% into production. Fingers crossed that it's the beast it's lined up to be! More on this project soon…


(With my constant companion, Buddie [click to enlarge])

Field Trip, NYC Style (2011)

(Matteo Bologna @ Mucca Design in Soho)

(click collages to enlarge)

As part of PCA&D's yearly trip to New York City – along with department chair, Pam Barby – I put together a day of art and design for our graphic design students. We split up into 2 groups; my group stopping by Mucca Design for an agency visit and Pam's to 2x4. These studios represent two of the best in the city and both students and faculty alike were thrilled at this opportunity.

For the record, Mother Nature did her best to rain on our parade. Literally. However, let it be known that although she succeeded in roughing up our plans and soaking all of us to the core, she failed at dampening our spirit.

I headed up the Mucca Design visit and we were able to spend nearly an hour with founder and principal, Matteo Balogna. Filled with all the vim and vigor of an Italian ex-pat and an undying love of custom typography, design, branding, and style – Matteo delivered an inspiring talk about all things modern graphic design. Before leaving, I shared with him a few locally made "thank you" gifts Pam & I put together; namely 2 PCA&D mugs, Wilbur Chocolate Buds, and 2 half-pounds of cheese made here in Lancaster County. Good stuff.

Although we then stopped by one of my favorite families of galleries in that of Morrisson Hotel Gallery, I did not take any photographs there. Just know that if you're ever in NYC, find one of their locations and hit it up! Only the best in music photography from the likes of Jim Marshall, Hendry Diltz, Danny Clinch, Clay Patrick McBride and more.


(@ the AIGA Design Effectiveness exhibit)

After walking to the fountain in Washington Square Park, we dispersed for 2-3 hours in order to grab lunch, shop, and dry out in cafés. Myself, Sally, and Kirk made our way over to one of my favorite restaurants in the world; Vegetarian Paradise. Pure bliss, great company, and lots of excited discussions about art, design, education, and family.

We met up again and forged forward in the (thankfully) lighter rains as we made our way up 5th Ave. to the AIGA Design Center. Launched this past week was their 365 exhibit; Design Effectiveness. The students were immediately immersed in every single piece of the display, which thankfully allowed you to pick up each work for a truly hands-on inspection and experience. And although the exhibit was curated with effectiveness as their first and foremost trait, the design aesthetic was incredibly high. Overall, an inspiring and fun exhibit that left an impression on the whole lot of us.


(@ the AIGA Design Effectiveness exhibit)

The final "official" stop of the day was the Center for Book Arts in the Fashion District. Loaded with several, excellent small exhibits that opened only 2 days before we arrived – the Center also surprised all of us with a fully-functioning letterpress print shop. We spent a bit of time comparing our favorite ampersands from the drawers of lead type and enjoyed hand-made books featuring gorgeous wood block prints, custom-process music packaging, paper works by Su Blackwell, and more before we settled on plans for the final 2+ hours before the bus was to pick us up.

I decided to march nearly everyone up to Times Square (a tradition in the making, mind you) for people-watching and to share in the spectacle that is one of the most famous couple of city blocks in the world. This year, we ran across Japanese television cooking shows being filmed (think "Iron Chef") and a big ABC promotion for the upcoming "Pan Am" television series.

This trip, like several other events throughout the school year, offers a chance for me to lift the veil off the classroom and to form a deeper bond with both students and fellow faculty alike. Already my head's already spinning on what to put together for next year… starting with a Sunny, 70º fall day!


(@ Center For the Book Arts [top] and Times Square [middle, bottom])

THE ART OF THE MUSIC POSTER

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I was asked to submit art for a book titled Classic Rock Posters 1952-2012 which "aims to cover all the key musical genres, graphic artists and performers during the last 60 years in poster form." It's worth noting that it's being written by Mick Farren (Underground Press, NME) along with Dennis Loren (artist, former art director for Creem magazine).

When push came to shove, however, I found that designing posters is something I haven't done a ton of to-date. Well, that's not entirely true, I did a lot of designs for record labels that were very product-driven and not gallery-ready. I've also worked on so many catalog projects that never required a poster or I was Project Manager for the bands and hired out collateral designs. In-between all of that, I found some time to create a few posters I was proud of.

Regardless, in digging through the archives, I dug up a few of my favorites to submit (several of which have been seen here). I may even dig into the rolls and rolls of music posters I've kept since the 1980s and see what I find! Ah, a trip down memory lane…

A World Of Color (Courtesy Of Buck)

This is exactly how I see the world; inspirational color everywhere. Here's a series of 3 beautiful commercials directed by the Buck agency for HGTV's line of paints with Sherman Williams. I always stop to watch when these commercials come on (in my DVR-less lifestyle). If only these were Pantone chips, you know? Anyway, stop by Buck's library and check out their deep and rich portfolio of work. It's well worth your while.

Immerse Yourself In The Floyd

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In the season of Pink Floyd that my summer has been, I was called upon to quickly create a 4-page series of new release book pages for several upcoming Pink Floyd collections. These are very sales-oriented pages but I try to never approach them in that dry of a sense. Instead, I also hope to treat them more editorially, or book-like.

To sit back, crank up non-single classic Floyd tracks like "Summer '68," "A Pillow of Winds," "San Tropez," "The Gold It's In The…," and "Childhood's End" while working on these "rush job" pages is something to embrace. For full details (of which there are many), click on the images to enlarge, and go pre-order them from your local record store or Amazon.com.

It's worth noting that the Immersion sets for the legendary Wish You Were Here album hits stores on November 8 while The Wall sees the light on February 28, 2012. It's also worth noting that I'm creating the sales pages for these titles as well.

Inspirations 2: Wood Block Printing

Target teamed up with the monstrously beautiful Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. After the design team caught Typeface, a movie documenting the museum, they became focused on creating a line of clothing based on Hamilton's aesthetic. For more on how they came together, go here. To view the collection, go here.


An extended trailer for Typeface, the movie. See it…

Inspirations 1: India Block Printing

"After meeting the world's great hand-block printing artisans on a recent trip to northern India's Rajasthan, we asked them to make a special collection of quilts just for us. Watch here as they create an array of striking designs, all printed using intricately carved teak blocks and richly colored pigment dyes."
– West Elm's Craftmark Collection

The Process Behind: Admissions Poster

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Every year I have the pleasure of working with Natalie and the outstanding Admissions department at PCA&D. Every other year I get to redesign the look for their office, which is also coincidentally the best year! This year was of the "every other" kind so I dug in and began the process of tackling the first piece we dive into every year; the poster.


(click image to enlarge)

STAGE 1: You've got to start somewhere, and for one reason or another, I often start conservative. However, the color scheme, fonts, partial obscuring of imagery and general guidelines of the final piece appeared instantly in the process.


(click image to enlarge)

STAGE 2: I'm all about type-driven design so I busted the type out of the box and began to arrange it flush-left then flush-right and scaling it up and down all the while. I wanted to create a grid but then smash it, while also respecting it. No small feat.


(click image to enlarge)

STAGE 3: The break-through stage, for sure. Back came the horizontal strip, now with a friend, and a healthy dose of a -11.75º angular tilt. I pictured this on the walls of schools and offices, knowing the tilt will demand attention and cause it to leap off the wall. Also, my goal now was focused on creating the sense that this poster captured merely a small segment of an otherwise on-going, ever-growing massive world of student artwork created at PCA&D. The poster, unlike previous years, was not about a few pieces – but the student work as a collective.


(click image to enlarge)

STAGE 4: Naturally, I had to try the positive 11.75º angle as well. Unlike the -11.75º attempt, where I was all about it and attempting every logical type alignment I could muster, it didn't take me long to know this was not the better solution of the two.


(click image to enlarge)

STAGE 5: And finally, instead of angling the bars and type, what about angling the artwork? This brought an all-new feeling to the poster, while utilizing something I was gravitating towards all along with the tilt. It came down to a matter of playing with the composition of type over top the imagery and the removal of specific artwork for reasons such as theme, content, and redundancy. The changing out of imagery was trickier than in previous years, of course, and often times I wanted to kick myself for painting myself into a corner with this approach. Regardless, I was very excited that they picked this version while, honestly, I also would have been very happy if they selected Stage 3 (far right). A good position to be in, for sure.

And with the final approval, the poster set the tone of typography, color and composition for the rest of the Admissions materials to follow. I truly do love this project.

For Your In-Flight Pleasure.

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For the first time in my life, I created an ad for the legendary magazine of extreme in-flight consumerism; SkyMall. Psyched. Thousands of people bored to tears whilst stuck in an over-crowded tin can at 30,000 feet will be able to check out just how precisely and artfully I squeezed a headline, 5 pack-shots, 486 words via 2,284 characters into a 7.375" x 10.5" ad (minus the SkyMall footer, as required by the publication). Lucky bastards, all of 'em.

I'm actually very excited to have something in the magazine but, all kidding aside, Tom Recchion & Co. are delivering some beautiful special editions. I had a great time this past May sitting with Tom in his office in Los Angeles, exploring many of his present and future projects. Much respect.

Man Alive Creative: The Portfolio

(click images to link to the portfolio site)

I'm excited and proud to have created a portfolio site that, for the first time ever, sees my design and photography together in an easy to navigate, beautiful fashion. It's a thrill for me to see all of this work together under the moniker "Man Alive Creative." I welcome you to stop on by and tour the new portfolio. Feel free to share it with your friends, your family and (without hesitation) utterly complete strangers. I do love having good company stop by. Enjoy!