The blog part of it all

May Day 2012

Did everyone have a good May Day and do what they wanted to do?

Some of my favorite May Day posters from image-shift (bildwechsel) in 2007:

MORE Mission Creek… now.

So obviously I’m slacking in posting. Almost two months ago I posted about the upcoming Mission Creek Fest with a preview to some posters… and now the week is upon us!

Yesterday kicked off Mission Creek week here in Iowa City. I’ll post a whole slew of design goods post-fest, but for now, check out this preview guide I designed with Little Village Magazine and a whole sea of talented people.

And also… get your butts to Iowa City. Like, now.

Occuprint

Take a look at Occuprint if you haven’t already. They accept submissions and are working to showcase posters from the Occupy movement worldwide. Folks can download high-resolution versions of the posters on their site for their own local distribution—but please, oh please, know they are NOT to be sold or used in ANY commercial sense.

Unlike many of the working groups all around Occupy, they do rely on a curatorial process (“they” = Molly Fair, Jesse Goldstein, Josh MacPhee and John Boy). They do not have open meetings and they do not post everything that is submitted to them. You can read their official curatorial statement here, but some highlights include that they are trying to limit work from individual artists; trying to give a voice to political messages that they feel are important to the movement and are currently underrepresented on the site; they privilege gender diversity, geographic diversity, and ideally non-established artists/designers; and working to avoid artwork created in a style that has already been closely aligned with electoral politics, or with any corporate branding campaigns.

On the other hand, they also do Print Lab with Occupy Wall Street Screen Printing Guild—which IS an official working group within the OWS General Assembly. This means it’s open to all and welcoming to new members who would like to print with them. The Print Lab page serves as a hub for both downloadable graphics and also a resource for those who want to start an occupation print lab in their city.

Here are some of the posters on their site—but definitely head their way to download the high-res versions and to check out many more.

Josh MacPhee, Brooklyn

John Emerson, Brooklyn

image-shift, Berlin, Germany

Mark Miller, L.A.

Fahmi Reza, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Santana (Little Hamilton Collective Press), Nashville, TN

Josh MacPhee, Brooklyn

from Print Lab — Molly Fair, Brooklyn

Mission Creek Festival 2012

I’ve been working with the Mission Creek folks here in Iowa City on this year’s design for the upcoming Festival—March 27 through April 1—including overall look/feel and all print materials (Brendan Hanks designed and is developing the website). Everything is in the works and here’s a look at those wheels currently in motion. More to come… but tickets can be purchased at MidwesTIX if you’ll be in town and lookin’ for some fun.

Keeping it manageable.

The good news is I’ve been busy. A lot of work, which is always good, and right about the time of my last post was the same time the Occupy movement kicked off—which isn’t much of a coincidence. What used to be free evenings for something like ahem, blogs, were being filled with General Assembly meetings here in Iowa City. (More on that to come…) But as things have evolved into more sustainable efforts and discussions (i.e. GAs twice a week instead of 7 days a week), I’m trying to maintain some structure in my life and to keep reminding myself how important balance is.

With that said, it has certainly been a while. And I have some things to share! One new thing is that I have stepped away from designing for Little Village magazine back in November. It has officially been a year since I posted about starting that project, and as I read back, I can see my initial concern was certainly well-founded! Every month, we were putting out a 40 page publication. Content for these 40 pages would be passed off about a week before printing… and turns out—that’s totally impossible for me to keep up long-term. Well, it’s possible in that it happened each month. Impossible in the sense that I could not find satisfaction in the work I did when it was done so quickly. I think it was a good exercise to help rid me of some of that ‘make everything precious’ attitude, but my design process is the way it is for a reason… and it’s one that takes time, and I really think it should take time.

So: glad to have done it, and glad to have been introduced to sides of Iowa City I had not seen before. But also glad to say goodbye and regain some of that mental (and physical!) energy that was so draining for a portion of the month. Lesson learned—it’s good to challenge your process and methods of working. Yet it’s important to understand the breaking point where something simply isn’t a good match… and that’s ok, too.

Looking back today, I pulled a handful of spreads from the year:

a couple covers—including the amazing embroidered illustration done by Grace Locke Warde (on left) the month John Waters came to IC

Kristina Gill

Kristina Gill is a photographer and editor of In The Kitchen With on DesignSponge. She’s from Nashville, is currently living in Rome, and takes ridiculously tasty photos (hm, a bit of a resemblance to the 3191 shot from last post, ey?). Anyway—nyom.

a little more like this… yes!

More & Co. = a studio in Portland, Maine, comprised of Christopher David Ryan, Ryan Thomas Shimala, and Maria Alexandra Vettese who do the following: Art Direction + Concept; Book Design + Publishing; Casting + Styling; Design + Branding; Doodles + Drawings; Insight + Strategy; Photography + Video Production; Web + Social Media

::deep breath::  got that?

Maria Alexandra Vettese is also half of 3191 Miles Apart, a project/site that I’ve posted about a couple years ago, because I’m in love with it. Check out the site for more photos like this:

but the short of it is, that Maria and Stephanie Congdon Barnes live 3191 miles apart, and they have found a way since meeting online in 2005 to stay connected via this site in some fashion. They started with A Year of Mornings, taking a photo each day in their respective location and then pairing it together, without any planning, as a diptych. This and other projects helped grow their budding friendship “based on a shared love of art and craft, simple things and a well-lived domestic life.” Lovely stuff.

SO. I keep checking back in periodically with More & Co. who not only do great work, but also keep an active blog that maintains the same great photography approach that I love about 3191. And man, if these shots don’t make you crave to be in a studio with people you adore doing work you love…

Another year…

It’s been a while since I wrote on here… usually it’s more of a quick post, an inspiration find. But. I’m about to get reflective, people. Brace yourself.

Yesterday was my birthday which included a relaxing morning and then an unfortunate all-night work affair. Then h brought me home cheesecake after his class. So that was not bad.

I did some early a.m. thinking, though… not necessarily because it was my birthday, but because (at least the morning) was a very welcome break in the past couple weeks of non-stop work. I’m feeling super fortunate these days to have a steady flow of projects coming in. As expected in moving to a new place where you have zero contacts—starting off as a freelancer was pretty darn slow. Slow enough where I had to get a super lame part-time job so I could fund my eating and drinking and breathing habit. Luckily, that gig was fairly short-lived and it’s been pretty steady ever since. A year and a half in, and I’m feeling settled. Initially, the draw to freelancing was due in large part to my frustration from my last full-time job, where I wasn’t crazy about the type of work I was doing and who I was doing it for. And you know what you can’t really say when a project lands on your desk?

“I don’t want to do that for them.”

So you do it. And you grimace and daydream about greener pastures. And forget what a treat it is to get a decent paycheck consistently every 2 weeks, but that doesn’t really matter anymore, because dammit, you’ve seen the dark side of yourself and now you’re bitter all the time. sigh…

Then when I started getting work here on my own, I still couldn’t really say no because I never knew if that was going to be the last time someone was going to ask me for work… ever. So I said yes to everything. (Really, a brilliant form of time/schedule management.) And now? I’m officially able to turn things down. It’s pretty amazing. I love deciding what my workday will look like. I’m the healthiest I’ve been since… I’m not sure. We cook better than we ever have—meaning we eat better than we have. And to boot I’ve been consistently working out since we moved. (It’s ridiculously easier to do this when you decide you want to work out at 9. Or noon. Or 3.) I’m starting to get more projects that I’m super excited about… including a couple book projects on the horizon which is the best news.

However. With that glowing review of my freelance life out of the way… I really miss working with people! I have a handful of great clients that I really enjoy visiting and working with… but I miss my fellow designers. I miss the great collaboration that comes with fellow designers. Years ago in school, I had a perfect partnership with my friend Clint while working on Ninth Letter. After school, we moved to Chicago, competed for a single job opening, and ended up at different agencies. One day he was biking home from work and was doored by a car—a battle he so very, very, unfortunately lost. This post isn’t about that heartbreak (and tragedy, and bike safety, and driver safety, and…) though. It’s about relationships that have magic. Clint and I, we always said we’d start our own studio one day down the road, and I can’t help but keep thinking about that. I really loved the designers I worked 9-5 with, but Clint and I felt in sync. Something clicked. And I guess that’s rather rare. Here in Iowa City, not only are there fewer designers than back in the city, but I don’t feel like I align with those I’ve met or seen—design-wise or otherwise.

I’ve had grad school in the back of my mind the past couple years, and that desire has grown as of late. After h finishes his MFA, we’re outta here, and I’m ready and hungry to find a new design community. One that’s excited to push and pull and struggle and ask questions of Design that people aren’t asking in the workplace. I can see myself doing the small business thing for years… but not so sure if I’m interested in doing it solo for the rest of my years. Er… I’m not interested in doing it solo for the rest of my years.

In summary? Good past year. Great past year, actually. Proud of myself for surviving and doing work that I’m happier with than the old days. But not as doe-eyed and in love with the idea of a solo freelance gig as I was a year ago. I can anticipate the changes ahead in a couple years and am already excited.

Summer! End scene.

What? August is almost over? Gee whiz.

The good news is that I got a little bit of traveling in this time around—meeting my nephew (adorable) who is also in the Midwest, and then headed south with h’s family for some beach/pool time (see above photo. sigh.). Not too shabby. Now, however, is the challenge of how not to get distracted by thoughts of the next trip when I have a ton of work to do? Coming back to the mountain of to-dos post-vacay can be a bit difficult. I spent a lot of time internally grumbling and moving my hands as fast as I could while my mind dragged. But what helps get me back in work mode is taking a break (ironically) and perusing the ol’ inspiration pile and blogosphere. Here’s a handful of visual stimulation that are inspiring me not to give up and go on perpetual vacation.

160over90

A Friend of Mine

Alana McCann and Kathryn Fabrizio

Crooked Modern

Elvind Molvaer

Mark Adamson

Multistorey

Rumors

The Evolution of a Book Cover

Grace Bonney of the blog Design*Sponge recently finished her book titled Design*Sponge at Home—designed by the amazing folks at ALSO. Below is a video to show the book’s overview, and you can read more about it here.

She also just did a post about the design process for the book cover. I absolutely love seeing the behind-the-scenes look at these… what worked, what didn’t, and of course—being reminded once again just how much work goes into finding the right fit and blend of form + function.