Bookmarks

• February 20th, 2008 • 0 Comments • computers, drawing, graphic design •

1) ConDFW starts Friday and I still have lots of drawing/sewing/printing to do. AUUUGH
2) I actually made some major headway in unpacking/organizing/labeling things in the studio that have been hidden from me since I had to kill Studio 4A and shovel it into boxes.

At least I got these nifty bookmarks done!

I’ve gone back to my nerdy fantasy roots and drawn some childhood heros to represent four of the Classical Elements: a mermaid for water, a unicorn for earth, a fairy for air and a phoenix for fire. Look, I even took the time to figure out how to spell the names in Tolkien Elvish. Just looking at them makes me feel all warm and squishy inside! These designs will make their debut as bookmarks and bookplates at ConDFW.

Stealing is good

• January 8th, 2007 • 1 Comments • graphic design •

Sweet deal.

I do posters and whatnot for North By Northwest, a brewpub in Austin, Texas. I was informed that my most recent poster/tabletent has received many positive comments from customers, and keeps disappearing from the tents on the dining tables. That makes my head feel just a bit bigger, I have to say.

Graphic Design Bitterness and Rambling

• May 23rd, 2005 • 0 Comments • graphic design, meandering •

A few years back, before I became a printmaker, I was on the road to being a graphic designer. That semester in college was one of the worst times in my life. On average, I got about two hours of sleep a night. My tolerance for caffeine was killed by the twelve-pack-of-Dr.-Pepper-a-week habit on top of the Red Bull and No-Doz. The professors were no help, demanding an inordinate amount of work to be produced in such a small amount of time: 200 thumbnails in one night, each one to be more creative and astonishing than the next. Friends I knew in the program who were very creative dropped out because of unreasonable work demands. (I don’t exaggerate; one of the guys I knew? The profs begged him to stay. He oozed creative juice wherever he went.) Eventually I developed a strong “Screw You!” (that’s the polite version) attitude and stopped caring. Our final portfolios were to be laid out on a black cloth, everything neatly matted and positioned in an orderly manner on an assigned table; I tromped in and unceremoniously hucked my piles of notebooks and whatnot on a bare, ugly table and left.

Needless to say after that ordeal, I floated home, gleeful of no longer having to produce 8 billion thumbnails for an imaginary company, only to be told by a cold voice, “You need to learn how to draw. How did you get this far without knowing how to draw?”

That was about three, four years ago? I still have all of my unceremonious piles of sketches, thumbnails and a CD full of work. These piles have not been sorted through or looked at; they just follow me in a bitter collection. Four residences later, and I can’t bring myself to throw them out!

Don’t misunderstand; I love graphic design. It influences my printmaking body of work very much. It behaves the way lines in a coloring book do: they keep the color and pattern from making an utter mess about the page. In some ways I cannot understand the proverbial divide between art and design. Even with all of the obvious baggage I have attatched to design, it steadfastly remains a “must” in my art. Most of the influcence however, stems from readings on graphic design rather than the hours of toil on design-y thumbnails.

Now really, I wonder why I can’t outright burn that pile of graphic design molding away in my closet…

Studio without computers

• September 28th, 2004 • 0 Comments • graphic design, studio 4A •

Other than just fine art, I work on graphic design type stuff as well. It’s been nailed into my head that good design does NOT start on the computer. You get hung up on the details and mechanics of the computer rather than a good idea. I never really thought about it, but my studio doesn’t have computers in it. Granted this is mostly due to the fact that it would be unwise to store expensive computers in a garage, but it turns out to have it’s advantages. I am physically UNABLE to turn to the computer to noodle with an idea. I really like the fact that when I went down to work on a couple of logotypes today I had a pen and paper.

Computers are really tempting when you’re working! They spit out clean and crisp lines, they can size and re-size, and they can UNDO! Phooey on that. I came up with more ideas today hermit-crabbed away in the garage rather than sitting at the Wacom Tablet. I liken it to the way I write papers. Whenever it’s supposed to be 12-point Times New Roman with 1-inch margins, I start my paper on college ruled with a Rapidograph.

I believe that being physical with a creative work helps to facilitate a relationship with it not achieved when working on the computer. Computers are built for speed: they streamline work and help to speed up otherwise tedious and slow activities. Creative thought should not be streamlined or sped up. Working with your body’s limiting speed helps you to think about ideas being put on paper. In addition, a physical paper trail is left behind. An idea initially passed up as “no good” may be revisited later and reworked to satisfaction. On the computer, ideas are lost through constant modification. In fact, an attempt at streamlining creative work by using the computer may be prolonged because of revisiting ideas that have been unknowingly passed over two or three times!

A few hundred feet between the computer and my think tank works out quite well.