This is a journal of experiences captured by the intern at the San Francisco design office MINE™.
It is a record of an education in progress, against the backdrop of a design firm at work.
This is our blog™
Hungry MINE™rs
Today we had a great lunch meeting across the Bay at Chez Panisse, meeting with a few folks from Realm Charter School about their upcoming direction for the school. Both the meeting and the company were top notch. It was my first visit to the restaurant and I thoroughly enjoyed it—hopefully we have another meeting there soon.
On our way back, we noticed a peculiar Berkeley street sign: the letters HM crossed out in red (like a no-smoking, or Ghostbusters cross-out). We hadn’t seen that kind of sign before and began speculating as to what the meaning might be. No heavy metal? Stop hate-makers? Down with the hyphy movement?
Apparently we were not the only ones wondering about the signs.
Why does design matter?
Christopher was recently asked to participate in a video series being put together by AIGA SF as part of the upcoming cause/effect design competition. The overall goal of the series is to encourage designers to make an impact on society through design. The folks being asked to contribute need only answer a single question and record their response via any lo-fi or hi-fi video camera.
Rather than take a standard “talking head” approach, we decided to latch onto the part of the instructions that read, “…the answer can be as direct or abstract as you choose”, and create a video that is as much a discussion starter as it is an answer. We figured that in the larger context of a database of these videos answering the same question, it might be fun to offer a break from the more traditional way of responding.
We were right about the fun part—at least in putting the video together. I’m still figuring out what it exactly means. All I can say for now is Kenny G + Public Enemy + Gotham.
Be on the lookout for the cause/effect videos later in January.
Get ready to…
There aren’t too many college football fans aside from me around these here parts, but today is a pretty big day. That can mean only one thing—toy duck diagrams.
Where do ideas come from?
It is in the active engagement of the artist with his or her world,
through
preparation,
conscious attention,
curiosity,
effort,
and a dash of serendipity,
that ideas are born…
The buddy system
Sometimes the color shift is slight. Sometimes you can’t trust your own monitor.
These things held true this afternoon as I was prepping a few slides for a client presentation. At first I noticed a distinct color shift on the slides, so I went back, corrected it and re-uploaded the files to our ftp site. When viewing the revisions a second time, everything looked right on my screen; no shift in color—in all web browsers. Christopher checked on his monitor, though, and the colors were still off. So I went back to my monitor and used the digital color meter to confirm that, yes, there was a numeric change happening—it just wasn’t revealing itself visually on my machine.
The system does work, kids. The correct changes were made in plenty of time before tomorrow’s presentation.
Sharing is caring
This gift has been sitting on my desk all week. I get to open it tomorrow at lunch. Here at MINE™ the holidays never end.
A visitor
Today was kind of a busy, heads-down at the desk work day (not heads-down as in napping—nor a friendly game of Heads up, Seven up, mind you—but rather in sustained feats of concentration). Now that folks are settling back into their offices after the holidays, the pace is picking up a bit and we have a handful of projects in the works that seem to be gaining speed.
I spent most of my time sketching logo ideas for a new group that is being started by one of our existing clients. I was given a brief of the situation toward the end of the day yesterday from Christopher. At the outset it seemed like the task might be fairly straightforward, but as with many things in life, it’s not as easy as you sometimes envision in your mind. While I came across some decent directions early on, I noticed that I was staying kind of close to home in terms of ideas, not really breaking off onto tangents I probably should have been. This afternoon I did break away from my original thinking and made some better progress after just sticking with it.
About midday some guy named Belonax, Tim Belonax came strolling into the studio and visited for a bit. For those that might not know, Tim was the designer here at MINE™ for the last five years or so, before he headed down to SoCal way back in the summer of twenty ten for graduate school. Tim visited with us for a bit before heading out and off into the sunset.
Holiday mail
Happy New Year.
We are back in action after a nice little holiday break. When I got into the studio this morning, a variety of holiday cards and greetings from various design firms and designers were waiting to be open and read. The incoming mail here can be great (from my perspective, anyway), and this one piece in particular caught my eye, from the studio Office here in San Francisco. Unfortunately the mail carrier decided to crunch the wonderfully crafted envelope containing this limited edition print haphazardly into the mail slot, resulting in slightly damaged goods.
Even being a bit roughed and creased up, however, the print doesn’t lose a thing.
Making a list, checking it…
The life of a design studio intern, believe it or not, isn’t always glitz and glam. My primary task for the day has been updating MINE™’s holiday card recipient list so that Christopher can take time over the next week to make a note in each one before they’re sent out.
This task has consisted of cross-checking lists, making phone calls and sending emails to get updated addresses, more list cross-checking, and compiling a new master list for Christopher to work from. Sexy stuff.
Once we wrap up our work for the day, the studio will be open tomorrow for one more full business day in 2010. We will then close up shop for the holidays and be back at it on January 3, 2011.
So happy holidays to all. Be safe and we will see you in the new year!
Out with the old
A couple of exciting things happened since the last time we spoke.
First, last week was my final one as a student. I have officially made it through California College of the Arts’ rigorous undergraduate Graphic Design program. My experience culminated with a Friday full of thesis presentations and and an evening exhibition/reception. It was nice going to sleep on Friday night not worrying about getting up the next day to work on my thesis project. While it is a great feeling of accomplishment to be done, I know that in reality this is only the beginning. And that is even more exciting.
Second, I designed the annual MINE™ holiday card that will be mailed out in the next week or two. Every intern during the fall/winter season gets that honor (along with assigning secret santas to Christopher’s family). The goal with each holiday card is to show the transition from one year to the next in an interesting manner. Once all the cards are mailed out and the recipients have a chance to read them, I will post a few images of my design. Here’s a clue in the meantime…
Indexing
For those of you who have been following Christopher’s Just Design (formerly The Good Design Book) updates, today we made more progress on the book. I spent a good chunk of time helping with the index, making sure we correctly identify everyone mentioned across the almost 200 pages.
We started with the obvious listings— those designers and design studios with featured projects in the form of detailed insights and big colorful photographs. We realized, however, that there are other people mentioned, referenced, or quoted in some form or another that should also have a place in the index.
The process of defining the scope of the index quickly revealed itself to be a bigger task than originally thought. We proceeded with our original plan for the time being, but it sounds like we will go back and rethink our parameters in order to grow the index even more.
Inspiration to all
We are approaching the end of the year. For those people in school it is crunch time right about now. Don’t worry, you’ve got all next week to sleep. For those people out there working, it can get a little hectic managing workload and clients’ timeframes. If you cancel your vacation/travel plans to finish jobs in time, the chances are high that your clients will suddenly decide to take the next two weeks off. If you don’t cancel your vacation/travel plans, all egg nog might break loose at the office. Whatever your situation, whether student or pro, young or old, tall or short, there is nothing like a little dose of motivation to get through this time of year, especially when it comes in the form of:
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Lessons daily
Today’s client meeting went well. We showed eight possible logo directions and a handful of color combination possibilities, and overall the client was quite pleased with the work. It’s always interesting hearing a client’s initial feedback, and it’s often apparent from their reactions whether you, as a designer, have successfully tapped into the thing(s) they are looking to convey with their business. A few of our directions were set aside in favor of others that were a bit more on target. At the end of the meeting, some good decisions were made as to which directions we would continue exploring.
I made a mistake during the meeting, though—one that no intern should ever make. We had gotten to a point in the conversation where the logos had been narrowed down to the top three. I had been listening/observing quietly for the bulk of the meeting, but the client suddenly asked which logo I preferred. While I was quick to express which one of the final three I was leaning toward, I felt that I did a poor job of articulating exactly why. That is the mistake— I didn’t come across as totally prepared to answer the question. Truth be told, it probably didn’t even come across as such. I just felt that I could have expressed my opinion in a clearer manner, and if it weren’t for me writing it down in this blog, nobody would ever give it a second thought.
As an intern, one should always be prepared for that situation, even if it never comes up. If you are never asked what you think during a meeting, you still need to know what you think and why you think it— for your own sake. Then, when you do get asked, be ready to speak out with confidence.
That time of year
We continued working on the new restaurant project today in preparation for a meeting with the client tomorrow. Even when I wasn’t participating directly, I took time to just observe how the elements were coming together and how Christopher was organizing and sequencing the actual presentation slides. In addition to getting the opportunity to work on “actual” design projects here as an intern, the observation and note-taking of these types of details are a very valuable aspect of the job. When one first starts dealing with clients outside of school work, there are a lot of questions about “how to present this”, “when to bring that up”, etc. that just can’t be replicated in a class. It is the little details like this that add a great deal to one’s design education.
It wasn’t all serious business today, however. Late in the afternoon, Christopher got off the phone with a client and informed us that we might have a book project coming up. There was a short pause, and then he followed up with, “It’s that time of year again.”
Without turning to look, I assumed he meant something like, “we always seem to get book projects around the holidays” and expected his follow-up to be along these lines. I was sure surprised when, instead of hearing him say something about the potential project, I hear a wooden “clink” sound just over my left shoulder. Turning, I see him with the classic wooden toy in hand, cup-and-ball (or ball in a cup):
Apparently “that time of year” refers to the MINE™ tradition (of sorts) of sharpening the ol’ skills with this fine precision toy instrument. This toy tool is indispensable in any graphic design studio, as it offers a way to sharpen one’s hand-eye coordination and mental and physical dexterity— always handy in crunch time. (“Okay, let’s see how many times I can make it before Acrobat opens.”)
I was curious about the design ratio of the object (ball to cup to string, etc) and did a little search, learning something new along the way: “Theory has infiltrated Cup and Ball design and will serve us well as we venture in the unknown.”
I guess looking back, it was all serious business at the office today.
Mum’s the word
The past couple of weeks here at MINE™ have seen us spending a good portion of our creative energy on a new project—the identity and overall look and feel of a brand new restaurant opening in San Francisco. I always find it interesting in writing a daily blog about my experience here at the studio, but understanding that specific projects can’t be discussed in detail until they reach a certain point in the process.
It’s hard sometimes to not jump right in and talk about the scope of the project, how we’re going about sketching for the logo, how awesome the client’s vision is, etc. Eventually we’ll get to that point, but because everything (and not just in terms of our work on the project—but everything, everything) is still so fresh, we need to stay a little vague for a while, which I of course completely understand.
This is one of those projects. We have been sketching logos with a variety of writing utensils, looking at a number of possible color palettes and how they might work in the interior space, prepping for our upcoming meetings with the client and architects, and just overall wanting the restaurant to be serving up some of its food already (!). As the project progresses I will be sure to fill in details here and there. For now, though, just picture in your mind awesomeness.
MINE™ Intern tip of the day™ No. 2
Modular carpet tiles—in the studio and in the home—can be a lifesaver with pets and small children around.
MINE™ Intern tip of the day™ No. 1
It is not a good idea to do street food visual research on an empty stomach.
Essential research
We took a little field trip today, enjoying time in the chilly-in-the-shade, warm-in-the-sun November weather while conducting some first hand research for a potential new client/project.
A little after 1 PM we piled into the Mini Cooper and made our way to our first stop, Saigon Sandwich, to pick up—what else—sandwiches. Lunch in hand, we headed over to the Lower Pacific Heights/Fillmore area and basked in the sun while eating our sandwiches and discussing the potential project in Alta Plaza Park. (We also discussed what it would be like to ride bikes and toboggan down the slopes of the park.) When our sandwiches were consumed we walked a few blocks for dessert at Tango Gelato, where we enjoyed the flavors of cardamon orange zest and [some other flavor that was really good] before heading back to the studio to finish out the day.
Exploring
We have recently begun a project for an outstanding organization, Creativity Explored, a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art. They have about 120 artists working in their studios, ranging in age from 20 years to 82 years old. We are currently rethinking/redesigning their website and prepping for our next meeting with them.
Part of our work the last few days has been conducting research on unique and interesting approaches of information organization and navigation that are being used on the web today. It has been really inspiring seeing what other designers and developers are doing, sans flash. I start thinking about my own website and how I can incorporate or rework certain elements.
In addition to admiring the awesome designs of the sites themselves, it has also been great seeing work on display from across the globe. One project in particular caught my eye, from Yuri Suzuki (video after the jump). [more]
The gift of flight
Today we finished up the gift card designs for House of Air after receiving feedback and spending the afternoon making some modifications to one of the designs. We are going to submit two design directions to the company that produces the card—an “ace of penguins” playing card-inspired direction, and miniature boarding pass direction, to keep with the whole “giving flight to the flightless” theme. The cards will be ready just before the holiday rush next month.
Flying
I can’t believe that there is one month left in the school year (and until I am done with school for good), and just over a month left until the year 2011. One of the things that means is that my internship here at MINE™ will be coming to a close in early January. The 11th, to be exact. Man, time has flown. Today I fielded my first internship inquiry from an eager young student here in the city, which put my expiration date into clearer focus. (If you are interested in applying, give us a shout sooner than later!) It’s too soon for me to start reminiscing just yet, but I have really appreciated my time here at the office. It is a really great place to work/intern/learn. If you’re thinking about applying, do it now. It is going to get a little crazy around the holidays, so now is your chance. May the force be with you.
Bao wow
We had the pleasure of eating lunch today with CCA graduate and former MINE™ intern Heidi Reifenstein, who is in the process of packing up her stuff and moving to her home state of Alaska in a few weeks. I have met Heidi just once before, so it was nice to hear what she has been up to and what lies ahead for her. She’s great; check out her work.
As we were walking toward our chosen lunch spot for the day (a little place on 7th recommended by Frank La at Oscar Printing—where we stopped for a press check), we passed this bun truck. I have seen the truck around before, but didn’t know much about its story, so when we got back to the office we did a wee bit of research. Turns out there is a little “controversy” surrounding the truck and another bun truck owner in NYC with a menu item of the same name. You can read a little about it here and here and here. If nothing else, good for business, right?
Now boarding
This afternoon we started working on a quick project for House of Air. Due to their immense popularity since opening a couple of months ago, they will start offering gift cards in the upcoming weeks—perfect timing for the holidays. We have an opportunity to design the front and back of the cards, and one of the directions we are thinking of has to do with airline tickets. We pulled some examples of actual tickets as well as a few pieces from our archives where other firms have taken a similar approach.
Just another day at the office
So intense.
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Nuthin but a [Kenny] G thang
Today was filled with all kinds of goodness. When I got into the office in the morning I had a few things to upload for a printer before heading out to CCA to visit Christopher’s Level 3 GD class. They are in the midst of a multifaceted project that requires the creation of a 30-second public service announcement, and I was stopping by to lend a hand with any Final Cut Pro or After Effects questions they had. Most people were doing fine and just getting hung up on some little things here and there, so I was glad to be able to help in any way I could.
Once back at the office, I packed and shipped an Everything is OK poster for a fan out in the DC area and filed some print samples in our somewhat-recently reorganized print sample storage area (always fun; love those boxes). Then for our mid-afternoon work break we created a little online Kenny G/Dr. Dre remix. Try it for yourself: Open this link and also this link and press play on both. So smooth.
A Stern meeting
After seeing the result of MINE™’s involvement with the Stern Grove Festival the past few years, today I got to be a part of a meeting to discuss the artwork for next year’s event. We trekked up the hill at lunchtime and met the Stern Grove folks at Liberty Cafe. [more]
One more…
My last post was slightly premature, as when I got into the office this morning I found out that I had one more task to complete with regards to the Realm Charter School project. Because of the somewhat complex nature of the three pieces and how they fit together, I needed to make one more comp of everything for the printer. The rep that we are working with stopped by this afternoon and got a first-hand view on how everything worked, and then took the comps to send to the rest of her team. We were initially going to just include an illustrated diagram on how everything folded together, but having the actual piece in your hand is just so much more helpful and could potentially save us a lot of headaches down the line.
In other news… [more]
Complete
Today was sort of a milestone for me. After an early morning meeting with Victor Díaz—who signed off on the final Realm Charter School booklet/poster/application designs—we wrapped up our work on the piece and prepped the files to send off to the printer. This is the first project during my time here at MINE™ that I have been a significant part of since day one—that I have seen through from its inception to its completion. It has been great seeing the process unfold, from the initial client meetings, to the photo shoots in Berkeley, to the actual rounds of design and writing. I am proud of the piece, and of my contribution to it, and am looking forward to getting a copy. I am also looking forward to the next round of Realm projects that come our way.
Peace, love, recycle
When I was younger I spent hours practicing my signature. I filled notebooks with my name rendered in different styles and with varying writing instruments. Because I had played sports since a wee lad—and knew I would be continuing as I grew older—I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a sweet-looking autograph in case I started gaining a big fan following or they started making basketball cards with my picture on them.
Those two things never really happened (although I did design my own cards in middle school). Then, a few weeks ago I realized I could have spent all that practice time doing something else and just “borrowed” a “Justin” signature from somebody else, like James Victore:
Tuesday newsday
We have a pretty full week here at MINE™, but it’s been kind of a deceptive busy thus far. We’re not running around the studio in a mad rush, so to the outside observer it might seem like we’re a bit slow. That is not the case, however. [more]
Friendly skies
Today I called around to a handful of custom flag manufacturers here in the city, as we are looking into making a real life version of the flag featured in the newly completed Realm logo. Maybe it was just my lucky day, or maybe flag manufacturers in San Francisco really enjoy what they do, because the folks on the other end sounded very friendly and happy to speak with me. [more]
A list of events
Tuesday, October 19, Twenty Ten.
1. Got into the office this morning and tidied up from the previous day—filed away some print samples, entered some business card info into the database.
2. Started working on photograph edits for the Realm Charter School booklet. Then switched gears and began printing/comping the booklet/poster/application for Christopher’s early afternoon meeting in Berkeley. Christopher got back from CCA around 11AM, where he was a guest critique(r) for another Level 3 GD class. We made some changes to a few of the pieces and I continued comping them up.
3. Christopher headed out to the meeting with comps in hand, and I took a lunch break. PB&J. So good.
4. After lunch I worked on some basketball jersey designs. Switched the radio to some “70s greatest hits” and researched vintage basketball jerseys. Stumbled upon the Pittsburgh/Minnesota Pipers, which I didn’t know about before (my ABA knowledge isn’t too deep). Switched the radio to “90s pop classics” and realized some 90s pop songs give me a stomach ache while others make me smile.
5. Took a break from the jersey designs to watch excerpts from Rad. The two best songs ever recorded are featured in that film (it’s true).
6. Worked a little more on the jerseys, then packed up and heading out for the day (while it’s still light outside, even!).
A whole new…
My blog postings have been spotty as of late due to several late work days here at the office combined with my preparation for thesis midterm reviews last Friday at CCA. We should be back to a somewhat normal state this week as I’m happy to report that my presentation was well-received by the thesis committee, and we’re [more]
Good good good
Since my last skateboard deck post, we have received three more completed boards. From left to right, some fine-tip brush work by Graham James, Art Director for FTC Skateboarding (spot all the letterforms?); a classic Sam Flores illustration with lush colors; and a clever submission by design firm NOON, showing a mastery of the woodburning tool. Nice.
Postal
Almost every day we get something interesting in the mail. Sometimes it is a big, shiny, bubble-wrapped envelope, sometimes it is a cardboard box with a hammer in it, and other times it is simply a nice piece of mail from a fellow design studio saying hello or recent graduate looking for work. Yesterday we received two such pieces (not the shiny envelope or hammer).
The first is a smartly designed invitation from the studio Dowling Duncan. On one side is a nicely typeset bio of one of the partners and a large embossed D. Flip the invite over and you find the bio of the second partner along with that same D now appearing debossed. Smart.
The second piece of mail is from a fairly recent design school graduate from the state of Ohio; a simple but well put together mini-package of work. The outer envelope has a paper band that wraps around the envelope and is a nice touch. It takes what would ordinarily be a gray envelope and elevates it just enough to become a little bit more.
Take stock
I got into the office this morning, filled the water pitcher with a fresh supply, and was about to sit down at my desk when I noticed on my chair sat a hardcover book. Whenever something is placed on my desk or chair, it usually means that it either needs be filed away, or entered into a database first and then filed away. Since Christopher was not around (teaching class at CCA) and would not be back for a few hours, I didn’t quite know if he wanted me to scan it into our Delicious Library, whether he had seen something in it that he simply wanted to reference for a specific project, or if it was just to be filed away onto the bookshelf. The book is titled The Art of the Market: Two Centuries of American Business As Seen Through Its Stock Certificates. I decided to spend a few minutes browsing through it, and while the book itself is fairly standard fare (feels slightly textbookish), the images in it are pretty amazing. Seeing how much detail has gone into these certificates over the years and imagining someone spending hours engraving this by hand is quite impressive. I asked Christopher about the book when he got back to the studio, and it turns out he had simply been browsing for another book, saw this one for $4 and thought, “why not?”
We believe
We are zeroing in on the final design for the REALM booklet. (Red Sharpie smiley face not included.) Spreading out sketches, notes, comps, etc out on the floor helps the process.
The best journeys
The other day I watched a documentary titled 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless, a film that follows adventurer Jeff Johnson deep into the heart of the Patagonia wilderness as he retraces the 1968 journey of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins. It is a well made film that I recommend you check it out if you have the chance. There is a quote that stood out that I wanted to pass along, as I think it is applicable to creative endeavors. The quote especially resonates with me as my thesis class is in full swing…
“The best journeys answer the questions that in the beginning you didn’t even think to ask.”
At first it sounded a little Hallmark-y, but it does indeed ring true. This idea of just having a starting point—something that you are interested in or passionate about—and then jumping right in and doing things is one that comes across throughout the film, and is one that is reiterated time and time again by my thesis instructors, past thesis students, and other instructors that I speak to about the process. At first it can feel a little strange for some—or even backwards—to be asked to start making things before they have a perfectly formulated statement of what they are trying to accomplish. I think, though, that this quote encapsulates much of what the thesis class is getting at. In the process of trying things out that are in some way connected to your original starting place, no matter how unresolved that starting place may be, new ideas can shake loose and prompt you to go down paths that you would not have come across had you kept your thoughts inside your head.
How tall are you?
Here we are, back at it again. This is my first post in a few days as I was out all day Friday (thesis class at CCA), and we stayed working fairly late on Thursday night, taking care of some things for the REALM charter school project we’ve got rolling. Things are shaping up pretty nicely with it and I am looking forward to seeing the first final printed piece. We have some more revisions to make to the booklet before we send it out, however, and so today we headed out to Berkeley Tech to meet with Victor Diaz and take some photographs of students for the piece. Victor gave us some great feedback that he got from a small focus group of board members and parents, so we will be implementing some of those changes over the next few days. As far as the photo shoot, the kids were great. They are so photogenic and have such great energy that really gets communicated through their eyes. It will make for a much more compelling piece versus having stock photos or just a type only solution. It was fun talking to them during the shoot about odds and ends—whatever it took to get their minds off the fact that they were getting their picture taken; what sports they played, where they grew up, how tall they were (I like throwing the question back at people since I get it often; 6 foot 7 with shoes, if you’re asking). This project is one that feels good being a part of.
Graphic design is not interesting*
*thanks for the title, Mr. Oldham
I reread Craig Oldham’s 10 Penneth today while taking a break from some design work (because that’s what we do here at MINE™: design work). I really enjoy this collection of maxim-like statements and accompanying essays, and definitely recommend picking up a copy if you are able to do so (most likely this means ordering from him directly). Oldham starts off the collection with the above statement, then goes on to further explain his thoughts, including the sentence, “What makes Graphic Design interesting is not Graphic Design itself, rather what you communicate by using it, which changes every project—that’s the interesting part.”
This idea is one of his that I have found especially interesting as of late while beginning the new school semester. Thesis requires us to select a topic that we love/find interesting enough to explore the entire semester. This means, of course, that we can choose “Graphic Design” as a topic if we so desire. On one hand, I have heard people urge students to create a graphic design project about Graphic Design, reasoning that it would most likely be the only chance to explore the profession as a topic itself—”What a great opportunity to understand it better before entering the real, client-driven world,” being the reasoning. On the other hand, I have heard advice to not stay within a design bubble 24/7; to use design as the vehicle in which to explore some other topic or issue—one of the same points that Mr. Oldham makes. While I have enjoyed seeing thesis projects created along the lines of the first approach, I tend to favor the latter for myself, as I think the feat of learning about a new topic/issue is a rich activity when it exists with and informs one’s studies in making things (ie, design).
Plus, when you are at a holiday party you might have more interesting conversations when you can weigh-in on the updated methods scientists are employing to unearth new species of dinosaurs vs. explaining to people the history of such and such typeface (the glassy-eyed head nod doesn’t mean they want you to go into greater detail).
Angel in the office
A smorgasbord of activity was on the menu for today, beginning with a little packing and shipping of some Collector Plates and World’s Greatest Mugs. Lately these have been leaving the studio at a fairly swift pace, so if you’re thinking about picking one or both up, do it now while they’re still in stock! (wink, wink.)
I also worked on some logo sketches for the REALM charter school project. I scribbled out some initial ideas on paper, took a lunch break, then came back and explored my ideas a bit more. Christopher then came over and we reviewed what I had roughly sketched, looked at what we had done last week, and then made decisions as to the most interesting ideas to explore further. I then scanned the sketch of one of my better ideas and got it to a point in Illustrator where we can present to the client. Tomorrow we’ll pick up where we left off.
A little earlier in the day, we were paid a visit by Graham James, Art Director for FTC Skateboarding, and his beautiful Siberian Husky, Angel. This dog had the brightest blue eyes and softest coat of fur that I have seen in a while (the pictures don’t quite do her justice). Plus she was very well-behaved, even with the scent of the cat everywhere. Graham dropped off his skateboard submission and we spent a few minutes chatting with him before they headed out. It was a nice surprise visit.
Good good good good good
When I got to the studio this morning there were a couple more skateboards that had been delivered over the weekend (I mentioned them in last Thursday’s post). That bumps up the count to five that we have in our possession, with more on the way. (From left to right, in order of arrival: Robynne Raye, James Victore, The Decoder Ring Design Concern, Frank Chimero, and Michael Hodgson.) Every day I come into the studio I look forward to our friendly neighborhood postman paying us a visit because of the possibility of him delivering a new board.
This afternoon we spent some time brainstorming possible titles for Christopher’s latest book. Several names have already been proposed to the publisher; they came back with some ideas of their own, and so now we’re approaching the last round of back and forth, most likely reaching a conclusion this time tomorrow. If I am allowed to reveal the chosen name then, I will post it here. We shall see!
This post should be about a penny
Packing galore today. My job was to take care of things that I haven’t been able to get to the past few days due to our busy schedule the past week or so, and mainly that meant a little packing and shipping. It is easy to underestimate the time it takes to fill out competition entry forms (either online or on paper), attach forms to backs of entries, include x-number of extra copies of entry forms, print, pack, label, run to the post office to ship. Whew. It’s a good thing this doesn’t happen everyday. On top of taking care of the competition submission entries, we also sold a number of our World’s Greatest Mugs and Collector Plates, so those needed to be packed up and shipped as well. It’s pretty cool, though, thinking about the fact that in a few days someone in Ireland is going to start sipping tea out of one of our mugs.
We also spent time working out the details for our skateboard design for the upcoming charity fundraiser with House of Air. It is going to be pretty nice if we can pull it off—which shouldn’t be too, too much of a problem. We also got emails from Frank Chimero and Mick Hodgson, and they both included pictures of their completed boards. Nice stuff, and once we get them in the mail next week I will post photos.
We have lift-off
The big news today is that House of Air has opened it’s doors to the public. Check out this video and then head over to building 926 if you can. There will be a weekend-long opening celebration getting started on Friday with the official ribbon-cutting event. It has been nice seeing the progress month-to-month since I came on board in May, and I am glad to have contributed in a small way to this project. Now I’m ready to play some trampoline dodgeball! [more]
MMMMeeting
I mentioned yesterday that we had our first presentation to a new client in which we actually showed pieces of design. We spent a few hours here in the studio with the client and overall it was a very productive meeting. Rather than select one option outright, the client liked different aspects of each piece (I have noticed over the past couple years that this seems to happen often), but luckily we had already built into each direction this ability to kind of mix and match. So we will spend the next several days taking the feedback and pushing things to new realms.
In other news, a new skateboard came in the mail the other day. This time it came from the folks at The Decoder Ring. Sweet.
Presenting…
We spent the day at MINE™ preparing for a client presentation scheduled tomorrow afternoon. We have met on a few occasions with this particular client, and tomorrow is the first day that we will be showing design directions for essentially a multi-page booklet. We will show a few different variations and propose some specific materials and formats that will help keep costs to a minimum and hopefully create a piece that will be most compelling for its intended audience. This project is the first wave of several more that we will be working on with the client as the weeks and months go by. This is the first project that I have seen and been involved with from the very beginning; new client, new project, the whole thing. I submitted one design direction, and even if it is not the one the client goes with, it was good to think about how I might translate a particular message or feeling to the page. It will be even more interesting to see/hear how the client responds to all of the directions, and ultimately the reasons for choosing one. I’m excited to see how it goes tomorrow.
A long history
Today consisted of a lot of tiling for the 35-foot long timeline we are designing for House of Air. When it was all put together and unrolled, it stretched from my chair inside to the sidewalk outside the front door. I wanted to get a photo of the outdoor portion spilling into the street, but the wind was having other thoughts. So these will have to suffice.
Butterflies
Yesterday was the beginning of a brand new semester at California College of the Arts; just like any ol’ other semester, I guess, except this one is the last one of my student career and it feels a little different. It’s funny, just yesterday I asked Christopher if he ever gets nervous as an instructor before meeting his new class. I mentioned that usually at the beginning of each semester I feel some butterflies about the unknown ahead of me, but that they quickly dissipate as things get underway. And you know, I wasn’t nervous at all about this semester until last night. Now I’m feeling a little uncertain, a little nervous, but I have one more day to get certain. My only class, Thesis, meets on Friday. We were given the word “enough” to guide us in our selection of a thesis topic—one that will become a part of our lives in a big way over the next few months. Today in the office Christopher made sure to bring up the word every chance he could. Several of our discussions this afternoon seemed to always lead back to it—or at least bring it up along the way. It’s been in the back of my mind all day (actually, on several occasions moving up to the very forefront.) So now I am off for the day, about to head home and make sure that when Friday comes I will be as prepared as I can be. The only way to take care of the butterflies is to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
Decked out
One of the projects we are working on with House of Air is a fundraiser for local charities that will take the form of an auction of custom one-off skateboard decks. We asked a handful of artists and designers (twelve to be exact) if they would contribute to the cause, and we are now starting to see the decks trickle back to us in the mail. Last week, Robynne Raye of Modern Dog alerted us via Facebook that her board was complete (hers is the board on the left). Then, just this morning, the postman rung the doorbell with a box from James Victore, with his completed board safely packed inside (his is on the right). I will keep you updated as more come in.
It’s an exciting time to be a skateboard deck.
Nope
Some of the most insightful talks that I have heard and books I have read have come when the person writing or speaking lets you in on not just their successes but also their failures. With design-related talks and books, it’s inspiring to hear about all the ups and downs, highs and lows of their experience, rather than sitting through a recount of greatest hits. Friend of the studio, and CCA instructor Bob Aufuldish gave such a talk about a year ago. It was one of the best talks I have heard and I find myself at various times thinking about different parts of it as I carry out my work.
This post is in no way meant to be inspirational, and in no way am I on the same level as Bob Aufuldish or any of the designers that I would find in the books hinted at above, but using the spirit of the that idea as a starting point, here is a list of things that I failed to do this week. [more]
Exhibiting
(I didn’t run this blog entry by Christopher today as I am writing it after hours, so I hope he doesn’t mind me posting these non-studio images. I’ll find out tomorrow. Fingers crossed.)
The beginning of the Fall school semester is right around the corner. Classes at CCA start next Tuesday, which means I will be finishing out my last few months at MINE™ on an adjusted work schedule. Instead of coming in all day, every day, I will be shifting primarily to a four-day work week with some three- and possibly even two-dayers thrown in as need be, depending on my workload. I only have one remaining class, but it’s a significant one: Thesis (notice it has a capital T? Now that’s serious). We meet every Friday, all day long. I’ve got one week until it’s time to roll!
It is going to be interesting to see how the Fall differs from the Summer in terms of overall flow here at the office. Christopher will be gone for chunks of time when he’s teaching classes at CCA and tending to other school matters. For the past couple years he’s been teaching a Level 2 Graphic Design course, and this semester is his first at Level 3. Having had his Level 2 class, and then progressing through the GD program, I am interested in seeing the projects he’ll have his students work on, and ultimately how he likes this level compared to the one he was teaching previously.
I bring up school partially because today I was only at MINE™ for half the day. As part of CCA’s Sputnik team last semester, I designed artwork for the upcoming Faculty Exhibition. So today, I left work early to install signage at the gallery on the Oakland campus. (MINE™, by the way, has a piece on display). I had a certain window of time that I needed to be on campus, and Christopher was kind enough to allow me to cut out early in order to make it happen. Since my entire afternoon was taken up by this task, here are a few images from the process.
Again, this is not work done here at the studio. This was done by me for CCA.
Instead of a postcard announcing the show, the school wanted something more functional; a bookmark. To make it a bit more interesting, I proposed that we create a series of individually numbered bookmarks that could then be tiled together to form the show’s wall graphic at the gallery. The trick was that [more]
Approaching final countdown
We are approaching the finish line—or rather the countdown for launch—with House of Air and things are getting busy. While the construction of the space is continuing forward at a rapid pace to meet the September 15 opening date, there have inevitably been many little changes to a lot of the elements that we have been working on—signage tweaks left and right, edits to artwork for shirts, stickers, and other merchandise, adventures to the library and Presidio Archives in attempt to secure high-resolution images for a historical timeline. Everyone in the office has been working most of the week on one aspect of the project or another. It is all coming together, though, and building 926 should be a pretty crazy place beginning in a few weeks. [more]
Big winners
There is an interesting article and ensuing discussion on the Design Observer website today, titled “Death to Design Awards.” Check it out if you haven’t already.
I think the discussion is particularly interesting to designers just starting out, or who are still finishing school, where design awards often seem very attractive as confirmation of our existence in the field and as nice material for the ol’ resume. And the only way to get design awards is to enter design competitions. During a typical semester at school, we will get a few emails from administration alerting us to the deadlines of various competitions and encouraging us to submit work. The prospect becomes more enticing when the school is able to pay for the entry and shipping fees. Some schools make a very concentrated, seemingly institutional-wide effort to submit their students’ work. Just in the same way that design competitions are big money makers for the organizations that put them on, competitions can also be big money makers marketing campaigns for educational institutions, as a way to entice young creative folk to fork over the dough enroll in their fine hubs of learning and culture.
Any time I flip through the student awards section of various design magazines (which isn’t often), I notice that a lot of the winners seem to be coming from a small handful of schools. Issue after issue. To the uninformed, it would appear that there are just a few great design schools out there; schools that squash the competition and rack up all the awards. The truth is, of course, that we only ever see a tiny fraction of the total amount of great work, as a lot of stuff doesn’t get entered in the first place. CCA, for example, while every now and then will send us competition announcements, does not seem to place too much emphasis on winning design awards. I don’t know how it is elsewhere, but in talking with other students at school, it isn’t really that much of a focus for them. What is interesting, though (or actually, not that interesting), is that almost all of my instructors (who I have loved having as instructors) have won an award or two or several.
Maybe we should abolish the competitions and establish a group that patrols the world, dishing out awards where they deem fit. It becomes illegal to enter yourself into a competition. Instead, someone else has to tip off this secret patrol group of your whereabouts and design doings. The group then investigates, undercover-like, and the next morning you wake up with a medal hanging from your lemon tree. Or maybe the design profession should adopt a system of awards similar to the performance-based pay system that many want to establish for school teachers. The higher the students score on standardized tests, the higher your salary. The more money that the company you designed the letterhead for makes that year, the shinier your medal. That way, it’ll be obvious which designers deserve the gold medals, right? No more subjective crap. Company with the biggest profit = designer with the biggest medal. Simple.
Hmm, now this secret patrol group will most likely need a logo…
United Stats
I have not spent too much time since I’ve been here at MINE™ looking at the Google Analytics for the blog. Every once in a while I have found it interesting to see how people are getting to the site, where they are coming from, how many pages they check out, etc. However, it is just not something I pore over like it helps me breathe (maybe if we were getting a million hits a day the data would be more diverse). Today, though, I will post just a few “highlights” (ooh, exciting) from the blog’s traffic data over the past month. [more]
Essential
I came across this scrap of paper in the comp room. The rest of the text had been chopped off, but it was obviously the tail end of a sentence about design thinking.
With a slight modification, scientific evidence of the redundancy of the term.
Pass the marshmallows
One of the benefits of working in shady Bernal Heights becomes crystal clear on days like this. The thermometer outside is hovering in the 90s (weak, I know), but here we are inside the studio with our delicious mugs of hot cocoa and vintage sweaters—a brisk 56 degrees.
Actually, it is not that cold in here, but it is true that I was a bit on the chilly side at one point in the day, wishing I had brought my sweatshirt with me. (Yesterday I did actually put my long sleeves on in the afternoon. Then again, I am sick, so the measurement is skewed.)
So thinking that a walk outside in the sunshine would do some good for my cold, I felt the real temperature of the day (closer to 100 on pavement), getting a little toasty traversing the hills of Bernal on foot. While it was nice to be out and about, it felt particularly good to get back inside the cool confines of the studio. Plus, I got an extra 3 hours of sleep last night, and woke up feeling better. As I was making my way into work this morning, I realized that I grossly undervalue the importance of sleep and downtime.
Blah! It’s Monday
I am sick today and while it could be much worse, it is still not too pleasant. [more]
Waffles up
I went to eat yesterday with some fellow interns and classmates at CCA. We sat against a brick wall and had ourselves some [more]
Taking flight
Since we were out of the office most of yesterday, here now are a few photos from our excursions…
We spent the afternoon checking out the progress on the House of Air construction:
Out/About
Today was a bit different from a typical MINE™ workday. We were hardly in the studio at all; about an hour in the morning, then about 45 minutes around lunchtime, and finally again for about an hour at the end of the day. Instead, we paid visits to a couple of clients and met with them in their own spaces. Even though we had a lot to do at the studio, it was a nice change to get out and about. I will post some pictures from our trips tomorrow.
We started the day by heading over to Berkeley to meet with Victor Diaz. He is a man with a vision (watch more about him here) and with a great group of people supporting his quest to establish Berkeley’s first charter school. It’s exciting to be a part of this project and see the passion oozing from Diaz and his crew. We ended the day by heading over to the Presidio, where construction is in full-swing at building 926, home to House of Air. It was my first trip to the site, and it’s exciting to know that the place will be open to the public in a matter of weeks.
Again, photographs of the day to come tomorrow. Good night!
Sounds like a fruit to me
Here again, a random selection of notes jotted down from the past week or so.
SPAM 02510 popped up on the caller ID at one point this week when the phone rang… funny. Christopher saw it, and possibly with flashbacks of this running through his head, said that he would answer it. Sadly (or thankfully?), no such interaction occurred this time.
One of the great things about design is being able to ask dumb questions in a strategic manner. Great insight that can be applied to a number of business—and life—applications.
Two is a company. Three is a crowd. I wanted some input on a question/decision I had last week; should I grab drinks with friends after work, or go to an AIGA talk? Since there were three people around, I applied this logic to the [more]
Stacked
The sample archive shelves in the garage have been re-organized for a few days now, but the last of the labels were applied this morning.
Here is what things look like now:
And in case you missed it, here is what the situation was before:
[more]
What’s old is up
One of the great things about working with a diverse range of clients is getting the opportunity to learn about a diverse range of topics. For the past several months, MINE™ has been working with House of Air, a state of the art trampoline park that will be opening this fall in a former airplane hanger in the Presidio. We have been involved in many aspects of the project, and most recently have begun designing a timeline of a history of Crissy Field that will exist there inside the building. A big part of the task involves research. The good folks at House of Air pulled a number of historic images, and we have been digging through archives as well, slowly starting to construct a visual and written narrative of the place. It has been pretty outstanding seeing some of these images and hearing the stories of the area over time. As a bonus, we (or at least I) learned some new things about San Francisco’s Trafficways plan from the late 40s and the Freeway Revolt in 1959 and early 60s. Quite interesting.
I’m getting more and more excited for this trampoline park to open.
Wave after wave of buttery spice*
Today we had a very exciting mini-lesson in logos—specifically those that take the form of a single letter mark—from Pat Berman, Professor of Art at Wellesley College, which recently went through a redesign of their own logo courtesy of Base. (Mini-lesson via Brand New.) On several occasions in her talk, if you can make it through it all, Berman described certain characteristics of the new mark—design decisions made to a W letterform based on Garamond—and used particular adjectives and emotional values to express what the characteristics communicate. [more]
I scream…
All this week I have been wanting ice cream. The craving has grown with each passing hour. I drink water to try and distract myself, but it just hasn’t been working. I flip through print samples and design books to take my mind off it. No dice. I think all my mention of it this week has caught on here at the studio, because yesterday at the end of the day we decided that today we would go out for lunch and then ice cream. So at about noon-thirty we headed up the hill for lunch at Liberty Cafe, with plans to grab ice cream at MaggieMud afterwards. Since we had to be back at the studio for a client meeting, we decided to drive instead of making the trek on foot like we normally do.
We park; pay the meter. Eat Lunch. Skip dessert. Liberty Cafe has ice cream from Bi-Rite Creamery on their dessert menu, but I was set on getting some Salty Caramel on a waffle cone from MM. Pay the bill; drive down the street. Park; pay the meter. Sinking feeling as we cross the street to MaggieMud. Lights are off. Nobody inside. Closed. What!? 59-degrees on a cloudy summer San Francisco day and the ice cream shop isn’t open? What is the world coming to!
Pending
A young woman with a product and a pending patent came into the studio this morning to meet about a logo for her creation. What followed was not just a discussion about the form a logo might take to best represent her and her product, but instead a larger look at her business plan, her goals, and where she was as far as funding and resources. What became apparent during the meeting, both to her and to me, was exactly how much stuff has to get done to successfully bring a product to market. Or really, to even think about getting it there. It is about much more than simply having a good/great/necessary/essential idea for a product—or in this young woman’s case, an actual product currently in use by a small, loyal customer base. While a great logo and identity can go a long way in giving credibility to an up-and-coming business, there are so many more hurdles to face along the path; so much more red tape to maneuver through. One particular moment in the conversation that I liked was when Christopher explained that while he has been designing for fifteen or so years, it’s been just five or six since he decided to be his own boss—not so far back as to forget what it’s like to take those first few steps on your own.
Good
Color correction. I spent a good portion of today continuing to prepare photos for the new website. No magic here, just good old fashioned Photoshop work; just like your grandparents showed you. We also had a visit from a recent design graduate out of the state of Washington. I always enjoy it when people stop by to show their work, especially because I am in the process of putting together an “official” portfolio for myself, and because I will probably be in a similar situation at the start of next year. It’s nice to see how others present themselves and their work.
If you haven’t heard yet, Christopher finished the writing for his latest book last night. This afternoon we spent some time helping him brainstorm for a few final details, but the bulk of the work is done. Keep checking in on the Good Design Book blog because there is going to be more activity on those pages. We talked about a few contests and activities/events surrounding the book… I’ll stay hush for now so as not to steal Christopher’s thunder. Just stay alert.
Sorted
Last week we transformed the office into a photography studio, getting images of the some of the studio’s work in preparation for the upcoming website redesign. Today we took a break from shooting to do some slight image retouching and to take stock of what pieces we still need shot.
Additionally, the sample archive has been reorganized. The garage is a better place for it. We have broken down several of the old boxes; some will be recycled and others will get reused. The only thing that remains is to modify the labeling system and place stickers on each of the boxes to clearly identify their contents. I took some time today to sketch out a few ideas for the updated label, and we will probably print and apply in the next day or so.
Underway
A few posts back I mentioned the reorganization/refiling of the studio’s print samples that was about to take place in the garage. Well, folks, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. That’s right, The Reorganization is officially upon us. You are all witnesses. If the print samples could talk, they might be discussing this right now. We will be holding a live press conference tonight on ESPN at 9:00pm EST. Stay tuned for further developments.
Iconic
One of the jobs in the works here at the studio has a component that requires us to create 15 or so small (nickel-sized) icons that will be used in a clients’ conference/training materials. Each icon will represent a particular step or activity in the training, and will allow participants to easily locate and [more]
Friday roundup
A modest collection of phrases and images for this Friday’s roundup post. I was in the office just four days this week after returning to foggy and cold San Francisco from a week-long trip to the hot and sunny Pacific Northwest.
01. While in Seattle last week, I stopped by and visited with friend of the studio Robynne Raye of Modern Dog in their studio. She was very kind for taking a few minutes out of a busy day to show me around. It was also awesome that only half of our conversation was about design—the other half was about, get this, dogs! (I like dogs, so this was win-win.)
02. “This is going to be my legacy to you.” While working in InDesign with Christopher next to me directing me on a particular edit for a client, I began to replace an element on the page with another, forgetting a shortcut technique that he had shown me several weeks before. This was his friendly comment to me before reminding me of the shortcut.
03. We were silently working the other day when Christopher suddenly told us of a thought he had that morning while getting ready for the day. It was about the saying, “the past helps us understand the present.” He offered up the reasoning that it might be, in fact, the opposite that is true; that the present helps us to understand and make sense of the past. I eventually concluded that there is no such thing as the present; that instead we exist in a rapid sequence of “pasts.”
Such are the conversations that randomly occur every now and then here at MINE™.
Penguins + skulls
= hang time.
Today I spent the bulk of my time working on some logos/artwork for House of Air. A little something extra that might grace the surfaces of t-shirts and head protection gear. I got to do a little research on the bone structure of penguins to inform the creation of the work—sweet. We’ll find out in the next few days what the HOA folks think, but it’s all looking pretty nice. Also in the works is a classy red carpet gala/grand opening invitation for another client.
Overall there was a lot of activity today. Christopher is in the process of writing a book, and a lot of his focus the last few days has been directed toward that endeavor—on top of all the day to day details of running a studio. I’m realizing that one of the big challenges in the “real world” (post-school) is in fact balancing all of the daily tasks, client interactions, emails to answer, etc with the creative work—whether it be designing or writing or whatever; the process of making time to think/create amidst the hubbub of the everyday.We also had a potential new client come in for a first meeting. It’s an awesome project from a pretty inspirational guy, so I’m excited to see what happens moving forward.
ILINE, ULINE
Whoa, it’s like I went through a time warp. I go to sleep after a day’s work and when I when I sit back down to blog, two weeks have passed! My apologies for the moment of silence to all of the loyal blog followers out there (I’m especially looking at you, Pennsylvania—keep the visits coming).
Back to the lab
Because we observe Federal holidays here at MINE™, today is our first day back after the long Independence Day weekend. As I was packing up my belongings and about to head out the door on Friday, I didn’t realize this, and was preparing to be back to work bright and early Monday morning. If it wasn’t for Christopher’s wife nonchalantly wishing me a happy long weekend as I was about to head out, I probably would have been here ringing the doorbell at 8:25am yesterday! Close(ish) call. To celebrate the extra day off, I decided to check out a few books from the studio’s library.
This week we are waiting to hear back from a client with feedback on a design direction for an exhibition catalog. We spent part of the day today communicating with a few printers about the job; getting proposals, making adjustments to paper stocks, quantities, etc. It was nice having Christopher walk me through the steps he normally goes through when reviewing/comparing proposals from printers. I love being involved in details like that, as in school it’s just not the sort of thing one is typically exposed to.
FIFA
Funny & Interesting Friday Announcements
A smattering of thoughts from the week. Have a great weekend!
I never remember that monkey claw, said Christopher, referring to the hand contortions required to execute a particular InDesign super-keyboard-combo-shortcut.
#1: Don’t do it. #2: Do the minimum. #3: F* it and go all out. Your three options when deciding whether or not to take on a project with no/low budget.
Impress your employer with a new diploma of Harvard. was the subject line of an email from “Will Smith.”
Own goals are bad. Or good. (Depends on which side you’re on.)
Time is…
One of the things we’ve discussed in my Transitioning to Professional Practice class and that I am experiencing in my internship here at MINE™ is the idea that when you’re working for someone else, in their studio, your time is no longer your own. When you start a project, you can no longer approach it in the same way that you might approach a project for school—time-management wise. In school, you might get a new project brief toward the end of a class session, and then have at least a whole day or two before you have to show anything new. In a studio setting, you get the project brief (or direction from a creative director) and in most instances need to start working right away. As students I think many of us are used to working late at night and into the wee hours of the morning, or at particular times we feel most creative or productive. The adjustment moving forward, of course, is how to be creative and productive at any point during the day—especially if working for someone else—and how to overcome any creative blocks along the way. I think showers might play an integral role here.
Rapid rewards
Today I spent most of my time working on design directions for the exhibition catalog project I mentioned the other day. I am very excited about this project and am looking forward to when we get feedback from the client. One of the things that has been nice is finding a way to work around the budget constraints and real-world printing logistics. That’s one of the things that feels so rewarding to me—finding a way to get it done within the constraints. [more]
Throwback
Being a former basketball player and current college basketball fan (I have less affinity for the NBA, although every now and then during the playoffs I can stand to watch it), I am often interested when a team decides to undergo a total rebrand and take on new colors, uniforms and logos—or revert to those from the past. Just recently, the local professional basketball team here in the Bay Area, the Golden State Warriors, went through one of those rebrands. The details (mostly failings) of this effort are well-documented elsewhere, and while there are a lot of problems in the execution (even non-designers know the type is horrible), the idea of returning to the vintage look is great, in my opinion. “The City” throwback logo and uniforms have a cool-factor that the now-former “lightning bolt man” logo did not. And it showed at the cash register; the Warriors have sold much more throwback apparel over the past several years than any other design. (This is an image of the previous throwback jersey:)
Piqued
Happy Monday evening to all MINE™ fans and friends out there. We have some new projects on the horizon and spent a little quality time with a few of them today. One is an upcoming exhibition catalog. I read through several pieces of information on the exhibition and did some research surrounding some of the topics and concepts addressed in the show. Because it’s still early in the process I can’t divulge too much information, so in the meantime I will (hopefully) pique your interest with the following project I came across during my research.
This project is from a group of design students in Denmark. Dubbed the ecochair, it is a “multi-functional piece of furniture… made of a 100% cotton mattress and a frame of reusable corrugated cardboard.” (Image below from their website.) The video on their site is also worth having a look!
Are you a frozen treat enthusiast?
A good ol’ collection of random stuff for Friday…
One of my projects over the next few months is going to be helping redo the MINE™ reel. There’s nothing wrong with the current one, aside from the fact that it’s a few years old, but now is just a good time to spice things up! So today at lunch (at The Liberty Cafe, which I highly recommend), we discussed a few details on how it might all go down. It’s going to be pretty awesome, so stay tuned. Also, MINE™ is going to be featured on the CRAFT Magazine site soon. A couple of nice folks stopped by today and took some photographs. Be on the lookout.
Seen/heard over the past week-ish:
“Bacon is like a little hug from God”
“It’s all good until 2012″
“At warmer times of the year ice cream trucks bring wintry refreshment to eager customers of all ages. These vehicles use distinctive chimes to notify frozen treat enthusiasts of their whereabouts, and are common to city and suburban areas.”
Connect the dots, la la la la la
Sometimes you just don’t know when your work on a particular project will come full circle and be the very reason that several months—or even years—later someone approaches you about new work.
In the Spring of 2009 I created a video while a student in Christopher’s level 2 Graphic Design class at CCA. Part of the assignment was aimed at getting us to work outside of the more typical design projects—posters, logos and books—and getting us working with tools that maybe we weren’t as familiar with. The assignment was to create a one-minute video narrative on the subject of secret(s). I created this piece that follows a DJ through a record store digging for gems buried beneath the dust (video after the jump): [more]
Hola
You never know when you’ll need to say “hello” in a different language from your own… to impress a new client, while traveling to a different country, when the boss’ son gets home from Chinese school.
Always handy.
English (America, Australia, UK): Hello
English (Australia): G’day
Cantonese (China): Néih hóu
Cassubian (northwestern Poland): Witôjze
Icelandic (Iceland): Góðan daginn
Canela (Brazil): Hââ-pô
Zulu (South Africa, Lesotho): Sawubona
Chamorro (Guam): Hafa
Egyptian (ancient Egypt): Iiti em hotep
Welsh (Wales): Dydd da
Tahitian (Tahiti French Polynesia): Ia ora na
Shor (Russia): Ezen
Norwegian [Nordmørsk] (Norway): Goddág
Mien (Laos, Thailand): Yiem longx
English [New Oreleans dialect] (Lousiana): Where ya’at
Properly formatted
One of the things that has been on my mind recently is the upcoming creation of a portfolio of my (mostly student) work over the past few years while at CCA. I will receive my degree at the end of this year (knock on wood), and am currently enrolled in a class called Transitioning to Professional Practice, in which the actual creation of said portfolio takes place. In addition to an online portfolio, we are creating a printed piece, despite the fact that these may be becoming more and more irrelevant in searching for work. There is definitely less emphasis placed on them, at least. Still, a succinct printed presentation of ones work can make a [more]
Generation
It was pretty busy last week here in the studio. A lot of small, fast-turnaround type projects kept popping up and keeping us on our toes. As soon as we’d finish one of them, another would have to be turned around in an hour or two. For a while there it was like a non-stop carousel of fun. Those are the moments when you know you’re alive. [more]
Are you my MoMA?
Last week Christopher’s oldest son finished his school year, but that doesn’t mean the learning has to end.
I send you on your weekend way with
Bounty from the Bottom of Baker’s Book Bag.
Asymmetry
It’s been quiet on the blog front the last few days as I was out of the office tending to a family medical situation. All is well, but what it had me thinking about is the balance between one’s work life and non-work life. It’s a top priority to take care of family, of course, but I always feel weird taking any time off from work, especially as an intern relatively new to the field. I feel I haven’t earned the privilege to take any time off. Even taking a lunch break feels a little weird. (I think I’ve gotten better, though, in recognizing the benefits of taking breaks every now and then to stay fresh and energized.)
Meatball and spaghetti
When we were visiting Singularity University down at Ames yesterday, we heard on a couple of instances the NASA logo being referred to as “the meatball.” Apparently it’s a semi-official nickname used by NASA personnel. When we got back to the studio I looked it up and found out that NASA has three official marks. The round meatball is officially known as “the insignia” and was designed in 1959 by James Modarelli, a former employee. When I think of NASA this is the image that pops into my head, along with a shuttle launch scene.
And Ben Affleck in a bright orange space suit.
The meatball insignia sort of replaced the red wordmark—a stylized N-A-S-A rendering known as the “worm” that was retired in 1992. And I don’t know if this is actually true, but word on the street is that the worm was also called the “spaghetti” logo. This would possibly explain the meatball thing, but I don’t know about that one. More triangulation needed.
For more info on the NASA meatball, this is a pretty funny official release that mentions what a “design nightmare” it is. And this is NASA’s beautifully designed online graphics standards manual. Make sure you have at least Netscape Navigator 4.0, though!
iMINE™ technology
What did you do at work today?
Went to NASA and talked to a robot.
The end.
Actually, that is indeed what happened. We took a trip this afternoon down to NASA’s Ames Research Center to meet with Singularity University (see red circle). The branding we’re working on for their 2010 Graduate Studies Program is almost finished, but we needed to finalize a few last details. As we were sitting around a conference table, I heard a mechanical whirring sound slowing increasing in volume in the adjacent room to my right. From where I was sitting, I could see past the doorframe into this room, and a little further into the hallway. Suddenly a mechanical “thing”—I couldn’t tell exactly what it was—maybe four feet tall and on wheels, rolls past the open doorway and starts down the hall. I only saw a second or two of it. Christopher, seated across the table, heard the whirring sound as well but didn’t have the same view. The Singularity folks were oblivious to it, as I guess it’s a regular thing there.
When they realized we were intrigued by what was making this sound, they called it over! Turns out it’s a robot used primarily for video conferencing purposes, currently being controlled by a human somewhere in the building. A person can log-on from anywhere and gain access to the robot’s controls via webcam. The person’s face appears on the LCD screen, and they can see and hear everything that the robot “sees” and “hears.” They can then control movement using two cameras that give them a view of the robot’s surroundings. It didn’t look like this or anything, but it was pretty sweet and less eerie. The greatest part was that they gave us guest log-in access so that we can assume controls of the robot—from here in San Francisco—during our next meeting with them. Nice.
Colortypethics
In addition to reading this post, be sure to also make time for Part II—the conclusion—of Christopher’s Design Business + Ethics entry.
When the mail came around mid-day, there was a small poster tube in the pile. Those are always exciting. In it was this small poster by Julian Hansen, loosely based on FontShop’s 100 Best Typefaces. If you’re ever feeling stuck as to which typeface to use on a project, look no further! It’s full of helpful decision-making questions to lead you to that perfect typeface for the job. For example, You cried when watching the Terminator? Yes or No.
This morning began with some revisions to the Singularity University banners. Before we left the studio last night we got additional feedback on a few changes to make, so getting those done was the first order of the day. These banners are going to be printed large and displayed at the NASA Ames campus as a way to highlight and identify several areas of study during their Graduate Studies Program this summer—from renewable energy production, to the frontiers of space flight, to food production for large cities. It was/is a great opportunity to use bold, eye-catching color schemes for the banners. They’re turning out to be quite vibrant. The client really liked them. Each component of the Program curriculum is identified by a particular color and represented with a specific icon. These icons will also appear as a group on t-shirts of the same colors. At one point in the day Christopher made the comment that it was kind of nice using colors that the studio maybe doesn’t normally use—or hasn’t used a lot of in the past. I haven’t used some of the colors in any of my work, either. It got me thinking about a question Jon Sueda brought up in my Typography class last semester. He asked us if we had any particular methods for working with or selecting color. Some people (myself included) seemed tended to gravitate toward certain colors or palettes, but nobody had a particularly strong criteria for selecting them, other than just gut feeling and whether it seems appropriate.
So, to anyone out there reading, do you have any particular methods for selecting or working with color?
Design business +
I will keep today’s post short so as to encourage you to read this timely entry from Christopher. I encourage you all to post your thoughts to that one.
Here at the studio today I spent most of the day helping out on a project for Singularity University. I have been sketching, designing and revising a series of large banners and t-shirt graphics for their upcoming Graduate Studies Program. It is the first time that I have been this involved, contributing to the design of each piece, presenting variations to Christopher, etc. I have had to adjust a little to the process, but I think I am starting to feel a little more comfortable. I have realized that it can be helpful to set a time limit, and after that time is up, get some feedback on the progress made. In certain instances, this can be a real timesaver, preventing me from going down a path that I don’t really need to be going down.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for Part II of the above link.
Friday fan day
Some of you may have noticed over the past couple months on Facebook that MINE™ has been looking for suggestions on stuff to give away once the 1,000 Facebook-fan mark is reached. There have been a handful of suggestions—a few being a jar filled with 1,000 black and white jelly beans (from Brett MacFadden); an ipad (totally reasonable request by Omar Dbeis); each of the posters the studio has printed (thanks, Kate Earhart El-Bizri)—all equally excellent suggestions, no doubt.
Well, earlier this week we hit the magic number (woo hoo!). We decided against the ipad route and spent some time scouring the archives to pull some posters, stickers, and a few surprise items; it was a pretty fun task. Today we finished picking all of our lucky winners by way of a random, but highly structured, process. It was even more entertaining selecting the winners. The first thing we did was open the Fans window in Facebook. This window only shows a small portion of the total number, so we figured out how many of these subsets existed that made up our total fan count. Based on those figures, we began a scholarly, well-respected technique for determining number pairs. It went like this: Justin, pick a number between 1 and 10. Okay, now pick a number between 1 and 100.
After several rounds of this we had our winners, but in number only. The next, and longest step, was to use our previously identified window subsets and manually find out exactly who 3, 44 and friends were, and then getting a mailing address from them. If we encountered any problems—like the person not allowing any emails via Facebook—rather than simply choosing the next person on the list, we would use our 1-thru-10 number and move down that many steps to the next person. Needless to say, it was a very exciting system, and the suspense kept building as the number of available prizes dwindled. As we were selecting, an interesting thing happened. The fan count began to increase fairly significantly in a short amount of time, dropping people into different number slots. This just made it more exciting—like hitting a moving target!
So to all you winners out there, the faster you reply the faster you’ll get the goods!
Is this yours®?
In addition to a number of small-ish tasks that got taken care of today in the studio, there was plenty more discussion and design surrounding MINE™’s new future website. One of the interesting topics that came up—one that I hadn’t really previously considered—is the idea of balancing one’s personal communication (and to a certain extent, work) with a studio’s own communication (and work).
This is especially applicable with a studio such as MINE™ that has multiple streams of information constantly flowing to the outside world—the main studio website, this intern blog, the studio’s facebook page, Christopher’s CCA blog and his twitter feed, etc. If an employee of an active studio like this is extremely active as well, and accustomed to posting links/images/articles throughout the day, at what point do they stop [more]
uu uu uu dot com
Smells like the Internets up in here (said in this manner). All kinds of discussion today about MINE™’s upcoming website redesign. Questions (and some answers) about user experience(s), specific work to highlight, integration with other channels of info (social media, blogs)… goodness in the works!
First day, sort of
After the long weekend, MINE™ was back in business today, sans Tim. Well, kind of. The morning consisted of some standard studio maintenance tasks—breakdance fighting, file organization, spam email deletion. Then, about mid-day, the doorbell rang. It was Tim and he was sleepwalking, his muscle-memory kicking in and leading him to the office! When he woke from his deep sleep he decided to stick around for a few minutes and take care of some last minute odds and ends.
There are a few upcoming design competition entry dates, so I took some time today compiling all the pertinent entry information in preparation for our potential submission. I finished off the day doing a little Photoshop work on a file for Christopher, and am now finding myself having to cut this post short to head out to the first day of my summer Transitioning To Professional Practice class at CCA, taught by Cinthia Wen of Noon (and CCA’s newly appointed chair of the Graphic Design program). The class meets twice a week in the evening, so I will have to start my blog posts earlier on these days! Until tomorrow…