New Limited Edition Notebooks!

For two weeks or so I had this idea that I just needed to see. In our letterpress lab, there are dozens of these old (or still-in-use) logos, many of which harken back to another time. So, I ordered some beautiful Pop*Tone Papers from French and, as soon as they arrived, got to work on these notebooks.

Although I’ll likely continue on with the series, each will be printed in its own edition. There are between 5 and 10 notebooks in each of the colors shown here (totaling about 35 notebooks total). All are hand stitched (in what’s known as a pamphlet binding) with brightly colored endsheets. The corners are rounded at 1/8 inch. They are about 6 x 9 inches, with 64 sheets (front and back).

Check them out here!

As an aside, today’s my birthday. Happy birthday to me!

Ira Glass, I Love You

[NB: Hello, dear reader, and apologies for my absence in the bloggery. My excuse: this semester is insanely busy. But a ton of exciting things are in the pipeline (corporate word) and writing will recommence soon.]

Last year, Ira Glass came to Tucson and blew me away with a live radio performance. That’s kind of what it was. Basically, he was taking us through the process of compiling his most excellent radio show, This American Life. He spoke, played clips, talked about music and meeting people. It was simple, was beautiful.

So, I read his Manifesto a while ago, and was just reminded of it this evening, and thought I’d share it here. It’s broken into three parts, all of which address a question or idea and present solutions or action points for, well, you.

In his Manifesto, Ira – with whom I’d like to be on a first name basis – talks about the long, long…long learning curve of his and any industry, what a story is and isn’t, and is complete with exemplary radio clips. I think his overall message is to have fun, to trust yourself and be willing to learn; good advice for anyone. So check it out here and enjoy!

New Prints in the Shop!

As requested, smaller prints are now available in my Shop. These archival prints will help support the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans. $10 of each print sold will go directly to the lovely folks there to help preserve the delicate estuaries and life on the Sea of Cortes.

Also, feel free to request certain color combinations or illustrations from the posters not shown on the prints.

Happy Shopping!

Internetting

Video interview of illustrator Olaf Hajek (Source: Gestalten)

Here we are, in the midst of a new semester, which might not be as terrifying as previously imagined. This Spring, I’m studying contemporary art history, writing (memoir+research), artists’ books and visual narratives and taking a general studio class. Oh. And I’m teaching illustration. And helping to run the Book Arts Collective. And there are always other projects, just to spice up the days and nights.

So I’ve been a little busy, but wanted to share this interesting video on Olaf Hajek, an illustrator of many interests and talents, and some interestingness from around the web.

// Seth Godin talks of the importance of designers
// I just missed Seth Godin at MoMA
// I’m kind of in love with Mikey Burton
// The Flasch Artists’ Book Collection is an excellent source for researching artists’ books
// I had to update a resume this week, and found You the Designer helpful
// An oldie but goodie, the manifesto of Ulises Carrión, The New Art of Making Books

Hello, Etsy!

I like to make books. I realize that this is a generally useless activity, because it’s probably cheaper and definitely easier to buy a book. But I can’t stop making them. Here are the things I love about making books:

// Folding paper with a bone folder, perfectly
// Sewing into paper
// Trimming the edges with the guillotine
// Discovering tricks that make the pages open wider or the end papers glue easier, etc.

Have you ever made a book? It. Feels. So Good. There’s something incomparable about touching the pages, about making something functional.

This notebook, consisting of all beautiful French paper, is sewn into three sections with yellow thread, and the paper colors alternate between white, blue and light grey, with yellow endpapers. The cover is letterpressed with an illustration of mine, which you’ve probably seen about 17 or 100 times on this site. I love the octopus.

So! Since I can’t stop making them, and because I’m a part of the recently re-named Book Arts Collective (website redesign pending), I figure why not open an Etsy shop. Come check me out.

Stay tuned for more deliciousness.

What’s This…An Identity?!

Last year, the lovely Sonora Review published a double issue (55/56) of their journal with an uncollected story by the most excellent David Foster Wallace called Solomon Silverfish. In this story, our protagonist is guilty of identitylessness. Our culture (and our brains) teaches us to categorize, to separate the world apart, to make decisions about our experiences in order to better understand them.

In design school, as in art school and probably anywhere, an identity is regularly stressed. If you want to be an artist, you’re told to create a consistent body of work; something to be recognized by. If you want to be an illustrator, you need to develop a distinct style. Same for designers.

For a long time I resisted this idea, this decision (fear of limitations), but the time has come. So, to research identities, I used a few resources and inspirations from around the web:

// David Airey’s Logo Design Love
// The identities created by Pentagram
// Freelance Folder’s Press Kit Advice
// Designer Nubby Twiglet
// Designer Jessica Hische
// Designers at Mint

If you haven’t yet checked out Pentagram’s What Type Are You? ) tool, you might want to (Password: Character. It’s a pretty funky little application, attaching a typeface to your personality. Then it tells you what other humans came up with the same results. My typeface: Courier.

After attempting a mark (fancy name for logo) with Courier, I abandoned the idea and went for Helvetica Neue (from Linotype). In general, I’m somewhat wary of the Helvetica family (it’s a little too easily accepted for my liking) but it seemed elegant, quiet even, but clear. Anyway, there it is for now. Ok, enough stalling. Here’s the new identity. Fingers crossed. It might change soon.

The black and white is kind of a default. I imagine I’ll change colors as I like. Stay tuned for a full-on press kit and maybe even some letterpressed things.

Digg This.

Internetting

Detail of the R Poster (Photo from Eva Jane Hogan)

// Really enjoying this R Poster design-led by young gun Eva Jane Hogan

// The 99% is telling us to Say No in 2010 (to humans)

// Dan Lockton discusses the Design with Intent Toolkit

// iA predicts excitingly/simply/prettily What’s Next in Web Design

// Good Magazine/Frog Design are talking about the Benefits of Teaching Design Early

// The New York Times profiles 36 Hours in Tucson and almost gets it right (minus Epic Cafe, plus Feast, plus The B Line)

Preview of the Sonora Review!

It’s almost here! The Sonora Review, begun in 1980, is the oldest student-run literary journal in the country. It’s entirely run by the MFA students in the Creative Writing program at the University of Arizona. And this year, I had the pleasure of working with them on the Issue 57 design.

After arbitrarily choosing a theme of Sea Creatures & Awesomeness (then arbitrarily dropping Awesomeness), I got to work on illustrations to appear throughout the issue. Strangely, at the same time, the Design + Science Exhibition came up and my world became full of tentacles, suction cups and water. Here are a few of the cast of characters accompanying the fine writing of the journal.

As a surprise plot twist, the editors asked me to write a Note from the Arts Editor (my apparent title). My note consists of a haphazardly directed flow chart. (You can download a hi-res version of the Note here, though I’m not sure why you’d want to.)

Issue 57 of the Review features the unputdownable writing of Lia Purpura, Steven Church, Poetry Contest Winner Peter Jay Shippy, Amelia Grey and many, many others.

Check out the journal’s new and improved website.

Also, order the journal. It’s awesome. Really.

Wintering in NYC – Part III

Just after returning from the DR, I had a day or so to wander the streets of New York. Wanting to check out the Bauhaus Exhibition at the MoMA, I called my city-dwelling brother (one of three brothers total, and a sister) and we headed uptown.

These are my feet on the escalator to the sixth floor. Exciting.

My brother’s feet. He’s classy.

If you’re me, you didn’t exactly know what Bauhaus was besides a typeface and a pretty sign you saw somewhere once in Connecticut…up until last week. Embarrassing. (Also, it’s pronounced Bow-howse.) Turns out to be a really interesting movement.

The Bauhaus was a school founded in Weimar, Germany in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius upon the concept of bringing all of the arts together. The idea was to bring together craft and industry, to create functional and beautiful and beautifully made objects. As with the Modernism movement, technology is seen as a positive and utilitarian element in art, according to the Bauhaus doctrine. (It should be noted here that the Bauhaus movement seems largely formal, meaning concerned with form. Meaning that materials, shapes and compositions were rigorously explored, whereas the development of concepts seems to have been secondary, if at all considered.)

A diagram of the Basics Curriculum. (Source: DesignHistory.org.)

Although the school only lasted for fourteen years and was constantly undergoing major transitions in personnel and locations (the exhibition is broken down into years/locations), the work developed at the school became a profound art movement, greatly influencing the Modernist movement, which was about forty years underway at the time of the school’s establishment.

Color analysis of a Madonna painting, Paul Citroen, c. 1921.

One thing I really enjoyed about the show, which did not allow photographs, was seeing the assignments of students like Josef Albers and Wassily Kandinsky. Even though as students their work demonstrates a kind of precision and focus, it is a reminder that we all have roots somewhere. Kandinsky and everyone else developed their craft as creative problem-solvers over time.

Some lovely postcards designed in the Bauhaus. Forgive the blurriness; camera was being used in stealth mode.

There’s something beautiful in Gropius’ Bauhaus Manifesto, in the concept of the workshop environment. Building is so fundamental to the human body, and so basic to our knowledge. What better way to connect with something (materials, others, ideas) than to make a tangible object? I like this.

Last fall, I began my illustration class by having the students make their own sketchbooks (a lesson plan lifted from one of my own teachers). We spent a couple of hours folding paper, sewing and finally trimming our books. At the end of class, several students came up to me and said they had no idea they could make their own books. I had no idea I could make my own books either, until I tried out of frustration one day. But what a beautiful exercise, empowering students to build a piece of their own world; to make something using their own hands.

Check out MoMA’s pretty if art-lacking Bauhaus Website for more information about the show, running until January 25.

Happy New Year from the Caribbean!

Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the New Year in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The most striking elements of the landscape, to me, were the hand-painted signs. Everywhere I looked there were beautifully drawn letters advertising everything from the Internet to the Boston Celtics (though I didn’t get a picture of the Celtics logo). Anyway, the lettering felt really fresh to me, really inspiring. Maybe even reminding me a little of Margaret Kilgallen. So here it is.

The water and sand were rather lovely, too.

A relaxing and beautiful way to bring in a new year. For 2010, look forward to more news from the Letterpress Collective, some hand-made books, some new writing and of course some drawing too. Happy new decade!