CREATIVEGIRL BLOG :: DESIGN INSPIRATION :: PORTLAND, OREGON

My Type of Environment

2012-05-24T21:29:00.001-07:00

WARNING: Photo-based post ahead. If you don’t like looking at awesome things, shield your eyes! :)

It’s almost a very long weekend (3 days for us folks who get Memorial Day off). I couldn’t be more excited, and you know why? Because I’m going to Sin City this weekend for Punk Rock Bowling. I would tell you how excited I am but that would take too long. I absolutely love Las Vegas. Right down to the empty plastic liquor bottles that only add to the keenly landscaped streets. My boyfriend and I were just in Vegas in November to see Morrissey (!!!) We spent some time in old, downtown Vegas, Fremont Street, and I fell in love with my surroundings. I snapped a few photos of my favorite environmental typography. Since we’re staying on Fremont this time, I hope to find even more!

Most of us have some fascination with everything mid-century. I certainly do, a lot of it I can attribute to being so close with my grandparents. I’m a huge film nerd, and seeing remnants of Vegas’ past on Fremont Street sends me back to a certain time period in film. Have a look and see for yourself. Just be careful that you don’t fall asleep and wake up in the past.

Irons in the Fire- An interview with Lloyd Winters IV

2012-05-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Sitting on a roof top of Wieden & Kennedy, drinking a beer one late Friday afternoon, I got a little glimpse into the world of Lloyd Winter IV. It was all very casual and listening to him I had this sense that even though he has so many irons in the fire (an always had), this guy clearly knows what he wants and what he's doing, while always staying true to who he is.

His story is a colorful one, where the road is lined with punk rock, skateboards, gig posters, a silkscreening lab, playing in multiple bands, late nights working in clubs, meeting his wife in one, running one with a partner, teaching, corporate jobs in Beaverton, getting married, having three kids, design collaboration, working full time as a designer in one of the most respected agencies in the nation (without the graphic design degree) and then continuing his side projects in the evening.

“I want to try everything–I need to be alway's doing shit and I'm not happy unless I'm doing design and illustration.”

As the evening approached we skimmed many topics...

We talked a little about how so much is available for creatives.

“The information is out there. Coming from a background in fine art and art education, I taught myself a lot about graphic design. Sometimes I can tell that there are technical things missing. I try to just focus on the concepts and connecting the solutions. Now a days everything is so open source with our practice, everyone shares. All those gig poster guys like Mike King—they shared their knowledge with us—that was cool. I've learned from them.”

On balancing design with illustration- “I try to approach illustration like I do design and vise versa. Sometimes I fly by the seat of my pants—I do what I do to make shit and go with my gut. I use the basic grasp of composition when designing and I spend a lot of time with my sketchbooks. What I love about sketching is I don't think. It's like creating a logo, I can't make one without sketching first.”

On working for W&K- “A friend asked me to create a poster for the Haiti relief show that W&K was putting on, so I re-used a bit of art I made for the band Fin Riggins, then collaborated with Santiago Uceda to create the poster. I pulled around 50 prints the night before the show, they all sold. When I made the poster I wasn't really trying to make a Haiti themed poster, I just wanted it to look good and sell. The next week I had an interview and a few months or so later I was offered a job.”

So far Lloyd has created a pretty impressive body of work while at W&K—from designing logos, custom lettering, and books, to titled designs for TV spots. “All the things I do in the community is an extension of what I do here”.

On his work- “Skateboarding is a huge influence of my work, but also other counter culture like music, weird art, rock posters, and silk screening. I like to push the psychedelic weirdo and try not to be to literal, just conceptual.”

Originally posted on the WeMake Blog

If your in Portland you gotta head out and join us for next months sketchXchange and a night of inspiration and drawing with Lloyd Winter, the designery illustrator.

DATE OF THE EVENT: Friday Night, June 1 2012

TIME: 6:00-9:00 PM

PLACE: The Left Bank Project

COST: FREE, however a donation is always welcomed!

REGISTRATION BEGINS: Monday, May 28, at 10am (register on the website!)

LEAP Motion

2012-05-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

This looks like fun! LEAP Motion
Say goodbye to your mouse and keyboard.

Leap represents an entirely new way to interact with your computers. It’s more accurate than a mouse, as reliable as a keyboard and more sensitive than a touchscreen. For the first time, you can control a computer in three dimensions with your natural hand and finger movements.

This isn’t a game system that roughly maps your hand movements. The Leap technology is 200 times more accurate than anything else on the market — at any price point. Just about the size of a flash drive, the Leap can distinguish your individual fingers and track your movements down to a 1/100th of a millimeter.

Pioneering Product Designer- Dieter Rams

2012-05-21T10:10:00.001-07:00

Dieter Rams was strongly influenced by the presence of his grandfather, a carpenter. Rams trained as an architect before joining electronics manufacture Braun in 1955. In the more than 40 years that he spent working at Braun, Dieter Rams established himself as one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century. His elegantly clear visual language not only defined product design for decades, but also our fundamental understanding of what design is and what it can and should do.

Dieter Rams created ten rules of design more than twenty years ago. Sometimes referred to as “the ten commandments,” they are just as relevant today:

1. Good design is innovative.

2. Good design makes a product useful.

3. Good design is aesthetic.

4. Good design helps a product to be understood.

5. Good design is unobtrusive.

6. Good design is honest.

7. Good design is durable.

8. Good design is consistent to the last detail.

9. Good design is environmentally friendly.

10. Good design is as little design as possible.

Mr. Rams turns 80 today and there is a new book out that tributes his work.

Less and More elucidates the design philosophy of Dieter Rams. This new hardcover edition contains images of hundreds of Rams’s products as well as his sketches and models—from Braun stereo systems and electric shavers to the chairs and shelving systems that he created for Vitsœ. In addition to the rich visual presentation of his designs, the book contains new texts by international design experts that explain how the work was created, describe its timeless quality, and put it into current context. In this way, the work of Dieter Rams is given a contemporary reevaluation that is especially useful in light of the rediscovery of functionalism and rationalism in today’s design. Less and More shows us the possibilities that design opens for both the manufacturer and the consumer as a means of making our lives better through attractive, functional solutions that also save resources. VIA Gestalten

Check out this great video from TV&A you'll love it!

Kapow Kouture

2012-05-18T13:10:00.001-07:00

Joss Whedon’s Avengers made a gagillion dollars ($1,042,513,047 worldwide, to be exact). The movie was absolutely awesome, as I love anything Whedon touches. Including Dollhouse. You know who else loves The Avengers? Australian fashion design duo, RomanceWasBorn. They scored an exclusive, kick-ass deal with Marvel for their 2013 Spring/Summer collection. The collection is inspired by The Avengers, and is sure to excite the myriad of Avengers (and Marvel) fans worldwide.

Costuming is obviously huge for superheroes. A costume transforms the everyday person into the superhero. Sometimes it’s full-body armor, like Tony Stark as Iron Man. Sometime’s it’s tiny cut-off Daisy Dukes and a green complexion, like Bruce Banner as the Incredible Hulk. A costume is not limited to a unitard and cape (though there’s nothing lesser about that). It’s transformative. The styles created by RomanceWasBorn are also transformative. They’re more than just a haute-couture dress. They transform the model into an amalgamation of color, texture, shape, and size all germane to The Avengers. It should be noted that the hair and make-up artistry and the runway design took a big part in creating the proper mood for the collection.

This first photo is their take on the Incredible Hulk.

The second photo is their take on Iron Man.

The third and fourth are grab-bags, faithfully representing Jack Kirby’s style.

This is a small sample of Jack Kirby's work:

On a related note, check out this eye make-up. I will probably try to do this every day from now on.

More eyeballs here.

Read more:

Jack Kirby, Article on Jack Kirby from LA Times, Eye Make-Up, RomanceWasBorn. Fashion Show Photos, Original Post I Read

P.S. I wrote this whole thing in Comic Sans.

Show & Tell with Grove

2012-05-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Oh I had such a fun time last night at the WeMake Discovery Workshop with Grove.
Grove handcrafts lovely, lovely iphone cases and ipad covers from bamboo and felt. The wonderful thing about the Grove collections, is that they are crafted from beautiful bamboo, fine leather and felt. Then they are laser engraved and polished resulting in handsome covers. It was awesome taking the tour of their headquarters and learning about the process. Their felt covered ipad case is so well-made, oh just beautiful..made me appreciate even more true craftsmenship.

Everyone who attended the workshop got to draw up a design and engrave their very own piece. I created a little bird, after having a better understanding of the process I want to make MORE! So fun and right her in P-town!

This is on the inside of each ipad cover. :)

My friend Mary-Kate McDevitt made a beautiful WeMake type one!

My little birdy!

Upcycled Canopy

2012-05-16T10:15:00.001-07:00

Ok, I know, this must seem like a theme this month, but I had to share this! Designer Garth Britzman of Lincoln, Nebraska used recycled bottles filled with colored water to create this very lovely canopy.
The effect creates a simple transparent environment where “one can explore the surface qualities of the bottles at every level.”

It's so pretty too :) and a great way to recycle an everyday object. I could see this made in a small scale garden environment as well.

"Excentrique" A Canopy of Rainbows!

2012-05-11T10:07:00.001-07:00

Artist Daniel Buren has a wonderful installation exhibiting at the Grand Palais in Paris right now. He has created these giant circles of colored plastic that overlap and form a colorful canopy inside the beautiful building. Depending on the weather and light, shadows and reflections are cast to create a dynamic world of color. At night roving spotlights bounce off the panales while an on-a-loop soundtrack (of a text read in 37 different languages) ensures you won't start dancing.

"When the sun comes out, everyone is upside down,' says Buren, pointing upwards to our reflections on the circles. In the beginning, I was impressed by the building, and didn't know how to compete with its extravagance. But it's rather alienating. So I set about providing a human scale by creating a kind of shelter."

These panales come in four colours only and are assembled on site in a repeat pattern, which began alphabetically starting with b for the colour blue. At the centre of it all are mirrored glass circles that you can walk on refelcting the roof top above which Buren has covered with intermittent blue panels.The results are simply striking. Via Wallpaper

Artist Daniel Buren

Picture: FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/GettyImages

Certain Artifacts of the Post-Punk Scene

2012-05-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

There’s nothing that makes me happier than putting on a post-punk record and drifting back to a few years before I was born. There’s no point in saying I wish I was born twenty years earlier, but I’ll say it anyway. I’ve never felt a stronger musical connection with any era than with the ‘70s punk and ‘80s post-punk scenes. So you can imagine my excitement when I clicked-through a tweet from WFMU (the renowned freeform rock station in New Jersey) and happened upon this Flickr set.

I couldn’t bookmark it at work fast enough to read at home later.

Posters and flyers are a perfect medium. They don’t tell a story; they invite you to write your own. See the flyer. Go to the show. Unless you grab a poster from the club’s wall, you probably won’t remember the flyer, but you’ll likely remember the show forever. The flyer isn’t integral to the show, of course, but if they stick around long enough, they become a nostalgic artifact that enriches the history of the music.

Out of the 200+ flyers in the set, these were my favorite:

I couldn’t find any discernible information on this one until I had my face an inch from my screen. Searching for this information is like searching for something on a map, and what do you know, the flyer *is* a map! :) If you want to find something, you’ll look hard enough. This goes for maps and flyers.

These two flyers are amazing. They’re an accurate visual representation of the scene. Take a look at album artwork from that time, and you’ll see the connection. I’ve seen people today try and replicate this look and feel, but it always ends up feeling contrived and disingenuous. These, however, are honest and legit.

My favorite part about this poster is the outlining of “FALL” and that weird shape sitting below the “L.” Why? What would compel someone to do this? Who knows. Who wants to know? It adds to that bit of mystery so many post-punk groups engendered. It’s random, and it just works.

A Place With The Wild Things

2012-05-10T10:26:00.001-07:00

I have always loved Maurice Sendack, his illustrations and stories have a permanent home with my inner child as well as my heart. When I was a kid his work delighted and inspired me and when I had kids it was his books (and Shell Silverstein) who's pages got worn from reading over and over again. We still have those books, and every now and then it's me who opens the pages to read the stories, and they are just as good as the first time.

RIP Maurice

Be sure to listen to his interview with Terry Gross on NPR

Oh Hello Kitty!

2012-05-07T09:04:00.002-07:00

Hello Kitty is a so fun and now the sweet little Japanese character will be flying through the skies, how pur-fect. The Taiwanese airlines, Eva Airlines has decked out three of their planes with Sanrio's adorable kitty icon. On board, more than 100 in-flight items are specially designed with the Hello Kitty motif -- including headrest covers, tissues, paper cups, utensils, milk bottles, snacks, soap dispensers, hand lotion, meals and ice cream. Passengers can also purchase limited edition duty-free products, such as Hello Kitty-shaped pasta, from flight attendants wearing Hello Kitty aprons. LOVE it!

Brooklyn Nets logo is more interesting than sour cream.

2012-05-04T00:46:00.003-07:00

So, Jay-Z. He’s the best rapper alive and also the brand new owner of the sort-of new Brooklyn Nets. I couldn’t be more excited. Seriously. I love Jay-Z and I love basketball. My heart belongs to the Portland Trail Blazers but now I may have to make room for the Brooklyn Nets.

Jay-Z aside, the Brooklyn Nets logo and new identity is what makes them a likely candidate for my second favorite NBA team. (That’s the graphic designer basketball fanatic in me speaking.) It’s unlike anything modern NBA teams and their fan-bases have seen. In fact, it seems to be so alien that many sports-news outlets are giving it more coverage than the playoffs. Some love it. Some hate it. Some think it’s just plain boring.

The logo is an obvious throw-back. It’s old school. It’s retro. It’s perfect for the design climate and culture we are in these days. Simple. Modern. Clean. Focused. Jay-Z, who (for lack-of-better-word) created the logo, did so to reference the Brooklyn subway system and old-school signage that permeated the streets. So, if culture, sentiment and emotion are boring, well, then I suppose the Brooklyn Nets logo is as boring as sour cream.

I’m trying to figure out why people don’t like the logo. It’s not a screaming vector clusterfuck like so many of the current NBA logos (Dallas Mavericks, I am talking to you) But I suppose the majority of sports fans love that flashy-flash and don’t want to be caught dead wearing an NBA team’s t-shirt that looks like an Old Navy knock-off (according to this guy: “The whole thing feels more like an Old Navy knock-off than an NBA logo.”) I think this guy should *at least* give them the hipster-benefit-of-the-doubt, and say it falls in line with this: http://hipsterbranding.tumblr.com/

So, logo design in pro sports. Does it matter if it’s trendy, timeless or tragic? The Mavs were the 2011 champs, and their logo is the butthole of NBA team logo design. The Golden State Warriors have a great classic logo, and well, they ain’t great. Sports fans aren’t going to base their favorite team off of the one with the best logo. It’s about hometown pride and tradition. However, from a design standpoint, it’s nice to see a change-up. I wonder if any other teams will follow suit.

Book Sculptures

2012-05-03T12:54:00.004-07:00

I'm loving these book sculptures and installations by Columbian artist Miler Lagos. The colors of the books add depth and contrast to each piece. The book igloo was part of the exhibition at the MagnanMetz Gallery entitled HOME. The other images are from and older exhibit entitled El Papel Aguanta Todo. It's a lovely combination of raw cut trees and books.

The Newest Creativegirl

2012-05-02T08:31:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to introduce you to Brennan Thome, the new Creativegirl who will be posting here every now and then. Brennan graduated cum laude from Portland State University in 2011 with a B.A. in Graphic Design and a minor in Film Studies, but it's her punk rock attitude I adore the most. This girls got swagger, a keen eye for good design, and a slight obsession with Blondie's Debby Harry. Brennan will be writing a little bit about everything, from the music scene in Portland to art installations and more.
Im' excited to have her on board, welcome Brennan!

T-Shirt Artist raises over $300.000 for charity

2012-05-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Good Shirts help people. If you get one you could help purchase insecticide treated mosquito nets, vaccines for measles, theraputic milk, and even a cargo flight. The concept behind Good Shirts was created by Justine and Christine Gignac of Wants for Sale.

The idea stemmed from their original concept of making art of the things they wanted and selling the art for the cost of the piece. They took that concept and partnered with Threadless and UNICEF to provide support and relief to the families of the Africa Horn. So far they have earned over $300.000 and they even sold the cargo flight (by an anonymous donor) for $300.000! The simple graphic style of the designs are minimal yet sweet, and it's not really about the art, it's about the cause. Check it out.

$18.57

$98.17

$24.24

$36.10

With Good Shirts, you will help UNICEF deliver life-saving assistance to children and their families affected by drought and famine in the Horn of Africa. Donations support therapeutic treatment for severe malnutrition, access to clean drinking water and better sanitation, vaccinations against measles and other deadly diseases that prey on the malnourished, and much more.

A little more about Wants For Sale-

All of the paintings on Wants For Sale are the price of the actual item shown in the painting, whether that’s “A Slice of Pepperoni Pizza” for $3.00 or “A Gold Watch” for $287.19. After each painting is sold, the original wanted item is purchased and photographed.
Prices of paintings can range anywhere from $0 to $1,000,000 and may be of general wants or part of a series like “A Vegas Vacation” or “As Seen On TV.”

Interactive Paint Brush

2012-04-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is a cool new product, especially if you like to paint. Sensus was developed by Artist Hardware and launched on Kickstarater and will be coming to the market this month. It's both both a brush and a stylus that you can use on your iPad or iPhone. I think I need it!

"The rubber stylus is exposed when the brush is closed. This stylus is great for sketching and writing or as a general navigation tool. Grasp Sensu near the nib section and pull it out of the protective cap. You will reveal the capacitive bristles of the artist brush. Insert the rubber stylus into the cap and the cap becomes a handle for your brush."

©Raul Allen 2012

Painting using Sensu and Procreate

Sam-3.17.12 © Matt Lynaugh

Oh So Sweet Pantone Tarts!

2012-04-26T10:17:00.001-07:00

Emilie De Griotte, Palette Culinary created these yummy pantone tarts for a special feature in french culinary magazine fricote. These delicious tarts were inspired by pantone color swatches using berries, carrots, lemon, candies, and other foods arranged on a tart base. The bottom is iced in white and marked with the pantone colour represented. Recipes for making the tarts are available in fricote issue number 6 (2012).
I LOVE these! Not only are the sweet (literally) they are beautiful!

Finding Portland

2012-04-25T11:35:00.001-07:00

And this is where I live...

Finding Portland was produced, shot, and edited in 51 days during March and April at the invitation of TEDx Portland, where the video was unveiled to a sell out crowd of 650 and met with a standing ovation. Filmed in Portland and the Columbia Gorge, this time-lapse piece offers a new perspective to the City of Roses. From a Portland Timbers season opening soccer game, to the top of the Fremont Bridge, to an aerial shot of Oneonta Gorge, Finding Portland tells the story of a city and its many faces.

Comprised of 308, 829 photographs taken from over 50 unique locations, it took an average of 3.8 hours to make each second of this film. The intent of the project was to place our cameras in unique locations across the city, achieve significant ranges of dynamic camera motion, and pursue cutting edge time-lapse techniques.

Produced 2012 by Uncage the Soul Productions
Ben Canales, John Waller, Steve Engman, Blake Johnsonuncagethesoul.com

All work and some play

2012-04-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't been too active hear lately. Work is keeping me busy, that is good! I have been able to combine a little work with pleasure though. Recently I took two trips, one to San Francisco and the other to Vancouver BC, both were inspiring.

When I was in San Francisco I took a lot of pictures and visited many cool places, including stepping into a church, which I haven't done in F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I went with two of the coolest/hippest people I have ever met, my Aunt Ellen and Uncle Tom. They've been living in the same victorian, in the Mission District for over 40 years. I really admire them, one day I hope to live my life the way they do, traveling, art, yoga, food...who could ask for more? Anyway, the church architecture and decor was really beautiful. It took everything in me to not take pictures the whole time I was in there!

I also visited the Alameda Antique Fair, that was a little overwhelming, so much cool stuff. Mostly I hung out on Valencia Street and spent a little time in my other Aunt's home. She has the most amazing kitchen you have ever seen! Read more and see more pics here.

This past weekend I went to Vancouver, BC, it was my 18th anniversary married! I can't believe it's been that long..seems just like yesterday. What a beautiful city Vancouver is, and so big. I forget how little Portland really is. I looked up a friend that I met via an international moleskin exchange. We have been friends for about 3.5 years but only virtually...it was great to meet him in person, I felt like we've known each other personally the whole time. Oh the internets!

Here are a few pictures from my trips..I'm ready for another one!

See more of my instagram photo's here. All taken with an iPhone 4s

Uncle Tom & Aunt Ellen's home

Textures + in San Fransisco

Vancouver BC- We ate at the famous restaurant Vij's, So good!

Upper Left: This was a wonderful sculpture at the border, one bird fly's away. The rest of these pics are from BC and my friend Ian is the lower left and my dear husband on the right.

Aunty's Kitchen!

18 years married 20 together. He still does it for me :)

American Old School An Interview with Mike King

2012-04-17T10:51:00.001-07:00

When I walked up onto the landing dock that day, I really didn’t know what to expect.

From our phone conversations I kept visualizing an old school Jersey man with a “you don’t know shit kid” attitude. I got the second part right, but Mike King’s not from Jersey, he’s Portland…all Portland, straight from Oregon City.

What I quickly discovered was that Mr. King may be old school but he keeps up with the times just fine. On his own terms, in his own way. He was very inviting and spoke about the work and what it takes to be a successful designer in a pretty down to earth no bullshit tone. “This is hard work, I’m happy to break hearts and dash hopes of these kids. You have to work hard to create your own path in this world, being in the right place at the right time helps too.”

I appreciated his perspective from someone who’s been around the block, and liked him right away.

Mike has been creating artwork for the music industry for over 20 years. Some of his client work includes: The Decemberists, Iggy Pop, Ben Harper, Jack johnson, Pink Martini, The Shins, Elliot Smith, Sonic Youth and Modest Mouse to name a few. He’s also done commercial work for clients like Converse All Stars, Foot Locker and Voo Doo Donuts.

The road to graphic design started out for him by creating flyers for his band back in high school, then for other bands, and eventually exchanging artwork for admission to punk shows and beer.

“It didn’t occur to me until after the fact, to be a designer. I was working at Powell’s Books and creating flyers every week on the side, then one day I quit. That was 22 years ago, I’ve been doing this full time ever since and have probably made over 5000 flyers in my career. I still design about 1-5 flyers a week. They are one of my favorite things to do, there’s no pressure and I interpret the art by by my own vision. It’s very freeing, the bar is set pretty low so I can’t help to succeed.”

Mikes process for for designing is a combination of cut and past and drawing. Back in the day it was literally cut and paste and a Xerox machine. He pulls things from several sources when creating new work, using a scanner an Photoshop as his tools of choice. There is a wall of vintage books in the middle of the room, a source material and inspiration vault. The collection is awesome.

“If I can’t find an image I need, I draw it.”

He showed me parts of his sketchbooks. One page was just lines, another doodles, some numbers and such and then made a comment that making shit was a very American thing to do.

I looked around, him standing there, his work station, the drawing table, the cans of paint waiting to be opened, shelves filled with posters and his drying racks and thought to my self, yep it is. It sure is.

See more of Mike’s work here.

If your in Portland, Oregon, please join us at sketchXchange for a night of inspiration and drawing with Mike King.

DATE OF THE EVENT: Friday Night, May 4th 2012

TIME: 6:00-9:00 PM

PLACE: The Left Bank Project Bring Check-in begins at 6:00pm in The Sting Ray Cafe. Doors close at 6:45

COST: FREE

REGISTRATION BEGINS: Monday, April 23rd, at 9am

As always space is limited, so be sure to register early!

Check the WeMake website for more information on sketchXchange and follow us on twitter for up to date stuff!

Twitter- @wemakepdx #sketchXchange

Luminosity Paintings

2012-04-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

Jordan Domont has a unique approach to his work.

Experimenting, he discovered that when inks layer heavily onto Mylar, it creates a rich, almost melted effect. Pigments become slightly volatile, even mercurial, and their behavior enlivens the entire process. Jordan likes to explore how different amalgams of color work together, because it sure trumps sitting back and watching paint dry.

I love his distinct style and the brightly colored hues of his palette. The work is playful, bold and eye catching.

WeMake and sketchXchange

2012-04-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a sweet little video from last weeks sketchXchange with Mary Kate McDevitt, filmed by the very talented Paul Searle It was another wonderful event!

Forever Scape

2012-04-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

I just had the pleasure of meeting Vance Feldman, artist and designer of Vance Media and Forever Scape. His interactive work is amazing but his project Forever Scape really blows me away!

Forever Scape is a series 8.5x11 sheets of paper that are filled to the brim with wonderful drawings. Using ink, markers, and color pencils Vance has completed nearly 500 seamless liked pages and each piece is connected to another creating a scene that extends 60 feet longer than a football field. Amazing.

The past several hundred pages not only connect left-to-right. When squeezed down into a five-column format, it connects to form a continuous vertical image that tiles endlessly in any direction. It is an immense puzzle wrapped lovingly with satire, social commentary and savage irony—it is a psychedelic existential crisis.

Vance has pledged to continue creating Forever Scape until he dies or...

You have to visit the site to experience Forever Scape but here's a little video too.

I love this guy.

Lovely Letters, An Interview with Mary Kate McDevitt

2012-03-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Tucked away in a NE neighborhood of Portland, Oregon sits the studio of the gifted type illustrator and designer Mary Kate McDevitt, and her equally talented partner Fred DiMeglio of Man vs. Ink. I spent the afternoon getting to know Mary Kate and learning about the impressive journey she’s taken so far that has put her work on and in publications like: Fast Company, Better Homes & Garden, Oh Comely, Women’s Day, Rachel Ray Magazine, The Portland Mercury and Willamette Week.

As a young designer Mary Kate began her career a few years ago, working for a small design firm in Lancaster, PA. It was her late night and personal work (creating sweet little chalkboards sold in her Etsy Shop) that caught the attention of Chronicle Books. This launched her solo career as an independent type illustrator and designer. She hasn’t looked back since!

Mary Kate’s workspace is as sweet and charming as she is. The bulk of her work is created in a spruced up closet that once housed a Murphy bed. To put the finishing touches on many of her pieces, she heads downstairs to build, silkscreen and ship. Both spaces are equally wonderful!

Do you work full time as an illustrator?

Yes. Occasionally I do some graphic design work but mostly I work creating hand-lettering and illustrations for several different clients.

What is one of your favorite pieces of client work?

I really like the Live Well, Eat Well, Be Well project I did with Women’s Day Magazine and my mom was pretty excited to see my work in a magazine she reads!

Where does your client work come from?

Word of mouth. I make stuff for my shop and then it get’s featured on blogs. The work with Chronicle Books got a lot of attention but I also post my stuff on dribbble and I think I’ve gotten some work there as well. Many of my projects are editorial driven, I really like doing that kind of work. The Art Directors I collaborate with are pretty easy going and nice to work with.

What other social media platforms do you use to reach potential clients?

Twitter, Pinterest, Etsy, and Dribbble. A lot of my Etsy sales are from Pinterest. When I first got on twitter mostly student’s and crafty people followed me, now I see more designers. They all are great.

Tell me about Your Handwritten Letters

This project was inspired by a discovery I made when I was 12 years old from a box of handwritten letters my mom and my aunt wrote to my grandmother when they were in college. The letters were kept neatly together with string in a shoebox and I recall admiring the beautiful penmanship. That memory was in my head when I made my “Write More Handwritten Letters” poster. Shorty after making the poster, I decided it would be most effective to receive an actual handwritten letter in the mail. So, I started the project with a commitment to writing a handwritten letter each day, not a traditional letter but a letter from the alphabet. Using twitter, I collected addresses for people interested in receiving a Handwritten Letter and I got an astounding response! The first day over 300 people responded. I have completed over 115 letters so far.

How do you create the letters?

Everyday I draw a letter, scan it in and post it to the Handwritten Letters blog, then send it out via post. It’s a great way to spark my creativity each day and I enjoy writing letters to total strangers.

Whose work are you inspired by?

I really like vintage type and get a lot of my inspiration from there. I also love the work of Tom Frost and Ray Fenwick.

Mary Kate will be the next guest illustrator for sketchXchange hosted by WeMake if your in Portland, OR registration begins 4/2/12. Hope to see you there!

#sketchXchagne

Designers & Books

2012-03-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Designers & Books is wonderful site brimming with goodies. 99 designers contributed from all genres of design, as well as 16 commentators, to compile the best of 1,266 books all in one place that will inspire and give you the opportunity to create a reading list from those featured.

The “List of List” is a treasure trove that draws from various sources within the site by contributors and from featured publishers and booksellers. You'll see lists like: Notable Books of 2011, Selected Blacklist , and Best-Selling Design Books.

I think I have found the golden ticket! I just love books and there's nothing better than a great design book...this site is awesome!

Designers & Books publishes lists of books that esteemed members of the international design community identify as important, meaningful, and formative—books that have shaped their values, their worldview, and their ideas about design.

From Vitruvius to William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright to Edith Wharton to Le Corbusier to Paul Rand—there has always been a particularly special and robust relationship between designers and books: reading them, writing them, designing them, collecting them, learning from them, and being inspired by them.

A few on my list-
Maps by Paula Scher
Maps presents 39 of the celebrated graphic designer's obsessively detailed, highly personal cartographic creations. Paintings as tall as 12 feet depict continents, countries, and cities swirling in torrents of information and undulating with colorful layers of hand-painted boundry lines, place names, and provocative cultural commentary.

I really need this one!

People by Blexbolex
People explores, through brief text and illustrations, various sorts of people, the jobs they do, and the connections among them.

Kissing the Architecture by Silvia Lavin
Kissing Architecture explores the mutual attraction between architecture and other forms of contemporary art. In this fresh, insightful, and beautifully illustrated book, renowned architectural critic and scholar Sylvia Lavin develops the concept of "kissing" to describe the growing intimacy between architecture and new types of art—particularly multimedia installations that take place in and on the surfaces of buildings—and to capture the sensual charge that is being designed and built into architectural surfaces and interior spaces today.

Alexander Girard by Todd Oldham & Kierra Coffee
Renowned designer Todd Oldham and writer Kiera Coffee have created a massive monograph on seminal designer Alexander Girard (1907–93) as the ultimate tribute to this design icon, covering virtually every aspect of Girard’s distinctive career. As one of the most prolific and versatile mid-20th century designers, Girard’s work spanned many disciplines, including textile design, graphic design, typography, illustration, furniture design, interior design, product design, exhibit design, and architecture.