This is a website I designed and develop for the Tom Tom Founders Festival.  TTFF is a month long celebration of music, arts and innovation taking place on the downtown mall of Charlottesville, VA from April 13th - May 13th.  During the month, the city will be a buzz of events culminating in an all out festival May 11th, 12th and 13th.  It was really great to work on an event based project as challenging as this one.  Plus, being able to design in the footsteps of the incredible identity work done by Matt Pamer was a real pleasure.

111 Days, 12 Countries, 1 Guy and his GoPro. This past Fall I had the opportunity of a lifetime to sail around the world on Semester at Sea. I took a video of myself everyday (or whenever I saw something amazing) and strung them together to create this video. This represents a miniscule amount of the things we actually got to do and doesn’t include many moments where a camera just doesn’t belong. It was an incredibly mind blowing and challenging experience that I could never have expected. The program helped push me to new levels of understanding and broadened my global awareness. The friends I made on board and in country were truly unforgettable. I hope this video captures a little bit of what it is to go on Semester at Sea. On that note, this video really only represents my voyage because every person has a different and an incredibly unique experience.

Happy New Years everyone!  This past year was really crazy and transformative for me but it has led to such amazing things.  I could not have asked for a better 2011 and I am so excited for what 2012 will bring!

My face lit up when I saw this sign hanging inside the Reading Terminal Market.  If you have ever been here, it is a crowded indoor open air market filled with meats, fish, candy treats and all other sorts of eateries.  We were wandering around looking for a place to snack for lunch.  I had no idea one of these was in this market.

My dad used to always take us to a DiNic’s on our way to Long Beach Island for our summer vacation.  He would take a strange exit and bring us to this little box of a building in the middle of a parking lot.  The small diner was lined with black and white tiles and you could barely fit five people inside, but the sandwiches were to die for.

So you can see why I didn’t hesitate to get into a line which wrapped around itself and down the aisle.  I got the roast pork sandwich with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe.  I swear to you this is the best sandwich in the world.  The juicy pork mixed with the sharp cheese and bitter broccoli rabe make for a sensational explosion of flavors.  Do yourself a favor and get one of these if you are ever in Philly or New Jersey.

I headed up to New Jersey to spend some time with Jane whose parents live in Princeton.  While there, we visited the Triumph Brewery which is right in the middle of downtown Princeton.  It was a pretty cool place with exposed brick and metal beams that apparently used to be a bowling alley.  Behind the bar were two floors of steel brewing vats behind glass paneling.  We both had the sampler and made faces as we tried to critique the different beers.  Our choice (pictured above) is the Amber Ale.  It just had a really good flavor, wasn’t to fruity or heavy and finished really nicely.  A beer you can a enjoy quite a few of, which we did.

While on Semester at Sea, professor Micheal Williams’ world theater class put on an original shadow puppet show before we docked in Malaysia.

While on Semester at Sea we were lucky enough to traverse the Panama canal. I set up 4 GoPros on the outer decks of the MV Explorer and shot a photo every 5 seconds as we went through the Miraflores locks.  The canal is a truly astounding engineering marvel and was amazing to see in action as we went through each lock.  As you may remember I visited these locks during my Maymester voyage and did a different time-lapse so check that out too!

I also gotta give my buddy Mike Mariant a shout out because he did this a few years ago but I couldn’t top his masterpiece.

Christmas this year was extra special because it was the perfect excuse to sit and spend lots of time with my family.  After traveling so much it was so nice to just sit with loved ones and talk.  No one had things to do or other places to be.  It was a great way to reunite and be with the people I love.  It felt great.

On the drive home, Jane and I stopped in the nice little city of Savannah, Georgia.  It is a quaint little town right on the water that feels like going back in time.  The cobble stone road that lines the river front has small niche jam shops and oyster bars.  A trolly on the tracks rang its bell as it went up and down the street.  It had a early century sailing ship docked on the port that children were exploring.  It was quiet but bustling.  We had brunch at a little place called “B. Matthews”, bought some honey at the Savannah Bee company and just wondered around before heading home.  Our last stop before real life.

One of the first things I noticed when getting back to real life back in the states was the weight in my pockets.  While traveling (not shooting) I usually didn’t have much on me, a few dollars and my passport tucked away… otherwise I was free.  No wallet, keys, cell phone or anything else.  It was a very liberating feeling to not be tied to anything.  No one could reach me on a cell phone and nothing to check on.  Now, back at home, it amazes me how much I feel the weight of these objects.  Not just physically but mentally.  Its a compulsion to always reach for the phone and check it.  To occupy spare moments by looking at a screen, too check emails, read the news and keep up with facebook.  Too much weight in my pockets.