the view from here

"Designing Obama" is finally here. And I'm in it!

Over a year ago I was contacted by Scott Thompson who worked on the web/design for the Obama campaign. He had seen my Obama cross-stitch portrait in one of the flickr groups and invited me to send in a hi-res images of my project for a book he was writing on the design and creativity generated by the Obama campaign, as well as the ensuing grassroots movement it inspired. It was to be called "Designing Obama." I promptly obliged and heard nothing for almost a year. 

I had very modest expectations -- I was just hoping to be included in the book; I thought I might have a little corner in this vast compendium of artists -- something like the size of a yearbook picture or maybe a postage stamp. 

I received the book last week and what I got was a double-page spread alongside the likes of David Carson, Ron English, Michael Bierut and Paula Scher. I do not exaggerate when I say that in comparison to these people's careers and accomplishments, I am but a dust mote floating aimlessly on a beam of sunshine. But my little cross-stitch portrait can certainly hold a candle to any of their projects. I am humbled and amazed by it all.  

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Here are my US Presidents in cross-stitch thus far -- all 22 of them. I have about 2 or 3 that need to be photographed, and another 3 that are already drawn, graphed and waiting to be stitched. The portraits are arranged randomly.

Time for a POP QUIZ! See how many presidents you can identify. Don't feel bad if you don't recognize more than a few -- the likenesses are pretty solid but some presidents are pretty obscure -- through no fault of their own. I've included the key below. 

Once all the presidential cross-stitch are completed, I'm hoping to have kits available on my Etsy store. I'll probably start a new Etsy store as the stitchery doesn't really go with the stationery I'm hawking. More on that later.

Did somebody say "funnel"?

As a Graphic Design major, I was required to take Object Drawing as a core course. It was really quite different from the drawing courses I had taken during my freshman year where we drew mostly from nude models. In object drawing, we concentrated on manufactured items -- bottles, blocks, funnels, etc. -- and we all drew from a limited selection of objects. I remember this class had a slow, methodical, analytic pace. I was sometimes impatient to get on to the next more complex object but our teacher did a good job getting us to slow down, focus, and think about what we were drawing.

  

 

The Soviet Style

I was recently approached to design a poster for the Thayer Street Grand Opening here in the South End of Boston. The client wanted a Soviet-style poster with a fist -- because the event was on May Day (May 1). I also provided an alternative.

Here are the results of my labors:

and

I used my own hand to model the fist -- notice the slender wrist in an otherwise sturdy forearm. It was fun illustrating this poster. I looked at a bunch of Soviet Era posters to figure out how to deal with the type. I decided on something bold and big. I used outlines on the type to make them more defined. 

For the second poster, you can view the Soviet original here. I pulled a Shepard Fairey on this one. 

You know that communism and socialism have been totally de-fanged when you can use the visual language of those ideologies to illustrate a capitalist enterprise. I wonder how many people will pick up on the Soviet influences in these posters. It seems so long ago when Cold War was in full swing, people were getting hauled into HUAC, and someone could get blacklisted for having communist/socialist sympathies. Say what you will about the evils of communism, but those Soviets produced visually striking propaganda -- they were on the cutting edge of photography, typography, and design. There is something sensationally original about the graphics from that era. They really owned their look. It is hard to imagine the people who designed these fantastic posters did so in the midst of Stalin's Purges, famines, forced re-settlements, and mass executions. 

Anyway -- new stores and galleries will be opening on May 1. Only the graphics are communist -- the party is pure free market capitalism.

Depression Era Chic

I want to introduce my latest venture: an online store called The Great Depression. It's another one of my hare-brained ideas. I don't mean to trivialize the severity of our collective economic predicament, but it's either this or have a total, massive freak-out. This is my version of lashing deck chairs together while the Titanic sinks - not optimal but it might just keep me from freezing and/or drowning until the rescue ship  arrives.

The beauty of this enterprise is it requires no capital up front from me. I just upload my images onto Printfection's site and then I chose what items I want to apply my designs. I get a small royalty with every purchase.  It think it's a great way to test out new products. My only complaint is that they don't have mugs -- I really wanted to do a mug. So I can sell pencils, too. 

I'm going to order a few items for myself so I can actually see the quality of the merchandise. If I'm satisfied, I'll set up a photo shoot and show the results here. If the products stink, I'll have to re-think this whole thing.

Please visit The Great Depression. You might just help avert the total destruction of the global financial system by putting money in the hands of people who actually make things. 

"Hope is a thing with feathers"

I designed this card earlier this spring. I wasn't thinking of Emily Dickinson's poem. This is just an instance of a happy coincidence. I'd like to share the poem with you:

Hope     

Hope is the thing with feathers 
That perches in the soul, 
And sings the tune--without the words, 
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard; 
And sore must be the storm 
That could abash the little bird 
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land, 
And on the strangest sea; 
Yet, never, in extremity, 
It asked a crumb of me.

--------------

We are certainly about to enter into the "chillest" of seasons. I'm going to try my best to let this "thing with feathers" keep me warm in the coming months and make sure that I am always straining to hear its tune despite the storms that are bound to ensue.

21 Buttons - 21 Days (DAY 21)

'Nuff said.

21 Buttons - 21 Days (DAY 19)

Vote for your health. It's the right thing to do.

21 Buttons - 21 Days (DAY 18)

Teenage dad. Political prisoner. Folk hero.

21 Buttons - 21 Days (DAY 17)

Call a friend and tell them why you're voting for Obama.