Chicago

Got back yesterday. I forget how much I love that place, until I get on Lake Shore.
When can I move?

Pink is the New Black, and the Red Sox are the New Yankees

And I hate the Yankees. I find it hard to love anything that always seems to divide and conquer. Not only is it too easy, it's boring. Basically I think the Yankees are like the missionary position; it always works but it's only exciting when it's with someone new. And the Yanks are nothing new, but the Red Sox are. Or are they?

I admit it, I had watched the beloved Red Sox in the past, cheered them on, and gleefully cheered as they put the Curse of the Babe to rest. But now, I no longer find myself rooting for the beloved underdogs. Perhaps it is because they are underdogs no longer, but dogs instead.

Home Sweet Home

Were on I-96, with about an hour or so left. I don't think I could have asked for a better trip. The experiences, both professional and pleasure alike, will resonate for sometime. Denver is a beautiful city, and I will definatly go back. I learned a lot, and did some personal healing/growing that I think only the mysticism of Denver could have provided. But now it is time for a double cheese burger, and for angela and I to do a recap of the trip.

AIRPORT I HATE YOU

Well, the trip went very well. I plan on sharing all of my adventures within the next few days. But right now I am at the airport waiting on a stand by flight. I understand two things now; why americans hate flying, and why some people shank other people. Perhaps I'll et some homework done.

HO PO MO

HOw POst MOdern. Art of a celebrity, a transvestite, a gay man, and lots of make-up. Apparently Andy Warhol is a zombie, and is still in his prime.

Can Someone Lend a Hand?

The state of Michigan shut down earlier this week. A temporary budget was established, and the decision to increase and create new taxes was also made. These taxes will take effect December 1. I am not sure how this effects me, as a freelance designer, I am also not sure if this works or not. I love this state; I hope we can turn things around in the future, for everyones sake.

Sally Field Too Hot For TV

Fox censored actress Sally Field at the Emmy Awards earlier this month. How strange, I never considered Sally to be the type to piss of the boys upstairs. But when then again when most of us think of Sally Field i'm sure we think of chaos and absolute mayhem. All I can say is, Sally Field your one bad mo' fo. Bless you.

As Promised

workspace. best friend. roomate.

Look Ma, Paparazzi!

I've decided I don't take enough pictures.  My first year at kendall I bought a Canon Rebel 6.5 megapixel SLR camera.  I intended to take it with me everywhere, the problem is its big and I'm clumsy.  But now that I think about it, its just as good broken if I don't use it.  So, thats it.  I am going to take more pictures, enough said.   

Get Your Nothing For Money and Your Chicks for a 1/100,000 Heart Icon

The digital black hole has swallowed up many things that we used to hold in our hands: paper, letters, money, cd's, pictures, dvds, and so forth; the latter being the holy trinity. These three things, movies, music, and photos seemed to provided the impetus for the get your nothing for money and you chicks for a 1/100,000 heart icon revolution.

I am a appreciator of almost all things technological, shiny, cybery, and so forth. But there is one thing that still has me scratching my head. The facebook gift. Now, theoretically I could simply post you a picture of a dog but who wants that when I can buy you a jpeg dog for a dollar? Apparently a lot of people. Why? This is an absolute phenomenon to me. The only question is do I want to take the blue pill or the red pill?

Vacancy in the Vain Brain

A Response to: http://www.designobserver.com/archives/027882.html#more
(blog originally for my type III class)

I've noticed something about my fellow students at Kendall, whether we are at the school until close, discussing projects over a cigarette, or merely chatting about design websites on aim. We take design very seriously. So do our professors. Yet they not only urge us to take the aesthetic seriously they insist on the growth of our ever expanding spongy undergraduate brains; be alert and observant to the world in which we live, and others for that matter. Good design is good, but smart design is better. Right?

Now perhaps we haven't been in the graphic design industry long enough to shake our fists in the air demanding respect from the heavens and so forth. Nevertheless I do find my face going red with the furry of a Viking in the heat of battle when someone asks: "Dur, graphic design? So like, you make stuff looks good?" Or at least that's what it sounds like when it makes it past my ears and into my brain. We find this sort of attitude toward our profession not only frustrating, but down right infuriating. These feelings are warranted, but they also provide a dangerous opportunity: the trap of complacency.

Yes, for me there is a pride in being a graphic designer. It seems it is a lifestyle choice more often than a profession. It is rewarding and has a hint of glamor. But it's easy to get wrapped up in our little microcosm of a world. Rex's blog had mentioned in his blog certain issues revolving around trend. Trend is a strange area for designers. We are also not only ahead of the curve when it comes to trend but in many cases the creators of them. We like everything before it is cool, and when its available and acceptable to the general public we toss it out like a dime store hooker. There is a song by a band called Say Anything that comes to mind "Despite your pseudo-bohemian appearance and vaguely leftist doctrine of beliefs, you know nothing ABOUT art or sex that you couldn't read in any trendy new york underground fashion magazine...Proto-typical non-conformist. You are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store gastapo."

It's a difficult crossroad. Jason and I were discussing the celebration of ignorance in today's culture. Where as 100 years ago the wealthy spent their leisure educating themselves and reading all the time, we have Paris Hilton. She goes to parties. Now in a culture that seemingly adores the abolition of the intellectual, should we not be concerned? At the same time, in order to be taken seriously maybe we should take ourselves a little less seriously.

Like I said before, I feel fortunate to say that I don't see much of that at our school. Mostly I just see a passion for our craft, and an eagerness for information. We take design seriously because we do, and what were doing it for. Thats a good thing i think. And as a side note i personally think that design should be smart and sexified. i.e. Ms. South Carolina would have been much more attractive if she would have talked about the design of maps and information systems to better educate our youth, or "U.S. Americans."

Busy

I've been kept pretty busy freelancing for a small ad agency/design firm in gr.  It's super nice, and the work is pretty fulfilling.  The best part is that I am learning a lot about how things work and so forth.  Anyway I should probably get back to work...

i haven't written a blog in forever. i've been super duper busy. hm. black flag rules.

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iDay

Just got done playing with the iphone for the first time. I am actually still in the mac store, and I have to say I fell into it all.
My palms were sweaty, and all i planned on doing was touching one. But as i stood in line i got swept up by the hype, and the macigal wonder that is the iphone. I actally had one at the checkout and my card wasn't working. I think thats a good thing. I mean, I really want one and it would be cool to be one of the first people i know to have one. They have already sold $75,000 worth of iphone stuff within the store. That is absolutly rediculous. I am not sure what to say about it, except its fantastic. The internet is fast, everything works seamlessly. I am still finding it hard to calm myself down. Its easy to get swept up within the mob. But goddamnit its sexy. It is probably the sexiest little piece of equipment i have ever seen. So, all in all i had a lot of fun. I almost bought one, had it in my hand at the checkout. Perhaps it's for the best. I fell like i just got done having sex, i need a cigarette.

Don't be a Twatter, Get Twitter

What the fuck is twitter? If you haven't heard about it yet don't worry, it's still a little under the radar. Did I say under the radar? I did. Well, it may just catching on but this 2.0 site has a lot of work to do as far as usability is concerned. Nevertheless, I think even larger than the amount of work to be done is its potential. Now sure it does just seem like a fancy away messaage, or a really slow chat to the naked eye. But this sophistacated communication tool can let everyone know where you are and what your doing in an instant. You can see my twitter buddy over on the side there. The only problem is, I don't know anyone who's using the goddamn thing. But I like it.
I think one of the most infatuating things twitter has to offer is that it isn't a long winded reflection of your human experience (like this blog here). It is action. It is simply the here and now of your, well, here and now. We shall see how twitter finds itself in the saturated marketplace of internet communication. Oh, you can use your cell phone, did I mention that? Yeah, pretty cool stuff.
Other than that, long hard days. School and various projects are weigning on my sanity. Thank you twitter for wasting my time in all the right ways.

The Avett Brothers

I am a addict. Of rock and roll that is. And with the current state of bands being able to promote themselves with no end, or to annoy the hell out of you on myspace, I have become somewhat complacent with my choices towards rock and roll. Perhaps it is the over saturation, or the abhorring sounds of uninspired ditties that pour from the speakers of my laptop as i search for signs of life in new music. The Avett Brothers "Emotionalism" baptized my love for rock and roll with all the fervor of an overly eager teenager engaging in his first sexual encounter. Much more than your traditional power trio, the bands jubilee of Carolinian blue-grass with the raw passion of rock and roll, i was more that satisfied. I was fortunate enough to see them live on the Conan O'Brien show when I was in New York City. Unaware, and unassuming of the absolute glory my ears would behold, I found myself singing along to the intoxicating sounds of "Paranoia" almost instantly. The charismatic, and obnoxiously energetic trio's performance was everything about rock and roll that is good in this world. The almost untouched harmonies, the casual mistake, and out of tune banjo was a sight to behold. Thank you Avett Brothers for saving me from a world of same ol' same ol' five piece whiny emo groups invading every corner of the Internet.

Digital Born, Digital Whore

I saw this today on Zieds blog, and have been talking to a friend recently about some of these concepts for some time. Now, I am not sure if I am considered "digital born" or not. I would be inclided to say that I am not, maybe just outside the realm. But I think those close to my age are definatly a part of this new phenomena whether or not we were born into it. We did see it grow up, as we did. Which I think is an important place to be. Being at a place in my education when I have to decide which avenue to take in my career, advertising though it sounds like a lot fun has always seemed like a dirty job. But, when I consider the possibilities that new media is offering, and the excitment of mobile communication it seems less so. As if it is taking a road to being less an interuption, and more intergration into what I want and need. Mostly its just a great video, and there are many things to consider. So thanks Richard for the post.

Some pictures from New York

These are some of the pictures from the trip, i believe they are from tammy's camera. I plan on putting some more up in a little while. And I will also be putting up the blogs to go with the pictures. KK gotta get going.

OH

I have blogs to post from my trip to new york. But we didn't have internet in the hotel. I'll get em up with pictures soon.

SMASH! CRASH! AWESOME?

It is almost 2:00am. I have to get up and drive to class tomorrow at 6:00am, and I am not upset about that. I've been recently working on a re-branding project, and needless to say it almost got my goat. Or at least, that's what I had thought.

As a young designer not only am I inexperienced with the practices of the modern workplace, the hustle and bustle of deadlines, or the complexities of client vendor relations, but most importantly I am really inexperienced with my own process. Real process, not that Velveeta stuff. It's all of the latter that give the process it's pressure. I'm not sure if that can truly be experienced during our undergraduate work. It's not that its fluff, its just that its different. For instance I was considering getting on a plane to Ecuador and changing my name to Boris Von Dooshenbag if i didn't get this figured out by this Saturday. I've never done that for a project in class, no matter how much I cared about the project or the professor. As they said in the hood, "this ain't baseball."

The point I'm trying to make is, when people tell you that you get ideas somewhere between sleeping and waking it's true. I had heard that, even believed that. But I didn't know it. So, as I worried about concepts until my r.e.m. cycle finally took me out of my misery and let me concept in peace I got it. Now, this is not something I think you can rely on. Perhaps working myself until the point of where exhaustion meets oblivion, magic happens. I don't know. But, I'm happy it did because I was getting so fucking frustrated. And now, I am just to excited to sleep.
I think I made the right choice following my Design affair and leaving English behind. No matter how much I love literature, I don't ever remember waking up in the middle of the night saying, "Jesus Christ, get me some Keats! I just had a vision of a nightingale."

Farewell. :P

PULL UP YOUR DIAPERS KIDS, CAREER DAY IS HERE!

The anxiety of an undergraduate finding work in our industry, and in our state of Michigan (though bless her) is enough to suffocate a tri-atholon champion. And career day isn't any different.

"Sweaty armpits, is my breath okay, why is there a smudge on my board, I hope they don't rip my work to shreds, why is it so goddamn hot in here, I do need a mint my breath is bad, did I bring the right pieces, and what the fuck is wrong with my zipper, oh my god I bet that looked like I was playing with my downstairs oh my god"...? These are the wonderful moments of thought we find our selves in during this blessed time. Especially mulling over the 75% of students that don't get a job after graduation. Followed by images of yourself with the little hobo suitcase and a sign that say's "will design for food" in Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold.

Though it isn't all fire and gnashing of teeth. It's just getting that anxiousness, that fear of the future and nervous little gnome that camps in our bellies that is the hard part. It reminds me what Sagmeister said about his poster for AIGA. "There is a lot of fear and anxiety in our industry." He's right, and 75 percent of that resides in our undergrads.

So we smile, shake hands, try and muster as much confidence in ourselves and our work as possible. But thing that made that eaiser, the thing that made that initial fear fade into the background, was the designers and creative directors that critique your work. Although i only got to talk to a few of them, those I was fortunate enough to sit-down with were more than accommodating. It is almost as if their nametags read, "If anyone understands what your going through, I do." And they should. If anything things have gotten harder since they experienced this. More competition, lack of design focus in curriculums due to having to teach software, and surplus in the amount of creatives and lack of demand for them. Maybe, maybe not. But they still understand how hard it is, and how nerve wracking it is to try and get "out there." One of the directors I met with mentioned that he moved to Chicago in 2000 when the dotcom boom fizzled. He said something like 30,000 creatives were looking for work, and that it is tough but you've got to be a fighter and sometimes you have to crawl your way out to get noticed. Mostly the over all message was "be yourself, and work your self's ass off."

Over all I think career day was a success. Good professionals with good advice, and good critiques. A lot of questions were answered about various avenues within the industry, and what to include in our book. Plus, it was actually pretty fucking fun. The speakers were funny, jovial, and happy to be there. And that’s great because it made me happy to be there too. All in all, after I got some gum and stop my sweat glands from over-reacting it was a great experience.