New Sketches! New style.

As hoped when I bought this sketchbook, I've started doing fuller drawings - more finalized. I've also been trying to play with a more surreal feeling /  creepy / uneasy subject matter. Less cute stuff.

New Sketchbook

Wandered around Harajuku yesterday and realized (as I was looking at a beautiful leather orange one) that I'm due for a new sketchbook. If you don't know this already you will learn very soon that I go through "sketchbooks" like lightning, in fact I just finished one last week. I've hundreds and hundreds of them lining my room at my parents' house, BUT I haven't had a NICE one in a while. "Why would this matter?" you may ask. Well, at least in my situation, it matters because the quality of the sketchbook impacts what goes in it usually. If I have a big beautiful leather bound Rhodia than I'm more likely to use it as a showcase for more finalized drawings. If I have a crappy newsprint flop-book than than I'm more willing to use it for more practical reasons - for small rough sketches and lists... so many lists. Both are important and different kind of practices that like to be housed in a similarly formatted casing.

I haven't had a "nice" sketchbook in while and thus have not made many drawings recently that stand alone as a (final) drawing, rather than a sketch for a potential piece for another medium.

The sketchbook I bought is an orange leather dot-grid Rhodia. The dot-grid is a HUGE improvement now that I'm taking my typography a tiiiiny bit more seriously.

Of course the drawing on the first page is extremely cosmetic because thats the first thing that people see. (!)


I'll post new drawings as soon as I have a fair amount of them to show

M

TypeTypeType

Have been doing a bit of sketching lately and trying to get back into designing typography. Typography has the potential to be such a fun medium to get creative with since it comes along with so many rules and standards. It can really become an illustration itself rather than just the caption.

Name of an amazing norwegian bar in Shibuya. They held a jazz night recently that I decided to go to right after work. I had my sketchbook with me and so I just relaxed and did a little sketching while enjoying the live norwegian jazz.

I went on a trip by myself to the mountains after my second week in Japan. IT. WAS. GORGEOUS. truly inspiring - thus resulting in a bit of creative output, no doubt!

Name of the design firm I work for. (I'm sure they would never consider this their style or ever want it associated with them, but hey, I needed a word... and there it was.)

If you want to try a bit of typography of your own - a site I like to look to for inspiration is (get ready for it): designspiration.net. You should check it out even if you don't. I think you'll like what you see.

k, gotta get back to work!
M

Tokyo Mojo

Heeeeeyyyyy,

So, it's been a little bit of time since my last post. I've graduated, summer was well spent in Ann Arbor while freelancing for Spunk Design Machine and I saved enough money to go to... JAPAN!

Yes, I am currently writing this post from a tiny design firm in Tokyo! I've made it to the TOP! Well not quite yet, but it feels pretty good at this juncture. I'm currently the graphic design intern for Nosigner of Tokyo, Japan. It's a very small firm with some really talented individuals and open minded thinkers. You can check out their website here.

I'm realizing that working for small design firms is the only way to go - the best way to do it. You really bond with your team and get way more responsibility. Of course you're probably going to be working 10 times harder than a massive corp firm but really it ends up being much more fulfilling. For example! - I work 12 hours a DAY here. 10am to 10pm. Sounds rough, I know, but guess what... It is! haha but it's still very do-able! And MAN do you end up getting a LOT of work done.

But really, I'm immensly enjoying my time in Japan. I'm only supposed to stay till mid october but I'm going to try to stay longer if possible.

Working at the firm has got my creative juices flowing again too which is GREAT. Sooo now I have things to post again! Today I started a poster that I hope to complete in the next few weeks or so. I'll leave you guys with a taste...

It's about Japan. Ha really?!

K well welcome back to Slowjams! (it was time for a new look.)

IP: Final Thesis pdf.

Cover to my Thesis. If you'd like to read it shoot me an e-mail / leave a comment and I'll send you the pdf.

Thanks!

IP: A success!

The opening reception was a HUGE success. Work gallery gets so much foot traffic that the gallery stayed completely full for for the whole event (3 hours). Thank you to everyone who could stop by and also thank you to those who couldn't make it but provided support! You guys are greaaaaaaat.

I was really nervous before the show, because I really had no idea what the response would be but everything ended up going better than I could have even imagined. People really seem to be struck and drawn in by the aesthetic of the work and then ultimately stay with it to understand and pick a part the meaning. People were loving the terrariums. I even received some commissions to make some more, so if you want one let me know! They're around 30 bucks depending on the size and type of plant!

Anyways it was a great night, I had so much fun and loved seeing everyone's handsome faces.

By request of my school and to get a good grade on this project I must direct my teachers and professional suiters to my : Portfolio. There you will be able to download my Resume and Project Thesis.

Thanks!

IP: DATES AND TIMES AND LOCATION

Everyone should come to the Opening Reception of my senior thesis show!

It will take place at Work Gallery, 306 State St. (where my work is displayed) on Friday, April 13th from 6-9pm. There will be refreshments and lots of people and excitement and my parents and hip kids so MAKE SURE YOU STOP BY. I want to see all of you.

The work is almost fully installed except for a few last minute things which I will be taking care of tomorrow. SUCH a LONG processssss!

The chia had a little bit of trouble growing on the first model we made so we've started on a new model and things are looking good! Super excited, feeling very proud.

come come come, see you all there!

IP: Progress!

Ok this one's gunna be a doozy!

1. I've finished making my terrariums. It was SUCH a fun process, I highly recommend EVERYONE doing it. They're completely self-sustaining and are so so so beautiful. These 2 right below are moss terrariums (they are lidded). GOLD SAND.

Moss collected from the Arb (shh).

Potting/re-sizing

The plants and terrariums are growing by the light of 2 grow-lamps under my table in my studioooo.

This terrarium is not going in the project... he's just extra... for fun, ya know?

2. The center-piece of my project is currently in the works. I've decided it would be smartest to make it in 2 parts–the living and the... non-living. The chia is going to grow on a separate piece of chip-board on top of insulation foam (the gross looking white goop seen below) and cotton-fluff, held down by damp cheese-clothe. This is a very well tested method for growing chia (apparently all the polish children of my mother's generation grew chia this way because no one sent them chia pets from america??). After the chia is mature enough this piece will then be glued to the wood board with the gold triangle in the center. The gold is an acrylic paint made from REAL GOLD FLECKS and LEAD. So there was a long priming-sanding-primingagain-painting-thinkingImayhaveleadpoisoning-process (documented below). Don't worry... my dad refuses to be worried about the lead so... I'm probably fine.

Cleaned edges, refined shape.

Primer.
First layer.

Final layer.

3. And I'm still making more drawings for the large bottom shelf–which has been a PAIN in BUM by the way. Today the shelves have been white washed. Tomorrow they are going to get a gold trim on the edges.

It's been a long 2 weeks but it's not over yeeet. The beetle portraits look like they might be the very last step. As well as putting something in the CENTER of the CENTER-PIECE, pretty BIG step you might say...

I think this may be my last post before the show so wish me luck aaaand see you all in the gallery! (I'll post the info as soon as it's been finalized). April 13th!

IP: YIKES!

The end is near! 1 week till work is due, opening is on the 13th! Progress update coming very soon.

5-min post-break Presentation

IP: Postcards

The IP postcards are being made. Not sure I'm really sold on the idea of relationship with nature as "wilting" but I think it might push buttons and draw people in.

IP: On a Botany kick!

So as a part of my IP project I'm doing several different kinds of illustrations–some will display plant anatomy in a very formal and strictly scientific fashion while others with play with the forms and colors of the plants in an extremely ornamental way. The design I came up with below was supposed to represent a very Art Nouveaux ideal of art and beauty–as something that is natural and coming from nature–the style is often geometric, symmetrical, and whimsical.

First the drawing

Then some fancy photo-editing

The name practical Botany actually is the name of a course I'm taking right now (BIO 102) and I thought it was funny and interesting name for a class, because it might imply that there is a Useless Botany course (which I'm sure would simply be a time-slot for college students to get tested on high school algebra in silence, in a classroom full of ferns and living rock plants that you don't even notice, haaaa). BUT what's interesting is that practical botany kind of brings out the dichotomy that exists with how one can view plants and nature in their life–as a tool or a provider of food and perhaps income and then oppositely as something of beauty and enjoyment through touching and viewing. Of course one can feel both, in fact I feel sure that if you identify with with former the latter will always come with it, but I also feel that many people in my generation and perhaps in my society experience and think about plants/nature in a mainly aesthetic way.

It's a pretty great class though, we are growing OH so many plants (11 so far!) and are making wine and a chamomile salve... mm salveeyyy.

New Pencils

Got a new, really nice batch of colored pencils and was EXTREMELY inspired by some Fab Ciaolo artwork. I made all these girls the same night I bought the pencils ... and I've been starting to draw plants with them for my project! I'll put those up in the next post.

I'm really liking this brand of colored pencil by the way. If anyone is looking to try a different kind other than Prismacolor, it's called Colorsoft by Derwent.

Some Practice

IP: Plain Silliness

SOoo, I found that there's a device that allows your plant to tweet you (like through twitter, for those of you who are my dad) when it needs to be WATERED. Things are getting a little INSANE don't you think?

This has so much to do with how humans have become completely detached from the natural world. So much so that we need to use electronic technology to understand the plants we LIVE with. Here are the articles I found about it from The New York Times and CrispGreen.

Things to look at

Some findings while doing research for the project. Makes me really wanna live in a glass pod from the arts and crafts movement in the middle of a lush forest... anyone else feeling that?