Graphic Design, Sustainability, Design Center, Fine Art, Vacant Cities, Internet, Branding, Typography, Education, Photography, Speaking Engagement, Web Design, Printmaking, Tools, Interview

I’ve been wanting a letterpress for a long time. I was checking eBay periodically, but the inexpensive ones need a lot of work and have a platen area (the printing area) not much bigger than a business card. The nicer presses are hundreds of dollars and still only have a platen around 6 x 8 inches.

The alphabet only has 26 forms, yet each shape can be interpreted in so many ways. Here are several examples of the letter A in serif and san-serif faces.

Everyday, I come home excited to check my email, searching for the one titled “Today” in the subject line. I am welcomed with inspirational images from Eric Baker of Eric Baker Design Associates and Design Observer. Eric’s “Today” series is a collection of images he has found on the web which he then emails to a large group of artists or posts to the Design Observer website. Sometimes there is an obvious theme, but most of the time they are random.

This past Wednesday at the Windup Space, Guy Arceneaux and I gave presentations for Aquent’s first roundtable discussion event. The evening was focused on a dilemma I think many print designers are finding. The print market is over saturated with designers, and the web market is in need for more designers. Based in print design, I have been transitioning more into web because of a need for my job and my own personal curiosity.

For a long time, I thought “sustainable” meant recycled paper, wind farms, solar energy and dollar signs. But now I’ve started thinking of it in another way.

I recently participated in Art House’s Scavenger Project (just one of many of their collaborative projects). They sent a list of 24 things for me to create work that represented each item. Art House will then take the images they receive to make a 24 chapter book.

After voting last week, I submitted my images to the Polling Place Photo Project, but I also thought there were some interesting interactions happening with design and the voting process.

Barack Obama has strategically branded himself like a commercial product. From the beginning, “change” has been the unchanging message, and consistency has been impeccably controlled through the rising sun mark and typography. The successful branding has generated international attention. I have come across lot of good articles and websites covering the 2008 presidential race, so these are my top ten favorites.

This weekend, I attended the conference Social Studies: Educating Designers in a Connected World. There were many sessions to choose from, and I had a difficult time deciding which ones to attend. Even though the speakers were focusing on educators, it still gave me inspiration even as a professional in the field. Here is some of what I gleaned from the sessions.