July 24th, 2011 Comments Off
Thankfully, graphic designers are a bit too nerdy for the paparazzi. But had the snooping press hounds any clue into the talent’s of our industry’s rockstar creatives – Jennifer Sterling surely would have been one of their buzz-worthy targets when she abruptly dropped off the design scene a few years ago.
Read my full article on Print Magazine’s awesome design blog IMPRINT.
July 8th, 2011 Comments Off
If you’re not familiar with Design Bureau Magazine, get to know them ASAP. Their fresh, edgy editorial spanning all fields of design from graphic to interior to fashion is deliriously inspiring. Plus, the design of the magazine itself rocks.
In the July/August 2011 issue, I had the awesome opportunity to interview 5 of the industry’s coolest graphic designers: Armin Vit, Jessica Hische, Geoff McFetridge, Keatra Dean Dixon, and Erik Spiekermann. In the name of investigative journalism, I asked them 5 hard-hitting questions…like arm wrestling with designers and morphing into typefaces. Check out their fun answers below (click to enlarge the image) or better yet, run your bum to the bookstore and snag a copy of the magazine.
May 26th, 2011 Comments Off
I recently spoke with an extremely talented graphic designer who was struggling with a book cover design. She confided, “I’m starting to feel like I suck as a designer because I can’t figure out a solution to this problem.”
“Oh, thank god!” I exclaimed.
She was a bit baffled (and slightly ticked off) at my response until I explained that I literally thought I was the only graphic designer who felt this way. Hours after hours of trying this idea and that idea and still not coming up with a feasible solution feels…well – pretty darn crappy. But now that the, “yeah, I’m not alone!” party is over, the question remains: how exactly do we get rid of this negative self-talk? For help on this matter, I went to the top – the very top: Chip Kidd, Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, and Robynne Raye – to be precise.
Read my full article below or buy the awesome May 2011 HOW MAGAZINE.
May 14th, 2011 Comments Off
Wim Crouwel is one of those hardy souls seemingly immune to self-doubt. That’s easy enough now, with Crouwel’s place as one of graphic design’s most influential practitioners secure. But his groundbreaking work has not always been universally admired, and in the 1970s it elicited strong criticism for being “too modern.” Instead of faltering, however, Crouwel’s belief in his ideas and aesthetics only grew stronger. His highly structured approach to design and typography captured the essence of the emerging computer age, bringing a new modernity to catalogs, posters, stamps, and even the phone book. This spring, the grid-loving Dutch legend is being celebrated with a major retrospective at the Design Museum, in London.
Read my full interview in METROPOLIS MAGAZINE. (and check out the print version below!)
May 11th, 2011 Comments Off
“Sexy people are apple pies.” “One, two, tin …” “Acne, pimp, jerk…” The unlikely grouping and categorizing of words, phrases and numbers in the new exhibition “They Are Full of Holy Nonsense” at SF’s Creativity Explored range from the whimsical to the philosophical to the seemingly nonsensical. In fact, decoding the multiple layers of meaning in autistic artist John Patrick McKenzie’s show and understanding his unique, free-association thought process is all part of the fun.
John Patrick Mckenzie likes Cumulus Clouds, 2008
by John Patrick Mckenzie
In my very first article for the SF Chronicle, I was beyond thrilled to learn more about this fascinating artist and how he turns his hand-drawn typography into art. Read my full article on the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. (and check out the newspaper version below!)
May 2nd, 2011 Comments Off
Cracking open a fortune cookie at the end of a Chinese meal and seeing if/how the inside message personally relates to our individual lives is all part of the fun and good times. But the fact is, we all know the prophecies are mass produced, completely generic, and totally random. Even beyond the universal words, the fortunes share the same unconsidered design and ultra-ordinary typography. Thus, it all comes down to how we interpret the meaning of the message.
But what if we took a fortune cookie’s fortune, altered its context, and gave it a major redesign overhaul? How would the message be read differently? Or for that matter, would it? Now through May 12th, a new exhibit and silent auction at the Type Directors Club (TDC) in New York City, Posters of Fortune, features crave-worthy posters of re-imagined fortune cookie sayings by twenty internationally renowned designers and typographers.
Read my full article on Print Magazine’s awesome design blog, IMPRINT and check out a few samples below:
"You have a remarkable power which you are not using." - designed by Siggi Eggerstson
"Behind back luck comes good luck." - designed by Will Staehle
April 21st, 2011 Comments Off
From the time we’re born until the day we die, the twenty-six letters of the alphabet are completely and totally unavoidable. Thus, one has to wonder—will there ever come a day when seeing our own language drives us all completely batty? Will people in the not-too-distant future be running and screaming down the streets from the frighteningly uninspired, overused curves of an “S” or the descender of a “p”?
From May 15th through September 4th a new show at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, Getting Upper, explores what happens when twenty-six graphic designers are charged with creating twenty-six brand spankin’ newly designed letters of the alphabet.
Read my full article on Print Magazine’s awesome design blog, IMPRINT.
"S" by Jon Sueda
