Happy Holidays

Just a quick note to wish you Happy Holidays and say thanks for visiting my blog. This site rarely gets more than 10 hits in any given day, but I value each visit more than you know. Above is a slightly adapted version of the post card that Julie and I sent out to our usual holiday mailing list. Thank you to Michael Schwab for providing the inspiration.

What type am I?

My obsession with Typography is overwhelming. I often interrupt my girlfriend, Julie, mid-sentence to enthusiastically point out a billboard type treatment or poor use of Helvetica on public signage. She humors me by feigning genuine interest, and I appreciate her all the more for it.

The latest trend in typography; chunky, geometric, illustrative wording with the counters removed, has me both enthralled and perplexed. When executed well it can make a bold graphic statement, but it also has the allure of a fad so ostentatious that it's days are numbered. In spite of my better judgment, I found myself so caught up in this über hip typographical style that I started re-designing the Studiostein logo in it. It took me only about an hour to render all the letterforms—an indication that this style doesn't require exceptional finesse. I knew there was tweaking to do, but I felt confident in the design overall. So I presented it to Julie, who I jokingly refer to as my Art Director (I pretend it's a joke, but she's actually very deserving of the title) and waited with baited breath for her response.



Okay, my breath wasn't actually bated. I knew Julie would see through the stylistic excess and realize that this type treatment didn't actually connect with the Studiostein identity. She was right.

Eye magazine creative director, Nick Bell, wrote that there are two types of designers; "agents of neutrality" and "aesthetes of style." While I often fantasize about being the latter—designing exclusively for the sake of expressing my raw creative vision—I think it's more accurate to concede that my purpose as a designer is to communicate the client's message. I reserve self gratification for one side project in particular: The Propagandizer.

While I'm still trying to develop a unique visual language to call my own, this exercise (and Julie in particular) helped me remember that my style isn't dictated by fads. I think it's critical to stay current on design trends and to incorporate them sparingly, but in the end they all pass.

Studying Schwab

Back in school we used to get away with replicating other artists' signature styles by deeming the work a "study". This practice was often encouraged, but as we became upperclassmen with unique visual styles of our own, it died out.

For this year's holiday card Julie and I decided to revisit this activity and borrow the charming and timeless look of Michael Schwab's illustrations. While I will refrain from posting the finished card design, here are the studies:

Word it for November

Drumroll please…here is my Word It submission for November. This month's word is Next: coming immediately after the present one in order or space. As if enough typographic solutions to "next" involving arrows and X's hadn't already been submitted, I proceeded boldly with my own take on the arrow-X treatment. Is this X headed in next, or is it headed out? Ponder that.

My Favorite Typefaces

My original intent was to begin this post with a butchered rendition of "My Favorite Things" reinterpreted to express my love for all things Type. But I figured everybody involved would be better off if I forgo the shenanigans and dive straight into the post. There are many typefaces that I love, but these are some I've found popping up in my work frequently over the last five years. The obvious trend—lots of slab serif or no serif at all.

The Edit Aesthetic

I just finished a small stationery re-design for a non-profit association that, in their best interest, will remain anonymous. The back of the letterhead features a list of all the board member names which require annual updates. Herein lies the subject of this post. This particular client constructed an elaborate and aesthetically satisfying piece of her own by listing the edits in a Mind Map-ish sort of way. I love the look of it and in spite of the visual complexity, I understood it all.

Kinetic Artwork

As a kid I had a fascination with the incredibly complex and always whimsical devices I would later come to know as Rube Goldberg Machines. Although in my youth I simply though of them as really cool ways to make breakfast (Pee-Wee's Big Adventure) or open your front gate (The Goonies). There is a great DIY aesthetic to the engineering of these devices that commands our attention no matter what age we are. And they remind us that the tangible world of physics, chemistry, engineering and sheer dumb luck still offer spectacles that computer graphics and super-slick art direction can't beat.

These are some of the more noteworthy Kinetic art pieces I've come across. Included are two works by Theo Jansen, a Dutch sculptor who creates large kinetic machines that can be set into motion by slight forces, such as a gust of wind or a gentle push.

The Way Things Go - Peter Fischli and David Weiss


Honda Ad

Theo Jansen - BMW Ad


Theo Jansen - Animaris Rhinoceros


Japanese Rube Goldberg Machines