unstrungstudio

This week, I was able to hear Christian Helms speak about his design experience and his new design firm, The Decoder Ring Concern. Christian was inspiring, to say the least. Since graduating from the Portfolio Center, he has worked for Michael Bierut at Pentagram and served as a founding member of John Bielenberg's experimental design collective, Project M. His dedication to good design is admirable, and his perspective on turning average projects into exceptional projects is important for any young designer. According to Christian, there are no "cool projects." Turning an average project into an exceptional project is the designer's job. Christian didn't address his process in particular, but it sounded like research and process were critical elements. It was a great seminar, and my mind was whirling with ideas before I left the room.

posted by J.  # 5:28 PM 0 Comments

"Clell Tickle is one of the most dangerous men in America."

posted by J.  # 9:03 AM 0 Comments

Sunday is never fun. It should be, but it just isn't.

Looking for creative inspiration in unusual places? Who isn't? Take a look at the interesting work of Spent 2000. Imagine a web where nothing is static. Now, take a look at Neave.tv, where Paul Neave and others displays an almost endless fountain of creativity. Tired yet? No? Take a look at the Pikapika lightening doodle project. End the night by jumping into bed with DJ Spooky's, AKA Paul Miller, manifesto, Rhythm Science.

posted by J.  # 11:15 PM 0 Comments

Typography Fundamentals is canceled. Hence, I am blogging. I have a number of links that I have been stockpiling throughout the week, and here they come.

Adobe has released another Adobe success story with Joshua Davis. Very nice.

Earlier this week, I was enjoying the illustration work of Mario Hugo at Loveworn.

Mozilla pumped out another version of Firefox for all of us to enjoy. Actually, it has some nice improvements included in it.

Take a look at the flashy designs of Pete Golibersuch.

Delight in the political musings of Armin Vit's controversial entry on Speak Up, which concerns the lack of women at Tokion's Creativity Now conference. There are 123 comments.

posted by J.  # 1:54 PM 0 Comments

The last six weeks have been a roller coaster. If you haven't heard from me, apologies. Within two weeks, I moved to Atlanta, found an apartment, moved into the apartment and unpacked. (I also made a quick round trip to St. Louis and repainted a few rooms in my house.) The last four weeks have been filled with thumbnailing, concepting, cutting, gluing and other forms of design fun. To date, it has been a great experience. I am learning about design from the ground up, and although it can be frustrating, it is also rewarding. In two years, I might actually have something that is worth a damn. This week has been particularly fun. I have been working on a poster concept for the last few weeks, and this week, I recreated the poster with cut paper. (See below.) With 50 free hours, you can also experience the fun of creating a poster. More later . . . I have to get back to work.

posted by J.  # 10:34 AM 0 Comments

Check out the incredible drawings and illustrations at Blu Blu.

posted by J.  # 6:24 PM 0 Comments

Check out this interesting video on typography, titled Typography School. It's engaging commentary on the use of type.

posted by J.  # 6:50 AM 0 Comments

Take a look at couscouskid, great illustration work.

posted by J.  # 6:18 PM 0 Comments

Enjoy Fupete.

posted by J.  # 11:09 PM 0 Comments

Who doesn't like clothing? Rhetorical. Check out the Epidemik Coalition, which was started by three students at the Portfolio Center. You can also bring in the funk with clothing from Daddy menswear in London.

posted by J.  # 4:43 PM 0 Comments

Get smacked by the smiling designs of electrolychee.

posted by J.  # 7:54 AM 0 Comments

Colin Johnson has some very nice illustration work — definitely worth a look.

posted by J.  # 9:42 AM 0 Comments

Check out the superior work of Michael Janiak at Fraction18. You might also dig the new Uniglo web site, which was designed by Flash super genius, Yugo Nakamura. Canvas Magazine launches its first issue.

posted by J.  # 12:33 PM 0 Comments