New Blog! →

Yesterday I launched a new blog where I will be posting cool websites I find. Add it!

Every Designer Should Read This →

Here are a few programs I use often in my workflow. At the very least, they are all worth checking out.

Alien Skin Exposure 3

http://www.alienskin.com/exposure/index.aspx

Alien Skin Image Doctor 2

http://www.alienskin.com/imagedoctor/index.aspx

Apimac Clean Text

http://www.apimac.com/cleantext/

Box Shot 3D

http://www.boxshot3d.com/

Brush Pilot

http://www.brushpilotapp.com/

CleanMyMac

http://macpaw.com/

…and my post card

finished the calendar and flash drive today! woo!

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.

— Albert Einstein

love this logo

book cover idea…

Fake Interview Between Stefan Sagmeister & Tibor Kalman

SS: Tibor! It has been a long time since we have spoke. I frequently remember the days that I worked for you at M&Co. TK: Mr. Sagmeister! I have heard you have been quite busy since you have left our studio…winning Grammy’s and all.
SS: Ah yes, did you watch?
TK: No I am not one for the television, a bunch of useless garbage. Ad after ad, lie after lie. I am extremely happy for your awards however. A Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package and a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. What an honor! Have you taken my advice about your studio?
SS: About keeping it small?
TK: Yes. Has it been hard?
SS: Yes, extremely hard! With all of the press from the awards, the lectures I’ve been giving and my books we have so many potential clients knocking at our doors. But I have listened to you and kept the studio small. It is just two other designers and myself. They mostly do the computer work while I art direct. How was your trip to Rome?
TK: Productive, but all good things come to an end. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with ___ and the united colors of Benetton. They were so supportive of Colors, but they weren’t prepared to promote a magazine…they sell sweaters, not magazines. So I decided to move back to New York where all of my staff was anyway. It is where I feel the need to be most productive, since everyone is always moving.
SS: Yes, that is precisely why I haven’t moved the studio. But I must say, my yearly sabbaticals are the only thing keeping my head on straight…this city is stressful.
TK: Budapest, Hungary 1956 – that was a stressful place. New York is just busy. Did I ever tell you why I came to this country?
SS: Never. I’m surprised it never occurred to you. I used to always speak my early years in Bregenz, Austria.
TK: Well, I am getting old...at least I feel old! My parents told me that during the “Hungarian Revolution” that’s what they call it these days, my family sold our belongings to a man who said he would transport us to safety. We got on a train and he led us to a field and took off. My family walked about three miles until we reached a building where the American’s were accepting people into their country, but only under certain conditions. My father met those conditions and they let us in. I believe it is the only reason I am alive today.
SS: Wow! I never knew you went through so much at such an early age. The graphic design world would not be the same without you, you know.
TK: Oh Stefan, always brining up design.
SS: I don’t believe anyone needs any other hobbies! Ever since I was young I remember seeing this beautiful handmade signs my grandfather would paint. They were truly works of art. At the time I didn’t think much about them, but I think that might have been the spark that set me on the path to become a designer when I was 17. After such a rough childhood I would have expected you to become a political and fight for the rights of the people. Why would you become a designer of all things?
TK: As strange as it sounds, I didn’t want to be a designer. In fact, I went to NYU and studied journalism. I joined the radical group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and was looking to report on all of the wrong doings of society. In the meantime, I got a job at a small bookstore alphabetizing books. It was a horrible job. One day, their designer quit. I told my boss I could do the job…I had no experience but he loved my work. I created window displays, store designs, signs and advertisements. From 1968 I worked for the one-store company that eventually became the Barnes & Noble bookshop empire. As they grew, so did I. They hired me as their full time designer.
SS: I have never told you this, but you are my biggest influence. You have not only helped guide me to the success of my business but your work inspires me as well. You have the most guts of any designer I know and understand that spending energy on making sure that a design appears as designed is as important as designing it. Who was it that inspired the work you do?
TK: Some people say that my work parallels that of Barbara Kruger. I see the connection we both made between graphic design and political issues. I have great respect for her but she is not a direct influence of mine. The works of George Lois and Howard Gossage have always inspired me to think outside of the book when it comes to design. George has always introduced culture into his work while Howard has always pushed the envelope and questioned the norm. I try to do both of those things.
SS: Would you say that is how you developed your style?
TK: Position first, style second. Art demonstrates that the designer can, and possibly must, be responsible for the content of the message as well as the presentation. However, the message comes first! How about yourself? What do you consider your style?
SS: For a long time I prided myself on not having a style but I guess that is to some degree impossible. If you really switch your stylistic approach from project to project it is impossible to come up with a new one on a weekly or monthly basis, without ripping-off either historical styles or a particular designers' style. Although it would not cover all of our work I would say we are probably best known for our hand-made quality. While I am quoted often for saying 'style = fart' I disagree on this point. I discovered that this is simply not true. Through experience I found that if you have content that is worthwhile the proper expression of that content, in terms of form and style is actually very important. It can be a very useful tool to communicate that content.
TK: I always aim to but content where it shouldn’t belong. Regardless of the form or style. In Colors, regardless of its affiliation with Benetton, the purpose of the pages was to interest, educate and entertain.
SS: As I grew up political questions were part of my life. Naturally I would like them to play some role in my design work. But then there are times when I think my involvement is bullshit. That I should just forget about it, go about doing my little harmless music design projects, have fun, and leave it at that. On top of it, if you support a cause, who knows if you are right. I was at a conference in February in Monterey where a Chemistry Nobel Prize winner declared global warming a joke, saying that the entire question is a scientific fiasco clearly traceable to a measuring mistake. Can you believe that! I a mistake, probably caused by some computer!
TK: Computers! Don’t get my started! People are dying left and right and we’re noodling with the tabs instead of writing the essay. The computer is turning everyone into blobs, sitting there staring blankly at a screen. Pick up a pen and pad and sketch. Make imperfect lines! Do you think computers are necessary? Do these young designers need to learn all of the programs?
SS: Sadly, I think that is necessary but only because we designers, as a profession, decided to take over other people's jobs (color separator’s, type setters, retouchers) instead of concentrating on ours. However, great tools have little to do with overall quality. A good idea exists with or without a computer. I learned this early when I was still in bands and so delusional, that we thought that we would be as good as our idols if we would just have the money to buy the same amplifiers, PA systems as them. This is not true. I never made the same mistake again as designer. We do have good tools in here (because we can afford them and they make life a bit easier), but their affect on the end result is minimal.
TK: There’s a need to know more now than ever before, but with the evolution of computer designers have become production artists. They need to learn to write and read! Everything designers aren’t taught. It’s absurd. At best, designers who don’t read and write become translators. They sit in the UN and someone speaks French in one ear and Spanish comes out of their mouths. If I find a younger designer that is what I would tell them. What would you say?
SS: try to be a good person and work your ass off.
TK: Hah, you got that right!

last two…

I finally finished (for now…) my calendar pages

some sketches and ideas…

Progress

This week I made some great progress on the development of my project.

Earlier in the week I brought what I created so far into my internship. Jeff and John suggested I look at the housing of the project as the most important element. They showed me a variety of paper sample books that use some really unique die cuts and papers. From there I sketched out some new ideas for a case. This new design will help tie the entire piece together, rather than just holding the contents. 

In addition to the new case, I started designs for my calendar pages. Jeff and John told me I could use all of the companies recourses for my project and it completely made me rethink the calendar. Taking inspiration from Neenah paper’s 2011 calendar, I decided I want mine to stand up so students can put it on their desk. I also created it so that the months and images are not connected. This way, if you want a particular designer to be shown the whole year, you can.

I also think I found the illustration style for my book…a problem whose answer I have been searching for. I knew I wanted to contain images in the shapes, but I think I might add faces to the shapes and have them act our particular situations. 

I have a lot on my plate and it makes me anxious. I have to remind myself that I will get it all done in time and have it look beautiful. 

The start of some illustrations for the book.

Sometimes it takes forever to find things as simple as this.