The Constant Image

If you look to your left, you will notice a new addition to the section regarding
my other locations on the interwebs called The Constant Image. What I
hope this to be, is a collection of random images I make in the vein of other
"image a day" exercises that designers are known to partake in. I will set
it all up in due time, but for now it has one sketchy image in response to a
black metal album I very much enjoy by Deathspell Omega.

Let's see how this goes.

2:30 Am Design Heart Attack

Well I'll be damned. I have seen Mark Weaver's stuff
before courtesy the perma-excited Robyn Baker and
always found myself enjoying his work. The above
images take that enjoyment all the way to home base.
His work is simply stunning. It has a weird Text-book-
by-way-of-retro-modernist-sepia vibe that I'm really
into. Just check it out NOW.

That state poster blows my heart out of it's steel cage
and explodes in my face. real talk.

Orbiting: Katatonia-"Forsaker", Broadcast-"Noise Made
by People", saltine crackers, drawing letters, Deathspell
Omega, and Fuji Apple Pear Lifewater.

Circle takes the square w/ two triangles in tow

So these are poster sketches for the film poster project.
Each one has a primary shape chosen based on the symbolism
inherent in each. Akzidenz grotesk is used to add a little, very
little, humanity to the scene.



Into: Study nights, coffee+wine combo, pasta, grizzly bear,
Kid A and Amnesiac.

The "Blessed Curse" Project: Progess 1

Above is a spread from my typographic publication
for this semester. I posted some layout's for general info
earlier, and some of the "visual language" from that
returns.

Conceptually, this project deals with the necessary and
pervasive presence of evil in life as well as the duality
that is inherent with it's relationship to the "good". In
other words it's about good and evil, with a focus on evil.
The content is that of various scientific sources regarding
the phenomena of light and darkness, black metal lyrics,
articles/essays/ etc. on the sinister aspects human
experience, including murder, genocide, the occult, and
other aspects.

Formally, this book is a sort of combination of a strict
and gridded structure of modernism with the light and
traditional typesetting of classicism. The typefaces
are Didot and Helvetica.

See if you can spot the conventions of modernism and
classicism...and you might win some knowledge.

More to come soon.

Current vehicles: Deathspell Omega, Radiohead- "Kid A",
The Mighty Boosh, late nights, wine.

Type III content proposal

Colors for once you guys.

These folks here are for a presentation on a poster series we
just started where we had to create a film festival. I chose
"Semi-Dysfunctional Families" because I really enjoy the genre
and really look forward to compelling a unique overall feel
for such a compelling subject.

Also I should mention that this poster by Double Standard was
a key influence when I designed these slides and it will remain so
with the rest of my work as I am obsessed with it.


Music/Other: Radiohead "Amnesiac" 3-disc set, Taken by Trees-
"East of Eden", Converge-"You Fail Me" and "Jane Doe", The
Bell jar, learning about book structures.

Type Cast-Reader

This post is hopefully the first in a series of posts regarding
typefaces that I can't stop fawning over. The first entry is for
Reader.

This typeface is from the Colophon type foundry, by Edd
Harrington and Anthony Sheret in the UK. It is referenced
from an unknown monospaced face found in a RSPB letter,
which I believe to be a Birding society of sorts. They
removed the monospaced grid and redrew the typeface to
serve as a more diverse face.

I have come to judge type, at least initially, by the lowercase
"a". Reader's "a" is simply beautiful, borrowing the perfect
counter of Helvetica, and then mimicking the form in the tail,
creating a more organic and friendlier form. The slightly
emphasized chiseled indent in-between the "a" tail and bowl
is a really nice touch, that is attributed throughout, creating
a minor but tangible cohesion. The lowercase "h","m", "n",
and "u" are almost cheeky in their playful slant and roundness
of their bowls. Not to mention the very "nautical" looking lower-
case "s". Maybe it is just me, but the lower portion's thinner
shape gives me a sea-faring feel for reasons I can't explain.


Also, check out the specimen book as it is really quite a lovely
addition to the type family. All of this can be seen at Colophon's
website. Get over there and look at their lovely work.

Also, for those interested in more of the designers work, you can
find it through The Entente Cordiale.They are actually quite young
as well, so mark one for the young designers!

Graphic Medication

So I recently purchased this book, because being someone obsessed
with modernism, Geigy and their graphic design is the equivalent of
the Dallas Cowboys in the mid nineties. They simply take the football
shaped cake and share it's greatness with everyone. Im only a little
of the way through, but it is truly an intriguing insight into the world
of this chemical manufacturer...who one would think would never
draw interest from someone such as myself. Seriously, just look at that
miticide container above...it is simply beautiful. I mean the "2E" literally
takes into account the alignment of the trademark. I can't get over that.
It knocks me over...out of my chair literally. Check out the book, It's called
Corporate Diversity: Swiss Graphic Design and Advertising at Geigy 1940-
1970. Get on it team.


Musical Medication: New Order-Movement, Joy Division-Closer and Unknown
Pleasures, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Broadcast.

Lockheed Martin Pt. I

Im 21 years old therefore I like French new wave cinema.

The above being stated, I had the pleasure of seeing this film in theaters for the first time along with a couple other lucky folks, as it was never released in the US until recently. The movie itself is Godard at his most obscure and deconstructed, at least I think so. Names and conversations disappear under the din seemingly arbitrarily placed sounds and silence. Anna Karina looks stunning as she did, and the cinematography is simply perfect, awash in red, white and blue almost comically.

Also, I really enjoy the packaging, designed by John Hardy. It is a simply approach but one that really captures the feeling and focus of this bizarre film. The use of the staggered image, as simple a device as it is, perfectly encapsulates the feeling you experience while watching this film. There is one scene specifically where Anna Karina is sitting at a table in a restaurant awaiting to be unhand-cuffed and the wallpaper behind her is askew, seemingly aligned by a blind man. This tiny architectural detail really struck me when I saw the movie originally, and I even wrote down a note about it, as I was considering using something like that in my Virginia Woolf Poster Project. So it is really neat to see that element used in the stellar packaging for this challenging film. Once again the Criterion Collection wows with it's discerning in packaging. Great work all around.