conference brainstorm

To facilitate interaction and exploration (and reduce the passive experience):

WORKSHOP (option) – following a demo, groups are arranged, quick brainstorming sessions occur (under guidance) and the groups are unleashed for a time of making. (An opening subject may be: sending attendees out to the streets to find examples of type and image working—a fine embodiment of rhetoric on display. workshops may extend outside the room.)

KEYNOTE – one of the superstars might humble himself to serve as a moderator, rather than creating the traditional passivity-encouraging spectacle. The room would be divided up by topic and all would reconvene to share discoveries. The topic would specifically reference the speaker, who would be dangerously armed with wisdom for the discussion.

MIXERS – casual comfortable atmosphere for attendees to meet. Evening cocktail, Ice cream in the afternoon? music–To decrease the stiffness of a typical conference atmosphere, music will be added to mixer activities. (dance?)

WALKING GROUPS (with purpose) – Morning walking groups could meet at a local park. Since a huge walking/discussion group would be overwhelming, discussion leaders would be chosen upon arrival to park. Groups would break up concerning topic interest and experience meaningful conversation while meeting others with similar interests.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS – Lead by successful designers, professors, experts in the specific topic. Invitation and/or registration necessary for participation with some of these sessions to assure a wide range of disciplines within the discussion.

INTERACTIVE SCHEDULING – Invitation is mailed out with a survey of topics (beneath the postmodern, type and image umbrella) upon registering, the potential attendee would be given the power to partially determine the content of the conference. The practical purpose would be the ability to predict necessary space for specific activities, based on interest.

TYPECONTEXT

Dustin and I have decided upon a title for our conference, TYPECONTEXT, based on our desire to create a conference focusing on concept over formal aesthetics. The advertising material would contain this simplified and persuasive description:

Why bother creating a message if it doesn’t carry a capacity to move the viewer? Seduce the audience by infusing the type & image with semiotics. Create resonating meaning by considering connotation of the surroundings.

pinups & pups

These photos will be applied to my furry product line, Good Dog Days (or Pretty Puppy something).
Taylor (above) has found her new career direction as a tamer of wild puppies; this is Nina, the lovable and destructive mastiff pup.
Azure is hopelessly smitten with the pretty Mandy.

When I happened upon this cement mix product line (on lovely package), I realized I needed to create a visual identity just as refined. Although pretty girls and cement mix may be an odd combo, who could possibly resist such gorgeous packaging? (Personally, I think the stereotypical excessively masculine, non-fashion minded, American construction worker would not be so moved; but the company is located in Greece, so who knows?)

pretty puppy something

My dog product is now titled either Good Dog Days, Pretty Puppy something or another revelation that happens in the next day or two. These are rough mockups—with fpo photos—I have decided to recruit the prettiest girls and dogs I know. Since my products would sell in a place like Anthropologie, I would imagine this display on a cute vintage dresser or cabinet:

Since my audience is somewhat environmentally concerned, I decided find and reuse vintage packaging (I plan to spray paint the lid, either black or red, at the very least). Also my target group would appreciate a handmade quality and likely shop at places like Etsy; I sewed handles on the product using handkerchiefs and pretty, patterned fabric. The smaller handle becomes a decorative cuff for the user; the larger handle becomes a scarf for the dog.

clean project brief (original & unedited)

Scenario: Stinky dogs are not an option.

Product Line: Good Dog, Bad Dog Days shampoo. The product contains only natural ingredients.

Target User: An environmentally conscious female dog owner, my target will be a young professional. She probably lives in a loft downtown. This product would be sold in an upscale store like Anthropologie.

Proposed Strategy: Fancy paper, sophisticated patterns and textures. My dog would be the model for all the advertising.

consumer:
comparables: (many are not especially attractive:)

visual research (aka, pretty inspiration):

type conference title possibilities

textcontext

typecontent

marinate with meaning

usurp your audience

usurp: to possess by force

by the ear

immerse

captivate, hypnotize, intoxicate

captivate intoxicate

create captivate

type seduction

pause receive

make them listen

meaning construct

cohesive collision

Why bother creating a message if it doesn’t carry a capacity to move the viewer? Unveil emotions through type and image. Seduce the audience by infusing with semiotics. Create resonating meaning by considering connotation of the surroundings.

Stefan Sagmeister, My Hero (new & improved)

(with an emphasis on adjectives and occasional glaze of alliteration)

Stefan Sagmeister (b.1962) grew up in a peaceful town surrounded by the snow-frosted Austrian Alps. Following high school, his studies centered around engineering. A swift change in focus occurred upon experiencing the seductive lure of graphic design while composing layouts for a liberal magazine; to create graphics for an anarchy issue, Sagmeister asked fellow students to lie on the playground in the shape of an “A”, while photographing them from a rooftop.

The potential possessed by design, enamored Sagmeister—although his first application to the Vienna University of Applied Arts was returned with a frigid stamp of rejection. Instead of wallowing in the depths, Sagmeister tightened his drawing skills, and received acceptance to the University upon a second attempt. His competence continued to bloom; following undergrad, Sagmeister received a Fulbright scholarship to study at the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. While at Pratt, he dreamed of working for Tibor Kalman; peppering Kalman with phone calls proved beneficial as Sagmeister eventually acquired a job at M&Co.

Kalman encouraged Sagmeister to pursue his dreams and open a studio with only the addition of a designer and an intern. A studio of three, gave Sagmeister the freedom to pursue only the jobs he found engaging, including music graphics, AIGA lecture posters and self-indulgent, experimental projects. Even today, in spite of four Grammy nominations, Sagmeister continues to pursue only the jobs he finds engaging.

http://designmuseum.org/design/stefan-sagmeister

revised type conference map

Owen Cox is oh so DADA

First of all, I am abusing the description modern dance (emphasis modern) to my advantage— at the moment, I am madly in love with Vignelli. As you will notice, this design is a Post Modern reaction to high Modernism with homage to my most favorite Dada. (by the way, my moto is always Dada, never Futurist.)
My new goal in life, besides fighting design pollution, is semiotics and simplicity; in the past, I would have acquired migraines with attempts to incorporate as many icons as possible, not to mention excessive ornamentation. Brad Cox, the composer of the Owen Cox Dance Group, is (like me) emotion, rather than logic driven and a fan of the esoteric; he did not want to divulge too much in the poster. He asked me to remove the press release and add only a poet description of the performance. (The performance combines Alice in Wonderland and the Lewis and Clark adventure within a wildly imaginative and non-linear narrative.) final design below.

The binoculars are an index of expedition. Frabjous, as a description of what will be encountered, is a reference to the combined word, fabulous and joyous, as spoken by the mad hatter. I tried to connote movement through the skewed perspective. The lines represent a sort of maze to symbolize the quest and non-linear story the dancers (and Brad's narration) will tell. Also, the word "expedition" is feeling antsy and ready to move on.

marinating type with meaning

A message maker longs, above all else to be understood. In an age when bombastic type and image surround us, it is not a simple task to entice and engage the viewer.

Often type is applied to image as an afterthought. A message infused with emotion, carries a higher capacity to flag attention. The goal of the message maker may be to inspire significant change or simply to cause the viewer to pause to raise a brow of acknowledgement.

My (more successful) type experiments were driven by a theme of unveiling emotions and opinions within a cohesive or purposefully conflicting context. A type conference possibility, would be one about the many ways to infuse meaning to type and image through the unleashing of narrative. Type and image driven by an emotional message can captivate, hypnotize, intoxicate and most importantly (through redundancy) to grab the unwilling viewer by the ear and make them listen.

based on a true story

Nina has limitless love for everyone she meets. She's a giant nine-month old, lab-mastiff mix, who happens to be a lap dog. Her eyes are always full of wonder, especially when she's bouncing around like a deer in the backyard.

But sweet Nina has one minor flaw; separation anxiety causes her mouth to destroy everything in sight. Leaving her alone five minutes in my room, means I may find half my slipper on the bed. My friend’s puppy is serving as inspiration for the brand identity project.

soft and paper sculpture inspiration

Art direction and costume design by KCAI alumni, Andy Byers ('03 ceramics)

timeline & concept map

idea projections

The most powerful discovery I’ve experienced from my type experiments is, a powerful message in the wrong environment loses impact and a message with only surface level meaning, even when placed in a fitting environment, cannot hope to achieve more than a one-liner status.

the projections below, make sense only as a set.

type projections

How can I create type with complex, resonating meaning and house it in an environment with supporting [or blatantly contradicting] connotations? I’ve adapted the human body as my environment.

My diary entry on display theme has progressively evolved to opinions and feelings for all to see. One of the suggestions I received from the last crit-light was "try to create a message that means something to more than just me." My first thought was, why would I do that? (art for the masses is not my purpose in life.)

In the image below, the sadness of the moment has been anchored with contradictory type; poor Lydia should not have taken that call. I wanted to increase the drama by placing the type upside down. Maybe she just collapsed to the ground, maybe she has been sitting in the same place for hours. What if I displayed this photograph with a recording of a phone off the hook?

This photo of my dear non-shy friend Becky was actually just an exposure test. I am including it as process and nice hair documentation. Of course, the text holds true as well.

The shot below (90% post production free) is not doing what I want it to just yet. Hello blackmail. The photo below has extreme potential; my text is a purposefully blatant understatement (as confusing as that sounds). In the calmest voice possible, I am yelling at the top of my lungs that this perspective on love is alright. (Wouldn’t it be amazing to convert this to a billboard to exist in areas where this opinion is not acceptable.)

I tried extremely hard to avoid photographing only myself for these. Sadly, I had to cave in for the (blush) two girls holding hands shot because another friend could not make it—I happen to fit the ultra feminine profile (original plan intact).

About the intentional font choice, Helvetica allows me to project whatever I want to say. . . without a fight—additionally, I have an incurable affinity for the clean and modern Swiss touch.

me in a belly

sagmeister, my hero

When Sagmeister was fifteen years old, he wanted to become a designer. In 1993, Sagmeister worked for Tibor Kalman and shortly after, opened his own firm. As a young designer, he once considered style irrelevant to content; now he believes form and style are a powerful combination for communicating content.

From Sagmeister's perspective, the freedom to create concepts is most gratifying, if the project is without a deadline. The concepting of a project at times happens in a plane, a hotel or anywhere; the execution, however, usually occurs in the office. A resulting hand-made quality is what Sagmeister's studio is best known for.

And most importantly, to keep up to date and sharp on what other designers are doing, Sagmeister meets weekly with a group of friends who run local firms.
information from www.designboom.com

mikal shapiro

The song must be serious since her hair is flipping around.

a pretty spot for type

First of all, this diary entry on display was created on Valentine’s Day. (I guess that means I could place type anywhere and easily fulfill my criteria of connotation necessitating significance to the message.) I chose what I would consider to be a romantic location; a trail with stone steps leading up to a scenic view. Surely some giggly couple would hold hands while skipping to the top.

Besides creating a short-lived message with consistent connotations to the environment, I also wanted to test fragmentation. As the unaware individual begins wander up the steps, a new word is visible every few steps; the message begins at the bottom and is completed as the subject nears the top.

note to self...should I really bring my dog along while creating precarious type?

connotation of location

I’ve separated each word of the diary entry in order to consider how choice of environment could support or infuse meaning. My initial idea was to stand on corners where homeless people would, in order to communicate a need. My need just happens to be love. (Just to set you at ease, I am not quite as sad as projected. Surprisingly, I did have a date on Valentine’s Day.)

while he was sleeping...

turning tricks

In the first photo, I chose a somewhat desolate area to communicate the lonely message. Not many cars drove by—I was crying to the lord and the snow flurries.These were taken at the plaza during rush hour. I was much more self-conscious because cars and eyeballs were surrounding me. Since the sun was beginning to set and the weather was so bitterly cold, a new sadness lingered.I am attempting to rescue my friend from being hit by a bus; my photographer (Mikal Shapiro) has recently moved back to Kansas City from the Bronx—she decided the bus could wait.

The moral is, both weather and location affect a message in severe ways. The busy plaza was much more lonely and cold than a literally desolate location in downtown Kansas City.

a modern night

The following are a few moments from A Modern Night at the Folly. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to photograph this. (Some of these are from the tech rehearsal) directly below: a few dancers from the Owen/Cox Dance group and the infamous lighting designer who goes by, Moose.