Turning My Life Into My Biggest Project Instead of the Other Way Around

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Art Director’s Club in New York on May 4th for their annual portfolio review along with other students graduating from Art & Design schools all over the country. I have to admit, I enjoyed talking to the other students more than pitching my work to the various Art Directors, Talent Scouts, and Head Hunters who attended the event. There is a great sense of community among these people and many shared ideas and philosophies.

I have timed this post to be published precisely at the moment I walk across the stage at the Baltimore Symphony Hall to receive my Bachelors in Fine Arts in Graphic Design from The Maryland Institute College of Art. I have come a long, long way since high school, and I can honestly say that I dedicated myself wholly to my work and studies at MICA. So much so, that looking back I wonder if I was too narrow focused. At any given moment over the past four years, my work was at the forefront of my mind, almost exclusively; I was truly and happily immersed. Things like eating, sleeping, romance, and relaxation were distractors — speed-bumps in my productivity. While this might have been alright for my student years, it is not how I hope to live my life.

So on this, my graduation day, I am hoping to turn my life into my biggest project, instead of the other way around.

I have no aspirations to move to New York or Chicago and work for some big shiny design studio, no dreams of becoming a “Young Gun” in the next seven years, and no desire to swim in big piles of money. I want to surround myself with people I love who inspire and challenge me, do fulfilling, wholesome work in my local community and beyond, and live a balanced life wherein I stare at a computer screen for less than eight hours a day.

To everyone out there graduating this spring, from Art School or otherwise, congratulations. Do what you love and don’t let it consume you.

“The Why Axis” to Bring a Critical Voice to Infographics

We all know there are lots of information graphics out there these days. Hopefully, we also all recognize that not all of these visualizations are well crafted or considered. I have touched on this subject before, calling for a more thorough, critical analysis of the information graphics in the media today. Bryan Connor, friend, colleague, and former roommate, knows a lot more about this stuff than I do, and he has just started a new blog, The Why Axis, examining the various forms of data visualization bombarding our eyes and brains on a daily basis. The modest amount of content he has posted to date already shows how relevant The Why Axis is going to be. Just in 2011, we have experienced a major revolution in Egypt, furthered unrest in the Middle East, and an earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear disaster at Fukushima, ALL covered in the news by information graphics. Bryan provides us with an unbiased voice to help us digest all of this data; a safe haven in a world of politically and emotionally charged info graphics. I expect The Why Axis to be part celebration of successful data viz, part whistleblower on inaccurate and misleading information graphics in the news, and wholely informative and thoughtful.

The Why Axis

Degree Project Timeline

I have been hard at work on my degree project for the last month or two. For those of you that haven’t figured it out, I will be designing, branding, and marketing a small line of products. I am going to intentionally stay light on the details at this time, but until I have finalized a name for the product line I will be posting updates directly to this blog about the project. Above is the timeline I created for myself back when I began designing Love & Utility, if you feel like sleuthing you can probably figure out a good bit from it.

My Favorite Subway Let Me Down

I have a favorite Subway sandwich shop. Though I have eaten at franchises all over Philadelphia and Baltimore, as well as up and down the east coast and a few select locations in the mid-west, none can compare to this one location in Charles Village near both of my current employers. I have eaten there on a regular basis since the beginning of 2009, so when I was asked by a school assignment to tell the story of a person I have regular interaction with, but know nothing about, the friendly sandwich-smiths at this Subway naturally came to mind. I came in for my usual five-dollar-footlong (BLT of course) and briefly explained my assignment to the nice gentleman behind the counter. As it was during the lunch rush, I also pre-wrote a little note explaining the project and asking if he/she would be willing to participate, providing all of my contact information. Although he gestured that he would be glad to help me out, I never heard from anyone at my favorite Subway, and was forced to move on to the next casual encounter on my list. The social aspect of Social Design often pushes the designer out of his or her comfort zone, quite intentionally, and it is hard not to take the would-be-collaborator with you sometimes.

I’d be lying if I said I won’t be a little embarrassed next time I visit my favorite Subway; and I don’t get shy very often.

UPDATE

As it turns out, my favorite Subway did not in fact let me down, they merely lost the piece of paper I gave them before they were able to even read it. I shall continue patronizing their franchise, and we have been brought closer through this whole ordeal.

Baltimore: what I think, what I know, what they say.

Baltimore: 10 things I think, 10 things I know, 10 things they say. from Andy Mangold on Vimeo.

For my Design Coalition course this semester, we will be doing 5 quick, one week turn around projects. The first prompt was 10 things I think about Baltimore, 10 things I know about Baltimore, and 10 things they say about Baltimore.

I didn’t really start to truly discover the city until I started riding my bike everywhere. I found myself more comfortable just going a direction without knowing where I was headed. So, I decided to try and show the world what it’s like to see Baltimore from the seat of a bike. This required me building a little helmet cam rig, and the results are a little shaky, but that is the nature of riding a bike in pot-hole USA. This was really my first time making a video from beginning to end as well, and while I am not thrilled with the finished product, I am glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

For the “10 things they say about Baltimore” portion of the prompt, I thought it would be best for me to integrate video footage from outside sources concerning Baltimore. It would be inaccurate for me to sit down and guess what the outside perceptions of Baltimore are, so I used a combination of clips from interviews, travel TV shows, and The Wire to paint a picture of Baltimore’s portrayal in the media.

The Photo Booth of Wonder

I am in the middle of orientating a slew of new students at MICA this week, and therefor am completely exhausted. As part of tomorrow night’s DIY fair (an evening activity during the orientation program), I will be doing live, green screened photo-manipulations of new students. I know, it isn’t really DIY at all, but I still think it’s going to work out pretty nicely. I have set up a Tumblr to showcase the results of these live photo-manipulations, with the students’ permission, of course. You can check out all the action tonight at 9:30pm EST at photoboothofwonder.tumblr.com.

Andy Boy Brand

I have my friends and coworkers at MICA‘s Student Activities Office to thank for this awesome find. Been working hard there all week to get ready for new student orientation, which will be consuming all of my time next week.

I wish I could develop a self-brand with this much character, I just don’t quite know what my unique character is yet.

“Heirloom” Update

I have conducted the first few rounds of interviews and photo shoots for my “Heirloom” project that I am getting pretty excited about. I figured I would post some shots from today’s work in hopes of enticing more of you to participate! THIS COULD BE YOU!

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The Plight of Nubbins: Exercise in Language Free Diagrams

For the CDP project I am fortunate enough to be a part of this semester, we are tackling injury prevention in the home and must speak to a multi-lingual and otherwise diverse audience. I have been developing some IKEA style diagrams to address specific instances of injury that can occur in the home, and I thought I might post my modest progress thus-far.

I have adopted this gray, genderless, raceless, and more or less ageless character into all of my diagrams and affectionately dubbed him “Nubbins” (inspired by his doughy construction and a particular episode of This American Life).

Objectified Screening at MICA

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