Flash AS3 Experimentation

I have begun experimenting with Flash and Actionscript 3, somewhat against my will, in my GD300 class this semester. This is my first real experience with the new program and the third iteration of Actionscript, so I have a lot of learning to do. I will be posting my progress here, thus providing some very, very silly, interactive things for you to play with.

This is also my first shot at embedding flash on my site here, so let me know if anything is wonky or if I should be doing something differently.

Poster for MICA’s Screening of Objectified (in progress)

I am creating a poster for MICA‘s screening of Gary Hustwit’s latest documentary, Objectified. In order to do this, I tracked pretty much every object I touched throughout the course of a day and then proceeded to illustrate each one. I wanted to allude to Build‘s poster for the film, but take the basic idea a bit further and put a concept behind it. I will post the final and printed version in my portfolio.

P.S. That image above is massive, just re-sized on this page. Download it or view it in it’s own window to see some more detail.

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Every Single Object I Touched Today

I will be making a poster for MICA‘s screening of Gary Hustwitt’s new film, “Objectified“, and I was inspired by this quote from Mr. Hustwitt…

On an average day, each of us uses hundreds of objects. (Don’t believe it? Start counting: alarm clock, light switch, faucet, shampoo bottle, toothbrush, razor…) Who makes all these things, and why do they look and feel the way they do? All of these objects are “designed,” but how can good design make them, and our lives, better?

… so I decided that for my poster I would track all of the objects I use in a single day. This is pretty much everything I touch or use, excluding food, architecture, and mother earth. I know the evening is young, but here is the list I have compiled:

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The Center for Design Practice

This semester I am going to have the unbelievable privilege of working with Mike Weikert and Ryan Clifford, along with a small handful of other undergrad and grad students, at the Center for Design Practice. We are working on an exciting project I will not explain just yet, but Mike & Ryan have said it will be okay to blog about the work we do, so I hope to document the project fairly thoroughly on here.

Now that school has started back up again, my work will be for ME and I will therefore actually be able to post it. Hopefully things will get a lot more lively around here in the weeks and months to come!

Cameron Sinclair and Architecture for Humanity

I was fortunate enough to attend Cameron Sinclair’s lecture at MICA tonight, something I have been looking forward to for a very long time. His lecture did just what I thought it was going to do for me: he was amazingly inspiring while simultaneously overwhelming me.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with him, he got fed up with the world of Architecture with a capital A catering to the designer crowd and not the common man, or as he calls it “the other 98%”. So, one day after seeing the refugee situation in Kosovo in the late 90′s on the news, he just straight up called the United Nations and asked to speak with whomever was in charge of refugees. Long story short, they actually patched him through to whomever is in fact “in charge of refugees” and he talked his way, quite accidentally, into presenting housing solutions to the UN, who had not spoken with an Architect with an implementable plan in some time. This really kicked Sinclair’s drive to put architects and designers in situations where they could be a part of real change in real time into high gear, and he co-founded Architecture for Humanity, an open source community of designers and architects that give a damn. He throws all of the preconceived notions about what it means to be a designer to the wind and focuses almost entirely on how to use one’s skills to be a positive force in the world. The program has grown immensely over the last decade, but don’t take it from me, check out what they’re up to: www.architectureforhumanity.org

I am immesely impressed and inspired by the man. He is a big “If you are not part of the solution you are a part of the problem” kind of guy, and I am going to be trying very hard in the future to be an integral part of the solution, instead of just polluting the world with classy boardgames and my own personal philosophies set in Clarendon.

Young & Freelancing: The Blog of Designer Bryan Connor

My blog is more or less an unprofessional mess, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But, that’s mostly because I do not possess the dexterity, concentration, or dedication that is required to author an informative, focused blog. Bryan Connor, however, possesses all of these things, and his blog Young & Freelancing has been a long time coming. Bryan has been a very good friend of mine and a partner in the chaotic, often stressful, world of young freelancing for almost 2 years now. Few people I know show the brand of maturity and composure Bryan carries himself with when dealing with floods of emails, frustrating clients, and all the other fun stuff that comes with being an creative individual in today’s freelance market.

If you are young, or freelancing, or have an interest is the behind the scenes of design, be sure to check out Bryan’s Blog. Despite its infancy, Bryan has already stocked the blog with some pretty incredible and helpful articles. I am sure my habits have made/inspired some of his “what not to do” lists, so if you want to hear from the best, click on through.

Vices & Freelancer Bad Habits to Avoid

Getting Things Done – To-do Lists & Priorities

A Freelancer’s Starter Ethics – 20 Guidelines

Be sure to subscribe and read, I know I will.

MICA/UB Leadership Retreat Branding: Catalyst

This past Saturday I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to help facilitate a Leadership Retreat for the MICA and University of Baltimore community. I had been working with the planning committee for a few months prior, and the whole thing went off without a hitch and was a really great experience for me, and I hope all involved. I had, with the help and feedback from the planning committee, come up with the branding for the retreat, and it was cool to see the logo plastered all over folders, name-tags, signs, and screens at the event. (more…)

Jack of All Trades Leonard Baskin

Copyright for this image is held by the Estate of Leonard Baskin

I was asked by my Paper Making and Book Structure professor to research the work of Leonard Baskin: Printmaker, Sculptor, Designer, Bookmaker, and all around BAMF. I have found his creative path through life to be similar to my own thusfar, we share both a passion for design and a love of true craftsmanship and the object as a form of Art. (more…)

A Second Orientation Leader Poster!

I had the opportunity to make a second Orientation Leader recruitment poster with people other than Kris and I available as for reference photos. Expect to see them both around campus soon!

Coffee House 1/25

Some photos, courtesy Bryan Connor, of myself and Dai Foldes playing at MICA‘s monthly coffeehouse. We played Palmcorder Yajna by the Mountain Goats and Under thr Bridge from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. (more…)