Everything at once

Ah, internet, how fickle you can be. Due to the lack of internet connection at my house, I have had to rely on the library, but am generally too busy or snowed in to make the trip. So, there's fewer updates than I'd like. I've been a busy bee, making christmas presents for the family. Being flat broke brings out the crafty side of me. Well, the fact that the last weeks of school were spent staring at a computer screen also gave me cravings to just make things with my hands. Here, though, is what I did the last weeks of school, starting with the rest of my intaglio final:




The devil and angel in color, which I then used for the multiplate piece in the previous post:

Basically, I was playing with the idea of the "characters" who control our fate being trapped and no longer in control of their fate. I bound them into a little booklet, which I will probably improve when I take bookbinding next semester.

I finally finished my tea kettle that I'd mentioned weeks ago. I decided to do a glass/metal fusion:


I love how blogger changed the background colors to a putrid green. Ah well.

Finally, my type class did a bus wrap project for the Connective Corridor and Centro. The Post Standard reported on it here.

Oh my! I have to run and finish my Christmas shopping and making! Hopefully more updates after the holiday!

Teaser

Just finished my last final project. I'm headed home this afternoon. There'll be a few fun posts in the next week, as I'll have the time to really get stuff together. For now, here's a teaser of my intaglio final:

a WTF? moment

Yesterday morning, I came downstairs to find my roomate on the couch watching Spongebob after pulling an all-nighter. Since I had time to eat breakfast, I sat down with her. Spongebob was fairly entertaining, but I think the infomercial I saw was moreso:



I laughed quite hard. Basically, the Snuggie is a backwards robe. The commercial is badly made and the concept is a bit inane. I figured I'd post it here as a laugh. Well, in searching for the product, I found a lot of posts of people actually praising the product. WHAT? Not only that, but apparently it's on backorder at the moment!

I am flabbergasted that a blanket with sleeves is actually intriguing enough to people that they would buy it. I mean, put on a sweater if your arms are cold! Yes, it is probably comfortable, but it looks ridiculous and is a "solution" to a problem that never really existed or already had solutions to go with it.

I think the biggest problem I have with the Snuggie is that it is another wasteful product put on the market that no one really needs. There are bathrobes and sweaters. Also, your hands are still going to get cold. Sometimes it's disgusting how consumerism runs rampant in this country.

In conclusion: I can't beleive that something so ridiculous has got me thinking quite so seriously. I just wanted a good laugh!

First This Season

We're drinking cider and watching this lovely view outside:



I left the flash on by accident for this one, but accidents sometimes turn out okay:
First snow is always the best. Ask me how much I love this weather in March and I might change my tune.

New York City

Happened to be in the city this weekend for a little. I've never been in the village before, so I spent most of my time wandering the random streets in search of nothing in particular. Some images:

Getting ready for the Holidays.

This was one of the first stores I saw, then I realized what it was for. Fun logo, though.

We roasted our own coffee last weekend. This store looks like the perfect place to hone the craft. It smelled lovely, even outside.

I was meeting a friend or I would've eaten here right away. Fluffernutters for life.

There were two chess shops near each other. I'm a horrible player, but I love the different boards.

Unfortunately, I was too sleep deprived to fully appreciate The Strand in all it's glory.

I just want to know how hard it was to drag the piano into the subway.

I wish I had got the shot of the priest in full robes walking out of Barnes and Noble. It was such a great moment. Also, saw a bald eagle carrying it's prey on the trainride down the Hudson. Wandering any city is always my favorite part, moreso than shopping or museums or clubs.

Intaglio Number Two

My first time mixing color to get a sort of sepia-gray (I used renaissance black, which has a lot of brown in it). I didn't realize how hard it would be. There should be a chemistry class dedicated to mixing inks.

Field trip to Ansun Graphics tomorrow. I'm really excited to see a real printing press after hanging out in the print studio all semester. Hopefully it'll smell like the print place where my mom got her business cards made back in the day.

Type Poster

From the TS Eliot poem "The Hollow Men." Larger version here.

Poem lines:
"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a wimper."

The finished typeface:


Sorry it's so small, but it took ages to even get blogger to post this. Apparently it doesn't like JPEGS saved from Adobe. Larger version here.

Intaglio First Assignment

I seem to always switch between entirely loving or entirely hating my projects. This was my first time doing any kind of etching, and I completely flubbed the aquatint (all the lovely background noise). At first, I hated how dark it ended up being. Once I got printing, though, I found that I liked the style more and more, much as it was not what I had envisioned. This happens a lot for me: what comes out is not always what the initial plan was, but seems to be a pretty good solution.

Also, a big thanks to my roomie Jess for helping out on the layout. She might do some more, but at least now there are some nice colors (Amelie palette via colour lovers).

Lastly, I really want this library and to go to the Netherlands and witness this.

What Happens When I Forget an Eraser and Am Too Lazy To Find One...

Just sketching out my idea for Intaglio, sans eraser, which is a must in my world. I ended up tracing the good parts on the light table. I really like her legs. Will scan the finished product next week, and hopefully my other two, once my prof returns them.


Doodling during class tonight. I'm really liking the two-tone mix. I'll need to buy some more staedtler triplus markers soon.
Type is coming along slowly. I'm really digging these three letters, but the rest need a lot of work. We're making posters from them, printed off the department's new plotter. Of course, hanging in the print studio has made me think in printing press terms, which might not turn out as well via a plotter.

Possibly My Next Project

http://www.tea-off.com/

"Tea Off! Tea Kettle Design Competition"

This would be for my metal processes class. I have to say, I am extremely excited, as I drink tea on average two-three times a day. I am currently using an electric kettle, but I always love to hear the whistling of a stovetop. It should be interesting to see what my class can come up with.

On My Mind

Probably my most prized possession, darling Harold the Ross Europa 2 I bought last summer. Poor Harold has been out in the rain twice this week and his chain has been protesting far too much. Hopefully, the bike lube Travis left is still around. Harold also needs some air in his tires. I am a horrible biker. I wish there were classes about how to take care of your bike.


My house has lots of spiders (there was a Daddy Long-Legs skeleton behind my nightstand), but none like this:

(sculpture by Louis Bourgeois)

I just found out that a band I very much enjoy has broken up. Sparrows Swarm and Sing is one of those bands that I saw once, really loved, and then stumbled across the music again two years later "Across Canyons/Canons" is 25 minutes of musical heaven that I find myself going back to every few weeks. I just love the movement in it, and that I always forget what will come next.

I saw Sparrows Swarm and Sing in high school, on a rainy night in a youth center. I was there to see another band, and my friends had left to go get food. Wanting to actually get my moneys worth, I stuck around to watch the opener, who seemed to have every instrument imaginable in front of them. This was before I discovered Explosions in the Sky and all those other instrumental bands, so I was completely blown away. I'm sorry it was an experience I'll only have one. Here's their myspace. For some reason, the tracks are separated, but I have "Across Canyons/Canons" mixed with "Father Death Mother Nature."

Listen, enjoy, have a good weekend.

Type is life

Current project for my typography class: make a minimally legible, undecorative (ie-"cutesy") typeface. I always feel the need to make everything three-dimensional first. My best letters so far:



I didn't realize it until later, but the A kind of looks like the Adobe reader logo:

Ah well, paying subconscious homage to the company that designers owe so much to (though, apparently CS4 doesn't have a release date? and some of their commands are counter-intuitive.)

More when the font is completely digital and tweaked to (near) perfection. Very excited about this project, as we get to make a 30'x40' foot poster on the school's new plotter.

Opening Mix

I was going to make a lovely playlist for my first post on this wonderful, rambling blog. Unfortunately, I just realized Muxtape was recently shut down by the RIAA, so that idea failed. Instead, I will list the songs and you can go on a sort of scavenger hunt to find them.

Beginning of Fall playlist:

"Five Years Time" Noah and the Whale
"Gobbledigook" Sigur Ros
"Belleville Rendez-vous" Ben Charest
"Let's Dance" M. Ward
"The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" Magnetic Fields
"Flume" Bon Iver

This will hopefully soon become a mishmash of stuff I find interesting, design obsessions, and whatever pieces I happen to be working on at the given moment. Maybe after a while, oh reader, you will understand the strange workings of my brain, or maybe you will just be really confused.

Have a lovely evening. Being in the visual arts, I have to include a photo to liven up this typeface. I leave you with Fall '06: