The Story of my Monkey

3/08/10  -  0 Comments

This is a simple and awesome story of the time that I owned a monkey.

For two summers a friend and I lived in Huancapi, Peru. It's a little village in the region of Ayacucho, about 14 hours south of Lima. We had to go to Ayacucho City (about 5 hours down unpaved mountain roads in a van full with about 15-20 people [not kidding] from Huancapi) to catch a bus to Ica, then to Nasca to meet up with some other people. We found someone selling baby parrots in the streets in Ayacucho and bought a couple. 

How I Relax as a Designer

2/09/10  -  0 Comments

The Problem
It's hard to relax when you're in this line of work and I notice it all the time. When watching TV, I think critically about the commercials I see, think about what they used to create it, notice typography, etc. Even when I'm out I look at restaurant menus and sometimes think, "That font? This place is suspect." Maybe it's noticing signage around town, lines in a car, the new buildings going up, or just noticing someones clothes, I seem to be thinking critically all the time. 

So, knowing that my mind is racing more often than not, what's there to do? Every day we think about the qualities of design; repetition, hierarchy, symmetry, rhythm, harmony, and overall, the user experience. But the time comes where I start to expect a good experience, since I know people are working on just this problem all over place. I've had a harder time finding things to quiet my critiquing mind, but the things I have found are music, art and sports. I'll talk about the first two.

Paul Rand, Ordination, Helvetica and Punk’n Beer

2/02/10  -  0 Comments

It’s always interesting who you run into in the most random circumstances. Just last night a friend and I drove to Charlotte to celebrate the ordination of one of her old friends. After about five smoke breaks and a lot of sitting and standing the service was finally over and we headed to the family’s house to talk in a less formal environment. Mind you, I don’t know any of these people, I was more or less there for the ride.