Big Sweater Graphic Design

Long time a-comin’

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 9:54 pm.

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Since my site launched in mid-2007, I have used it as an occasional platform to respond to questions received from friends and curious Internet people. It’s supposed to be a showcase of my work, but the portfolio section hasn’t been updated since sometime last year, even though I’ve been working.

Being as this is a WordPress-powered website, I’m seriously underutilizing the software it’s built on.

And besides that, I’ve gotten a little bit flabby around my graphic design waistline,: the majority of my client work, while enjoyable, doesn’t come close to pushing the boundaries of what good design can be, and what it can do. Of what I can do, really.

So, it’s time to take the reins.

Laying it Down

I posted earlier about realigning myself professionally–about becoming something greater than what I am, in a design sense. But if nobody can see what I’m capable of doing via my online portfolio, that’s impossible. So it’s time to start doing. Outside of client work, my design practice is limited to my sketchbooks, where I frequently draw type and ornaments; my real work is nearing stagnation, and I’m going to use this site to keep me doing the sort of work I love–the sort of work I enjoy doing–while working on my client projects.

To that end, I’ll be posting at least once per week. Every Friday, I will have posted something to my blog that I have either produced, or that I’ve found inspiring. The goal is to produce something new once a week–not necessarily ground-breaking or mind-shattering; just something new, out of my head–and in the process hopefully motivate others who do what I do. (And ultimately, yes, I’d like this to move me closer to where I want to be as a designer.) This will continue for as long as I can keep it up.

The other thing is, I’ve been murmuring about a redesign of this site for a year now. I was unhappy with it two weeks after it launched, and have simply avoided re-working it. Now the design is outdated and less functional than it could be, so I’m starting from scratch: I’m producing new content. Perhaps what I post here will make it into, or at least inspire, the redesign in the coming months.

Anyway. This is an early post–but Friday I’ll be posting another project I’m working on, as well as updating my portfolio to include my recent work, and exclude everything else.

Sketches Instead

Since I haven’t prepared anything special for today, I’ll just include some sketches. I recently purchased a few three-packs of the paperback Moleskine unruled 4″ x 6″sketchbooks and I love them. They’ve been great–they’re portable, being relatively thin and flexible; they have that awesome pocket in the back; and they scream to be used.

The one I’ve been using has been a glorified to-do list. I try to treat my to-do lists with different graphic elements when I keep them updated (which I’ve been horrid about until recently). They’re not exactly layouts, but I often try to stick to some sort of cohesive graphical theme.

So far, with this book, it’s been mostly about 19th-century serifs.

I drew this on the way to New York in September. Page 1.

Six pages later, I’d scribbled out a really ugly to-do list and decided to spruce it up with a motivational cartoon.

Despite the lack of checkmark, I did eventually get screwdrivers. I’m not sure why I switched to a western theme. I’m also not sure who Cowboy Moe is. But I like him.

And now we switch to a Mad Men sort of thing. I was actually imagining Don Draper while drawing the individual who consumes too much red meat above. I was also not paying any attention whatsoever to a meeting.

From the 50s to a mixture of late Victorian stuff and Modernism. I’ve actually become rather enamored with the idea of mixing ornate Victorian style with minimalistic Modern.

This page ended up being less of a layout and more of just a smattering of random tasks in somewhat random but related styles. Pulled out a royalty-free Victorian design motif book and started doodling from it while making my lists, and so far this is probably the best page of the book. (Although I hate when I get wrapped up enough in rendering type as cleanly as I can–that is to say, not cleanly at all–only to leave out a letter or otherwise misspell a word.)

So. There’s a bit of a something for this space. Friday I’ll be posting something I’ve been thinking of doing for awhile, but only recently had the motivation to.

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