furoshiki

i have to admit. i have a problem. when it comes to bags, i have too many. i buy them for the sake of having another oh-but-it-will-be-perfect-with-my-outfit. which is a major problem.

enter the maker faire. i went on saturday. fun. one of the first things I saw was a furoshiki. the perfect thing about this is that I have tons of fabric lying around waiting to turn into one! and now they can be tied in many ways...

furoshiki


sweet. now i can silkscreen onto fabric and make these..

mary

Fashion (+) Design

I have to admit, I love fashion. It's fun and beautiful. A well tailored outfit can change everything. So is it important to Graphic Designers?

Look at Angie Wang, designer, typographer. Clothes? Definitely has a sense of style, color coordination. Dexsy was showing me an outfit. ahh very nice. I am in love with a pair of shoes (for the shape and color..).

Today I got a nice jcrew coat, white, wool and cashmere. Only 19 dollars (sale at Jeremy's) and I know I got it for the cut and color. In many ways, that's how I buy a book too. Visual sensibility. And that is how I should design a book.

In a world that is based alot of speech, ideas, and appearance, fashion does play a key role. Though I would love to say that I do not judge you by the shirt you are wearing, I sure will notice if it's a nice dress shirt with a pattern that pops. And though I'd hate to admit it as well, I appreciate that people care about their clothes.

Of course, I dress in an awful rush for school. 8 am. I'm not put together at all (mind and everything too.) But it's Friday night and I'm going out with my boy, so l'm going to go stand in front of the mirror.

Mary

field trip!

i went on two field trips this week. one to dwell magazine (inspiring to say the least) and one to point reyes (inspiring in nature). it's always an intense week. it was great today to talk to some some about overtones in music. it's been a long time since i've picked up that flute. i love this literature in the environment class that dexsy and i are taking in class today. hopefully her and i can design a book of pictures for ever-so-awesome professors. I need to start making the posters for this final and also i'm going to write the paper tomorrow.

should i go to napa? it's hard to say.. i say let's stay and work on the cheese and flash website.

ahhhh!

this week was hectic. emotionally difficult. and in need of air.
but i got what i need to do done. and this weekend is going to be living the life of graphic design.
immerse.
float bak up on monday.
i swear i got it.

ice cream. apple juice. pure survival.

poster from this week that i made for student affairs.
mary

i dropped a class!

Amazing. I've been taking a class that I don't need. Not that I mind really. I love the class. Classical Art History. The ceramics are stunning, and the vase painting? Wow. The idea of craft is really there, the idea of time being spent. Sometimes we move too fast or want things too fast. Slow it, slow it.

Speaking of crazy fast.....



04.01.08
2 x 3 feet
b+w plotter.
Quadraat and Edwardian

I made this poster in one day for Student Affairs. I don't like the cursive writing.. quite hard to read. Though it does evoke a nice feeling. I did show the guy a variation with the names in italic... I don't think he liked it too much. I should've fought more.








Also I didn't like that the names were not alphabetical... how confusing! But time was short and 4 had to be printed before my 4 hour shift and I couldn't play editor too long. I love the florals though.


This week has been a bit tough. It's my first week working both jobs and going to all my classes on time, so it was a bit crazy. OH and I'm sleeping before 12 now as a pledge to balance my body. And I'm biking more. Of course I take my breaks. Now with this class drop I'll have more time to dream, think, and think more. I can't wait to jump into the magazine face first no helmet and maybe a parachute.

al.rite. let's get this weekend all great and beautiful and cook some pasta tonight.

mare ware

cleaning it up

So my room has been a mess for the past two weeks. The boyfriend forgives. I list my reasons over and over again. He sighs. I look at the room. It kinda reflects how I feel in my head. Its been a jumble recently. And sleep has been something of an accidental event.

Yesterday I went hiking with my Literature in the Environment class, field trip. It was sweeeet to say the very least. Somehow I know I've been losing ground. What's most important? It put me back to where I act like a child, running on the path and talking to plants. I had a chat with the little boy, son of a student in the class, and I forgot how smart and mature they can be... I almost felt that kid knew more than me about things, but he hardly said anything.

Maybe because in his eyes you can see that he's living with the right now, he's got it down. He's rubbing two rocks together to see which one is more strong. Yet he didn't have to explain to me, I could just assume.

Sometimes the simplest ways to learn are right in front of us, why don't we pick it up and test the rocks? Growing older I find myself losing the kind of curiosity that cannot be explained. Why didn't I care about two different rocks like he did?

And you're wondering how this goes into design. I think that design somehow starts at the core. If I hit the right string inside, it'll resonate. I know my work isn't the most exciting yet and in type class I'm trying to keep it as classic, but I think it's nice to learn how to iterate the classic before I go out. At the same time, do I have a fear of rubbing two rocks together? I don't think so. I've kinda always plan things outs, whether I would like it or not.

Somehow, I know that if I had gone to art school right away and graduated this semester like all my peers (facebook says... oh last semester!! etc etc) I would not be where I am right now as a person. I had a lot of things messed up as I grew up and I hid a lot of things. So going to Cal kind of really hit me down as far as I can go... and now it's going to have to be uphill.

The rain's cleared up. I'm going to clean up the rest of this room and go for a walk.

mare

ps. if you haven't tried American Analog Set i would give it a try. esp born on the cusp.

pss. amazing how work just starts coming to me... friends want me to make a logo for their jewelry shop...boyfriend wants me to make one for the ethics commission and something else for his brother... holllyyy

Beans beans and more beans!

This is a poster I did today for Student Affairs. Starting today I am an employee. My job consists making posters and answering the phone ever once and a while. I work two jobs now... I thought that this would be a good balance from the work I do for school which at times can seem to drag too long and become overly analyzed. By making posters every week or so it will make me produce faster and make decisions for myself and see how that plays our visually. I learn to recognize mistakes as I am making and am more conscious of how things are coming together. Of course I allow somethings to flow and to not over think too much. After all, in the end, the last question is... does it look natural and therefore perfect for the idea being conveyed?

Anywho. Spring break has been good. Some friends are starting a business and I've been taking a look at the business card (which is a total wreck). It was nice to laugh about their logo with my other graphic design friend (graduated from sj state). He came over during the break and we chatted about typography and beautiful things we have seen. He saw my guinea pig for the first time (such a cutie isn't he?) and my portfolio. While describing my work I realized that I work better if my hands can take alot of control verses the computer's work. He very much liked my fat cat logos and the cd packaging I did for last semester.



Also along the lines of graphic design and package design, sometimes things just go unnoticed. I make earrings, the pretty sparkly kind and over winter break I worked on the packaging design for it. I drew vector designs and made many mock ups with type until I found it to be self-sustainable. It came out pretty nice, but alas my boyfriend has three posh(ish) girl friends who love jewelry and they were for them. They just received them over the weekend (it was supposed to be for Christmas) and they loved the packaging according to my boyfriend. But that was it. I guess sometimes after all that time and effort is spent, one just has to hope it made that person feel ever more close to an emotion.


So yah, beans are great for type. Under appreciated beans (who says... hey let's go out and eat beans!!!! or honey go pick up the beans!!!). Though if we have a burrito without the bean it's like whoa this is weird! They're actually really pretty and while making the poster (2 day long poster mind you and some of the type can be more graceful) I tried to let them turn as may but in a nice order. The guy at vogue copy did give me some advice though. He says that right now I'll try to design things gracefully especially in typography, but when it comes to real world and what the clients want it's going to be the problem of trying to get a reaction or attention immediately. I don't think that the type has to necessarily suffer or anything, it just have to be innovative. But He does make a good point; sometimes I do tend to float toward the graceful and ideal than what is actually supposed to be conveyed and what is naturally important.

Bob said today that the form of something just has to make sense. Like if you had alot of Greek amphoras lined up but it doesn't have a structure that relates to the other part of the book; everything might be lost. You need to guide the reader, give them a natural resting spot, small road signs if you will. Not even with words, just big green arrows saying "don't read me, I already make sense without it."

It's easy, though, to get caught up on words, so I try to float somewhere between thought in images, thought in feeling, and thought in words.

Also, that garlic looks like whipped creme.... mmmmm hot chocolate.

---

mary

hellooo

this blog is about my adventure through cca. let me give you some background. I transferred from uc berkeley back in 2006 after 3 semesters there. i was a painting and drawing major for another year after that. a close friend, after seeing my work, suggested that i do graphic design. i was very interested in her type work and portfolio.

time passes. zoom in on spring 2008. second semester in graphic design. i'm still growing steadily and deciding about things in my life.

i hope for sunshine.

sunshine happy granola