On Wednesday Nina and I helped hang the upcoming TDC56 exhibition, showcasing the winners of this year’s Type Directors Club competition. There were amazing pieces from all around the world, and many of the winners will be present at tomorrow’s opening reception.

Plus, the show poster, designed by Paul Sahre, is hilarious, so come see that as well.

The exhibition will be up until August 19, so if you’re not a TDC member, you can see it for free then. But who can resist brushing shoulders with the winners?

But on the bright side, I saw fireworks from the sky as the flight was descending into SJC! That was really cool. I didn’t realize how low the fireworks go. I think I saw at least twelve different locations setting them off. What a way to spend the holiday.

Okay, see you in a week! Be good.

Print & Pattern
by Bowie Style
published by Laurence King Publishers

Saw this book at the Strand, and am in love! It’s going on The List of Things to Buy When I’m Rich. Or at least moderately well off.

If my mind were a wall, this is what it would look like at the moment.

Inspired by:

Also influenced by listening to the Across the Universe soundtrack while drawing.

Oh, to have a safe home for my drawings and large-ish prints! And a room that can fit that home.

Nina noticed this hilariously simple yet direct sign on a little fence leading to the front door of an apartment building in the East Village today.

It’s quite basic, but that is one infographic that gets the point across.

Based on Gone with the Wind. Of epic proportions. Click to enlarge.

I’ve just spent a solid 13 hours on today’s Make Something. But this one’s a lot more exciting than my drawing from yesterday.

A little over a year ago, my Pratt friends and I were frustrated with the typographic education we were getting. So we decided, in a very Dumbledore’s Army-esque manner, to take matters into our own hands, and try to teach ourselves as much as we could. We had a few events here and there, until this past school year hit us hard with work. So this is the revival of Type Club, in internet form.

Since some of us aren’t in the city anymore, and many of us are just too busy trying to figure this employment thing out, I thought it would be great to have an online resource where we can share information and fun tidbits with each other.

It’s not the most exciting piece of web design/Tumblr customization, but I’m quite proud of the results, having never customized on Tumblr before. Modifications were made to the Silo theme. There are still some things I’m trying to figure out, but it’s in fair working order. Some of the club members have already joined up.

Feel free to sign up for our RSS feed, or if you’re quite eager to make some typographically engaging friends online, send us an email!

Oh yes, there’s also a Twitter feed, but I’m not really sure where that’s going yet. It seemed the techie thing to do.

Kittisak Chontong
Untitled
Acrylic on canvas
0.70 x 1.20 m
2010

Saw these paintings at the Thai Artists Alliance‘s Siamese Connection show, which happened at the Dumbo Arts Center back in May. Here’s the description that accompanied the piece:

This work was inspired by Chris Gall’s artwork in the MRT subway trains that depict the different types of people within New York. At the time, I had just arrived in New York and had been here for just one week. I knew very little about what I saw and experienced here. This piece depicts a visual account of my very first experiences as an overwhelmed foreigner in a foreign land.

I love how whimsical the figures are, even as they experience the chaos of the city for the first time. The color palette makes me think that it’s a reflection on past events, with a sepia tone. What strikes me most, though, is how much stark negative space there is in paintings showing one of the most overcrowded and overloaded cities in the world. It makes me kind of nervous, like that part of memory was just wiped out, due to the sensory overload.

The show was pretty amazing, even as I think back on it a month later. I shall return with some more photos I took, but meanwhile enjoy Kittisak’s wonderful work.

Making something everyday, I am aware, is far from a groundbreaking concept. From Obsessive Consumption to Daily Drop Cap, creative minds are obviously in need of constant stimulation for a plethora of reasons.

Mine? Being fresh out of school and needing to, as James Victore would say, ‘stay hard,’ as I try to find work. And making something, after all, is why I chose this business.

So commences Project Make Something, with my first sad little drawing done on the wrong kind of paper with the wrong kind of ink, but I said I’d make something, not a Renaissance masterpiece. This little scratchy drawing has a story behind it. Remember Phileas Fogg? Well, I felt it was time I really got to know the character by reading the actual book, and where I left off, Phileas Fogg was traveling via elephant with his faithful servant Passepartout, from Kholby to Allahabad in India. Apparently the railway was not yet completed at that time between the two locations, so Mr. Fogg had to improvise. Cheers!

P.S. I get nice sunlight in my room between 10 a.m. and noon, as shown in the photo. Exact hours vary between seasons. I wish it would stay sunny all day!