SlyBrand

From the car ride this morning, listening to NPR Morning Edition’s story on Diana Krall:

She demonstrated her version of the song at the grand piano in the suite. Afterward, in spite of her exhaustion, Krall had more to share.

“I’m on the road with 2-and-a-half-year-old boys who, before I came here, they wanted to go outside and play outside,” she says. “They wanted to go down the slide. And I’m like, ‘Where can I find a slide?’ “

But for Krall, that gives her a renewed sense of purpose.

“We’re moving house every day, and like I said, I’m probably as fatigued as I’ve ever been. But in some ways, it’s that fatigue that gives you a strong sense of self — what you want to do [makes you] more relaxed, focused,” she says.

Here’s a follow-up to my earlier post about the Memphis Ultimate Disc Association Summer League jerseys.

Ahh, the age-old battle… giant squid vs. frisbee.

“…and let’s face it, I’m just a graphic designer, there is no great thing here…”
–Paula Scher, getting deep.

It’s that time of year again. Memphis Ultimate Summer League kicks off at Overton Park the first week of June… no matter how soft I’m feeling.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I’m working out for the jersey design.

Here are a few highlights from a story about Bethesda, Maryland artist Jean Shin I heard on NPR this morning.

“In Jean’s hands, the process of making these objects new again, of giving them life [and] restored purpose, and making us look at them — or asking us to look at them — in a completely new way is very artful,” says Joanna Marsh

Used lottery tickets form the basis of another piece, Chance City, where the losing tickets become colorful houses of cards — an imaginary city full of chance and, Shin says, optimism.

“Picking up your life and moving to the city and giving it all you can, your dreams may change — transform,” Shin says. “But somehow, I think all of us retain that memory of something that they really wanted to do, and against all odds, are able to succeed.”

Wow. The latest edition of Wired features a masthead and cover image designed by my type heroes, House Industries. The only problem is I generally don’t read Wired or give a rip about its content. But alas, they went out and got J.J. Abrams to guest-edit the “Mystery Issue.” The creator of Felicity, oh yeah, and Lost, is the source of alot of my creative inspiration these days. Did I mention he created (and masterfully wrote several episodes of) Felicity?

If you feel overwhelmed by the “Age of Immediacy” and technology, GO OUT AND GET THIS ISSUE. It’s a keeper. And it won’t allow you to read it quickly. It would make a phenomenal pool-side read for this vacation season.

This magazine, and especially the article written by J.J. himself, pretty much explains the concept I wrote about in this post I made in February of ‘07.

Here’s the program design for the Second Presbyterian Music Department’s production of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” I dusted off the sable brush and ink made my best attempt at hand-lettering the wordmark. & I’m pretty happy with the primitive, Hebraic feel of it. More…

If you’ve visited my LinkedIn profile lately, you know that I’ve been working at Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis, since November of last year. I’ve been there for rouughly 5 months now, and it’s been a great experience. One of the things that I’ve enjoyed is designing bulletins for our many different services. Here are a few.

We printed the Advent bulletin on a silk matte stock using a unique PMS black and metallic gold ink. More…

Just finished up the “Get Green” identity. It’s been output to a magnet and slapped on the side of a car. That means it’s official. Good luck Madeleine!

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I told a friend of mine that I’d help him come up with a name for his really nice trailer-mounted port-o-potty. He wants to target (no pun intended) outdoor weddings, upscale receptions and other such parties. In keeping with my tradition of airing out (no pun intended) the bad ideas so the good ones can flow (pun intended), I thought I’d post my first ideas here. Please add yours in the comments. More…