DELAYED POST

Since July—a lot has happened. I decided to take a bite of the Big Apple to get a quick and bitter taste of the real (design) world. Things are VERY fast paced. It was all a last minute decision to jump start my long waited job hunt. I wanted to see if the advantages that were presented could potentially grow into something worthy. Kansas will always be a potential option, but it seemed NY was an ephemeral opportunity. Signs began to fall into place that forced my instincts to go with the flow and follow the path. 

My first month was slow in terms of the  job hunt, but flew by as everyday searching 9-9pm grew old and depressing. Everyday consisted of waking up early motivated, researching companies, writing multiple coverletters and waiting for ANY response. Knowing that as everyday passed, part of my savings and inspiration began to dilapidate. As September rolled around I moved into the city away from Astoria in Queens, the quiet quaint more residential suburban burrow. It took at least 6 hrs to haul 4 luggages across manhattan by myself. I pulled 50 painful LBs of belongings up 4 flights of rusted stairs, and slowly dragged them 12 blocks through congested city traffic and herds of frozen tourists 3 times.

It seems my old apt. called me back to find work. My first week back into the city, I had been gainfully bombarded by emails, phone calls and interviews. They were for smaller/part-time/internship positions RELATING to design, but the fact that the opportunities came through, it was a phenomenal sign. I started an internship for an artist agency, a part-time graphic designer for an international oriental rug company, while interviewing with four other companies (all with in 10 blocks of walking distance!).  It was like it was all meant to be? All interviews had gone very smoothly--and each opportunity was a learning experience. My confidence finally started to pick up, and perspectives began to change. It's hard to decide which offer you are wanting to receive when all the people/environments are all inspiring, fun and rewarding. Fortunately I've landed a very sweet position where everyday is filled with excitement and learning experiences working with MANY diverse/amazing/intelligent/talented people. Working here is FUN even when thy are 14 hr days...

Graphic Tee Update

I was recently informed that a couple pieces that I had the opportunity and pleasure to help design was in a fashion show in italy, or on the elite fashion&trends WGSN website. The Worth Global Style Network is a sophisticated site of indepth research/reports of world trends. It predicts future fashion style/trends, not limited to only clothing but also automotive, like Mercedes. But before one may consider accuiring such "creative intelligence", being a member requires a high membership fee of thousands of dollars! Many business that are fortunate to have obtained such high financial expenses on research can accurately design towards more successful popular pieces. (photos in link below)

For our senior show in May, I had to quickly photograph some of the sample tees that unfortunately didn't make the cut for reproduction (for my portfolio). I ventured into this quaint book store in Lawrence, KS--named VAGABOND BOOKMAN. It had a cluttered yet impressive collection of antique objects, bikes, and OLD books. They specialize in Harold Bell Wright/Gene Stratton Portor as well as Nancy Drew, African-American History, The Kentucky Derby and more! I just loved the characteristics that permeates the atmosphere. I found a neat pamphlet from The Jacques LIPCHITZ exhibtion in New York from 1951. It was priced for $4, but he discounted it to only $2! It was like taking home a piece of Art History from the Cubist period.

You can see more photos from the shoot for my personal Penguin album: PENGUIN
Order shirts here: An Original Penguin

First Fridays @ Cross Roads

Time to get inspired with art, culture, music, shopping, food and drinks down in the crossroads art district. It is known to be one (of the 5) biggest art districts in the NATION!?

Kelley Walker Chance, an amazing photographer here in Kansas City, is having a photo exhibit at IMAGO GALLERY. She is displaying her photos from her Cape Town Collection. Check out her creative talent at KELLEY PHOTO + DESIGN. She's got a great eye for composition, and creative skills with light and color.




There are over 100 different studios and 400 artists. Many big name artists and locals display their work to a crowd of 12,000 people! it seems since i first experienced first fridays for an art history class about 6 years ago that the studios have become more prevalent, and popular each month!! As I had interned at architecture 360, in the crossroads district, I found that there are many design firms within BLOCKS of each other, like the brilliant studios of Barkley (advertising), mk12 (motion graphics), and rushwade2(photography). Its become a habitual event to introduce to new friends to hit up the galleries, experience the diverse environments, and then devour a delicious greasy burger in the tiny old 1935 burger joint of TOWN TOPIC!!

STRANGER DANGER ART/MUSIC EXHIBIT

Thank you to all who made "STRANGER DANGER" possible, it was a blast!! espeically Shawn Remfry (BLOG) of FOURTH FRONT for helping out tremendously! He painted the beautiful wooden/gold patterns on our frame base. there was great art and great music to drink to all night (BYOB is fantastic!) ! It was held at the foundation , which is a unique place to hold events. Located n the historic WEST BOTTOMS, the old tattered wooden floors and exposed brick wall adds its own edgy/historical character to it's name. i'd say a whoppin' 300 people showed up! I was very surprised and happy to hear people were interested in buying some pieces, however they were not for sale at the this time.

The theme of my photo illustration was developed under the idea of using the 3 wise monkeys as a vehicle for the premise of the storyboad of events. The title was "THREE NIGHTS OF KOSHIN". those awkard instances of stranger danger consisting of uncomfortable eye contact, violent drunken politics, and awkward silences demonstrates the three wise monkey's (SEE:HEAR:SPEAK NO EVIL). As these events occurr the character is uncomfortable, distracted and alert to avoid dissapointing the Ten-Tei. After researching about the monkeys of the Japanese temple, i titled it accordingly. I used the monkey as a like a "good/bad conscience" figure, and used props to emphasize the three actions.

STRANGER DANGER

(Photos from our environmental expedition/experiments and sets)

Michael Adams, a friend from high school, has crated a great event, which consists of great local music/art talents this Saturday at THE FOUNDATION. He posts on facebook:

“Stranger Danger.”

What does it mean to you?

A dead body strewn on the side of the road? Michael Jackson’s latest nose-job? That kid that used to sit a little too close to you in 5th grade? Tits?

Saturday, June 27th presents a marvelous opportunity to not only find out how area artists interpret that question, but to also witness the blossoming relationship between the Kansas City/Lawrence arts and music scenes.

To this effect, we have painters, illustrators, designers , performance artists, musicians etc. ready to display their work
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It was a great opportunity to explore lighting and experiment different techniques of photography, showcase the photographs, incorporate some of the graphic tee designs I made while in NY for this summer (www.originalpenguin.com) , and keep fueling the creative juices while out of school. Shawn and I kind of created a collaborative concept for the small photo series. With his help of direction, we were able to work with real strangers who had passed by. Originaly I thought I wanted to use animal masks and do a play of DARE--but that was too obvious. so--We had the idea of creating a story about a person who encounters different situations of strangers who either subtly or obliviously and obstrusively invades our personal "bubble" by the touch of their hand, the glare of a stare, or the seat too close. --But as we explored we diverted from the idea abit. (i didn't want to associate the character wearing the tees in a negative way--so we made him the victim of stranger dangers) There would be no obvious storyboard of events from different scenes, but more of telling a story and keeping it different with the characters/events, but yet cohesive with it's environments. The subtle props and body language say a lot...
That's all for now...

1,500 mile Adventure = Inspiration Vacation

FACEBOOK ALBUM 1
FACEBOOK ALBUM 2

FLICKr ADVENTURE
Your probably wondering why I've 3 links. The first two seperates our trip consecutively, and the Flickr is slowly being updated so I can view in a slideshow preview.

After a crazy and stressful month durring graduation, I planned a trip to go to California and do lots of road trippin' through the west coast. We started in San Diego, up to Hollywood, down to Orange, Newport beach, Venice, Santa Monica, Pacific Beach, Hunntington Beach, and Ocean Beach--THEN to phoenix, Grandcanyon, Las Vegas, back to San Diego, and LA. It's pretty crazy how the different social status and cultures of people change in a matter of street intersections. The weather was quite chilly for "sunny california" It was about mid-60's--but the lack of humidity was Amazing! I guess that's why they call it "gloom june"? I wanted to play with lighting and exposure, but when you are traveling, it's difficult to not look so "touristy". I'd like to go back to those places and set up shop. They've very fun and interesting environments.

iNSPIRED2

Last week KU prototype set up an awesome lineup of studio tours. My favorite was when lyndon took us on an exciting tour through their photography studio. It was such a sweet opportunity to see his ideas spark as a mental image and then CREATING an elaborate production into the final phenomenal piece. We also visited an architecture firm where another KU grad has been working. Later that evening Jen and I went to attend a friend's opening for her studio. Their work has given us lots of motivation and inspiration! So after the katy perry concert I ventured in the rain and shot the shiny scenes of fallen precipitation...