Processes like these help me remember an expression an old instructor used to say, “Cream rises to the top, and poop always stinks.” That being said, there were many talented students to choose from (particularly, an abundance of great photography students), but unfortunately, funds can’t go to every single student. I was lucky enough to win a scholarship for my own thesis three years ago, so it was an honor to be on the judging side this time. 

Furthermore, I was very surprised to find that I was used as an example in a letter that went out to all alumni recently.

The New York Times
Art Director: Aviva Michaelov

I had the good fortune to meet and sit directly next to Massimo at the ADC Gala Awards back in November of 2008. I’ve always heard lots of things about this man, but I quickly learned that the way to Massimo’s heart was praise and admiration. He passed the love back to us, and shared lots of Massimo-isms during dinner that night. Among the many vivid things he declared (one of which, was to ALWAYS use Helvetica) one was particularly memorable. In his strong Italian accent, he said:

Account people are completely worthless. Don’t ever hire or use an account person. I’ve never had one in my firm and never will. If you can’t have direct communication with the client then you’ll never know exactly what they want. How can you be expected to deliver competent work if the designer can’t speak directly to the client! It’s like using an interpreter. How useless!

Our account person, of course, was sitting at the table and overheard all of this. We immediately let Massimo know who our account person was: the very beautiful and radiant woman gushing across the table at him. He looked at her, in his smooth Italian manner, and said, “Well, if you were my account person, I’d hire three of you.”

Cheers, Massimo, for being you! One Club photos by Ric Kallaher.

I reread “The Shape of Content,” a book by the American artist, Ben Shahn, who was popular for his social-realist views and works during the 30s, 40s and 50s. The book is a series of his lectures that describe, with vast sincerity, the similarities of both life and art—and how art can be used as a tool for social change and self-awareness.

Lately, I’ve talked with friends and colleagues about the importance of finding one’s “story.” Your life, full of adversities and advantageous, told either well or poorly, is interesting, because it’s yours. It’s your job to find, shape, and tell it.

Below is an excerpt from the book that I found to be quite introspective:

The questions, “Is that enough? Is that all?” began to plague me. Or, “This may be art, but is it my own art?” And then I began to realize that however professional my work might appear, even however original it might be, it still did not contain the central person which, for good or ill, was myself. The whole stream of events and of thinking and changing thinking; the childhood influences that were still strong in me; the rigorous training as a lithographer with its emphasis upon craft; my several college years with the strong intention to become a biologist; the summers at Woods Hole, the probing of the wonders of marine forms; all my views and notions on life and politics, all this material and much more which must constitute the substance of whatever person I was, lay outside the scope of my own painting. Yes, it was art that I was producing, perfectly competent, but foreign to me, and the inner critic was rising up against it.

02. SVA Thesis Students

I was a guest critic this week for Paul Sahre and Lindsay Ballant’s senior thesis class at SVA. While I didn’t take Paul my senior year (I instead opted for that year’s Rookie of the Year, William Morrisey, and his own thesis class) I still believe that taking Paul’s class is the epitome of accomplishment and individuality at SVA.

Six indefatigable students presented their year-long thesis’ to me. It was great to be back in that cerebral atmosphere discussing opaque ideas; possibly the students’ last chance to design and author a project entirely for and by themselves. Also, something new this year: Paul and Lindsay have required that each student keep a blog of their process.

Make sure to check them out below!

Chris
Decision Laboratory

Rukiye
Face 2 Face

Sarah
Mom & Pop

Jarrod
The Universal Stratagem for the Simplification of the Visual Landscape

Joyce
Synergy

Grant
Common Courtesy

03. “What Would You Buy With $50?” Exhibition

A collection of drawings and photographs by children in Uganda. In December 2009, Jiashan Wu, New York based artist/designer, and Joyce Meng, founding CEO of Givology, traveled to Uganda to visit the Circle of Peace School. Over the course of three weeks, they asked over 100 kids the question: “What would you buy with $50?”

None of the children have ever owned or seen $50, so their imaginations are fertile and fascinating. They collected 165 drawings and portraits of children, which are now on sale at the exhibition for $50 a piece. Every $50 goes to The Circle of Peace School, which provides free tuition and board to children from the villages who have no other access to education.

The exhibition will only be on show until April 1st. If you have a second, try to get over to the Station Gallery at 73 Franklin Street, NYC (right by Canal and Broadway). I think you’ll be as moved as I was. Exhibition design by Joanne Chew, with help from some awesome Parsons alumni.

For more information about the campaign visit: www.50dollars.org

Here’s my new painting:

04. “It Might Get Loud” Documentary

The film explores the history of the electric guitar, and its uses in both rock ‘n’ roll and the blues, through the careers of Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White. Having been a huge fan of the styles and personal stories of both Jimmy Page and Jack White, I was that much more in awe by this film’s attention to the creative process. I can’t recommend this documentary enough to creative people.

Jack White talks extensively about the reduction process in music and art, and how hard it is to find the truth in its simplest form—something I’m always trying to work at. He discusses many of the ideas I share with colleagues at work, whereas poetry and the unexpectedness in your art is far more interesting than making sure things are “pretty.” He goes on to say, “Technology is a big destroyer of emotion and truth. Opportunity doesn’t do anything for creativity. Yeah it makes it easier, and you can get home sooner, but it doesn’t make you a more creative person. That’s the disease we have to fight in any creative field: ease of use.”

He also wrote one of my favorites, a 50-second song entitled “Little Room” that consists of nothing more than vocals and drums. For me, the lyrics tally up one of the critical difficulties in the creative process. They go as follows:

Well you’re in your little room
and you’re working on something good
but if it’s really good
you’re gonna need a bigger room
and when you’re in the bigger room
you might not know what to do
you might have to think of
how you got started sittin’ in your little room

Art Asia Pacific
Art Director: Joon Mo Kang

Personally, I was digging this sketch, but Joon thought it was a bit too subversive. I guess he wasn’t interested in having AAP’s offices bombed by radicals.

Additionally, this illustration ran in last month’s More magazine. The blurb is about a Swiss company that secures anything you want in a nuclear bombproof vault. I think this might be the smallest illustration someone can ever get hired for: 1.25” x 1.25”. Nonetheless, a challenge all in itself. Thanks to Claudia for this!

More magazine
Art Director: Claudia de Almeida

Thanks to Patricia Hwang and Maayan Pearl for this!

Opening in NYC last year, with locations in Seattle, Portland and Palm Springs, Ace is known for its hipster and motorcycle chic aesthetic. The lobby buzzes with lots of people, furniture, music, laptops and espressos. Their café, Stumptown, has gained lots of praise, along with their British gastropub, The Breslin, which is run by the owners of the Spotted Pig in the West Village. Oh, and Q-Tip spins every Friday night. Not bad, right?

While brainstorming in the weeks before, it was important to ask some larger questions before I started my sketch: What’s its relevancy? What’s its importance? Can it become engaging or participatory? Having an idea for a mural that’s both relative to the space it exists in and reflective of the culture around it is not an easy task to accomplish. However, I felt it was something I had to account for.

With those questions in mind, I hand drew 99 picture frames to create a dense wall of “discovery” about NYC that could be passed to the common tourist staying in the room. Each frame contains a different fact / love / tidbit / thing of interest / or shout-out to a place I dig in the city. At roughly 120 square feet, the art was drawn imprecisely to capture the spontaneity and grit of the city. I used paint markers and opaque black paint to help this technique excel. Consequently, it became a labor of love, an act of obsessiveness that was pleasantly grueling.

I send a huge thanks to the Senior Producer at Ace, Jou-Yie Chou, along with the awesome people at the Art Directors Club. Also a big thanks to Andreina Carrillo, who diligently assisted me in the beginning.

And finally, my sincere gratitude goes to the amazing Brian Rea, who graciously kicked my butt and prepped me to make sure this wasn’t a huge failure. The challenge of translating a paper sketch into a successful wall mural would have been impossible if it wasn’t for his invaluable advice. I am not worthy, Brian. Thank you.

Click photos to enlarge.

Photographs by Mark Dye.

The speaking bill said Brian Collins and John Fulbrook, but the audience got so much more! Back in early April, the COLLINS: team presented to the SVA MFA Design Criticism Department as part of their ongoing lecture series. Six of us presented a different project (and the story behind it) that we’ve created over the last two years. Learn about our process and the personal ambitions that keep us inspired.

Unfortunately, the quality of the video isn’t great, so it’s hard to see the work on screen. But if you can get through it, you’ll find that everyone was extremely insightful. (If not, make sure to fast-forward to 22:30 to hear me stutter about Metropolis magazine.)

Big thanks to Brian for the opportunity!

Click here to watch.

Props to my very talented writer friend, Liz McDaniel, for being a great hand model!

The New York Times
Art Director: Nicholas Blechman

Also, I have an illustration in this week’s BusinessWeek. The Government has a new health-care reform website. Wooooo. Thanks, Maayan!

BusinessWeek
Art Director: Maayan Pearl

Check out all four posters, and the other winners, at the Cooper Union Gallery, running from July 21 through August 19!

Westport Country Playhouse
Creative Director: Kevin Brainard
Art Director: Kevin Brainard and Darren Cox

Thanks, Rebecca Silver!

Click here to read.

I’m frequently asked this question by design students, and cut short by the paradox. Unless you can rock them like Kim Bost’s awesome participatory cards, Jessica Hische’s fancy cards, or Jennifer Daniel’s tasty cards, I’d be careful.

After years of passively thinking about ideas for business cards, I ditched it all to be irreverent, instead. My cards are nothing to brag about, but I think they’re a good example of an uncomplicated card that still embodies my spirit as a designer. Unless you’re a specialist or have an amazing idea like the aforementioned designers, focusing on making them cleverly simple is a challenge in and of itself. You can still create cards that feel like “you” without making them labored.

After all, check out Paul Rand’s cards.

Warm thanks to my friends at Hello!Lucky in SF for a fine letterpress!

Click here for information.

In branding, often a designer becomes the voice of the current client they’re working for—that goes for those who work in-house, or for those who work for a design shop where you maintain the integrity of the leader’s voice—that rarely a young designer can bring their personality, opinions, and character to a project. Consequently, it becomes more difficult for them to satisfy that craving of expression we all have as creative people.

Why does finding and exercising my voice in other mediums matter? It simply keeps me happy and inspired, professionally. By doing so, I feel encouraged to free myself from what I think something should be, which moves me into a space of unexpectedness. I also think this practice directly informs my agency work by making me a more expansive thinker and a quicker image maker. I’ve been very lucky to have great mentors who have supported and encouraged this development.

Below are some of the slides I used as bookmarks during my presentation. While some are meant to be humorous, they are all a reflection of the insights I’ve gained about myself, my work, and my ambitions in the industry.

SVA career in hindsight

Cleveland, Ohio

Thesis on the topic of Fatherlessness

Book covers, Chicken Licken, BWC identity

Metropolis magazine cover and event

Los Angeles magazine cover exploratory

New York Times illustrations

WCP poster exploratory, Matériel magazine, hand-done pieces (thanks, WM)

Ace Hotel mural

We chose three top place winners: (1) Design Army for the design of the DC ADClub’s ADDY Awards; (2) Motion Theory for their experiential Google Chrome video demo; (3) KNOCK, Inc. for their self-promotional identity design.

The issue is out, so pick one up! And make sure to read a great article by Peter Mendelsund and Peter Terzian, that features some quotes from my comrade, JF3.

Funny side note: I have the good fortune of working with many awesome British guys (I think I’m slowly developing an accent). The other day, one guy says to me, “Nice one, mate—I reckon you’re famous! I saw your mush in Print magazine this morning.” So I asked, “What the hell is a ‘mush,’ mate??” Apparently it means my face. Anyway, it made my day. Thanks, Jamie! See our mushes below.

Check out the winners here.

It’s an honor to have my work alongside a small group of incredible illustrators and designers that I admire. As always, a huge thanks to Nicholas Blechman!

Check out the party info, and all the winners here.

The God Gene
The New York Times
Art Director: Nicholas Blechman

We also did a fun animation for the illo that exists on Wired ‘s iPad app. Make sure to check that out, too.

Big thanks to Rina Kushnir and Wyatt Mitchell!

Wired magazine
Art Director: Rina Kushnir

Furthermore, I had an illustration in BusinessWeek last month. The article is about Wall Street mysteriously closing all their proprietary trading units in the wake of the financial reform bill, leaving many critics to believe they’re not telling the truth.

Thanks, Patricia!

BusinessWeek
Art Director: Patricia Hwang

What’s better than drinking wine with friends? Drinking wine and designing a wine bar with friends! Myself, along with John Fulbrook and Jason Heuer, created an identity for a wine bar in the Bowery section of the East Village. We’re honored to have it included in Print magazine’s 2010 Regional Design Annual.

Bowery Wine Company
Art Director: John Fulbrook III
Design: Jason Heuer, Timothy Goodman
Photographer: Mark Dye

02. The Microsoft Store

Also included in this year’s annual is the identity for Microsoft’s first ever retail store—a colossal project that was created between a small group of us at COLLINS: last year.

The Microsoft Store
Agency: The Martin Agency / COLLINS:
Creative Directors: Brian Collins, John Fulbrook III
Design Director: Kevin Brainard
Senior Art Director: Kyle McDonald
Senior Designer: Timothy Goodman
Director of Strategy: Leland Maschmeyer
Contributing Designers: Jennifer Daniel, Tom Vasquez
Director of Production: Jason Nuttal
Photographer: Christopher McLallen
Writer: Rexanna McCubbin

03. Imprint

The annual introduces Imprint, Print‘s new online community dedicated to the design discussion in all forms. It began this summer, and I’ve been a contributing writer since September. (Also, James Gaddy rocks!)

Click here to read my articles.

The New York Times
Art Director: Alexandra Zsigmond

Also, I’ll have an illustration in Bloomberg Markets magazine next month. It’s in response to an article about prenuptial agreements among wealthy couples, where in most cases one person has much more money to protect than the other. Many thanks, Evelyn!

Bloomberg Markets
Art Director: Evelyn Good

I was asked to contribute a cover using a similar approach to my Ace Hotel mural for their annual “Reasons to Love New York” issue. However, that cover rightfully lost out to John Gall’s gorgeous design. Everyone still loved my version, so I was rehired to retrofit the concept for their annual “Where to Eat” issue that lists the best food, restaurants, and chefs for the upcoming year. Unfortunately, a photo of a piece of steak was selected in a focus group.

Many thanks to the very kind Chris Dixon for such a fun opportunity!

New York Magazine
Creative Director: Chris Dixon

Final illustration

Killed cover

This year also marks the return of separate jury chairs for illustration and photography. The extended deadline is this Friday, January 28th, so hurry up!

Click here to enter.

Click here to read.

Thanks to my buddy, Matt Judge, they published an article I wrote (along with the supporting art I created) for Imprint, entitled “Chasing the New.” One small thing they forgot to get right, though: The title of the article! Not sure where “When to Leave the Logo Alone” came from?

No worries, IDPURE, you’re still cool. Thanks for having me.

On Wednesdays, the section focuses on food. This week’s topic is on the dreadfulness of restaurant websites (particularly good restaurants): bad food photography, irritating sound effects, outdated menus, useless information, etc. They gave me a ton of copy, and asked that I capture the busyness and over-complication of these websites.

Thanks to Greg Klee for a super smooth project!

The Boston Globe
Design Director: Greg Klee

Final Cover

Inside spot

Inside spot

Thanks to Nicholas! And check out a beautiful cover by my pal, Joon.

The New York Times
Art Director: Nicholas Blechman

My humble thanks goes to Kate Donnelly!

Click here to read.

Early bird deadline is April 9th. Regular deadline is May 16th.

Click here to enter.

And to my surprise, I found an awe-inspiring jacket design by Peter Mendelsund. I was so impressed with the review, and the cover, that I immediately bought the book.

A huge, massive, ginormous thanks to Nicholas!

The New York Times
Art Director: Nicholas Blechman

The New York Times
Co-design: Chris Wilson
Art Director: Alexandra Zsigmond

Also, I have an illustration in Wired magazine this month. It’s in response to a blurb about a newly discovered molecule that slows down the circadian rhythm in animals, stretching their days to 36 hours. Thanks, Rina!

Wired magazine
Art Director: Rina Kushnir

Also, anyone who’s attending the AIGA talk will get a half-off ticket to the ADC Young Guns event afterward. I hope to see you, NYC!

Tishman Auditorium
Thursday March 24th, 2011
6:30–8:30PM

In Greek legend and literature, Iphigenia is the daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. When her father attempts to sacrifice her, he is killed, in revenge, by her mother. Thanks, Jane!

The Boston Globe
Art Director: Jane Martin

Richard’s passion for design literally comes out of his pours (no really, his crits were so intense we’d all be sweating by the end!). He was one of my main influences early on, and everyone who took his classes felt nothing but inspiration. Thanks, Richard!

Click here to buy the book.

Killed cover for Los Angeles Magazine

Thanks to CA and all the judges!

Click here to view the gallery and the winners.

After some initial emails during the weeks before, we were, let’s say, ‘encouraged’ by the ADC to keep it clean. So we showered the walls with compliments and an array of ‘lady etiquette.’ After all, shouldn’t all respectable ladies know that a beautiful dress can be ruined by wearing lumpy, baggy underwear?

What became was a super fun day making a mess and drinking beer with some awesome guys. And a big thanks to our talented assistant, Leah Romero. Also, make sure to check out the amazing team of ladies who spent the day in the men’s room.

Thanks to Erin and the ADC crew!

Thanks to Kim Bost and Nicholas Blechman!
Thursday, May 12, 7–9PM
The New York Times, 7th Floor
620 Eighth Avenue

Needless to say, I jumped at the chance when they asked me to do a piece for the second issue. Parameters were loose: contributors get a full spread (22” x 14”) and the freedom to make anything they want.

Below is my contribution.

Matériel will be sold online at various web retailers. Check out all info, and download a PDF version to see all the wonderful work. Big thanks to Michael!

Visit the site here.

Where does optimism come from? How do we find the silver lining in dark clouds? Why are our brains hard-wired to think this way in spite of problems? These are some of the questions answered in a fascinating article called The Optimism Bias.

Time is the world’s largest weekly news magazine, with a circulation of 3.5 million a week. That bit of intimidating information, along with my track record of being a part of killed magazine covers (1 for 6 before this), left me with some suspicion. Perhaps I should have believed in the article more?

HUGE thanks to Andree Kahlmorgan and D.W. Pine for their awesomeness!

Time magazine
Art Director: Andree Kahlmorgan
Design Director: D.W. Pine

The Circle is a William Somerset Maugham play, set in the 1920s, about an upper-class woman who leaves her husband (and son) for her lover—only to find 30 years later, her soon-to-be daughter-in-law is facing the same choice. The play ran for most of last month. Thanks, Kevin!

Westport Country Playhouse
Creative Director: Kevin Brainard

To help bring my idea to life, I contacted Luke Bartels, a local artisan in SF—who’s a part of the team at Woodshop. (This guy is amazing, you should hire him immediately!) To emphasize the concept of urgency, I painted the colors of Japan melting. I used semi-gloss house paint, and coated it with a lacquer finish.

If you’re in the Bay Area, you should definitely stop by. It’s getting great press from the likes of GOOD magazine—so hopefully a lot of people come out and spend some money on this worthy cause. Big thanks to Dan Cohen, the founder of Collective Good!

Click here to RSVP.

When: Thursday, July 14, 2011
Where: Project One, 251 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco, CA
Time: 6:30 – 10:00 PM
Cost: $10 charitable donation at the door

Check out the opening this Tuesday!
When: Tuesday, July 19, 2011,
Where: The Cooper Union Gallery, 41 Cooper Square, NYC
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Ceremony begins at 6:30

This was a fun one—I mean, when else can you draw your own letters, and get away with using Comic Sans, Copperplate, American Typewriter, and Chalkboard? Thanks to Tonya Douraghy and Ben King!

Print magazine
Art Director: Ben King

I recently did some covers for Boston magazine’s annual “Best of Boston” issue. Unfortunately, my sketches were killed—which brings my batting average back down to .200 with magazine covers. Thanks to Alyce Jones for a fun project!

Boston magazine
Design Director: Alyce Jones

Lastly, I had a cover illustration for the Sunday “Ideas” section in The Boston Globe back in May. The article evaluates the long term future of the earth, based on the educated predictions of Sir Martin Rees, a distinguished cosmologist. Thanks, Jane!

The Boston Globe
Art Director: Jane Martin

It wasn’t easy to narrow down five pieces I envy in the last year, especially considering the onslaught of visual homogenization on the internet. I chose carefully, and tried to stay outside the box of traditional graphic design. It was super fun, and I’m honored to be asked. Big thanks to Gabriela Mirensky and Rasika Welankiwar!

Click here to read my selections.

Click here to read.

September 15 through November 23, 2011
AIGA National Design Center
164 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

My intention was not to provoke anyone, but instead lend solace to students who might make decisions based on fear. However, I understand that it might have ruffled some feathers. And I’m not, as some speculated, anti-technology. I basically spend my life (sadly?) on the internet—not to mention I work in Silicon Valley! Anyway, I hope we continue to have healthy dialogue like this in our community.

Click here to read.

Click here to read.

On top of that, I was also asked to contribute to a book that Brian Collins was doing for the show. He asked 55 designers to visually respond to 55 thesis’ that he and his team called, “The Triumph of the Commons.” A beautiful book designed by Matt Luckhurst. Thanks to Brian for this!

And what would a political show be if not for some controversy. Thanks to the awesome curator of the show, Thomas Starr, for asking me to be a part of this!

If you’re in the Boston area, you should definitely check it out.

September 29 – December 15, 2011
International Village, Northeastern
Free and open to public

16: The expansion and extension of play is then, the essence of wealth. John Ruskin pointed this out more than a hundred years ago in discussing the etymology of value: “Valor, from valere, to be well or strong; strong, life (if a man), or valiant; strong for life (if a thing), or valuable. To be ‘valuable,’ therefore, is to ‘avail toward life.’ ... For wealth, instead of depending merely on a ‘have,’ is thus seen to depend on a ‘can.’ ... And what we reasoned of only as accumulation of material, is seen to demand also accumulation of capacity…. Wealth is, therefore, ‘The Possession of the Valuable by the valiant.’”

My piece for the exhibition below. Exhibition designers: Christopher Brand, Alicia Cheng, Collins:, David Comberg, Matt Dorfman, Allan Espiritu, Sarah Gephart, Milton Glaser, Timothy Goodman, Lucinda Hitchcock, Pamela Hovland, Mirko Ilic, Daniel Jasper, Garland Kirkpatrick, Dylan Lathrop, Chaz Maviyane-Davies, Steven McCarthy, Post Typography, Andrew Sloat, Topos Graphics, Winterhouse, Brett Yasko, Edvin Yegir

Huge thanks to the amazingly talented (and very kind!) Matt Dorfman! I’m stoked to be the first to work with Matt at the Times.

The New York Times
Art Director: Matt Dorfman

With so many possibilities on the web, I wanted my new site to be a breathing organism. Using modern features, it was important that it feel both substantial and extremely simple. So I contacted my crazy talented web friend, Greg Maher, who runs Look North. He, along with his awesome developer, Vince Nalupta, worked closely with me to plan, design and build a responsive, content managed site. The front-end code is hand-crafted HTML and CSS, and we’re using both jQuery and Media Queries to achieve the responsiveness. And the whole site is powered by ExpressionEngine on the backend. Luckily we were able to roll the posts from my old blog onto here.

I can’t thank them enough for all their amazing and tireless work! I was a bit of a pain in the ass during the process, so they definitely get two gold stars for being so cool. Everyone should hire them immediately!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! (Oh, and if you find any kinks, please let me know.)

Social mobility is the foundation of the American dream, but slower gains in education, along with the rise of technology, and the entry of 2 billion new emerging workers into the global labor force has led to a rise in inequality. This is the topic of discussion for an article called, What Ever Happened To Upward Mobility?

With limited time, they picked one of the more time-consuming ideas I presented. I knew this had to be photographed, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy to find a quintessential ladder that the idea called for. Scrambling, I was extremely lucky to find help from my lovely friend / super-awesome-dope-amazing photographer, Thayer Gowdy. This lady couldn’t be more busy, and I probably owe her my life. We rushed to the hardware store, bought wooden poles, broke them in half, and shot them individually at her studio. Finally, I spray painted the “rungs” to convey an idea of stripes, but the editor didn’t go for that.

Massive thanks to D.W. and everyone at TIME!

TIME magazine
Design Director: D.W.Pine

Thanks to the always awesome, Nicholas Blechman!

The New York Times
Art Director: Nicholas Blechman

I had a small icon in TIME magazine a couple weeks ago. The icon accompanied three sections throughout the magazine. Thanks to D.W. and Emily for this!

TIME magazine
Art Director: Emily Crawford

Finally, I worked on an illustration for Bloomberg View a couple weeks ago. It was in response to an article about Herman Cain and the current troubles surrounding him.

It was a pleasure to finally work with the super talented Gary Fogelson!

Bloomberg View
Art Director: Gary Fogelson

Although, I must admit that I don’t know anything about the university, their programs, or even where New Paltz is exactly—which should make this all the more fun!

SUNY New Paltz
New Paltz, New York
Lecture Center 201
Wednesday November 30, 2011, 7 PM
Free and open to all

Considering I had to do four illustrations in the amount time that’s allocated for one, I knew I had to come up with an idea that had a strong through-line. And I’m always pleased when I can incorporate two of my favorite loves: doodling and making corny three-dimensional vector objects. Big thanks to Gary!

Bloomberg View
Art Director: Gary Fogelson

I also have an illustration in Wired magazine this month. A micromotor, roughly a tenth the diameter of a red blood cell, spins a polymer web in order to repair tissue.

Wired magazine
Art Director: Bradley Hughes & Rina Kushnir

I’m also very excited to teach a typography class this January for my alma mater, School of Visual Arts. It wasn’t too long ago that I was nervous design student, pestering all my teachers, begging them to give me a bit of their knowledge. (I still do this, and thankfully most of them don’t tell me to bugger off!)

People ask me why I’d leave a place so beautiful and serene like San Francisco? While California’s culture is just as predominant as NYC’s, neither could be more opposite. The decision to move back East has made me think a lot about what makes California feel so different. Besides the weather, and the slower pace—or the fact that people strangely wait for the street lights to change before crossing the street—there’s a collective essence that is inherently different than New York. But what is that exactly?

Recently, I was discussing this topic with my neighborhood barista. He explained an old comic he once saw that perfectly articulated everything I felt about the two cultures! I rushed home and Googled said comic. After a long search, I unfortunately came up unsuccessful. So I did the only thing I could do. I tried to recapture the spirit of that insightful comic.

See you back in the motherland!

Doing this cover feels symbolic, considering I moved back to NYC just 4 days ago. I was charged to do a lot more type, but they ended up piecing it together and mixing and matching. Big thanks to Randy!

New York magazine
Art Director: Randy Minor

Foreign Policy
Art Director: Dennis Brack

#1 “Write Off The World’s Debt”

#6 “Spend $1 Trillion On The Future”

#9 “Tame The World’s Crazy Currency System”

2. This Thursday, I’m traveling to Baltimore to give a presentation and do a workshop with the students from MICA. I’m totally stoked for this, and equally excited to share the day with four amazing designers: Tracy Kroop, Max Snyder, Silas Munro, and my buddy, Michael Freimuth. Isn’t MICA the oldest art college in the United States? I’ll make sure to wear my SVA t-shirt.

Click here to read.

2. They Might Be Giants + Paul Sahre
Last month I wrote a brief synopsis on Paul Sahre’s album design and collateral for the band, They Might Be Giants, that included the construction of an amazing life-sized monster truck hearse. Paul is a big design hero of mine, so I was honored when he asked me to do this. If you’re one of the few people who haven’t seen this project, make sure to watch the music video.

Click here to read.

As an act of perseverance, and compassion, I will attempt to draw a valentine for EVERY single one of my Twitter followers tomorrow, February 14, between the hours of 7 AM and 7 PM. I will draw the valentine on a 4 1/2” x 5 1/2” pre-cut card, take a picture with my phone, and tweet it directly to each follower, real-time. Call it a “Valentine’s Marathon” if you will.

With 1150 followers, I’ll have roughly 40 seconds per valentine (or 96 an hour), so I will have to act swiftly. However, it is my goal to make every card unique to the individual follower. By doing so, I will respond to each person’s handle/picture/bio as seen below. Obviously, with such little time, these cards won’t be mind-blowing, but who doesn’t like to get a hand drawn note for Valentine’s Day?

Why? Well if there’s one day in the year I’m heartily encouraged to show my love and appreciation to someone, that day is tomorrow. Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is spent expressing ourselves with gifts and “valentines” for people we care about. However, interesting enough, in lieu of all the people I care about in my personal life, I spend much more time sitting in front of my computer every day: working, searching, writing, emailing, scanning, printing, G-chatting, and of course, Tweeting.

I have developed great relationships with people in my personal life because of Twitter. That being said, everyday I have conversations with designers and illustrators on Twitter that never go beyond the monitor in front of me. In spite of this, I wonder how I can honor these virtual relationships? Can it be done outside of technology? And besides the typical gifts we give each other on Twitter—like a mention or a retweet—what would it mean to make an analog gift for someone who is following me?

Note: Twitter says you can’t tweet more than 1000 times in a day, and because I won’t have a lot of time, I will have to double up on many of the tweets. Oh, and I won’t create valentines for any new followers than the ones I have now. In the next week or two, I will put a website up so you can see all 1150 together.

Statistical breakdown:
1 Tim
15 Red Sharpies
12 Hours
1200 pre-cut cards
1150 Followers
5 bottles of water
2 coconut waters
3 pre-made sandwiches
1 Bag of Hershey’s Kisses
Andre 3000’s “The Love Below” on repeat

This is going to be fun! (maybe impossible!?) I guess sometimes you gotta be mad for love!

I was asked to do this in the middle of my move from SF to NYC in early January, so unfortunately all my office stuff was packed away. Where would you be without friends who let you use their studio when you’re homeless? Huge thanks to Florian Bachleda and Ted Keller for so much fun!

Fast Company
Art Director: Ted Keller
Creative Director: Florian Bachleda