[lounge]christmas

to all my digital, blogging and social media-esque friends and family who still read this blog, i hope you're having a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.

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[pressing] engagement

so my sister is getting married...

naturally, the past few months, she's had a lot on her mind.  so when she asked if i'd like to design her wedding invitations, i gladly said yes.  not only because i have a not-so-secret love for graphic design, but i thought it would help elevate some stress.

now you would have thought at this point in my life i would have realized; to alleviate someone elses stress, mean you must now take it on.  not only did i now have added stress, but i now know way more about wedding traditions, rules, and etiquette than i ever expected to.

let me give you a summary of every voice message from my sister the past month:

"are the cards done yet?"

"are the cards done yet?"

"are the cards finished?"

"when are they going to be done?"

"any idea when we can expect the cards?"

"how are the cards coming?"

"so...i just wanted to check the status on the cards."

i worked on the cards in my spare time, but found myself getting extremely frustrated with little things like spacing and, a new discovery, kerning. luckily my friend jonathan, a very talented designer, stepped up and helped me finish up the final design. not only that but he printed them on his press as well. sure enough, they turned out wonderful, and they were sent out eight weeks before the big date, something a found out was standard etiquette.  the voice messages have also stopped.

all in all, it wasn't that bad, and i'm honored my sister asked me to do it.  now lets just wait and see how the actual wedding goes!

what is [architecture]?

last week i had the opportunity to do something i’ve wanted to do for a while, host a trivia night.

now this wasn’t your normal trivia night, one of my friends who is in charge of the aia emerging professionals, wanted to put together a trivia night for all the young architects in town.  as an added bonus we invited the local graphic designers to participate as well.  not only did this keep our group from “geeking” out the entire night over architecture, but it mixed in some new and interesting facts.

talking with everyone who attend, the night was a huge success.  a good time was had by all and several new friendships were made.  thinking most people who follow this blog are into architecture or design, i thought i’d share a few of the questions, and see if anyone new the answers.

- who said, "less is more"

-what famous los angeles building is featured in the last scene of "500 days of summer."

-how many pica in 1 inch

-what is the name given to carved, full length female figures used like columns in classical architecture.

-name the four colors in process printing.

-how many square feet are in one acre.

congratulations to the winning team picture above in the first annual archi-design-trivia night.

from wichita with [love]

back in april some friends and i attended a workshop put on by the wichita downtown development corporation called "for the love of wichita" hosted by peter kageyama.  to make a very brief summary, the workshop focused on recognizing different aspects certain cities posses making them "lovable".  being grouped by table, which just so happened to be my friends and i, we ran through several exercises, identifying the reasons we loved wichita as well as looking at our city through the eyes of different demographics, taking note of why other groups may like or dislike wichita.

at the end of the workshop each table was challenged to come up with a project or activity they could put on to help spread love in and around wichita.  every table would present their ideas and then all would be voted on by the attendees, with the winning idea receiving $500 to actually fund it.  our group discussed several ideas all focusing on ways to get the most "love" for the buck.  in the end our idea was to use the money to print as many postcards as we could and spread them through out the city, giving as many people the chance to send some wichita love.  the message on the card would be "wichita, wish you were here".  this would allow people to send it to friends and family living elsewhere, or to stores, companies, businesses, or bands who may have never considered coming to wichita.  hashing these rough details out in 20 minutes, we presented our idea.  as fate would have it our idea, as well as two others, was chosen.

that's when the real work began.

we started out with a very simple, romantic idea. living in this digital age, we wanted people to receive something tangible, something that when held, shows time and thought were put into it.  something valuable to send to those you really care about.  as personal, touching, and old fashioned as that idea is, the digital side of us kicked in and we wanted the ability to show the community where all this "love" was ending up.  this led to the idea of creating a website where those who had received cards could upload pictures of themselves holding the card showing everyone where this little tangible piece of wichita love had found them.  the site would be the central place for senders, receivers and other in the community to watch the love spread.  also, as a way to make this project more ingrained within the community and spread the love even further, we wanted the postcards to be available at local businesses.  if by some small chance, people head to a local shop to find the cards, and they happen to stay and purchase something as well, in a very small way, the project would be helping out the local economy as well.

we quickly enlisted the help of some of our highly creative and wonderful friends.  with a graphic designer, web developer, and several others talented people, we set to work.  after hours of volunteered time, talent, creativity, opinions, and leg work, we were able to design, print, and distribute 20,000 postcards as well as develop a webpage for $507.  last week our idea came to fruition, and i'm extremely happy to share it with you all.

so please visit the site fromwichitawithlove and watch all the wonderful places these cards end up.

use[less]?

a friend of mine posted a picture on twitter showing a graphic the today show ran of the "top five 'useless' majors."  they were:

1. fine arts
2. drama and theater arts
3. film, video & photographic arts
4. commercial art & graphic design
5. architecture

trust me, as an architectural intern, trying to make it in this business, and having personally been laid off because of the economy, i know first hand how tough these professions can be.  i, along with most of my friends found humor in this list, thinking, “yeah, if i only knew then what i know now…”.  however the humor wore off and looking at the list more seriously i find it to be…bullshit.

i love architecture, and as hard as it can be to try to make it in the working world, i wouldn’t trade the skills i learned in college for any of those found in “the most useful majors”.  like architecture, all these majors focus on art and creativity. since when did art and creativity become useless?

i say that, but looking around at our society, cities, buildings, television and movies, maybe it’s not that hard of a stretch.

all of these majors, at their root, teach lessons far more important than their names suggest.  first of all, they focus on the ability to make something out of nothing.  be it a building, a musical, a photograph, video, or graphic design, all of these take absolutely nothing and turn into art.  thought, time, knowledge, and creativity, bring that “nothing” into something beautiful.  secondly, all these majors focus on the ability to take a series of problems and challenges, and solve them creatively. whether it’s spatially or graphically, the ability to look at a problem in a variety of directions will always yield a better result than when it isn't.  along with that, the ability to see a problem at its different scales, from the tiniest detail, to the overall picture is something not stressed nearly enough in other majors.  next, all these majors focus on the organization of thoughts and tools to achieve a vision.  knowing when to use what tool when it’s the most beneficial in order to produce the best product.  finally, everyone of these majors requires the ability to communicate ideas.  to take something as abstract as a "thought", and through, speaking, drawing, sketching, dancing, film, video, paint, or plaster, bring that idea into a medium so those less imaginative can understand and relate to it.

i would argue that all of these skills, not only help you in their respected professions, but also help you to achieve a successful and meaningful life.

it could be said “art” is not a necessity, it’s a luxury, something one doesn’t need in order to live, and just maybe that’s why this list of majors was deemed “useless”.  in a world were arts programs are being deleted from schools, and funding is being cut at the state level, it’s not hard to see most people have this opinion. however, as an soon-to-be-architect, and fan of the arts, i believe art is what makes life worth living. 

pablo picasso said, “art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life”.  to state these majors as useless, and possibly discourage anyone from entering into these fields, would not only be a sin, it is admitting you’re prepared to live in a dirty and dusty world.

[graphic]weekend

i don't know if it's entirely true, but i would be willing to bet, almost every architect out there believes they can also be a graphic artist. i mean, design is design, right?

well, wheter it's true or not, i'm no exception. i've always enjoyed graphic design, and love the fact my profession allows me to dabble in it occasionally. even through this blog, i've meet some amazingly talented people who deal with graphic design, mostly the people at aqua-velvet and secret door projects.

now...not all of my weekends have themes, but graphic design seemed to be in the air last week. starting things off, i was fortunate enough to get invited to the "aiga no-love social", by one of my graphic oriented friends at running doves press. basically it was a chance for local graphic artists to present work which had been changed or trashed by the clients. logos, designs, marks, and decals, were given a chance to escape the recycle bin and be appreciated again, an idea i think the local aia should pick up on. not only did i enjoy looking at the forgotten designs, the local aiga also provided custom coasters and drink tickets.



since the next day was wichita's final friday art gallery crawl, the night was filled with touring local galleries. although art was enjoyed, the highlight of the night was receiving a pamphlet informing me of a local ordinance which had just been passed. it comically stated, to crack down on graffiti, it was now illegal to carry spray paint and or markers anywhere near public buildings. now, reading over the pamphlet, i agree, this is an incredibly lame and pointless law, which basically gives local authorities power to convict on circumstantial evidence. however what i enjoyed most was the larger picture. this pamphlet was evidence the art community in wichita is starting to show it's presence, get political, and still keep an artistic sense of humor about it.



so what will next weekend bring? who knows, i might feel rebellious and decide to live life on the edge of the law...and by that i mean grab a sharpie, sit on a bench downtown, and sketch.