One Down, Seven To Go
My first quarter projects are up in Shoot. I was on a 6 hour sleep / 18 hour work schedule since last Monday trying to finish all of these; it feels good to be settled back in normal life. Critiques went very well; two out of three judges were very positive, and one was a little more critical, but he made good points (and has a reputation in the school for being a one-man firing squad). "Why is this printed differently? How did you cut this? What else do you do? Why did you come to this school? With this project, it looked like you were almost at the finish line and tripped." But critiques are so short (15 minutes with each person) that these guys don't have much time to say anything except criticisms. The best compliment came from the judge I was fearing the most - my typography instructor (html doesn't allow for em dashes, sorry). I mean, if the space between your "S" and "O" on your book title is 2 points too wide, this guy would be the first to notice it. But he said, "You went beyond what you were asked to do. You're where you need to be for a first quarter student, and I actually think you're a little above that." The last judge was positive as well, and he'll be teaching me a logo class next quarter.
On to the projects. The treehouse got the best reception ("It's 92% there" and "swivel it for me" barked judge #1), followed by the board game box art and the bags, especially the Explorer Sack. The creation of these projects was fun, but exhausting. Every day last week I found myself driving to places like Home Depot, Michael's, several art stores, a fabric store and a digital printing shop. I did things I had never done before, and the experimentation was exciting and frustrating. The temple for the board game was made out of the stuff they use to make tunnels for model trains. The grass for the treehouse is tiny specks of spray-mounted green foam. A friend sewed the Explorer Sack and I hammered in the eyelets. All of the books were hand-bound with sobo glue. Fun, no? But I am surrounded by extremely talented people whose projects are equally as cool (and often cooler!) than mine. People tackled these projects in all sorts of different ways, and the end results were nothing short of exceptional. Anne Marie made a milk carton box to feed the animals with at her petting zoo exhibit. Alison created an elaborate fold-out children's book about an ostrich. Jeff put together a well-designed scarf with a pocket that could roll up into a pillow. Katie's books were the best that I've seen. Jen's cutout poster is insanely detailed, with hundreds of tiny triangles creating the background. I'm lucky to be friends with all of them.
And here's a pretty funny story - I went to the print shop on Friday to pick up some work. There were some girls from PC's rival school, Creative Circus, who were trying to fill out an order and driving the lady behind the desk crazy. They didn't know what software they had used to make their work, didn't have their fonts ready, and were complaining about their teachers. I was fairly dressed up for no particular reason, and the woman behind the desk peered around the girl and asked if she could help me. I said I was picking up an order for Okay Samurai Multimedia. The girls turned around and looked me over like my imaginary company was real, and the woman behind the desk treated me with a lot more respect than the students and got my order right away. The "Okay Samurai Multimedia" logo was put on just about every project.
First quarter is over and I don't report back to school until January 5! I leave for Virginia on Thursday. Oh whatever shall I do during that time? Visit the Baltimore crew, make an appearance at Don's prepped-out country club party (my scarf and sweater vest are gonna rock your world), work on the demo, practice with Andrew and DESTROY HIM IN AIR HOCKEY (that's right, the trash-talking has begun), see The Last Samurai and Return of the King, and possibly redesign the website.
Music really helped me get through last week. A live recording of a 12.2.02 Howie Day show was great - yet another artist who uses a looper (a gadget that is at the top of my Christmas list). Obscure yet rocktastic, Owsley has a new album out, The Hard Way. Eric Espiritu, if you're reading this, I've got to say that you would love this guy. Commercial pop/rock at its finest. I'm starting to love it just as much as the first album. I was skeptical about Harry Connick Jr.'s Harry For The Holidays, but the girls got me into it - I absolutely love this album. Best Christmas album ever in my book, although I enjoyed listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas CD too.
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Monday, December 8 at 9:17 PM
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