Identity and print design for 333 Recordings, an independent electronic music label based out of Oakland, California. I worked with 333’s owner, Matt Thompson since the label’s inception, crafting an identity that is unique and affordable to produce. Record sleeves, CD labels, business cards, note cards, and buck slips were all printed on one press sheet using silver ink on assorted brightly colored stocks. Each 7″ record release’s label is a unique typographic composition using the house typefaces.

Identity and branding for Le Pigeon, a French restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I worked with Le Pigeon’s owners and branded the business from its inception, creating a holistic identity system including typographic standards, print advertising, online advertising, website, press release kits, menus, wine lists, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, and apparel. Le Pigeon has won accolades in Gourmet, The New York Times, Bon Appetit, The Washington Post, People, along with a James Beard Award along the way.

New essay about Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica published in Idea Magazine No. 331. 
New interview with the mighty Lullatone on PingMag. 
A number of my logos were published in Los Logos 4.
I have a piece in this new show in Brooklyn.
I also have a piece in this new show of WKTokyoLab work in Los Angeles.
Meeting Modernity, the new Néojaponisme traveling exhibition of found photography, debuted at Young Art in Los Angeles. It opens next on January 8th in Portland, Oregon at Reading Frenzy.
New website for White Rabbit Press’ Tokyo Realtime.
New logo revealed for the 2009 PDX Film Fest.
Otherwise, still manning the helm at VLU and Néojaponisme.

Lullatone

Mumbreeze

Mr. King, the Malaysian Seal Engraver

Mo’ Relax

Codename: Stripe

Disembodied Wings: The Illustration Work of David D’Andrea

Toward Design Literacy

Things I Know About Harmen Liemburg

CrapHound

Bright Lights, Big City: Los Angeles Graffiti On Screen & In Print

The Temple of Light and Sound

Snow Days & Summer Shortcake

Wooster Collective

Shock of the Neue

A Critical Look at 25 Years of i-D

PMKFA

Akira Kobayashi: Transcending Typographic Boundaries

Ricardo Cordoba wrote a really comprehensive review of my book Parallel Strokes on the design criticism website Speak Up. It is probably the “best” review of the book that has been published in that it looks at the book holistically and face-forward, giving honest criticism and being very thoughtful.

New line of board graphics for Tokyo-based skateboard powerhouseLesque. See the Instrument and Letterscape boards here. See Shinichi Ito’s and Junichi Arahata’s pro models here. Itoshin is the sickest pro in Japan today- check it!

New essay in the latest issue of Idea about the movie Beautiful Losers. 
New video for the song “Day Ditty” by Craig Wedren (Shudder to Think) and E#Vax (Ratatat). 
New tee shirt for Graniph.
Opening next month in Los Angeles for Meeting Modernity, Néojaponisme’s first travelling exhibition.
Moji Salvage, a new series of mini-essays and historical samples of lettering for Néojaponisme.
A new podcast of Japanese punk, hardcore, thrash, and d-beat for Néojaponisme.
A new sketchbook, greeting card set, mini notebooks, and another greeting card set for Tenth and Grant.
Music video and design/illustration work in the much heralded new book, Tokyo.Ten, from Wieden + Kennedy’s WKTokyoLab.
Also, a new poster in the WKTokyoLab show at Claska in Tokyo.
New logo for Yacht.
Upcoming: 
An essay for the first Brand New School monograph.
Video installation for Scion’s latest Installation tour. It opens in Detroit at C Pop Gallery on October 4th. The tour will also be exhibiting at Art Basel Miami.
New website for photographer Patrick Tsai.

Cover story for Issue 5 of FontShop International’s magazine Font, “Ill Legible:Traveling the Paths of Urban Pioneers”. 

This 7 page essay charts the development of graffiti from the context of lettering and calligraphy while grounding the practice within modernism. 

This issue of Font is sold out. You can download a pdf version of the feature article I wrote about graffiti for that issue here. Please download it to conserve bandwidth, as opposed to opening it via a browser- it is print-resolution and will take ages to view in a web browser.

The first news update in 5 months. Ouch. Lots has been happening, but have been much too busy to update this site properly. With luck, a site redesign will happen at some point sooner than later, along with a major content update/turnover. What’s been up:
– Rap-Up magazine got a major facelift and Rap-Up TV launched with anew intro animation
– PDX Film Fest 2008 identity, ads, bumper, and apparel
– Strategy music video
– animated short film for Qoob/Alfa Romeo
– Open Hands Acupucture (Portland, OR) identity
– Norman Lazerine Architecture identity
– poster for the Arroyo Arts Collective (Los Angeles, CA)
– identity refresh for Klein Dytham Architecture (Tokyo, Japan)
– identity for DreamForce One (Johannesburg/Tokyo)
– assorted stationery for Tenth and Grant (Portland, OR)
– identity for Field Office Films (Portland, OR)
– a new, not quite ready website for Black Wagon (Portland, OR)
– posters for a group show in St. Louis, MO
– identity for Atelier Christely (Paris)
– identity for Igloo Projects (NYC)
– brand books and product books for Nike Asia South Pacific
– book design and logo refresh for Yacht
– essays for Art Space Tokyo, Idea, and others
– new pattern series, photo series, and essays for Neojaponisme
and a ton of other stuff. It’s been a busy 5 months!

My new book, Parallel Strokes, is available now via the book website. It isn’t officially being released for a week, but…

About Parallel Strokes:
Parallel Strokes is a collection of interviews with twenty-plus contemporary typeface designers, graffiti writers, and lettering artists around the world. The book is introduced with a comprehensive essay charting the history of graffiti, its relation to type design, and how the two practices relate in the wider context of lettering. Interviews within include conversations with pan-European type design collecitve Underware, Japanese type designer Akira Kobayashi, American graffiti writer and fine artist Barry McGee/Twist, German graffiti writers Daim and Seak, American lettering artist, graphic designer and design eductor Ed Fella, among others. Parallel Strokes is an enquiry into the history, context, and development of lettering today, both culturally approved and illicit.

Full list of interviewees: 

• Akira Kobayashi 
• Underware 
• Ed Fella 
• Delta
• Jerry Inscoe/Joker
• Jens Gehlhaar 
• Daim
• Seak 
• Jonas Williamsson 
• Handselecta 
• Tauba Auerbach 
• Lady Pink 
• She One
• Eklips AWR/MSK 
• Eskae
• Renos 
• Mike Giant
• Chaz Bojorquez 
• Barry McGee/Twist

The result of six years of research in the combined arts of lettering, graffiti, and typeface design, Parallel Strokes is a collection of interviews some of the best letterform creators in the world today.

Chaz Bojorquez talks about the origins of barrio graffiti in Los Angeles and the evolution of the craft. Fellow Angeleno, vernacular graphic designer Ed Fella, speaks about his history in lettering and how he earned the title “The King of Zing” in Detroit design and illustration circles. Famed Japanese type designer Akira Kobayashidiscusses Roman and Japanese letterforms while showcasing a lifetime of type design work. European graffiti writers Daim, Seak, and Deltashare their thoughts on dimensional graffiti lettering while American graffiti writer Mike Giant talks about vernacular lettering, typeface design, and the evolution of graffiti handstyles.

Parallel Strokes is richly illustrated throughout, featuring copious previously unpublished work by the interviewed artists, as well as supplementary illustrations and photographs detailing contemporary and historical trends in graffiti and type design. The first 100 orders come with a two color 17″ x 20″ Parallel Strokes poster printed using recycled paper and soy inks at Portland, Oregon’s Pinball Publishing.

Parallel Strokes is 244 pages thick and available for $20 with free shipping worldwide.