Another one for the archive- Ben from Kind of Like Spitting took this drawing I did in art school and threw it on a record cover.

I have put together this syllabus for my upcoming Typography 101 class at Temple University Japan for those curious as to what the class is comprised of.

PROJECT 1
ON/OFF PROJECT
Develop a concept for a new font whose forms relate to an 8”x 8” square grid. Each box in the grid must be either “on” or “off.” You have no curves or true diagonals. Draw letters on provided graph paper. Consider proportion, weight and structural features such as height of cross bars.

PROJECT 2
ANATOMY OF A LETTER
This exercise will help you to become aware of a letter’s construction: the positive and negative shapes that comprise a letter form make it distinct from other faces. Using various sheets of tracing paper overlay, and colored pencils, trace the letters in various ways to identify and become familiar with the anatomy of type. Include one version that shows ONLY the negative spaces.

PROJECT 3
CLASSICAL TITLE PAGES
Construct a page within an A4 size area using the Golden Proportion (1:1.618). Using only the Title, Author, and Volume text set in Times New Roman and Times New Roman Italic to create very different title pages for J.D. Salinger’s Eleven Stories Volume One. You may not use any ornament or color beyond black and white. You may not “scale” typographic elements – use only the Character and Paragraph palettes and the Selection tool to move objects. Pay detailed atention to the letterspacing, linespacing, kerning, and composition. Make the title pages as sophisticated, thoughtful, and composed with care as you can. Create five by the end of class, then five more for homework. A sample pdf of the work of Swiss master typographer Jan Tschichold is provided to use as reference.

PROJECT 4
CLASSICAL BOOK DESIGN
Construct a classical book layout using the Golden Proportion and a serif typeface. Import text and lay out all eleven stories from the provided Word file using Master Pages to help automate the process. Make the text as readable as possible and clearly define elements (chapter name, folio, etc.).Treat the text with as much care as possible: consider type size, leading, spacing, rag, rivers, widows, orphans, and other typographic errors. Pick your best title page from Assignment 3 and re-work it to fit this book design. An extensive pdf of how to construct Classically proportioned page constructions is provided for reference.

PROJECT 5
MODERN BOOK DESIGN
Construct a Swiss high Modern book layout using a modular grid and a sans serif typeface. Import text and lay out all eleven stories from the provided Word file using Master Pages to help automate the process. Make the text as readable as possible and clearly dene elements (chapter name, folio, etc.). Treat the text with as much care as possible: consider type size, leading, spacing, rag, rivers, widows, orphans, and other typographic errors. Create a modern title page for the book. The title is Eleven Stories Volume Two by J.D. Salinger. A pdf of how to create a modular grid is provided.

PROJECT 6
1–10
The 1–10 project is designed to increase your acumen in assessing typographic, spatial, and graphic hierarchy through iteration. We will be creating a series of typographic posters that will work individually and collectively in order to familiarize you with Adobe InDesign. Details are provided in in-class handouts.

REQUIRED READINGS
Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton

Chapters 1–4, and 8 of The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst (in TUJ library).

“The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should be Invisible” by Beatrice Warde [Looking Closer 3] (in TUJ library).

“Typefaces are Rich with the Gesture and Spirit of Their Own Era” by Michael Rock [Looking Closer 3] (in TUJ library).

“Laws of the Letter” by Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller [Design Writing Research] (in TUJ library).

Typographic detailing pages from Type and Typography by Phil Baines and Andrew Haslam (in TUJ library).

I just put together this course syllabus for my upcoming Imagemaking 101 class at Temple University Japan. Just putting it out there for any folks who might be interested in the class to get a better idea of what it is all about.

In the contemporary world of graphic design, designers must be able to not only convey information, but do so in ways that are engaging and entertaining. Imagemaking teaches strategies for creating unique visual form to incorporate into graphic design projects. A hybrid of manual, analog, and digital processes including drawing, collage, manipulating found imagery, pattern-making, and typographic assemblage will be utilized to help students with the goal of the class: for each student to create a 100-page book of a range of form-making styles that will greatly benefit their professional portfolios.

The class will work together to explore different formal and conceptual strategies for creating new and exciting visual illustration. This class will appeal to graphic designers interested in both print and web, illustrators, fine artists, and students with an interest in editorial illustration. It will also appeal to designers and illustrators working within a signature style, as the strategies utilized will help loosen up professionals, push boundaries, and create new work.

This class is a studio class but will require a bit of homework for visual research (collecting source material and light reading). Production time outside of class will be expected to complete the assignments.

Students are expected to attempt form-making experiments outside of the class environment in order to complete the required 50 images that their final books will be comprised of. (Each spread of the book will be one A4 landscape image).

The final two classes will be comprised of assembling our books of imagery while simultaneously finishing projects.

PROJECT 1
FOUND IMAGERY COLLAGE
We will being our exploration of formal study by coming up with a general topic/subject to address throughout the semester. The subject should be something a bit headier than “kittens”, but as long as you can consistently create a series of imagery that explores both literal and non-literal interpretations in a sophisticated fashion, you are good to go.

For this first project, you will put together a mix of found imagery that can be sourced via the internet, photography, clip art, and found in printed ephemera.

Please fill three A4 pages with a collage of your found imagery. Attempt to create a sense of figure/ground relations, scale, and visual excitement with your compositions. Photocopy your three compositions two times. Utilize watercolor paint, markers, or some other forms of color to apply color to one version of your monochrome images.

Feel free to create multiple options if time allows.

PROJECT 2
PHOTOCOPY EFFECTS
Bring 5 iconic, high-contrast images to class. We will use a photocopier to manipulate the images using a variety of techniques in conjunction with the application of halftones and manual reprographic tools.

PROJECT 3
PATTERNS & TEXTURE
Cut black paper into geometric compositions that each fill up a 15mm square. We will scan these, trace them in Adobe Illustrator, and create a collection of patterns with them. We will then take all of the class members’ patterns, combine them into one collection, and each class member will deploy the patterns to make five different geometric compositions.

PROJECT 4
MAKING THE MOST OF PRE-SET PROJECTS
We will utilize preset projects from design tutorial magazines and try to take the pre-assembled projects, remix them, and make them 1000% more awesome. Or at least weirder.

PROJECT 5
TYPE AS IMAGE
We will combine hand-drawn, digital, and analog letterforms using figure/ground relations, scale, and spatial composition.

PROJECT 6
PHOTOGRAPHING COMPOSED ELEMENTS
We will create dioramas of composed graphic elements. Please bring 20 different elements to class to compose into a scene. These can include 3D objects, cut-out paper imagery, or whatever you desire. Feel free to bring a large print of a backdrop image to shoot your elements against.

New-ish EP by Yacht.

Recently launched: FoodPusher.

Two years in the making, Black Wagon‘s site launches! Though the website says “Designed by Ian Lynam”, credit is due to Jack Saturn, Sarah Shaoul, and the rest of the Black Wagon team for making it happen.

New deck design for Open Skateboards NYC.

Upswell identity up on Pinball’s Flickr account.

Finally, images from Fan Letter in Baltimore and NYC.

Next Mammal live show: Pecha Kucha Night Tokyo on December 2nd at Super Deluxe.

One from the vaults: a kid’s ninja tee shirt graphic circa 2003 for Tiger Claw, a martial arts supplier.

Just finished: key art and DVD cover design for the Cantankerous Titles release I Love My Bicycle:The Story of FBM Bikes, directed by Joe Stakun. FBM is a D.I.Y. BMX bike frame manufacturer based in New York City. I Love My Bicycle follows the fifteen year history of FBM Bike Company. What began as kids selling t-shirts out of a backpack has turned into one of the most well respected bicycle companies in the world.

In other news:
My friend Anandi is currently undergoing chemotherapy for invasive breast cancer. Some of her friends have organized an art auction online to help raise funds for her while she is undergoing treatment to cover some medical bills and living expenses while she is undergoing treatment.

I have donated 12 hours of graphic design work to the auction, should anyone out there need some work done affordably and for the money to go somewhere where it is really needed.

New shirt graphic for Metropolis Cycles in Portland, Oregon, flipping the classic logo for East Bay punk band Filth.

Booklet design for the latest Artalking event, Architecture of the Future by Roland Hagenberg

I have some typefaces in the latest Typodarium project, a daily tear-off calendar of typefaces by assorted type foundries.

New work up: collateral for innovation research firm Five by Fifty,

I have work in a new show starting next month in Portland, Oregon called WORK | PROGRESS that benefits the Dill Pickle Club.

WORK | PROGRESS features 24 Portland-based socially-engaged artists creating replicated works of art. Participating artists: Icky A, Brad Adkins, Moe Bowstern, Carye Bye, Bill Daniel, Dyslexxis, Harrell Fletcher, Sarah Gottesdiener, Sam Gould, Anna Gray, MK Guth, Ariana Jacob, Kendra Larson, Ian Lynam, Eric Mast, Justin Scrappers Morrison, Michael Parich, Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Brittany Powell, Khris Soden, Bwana Spoons, Matthew Stadler, Nim Wunnan and Pete Yahnke. Many have exhibited nationally and internationally, including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Boise Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum and the Whitney Biennial.

While I am not based in Portland, I touch down there twice a year minimum and have a wonderful community there. It’s my other home and I love it dearly, as well as a number of other artists involved in the show.

WORK | PROGRESS Opening
Thursday, December 3 | 6PM | FREE
Join us for the opening of the exhibition during the First Thursday art walk, with beer donated by Ninkasi and live music by Cape Perpetua and Niekrasz/ Jenkins Duet (of Why I Must Be Careful).

WORK | PROGRESS Dinner & Show Closing
Sunday, January 3 | 6PM | $20 General / $18 Picklers
An intimate evening, with dinner prepared by Lucy Rockwell and presentations by people who have helped the Dill Pickle Club, including: Vontundra, Eberhardt Press and Matthew Stadler. I will be in attendance at the Dinner & Show Closing.

Show info:
The Eyeful Gallery | 625 NW Everett #104 | Portland, Oregon
Wednesday – Sunday 12PM – 6PM

In other news…..
I just finished a lecture and workshop with Myung Jin Song Cruz’s Graphic Design class at Temple University yesterday. Decent one hour lecture about my body of work to date followed by a manually intensive project exploring identity through graphic expression.

I updated Portland, Oregon artist Anna Fidler’s website this week with a chunk of new images.

Additionally, I will be teaching a new class (as well as an old one) at Temple University Japan in January.

Image Making (IMA101)
In the contemporary world of graphic design, designers must be able to not only convey information, but do so in ways that are engaging and entertaining. Image Making teaches strategies for creating unique visual form to incorporate into graphic design projects. A hybrid of manual, analog, and digital processes including drawing, collage, manipulating found imagery, pattern-making, and typographic assemblage will be utilized to help students with the goal of the class: for each student to create a 100-page book of a range of form-making styles that will greatly benefit their professional portfolios.

The class will work together to explore different formal and conceptual strategies for creating new and exciting visual illustration. This class will appeal to graphic designers interested in both print and web, illustrators, fine artists, and students with an interest in editorial illustration. It will also appeal to designers and illustrators working within a signature style, as the strategies utilized will help loosen up professionals, push boundaries, and create new work.

This class is a studio class but will require a bit of homework for visual research (collecting source material and light reading).

All About Typography (TYP101)
An in-depth look at typography (designing with fonts) for both beginners and experienced practitioners. This class is a working examination of Western typography including lectures on type history, type classification, and contemporary practice.

Practical exercises, as well as in-class critiques will help broaden students’ understanding of typography practically and critically

The class will conduct projects to explore typographic styles, learn correct typesetting practices, and increase design acumen. The class will host guest lectures by some of Japan’s top graphic designers. The class is Mac-based, but will apply equally to PC-based environments.

Fan Letter: 26 Artists and Designers Present Their Favorite Letter or Typographic Character

Twenty-six local, national, and internationally-based designers and artists give a two-minute ode to an alphabet letter or typographic character. These may range from multimedia presentations, performances, videos, stories, poems, animations, songs, stand-up comedy, rants, short plays, demonstrations, Gregorian chants, etc—however they choose to depict their letter.

My contribution to Fan Letter can be viewed here– an ode to the letter “B”.

New promotional postcard set for Bespoke Tokyo out now!

Custom Peace Sweater pattern Pepastar moose made an appearance twice in print this week! First, in the DesignTide catalog (above), and second in the latest issue of Casa Brutus:

I’ve been creating a series of simple editorial illustrations for WIFM Magazine over the past year. The latest issue is out now and available in Tokyo.

My new band Mammal with Mari Kojima will debut next week at Tokyo Art Beat’s 5th Anniversary party at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo.

Just launched: a new website for Social Innovation Partners is a social-profit enterprise based in Portland, Oregon. We worked with SIP’s founder Elizabeth Hoffecker Moreno to expand her business’ identity, creating a unique and professional web presence that is client editable in an easy and intuitive manner.

Two new websites that the studio designed launched today:

The updated website for Five By Fifty, Tokyo’s top innovation consultancy.

A brand-new website incorporating updated branding for Bespoke Tokyo, Japan’s only Urban Safari company.

I’ll be debuting and giving away installment #3 of my Poster Initiative offset-printed poster series at Super Deluxe this Wednesday during my Pecha Kucha Night presentation. The posters are produced in editions of 1,000 and distributed around Tokyo. Not advertising- just free design for the people.

I’ll be doing a glib presentation on the “The Year in Review”- a look back over highlight projects for my design studio in 2009.

at SuperDeluxe
1000yen /1 drink
B1F 3-1-25 Nishi Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031
+81 (0)3-5412-0515
http://www.super-deluxe.com

A project that was killed at the printer for a good reason: the City of Portland pulled the plug on its utterly unneeded mega-bridge citing “political and economic opposition”. The screen was being burned at Microcosm for the shirts when the word came down. Not a bad thing by any means.

I have the dubious honor of being the very first Pecha Kucha Night presenter to have a presentation presented online at PKN’s new Presentations section of their website, designed by UltraSuperNew. You can listen to me sputter, babble, and throw out half-truths here, as recorded 2+ years ago.

Final apparel design for Ryotaro Bordini Chikushi’s Peace Sweater project will debut at Design Tide 2009 in Tokyo next week. You can see the final products in the Apparel section.

Sneak preview of the disc face artwork for the new album by Blunt Mechanic (ex-Kind of Like Spitting) for Barsuk Records.

New season of board graphics for Lesque in the Print + Product section.

Maryland Lettering & Type book launch:

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore
Falvey Hall in the Brown Center
Thursday, October 29
6:30–8:30 PM.

New York Lettering & Type book launch party:

Tuesday, November 17 at 7:00 PM (free and open to the public)
The Cooper Union
Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography

The highlight of the evenings will be Fan Letter: 26 Artists and Designers Present Their Favorite Letter or Typographic Character, featuring designers, artists, and musicians (including many contributors to Lettering & Type) giving a two-minute ode to an alphabet letter or typographic character. These may range from multimedia presentations, performances, videos, stories, poems, animations, songs, stand-up comedy, rants, short plays, demonstrations, Gregorian chants, etc—however they choose to depict their letter.

Prior to Fan Letter, there will be a reception with authors Bruce Willen and Nolen Strals, as they help kick off a participatory Exquisite Corpse Alphabet and sign copies of Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces.

Artists, designers, illustrators, and musicians participating in Fan Letter:
Ken Barber & Ben Kiel—Delaware, House Industries (H); Kim Bost and Ted McGrath—New York (T); Andrew Byrom—Los Angeles (N); Jennifer Daniel—New York, New York Times (D); John Downer—Iowa City (J); Shaun Flynn—Baltimore (W); Brockett Horne—Baltimore, MICA (¶); Gary Kachadourian—Baltimore (P); Justin Thomas Kay—New York (&); John Langdon—Philadelphia (X); Eric Leshinsky—Baltimore (*); Ian Lynam—Japan (B); Joe Macleod—Baltimore, City Paper (U); Kelley McIntyre—Baltimore (G); Abbott Miller—Baltimore, Pentagram (A); Adam Okrasinski—New York (K); Kevin O’Neill and Karisa Senavatis—New York, Will Work For Good (C); Jennifer Cole Phillips—Baltimore, MICA (S); Robby Rackleff—Baltimore, Blue Leader (M); Theresa Segreti—Baltimore (O); Whitney Sherman—Baltimore (F); Kevin Sherry—Baltimore, Squidfire (Z); Justin Sirois—Baltimore, Narrow House Recordings (Y); Scott Sugiuchi—Baltimore, Exit10 (Q); Tore Terrasi—Boston (I); Sara Tomko—Baltimore (E); Carlos Vigil—Baltimore (R).

Took time out to shoot the latest line of Lesque skateboard graphics with my pals 芝崎 佳子 and 瀬ノ上俊毅 the other day, as well as the images for an upcoming feature in Idea Magazine.

New work in the identity design section for Portland, Oregon multimedia partnership Upswell.

My new typeface Ensenada is available now through MyFonts.

I have some work in this new book, Graphic Design Referenced, edited by Byony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit.

The Japanese version of The Art of Saying Hello 3 is out now.

The Japanese version of Smart Designs: Business Cards is out now, as well.

I put together a limited edition, numbered booklet about graffiti in Tokyo to accompany my lecture at Arttalking #2 in Roppongi.

A new culture portal that a number of Tokyo writers, including myself, have been collaborating on lately launched this week: CNNGo.

I have a bunch of work published in the new book Smart Designs: Business Cards from PIE Books here in Tokyo.

I have a series of mini-screenprints in this show of past and present staffers of Reading Frenzy, a great bookstore in Portland, Oregon. I worked there circa 1995 to 1996, being the less grumpy of the duo manning the store.

I also have work published in the Scion Installation monograph.

Back from world travels as of a few days ago. Berlin, Moscow, Okinawa, Arizona, Los Angeles, and a few scant hours in Portland were so great.

The Scion Installation closing event in Los Angeles was a resounding success. It was wonderful to see a bevy of friends there. Resplendent, resonant, and heartfelt thanks to Karen and the Beyond/Scion team for bringing me Stateside yet again.

A new pattern design is up on Néojaponisme, as are installments of my series of found photography and lettering.

Got a nice shoutout from the ever-awesome Morgan Currie on her school blog yesterday at the UVA.

Post Typography’s new book Lettering and Type is out now via Princeton Architectural Press. I have a bunch of work featured within. They’ve created a fancy website to accompany the book that is worth a look.

This is Ensenada, a new typeface I designed based on hand-cut lettering that adorns businesses throughout the city of Ensenada in Baja California in Mexico.
It’ll get an official release soon through Wordshape and MyFonts, but you can get it early by emailing me.

All of the work in Scion’s latest Installation tour is available for public auction here. All artwork sale proceeds go to funding Creative Capital, a non-profit organization benefitting artists.

I have a one-off video and series of digital prints in a custom case for sale within.

It’s that time again: I’ll be teaching Typography 101 at Temple University Japan in the upcoming semester.

About the course:
An in-depth look at typography (designing with fonts) for both beginners and experienced practitioners. This class is a working examination of Western typography including lectures on type history, type classification, and contemporary practice. Practical exercises, as well as in-class critiques will help broaden students’ understanding of typography practically and critically.
The class will conduct projects to explore typographic styles, learn correct typesetting practices, and increase design acumen. It will host guest lectures by some of Japan’s top graphic designers.

I’ll be lecturing in Tokyo next month.
Information:
Artalking #4: ON THE STREET
From Barry McGee in San Francisco to Banksy in London to the street artists of Tokyo, we take a look at street arts’ semiotic and symbolic roles in contemporary culture, both as an aesthetic and as an active lifestyle.

Wednesday, October 8, 7pm – 9pm
at Nobilduca, Roppongi
RSVP Required
Speaker:
Ian Lynam, design educator, writer, practitioner, and critic
*Guest speaker TBA
Artworks: EKYS, TWIST, BNE, QP and more

Cuisine:
Healthy ‘Street food’ from Italy
Organised by:
Julia Barnes & Loredana di Porcia
4,000 yen Advance / 4,500 yen Door sales
Includes buffet-style dinner with MONACA wine, Acqua Panna & S.Pellegrino – Fine Waters & Nespresso Coffee

Supported by:
Acqua Panna & S.Pellegrino – Fine Waters, Nespresso Coffee, Nobilduca – Roppongi and MONACA Wines

Venue:
Nobilduca, Roppongi
Address: Aoba Roppongi Bld B1, 3-16-33 Roppongi, Minato-Ku
Phone: 03-5772-9825
http://www.nobilduca.com/

Facebook link here.

New shirt graphic for Microcosm, available any day now…

New project: cover design for Crimethinc‘s A Guide to Picking Locks.

Just received a copy of Visual Language for Designers: Principles for Creating Graphics that People Understand by Connie Malamed, published by Rockport. I had a number of examples of my work published within.

New illustration for the upcoming ROM Spaceknight show honoring comic artist and writer Bill Mantlo at Floating World Comics in Portland.

Identity project for Social Innovation Partners in Portland.

Product packaging for BudSock now in the Print + Product section.

I was interviewed for the French street culture magazine 90bpm here. The interview is a year old, but still relevant. If you read French, that is…

Just finished: identity and website for the すずの木カフェ (Suzu No Ki Cafe) run by Chie Yoshimura in Yokohama. Thanks, Chie and Matt!

I just had some graphic design work published in Visual Language for Designers: Principles for Creating Graphics that People Understand by Connie Malamed, published by Rockport.

Tons of new work in here: posters, coasters, logos, websites, etc.

Business card designs in the new book Business Cards 3: Designs on Saying Hello by Michael Dorrian and Liz Farrelly, published by Laurence King.

BudSock is a nifty new anti-tangle device for mobile devices’ cord systems. I worked with company founder Jeffrey Wescott to develop the product’s identity and packaging, as well as beef up their web presence as of late. It’s a nifty sleeve system backed up by a 110% money-back guarantee.

Unearthed outside of the city of Sano in Tochigi-ken, this portrait photography series documents Japan as it engaged with modernization and commercial photography in the Meiji and Taishō Periods.

This post marks the Tokyo opening of the Meeting Modernity Exhibition.
Details:

MEETING MODERNITY
OPENING: A Night of Néojaponisme
A night of presentations, discourse, music, and booze.
DATE: 31st of July 2009
OPEN: 1800 START: 1900
FEE: open charge (Nagesen)
PLACE: hybrid so+ba gallery
5-29-20 KYODO SETAGAYA-KU
TOKYO 156-0052
WWW.SO-BA.CC

Come on down to the infamous Hybrid SO+BA Gallery in Kyodo (Odakyu Line) for a night of revelry with the staff of Néojaponisme. A smattering of presentations by the editors of and contributors to the site will be accompanied by Funkmaster DJ Jean Snow on the wheels of steel.

By sheer luck, I have ten copies of Parallel Strokes in stock again. If you are interested, drop me an email or feel free to purchase one for $50 postpaid (world) via Paypal (Paypal ID is the same as my email).

Two new books about to be released that I designed for Microcosm Publishing- A Guide to Picking Locks and a redesigned version of 13 Years of Good Luck.

I have some work in the upcoming book, Lettering and Type, edited by Bruce Willen, Nolen Strals, and Ellen Lupton and published by Princeton Architectural Press. Coming soon!

A ton of new work added in to the identity, print/product, web, motion/broadcast, and publication sections.

Promotional advertisement in the latest issue of WIFM Magazine.

Recent work: wedding invitations for Anastasia Alto and Corey Blodgett.

Firefox 3.5 is out now- go get that sucker!

The Mozilla Japan team asked that Craig Mod and I jointly write and design this demo page of what is now possible using Firefox’s new @font-face, a CSS rule implemented in Firefox’s latest 3.5 release which allows web designers to reference fonts not installed on end user machines.
(In other words: it allows web designers to store fonts on their server and reference them in CSS, regardless of what fonts the user browsing the page has installed.)

Look at it in Firefox- it is designed for that. It looks OK enough in Safari, but we’d rather have you see it in all its glory. Click around a bit and see what the future of typography for the web looks like….

We lucked out in getting Underware to agree to being our foundry partners in making this demo happen. The demo coincides with the release of their new typeface, Liza.

Original referring page on Mozilla’s site is here.

Thanks to Craig for dropping crazy hours with me on getting this project together. Shoutouts to Mozilla for their support, encouragement, and sheer radicalness!

Never cataloged: this fun but disposable piece of modular lettering made using bingo scoresheets on Néojaponisme.

Also never cataloged: this set of downloadable book covers for Néojaponisme.

And rounding out the never-cataloged section (comprised of work I like and want to include in here somewhere but isn’t easily categorized) is this mini-documentary on sexual assault on the Tokyo train system created for Néojaponisme and MTV Italy.

Then in the category of new work, two new thingies…

The latest issue of Rap-Up is out now and on newsstands.

The back cover.

Included in the issue is this advertising campaign which I put together for Casio’s G-Shock and Baby-G product lines featuring Asher Roth, Nina Sky, and others.

Scion Presents:
Installation 5:  Self-Portrait
Philadelphia

T & P Fine Art
1143 South 9th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19147

Featuring Self Portraits by:
AJ Fosik, Alex Hornest, Andrew Schoultz, Angela Boatwright, Asylm, Blek le Rat, Christina M. Felice, Codak, David Choe, Edwin Ushiro, elYem, Eriberto Oriol, Eye One, Francesco LoCastro, French, Ian Lynam, J. Shea, Jamel Shabazz, Jeff Soto, Kelsey Brookes, Kofie, Lisa Alisa, Logan Hicks, Mark Mothersbaugh, Nicholas Harper, Patrick Martinez, Peter Beste, Peter Glover, RETNA, Rick Rodney, Rob Abeyta Jr., Ron English, Saber, Sage Vaughn, Skypage, Something in the Universe, Souther Salazar, Stormie Mills, Tessar Lo, Todd Tourso, Too Tall Jahmal, Usugrow, Will Barras, Yoskay Yamamoto

Show runs: 7/03/09-7/25/09

Opening event:
Friday, July 3rd
7pm-11pm

Artists in attendance: AJ Fosik, Asylm, Christina M. Felice, Patrick Martinez & Something in the Universe

Music provided by DJ Apt One

www.scion.com/installation
Www.tandpfineart.com

Alphabet will open at the Domy Books Austin at the HOW Conference this Wednesday.

I designed the corporate identity for Topsy, a Twitter-powered search engine which launched recently.

Some crops of the promotional trading cards that I designed for Bwana Spoons’ new book, Welcome to Forest Island.

I just started a new series of two-color posters called “Poster Initiative” that will be distributed for free around Tokyo. The first batch were dropped off at Nagi Shokudo last night and another went to Cafe Pause today. Poster Initiative 001 was printed in a series of 1,000.

On Sunday, June 28, the Dill Pickle Society, a newly-formed experimental education/ cultural center, warmly invites you to “ART FOR THE MILLIONS: THE ENDURING LEGACY OF THE WPA,” a leisurely bicycle tour of Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in Portland. The ride will make several stops along the way to hear from leading scholars and examine the WPA’s relevance to contemporary society.

From 1935-1943, the WPA put more than 8 million people across the United States back to work, many in Western states, including Oregon. While many are familiar with Timberline Lodge, the WPA also helped create and improve Portland city parks, public school buildings and a variety of other public projects.

Among the tour stops are Paul Grellert’s mural at the Morrisson Street post office, the Portland Art Museum, Woody Guthrie Circle, Skidmore Fountain (where David Milholland will talk about C.E.S. Wood and the history of public art in Portland) and Abernathy School (where Friends of Arts in the Schools will show us their efforts to restore a WPA mural). The ride will also stop for lunch (provided) at Westmoreland Park (itself a WPA project), where attendees will participate in a discussion on the feasibility of implementing a federally-funded arts program today.

Registration is required to attend and space is limited to the first 40 participants. A $10 donation goes towards lunch, admissions, a “merit badge” and supplemental materials. To RSVP, e-mail: yes@dillpickleclub.com.

For more info, check out the attached poster (feel free to forward on to friends, colleagues, neighbors etc) or visit us online at: www.dillpickleclub.com.

Two-color offset posters for the event designed by Ian Lynam and printed by Eberhardt Press are available by emailing the above address, as well.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Scion Installation exhibition in San Jose. Apparently over 5,000 people rolled through the opening, which was both jaw-dropping and totally amazing. Usually unflappable, I was totally flapped. Thank you!

I have uploaded a Flickr set of the world’s most famous rappers and R&B folk with some of my graphic design in their greedy little paws here.

In other news, the book Welcome to Forest Island by Bwana Spoons that I edited and designed for Top Shelf is out now. Get ’em here while they are hot. 144 pages, full color, casebound, 6.5″ by 9′, and only $30 postpaid.

I have a video in the upcoming exhibition Dreams of Progress in London starting on July 6th through July 18th. It marks the first time that Tokyo.Now will be publicly viewable in its original high resolution format.
Also new: new season of skateboard for Lesque. All are riffs on early Modern art, both fine and commercial. The highlight is Shinichi Ito’s pro model/faux Kandinsky.

I will be in San Jose, California for the Scion Installation tour stop there at Anno Domini. The opening is on June 5th and goes from 8PM to 12AM. If you are remotely near the Bay Area, come on down!
Other artists who will have work on display include luminaries like Dave Choe, Souther Salazar, Jeff Soto, Kofie One, Usugrow, and Eye One.

Now out: In Search of the Lost Taste, a vegan cookbook by Joshua Ploeg. I art-directed and designed this half-recipes/half-adventure/sci-fi/fantasy novella with cover illustration by comic maestro Aaron Renier and interior illustrations by the mighty overlord Nate Beaty.

Joshua was the singer of some of the best West Coast weirdo hardcore bands around including Mukilteo Fairies and Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live and is a an amazing itinerant vegan chef.

More as soon as I get some in my greedy little hands… the book is available via the publisher, Microcosm.

The PDX Film Fest is an annual celebration of experimental and documentary cinema in its eighth year. Pinball did a rad job of printing the usual selection of  promotional materials I designed for the 2009 festival.

The line up features:
– a 100% recycled scout book with a chipboard exterior and 32 blank interior pages, printed in a Hot Pink Pantone soy ink.
– a program booklet with a Classic Crest 80# cover printed in a stunning combination of Turquoise and Hot Orange Pantone soy ink, and an interior of Quinault 70# Text.
– a 3-color poster on Environment 100# Text, printed in Hot Pink, Hot Orange and Turquoise Pantone soy ink.
– filmmaker passes and tickets printed in Hot Pink Pantone soy ink on chipboard. 

I just finished up the festival intro animation bumper with Trevor Sias- 3D ambient sickness which I will post here after the Fest is underway.

I also designed a tote bag for this year’s Fest in lieu of the usual tee shirts. Photos once I get samples in hand.

Check out the Film Fest’s offerings May 6-10 at the Clinton Street Theater and Gallery Homeland!

My new shirt for Tokyo Art Beat is now available in their shop. The elusive custom green and pink colorway pictured above is available only at Beams T in Japan.

Copious amounts of new projects for print and web added in to the appropriate sections on here, as well as some older pieces that haven’t been made public as of yet.

Typeface and lettering design reproduced in the catalog for Alphabet. Official press release:

Focusing on an ordinary subject that we see each day, often by the hundreds of thousands, Alphabet presents 26 letters as more than just shapes for conveying information. The 51 artists and designers in this show conceive and interpret the alphabet in surprising and inventive ways, ranging from graceful and polished to witty and unconventional. The 63 alphabets featured in Alphabet were created by artists in North America, Europe, and Asia, and represent work from well-known typographers and designers as well as rising artists and design students.

The alphabets in the exhibition reflect a range of thinking about letters that encompasses the conceptual, illustrative, typographic, and beyond. Some of the artists have created their alphabets from a variety of non-traditional media or found objects, while others render their forms with pen and ink in obsessive detail. By presenting each alphabet removed from the context of words and typography, we focus on these 26 shapes as forms unto themselves rather than just the building blocks of words. The alphabets in the exhibition (all received through an open call) are shown dissected into their base elements–A through Z–freeing the artists and designers from the confines of legibility. At the same time, they are challenged to expand the experiment (usually created only to form a single word or image) into a complete system that goes beyond a short headline, the realm to which such experimentation is usually relegated.

Alphabet opened in Baltimore in conjunction with the city’s 2005 Artscape festival, and is traveling nationally through 2009. Alphabet was curated by Post Typography and organized by Artscape.

After traveling around the United States for the past three and a half years, the Post Typography-curated, Artscape organized show, Alphabet: An Exhibition of Hand-Drawn Lettering & Experimental Typography is returning to Baltimore in April.

Alphabet will be on display at Baltimore’s Current Gallery from April 3 – 26 with a reception the evening of April 10. The exhibition presents alphabets created by 51 international artists and designers, from well-known typographers to rising artists and design students. Alphabet opened in Baltimore in conjunction with the city’s 2005 Artscape festival, and is traveling nationally through 2009.

Current Gallery
30 South Calvert Street
Baltimore Md 21202

We’ve been cranking away on a number of web design projects as of late.

Just launched:

The brand spanking new Lullatone website. We worked extra-hard with Shawn and Yoshimi to realize their vision of how they want their band and sound design business to appear online. Print identity in the works, as well.

Also new:

Website launched for Tokyo-based WIFM Magazine, a bilingual publication that targets the most discerning of Tokyo’s populace. WIFM is published quarterly.

Tuesdays 19 May – 21 July
19:10-21:00

I will be teaching a ten-week intensive introductory typography seminar at Temple University Japan

All About Typography teaches the connotations of type & typography: the visual reading of language.

The class is an in-depth look at typography (designing with fonts) for both beginners and experienced practitioners. The class is a working examination of Western typography including lectures on type history, type classification, and contemporary practice. Practical exercises, as well as in-class critiques will help broaden students’ understanding of typography practically and critically.

All About Typography’s syllabus is based on a handful of proven typographic education projects developed by design faculty from the best graphic design departments in the world: Yale, CalArts, London College of Printing, and Cranbrook.

The class will conduct projects to explore typographic expression, learn correct typesetting practices, and increase design acumen: how to say things clearly with graphic design.

The class will host guest lectures by some of Japan’s top graphic designers.

The class is Mac-based, but will apply equally to PC-based environments.

Course reading:
Thinking with Type, Ellen Lupton
Assorted handouts

More information:
www.tuj.ac.jp/cont-ed

The past two weeks have seen both Craig Mod and the AQ crew lecture the web design class I teach at Temple University. Thanks, Craig, Chris, Paul, and Eiko!

My commercial typefaces are now available through Plazmfonts.

Yacht? Yacht!

New tour shirts for 31 Knots European Tour in the Apparel section. New identity for SEPTAP, the Special Education PTA of Portland in the Identity section.

My typeface Rubber Vloeren is now being distributed by Linotype.

I’ve been working with friend and producer Ryotaro Bordini Chikushi to create these new sweatshirts. The prototypes came in recently:

The garments are a custom cut by current Rehare fashion director/former Issey Miyake fashion director Erika Ohashi. They feature a typographic pattern that I curated and designed. The concept behind the pattern is “World Peace”. Ryo got a number of popular designers from all over the world to contribute the word “peace” in their particular written language system, which I then wove into a roll pattern. The contributing designers:

• Stefan Sagmeister – Latin 
• Alexander Gelman – Russian 
• Oded Ezer – Hebrew 
• Behrouz Hairiri – Farsi 
• Ahn Song-Soo – Korean 
• Da Wang – Chinese 
• Dai Nippon Type Organization – Japanese

The sweaters will go on sale this spring, limited to 1,000 pieces worldwide for men and women. You can read more about the project here.

Supergraphic for Cafe Pause‘s 5th Anniversary, taken from the recent tea tin labels, are now up at the Cafe in Ikebukuro.

New tea tin packaging is out for Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro.

Just finished the “Tokyo Fashion & Inspiration Handbook Tokyo 2009” for Five By Fifty for Pret a Porter 2009. The Handbook includes introductions, maps and essays about five of the most inspiring places in Tokyo.

Just launched: the freshly redesigned Rap-Up.com.

Some old typefaces are in the Type Design section now, as well.

The fine folks over at Pinball Publishing just posted an interview with me for their awesome company blog, CoinOp. Thanks, Laura!

Just completed a brand spanking new website for Nicole Fall, co-founder of urban safari company Bespoke Tokyo and trend analysis & market research agency Five By Fifty. Five by Fifty will be representing Tokyo this year at Prêt à Porter Paris.

Home after a month-plus jaunt across the U.S.

I was lucky to be included in Scion’s latest Installation art tour and was flown out for Miami Art Basel along with all of the other artists on the tour. The opening was really nice and I met a ton of really interesting folks as well as seeing some old friends. Thanks very much to Ray and Karen for inviting me to be on the tour and making it all happen. I appreciate it very much. Thanks to Ray, Acme, TTJ, Patrick, Yem, Codak and Skypage for ferrying me around Miami. You guys rule.

The tour will be stopping in Phoenix, DC, Minneapolis, NYC, San Jose, Philly, PDX, and LA. Check out the schedule here.

I got to design the eighth in Pinball Publishing’s designer card series recently and they came off the press the other day. Hot pink and lime green soy inks on recycled white cardstock with rounded corners. More pics soon!

The text from the brief for my recent workshop at Pacific Northwest College of Art following my lecture to the senior undergraduate students:

“A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist.”

-R. Buckminster Fuller

The city of the Future needs to be peopled with utopian citizens, humans seeking to realize their ultimate potential in the utopian city.

As the graphic designers of the future operating at the crossroads of culture in the city of tomorrow, what other cultural roles will you incorporate into your Utopian City/Self? 

We will work together to create and illustrate aspects of a collective, modular potential citizenry of the future. We will be projecting ourselves into the future to design our ultimate selves of tomorrow.

The students, the instructor Pete McCracken, and I worked together to create a modular poster/supergraphic utilizing analog processes. It was really fun.
Thanks to Pete, Paul, and the radical PNCA participants!

The Meeting Modernity series of found photographs is the focus of Néojaponisme’s first traveling exhibition.

Recently unearthed outside of the city of Sano in Tochigi-ken, this series of pictures documents Japan as it engaged with modernization and commercial photography in the Meiji and Taishō Periods. The series is comprised of portrait photography in particular.

The exhibition makes it’s sophomore appearance at Reading Frenzy, a small press emporium and gallery in Portland, Oregon (kitty-corner from Powell’s Books) on this very Thursday. Meeting Modernity is accompanied by a trio of essays by Ian Lynam, W. David Marx, and Matt Treyvaud reflecting the collection of photographs, the history of Japanese photography, commercial art, and Japanese society.

A limited edition of full-color Meeting Modernity postcard sets from the previous exhibition in Los Angeles’ Young Art will be available at Reading Frenzy.

MEETING MODERNITY
January 8–February 1 2009

Opening Reception: Thursday January 8, 2009 6–9pm

More: Reading Frenzy 921 SW Oak St. Portland, OR 97205 If you are in Portland, we heartily encourage you to visit the exhibition.

In other news…

I have an essay that I wrote and design in the latest issue of Idea Magazine about the current state of logo design. The issue is titled “How does graphic design CHANGE?“.

Probably the last post of 2008. New work added in Print + Product: boombox & packaging design for Rap-Up and Lasonic’s limited edition ghetto blaster and a one-off skateboard for Lesque. New in Apparel: an old shirt for Point Line Plane.

Also, James Chae interviewed me for Graphic Hug here.

For December, the final month of 2008, Néojaponisme has only been running “2008: The Year in Review” mini pieces, covering various topics from the year that is/was. Within, we discuss the finer points of Japan’s economy, political system, pop culture, and technological progress!

If you happen to be in Sundance country in less than a month, go peep The Clone Returns Home, directed by Kanji Nakajima, executive produced by Wim Wenders, produced by the wondrous Hikari, and graphic design by myself. Hikari and I just returned from a wondrous international sojourn across borders and deadlines to bring the film an updated name and identity informed by JAXA’s early identity explorations as much as Dutch Modernism. If you are in town, GO SEE THE MOVIE! You’ll be pleasantly surprised – it’s in a similar vein to Paris, Texas‘ rheumy/rummy displacement combined with Cha No Aji‘s timing. I’m super-duper-amped to be associated with this film in one fashion or another. I love work from the dawn of sci-fi and this film carries that torch unabashedly while being wide-eyed and beautiful and wholly original. The cinematography is insane and I was happy to give it the graphic workup it so needed.

Someone went and got twin tattoos of the logo I designed for Yacht! Other folks have gotten tattoos of other band logos and artwork I’ve done, but this is the first photographic evidence in the past few years. Good stuff.

I’ll be hanging/working at Grasshut for the next two days from noon thru 7PM. Come on down and chat me up if you are in town. They still have a handful of my sold-out books for sale and I’m happy to sign one for you if you pop in and pick one up.

Also, new boombox/ghetto blaster for Rap-Up available now! Photos once I get them!

The date of the PNCA lecture and workshop has been changed to the 11th of December. That’s tomorrow. If you want in, show up at PNCA Commons at 3PM.

Some new work has been added: the print identity for Néojaponisme and the postcard set for Meeting Modernity.

I will be in Portland for the better part of the month, as well as half of January.

Just finished:  website for Seattle-based film production company, Cross Films. They are the proud parents of Cooper.

I’ll be giving a lecture and doing a design workshop with Pete McCracken’s BFA design seminar class at Pacific Northwest College of Art on December 16.

Just launched: the new and improved website! There’s a bunch of new work in here and a number of older pieces have been edited out. Ninja coding skills by the inimitable Paul Sather helped bring this puppy to life, as did expert photography by the unstoppable Jeremy Lanig. Thanks to both of these fine, fine gentlemen!

As of this week I’ve joined Temple University Japan as adjunct graphic design faculty. Pretty exciting stuff.

Below are a number of publications I had design work published in over the last year or so. I’ve had a stack piling up and sweet-talked a certain guy into shooting them for me last week.

Onward and upward…

I was interviewed in the inaugural issue of the Task Newsletter along with a bunch of other emigrés.

I have a number of logos I designed featured and analyzed with expert care in the Rockport book Really Good Logos Explained.

Artwork for Wieden + Kennedy’s new book W+K Tokyo Lab Tokyo Ten. I worked on the Hifana “Disconnect” video included on the DVD.

Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein of Klein Dytham architecture, clients extraordinaire, are on the cover of Axis Magazine at present… and lo and behold, Mark’s wearing the shirt I designed for them.

A collaborative project by Edith Abeyta and Judith Thissen part of the CO-OPs program initiated by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) seeking to understand the processes of commercialization in the cultural field by launching an art beer. The brewery and atelier is located at the University of Utrecht. Robert Tower is the brewer.

My collaborative beer sleeve that was designed and conceptualized with Michael Gentleman was featured in the exhibition and exhibition catalog.

Néojaponisme was given a glowing writeup in Theme Magazine a while ago. Our writing and design got the thumbs up. Whew!

Step Magazine gave my book Parallel Strokes a really nice write-up.

I had a few work samples printed in the Laurence King title One Hundred @ 360.

I had my Tokyo.Future video featured in Grafik Magazine’s article on QOOB.

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.

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.

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.

The holidays are the best time for catching up on unfinished projects and getting around to things like updating websites. A number of new pieces of work have been added to the Print, Publication, Web, Apparel, and Identity sections. Projects include an identity for Tokyo-based writer Jean Snow’s production company M31; the art direction and design of the monograph Pecha Kucha Night: A Celebration for Klein Dytham architecture (along with apparel, event, and print design); tee shirts for AFI; a poster for Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro; and a website for San Francisco photographer John Mullin.
Not included in the update but coming soon: a website for former PingMag editor Uleshka, a number of RFP projects for Nike SE Asia, identity for NY/LA film production company HKM, identity for Portland film production company Field Office, a CD for Marxy, and a lot more.
It was a good quarter for writing and getting work published. I have a few projects featured in the new monograph One Hundred at 360°, was interviewed in Task, had work in Grafik and Territory magazines, and a few other places. The first installment of a new 3-part visual essay I did is up at Néojaonisme about the year 1974. An interview withUnderware was posted there recently, as well. Art direction, illustration, and editing remains a weekly effort. I urge you to spend some time there. We have a number of amazing articles coming up including work by Amos Klausner, E*Rock, David Schafer, and others. The supplementary print version will be released in the upcoming year, as well.
And speaking of print projects….

Feature on LePigeon in the New York Times. It’s a really great feeling to see your work in established places like the Grey Lady. My biggest hope when I started designing was to be able to help shape visual culture for interesting independent clients, and it’s great to see it working.

New article up on Neojaponisme interviewing typographic masermind Jens Gehlhaar.
I made some fiery background movies for YACHT‘s live shows- go see him in your town!
Finished a RFP broadcast redesign for GOOD magazine recently- only certain parts are being used so far, but hopefully more in the future!

I started a little record label a few months ago. It is called Mold. The first release is a 7 inch record by Craig Wedren (of Shudder To Think) and E#Vax (of Ratatat). It is on splattered green vinyl with an etching on the B-side. It is a limited edition of 300, 200 of which are now gone (primarily here in Tokyo- surprise!). Releases by YACHTand E*Rock are forthcoming.

Just updated with a bunch of work from the last six months. Added a mini Motion section that will be added to in time. Waiting for a few things to be released first.
Neojaponisme just launched. It is a new online magazine edited byDavid Marx, Jean Snow, and myself. It will be a regular compendium of writing on culture, history, and design, as well as featuring new work by artists and illustrators. I’ll be making editorial graphics/illustrations regularly, as well, and it’s been great so far- a series of same-size illustrations using the same color palette and deconstructed typography. Those will start rolling out tomorrow with a series of articles.
The Alphabet show will be opening soon at Cooper Union in New York. Info:
Houghton Gallery, 2nd Floor
7 East 7th Street at 3rd Avenue
New York NY
October 11 through 27, 2007
Gallery Hours: Weekdays 11am-7pm, Saturday 12pm-5pm
Opening: Thursday, October 11, 6-8pm

Still never gonna be able to update. It’s like Struggle Inc. up in here!
Just finished the identity for Nke SB Films, who are about to drop their first release, Nothing But the Truth– the most anticipated skate film since Yeah Right.
Also, congratulations to LePigeon for being chosen as the top restaurant in the Pacific Northwest by Bon Appetit magazine!
Recently completed this video for WKTokyoLab’s instrumental hiphop duo Hifana, as well as contributing to the packaging/identity design for the “Connect” CD+DVD.
Thanks to Charlotte, Simon, Matt, and Simon for a rad stay in the UK!! Whooo!

Never going to be be able to update!!
I posted a bunch of new video work here. It includes all of the PDX Film Fest videos, including the web debut of the 2007 bumper, and a PSA for GOOD Magazine on Electronic Waste.
In progress: identity for Nike, mini-documentaries for GOOD Magazine, Rap-Up’s latest issue, identity for Robin Frank Management, websites for Indecent Exposure, Shine Advertising and Cardinal Communications, as well as a bunch of other stuff…
I am currently designing a certain design and cultural criticism publication that will be launching shortly, as well. More on that in a week or two.

Too busy to update still. The former Beautiful/Decay font is now the house font for YACHT, one of my favorite musicians in Portland. I made an identity suite for him recently including a fancy insignia, the typeface, and some other goodies to be revealed later on down the road. 
Finishing up this year’s Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Fest stuff now… go see the shows!!!

Busy busy busy. Proper update won’t happen for a while- big things going on. New article here.

New motion piece up here. I did sound for the “Love” piece, as well.

Kyle Evan Lynam R.I.P. You are missed.

I had a type design experiment, a bit of writing, and some work I designed published recently in the book 30 Essential Typefaces for a Lifetime. I can’t really vouch for the book, as I haven’t seen a copy, yet, but I hope so. Cyrus Highsmith, Akira Kobayashi, Wolfgang Weingart, Matthew Carter, and Josh Berger all have writing in there, as well, so I have high hopes that it’s rad.

In Sapporo for the Snow Festival. Just amazing.

Graniph just released my first sweatshirt design for them- a vintage-feel weathered velour pullover crewneck with a gold and black embroidered crest on the chest. Hot, hot, hot.

Just finished a music video for O. Lamm, whose new album just came out on Audio Dregs. E*Rock is on tour, so the video won’t go up on their site for a while. For the folks who actually check out this site on occasion, I have posted it here.

New article up over on PingMag titled “Toward Design Literacy:Essential Graphic Design Literature”.
Also, two new fonts of mine are available via Wordshape. The first is called Inversion and the second is called Vorganger Grotesk. Both are revivals of old German lettering.

New article up on PingMag about the life and times of Dutch design rocker Harmen Liemburg.
Garage Gear’s women’s line added to apparel section.

It appears that FontShop’s last issue of Font Magazine has 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.
Work-wise, doing a number of shirts for Velvet Revolver and some identity projects in the works.

Happy New Year! Looking forward to exciting stuff in the New Year.
Just finished up a rasher of apparel graphics for Meat Loaf and cooking up some other fun stuff.
I was just interviewed over at Portland’s fashion/style/culture blogUltra.

From Fontshop’s latest e-newsletter:
MADE WITH FONTFONT: THE BOOK
“Made with FontFont”, edited by FontShop co-founder Erik Spiekermann and Dutch writer-designer Jan Middendorp, showcases the history and influence of the award-winning foundry. The book is replete with real-world examples of FontFonts in use, from high-profile ad campaigns for big automakers and fast food giants to iconic poster designs for the Tyson/Tubbs heavyweight battle in Tokyo and New York’s Shakespeare in the Park.
“Made with FontFont” includes art and articles by Strange Attractors, John D. Berry, Peter Bilak, Neville Brody, Susanna Dulkinys, Eboy, Rian Hughes, Max Kisman, Akira Kobayashi, LettError, Ellen Lupton, Ian Lynam, Martin Majoor, Albert-Jan Pool, Paula Scher, Christian Schwartz, Nick Shinn, Fred Smeijers, Studio Dumbar, and xplicit.
“Made with FontFont” is a companion to “FiFFteen”, an exhibition celebrating FontFont and FUSE. The show has been traveling internationally, with previous stops including Barcelona, Berlin, Helsinki, London, and New York. “FiFFteen” will open in Los Angeles in the spring.

This weird string of apparel items for dead Beatles continues… new shirts for Geaorge Harrison in the Apparel section. Bizarro.
A new article up on PingMag about the life and times of designer Sean Tejaratchi and his clip art zine, Crap Hound.

New issue of Rap-Up on newsstands now and in the Periodical section. New tee shirt collections for the Beatles and John Lennon, as well as one more for the Dirtbag. Garage Gear women’s line dropping shortly.

I just finished an article for Ping about LOST, an amazing Los Angeles graffiti zine and about some aspects of L.A. graffiti that intrigue me. I am particularly interested in the influence of blackletter (often called Old English in the U.S.) lettering on L.A. graffiti. The article includes a world premiere film about the work of Atlas CBS, a highly influential and active L.A. writer. Due to the volume of information covered, Ping is using an edited version of the article. The full-length version is here.

4 new Garage Gear shirts added to Apparel section and a sampling of the Motorola iRadio genres design added to the Identity section.

Gocco print done for the Wurst’s I Heart Gocco show is featured front and center in Jill Bliss’ Gocco article in the inaugural issue ofCraft Magazine, published by the folks who publish Make magazine.

Identity for Portland clothing boutique Yes aded to Identity section. Just did a graphic for Digiki’s latest Polypunk, as well.

Five new shirts for Japanese clothing boutique chain/line Graniph are in the apparel section, as is a new shirt for Paul Stanley. The new Rap-Up is at the printer, and many projects are afoot!

Just finished this interview with Chris Duncan (Keepsake Society/Hot+Cold) for PingMag.
Developing identities for Gus Van Sant’s new feature film, “Paranoid Park” and for his new film production company, Tsetse Fly Film Co. Those logos have been added to the logo subsection of the Identity section. New shirts for Paul Stanley (KISS) added to apparel. New shirts for Bob Seger in the works. New logo for Entertainment Consumers Association, a video game advocacy group in the logo section.

Long needed, this site re-launches. Loads of new work in here, including a brand spankin’ new poster series for West Seattle Aikikai, fully developed identity system for Portland’s Le Pigeon restaurant including a new site design for them, as well as an extranet for the press, identity design for Garage Gear clothing, apparel graphic for Dirtbag Clothing, and more! A ton of new stuff in the works, as well. Identity design for Yes, an indie clothing boutique in Portland, apparel graphics for Barbra Streisand’s upcoming world tour (!), some stuff for Alice Cooper, identity design for Portland’s Renegade Food Club, and some new business cards for David Schafer.

The new issue of Rap-Up just hit newsstands. It has been added to the publication design section. New shirts for Sanrio posted in the Apparel section, as well.

New identity pieces posted for Bodhi Vela Cole and Le Pigeon. 

New article for Ping Mag up here.

New shirts for KISS posted, as well as shirts for The Cult in the apparel section. Recently finished redesigning Rap-Up’s new website.

Just finished up a website for amazing Portland/LA fine artist Anna Fidler. Her work is a mind-blowing adventure into the realms of form and craft. It must be seen in person to be believed. 

Also, new article for Ping Mag up here.

New article for Ping up here. The new issue of Font Magazine, Number 005, is out and features an article I wrote about graffiti. You can obtain a copy for free here.

The PDX Film Fest kicks off tomorrow. The animated bumper has been completed, as has all of the Festival identity materials. All will be posted here soon. 
Check out the Fest schedule here.

More info on the piece for Font here.

New stuff: latest issue of Rap-Up in the publications section, and a brand spankin’ new website for Colleen’s Bistro. 

Coming soon: tee shirts for the newly reformed Cars (sans Ocasek, unfortunately), shirts for Sanrio, apparel collection for Dirtbag, tees for metal phenoms 10 Years, and a ton more…

New York MOMA has acquired the entire Hot and Cold catalog, including the issue of Hot and Cold whose cover I designed, as well as the poster for Issue #7. 

New article for Ping up here.

Recently completed: identity design for Fever Films, a division of Canada’s largest film production company, Avion. The print work won’t be up here for a bit, but check their site here. They are really great at what they do, and severely nice folks, to boot! (If a client gives you the kind of unrequested shoutout as they did in their News section [discovered as I was typing this!], then you are a very happy designer.

Newly written and published in Tokyo’s PingMag: an interview with Akira Kobayashi, designer of FF Clifford and author of the best book on Western typography that you’ve never read.

Rubber Vloeren is now being distributed by Plazm, as well as Wordshape. The Fever Films ID work is up now, as well.

New logos up in the logo section for The Cult, 03 Cafe, Persona, Royal Cheapskate Clothing, Edith Abeyta’s show “Seems Familiar”, and the Expressions Art Festival.

I have some work up in a new show: I Heart Gocco at Half and Half, 923 SW Oak Street, in lovely Portland, Oregon. The show was curated by Jason Sturgill and his super-rad Wurst Gallery. It’s a Valentine and Gocco-themed show. A series of 50 signed and numbered three-color prints for the show are available through the Wurst.

I would like to formally announce that Wordshape, my new type foundry, is officially open. The first three releases are revivals of historical typefaces that I have finished over the past few years. A few new designs by myself and others will be released later this year, as well as some apparel and a few secret projects in the works. 
The coaster set that I designed for the Tenth and Grant product line is now available from their website, as well. They are printed on thick, 100% post-consumer recycled paper in 3 colors with soy inks. Each set contains 8 coasters each of 2 different patterns (16 coasters total) in custom die-cut packaging. The coaster patterns are inspired by European geometric patterns and Japanese illustrations from the 1950s and 1960s.
Recent type design project added for Bon Appetit Magazine.

Happy New Year! A passle of new work up here: apparel graphics for Billy Joel, a website for Dry-shod, and the new issue of Rap-Up is on newsstands now. 
Related: typeface design for Hofstra University that I helped Mr. Sloan out with a while ago. Also, some work I did was published in this fancy, naughty little book.

Two new websites launche d: ThoughtLab and Kilauea. 
Added: apparel collection for Royal Cheapskate in LA and apparel graphics for metal band Taproot. 
Some writing of mine will be published in the catalog for FIFTEEN, FontFont’s celebration of 15 years of existence as a type foundry. 
I will also be curating a section of the next issue of Font Magazine wi th Wesley Wong on graffiti and typography.

It only took three and a half years for the leopard to get an update.

Just launched: website for Grow. 
ID design for Grow, as well as their promotional book added to both Publication and Identity sections. 
I am currently developing a series of custom stationery sets, coasters, and datebook/organizers with Pinball Publishing for their new product line Tenth and Grant. I am very excited about the outcome.
I currently have work in The Zine Unbound: Kults, Werewolves, and Sarcastic Hippies at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco that is open from October 7 to December 30 curated by Hot and Cold.