Jazzed in NOLA

I'm back to blogging with my first post in over 2 years - too, too long. All good since this will start me off right - my trip to New Orleans for both business and pleasure. It's been over 10 years since I've been and let me just say, I'm forever inspired. The agency I work for, momentum, held a creative summit there during the same time my kids' spring break took place. Packed up the whole family and drove 700 miles down. Here's some highlights:

A behind the scenes tour of some parade floats




Can't pass up a stop at the voodoo store - pure visual joy!



And a stop at the world famous Hansen's Sno-Bliz



And an awe-inspiring performance by Glen David Andrews

Science Guys

The past three weeks have been all about investigation, discovery and analysis. No, we're not ridding our home of pests (although that process would surely fall under scientific study). Rather, we've been hard at work putting together our first Science Fair project - How Does Mass Affect Distance of a Catapulted Object? Honestly, second-grade science has taught me a thing or two: mass in grams is not the same as weight in pounds (and it's extremely hard to find a proper scale to weigh something less than 1 gram); no matter what the object is being catapulted, you need a very long, flat surface to calculate your results or the object will vanish into cracks and crevasses we'd rather not retrieve from; and as much as we would have liked to use those big 3 and 4 inch foil balls, they don't fit into a film canister lid glued to a jumbo stick at a 20° angle. All and all, a fun process for my son and myself. He worked really hard and stuck it out until the very end (staying up late was probably his favorite part). And now that he's brought home a blue ribbon, we couldn't be prouder. Onward to districts and hopefully metro (did I just say that?) UPDATE 3.12.09: District Blue Ribbon Winner!

Ten Things

I'm preparing yet another presentation for the AIGA Student Conference here next week. Ten Things I've Learned From My Second-Grader compares the trials and tribulations of growing up in a creative household to those of eager students waiting to embark on a very important life journey. This snippet is a work-in-progress of the opening title sequence and intro segment for lesson no.10 - collaboration - and the need to surround yourself with positive influencers, thought leaders and those you'd like to learn from. Now on to the other nine.

Mr. President

My son, Clark, who'll be 6 in April, wrote a letter to President Obama. "He's running for the White House, dad, and won." Very observant young democrat.

Hand Out

I recently spoke to a group of junior/senior graphic design students at my alma mater. I presented to the AIGA St. Louis community late spring commemorating my Fellow Award honor and would retool the presentation for this audience. This was somewhat exciting considering I graduated there 20 years ago. The presentation theme was about my creative path, in general, how I veered off and started new paths, and followed paths that would lead to new opportunities. For obvious reasons, I used my hand as the dominant visual but incorporated the language of palm reading as a metaphor. Needless to say, the poster was a hit and now a template for future presentation promotions.

Weed & Feed

If anyone out there has any question that Missouri is a swing state - look no further. When our second-grader came home from school with his 'political action' poster and we saw that great footnote at the bottom, I realized these commercials and radio spots impact more than just mom and dad!

I Heart NY

We recently returned from an incredible trip to NYC. Many sites to see, restaurants to dine and things to buy. What I find most fascinating about this city is access to anything almost 24/7 and the fact that New Yorkers pretty much know everything there is to know about everything. I see a future for our son, Reid, here someday!

Hello, Fellow

Tomorrow night I'm being honored by the local chapter of the AIGA. I've been working for weeks on my presentation, created in Keynote - an incredible program by my standards. I'll try to post some samplings later. I've shared it with a few colleagues who were stunned to learn I used Keynote and not Flash - I guess that reinforces what I've been saying all along: "you can teach an old dog new tricks." Many revelations have come from producing this presentation - it's sort of a retrospect of my career and the path I took (or didn't in some cases) to get where I am today - resulting in why I've been given such an honor. The presentation lasts about 25 minutes and at the end there's a sequence of the many logos I created over the last 20 years. If you've worked in Keynote to achieve such a sequence you have to layer every logo on top of the other and plug in the seconds for fade in, fade out, etc. This beautiful collage came from that sequence. We'll be using in some new promotions soon...

Comp Time 2

We recently produced a 110-page (french-fold 55 leaf) book comp in one day! Created for an incredible man, chancellor emeritus William H. Danforth of Washington University in St. Louis, it features letters he wrote to the University community every Thanksgiving from 1974-1995. I quickly documented how we assembled the book throughout the day/night. It's the largest comp we ever created in the shortest amount of time and it's a great object we love to hold (but not too much - after a few months and many hands, it's slowly falling apart!)

Nest is Best

It's been a while since my last post - feverishly working on many exciting projects and one in particular which could have a significant impact on childhood obesity. This diagram, a work-in-progress, shows the connections being made through a collaborative project I led with visual communications seniors at Washington University in Spring '07. The Design School along with the Brown School of Social Work partnered on a creative and social marketing campaign for the Healthy Youth Partnership, a member of the United Way of Greater St. Louis. For an entire semester we researched, interviewed, studied, investigated, brainstormed and presented our findings and strategies regarding childhood obesity, its effects on youth and innovative creative strategies for getting kids to make healthier choices. We connected with a lot of interesting people and hope to form alliances that might never exist if not for this project. My colleague and Brown School practicum student, Stephanie Kilstein, initiated the idea and I'm visually exploring ways it might be realized. I sort of like the egg and nest-like appearance so far. This diagram will be part of a larger case study documenting the collaboration with the goal of securing additional partners to help realize the proposed program. More on this project in future posts.

Guess Who?

I just completed the design of a poster which invites high school students to attend a portfolio review day at a local university. My colleague, DB Dowd, illustrated a set of characters each with their own unique creative trait. I cropped in on them, individually, to pique the interest of the reader as the piece unfolds. This image, in particular, is mysterious in many ways. The poster will print using fluorescent inks.

This Is

"This is Simpson Park (?). And this is the slide and hiking trail. This is the boat and this is where the fishies swim. This is you and the doggy. This is the jungle gym. This is for you, dad." This is beautiful Grace, thank you.

Double Trouble

It's fascinating to watch your child (any child) grow and develop. But with twins, it's a bit more fascinating (that's a nice way of saying incredibly challenging, mystifying and rewarding). Clark and Grace are quite the pair. Extremely connected, yet couldn't be further apart. They were recently separated-Grace now has her own room and Clark shares a bunk with big brother-yet crave to have sleep-overs every weekend. It's a sweet vision until one scratches the others face in a demonic-like rage. The journey continues...

Beak to Beak

Concept sketch for a locally-owned bakery and cafe. The overall brand story revolves around two birds who can't stop talking. We gave the client some starter conversations to build upon, which was fun: "Heads up, the kid at table six dropped his cupcake."; "You've got a poppy seed stuck in your beak."; "Quiche me, I'm yours."; "Forget the worms, baby."; "Early, late, always good." The new brand debuts this fall...more to come.

Wild Onion

Some historians theorize Indians named Chicago after the strong-smelling vegetable, Checagou, but many St. Louisians believe the smell originated in Wrigley Field! The city is an incredible tourist destination as we've gladly contributed to its economic development each summer. We also enjoy visiting our Uncle Dave - a promising architect who chooses the very best places to eat (thanks, Uncle Dave). The Congress Hotel was a good home and our visits to Navy Pier, MCA, Millennium Park and Lincoln Park Zoo were memorable, too. Our must-haves: The Corner Bakery and IKEA.

Comp Time

Like many of my colleagues, I live for creating tiny renditions of my projects (called comps or thumbnail layouts) to share with my co-workers, students and/or clients. These are from a recent project I'm working on for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis - my former employer and current client. The dean was traveling and couldn't attend our concept meeting, so I had Laura model the tiny layouts as well as the full-size paper dummy so he could see how they open and fold. I'm currently in the process of creating a 'hybrid' of these concepts. Gotta love those hybrids!

Wii Had Fun

My friend Bill and his son Josh moved to the twin cities about six years ago. I recently took my oldest son, Reid, for a visit. To put it mildly, this is the ultimate bachelor pad - big screen TVs, dish network/sports 24/7, trampoline, XBox and Wii (I won't mention the not-so-glamorous stuff!). Bill's friend Robert is living there at the moment along with several male animals. We discovered the Wii toward the end of our stay and really never did anything else. Laura and I have always made a point to read, play and create with our kids so our gaming skills are quite low. But after four-six hours of bowling, Reid upset Robert and scored a record 155! Dad may have to rethink what Santa brings this season...
Note: Just after we returned, the tragic bridge accident took place there. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy.