my open door.net » Design beyond school

Let Your Geek Flag Fly

opendoordesign — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:07:41 +0000

Sure, I admit it. I am a type geek and I don’t care who knows it. I get turned on by the angle of a nice italic, or the graceful curve of a well-drawn serif.

If you’re a geek too, or even a geek-in-training, you should Fonts.com and its great articles on typography. There are articles on geeky topics like small caps, arabesques, and discretionary ligatures. It’s run by Monotype Imaging, the brand that started with hot metal back in 1887.

Besides technical articles, you can find typefaces from many foundries organized by category or designer. There’s even a series of questions that will help you identify a font by sight.

Milton Glaser Documentary

opendoordesign — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:02:46 +0000

Get down to the Knoxville Museum of Art to see the Knoxville premier of this film about an important American designer and illustrator. Also, I’ll be giving away a copy of one of Glaser’s books.

Wednesday, Sept. 23rd, 7:00 – 9:00 pm, KMA Auditorium
Student AIGA Members: $3
Professional AIGA Members: $6
Non-AIGA Members: $10

Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser’s personal life and capture his immense warmth, humanity and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

Think Tank conference

opendoordesign — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:57:06 +0000

The AIGA Think Tank regional conference is coming up this Saturday in Nashville. It’s a great opportunity for design students to meet up and learn more about their profession. Any students may go, though it’s cheaper to join AIGA first. If you’re already a member the cost is only $25 for the conference. Register online to go, and e-mail me or AIGA President Angie Hardison to carpool down for the day.

All we want to do is eat your brain. Is that a problem?

opendoordesign — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:10:09 +0000

If you share my concern about the high number of undead applicants competing in the job market with our graduates, you’ll be interested in my upcoming lecture. It offers practical advice for dealing with this growing problem. The lecture will be followed by a screening of Sean of the Dead. All humans are welcome.

Zombie Job Hunting
Wednesday, April 29
5:30 pm, Koi Fusion Restaurant

Uncle Miltie at the Movies

opendoordesign — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:51:06 +0000

When I was an art student twenty or so years ago, a good friend of mine was a huge Bob Dylan fan. Ronnie Sweenie had this giant poster in his room. It was a big psychedelic drawing of Bob Dylan. In this magnificent poster, Dylan’s hair—is transformed into a garden of hippie delights. Sometime later I learned the poster was the work of Milton Glaser. The Milton Glaser. Pushpin studios. Album covers. Hello? I (Heart) New York? Glaser’s technical pen drawings with flat coloring book fills say: “Here’s line and color. Here’s a drawing. But think about the idea behind it, because that’s the real point, isn’t it?” Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight is a film that premiers May 22nd in New York City and June 19th in San Francisco. An Intern named Aaron Hui contacted me about it, and I’m happy to help publicize a film about one of the most important American designers and illustrators of the 20th century. If you find yourself in New York or San Francisco, do check out the premeire. If you, like me, are out in the hinterlands, stay tuned for more information on this exciting flick. And while you’re at it, e-mail Aaron and tell him we want a DVD!

Pellissippi’s new AIGA student group

opendoordesign — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:06:49 +0000

It’s official—twenty-six Pellissippi State design students are now part of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. These energetic design students recruited members, met, elected officers, and have made themselves into the new AIGA student group here at Pellissippi. They’re planning an off-campus screening of Helvetica, and are helping out with Showcase. Check out their new blog.

Found Typography Exercise

opendoordesign — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:21:12 +0000

My Typography students have been out with their cameras looking for interesting letterforms. They’ve uploaded their best examples to Flickr, and here are the results.

Nashville road trip!

opendoordesign — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:33:40 +0000

The Dish student design conference in Nashville is February 5–7, and it’s organized by my friend Noel Lorsen at MTSU, and you should all go. I took a carload of students last year—we had a great time, got some nice swag, met some cool design students, and did some networking at design studios in Nashville. Codelia Norris says she’s driving down anyway, and is looking for a couple of others to go along. I don’t want to post her email here, but you can reach her through Facebook, or by emailing me with a message I can pass along. Wish I could go, but I can’t put off my tenure proposal any longer.

Blogging a Renewed Neighborhood

opendoordesign — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:37:03 +0000

Yesterday I lunched with David Fox, an old classmate of mine from Cranbrook. We caught up on the past 20 years, and he invited my help on an axciting new project called Green Magnolia. David’s an architecture prof at UT with an interest in inner city redevelopment. He’ll have UT architecture students work with Austin-East High School students to re-envision their neighborhood, and then begin rebuilding it. I’ll be working with Melissa Brown and a team of A-E students doing community relations and research.

David’s previous projects in Chattanooga are impressive. Together with contractors, city leaders, and Howard High School, David taught students how to re-imagine their neighborhood on South Market Street. Over seven years the Urban Program in Sustainable Design Education designed and built eight houses in Chattanooga. It’s one thing to dream up redevelopment, but quite another to get stuff built. David and his students got the job done.

I believe in redeveloping older neighborhoods, and I’m excited about the project. We’ll use blogging, video, photography, and interviews to get students excited about the possibilities in their neighborhood. East Knoxville is a beautiful neighborhood that has been neglected for too long. If things work out Green Magnolia will have students re-imagining their own neighborhood with cameras, pencils, and keyboards within a few weeks. Stay tuned!

clean type is godly type

opendoordesign — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:53:23 +0000

Brock Litton turned me onto the funniest site about typography I’ve ever seen. It’s the home of Max Kerning, a fastidious neat freak in a yellow sweater. Max uses all-white environment to declare the moral purity of clean, well-spaced type when he’s not using a lint roller or vacuum cleaner. Like any overbearing intellectual, he comes with his own manifesto suitable for downloading, passing out to clients, or nailing to the door of your local design school.

I’m sure Max will develop a following among younger designers resurrecting the flush left, sans serif, grid-based modernity that designers of my generation tried to kill off. After all, clean type is Godly type, and anyone who doesn’t see that is, how you say, an idiot.

Update: After a few days I’ve noticed the site has added a photo of a briefcase. Click on it and you’ll see the site is a viral campaign for Extensis suitcase.