As a strong supporter of higher education, it stinks having to read stories like this.

College: More expensive than ever via CNN

Labels: article, CNN

I was in the process of organizing some old bookmarks, and came across this 2005 Design Observer essay by Michael Beirut. The topic is the Target ClearRx prescription bottle that started as a graduate assignment at the School of Visual Arts.

Although he probably overstates the importance of the bottle redesign, it's still a good piece of writing; and with the inclusion of the comments section, it makes for an interesting read.

Target ClearRx via Design Observer

Labels: article, Design Observer, graphic design, Michael Beirut, redesign, resource, Target

I was sent a copy of this article a few weeks ago as a PDF file, but now that Brand Packaging has added it to their site, I thought I would forward it along.

The article focuses on the recent Tropicana rebranding failure by discussing what went wrong, what we can learn from it, and how to potentially avoid a future rebranding backlash.

What we can learn from Tropicana

Labels: article, graphic design, redesign, resource, Tropicana

Repeat after me...

"Colleges are not trades schools, if you want a trade, become a mechanic."
"The United States is in an economic recession"
"Personal responsibility...accept it."
"There is a 10 percent nationwide unemployment rate"
"Living with your parents and working part-time at SUBWAY is fun."

"Colleges are not trades schools, if you want a trade, become a mechanic."
"The United States is in an economic recession"
"Personal responsibility...accept it."
"There is a 10 percent nationwide unemployment rate"
"Living with your parents and working part-time at SUBWAY is fun."

"Colleges are not trades schools, if you want a trade, become a mechanic."
"The United States is in an economic recession"
"Personal responsibility...accept it."
"There is a 10 percent nationwide unemployment rate"
"Living with your parents and working part-time at SUBWAY is fun."

Alumna sues college

Labels: article, CNN, Monroe College

A nice article from The New York Times that focuses on design legends of varying disciplines, including Charles and Ray Eames and Paul Rand. The article includes a video link for each of the featured designers.

Design-Hero Archives

Image by Vitra, Copyright The New York Times Company.

Labels: Aimee Mullins, article, Charles and Ray Eames, New York Times, Paul Rand, R. Buckminster Fuller, resource, Reyner Banham

British guerrilla and graffiti artist Banksy has just opened a secret exhibition of 100 works at Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery (the artist's hometown).

A nice article with images from the Daily Mail can be viewed at the link below.

Banksy Exhibition

Labels: article, artist, Banksy, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, fine art, museums, video

I thought this was an interesting article about the under-representation of contemporary female artists among prominent museums.

Painting the gender divide via McGill Daily

Labels: article, McGill Daily, Painting the gender divide

A friend sent me this article from the New York Times about recent corporate logo redesigns.

The article implies that the current US recession has directly influenced the trend of softer, happier, more inviting logo treatments. This may in fact be true, but the trend I am more concerned about...naming the individual parts of your logo. "Spark" and "Flavor burst" are pretty sweet, but I would have recommended "Spirit fingers" and "Jazz hands" instead. Unfortunately, I don't have a MBA, so my opinion is virtually worthless when it comes to these decisions.

The Refreshed Logo

Labels: article, graphic design, New York Times, redesign

Opening in December, Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" will feature the first animated black princess in the company's distinguished history. The New York Times has put together an interesting article discussing the cultural significance of the character, as well as early praise and criticism of the film.

Her Prince Has Come. Critics, Too.

(Photo copyright Walt Disney Pictures)

Labels: animation, article, New York Times, The Princess and the Frog, Walt Disney

At least according to Oprah Winfrey — and I have conferred with several reliable soccer moms who have confirmed that Oprah is never wrong. So, you know, that’s awesome for us designers. Yea, us.

Why right-brainers will rule this century

(The Oprah Sarcophagus, by sculptor Daniel Edwards)

Labels: article, Daniel Edwards, Oprah Winfrey, right-brainers

The UK Design Council offers an abundance of really informative design articles, interviews and in-depth explanations on various design disciplines. The organization looks at design as a comprehensive whole: from design education and process through design business and management.

This is a super resource for anyone in the field.

Design Council

Labels: article, design, graphic design, resource, UK Design Council

The Smoking Gun reports that FEMA has removed a children’s coloring book from its web site. The book was illustrated by a 68-year-old grandmother, and was intended to help kids “cope with disasters.” Criticism of the downloadable book stemmed from illustrations depicting the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

What do you think; is this the case of an overly sensitive reaction to criticism, or completely inappropriate judgment by a government agency?

The story and a PDF copy of the book.

Labels: article, coloring book, FEMA, illustration, The Smoking Gun

Apparently computer viruses are now being developed specifically for the Mac — but as of now, “The program infects only computers whose users downloaded pirated versions of the Mac software iWork.”

This is my favorite part of the article:

‘It is in the interest of software companies like Symantec, who spread the news, and McAfee, which has downplayed the presence of the Trojan, to raise concerns so they can promote their antivirus software packages, he said.

“Yes, it is going to become a bigger problem and, yes, people have to become more aware, but I think that what McAfee and Symantec would like is for the panic to start and for people to start rushing to antivirus software,” which isn’t necessary yet, Etherington said.’

Malicious program targets Macs

About the Mac apple pie

Labels: Apple, article, iBotnet virus

In other sports related news, two players from the Washington Nationals wore misspelled jerseys on Tuesday. Majestic Athletic, the company responsible for making the jerseys offered this apology...

“We take 100 percent responsibility for this event and we regret any embarrassment for the Nationals organization, players and fans.”

Oops.

Jersey error

Oh, and if you love you some athletic typos, here’s an article containing a brief history of uniform typos.

Uniform typos

Labels: article, resource

I wanted to post this letter to the NCAA written by Charles Kupchella, President of the University of North Dakota for several reasons: 1. It deals with the significance of logos and identity systems 2. It’s one of the best-written and thought-out letters I’ve ever come across 3. It’s becoming harder to find on the Internet.

The letter is quite lengthy, but a fantastic read. President Kupchella wrote this piece to the NCAA to appeal the claim that their logo is offensive toward Native Americans. In the letter Kupchella defends the university’s sports identity, and seeks continued use of their logo and mascot, the Fighting Sioux.

Open Letter to the NCAA

* Seriously, even if you can’t stand sports, you will appreciate this.

Labels: article, Charles Kupchella, graphic design, NCAA, offensive logo, resource, University of North Dakota

“A picture of an armed sheriff moving through an American home after an eviction due to a mortgage foreclosure was named World Press Photo of 2008 on Friday.

Jury members said the strength of the photo by American Anthony Suau for Time magazine was in its opposites -- it looks like a classic war photograph, but is simply the eviction of people from a house.

“Now war in its classic sense is coming into people’s houses because they can’t pay their mortgages,” jury chair MaryAnne Golon said.”

So the primary reason this image was selected World Press Photo of 2008 was the context that it occurred in an American home, as opposed to some other country — or that the mortgage crisis has become so bad that it can require the assistance of armed police officers? Hmmm…

World Press Photo

Labels: Anthony Suau, article, photography, resource, TIME Magazine

“The Associated Press has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission,” the AP’s director of media relations, Paul Colford, said in a statement.

“We believe fair use protects Shepard’s right to do what he did here,” says Fairey’s attorney, Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University and a lecturer at the Stanford Law School.

What do you think?

AP alleges copyright infringement of Obama image

Labels: article, Copyright Law, resource, Shepard Fairey

While you are most certainly familiar with the characters and stories created by Dr. Seuss, this post goes beyond the well-known work.

I did a bit of digging and discovered interesting links devoted to his personal fine art work, corporate advertisements, political cartoons and a brief article written for mental_floss titled 10 Stories Behind Dr. Seuss Stories...Enjoy.

Dr. Seuss art

Dr. Seuss advertising

Dr. Seuss political cartoons

10 Stories Behind Dr. Seuss Stories

Labels: ad campaign, article, artist, books, Dr. Seuss, fine art, graphic design, mental_floss

Here’s an interesting article from BBC News about Robin McInnes, a coastal engineer that has been studying detailed 19th Century paintings to evaluate coastal growth, change and erosion.

Artistic clues to coastal change

Labels: article, BBC News, fine art

I found this in the New York Times, and thought it was worth sharing.

The article discusses how the economic downturn is affecting museums — specifically older, more established institutions; and how this is compelling several to reevaluate the collections on display, their placement within the museum, and experimenting with making the experience more “people friendly”, as opposed to the lofty separation that museums often establish. There are a few interesting case studies provided, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, pictured above (Photo: Tom Pidgeon).

Museums Look Inward for Their Own Bailouts

Labels: article, Detroit Institute of Arts, museums, New York Times

I recently came across this article from the St. Petersburg Times, which attempts to broach the questions of “what is art?” and “what distinguishes naked from nude?”

The focus of the article is the 1993 Michel Comte photograph of model Carla Bruni. The author seems to jump around a bit trying to define art and nakedness, sourcing several art historical references. While that is all fine and well, it seems to me the larger issue is not the naked vs. nude debate at all, but rather the importance of an image of a well-known model, who, since the time of its creation, has become the First Lady of France.

The author seems somewhat shocked that a photograph estimated to be valued at $4,000, sold for approximately $91,000. The selling price was not due to the pose or photographer, but almost certainly because it is an image with potential cultural and historical value — depending of course upon the outcome of the Sarkosy reign. While the purchase price might be viewed as a risk, the future potential payoff could be phenomenal, as I couldn't imagine the cost of a similar image of Eva Perón or Jackie Kennedy.

I liked that the article touched-on several major philosophical art questions, I’m just not convinced that it fully addresses any of them.

Naked vs. nude

Labels: article, Carla Bruni, fine art, Michel Comte, photography

And by ungood, I mean seriously security flawed. Sure it’s easy to pick on IE because it’s not Mac friendly, visually outdated and is as cool as the cuffed jeans in my high school pictures — but aside from all of that, if you continue to use IE, your passwords may become compromised. Of course you don’t have to take my word for it...

Major Flaw revealed in Internet Explorer

Labels: article, Internet Explorer, mug shot

Here is an interesting article from the current issue of Prospect Magazine about the rise of Contemporary Art prices in recent years, and the subsequent deflation of the contemporary market.

Above is the work of Zhang Xiaogang, a well-known Chinese artist who saw his work appreciate from $1000 in 1999, to $6,000,000 in 2008 — which is great for him, but a crazy 6000% increase over a ten year period.

A Second Tulip Mania

Labels: article, fine art, Zhang Xiaogang

British street artist Banksy has his first official New York exhibition, "pet shop."

The link is to a BBC video profile of the exhibition, which really helps to showcase the underlying theme and also gives the viewer a better understanding of the overall "shop" setting. I have to admit, the hot dog and chicken nugget works are fantastic.

Banksy on BBC

Labels: article, artist, Banksy, fine art, video

I came across this interesting article written by film critic Roger Ebert. “Thank You For Smoking” discusses the recently released Bette Davis postage stamp that features a well-known portrait of Davis — except that the U.S. government had her cigarette edited out.

I like the article for two reasons, one it makes for an interesting debate about current societal values versus fair historical representation; and two, I wonder if there was any hesitation on the part of the artist, Michael Deas, in altering the portrait.

Regardless of your stance on smoking, it’s a good read.

Roger Ebert

Labels: article

I came across this story in the Palo Alto Daily News, and just had to acknowledge it.

Katie Chabolla, a California high school senior, creates joy through art. She volunteers at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and brings happiness to hospital-bound kids by painting them custom designed Vans slip-ons.

Great job, Katie.

Katie Chabolla

Labels: article, artist, Katie Chabolla, shoes

It turns out that lawyers and the Federal Trade Commission don’t like it when you make lots of money while misleading your consumers.

Airborne Health Inc., has agreed to pay $30 million for making false health-benefit claims about their Airborne product. The Consumerist states, Airborne falsely represented its product as a “miracle cold buster,” by citing a study done by a research firm that ABCNews describes as “a two-man operation started up just to do the Airborne study. There was no clinic, no scientists and no doctors.”

Here’s the kicker...while $30 million seems like a substantial settlement, the company claims to sell $300 million worth of the Airborne product each year.

So in summary:
Lie + pretty box + filthy rich = slap on the wrist. Yep, that seems about right.

Airborne False Advertising

Labels: ad campaign, Airborne, article

Well it’s good to be a geek
It’s good to be a creep
It’s good to draw my pictures
that no one will ever see.
It’s good to be a geek
It’s good to be unknown
It’s good I’m never waiting
right beside the telephone
Cuz no one ever...

I play dungeons and dragons
I got a 13th level halfling fighter thief
got seven hit die on my backstab
sometimes you know it’s good to be a geek.
It’s good to be a geek
It’s good to play the freak
It’s good to comb my mullet
once every other week
As far as I can see
It’s good to play the Wii
Then stay up painting miniatures ‘til 2 or 3
Cuz no one ever...

Chorus:
Someday I’ll learn to play guitar
Start up a band and be a star
And when you wind up pumping gas
Just fill ‘er up and kiss my a$$...

~ Deaf Pedestrians

Geek Tattoos

Labels: article, tattoo

Olympic medals for fine artists? Huh, who knew?

Brush with greatness

Labels: article, Olympics

In what might be the worst timing ever for an ad campaign, Greyhound cannot pull its new ads fast enough. Late last week near Winnipeg, a sleeping man was stabbed, beheaded and cannibalized by a fellow bus passenger.

I’m not sure, but it’s possible that some people might view the ad as insensitive, and under the current circumstances, entirely false — that’s just one man’s opinion though.

Greyhound scraps ad

AP Photo/Graeme Roy, The Canadian Press

Labels: ad campaign, article, graphic design

I love when legitimate news organizations try to increase readership with gratuitous stories attempting to be passed off as “news.”

Take for instance this beauty by the folks at NBC. They needed twenty different pictures of super-fit international volleyball ass (and one face), in order to accompany the “gallery story” that consisted entirely of, “Hand signals are frequently used by beach volleyball players to communicate to their partners. The signals -- one or two fingers down, closed fist, etc. -- generally let their partner know who should attempt a block at the net on their opponents’ return.”

Just once, I’d love to see them write what they actually mean:

Hi, we’re NBC. The Olympics will soon be upon us, and our sponsors would love it if you tuned in daily. We just wanted to remind you that one of our featured events will be women’s volleyball. Man, those Brazilians sure are hot, and we at NBC love their little outfits. So please enjoy these photos, and if you would like to watch the real thing, tune into the Olympics on NBC. Oh yeah, and they do these really cool hand signals too.

Cracking the code

Labels: article, humor, photography

Scientists at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands utilized the super fancy-schmancy process of “synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy” to reveal a previously painted portrait under Vincent Van Gogh’s “Patch of Grass.”

In case this technology ever becomes commonplace, I’m going to greet the science dorks with hidden messages in my paintings like “empirical observation is for milksops”, or “Ptolemy’s model is deplorable.” Burn.


(Van Gogh’s “Patch of Grass” — unaltered view)

Van Gogh portrait revealed

Labels: article, fine art, Vincent Van Gogh

Recently, I’ve been painting and drawing on found, discarded and copyrighted objects, so I decided to do a bit of research into Copyright Law. Overall, it appears that copyright laws are pretty lenient when it comes to artist use. As long as an object is being commented on, or it’s meaning or visual appearance is altered by the artist, using copyrighted material is not against the law, and is protected by Fair Use.

It appears the primary reason an artist is likely to be prosecuted, is having copied the work of another artist, and is trying to pass it off as a new original work, or is claiming it was created by the artist who’s work is being emulated.

I thought this was a nice concise article dealing with law pertaining to art, Legal Tips for Artists.

Labels: article, Copyright Law, resource

On Tuesday evening, Lucien Freud overtook Jeff Koons, as the priciest living artist. Freud’s seven foot-long painting titled, “Sue”, sold at auction for $33.6 million US, surpassing “Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)”, which sold last year for $23.6 million.

Hell, for $33.6 million, I would part with my entire body of work — and I might even throw-in a shoeshine and ham sandwich, to sweeten the deal.

Freud #1

Labels: article, fine art, Jeff Koons, Lucien Freud

If you are a creative individual, or enjoy the Disney / Pixar films, you will dig this insightful interview with Pixar’s Brad Bird, the Academy Award-winning director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille. In it, he discusses a variety of topics, including fostering innovation, creativity and pushing teams beyond their comfort zones. It’s a really interesting read, and an excellent find by Tom at LPK.

Brad Bird Interview

Labels: article, Brad Bird, fine art, illustration, Pixar

There are brilliant ideas...good ideas...bad ideas...and unbelievable head-scratchers. This concept might be so shallow; it aspires to belong in the latter group. A Yale art student allegedly decided to self-inseminate and self-induce multiple miscarriages — in order to display the discharge as her senior art project. Not only would the viewer get to see the miscarriage remains, but she filmed the events, and planned on projecting the videos as well.

The concept was apparently approved, or at least condoned by two faculty members, and was planned to go forward, until the university caught wind of the project through national media, and banned it from exhibition.

I’m all for a good debate, and as inappropriate as this piece is, I may have been able to tolerate it based on the artist’s intentions — but when she gives an interview and her two statements are, that the concept was not intended for “shock value”, and that she “hopes it inspires some sort of discourse”, you know what — screw her.

Perhaps this is just a hoax, or a performance piece, or maybe she wilted under university and media scrutiny. Who knows? But I do know that my views on art are about as liberal as they come, and in my estimation, this “project” is utter crap. Tell me you had an abortion to show the world how unbelievably cruel it is...tell me you chose this project as a penance, because you had an abortion and haven’t been able to live with yourself since. Tell me something of substance — anything — to “inspire discourse” just doesn’t cut it. You know what, just tell me you’re an immature hack douche bag, and leave it at that.

Yale art

Labels: article, fine art, gallery

For those of you that like to keep tabs on the occasional appearance of Jesus Christ, he was recently crying in an Orlando, Florida hospital.

I was really excited about this picture, until I realized I wasn’t supposed to be looking at the image of Jesus hugging a little kid in the background, rather, I was supposed to focus on the glaring light and window condensation.

After all, it’s probably Jesus...or it could be Rob Zombie, or maybe Charles Manson, although, Occam’s Razor would require me to be a cynic, and come to the conclusion that it might simply be window condensation.

Jesus in Orlando

In other equally astounding news, one of Ohio’s finest was arrested for picnic table intercourse. Please, take a moment to drink in those last three words.

Sexy Time

Labels: article, Jesus sighting, sexy picnic table intercourse

I swear, this 1943 article from Transportation Magazine is utterly shocking and disrespectful. The magazine’s blatant lack of sensitivity towards “underweight” individuals is downright reprehensible. The article insists on belittling not only the hand washers, but also the baggy dressers of the world.

Let it be known that I am personally offended by this hack job disguised as useful information, but there is one point that I find absolutely inexcusable...vociferously. Who writes like that? If you believe that vociferous was part of everyday 1943 language, then I think you are probably misinformed, or a smarty-pants, or you own a dictionary with a built-in thesaurus. Yep, I got you pegged.

Disgusted readers can fight the good fight, NOW!

Labels: 1943, article, humor, NOW, Transportation Magazine

Really interesting article about America’s respect for art, and its indifference towards the artists who create the work.

An American Paradox

Labels: article, fine art

It’s been a long time coming, but I feel the need to rant. Simply stated, the MPAA rating of NC-17 is an absolute joke.

Before I get full-on into my hissy fit, let’s have a quick look at the NC-17 rating explanation, per the MPAA:
“An NC-17 rated motion picture is one that, in the view of the Rating Board, most parents would consider patently too adult for their children 17 and under. No children will be admitted. NC-17 does not mean “obscene” or “pornographic” in the common or legal meaning of those words, and should not be construed as a negative judgment in any sense. The rating simply signals that the content is appropriate only for an adult audience. An NC-17 rating can be based on violence, sex, aberrational behavior, drug abuse or any other element that most parents would consider too strong and therefore off-limits for viewing by their children.”


The reason that I even bring up this topic is because of the soon-to-be-released Ang Lee film Lust, Caution. It is rumored that the movie will receive an NC-17 rating (per CNN), because a “source said too many of the film’s sex scenes violated the ratings board’s unwritten rules (like the number of allowable pelvic thrusts, for example) to make an appeal possible.”

Seriously, what the hell. Can a committee of adults honestly deliberate with straight faces, while arguing over a specific number of pelvic thrusts? I mean really, what do these meetings sound like? “You know Jim, I was okay with the first five thrusts, but numbers six through nine just seemed excessive.” “I agree with your point about the thrusts Sally, and I would like to add that I can live with the three seconds of bouncing breasts and brief glimpse of female pubic hair, but the close-up scrotum shot is simply too much.”

I will admit, as stupid as I think the NC-17 rating is, I would actually approve of the rating if it were used thoughtfully and consistently across the board. Right now, however, the use of the rating is absurd. You will note that excessive violence is a reason for the NC-17 rating, yet looking through the list of movies that have received the NC-17 rating, a two year-old has the ability to count the number of violent movies listed. The hypocrisy, in my humble opinion, is staggering. What this tells me, is that film’s governing body is more concerned about a 16 year-old seeing nine pelvic thrusts in Lust, Caution, than witnessing Private Pyle kill his Drill Sergeant and commit suicide in Full Metal Jacket, or seeing a police officer being methodically tortured to death in Reservoir Dogs.

I find the discrepancy between sex and violence in this society, way out of whack. It is mind-boggling to me that violence and killing are so readily available on TV and in movies — that these acts have saturated our entertainment so thoroughly, we rarely even give it a second thought. Sex however, is so frowned upon and morally corrupt, that when an event like Janet Jackson’s exposed nipple occurs, you’d have thought someone actually had committed an act of violence. The reality is that 99% of people have sex, and 1% commit violent acts, yet film and entertainment (and politicians and society in general) would have you believe those numbers are actually inversed. I am certainly not advocating further government oversight or restrictions on entertainment, just some good old-fashioned common sense.

Okay, I’m going to get off my soapbox now, but just for fun, try to pick out which one of the following ten movies received the infamous NC-17 rating:

Saving Private Ryan
Full Metal Jacket
Reservoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Natural Born Killers
Passion of the Christ
Showgirls
Ichi the Killer
Schindler’s List
Sin City

Just in case you were unsure, here’s a subtle hint:


If you’re curious, here’s the complete NC-17 list

Labels: article, humor, NC-17

The first article reviewing my current exhibition at the Dayton Art Institute was released in Saturday’s Dayton Daily News — it seems that the article was also published by a handful of other regional newspapers.

I thought they made an interesting choice to have the Religion editor conduct the interview, and to include the story in the Faith / Living section, as opposed to the Entertainment / Arts section. I have yet to decide if this is a good or bad thing. Anyway, check it out.

Parishioner Series Article

Labels: article, Dayton Daily News, fine art, Parishioner Series, The Dayton Art Institute, Tom Davie

Let me start out by saying that I am no fan of typical fast food, as a matter of fact, I find the idea of eating a McDonald’s hamburger just downright nasty. I know that my opinion is in the American minority, and this article from CNN just about confirms it.

I don’t think many people would doubt the brand influence that many major corporations have, especially when dealing with children. Nonetheless, there were a few items in this piece that I found surprising; for example, here are two points that really stood out to me...

1. Study author Dr. Tom Robinson said the kids’ perception of taste was “physically altered by the branding.” The Stanford University researcher said it was remarkable how children so young were already so influenced by advertising.

2. “Advertisers have tried to do exactly what this study is talking about -- to brand younger and younger children, to instill in them an almost obsessional desire for a particular brand-name product,” he said.

Point number 2 seems like a pretty obvious statement, but the thing that got me was the children involved were between 3 - 5 years old. Something just doesn’t seem right there.

McDonald’s loves young children

Labels: ad campaign, article

In the next post or two, I’ll fill you in on where I’ve been and the groovy things that are on the horizon. In the meantime though, I recently went through some of my old files and found this essay written for chronicle.com in 2003. I was just beginning my second year of graduate school, and at the time this was written, had just made the decision to pursue teaching. It’s rather lengthy, however, it was really interesting to be able to reflect on, and criticize my thoughts of four years ago.

You may love it, you may hate it, you may think it’s a waste of your time, but I offer it nonetheless. If you have a response, leave a comment or send me an email.


Tom Davie
Graduate Student, Visual Communications
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Fifteen years ago, I was staring down my life-long dream of becoming a major league pitcher. I was consistently being showered with awards and praise. I had the confidence of a Royal Flush and the intensity of a Pit Bull. It was apparent that failure would be the destiny of every opponent. All things were possible.

Before my ego inflates so large that it requires medical attention, I must admit that fifteen years ago I was playing Junior League baseball. My arms and legs were too long for my torso, I wore glasses that were strapped to my head and was thirteen years old. The praise I garnered came not from national sports magazines, but rather uncles and grandmothers who came to watch my six-inning games. I loved playing baseball, but as time passed it was unfortunately not to be.

What does baseball have to do with pursuing a profession in academia? Nothing and Everything.

I no longer play the game I loved, and yet have never forgotten the passion, intensity and fun that was experienced as a child. Baseball taught me to rely on others to achieve goals and helped foster a strong work ethic, characteristics I now apply to a career in fine art and graphic design.

From 1997 through 2002, I worked at two graphic design studios located in Ohio and California. My responsibilities included the creation of a wide variety of corporate communication pieces ranging from identities to packaging and web sites, with clients as diverse as Fortune 500 Corporations to individually-run non-profit agencies. This studio time was spent developing my skills as a designer, listener and negotiator. I enjoyed the ever changing set of limitations and cost restraints; these limitations help define the personality of each project. However, the daily battle with clients over maintaining a quality product was one hurdle that was seemingly never overcome. Constantly defending the work’s integrity began to toll on my professional faith. So before the desire to create thoughtful work at a high level was lost, I decided to return to school and revive my creative muse, and so I did.

Upon completing a strenuous year of relocating, intellectual advising sessions and many an all-nighter, I am now eight months from completing a Master of Fine Art in Visual Communications at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was never my intention to return to school in anticipation of becoming a college educator, but that now appears to be my direction. It is no easy decision to abandon the professional field, considering I would now likely qualify for a senior position and a commensurate salary. However, it pains me to consider my professional legacy consisting of corporate logos and brochures. I would rather develop student minds and abilities, and prepare them to excel in the profession they are about to enter. While I am excited to begin a new path, there are concerns.

It would be lying if I did not admit my fear toward conducting a job search in such a battered and unresponsive economy. I entered graduate school in the fall semester 2002 in anticipation the economy would be in an upswing at the time of my graduation. While I remain cautiously optimistic that there will be tenure track opportunities to be had, I am not kidding myself. It is realistic to believe there will be several hundred applicants looking to fill a single position. I can only hope to have done enough scholastically and professionally to be considered for one of these available faculty positions. I must remain confident that as long as my resume is error free and my printer has ample toner, I have as reasonable a chance to find a job in academia as any of my contemporaries with a minimum of eighteen years of education. Or so I hope.

If I do have a slight advantage, it’s the freedom of being able to relocate at a moments notice. It’s true that I’ve seen more of the country through the rearview of a loaded-down automobile than I care to admit (I am still adjusting to the culture and weather shock of moving from San Diego to Chicago.) My family and friends gave up on me years ago to stay in Ohio, but as long as I make it home for the holidays there isn’t too much grief. Moving, however, is not my highest priority or ambition.

My major objective for this job search is to find an institution that houses highly respected faculty members, students, who regardless of their talent level, love what they are doing and are willing to work hard to achieve their goals, as well as, an administration that believes in and strives for excellence. I refuse to compromise my philosophical and ethical values when it comes to accepting a faculty position, and intend on interviewing the university as intensely as they interview me. I need to feel comfortable that they believe in my abilities, and in return I will remain loyal to them. The institution that I ultimately agree to terms with must be dedicated to the arts, technology, philosophy and history. The graphic design faculty much be conscious of the rift that currently exists between academia and working professionals. Many professionals feel that a majority of the students graduating have not been adequately prepared to handle the day to day workload that will be expected of them. I would like to encourage a healthy balance of theoretical and conceptual exploration along with the monotonous and uninspired projects that all designers encounter. I am also interested in exploring personal studies, such as reestablishing the importance of hand-made artwork in a business society that insists its collateral to be produced fast and in abundance (and if you are curious, no that is not my thesis.) Selfishly, I look forward to finding an institution that I am proud and excited to be a part of.

Once again I find myself staring down an opponent, except the outcome of this encounter is not so certain. I have the confidence of a Full House and the intensity of a Bullmastiff. Failure may ultimately be my destiny, but as long as I feel thirteen years old...all things are possible.

Labels: article, Tom Davie

artfacts.net is a vast cornucopia of artist and gallery information, and by vast, I mean super-duper-whoppin’ huge. The site has compiled a ranked listing of the most influential artists of 2006 (listed as dead, living or combined) from #1 through #75,000. Most artists have a profile/bio, list of museum and gallery exhibitions and also the galleries which represent their work.

The information provided by artfacts.net is phenomenal, and I can’t imagine the amount of blood, sweat and tears that went into compiling this research. It’s interesting to see how contemporaries such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, (even Shepard Fairey and Ryan McGinness) stack up against Cézanne, Dali and Matisse.



Let’s face it, if you’re like me, you have an unquenchable desire to know who the #1,286 most influential artist of 2006 was...as if I needed to tell you, Svetlana Kopystianskaja.

artfacts.net

Labels: article, fine art, resource

Apparently “a woman scorned” is not above seeking legal council against a cheating ex-boyfriend who decided to photograph angry break-up e-mails, in a new body of work called, “I. Hate. You. Letters to a Cheating Boyfriend”. Photographer Doug Sanford’s work is currently on display at Fraser Gallery of Bethesda, Maryland. The work itself is okay, but what I find interesting is the copyright struggle between the disgruntled couple. She claims ownership of her words, as a professional writer, and is of the opinion that she is entitled to any proceeds gained through sale of the work.

He claims that he is not suggesting to be the author, however, he does claim ownership of the work based on the facts that he printed the work, cropped it through photography and blurred and omitted certain aspects of the words. It should also be noted that he keeps her identity protected throughout the body of work.

An independent lawyer who was consulted, ultimately believes that Sanford is the rightful owner of the work, saying Sanford, “may not be able to claim authorship rights in the underlying text of the e-mail, he may have a copyright in the unique photographic image he created because of the way he has put it together...That’s all his artistic expression and interpretation.”

Gosh, this story wraps me in a warm blanket of love.

Washington City Paper article

Labels: article, artist, Doug Sanford, gallery, photography

I thought the following were interesting and worthwhile reads.

The first link is a posting that originally appeared on craigslist, in response to individuals and businesses looking for free design and artwork. The author is unknown, but the post has been placed on NO!SPEC, as reference for the art and design community. In short, the post discusses how rare a creative person's talents are, and how insulting it is for businesses to expect free or "spec" work.

While it is tragic that creatives are taken advantage of, it is ultimately our responsibility to respect our work's value. Until we can all stand together and refuse to do work for free, why would unethical (or cheap) businesses change their practices? If there is no one to do free work, we all earn more in the end.

I Wish I had Written This

The second link is an article from Fast Company, titled, "No Accounting For Design?". This article is focused on the difficulty of being able to measure the worth of quality design, strictly relating to financial gain and increased profit margins.

No Accounting For Design?

Labels: article, graphic design, resource

Sculpture is not a medium I follow closely, or often get excited about, but the work of Ron Mueck has me thinking I should pay closer attention. Mueck's sculptures are made of fiberglass resin, and appear so life-like, I'm not sure photo-realism is an adequate classifier. His use of scale and subject matter are fantastic, and the work is undeniably first-rate. As an example of scale, the baby head below is 7 feet tall, in other word(s), ginormous.

The first link contains work samples as represented by James Cohen Gallery; the second link contains exhibition photos from the Washington Post, which show viewers interacting with the work (great for scale reference).

Ron Mueck

Mueck Exhibition Photos

Labels: article, artist, fine art, gallery, Ron Mueck