Education
- AAS Graphic Design Ricks College 1998
- BFA Graphics Packaging, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena 2003
- MFA Media Design, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena 2005
Interests
- My family, photography, model aviation, & general tomfoolery. (Oh, and typography, branding, packaging, UI/UX, Information Design).
Introduction
Courses I teach/have taught:
- Art 130 Introduction To Graphic Design
- Art 230 Typography
- Art 235 Graphic Design
- Art 331 Information Design/Design Research
- Art 335 Identity Design
- Art 437 Advanced Typography
- Art 430 Sequential Design
- Art 498 Internship Course
- Art 495 BFA Projects
- FDNC 350 Analytical Thinking & Moral Judgement
Past Projects:
Critter Mine
I was approached to partner in a new start up stuffed animal factory as creative partner. As such, I would be required to head all creative for the company, and produce any and all brand, visual, environmental, or graphic design needs they would have. The story was conceived as a tribute to the owners father who had been a precious gem miner his whole life. The name, "Critter Mine" was coined from the desire to make a magical mine as a store as well as the fact that if you make the critter it is truly, "my critter". The logo was derived from inverting two mining carts and making one into an animal. This image and visual language became the core of the companies brand.
After you stuff your animal, you take it home in your very own critter carrier (complete with breathing holes). This piece acted as our largest advertisement. People would stop others and ask where they got the cute critter.
To help people feel like children when they walked into the space, we used bright colors, and oversized beams. The product was kept low for easy access. The owners Father, brought large old growth trees down from the mountain, which we used as display tables. To add a personal touch we used the owners children as models.
Nutra-Null
A key component of Design Research is Design as research, when you use the skills as a designer to explore ideas in unique and interesting ways to open up our thinking about a given topic. As one of my initial studies during my graduate program, I explored the idea of formal inversion, using a news article about fast food sponsered schools and the health and educational benefits/liabilities of such programs. Through further study on the subject I discovered that fast food companies had threatened to pull school funding for books and supplies if the cafeterias tried to offer healthy alternatives to their fattening menus. A prescription worked as a metaphor for the forced menus in our public schools.
Bottle Detail
The Action Exhibit
Designmatters, a new initiative at Art Center College of Design, approached me to curate and creatively lead an exhibit of three years of work since Art Center officially became a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) affiliated with the United Nations.THE ACTION EXHIBITION highlights collaborations between United Nations agencies and designmatters @ Art Center, the College's initiative exploring social and humanitarian applications of design and responsible business practices.
To give viewers an opportunity to start taking action immediately and further the dialogue within everyone, we placed blank cards with text prompts that could be filled out and hung at the exhibit. The prompts were: ACTION is about, Change happens when, and The world needs.
Because the challenges that face the world are constantly changing, we used gobo lights and projectors on timers as well as transparent prints on the large street facing windows to allow the exhibit hall to change its content at different times of the day and night.
As guests leave the exhibit they are confronted with a visual reminder of the challenge that was issued to them. We placed a transparent graphic on the glass so that they were forced to see the world through the Concept of ACTION.
For video samples: please visit: http://artcenter.edu/designmatters
Vapur
I also helped develop a new water bottle project with Jason Carignan and partners called vapur. (www.vapur.us). I helped develop the initial branding and product design and later participated in the BMW designworks workshop to develop the next phase/iteration of the bottles. I have since helped the company with packaging and collateral needs. The original bottles were featured in the MOMA store in NY and have appeared on almost every major morning talk show and lifestyle blog imaginable.
I continue to work as a freelance design consultant to companies in and around Los Angeles.