A few words and their definitions

Fact is, I like words. I compiled a list of words I didn’t know and their definitions. 

vacillate: alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive.

propinquity: nearness
manqué: having failed to become what one might have been; unfulfilled.
pernicious: having a harmful effect, esp. in a gradual or subtle way.
sacrosanct: (esp. of a principle, place, or routine) regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with.
umbrage: 1) offense or annoyance. 2) shade or shadow, esp. as cast by trees.
quotidian: of or occurring every day; daily.
ebullient: cheerful and full of energy.
intuited: understand or work out by instinct. [known word, new tense]
dirigible: airship
boondoggle: an expensive and wasteful project usually paid for with public money
pedantic: precise, exact, perfectionist, meticulous
pine: to feel a lingering, often nostalgic desire.
rue: regret, remorse, or sorrow
prole: a person who has low social status; a member of the working class
wan: (of a person's complexion or appearance) pale and giving the impression of illness or exhaustion.
predicate: found or base something on.
environ: to surround
mete: dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment; allocate.
perdition: judgement; (in Christian theology) a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death; eternal punishment; damnation.
decry: publicly denounce
opus: (Latin) work
exult: rejoice, show or feel elation or jubilation, esp. as the result of a success.
vociferous: (esp. of a person or speech) vehement or clamorous.
sept: a clan; originally in Ireland
cynosure: 1) something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance, interest, etc. 2) something serving for guidance or direction.
voluble: speaking or spoken incessantly and fluently; loquacious, verbose.
sluice: 1) a sliding gate or other device for controlling the flow of water, esp. one in a lock gate. 2) an act of rinsing or showering with water. (“a sluice with cold water”)
hoar: grayish white; gray or gray-haired with age.
phylactery: a small leather box containing Hebrew texts on vellum, worn by Jewish men at morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law.
prestidigitation: magic tricks performed as entertainment.
prognosticator: one who predicts future events or developments.

Top 5 Favorite Albums of ALL TIME

This is my list of top five albums of all time. All time. 

Metallica’s Master of Puppets was an early introduction to heavy music. When this album hit my ears I was steeped in punk rock so the sound was fresh and easy to like. “Damage, Inc.” will always be an underrated contender to “Master of Puppets”.

The Illusion of Safety is an easy favorite. If I had to listen to only one band for the rest of my life it would be Thrice; definitely my favorite band of all time. This album was a gateway when I first heard it: opening my eyes (and ears) to thoughtful, intentional music.

Mineral. It’s a tough call between their two releases (Endserenading and The Power of Failing) but without a doubt one of them makes my top 5. Honesty and raw musicianship at its finest.

Relationship of Command wanted to turn my world upside down. At The Drive-In created such a multilayered sound, I can hear something new each time I listen to this album. 

Saves The Day’s Through Being Cool is a simple favorite. It’s nothing incredibly special but the memory associations keep it fresh. I remember driving a 1990 Volvo 240 with the windows down and this album blaring in the heat of summer. This is one of those albums that I can hear the final track fade directly back into the first track and repeat forever.

This may be the toughest list I’ve ever made. This is my top five albums of all time. Here is a supplemental list of five honorable mentions. 

The Scaries – Souvenir (2002)
Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970)
Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary (1994)
Isis – Oceanic (2002)
The National – Boxer (2007)

Salt

A little bit of something I’m working on. It’s about brand identity design.

Ways of Seeing

A people or a class which is cut off from its own past is far less free to choose and to act as a people or class than one that has been able to situate itself in history.

John Berger, Ways of Seeing

Plucky

Meet Plucky. 

Plucky helps digital agencies and start-ups figure out their talent strategies. From recruiting to defining culture to organizing annual reviews to coaching new managers and leaders, Plucky help organizations set strategies to retain their talent.

Kamfer: complete

I’m done. τετέλεσται. This is Kamfer.

Kamfer is a chiseled face built for headlines — ready for anything. The letterforms are based on industrial-era rigidity and beveled edges. Kamfer is confident but not too formal with its easygoing contrast and relaxed proportions.

Kamfer comes in two styles, roman and oblique.

A Hologram for the King

I just finished A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers. I liked this quote.

The age of machines holding dominion over man had come. This was the downfall of a nation and the triumph of systems designed to thwart all human contact, human reason, personal discretion and decision-making. Most people did not want to make decisions. And too many of the people who could make decisions had decided to cede them to machines.

CreateOne business cards

Recently pressed business cards for a recent client, CreateOne. This post has a some of their brand vibe. More good photos to come.

round icons

Some chunky, round icons.

Obviously I didn’t make the social icons. 

School of Athens

As inspired by Raphael’s School of Athens, I created my own stylized version of the fresco.  Just practicing some basic illustration and shading techniques. Here is a larger version.

This is only a fraction of the full piece, obviously. Here is a reference of the fresco. 

Bling

This is a secret project. Don’t tell anyone. Its not really a secret anymore.

Personality

I wrote a blog post on creating personality through brand identity design.

One basic thesis is to build brand identities with imbued personality rather than risk them being inherited via consumer experience. In other words, intentionally ascribe personification to brand identities. This idea surely blurs the line between marketing/advertising and basic visual brand identity design, but infusing personality is an important component of visual brand element creation.

Check out the full text on Focus Lab’s site. Tell me what you think.

cliffhanger

Thought of this on the road Sunday, drew it in a sketchbook and had it finished before noon on Monday.

BambooHR icons

A small set of a very large collection for BambooHR

more ideas!

brb

Spending the week in Mexico on vacation—5 year wedding anniversary. “I’ll be back.”

expressive communication

Unused icons and discarded mark.

Kamfer edits

Slowly but surely making progress on Kamfer. Test printing for letterspacing and kerning here.

Soon enough it will be available, I promise.

Cabinet renaissance

Alright. Loads of photos.
We moved into a new place and there was a disgusting cabinet in our outdoor shed. I took a few weekends to get the rat poop and pink paint off, sanitize, sand and prime it and finally give it a fresh new set of colors. Here are the photos.

Hot pink.

 Rat poop.

 Primed.

 Exterior red-orange; interior warm white.

 Finished! New knobs, in situ.

content

Exploring ideas for communicating content and connecting content. Eventually this will be more in the context of content in design. There will be representations for research, understanding, practice, development, etc. 

food

Part of a larger set of icons around food and finding the best meals.

CreateOne

The final brand identity for CreateOne. Some color, collateral and a favicon. I’ll post a small case study to my portfolio soon. 

Favicon