Pandora

As a student you get the opportunity to build your portfolio risk-free, sometimes a certain class inspire you and offers you an amazing project to work on and you are so happy with the result that you want to keep it forever.

I started going to school when my first son was very young, and it was mainly so I could have a couple of hours to myself doing something that I thought was going to be very enjoyable. I was really surprised when I was thinking about getting a Pantone swatch book and a Wacom tablet for Christmas that year, I knew I was going to like Graphic Design but I never in a million years I would have thought that it was going to become a passion and my new addiction. Photography had been for a while my main talent, or at least a priority and the love of my life. The first time I saw an image appear in a tray of chemicals I knew I wanted to do that for the rest of my life, it was like I was a magician and I was able to be part of the whole process of creating this magic trick, from loading the film in my camera, to develop it, print a contact sheet, and then the amazing feeling of going in the darkroom with that amazing fixer scent… aaaaah. Even though I still schedule sessions as a Photographer and still enjoy it very very much I think that once I finish going to school and achieve the Graphic Design certificate I will definitely try to get into an agency and be a Designer for a living.

Here is a piece I did a while ago for my Corporate Identity class (taught by my mentor Rick Schank, an amazingly kind friend and the voice of wisdom in my head). The assignment was to create a new logo for the online radio station Pandora, I got carried away and ended up designing the applications.

This is what music means to me, the way I see it in my head, as a colorful splatter that invades me and transforms the moment into something beautiful.

Now that I’ve learned more about Design and building a brand I think I would do a couple of changes, and that is what I mean by putting together a portfolio risk-free, the pieces can change, evolve and get better with time.

porridge papers

I get easily obsessed with things.  I go through these stages where I get obsessed with a particular thing, sometimes that thing is music and I find myself listening to the same band over and over, all of their CDs, I learn about them, I study the artwork on their covers, tour posters, their solo projects, sometimes I just listen to the same song multiple times. I also get obsessed with authors and I read all the books that someone I like has published, and sometimes I just get obsessed with ideas and it feels like my mind is trapped in a maze. Some people think I’m joking when I say that once I have a project or a new client I can’t stop thinking about it but it’s true, it stays in my head until I figure it out and it’s useful because I’m able to get inspired from unusual things, suddenly I just get a solution in my head and it evolves into a final result: a logo, a poster, a business card. I always carry a notebook with me in case I get inspired out of nowhere and need something to make a quick sketch, I’m trying to use my iPhone for that purpose now, which has become the 21st Century napkin… the best ideas are usually born on a napkin at the coffee shop.

But my biggest obsession of all is paper. I love smelling it, looking at it, feeling its texture between my fingers and I just love using it. Sometimes one obsession is like an open door to the next one and when I did some research before my letterpress class I learned about the types of paper out there for this purpose. And that path took me to Porridge Papers which is a company in Nebraska that makes handmade and plantable paper which have either a wildflower mix with a mixture of the following seeds: black-eyed susan, spurred snapdragon, shirley poppy, mexican hat, white yarrow, evening primrose, sweet, alyssum, etc (depending on availability) or a herb mix  that also comes in white and ecotan and contains dill, thyme, oregano, parsley, chive, and basil seeds. Of course I went crazy when I heard about them and I asked if they could mail me some samples of their paper and I got them today.

They are so beautiful and I can’t wait to use them on my next little project and watch my ideas grow… literally.

letterpress

Letterpress printing is a printing technique which has been in use in the West since the 15th Century that involves locking movable type into the bed of a press, inking it, and rolling or pressing paper against it to form an impression although today many printers do not hand set their letters relying on photopolymer plates instead.

I took a class last Saturday at PÄS and I absolutely loved the process and the results: my own business cards designed and letterpressed by me.

I’ve been doing a lot of research about Letterpress lately, I’ll post some links to sites that either make plantable paper (yes, put it in the ground and watch it grow) that can be used for this process, or studios that can create a photopolymer plate and of course, designers that have created beautiful pieces that inspire me. In the meantime, here are some pictures I took during the class.

 

let’s do this!

I’m ready to explore the blogging world.