There is a stack of left over letters printed on index cards from the experimental alphabet workshop I conducted earlier this month. And tonight they were calling my name.
This issue of faces and letters just won’t go away. Tape inspiration courtesy of Victoria Montgomery
Last Friday I stood in front of approximately 75 students to give an artist lecture and lead an experimental type workshop. Here’s a taste of the awesomeness that ensued.
In short, it was amazing and I’ve got a few hundred pictures to edit. More to come.
I’ve been invited by my alma mater to give an artist lecture on Friday, September 7.
While I feel extremely honored, it made me question what it is that I’m doing that caused them to ask me to address a group of students getting ready to enter the world of graphic design. Looking back to my very first typography course at Kansas State University and tracing that to the work I’m doing today was enlightening to say the least.
So I’ve decided to appropriately title my lecture, “What am I doing?” Here’s the summary:
“We tend to ask ourselves this question too often — or not nearly enough. It’s an uncomplicated question with a complicated answer. In this presentation, Brooke Francesi will disclose her obsession with documenting feet, nonsensical word poems, and magazine cut-outs. She’ll invite you to challenge what it means to fail and discuss how one simple question can impact the creative process.”
Thanks to Vince Francesi, Hunter Stark, and Victoria Montgomery for their contribution.
It was a little more than a month ago that I purchased my ticket to TYPO on a whim. Yep. Lots of money out the door for a design conference. But as my husband said (read: justified the purchase to me after experiencing a spell of buyer’s remorse) “We live in San Francisco. You need to take advantage of things like this.” And he’s right.
For those of you who may not be familiar with names like Neville Brody, Erik Spiekermann, Tina Roth Eisenberg, Michael Bierut, Jessica Hische, and many others, they are the Steve Jobs’ and George Lucas’ of my design world. I’m going to see these people talk. In person.
To make things more exciting, a couple of weeks ago, I answered a call for volunteers for the TYPO Press Team. So now, not only do I find myself attending TYPO, I’ll be blogging / tweeting throughout various sessions at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts during the 2 days. And I get a free ticket for next year’s conference. Worth it? I think so.
If you’re sad to be missing the action, you can follow my tweets at @bfrancesi or catch me on the Font Shop blog. I’ll be in design heaven.
The most successful book is that which inspires you to put it aside and create.
Thank you to my sweet, thoughtful husband who surprised me with Typography Sketchbooks, curated by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico.
Last week, an article from Forbes.com caught my eye about the most unhealthy commutes in the United States.
It wasn’t difficult to guess which area of the lower 48 would top the charts — it’s a well known fact that LA is akin to a driving nightmare. The article says that not only do So-Cal commuters experience the worst pollution levels, they also have the highest rate of fatal auto accidents, and spend an average of 93 hours per year sitting in traffic.
Yikes.
Disclaimer: I have to admit that the typography on this gem was drawn at home.
A couple of years ago, I purchased the book How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy. Apart from TypoMundus 20, it’s probably the second best book purchase I’ve made.
I originally purchased it for one chapter — the first one — for my Senior Project students to read, but quickly realized the entire book was spot on. Since then, about once a year, I pull it out to read through it. Not only does it include insightful ideas for designers, there are interviews and thoughts from Stefan Sagmeister, Neville Brody, and countless other influential thinkers and doers in design.
Originally intended for design students, it’s a must-read for all designers at any stage. You can purchase it on Amazon for a mere $12 plus change.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the different sensory triggers we experience at any given time during the day. It’s pretty incredible if you think about it.
I was riding my bike from work to the train station this evening — it was windy, rainy, and cold. A pretty miserable ride actually. However while the rain was pelting my face, my sense of smell was on over-drive from a tantalizing aroma wafting from a nearby cafe.
This made me wonder if it’s possible to incorporate such a wide variety of triggers (good, bad, or both) into a design. The goal isn’t to create a physical reaction, because sensory triggers don’t always cause a physical reaction. In fact, we don’t even notice most of them.
Such an interesting subject. I’ve got a feeling I may be exploring more of this in the near future.
Even though it’s a short week, it’s been a busy one for me at B’stro. And while I could be riding the train home in the evenings, my husband has been kind enough to pick me up from work the past two nights. Isn’t he great!?
That being said, in lieu of my commute design project, I wanted to share a very cool, informative new website. I’m absolutely in love with Say100, a site that features one of my favorite bloggers, Swiss Miss, along with 9 other experts. The goal of the site? Identify 100 voices that matter.
Check it out – you’ll love it!
Lately, Erin over at Design for Mankind has been encouraging her followers to create a Life List. While I don’t know that I’m ready to share mine yet, I do have a few items to tackle for 2011.
1. Find my style
While I’ve always been proud to have grown up in Kansas, and have lived in small midwest towns for all of my 27 years, I admit, it doesn’t do much for your selection of clothing. I tend to flip flop back and forth between Forever 21, LOFT, and Banana Republic. With an abundance of styles and fashion choices just a month away, I’ve decided this is the year. I’m gonna find it.
Photo from Rachel Larraine Headpieces
2. Learn letterpress
I once read that if you write your goals down you are more likely to accomplish them, and I’ve always wanted to learn letterpress. So there. Done. Plus, I secretly hope to find a job in San Francisco at a design / letterpress shop.
Photo from HotBedPress.org
3. Apply to grad school (recycled)
This one is recycled from last year’s to do list and I’ve already got a good start. I had all of my schools picked out and was in the process of applying when we learned that we would be moving, so it was pushed to the back burner. Well back burner no more! Grad school, here I come.
Photo from RISD.edu
Three seems like a good number of goals (I have a thing for odd numbers) but I have a fourth goal which is really more of a challenge.
4. Learn something new about myself
I’m not typically the type of person who thinks about who I am or what I want to be. In fact, I’m the type of personal who tends to do things on a whim (which can be really, really good, or really, really bad). So this year, while it may seem like an odd goal to some of you, I challenge myself to take some time to learn just one new thing about who I am. Can I do it? We’ll see in 2012.
Photo from Tina Tyrell
