How I Do.

So a friend of mine and I got into a long discussion about design and the creative drive that artists and designers have. It sparked me to make this little venn diagram. Yes, I know venn diagrams are so 2009, but it doesn't mean I love them any less.

To put it simply, my drive comes from 3 things: creating an "Experience", problem solving, and making life pretty through design.

I believe my approach to design is founded in two sides that I had growing up.
1. Viewing art and design through analysis.

Growing up with a father who was always drawing and painting, taking us to museums, and saying cheesy things like "wait wait wait! just stop... stop and look at the sky... isn't is amazing?" (now you know where I get it from my dear wife). I loved art. I loved it with the amazement that an astronomer has as they gaze into a newly found nebula.

I knew a work of art was created by another human that made these decisions because of some reason, either subconscious or conscious. To me growing up, those two were equally as important (my father was also a psychologist, go fig.) From an early age I started looking at paintings with questions: "Why did he put that stroke there?" "Why did he decide to use that color there?" 

This represents my approach to art and design. While I brainstorm ideas, or execute, I try (*try* - it doesn't always happen) to think about the reasons why I'm doing something, how someone will experience it, and how can I experiment with it to alter those experiences.

2. Playing video games and solving puzzles.

I started playing NES when I was around 6. Something in video games sparked this competitiveness towards problem solving. Mega Man would kill me again and again but for some reason, I wouldn't back down. I sat there like a broken record - die. die. die. die. die. die. die. I would say "OK. Who ever freaking built this game wouldn't make it so that it was unbeatable. THERE HAS TO BE WAY". Imagine playing games and working on puzzles like cryptograms your whole life with that mentality. I'm kind of surprised I'm not crazy yet.

In any case. This problem solving awareness I've gained through years of digital torture has helped me analyze experiences and problems in design/ UX/ UI and all around Branding interpretations.

So long story short: Along with that never-ending thirst for design, technique and new technology; problem solving and a technical but creative approach to art is, basically, how I do.

Stop Motion is Fun.

My wife, Junia, and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We knew we would be expecting something exciting in the mail from our amazing photographer, Sarah Yates. We were prepared to have fun with it once we knew it arrived!

Minted T-Shirt Win!

Minted.com just held a small t-shirt design challenge that only lasted a few days or so. Minted is all branded in Helvetica Neue 55 Roman. Knowing they give these t-shirts out to community members, I thought it should encompass what Minted stands for: the love for design. Community members come from all over the world and are literally representing all skill levels. I've met designers who downloaded the adobe suite just to try designing a card to submit to a challenge! It's awesome seeing the evolution of designers and also the quality of the design community get more and more amazing since Minted launched in 2008.

Today, our marriage turns 1

Today is Junia and I's first wedding anniversary. It's actually very hard to believe that a year has already passed. We've moved to Los Angles (as you may have seen from JuniaIsabel's posts) and we're super excited about what this endless city has to offer. The other day while waiting to get my hair did at my new spot, Sweeny Todds, I read an interview in Los Angeles Magazine that stuck with me. I'll be plagiarizing and paraphrasing this paragraph to everyone I know now :)

...L.A. is more neutral. It doesn't tell you how to feel. It doesn't guide you in the direction of what you're supposed to be doing and how you're supposed to be doing it. But you can come here and create a little world for yourself. It's a very generous city. --Rashida Jones

For my gift of paper, I designed an 11x14 print with a quote from my vows and a photo of Junia that we both adore.

Save the Date holmes!

My sister and her man, Jaime, are gettin' hitched!
They're both into that old school hip hop vibe and are having a super duper bright and colorful Mexican wedding.

50 Tracks of 2010

I'm a little late posting this, but I'm excited none-the-less. Every year I go through a process of revisiting music and movies I loved throughout the year and compile them into lists. Since both movies and music build strong memory associations, it makes looking back to past years really cool (Here's the 2009 edition). I've been doing this for 5 years and the best part about it is the part where I get to share it with friends and family. 

You can download the zip here if you'd like a copy. Instead of ordering by favorite, I've compiled the songs into a playlist mix in the order below. I've linked to quick youtube vids for my favorite 10 tracks.

1. Bright Lit Blue Skies  |  Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

2. Anchorage  |  Surfer Blood

3. Number One  |  Harlem

4. Helicopter  |  Deerhunter

5. Green Eyes  |  Wavves

6. Answer To Yourself  |  The Soft Pack

7. Funeral Song  |  Minks

8.Round The Moon  |  Summer Camp

9. People Can Do The Most Amazing Things  |  Kisses

10. Chinatown  |  Wild Nothing

11. Alter Ego  |  Tame Impala

12. Breathe the Fire |  Soft Moon

13. Love Fade  |  Tamaryn

14. Tack & Tower  |  Benoît Pioulard

15. Rope & Summit  |  Junip

16. Bowsprit  |  Balmorhea

17. Modern Drift  |  Efterklang

18. The Motion Makes Me Last  |  Eluvium

19. Burn Me Out From The Inside  |  The Sight Below

20. Candy Shoppe  |  Emeralds

21. Lately (Deuxième)  |  Memoryhouse

22. Memory Pools  |  Foxes in Fiction

23. Spanish Sahara  |  Foals

24. Heaven's On Fire  |  The Radio Dept.

25. You Hid  |  Toro Y Moi

26. Round And Round  |  Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

27. On Your Side  |  The Radio Dept.

28. Cynthia  |  Millionyoung

29. Real Love  |  Delorean

30. When Your Love is Safe  |  Active Child

31. ...And the World Laughs with You (ft. Thom Yorke)  |  Flying Lotus

32. Pure  |   Blackbird Blackbird

33. Photojournalist  |  Small Black

34. Somebody to Love Me  |  Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.

35. Not In Love  |  Crystal Castles & Robert Smith

36. Yamaha  |  The-Dream

37. I Am Dead (feat. Jerry Valuri)  |  [CFCF Remix] Jori Hulkkonen

38. Mornin'  |  Star Slinger

39. Turns Me On Ft. Sleepy Brown And Joi  |  Big Boi

40. Heartlands  |  Games

41. Aminals  |  Baths

42. See Birds (Moon)  |  Balam Acab

43. Eyesdown (feat. Andreya Triana)  |  Bonobo

44. Sun  |  Caribou

45. Paradise City  |  Blondes

46. Tricycle Express  |  Mr Oizo & Gaspard Auge

47. Enough Love To Hate It  |  Martin Buttrich

48. Leave House  |  Caribou

49. Angel Echoes  |  Four Tet

50. Peepsie  |  Dntel

Here's to an awesome 2011! 

a little mention

That little highlighted name you see there, yeah, that's me. And, here's a close up of the "Shabby She" card I designed, which was also later turned into a photo calendar that you can now buy at minted.com. 

My lack of posting should be an indication of how insanely busy I've been. I've put in hours I didn't even know were possible and in doing so have neglected updating the blog with new projects I've been working on. When I'm not at the day job I'm working on freelance design work that I look forward to sharing soon. In the meantime, it was more than a nice surprise to see that one of my designs for minted.com was published in the latest issue of InStyle Magazine under their Best of the Web 2010 spread. 

summertime and the living is easy flyer

The awesome ladies of Sitting in a Tree came to me to design a flyer for an awesome Summer party they're throwing down in San Diego at Casa Artelexia (that I totally wish I was going to). The theme of the event was "Summertime and the Living is Easy". I don't want to give away too much of what they're doing for this event, but it sounds like the place to be on July 17th. MIHO Gastrotruck will be there serving up their insanely tasty food, the place is going to look amazing since styling is being executed by Sitting in a Tree (that also did our wedding!), and of course the video projection and tunes will be served up by the talented DJ Austin Hendrix.