A U G U S T 0 4
Mike begins his quest for the elusive Ph.D. Andrew goes to Disneyland for work and rates all of the rides. Dave does a Hatch Show Print workshop and reveals plans for Cadence of Seasons.
Foundations of Biomedical Science
So, I started at University of Pittsburgh on Monday. Five long years 'till that elusive Ph.D. Anyway, I already got my first shot of three for Hepatitis B immunity (who knows what floats around in the labs...), I've already been trained in bloodborne pathogen safety, and I've already had three class periods that have covered about an entire undergraduate class worth of material. I picked a professor to do my first 3 months of research with, working on an HIV vaccine. There's a biosafety level 3 facility (out of 4 biosafety levels - only the government has level 4 facilities) I'll be working in, and the entire research area is key card protected, pretty cool. Not as cool as an interactive, video-driven online novel, but awesome in an Outbreak kind of way. There is an entire group of individual research labs working on HIV vaccines here. Sort of like a Wutang Killa Bees, but instead of rap, they're all related by HIV vaccine research. So not like the Killa Bees at all, really... Gotta go, I have to read about the enthalpic benefits of protein folding...
Tuesday, August 31 at 1:39 PM
Cadence of Seasons Trailer!
I made a teaser trailer for Cadence of Seasons today; you can watch it here (Quicktime, 6.5 MB). Like I said last week, it's an experimental interactive novel project that should take me through 2005 to complete...it's daunting and probably borderline insane. But if you've read this site for a while, you might remember me saying that I've always wanted to write and illustrate a children's book called The Imagination Travel Guide. This project is the natural evolution of that dream by also throwing motion, music and interaction into the mix.
I also joined a freelance logo community called Arteis this weekend after being referred by Garson Kwan, an incredible designer and friend from theroot42. Basically, companies place orders for logos, and we designers can choose jobs at our convenience. You compete with 1-4 other designers on any job, drawing up 2-4 solid concepts. Just for that, you get $20-$40. If one of your concepts gets selected, then you can rack up over $100 in revision fees. Not a bad way to earn a little side cash and build up your portfolio (not to mention seeing your logo actually used somewhere!).
Saturday, August 28 at 4:52 PM
Eero Saarinen Would Be Proud
I'm excited to announce that my experimental chair design is being manufactured right now by Andrew Crawford, a professional metal sculptor living about five minutes away from me. It should be done within the next couple of weeks, when I hope to create a mini-site going through its creation process. And Katie and I saw an Apple Store demonstration of the new program Motion this afternoon, which is their entry into the animation/motion graphics software arena. I'm sold; it's an easy-to-learn application that makes professional-looking animations within minutes (even with difficult stuff like particle effects). Three weeks left in the quarter...
Wednesday, August 25 at 1:57 PM
Cadence of Seasons
When I was younger, I had a dream that I would grow up to become a famous author and live on a boat in the caribbean, sailing from island to island as I wrote bestselling mysteries and adventures. My career goals have slightly changed since then, but creative writing remains something close to my heart. The most exciting project that I'm working on this quarter at PC is an experimental interactive novel, tentatively titled Cadence of Seasons. It is an attempt to push the limits of what a book can be. The project started by researching and writing two 20-page reports on randomly selected design topics; mine were the History of Modernism and Design of Everyday Objects. The challenge was to find a sense of conflict between the papers and create a new topic as the basis of our book. I decided that the middle ground between the historical context of modernism and the theory of everyday intuitive design is interaction. I remembered loving the Choose Your Own Adventure (and later, Lone Wolf) books as a kid, where you make specific choices that determine how the plot unfolds; I even wrote my own. This book will be a modern extension of that genre, immersing you in an imagined world similar to Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, or even Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. Our daily lives lack epic adventure, but our imaginations crave it. Instead, we grab onto more exciting imitations of reality like books, movies and video games. My prediction is that virtual reality, the ultimate interactive experience that can break the rules of reality, is the next big step.
I can't go into much detail right now about Cadence of Seasons since it's still deep in story development and I want to keep it as a surprise. Chances are that it won't even be finished this quarter, let alone this year. Just know that it's coming soon, and you'll be able to "read" it one day online.
Thursday, August 19 at 12:22 PM
Adagio Soundtrack
I've been working to a lot of classical/symphonic music recently since I simply can't concentrate against songs with vocals. Thanks to some suggestions from Jinsoo, Gustav Mahler's first and tenth symphonies are getting the bulk of the rotation. As for more modern stuff with an electronica twist, the buildup of Zero 7's End Theme is pretty cool. Clint Mansell's Requiem For A Dream theme rocks. I've also jumped on the Rob Dougan bandwagon extremely late (most known for his work with the Matrix movies). Joe Duffy from Duffy and Partners spoke at school two days ago and played Dougan's Clubbed To Death during a fly-though rendering of a Sony store in Shanghai (I'm also digging Furious Angel and Will you Follow Me?). In other news, my roommate Howard is moving out soon, and a friend named Zack will be filling the vacancy. Work at Imagine Design has been booming lately with a new client and the chance to do some cool illustrations and layouts. I'm doing a freelance DVD project this weekend to help finance the construction of my chair for Hank's class, and am hopefully meeting with an architect next week to discuss the technicalities of the design. One month to go and I'll be halfway done with PC.
Thursday, August 12 at 10:34 PM
Everybody Go Surfin'
Last week I was sent out to California for work and was able to do some fun things in my free time. I was staying about an hour or so east of LAX where the city runs into the desert and mountains. The weather was perfect every day.
On Tuesday the meetings unexpectedly ended early and my boss suggested that we go to Disneyland. That's when you know you're in a good work environment; when your boss wants to go to Disneyland. 45 minutes later we were pulling into the Timon section of the Lion King parking lot.
We started out with the Matterhorn, a Disneyland exclusive bobsled ride. Having just been to Disneyworld a few months ago for Sarah's birthday I wanted to make sure I rode on all of the rides that were only on the west coast. While in line for the Matterhorn I saw in the map that there was an Indiana Jones ride in Adventure Land.
I frequently speak in hyperbole but it is no exaggeration when I say that this is the greatest ride in existence. Just waiting in line for the ride was probably in my top three favorite things we did in the park. The line winds through the recently excavated ruins of a temple and at one point I looked down to see little diamond shaped tiles on the ground. Thinking of Raiders of the Lost Ark I made sure to avoid stepping on these tiles but a kid behind me in line was not so careful. As soon as he stepped on one a loud cracking noise went off, sounding like the ceiling was about to cave in. Later in line Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) explains the legend of the temple and safety instructions during a short video. There were a few other little neat things and by the time I actually got into the car for the ride itself my mind was seconds from exploding with excitement. I don't want to give anything away because when I went on it I knew nothing and I think that made it better but it has all of the classic Indy atmosphere. It's got snakes, skulls, lava, rickety bridges, walls covered with insects, walls covered with skeletons, and walls covered with statues that shoot darts at the car. Imagine the greatest thing of all time and then multiply that by eleventy bajillion and you'll start to get an idea of how cool the ride was.
I also managed to go on the Mad Hatter teacup ride without getting sick all over the place, something that I have not dared to try in years. Still dizzy from the teacups we stumbled over towards the Carousel. At first I thought I was dreaming but no, right in front of me was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. That's right kids, the fantastic ride that Winnie the Communist replaced in Florida. It was glorious. Mr. Toad still can't drive worth crap and the ride ends in hell after the car drives headlong into a train making it the most disturbing and totally sweet ride in all of Fantasyland.
In short, I would have paid the fifty dollar entrance fee just to ride the Indiana Jones ride once. To add Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on top of that and it was almost too awesome for me to handle. In only six hours at the park we also rode the haunted mansion, pirates of the caribbean, Tarzan's treehouse, Snow White, Peter Pan, Pinnochio, Dumbo, and the Carousel as well as watching Fantasmic and fireworks. Sadly, Big Thunder and Space mountain were closed and it was a little too cold and late in the day to ride Splash mountain but other than that we pretty much did it all.
On Friday the meetings ended around noon so that people could catch flights back to wherever. Not knowing this, I had booked a red-eye flight out of LAX giving myself essentially the entire day to do anything I wanted. I grabbed a double-double at an in-and-out burger, hit up the Fender guitar museum, and went to Manhattan Beach and rented a surfboard. Work can be pretty rough sometimes.
Monday, August 9 at 2:22 PM
At The Ranch, Mending Fences
Stress. It's a feeling I have developed resistance against, seeing my plate get stacked to the ceiling time and time again and hoping everything will somehow work out. Today I feel like that plate is stuffed with an entire all-you-can-eat buffet. As a thin kid with a high metabolism, it's going to be a long metaphorical smorgasbord. I'm not kidding when I say that the workload this quarter overshadows the previous three combined. As cliched and Dead Poet's Society as it may sound, Hank's class is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Yesterday (Sunday) morning, our class met from 8AM-4PM going over chair designs and experimental books. These two projects mean more to me right now than anything else. Both are extremely personal, experimental, and different than anything I've done before. Although there's a sketch here and there, most of the class revolves around thinking - being able to rationally make sense of bringing your imagination into reality. I won't get into details yet because I still have a lot of thinking to do with these. Ultimately, they have the potential to be the coolest things I've ever done (yes, possibly beating the published 1994 Nintendo Power letter...crazy, I know). Or of course I could fall flat on my face and fail miserably, but at least the challenge is there.
When I was in 9th grade, I inexplicably made the decision to live by the quote "What Can I Say? Be Crazy!" Why, who knows; chalk it up to teenage insecurities. I would honestly justify my actions by saying this phrase out loud. Stuff 12 cookies into my mouth and sing the national anthem? What can I say? Be crazy! Andrew thought (rightly so) that this was the dumbest thing ever. He'd mockingly punch himself in the face and repeat my mantra. I outgrew it after a few months. A decade later, at risk of repeating history, I wrote down a phrase in my sketchbook this morning that seemed to sum up my life so far at PC. Listen. Imagine. Create. Everything I've experienced down here in Atlanta falls into one of those categories; a constant cycle of learning, thinking, and doing. As long as I continue searching for solutions to problems with that path of reasoning, I think I'll be content no matter what the serving size.
Sunday, August 8 at 11:13 PM
Beyond Redemption
The swastika is the most powerful graphic symbol ever devised; nothing else comes close. Although the mark itself is bold and striking, the genocide and evil that it represents are what drives its strength and subsequent reactionary emotions. But take a look at pre-1930s imagery and you might be surprised to see the swastika appearing on everything from a Girl's Club magazine to a cartoon monkey named Bingo. The ancient symbol of a hooked cross can be traced back to several cultures, particularly the sanskrit word svastika, meaning "well being, good fortune, and luck." Hitler claimed the symbol as his own and even went so far as to make up a fake origin as a unique symbol of the Aryan race. It was a branding that evoked fear while unifying the movement. Because of this tainting, the symbol is beyond redemption, argues Steven Heller in his book The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption?. Heller is the senior art director of The New York Times Book Review and has written hundreds of books and articles on design. We were lucky enough to speak with him today in a teleconference during Hank's 5:30 AM History of Design class.
My questions dealt with the swastika in modern culture, like the Indiana Jones movies (my first encounter with Nazi history) and the recent furor over a backwards swastika appearing on Pokemon cards (actually the Japanese symbol "manji"). Spielberg did his research - the SS wing of the Nazi party were wildly concerned with finding religious artifacts like the holy grail. By using symbolism like the ark of the covenant burning through a crate's swastika, Speilberg created the ultimate bad guys and preserved the evil associated of the symbol, so as not to forget the atrocities it stands for. Heller's ultimate argument is that the swastika can't be redeemed to its original state if even a hint of evil is associated with it. It would take time and a mass cultural consciousness to redeem it - but is redemption even the right thing to do? For many it evokes memories and feelings, serving as a reminder of the Holocaust, something history can't afford to forget.
It's an interesting read, especially for the visual references of the swastika in action before WWII. From a graphic design view, it's remarkable how strong that simple symbol is, and how its meaning was forcefully changed.
Tuesday, August 3 at 7:48 AM
1940s Speedboat Racers
I was fortunate enough to take part in a workshop last week with Hatch Show Print's Jim Sherraden. For 125 years, their letterpress posters have promoted everyone from Johnny Cash to Elvis to Bruce Springsteen in a highly recognizable style. I made several posters and tee-shirts using the exact same handcrafted metal presses that were originally used for some of their famous posters. In a modern world of computer-driven design, it was refreshing to print things the old-school way. I would have taken photos and movies if my hands weren't perpetually smothered in ink.
Andrew and Don's takes on high school science fair projects are absolutely true. I remember actually trying to rationalize throwing a jack-in-the-box out of a second-story window onto a trampoline and measuring the bounce height with a yardstick to a science fair judge. At least he made an attempt to understand me, simulating the experiment with a pencil falling into his outstretched palm. What can I say; Andrew has a monopoly on the science genes in the family.
School is controlled chaos as usual. I'm beginning to build models of my concept chair out of balsa wood, plexiglass, cloth and sheet metal. For After Effects, my final project is a 10-second animation for Pella where a 3D shoebox will break apart and morph into the logo (I'll experiment with After Effects in upcoming Okay Samurai movies). After this quarter ends in mid-September, I'll start working on Eric Espiritu's Teenage Symphonies site and FINALLY get my demo out. Until then, you can find me 71.6% of the time at the corner computer in MacLab4.
Sunday, August 1 at 8:06 AM
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