made by yates

Had a lot of fun making my submission for the genius facexface...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 18:45:00 -0500

Had a lot of fun making my submission for the genius facexface project by buds Sarah Quatrano and Vidhya Nagarajan. Couldn’t resist the possibilities inherent in the variables “Hipster” and “Cactus” but ended up having a hard time narrowing down the hipster elements to the most iconic and recognizable. I couldn’t use, say, a day-glo tank top because it just didn’t read on a cactus torso. Ended up going with a flannel shirt and a fur bomber hat to show the cactus’s ironic sensibilities and disdain for his desert surroundings.

Check out the whole thing at http://facexface.tumblr.com/

Seminar Projects 2012

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:52:00 -0400

Had a ton of fun working with some three dimensional concepts, a lot of color and some great folks at Wash-U to make the announcements for the senior design show this year. The show is a change from previous years’ formats and called for a solid identity in several iterations: digital and printed invitation, posters, exhibit graphics, and signage.

Above is the double-sided invitation, which fits nicely in a #10 envelope with a one-color version of the 2012.

Here’s the back:

Hope to see you at the event!

Brain Drain's Idea for its City

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:27:00 -0400

Participating in the first ever St. Louis Ideas for Cities, Brain Drain was tasked with this challenge:

Have an animated conversation with a young transplant or multi-generational loyalist and you will understand the passion people here have for St. Louis. But, too often, the message falls back on empty boosterism. Whatever the cause, we must understand it, admit it and fix it. How do we deepen the pool of diverse people who love St. Louis and are personally invested in its progress?

Our idea is based on our opinion (nay, the truth!) that St. Louis has a lot of awesome things happening in it already, but that these things often go unnoticed by transient students and the rest of the country. We sought to highlight the vibrancy of the city in a way that is accessible and exciting for both transplants and natives, for the tech-savvy or the unplugged passerby.

Exciting things are happening! View our presentation and updates on the project here.

Brain Drain + Ideas for Cities STL

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:28:57 -0500

I am proud to announce officially my membership in Brain Drain Collective, a newly-established group of young creatives focusing on the revitalization of the St. Louis community.

We are pumped to have been selected to present at GOOD’s Ideas for Cities St. Louis event happening Thursday, March 8 at the Contemporary. I believe the event is open to the public, but will update with details as they are announced.

Note: this post is highly restrained in its lack of exclamation points. (!!)

New logo for the rebranding of the group formerly known as...

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:47:43 -0400

New logo for the rebranding of the group formerly known as MothUp STL. More detailed post forthcoming, wanted to give an update since the logo was unveiled last Thursday at the final MothUp event at Foam.

The last ever St. Louis MothUp is Thursday! Come for the BIG...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:15:33 -0400

The last ever St. Louis MothUp is Thursday! Come for the BIG reveal of its new identity and stay for an AWESOMELY EPIC story by yours truly.

wordle

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:22:34 -0400

Was browsing this Fast Company article about infographic tools and found this free word cloud creator, Wordle. Definitely a lot of fun to play with, and, as the article mentions, a potentially useful tool for client presentations.

See below: 50 words pulled from my url. Apparently, I like to be (or at least say) making.

MothUp March

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:36:06 -0400

Made this for the upcoming MothUp on Thursday — if you’re in town, come! and take public transit.

Some sketches:

a subtle art

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:36:00 -0500

As John Cusack in High Fidelity once said, The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many dos and don’ts. I would argue that just as subtle as the making of a good compilation tape (or cd) is the making of its cover – it says so much about the personality/dedication of the maker. Do you fold your own cover and hand-write the songs or just print the iTunes playlist? Create your own title for the mix or inscribe a note or doodle on the CD itself? Leave the whole thing blank?

What if the CD was a gift to your closest friends and family to commemorate one of the most important days of your life?

My coworker and good friend Amanda (no relation) was getting married, and had the brilliant idea of making awesome mix cds as wedding favors. They were doing a small, non-traditional marriage in the same place they got engaged (a coffee house!), and wanted a CD cover that reflected this sensibility.

I ended up going with a simple, illustrative route based on the couple’s distinctive hair (or lack thereof). To give it that personal feel, the track list is hand-lettered on the back of the sleeve.

Here’s a shot of the happy couple so you can get the full effect.

Congrats, Amanda and Tom!

(Both photos courtesy J.J. Lane)

Very much enjoy this portrait drawn by @jeffasketch. The...

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:05:51 -0500

Very much enjoy this portrait drawn by @jeffasketch. The internet: a place where total strangers use crude mediums to draw impromtu and totally awesome portraits of each other. I like.

Forecast at the Luminary

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:05:00 -0500

I’m excited to announce first-ever gallery showing (out of school) will take place at the Luminary Center for the Arts as part of the show Forecast. My Ways the World Can End dice game will be shown alongside other pieces dealing with prediction and anxiety about the future and the use of scientific and technological measures.

The opening’s tomorrow, Friday Nov 12, from 6-9. Even if you’ve already seen the game in action during thesis presentations last May, you should consider seeing it in a new, much more refined light: complete with data charts and a highly qualified data expert. It will be a fully interactive (and hopefully enlightening) experience.

The show’s open until December 17th. Be sure to check it out.

http://theluminaryarts.com/featured/forecast/

travel type

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:16 -0400

On my country-wide job search, I managed to snap some shots of both mountain and Texan typography. Compare and contrast: Boulder to Austin!

Boulder:

Austin:

Who wins? You tell me.

(Note: This last photo is a student piece created to showcase the Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection. Professor David Shields has taken up the enormous project of archiving and researching this valuable resource, and has created this great website about it.)

a little bit of luck for a good cause

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:40:47 -0400

Last year, I created this logotype and stationery as my first foray into logo design for Typography I. ECHO is a nonprofit in my hometown of Paris, Illinois, that provides temporary shelter for the homeless. They had no previous branding material, so after the project was finished, I tried to contact them to donate the logo and collateral. After a while, I’d assumed they didn’t want it (this is, after all, my first real attempt at logo design).

As luck would have it, a year later I’d send a graduation announcement (see below post) to a former elementary school teacher who is the organization’s current president. After finding the logo on my portfolio website and forwarding it to specific members on the board, she enthusiastically requested it.

Of course, I’m more than happy to donate it! I cannot wait to see its intended use fulfilled and can only hope that it gives new voice to their mission.

Printing graduation announcements with studiomate and fellow...

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:09:12 -0400

Printing graduation announcements with studiomate and fellow designer Vidya Santosh (http://twitter.com/VlDGET).

koaladash pictorial mark

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:11:06 -0400

Revising the pictorial mark for my logotype seminar project has proven to be harder than first anticipated. During presentations, I was advised to add a shape to unify and connect the pieces that were beginning to separate in the first pictorial mark. I went through several shapes and revisions, finally settling on the above mark.

Although the shape changes the “feel” of the koala, it allows the pictorial mark to read more quickly and perhaps makes it a little more welcoming.

process: ways the world can end symbols

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:58:00 -0400

In choosing a topic from which to create a set of symbols, I wanted something more complex than an easily simplified set of existing objects. I also wanted a topic that would keep me interested, and have an element of hilarity. I picked “ways the world can end” because it fulfilled these criteria and gave me the potential to have fun with visual metaphor.

Here’s some sketches, starting with the initial narrowing of content and media explorations.

About here I realized that I needed to narrow my sketches according to which are the “fastest read.” For example, aliens destroying the earth is more immediately understood than nuclear hadron collider disaster (see below).

Moving on to the computer, I added a few variations that didn’t make it into the final set. As you can see below, the sun punching the earth and the earth melting were conflicting in content, both reading as “global warming,” so I picked the more active of the two. Also, the apple core didn’t read “humans depleting earth’s resources” as quickly as I wanted, so it too was scrapped.

Here’s the final set. From the top: aliens take over earth, the sun explodes, black hole, nuclear warfare, robot apocalypse, and divine intervention.

Stay tuned for part II of this project: how these symbols exist in the real world!

Exploding pie charts created for my thesis presentation to...

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:52:57 -0400

Exploding pie charts created for my thesis presentation to describe the time I spent on different phases of my two seminar projects.

After my presentation last night, illustration professor Douglas Dowd suggested I might identify myself as an illustrator, which I took to be a compliment, since I consider myself primarily a designer or typographer. I’m forward to being able to leverage these two abilities and see how this informs my future work.

The Importance of Content

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:11:00 -0400

The Importance of Content:

The ever-insightful Frank Chimero recently shared this link as part of an argument against the recent slew of data visualization that looks cool but says nothing. Says Chimero: “how foolish you look when you copy form and not intent.” It’s a fake infographic, and its commentary is dead-on. Be sure to zoom in on the image.

why i haven't been posting much

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:22:00 -0400

Come see the Wash-U Design + Illustration Thesis Projects next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings (April 13-15) in Steinberg Auditorium. Reception 5:30 pm, presentations start at 6.

I’ll be presenting a symbols project and a visual identity on the first night only, but come for all of it!

(poster credit: Cheree Berry)

some sketches for a branding project of an imaginary online...

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:25:09 -0400

some sketches for a branding project of an imaginary online airfare retailer, Koaladash, that specializes in cheap last-minute tickets. If only this company actually existed!

Koaladash, it’s MARSUPA-SONIC!

Yes, I went there.