Adding a Porfolio

I finally got around to doing something on this damned blog that might actually be progressive. I'll be hosting a portfolio of my Graphic Design and other such fun projects online as a new page of Windmill Gears. Should be fun, might get known for it. All I need to do now is get it to work.

God help me.

And I thought it might actually be nice to update this blog and use it. This will be the last post here until the new year (which is only hours away but whatever). I hope that next year or even next month has more in store for me using this blog rather than just having it sit here. It has potential, at the very least.

See you next year.

Re-Purposing: Disassembling a K-Cup

I have considered using junk objects and re-purposing them for other things. It's not something I do all the time nor is it something I broadcast. But I think it would be interesting to see what I can come up with. For this new project, I have decided to take a closer look at the Keurig Coffee Cups and see what I can come up with.

So I heard about these Keurig Coffee machines a while ago, single cup coffee makers that are decently popular at the moment. Almost every bank or business I walk into has one. But I heard there was some issues with these coffee makers because of their coffee containers called K-Cups. Plastic cup that holds inside a coffee filter connected to the walls of the plastic cup with a sticky adhesive and of course the coffee or drink mix sitting in the filter.  I know this because I took one apart.

I ended up using a fork to breach the plastic foil seal on the top, those suckers are AIR TIGHT and probably for good reason. but I was sort of surprised with how it looked inside. For some reason, I didn't expect to see a filter. Sort of stupid to think that in hindsight but I digress. The reason for this "operation" was to see the issue with why it might be difficult to recycle these cups as they are after use. Each piece separately can be placed in the proper recycling outlet but I don't find it likely that people would even bother taking them apart like I did to recycle them. Throwing them away would be much easier than dealing with the headache.

So I have been considering what can be done with these thin walled plastic cups. How could I re purpose them in lieu of just throwing them away and letting them take place in a landfill? Well, with a puncture hole on the bottom from being used for coffee, they can't retain liquids unless the bottom is fixed. (When you place a K-Cup in the machine, it punctures the top and the bottom of the cup to allow water to pass through) I'm considering my options with what the machine has already provided me.

Pinstripe 23 - Threadless

So I thought I would try to give threadless another shot and I decided to work with an earlier design from the summer. If you look back a little,  you might see that 23 on a pair of headphones that made it all the way to the final stages of the Skullcandy Aviator headphone competition last summer. I wanted to see what I could do with the design and so I ended up making this. It's currently up for votes and if you happen to have a moment to spare, any positive input would be greatly appreciated. 

Follow this link to see.

As for other work, especially my on going series and projects like the "Plastic Beach" images, well to be honest I have done little to nothing with those. It's not that I have forgotten they are there, it's just that I've begun to lose motivation to bother with them. It's a shame really, because I was hoping to have these images completed one year ago. Despite certain personal setbacks, I'll at least finish most of them . . . if not all.

2,089

That is the total number of people who have seen my blog ever. Some of them might be repeats. Others might even be just Google snooping around. But still, 2K. I'm impressed that people have seen my blog that many times. It's quite flattering.

So I guess that means I'm going to be updating this blog more often. Stay tuned, let me actually make something nice.

Vital Signs - Logo and Type

So I haven't bothered to really get to updating this blog for a while. I hope to get back into the habit of posting things here and make myself a stronger presence online.

I was asked to do a logo for my sister's acapella group down in Elon University. Here is what I came up with for them:

It got relatively positive reviews from the group members and my sister, so I guess that makes this a job well done.

Pinstripe 23 Update and other News!

Remember these? Well these bad boys just made the cut for the Skullcandy Aviator Headphone Design contest! There were nearly 40+ pages of entries, some of them great and others not so much but man, these made it to the remaining 13 pages of designs! The alternate design I made, Obsidian Streaks, did not manage to clinch it but to be fair I didn't know where I was going with that to begin with.

ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN

So if you, the humble reader, would be so kind as to vote for this design I would become a small step closer to becoming the happiest 22 year old in the whole wide world. No lie, I would be really grateful for any support. There is a catch though. Need to do it via facebook and let them do that whole information thing. But the good news is that you can vote once a day on three different designs once you do. But I must remind you, the title of happiest 22 year old is on the line here.

In other news, did I mention I graduated college the other week? Yeah, I did that. It was fun, rather enjoyed it. Trying to relax, enjoy my last real summer before becoming a working person in society. Meaning I have time for things now, some of them art and others just self promotion. And then Student Loans. Fun. I recently finished a commision for some very lovely people and will post some images of that in a later post.

I think this might just be one of the greatest summers of my life. And the good news? It's only just started.

Contest can be found here or click the image above to get a direct link to the voting

Contests

http://www.threadless.com/submission/345210/Lucky

I submitted a design into threadless and it's now up for voting. If you could be so kind as to offer your vote, it would be greatly appreciated. Here's what it looks like:

Also did some designs for SkullCandy's Aviator headphone contest which will all be up for voting in a few days. I'm hoping to see what I can get out of this. See? I am doing something here.

Ugh

Alright, this is the first time a little more/less than a month since I've updated this blog. I'm terrible, I know. Trying very hard to get into a regular schedule for this stuff. The side projects haven't gone anywhere, been busy with commission works for the past week or so but hopefully I can get to getting some of my personal projects done.

Stylo v.2

The original Stylo, the very first piece made for the Plastic Beach series over a year ago. I made it as a school assignment and had the idea to expand it into a series from there. Very found memories, although I think I can try to take another crack at this one.

Since I was using the objects and characters from the music video in the last piece, I was thinking perhaps using the car from the video would hit truer to home. The 1969 Z23 Chevy Camero, an American icon. Also possibly a deathtrap. I tried doing some line work directly from a picture of this car, but it just ended up making me feel frustrated and hating life. Not the result I was looking for. I think for situations like this, it's better to trust paper and pencil rather than go straight to digital.

I've also started working on Rhinestone Eyes (months of neglect on that one), Glitter Freeze and To Binge. Not sure which ones you'll be seeing first but we'll see what happens.

. . . Now what?

So with the Wry, Raw Whimsical Wall completed and put away, I've been focusing on mostly academics for the next few weeks of my last semester of school. This is all well and good I suppose, but it still leaves a large vacuum where the seminar project. Of course I've had ideas of what I could try but I think what is important is to finish what I started. That being said, my Plastic Beach series has been on going for over a year as of March. I thought I would have finished it by now, but as I look back to see what I made I feel compelled to redo them. But that, we'll see.

The remaining ones are as follows:

• Welcome to Plastic Beach
• White Flag
• Rhinestone Eyes
• Superfast Jellyfish
• Glitter Freeze
• On Melancholy Hill
• Broken
• Plastic Beach
• To Binge

I've done some ground work from a couple of these. Should have at least one done by the end of the month. See you all then.

The Wry, Raw, Whimsical Wall

Several months of making crappy art have finally come to fruition as my show is finally complete and hanging on the wall of the 301 Gallery as we speak. 50 pieces accompanied by 100 random captions taken out of context from a simple newspaper. The meaning of each piece can change drastically depending on what caption is placed underneath. You can imagine the kind of fun that could ensue. What's more, each piece on that wall is up for $10 each, all proceeds going to my school's Japan Disaster Relief Fund. The show is in a few days and I'll be sure to get some pictures of the event.

If you happen to be in the Beverly area, do give it a visit this Wednesday April 6th at the 301 Gallery on 301 Cabot St., Beverly MA.

Donating Seminar Work

Taken from http://designseminarspring2011.blogspot.com/ :

So I decided to think long and hard about what I was going to do with my seminar pieces once the show was done and the sad truth was that they would probably sit in my parent's basement until they collected a healthy lair of dust in some box underneath Halloween decorations. So then I thought about something that might be beneficial to me and possibly others.

I've decided to sell most of the 50 pieces for the Wry, Raw Whimsical Wall during the show with all proceeds going to one of many Japan relief funds currently being run locally. Now I'm sure you might have some questions about this, so allow me to clear things up as best as I can.

1. Sell your work at the show? Are you some sort of fucking moron?

Well no good sir or madam, I am not but your concern is appreciated. No work is going to be leaving the 301 Gallery during the duration of VERGE's opening or time on the gallery wall. I will advertise at the show that these pieces are indeed for sale and that all proceeds will be going to Japanese Disaster Relief. I was thinking something along the lines of $5-$10 each and two captions with each piece sold. That sounds fair to me. Although I am going to be offering the work for buyers, I will be sure to make it clear to everyone that the only pieces for sale will me my own so that no one else in VERGE will have to deal with any unwanted nuisances.

2. OK, so you are doing a good thing. But why are you sharing it with all of us and not just your group? You some sort of attention whore?

Well the funny thing about doing a good thing is that sometimes it's not the most logical course of action. I'm posting this here because I'm curious as to whether or not I should do this and who better to ask then my peers and teachers? I personally think this can work out but if it means making things more difficult for everyone at my show then we have a problem. I want to make sure this won't make anyone else miserable.

3. Japan Relief huh? Aren't there other problems in the U.S. to worry about? Why not let the rest of the world take care of that and do something different.

Well the thought had occurred to me that this current issue in Japan is quite popular for people who get worked up for causes, only to get bored of them in a few weeks and go on to the next one as if it were some sort of fad while the ongoing crisis stays the same regardless. The reason I'm choosing Japanese Disaster Relief isn't because I'm into doing what all the cool people are doing nor is it because I'm some sort of rapid anime fanboy. I'm about to open my heart a little, I apologize in advance for the tugging of heartstrings and mushiness, I honestly am.

Last summer I stayed in Japan for a month through the school and lived with a house family who treated me kindly. A COMPLETE STRANGER WHO COULD BARELY SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE AND THEY INVITED ME INTO THEIR HOME AND TREATED ME LIKE FAMILY. Would this happen somewhere else in the world? I'm sure it could, but the fact is that it happened here. Although Niigata, the city I stayed at, wasn't hit as hard as some of the others on the opposite shore it has since taken in over 8000 displaced people from the devastated Miyagi prefecture. Now it's not like I'm giving this money to my host family alone or anything, but if there are any people like my host family that no longer have a home to return to and whatever money I make can help them then I'll send it over without question.

4. I have no real problem with this, but I think you're a fucking idiot for doing this during your show. Why not wait to sell them after the show is over so we don't have to deal with your stupidity?

We have over a 100 confirmed guests (according to facebook) coming to this show and I expect more will show up throughout the evening. People will be looking at my work, playing with captions while eating cake. THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO SHOW MY WORK FOR SALE. Passing up an opportunity where people are going to be exposed to my work and the offer of helping the greater good would be foolish. The only thing that would be bad about this is that my evening could (I'm saying could, since this is all still hypothetical) become a little less enjoyable from patrons continuously asking me for what pieces were available.

So there you have it, my proposal of what to do with my work. Like I said, if this poses any problems to any other members of VERGE then I won't continue with this any that will be the end of that (not that I'm trying to guilt anyone here). And besides, I'm still waiting to print out my images and finish constructing them for the show, I may just be planning too far ahead. We'll see how it works out and whatever outcome I reach won't mean the end of the world.

Seminar Post: 50 images complete

I mentioned a long time ago that my goal for my school seminar project was 100, but due to unforeseen circumstances I shortened it down to 50. And they are done. Well, I have 51 images. I'm going through the ones I want and the ones I want to ditch. So that's a good problem to have I suppose. I get to spend the next couple days deciding how I'm going to construct all these images for the show this April.

Stick around, because we're gonna go places.

Love

I have no doubt in my mind that when I say love is masochistic, people would to think that I am a bitter and dejected man who sees the glass half empty. Well, they would be half right if not mostly right. But this isn’t the opening line to a sob story of love lost, that would be cliché at best and above all else rather pathetic because it’s not like there was something horrible that happened. No one died in a tragic fashion, although I will admit that I wished someone did to make all the bullshit seem worth it. Or maybe it was the death of a mindset or a personal ideal, something so close to your heart that when it goes it rips off a piece of your beating, pumping organ like a fixture adhered to a wooden wall. And let me tell you, there are bound to be splinters any which way you look at it.

But other than personal experience, the best kind of experience, this assessment comes from the observations made in hopes of easing a pain I had a few years ago. It is incredible what people will do for each other, for this strange many limbed creature called love. We suddenly find someone with the right chemistry, the right look and then we begin to do things foreign and strange to us for the sake of someone else rather than ourselves. And to make matters worse, we consider this behavior natural. Natural! As if a sudden shift in personality and heavy dependance that could develop in such a way that without it we may shrivel up and DIE (physically or metaphorically, take your pick) is just run of the mill! It’s ludicrous! It’s insane! It’s the reason those foul tasting Sweetheart candies from NECCO make a profit in this country! And before you stop me, have you ever had any of those sugary abominations? Once the taste of dry and dead glucose wrings your tongue of feeling then I’m sure you will understand some of what I am talking about.

So what was I talking about? Ah yes, love. Love, love, love, love, love. Love is what makes sane people go mad with a pantheon of different emotional outcomes. Love can be the reason for living or love can be the reason you are dead, face down in a gutter somewhere. But that might be a little too much, I’m getting ahead of myself. But to get back on point there is a sort of strangeness to love when it comes to making people act. To be willing to go the extra mile for someone, to care so much for another living soul that you would break your back twice for them. That is inspiring, but oh so very insane. But in a good way. Can you be insane in a good way? Is that possible? I’m getting off topic again, let me move this along. I miss having a high rise bed. AH DAMN IT MAN, GET IT TOGETHER!

I have witnessed love, I have seen how it acts and behaves and I have seen various species of the creature. I have seen large imposing men reduced to soft-spoken teddy bears in the presence of the woman he had found himself with while others playfully grope and fondle each other as if they were children playing some sort of game. I have also seen it be the glue that keeps a bickering and loud couple together despite that they might truly hate each other. It is a miracle, something that can’t be replicated for cheap, something that should never have a price-tag and something that should be cherished no matter what kind of love it might be. But I am not convinced that it is still something that won’t hurt you. I am almost convinced that there will always be some level of hurt involved with love whether you want it or not.

Whether it is insanity or some mental phenomenon caused by a storm of hormones, I am not sure and I have no intention of knowing exactly. Savoring the mystery as it were. But it is clear that we hurt ourselves for those moments of bliss that come with it. We sacrifice our time, our bodies, whatever we can scrape together for it, for that sweet fleeting feeling that the other person on the other end of this diabolical arrangement will accept us and reciprocate those same feelings. When it all comes together as some sort of calm wave and if just for that moment, everything is right with the world. For this and nothing else, I see people exhibit symptoms of what I might consider bipolar disorder. But again, I may be acting out of bounds here. We say it’s normal, or perhaps it’s more normal than most things in life. I’ll go with the latter.

But what makes it OK to hurt ourselves for the sake of emotion, or any reason at all? If we jump right off a cliff, break all our bones, wait a year for everything heal up and then decide to do it again once you can get the chance, what makes this a sound decision? It doesn’t, nothing justifies this example just as it doesn’t justify hurting ourselves for the sake of love. That is what takes a positive force in the universe and turns it into something wretched and cruel, like abusing one’s love for self-serving purposes (Although the pimps and sweet talkers of the world are probably very smart, that doesn’t justify what they do as right. Love and intelligence, what a terrible combination.)

When I see someone who bends over backwards or has a complete personality change, I see someone so involved in their relationship that they are more times than not refusing to see anything else. More specifically, themselves. I will say this once and get it out there, a relationship should never, never, never be the sole reason for personal happiness. Because something two people do together isn’t personal. Personal involves ONE and only ONE person. When it’s two people being intimate, then that’s what I would call a partnership. And when it comes to partnerships, you don’t go in with nothing. That is rude, negligent and above all naive. When someone says you have to love yourself before you love another, they aren’t saying that to be mystical or Dr. Phil. They are saying that for your own PERSONAL well being.

No one will be able to help you the same way you can help yourself. That’s why I find it so important to be able to stand on my own two feet and take care of what I need to for myself and no one else. Because no one in their right mind would want to partner up with someone weighted down with personal crap and no desire to acknowledge those issues. That’s just someone who is childishly trying to shove all its toys in the closet instead of picking them up. But I am not stupid enough to say that there are people who are not messed up in one way or another. We are all screwy, each and every one of us has something deep down that we have to struggle with. What I think is important is the ability to handle these matters while also being able to accept the help of others if wanted. After all, this is a partnership we are talking about.

There is no need to feel the slings and arrows of hurt for the sake of love, but we do it anyway because we can’t seem to have one without the other. But you can limit how much bullshit you deal with by taking care of yourself and being there for whoever it is you have the fortune and misfortune of loving. This is a precious thing, this horrible and deranged emotion that can give someone the idea that they can do anything, it’s just that good. So don’t screw it up by being brash, hasty or just plain stupid. Because if you do, you’ll have a face full of splinters and maybe, just maybe, an STD.

GN-001 Gundam Exia - Model pt. 4

Well, I said I finished this a while ago, I just haven't had the time to post the pictures. But before I let you take a look at them all, I have to say this is the finest model I have ever had the pleasure to build. I can only image that the next logical step, the perfect grade sets, will be even more amazing to build. And yes, I took these pictures in a kitchen.





It's nice to have something to do that won't drive you completely crazy. Everyone should have one of those.

New seminar blog

http://designseminarspring2011.blogspot.com/

This is the blog where I will be posting a majority of my seminar related work from now till April/May. Feel free to keep tabs on me if you'd like.

Actual posting may or may not happen in the near future.

The infernal march of time and the next generation

I would like to take a moment and if you would be so kind as to read along then please be my guest.

In more recent news, the Mark Twain novel "The adventures of Huck Finn" was recently going through a change in it's publication where all uses of the term "n*gger" was to be replaced by the word "slave." At first, I was a bit disappointed with this, Twain's book being a timeless classic in American literature and any alterations to it's text felt as though it would be tarnished. It was set in a period in time where things were much different and to maintain this sense of the era it would be best to leave things as they are. However, it's just as I said, it was set in a period in time where things were much different and although Twain's wit and writing is brilliant, much of it is lost in translation as the readers from more than 100 year in the future read it today. Since this is the case, there should be no need to be worried over the simple exchange of a single word, or rather overjoyed that a hateful word is extracted all together. This is the reasoning I have come to understand about this matter and it just seems silly to be upset over the change of a word, regardless of it's context or meaning. Maybe it's better that if a new generation reads the books of Mark Twain that they do not have to ask their teacher "What is a N*gger?"

But this isn't so much about the alteration of books but rather how when something becomes old enough it begins to make less and less sense. As time marches on with every infernal step, things that were once considered important or memorable are now being "antiqued" by the general public, shelved and presented as novelties rather than regarded with the respect they once commanded. Or worse, they are forgotten until some one, some day, repeats a very dreadful mistake or mishap. Now there are a lot of things we leave behind for time to gobble up, things like novels that were less than masterpieces of literature or movies that were alright perhaps even remade but even still weren't all that good to begin with. Those things we don't care so much about and why would we? They are only forms of entertainment.

But then there are things, events and moments in the past that we hear stories about, like when our grandparents told us about growing up in the great depression and how the world was on the end of it's seat during the second world war. Or perhaps more recent, during the 60's and 70's with the war in Vietnam and free love and all the strange, strange things in-between. And here we are, at the beginning of another new year, already buzzing with a few thousand things going on . . . I'm starting to see a trend. As I said, time moves on and on and things are being swept under the rug as we go along. But how much will be lost? How many of the things we experienced last year, five years, ten years ago will really matter to the world of tomorrow? How much will my children know about 9/11? Will it be nothing more than just something that happened a long time ago or perhaps something mommy and daddy saw? And it doesn't have to be political, it could be anything from seeing Michael Jordan play for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA finals or what it was like to listen to an iPod? Or maybe, just maybe they will make me feel old and ask "What is Mario?"

The world will be a very different place for that next generation of wiggling and squirming little brats that may be our children and I wonder whether or not they will learn anything from the events of the past? How will those bygone eras of the 2000's-2010's will actually matter to them?

As a skeptic and someone who sees the glass as half empty far more times than I will ever care to mention, I don't have high hopes. I imagine a lot of things from our collective youths will be fodder for time's gluttony and will be non-existent to the next generation and a hazy memory for us. But for the things that matter, the World Wars that were fought and won, the times that came before when these strange creatures called hippies reigned supreme and all the nasty things we as humans have done because we should have known better, those need to be kept even though they might lose their meaning and their relevance. But even if we change the words around, it'll still be the same at the core . . . right? History is a funny thing, even funnier still is the history that wasn't so long ago. I can hope that the education system our generation will run will do their level best for these children. I hope my children, or at least the children I will one day be questioned by will be inquisitive of what the world was like before they ever arrived. I want them to pick up Huck Finn and ask me what the hell is going on and above all else I want to be able to tell them more than "it was just a different time back then."

So at the very least, remember now. Right now. Right as you are reading this right now. What is happening in the world today? What is special about today? What about you? What are your feelings about today? Were things better before or will they be better in the future? What will you have as an answer when someone asks you what this corner in time was like? I know that this topic is far from original, I'm almost certain I've been posed this question at least 100 times in my 22 year tenure on this rock. But I suppose it's important to ask it again and again because someone may have let it slip past them.

This is the end of a realization I had at 4 am on the 10th of January 2011.

Preperations for Phase 2

It took me a while to get as far as I have but I still have a long way to go. Even with my glorious break from academics, I've been attempting to get further along with my seminar projects since I had what I'd kindly call "a late start." But that is all behind me now and I'm glad it is. I got my bearings, now I need to accomplish my goal.

100 pictures for 100 captions.

Despite my set goal, I will probably be making much more art than I need for the sake of being able to pick the best from the best. Although I have plenty of artwork made and finished, some of the earlier pictures no longer have a place with my ever changing thesis and so I have much less to work with than I originally thought. I am able to salvage what I can, but I'm still in a spot now where I have to make images and make quite a bit of them.

All other personal pursuits like the Plastic Beach series that I started close to a year ago will be placed on hold, but there is always a chance I could make another one by complete chance. After all, I am making more than I need. As for the Gundam model, well it's finished. I'll post more about that later.

In theory, making 100 random images should not pose too much of a challenge. I'm hoping I'm right about that because next semester's work load is much more on quantity with more classes to worry about and an independent study for writing. However, I'm not looking for a mercy angel just yet so I'm still hopeful.