**UPDATE**

Just saw this post on Fecal Face about the Cut & Paste event, and it looks like the judge that I remark about below was, well, maybe a bit buzzed during the show. Not sure yet if that changes much, but he remarks that he would’ve chosen Brian on second thought- which I’m glad about.

Here’s the [link] to his take on the event.
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**Old Post**

So I never got back to the Cut & Paste I posted about earlier… but that’s because it wasn’t worth the hype I got sucked into. I’m still glad I went though… it wasn’t the designers that weren’t good -it was the MC- who kept trying to make ‘watching designers work’ into a Hoot-and-Holler dance rave. I didn’t think there was anything boring about quietly watching someone else’s techniques… until there was that attempt to make it more exciting.

Regardless, congrats to Erik Otto, who was one of my favorites. I still liked Brian Gunderson better aesthetically… and really enjoyed what he came up with. I completely disagree with the one judge’s comment, “I was watching Brian work and he just froze up. Got a creative block. And I’ve been around good designers. You don’t freeze up. You just don’t.” It was completely absurd, in my opinion, to assume he froze as opposed to having just been satisfied with what he’d done; that he had communicated what he wanted to simply and effectively in under 15 minutes. Is that not what we are also trained to do? Of course there are frequent opportunities for tweaking the living oxygen out of a heavily-kerned show poster, or informational brochure, or detailed illustration… but maybe he was actually catering his design-mindset to the 15 minute limit. Just maybe. And the desperate pressure from the MC to pump up this whole event is what I assume made the judges and the audience dismiss anything not actively changing or hyper progressive in workflow.

Anyways, I took more pictures of the bathroom signage. Love.

(Yerba Buena Center for the Arts)

It’s been awhile since my last post. I’ve been spending a lot of time outside, trying to gain inspiration from the inside of my sun-warmed eyelids… Such a literal opposite from my usual, wide-eyed adventures. Although I hope to have some good inspiration after Cut & Paste on Saturday, the 29th (which is still on sale in San Francisco). I’ve never been to one… [Tickets are $10 advance. $15 at the door].

Contestant’s work that I liked:

A. Winters: Urine Luck | S. Ha: Drop Beats Not Bombs / Virgin / Source Website (scroll down) | B. Belsky: Stencil Nation Lettering | Website | E. Otto: (all his sad faces; they remind me of my past, but in a good, nostalgic kind of way) | J. Arviso: Some of his pen & ink lettering | E. Allen: Self-Portrait (loving the layers /dimensionalness) | B. Gunderson: (i’m a sucker for his illustrations).

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(Also hoping for interesting eye adventures at Lovefest this weekend…Given that Love Parade in Berlin was one of the best parties ever during my stay in Europe!! Or ever, rather. We’ll go with Ever).

So I go to lunch with a few AIGA friends with no plans for the rest of the day, and somehow find myself with free tickets to an exhibition going on that day that I did not know about. Thanks to Design Within Reach, who gave us the free tickets! Had some ideas like glass multch, plaster ice creams, and travel-the-world found typography… (See my shots of them below; Some link to the company/person’s website).

Dwell on Design Conference (9/14-9/16)

“The Dwell on Design Conference + Exhibition is an idea-driven, multi-day experience designed to ignite a creative spark within anyone who is passionate about modern design, sustainability, and

smart growth.

Dwell on Design will connect you with a community of thought leaders offering bold ideas, interesting materials, and new products designed to inspire you to express and enhance the beauty, simplicity, and sustainability of your living space.” -Dwellondesign.com

Exhibitor’s Info

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