Hey guys – this is my last thesis-related post (I promise) … and why the last?? This week I turn in everything signed-seal-delivered to Pratt. It’s been quite a drawn-out process but I guess that’s to be expected trying to finish and thesis and working full-time. But in the end, I’m so happy with how everything turned out. I spent the last few weeks designing my thesis book and I’m thrilled with how it looks. I’m going to post a few of the spreads in this post, but you can flip through the entire book here. I’ve also spent a bunch of time tweaking my website and trying to polish it up, check out the progress at dcwdesign.com

So now that my Pratt MFA thesis is done – it’s time to plan for the next 5 years. I was talking a few weeks ago about how everything I’ve done post-Appalachian was to get me to this point, living/working in NYC with my masters. So what’s next? I’ve had an amazing job these last few months so I’m off to a great start. I’d also like to start creating my own work again and possibly send another round of letters out for The Joy Project. So lots on the horizon, lots of things simmering in the kitchen – stay tuned to what comes next!

Joy, Delight and Growth: Harnessing the Power of Joy in Design
by Daniel Wiggins

In order to strive for a remarkable life, you have to decide that you want one. -Debbie Millman

Maira Kalman spread about And the Pursuit of Happiness.

Spread with my poster for the United Nations Youth Pre-Conference,
Summer 2010.

The Joy Project spread.

10 Things I Did in 2010 (need to work on the 2011 version of this!)

Take your pleasure seriously -Charles & Ray Eames.

Pictures of the Joy Letters I designed as part of The Joy Project.

Spread where I talk about my textile design sketchbooks, and my experiences abroad in Copenhagen.

Spread where I discuss My Joy Poster – a poster about all the things
that bring me joy.

Snapshot of all the visual responses/postcards I designed for my thesis exhibition.

These are the blank note cards people filled out at my thesis exhibition. Really happy that I could a fun way to incorporate them into the book.
Might be posting these on the blog soon.

Final big spread with the This Brings Me Joy newsprint poster.

Hope you enjoyed – again you can see the entire book here!

Hey everybody – awesome news! I’m featured in the 2011-2012 Pratt Institute Graduate Bulletin (aka catalog)!! I guess you can say I’ve come full circle. Wasn’t too long ago I was a bright-eyed design student at Appalachian State University dreaming of moving to New York and studying Communication Design at Pratt. I remember looking at the catalog years ago thinking .. if only I could get into Pratt. And three short years later my work is featured in their bulletin for new prospective students!

Also this week I’m printing and submitting in my final thesis paper and book. Now that my Pratt chapter is wrapping up it’s time to start planning for the next 5 years. My next project is reworking parts of my website (www.dcwdesign.com) and then it’s time to start making big post-school moves in 2012. Wish me luck – and best of luck to everyone in the new year!

Here’s the project that’s featured in Pratt’s 2011-2012 Graduate Bulletin. My Sophronia project based on Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities book.

Front of double-sided poster/mailer.

Calender of events detail.

Fold out poster advertising Sophronia – half circus, half “real” city.

Voter card for Sophronia.

:: And coming soon ::

This weekend I finally made it to the new Marimekko NYC Flagship store just across from the Flatiron Building in NYC. I was curious to see how the design of the store might differ from the shops I saw in Helsinki and Copenhagen during my summer abroad. The NY store was pretty big and had lots of stuff in it! There are different sections for home products, bedding, kids stuff and women and MENS! fashion. I had no idea they were making men’s fashion items – but I’m glad they are. It’s worth stopping by to see all the beautiful printed textiles on the rolls and see how the designers apply these prints for different uses. You can notice how the scale of the pattern shifts for use on a pillow vs. a dress vs. a shower curtain or a coffee mug. It’s really inspiring to see all these beautiful prints housed together in one place and step into their colourful world.

I was also happy to find another copy of their Fall/Autumn mailer. I’d found a copy in the Copenhagen store and I really loved all the dark colors and reds they used together in that campaign. You can tell they’re making a push to enter the high fashion market and diversify beyond home goods. I think they’re off to the right track! Here are a few images below for your viewing pleasure.

I love the contrast between B&W and pops of red, so bold and graphic. Much more my style and taste .. too bad there is not a men’s version of this.

They also have a lot of pieces inspired by the beautiful birch trees found throughout most of Scandinavia.

I love the textile hanging at the bottom. Not sure how to use it on clothes, since it’s such a huge repeat. But it would look BEAUTIFUL framed/hung on a wall.

Here’s a look that pairs well with the pattern behind – but you can see they didn’t apply it directly to any pieces. It would have to be used very abstractly.

Also while you’re there, pick up their Holiday 2011 catalog.

I love the graphic design of all the Marimekko stuff- lots of big type.

Holiday Prints!

Looks like a party right? These dresses are pretty cool, with the black tights and shoes.

The store is located at 200 5th Ave in NYC – check it out!

This weekend while CHRISTmas shopping with a friend in Chelsea I stumbled across the work of Walter Erhard. Above is one of many fine examples of Erhard’s illustration work from the 1950′s and 60s. There doesn’t seem to be much information about him online, but according to designsponge, Erhard was also a textile designer. Seems only fitting, due to Erhard’s beautiful use of color and his unique illustration style. This year instead of designing my own cards, I’m going to buy a bunch of these, and scan them! If any of you out in the digital world know any more about Erhard, let me know. I’d love to know more about him and see more of his illustration/textile work. Also – if you’d like a Holiday Card, send me your address and I’ll mail you one! It gives me such joy sending out a huge batch of Christmas cards for the holidays. And until your card arrives, enjoy more work from Walter Erhard.

As most of you know, last spring I was given the extraordinary opportunity to intern for the one and only Jonathan Adler, purveyor of all things happy and chic. Now is an exciting time because most of the things I’ve designed for JA are finally hitting stores and online. One of the items I’m most excited about is the Peace & Love coasters I designed. For this project, I had just a few hours to design two sets of coasters for Saks Off 5th. One design was to use a British Flag motif while the other should use art from the existing Peace & Love pillows. To make a long story short, Jonathan liked the coasters above so much, he decided to sell them in our stores and I created another simplified version of the Peave & Love artwork for Saks Off 5th.

I designed 4 different patterns using British Flag design motifs. I really likes the ones with the strips – very nautical right?

Final Design – available now at Saks Off 5th !!

Another big project was the packaging for the 2011 holiday ornaments. In the middle of March we designed these. Who knew Christmas came in the spring?

Mr + Mrs. Muse ornament packaging.

I created the pattern on the box, which is made of the iconic lips and mustache used in the Jonathan Adler Muse collection.

Another project that was super exciting is this line of typographic needlepoint pillows we designed for an upcoming Jonathan Adler book. The chapters of the book are divided into the following sections: dwell, embrace, explore, twist, and ponder. I love to play around with type, so this was the perfect project for me. I had the idea to limit each pillow to a few typefaces and colors. One pillow would have type in shades of green (dwell, see above), another red (twist) and another blue (ponder). One of the things I LOVED about working for Jonathan Adler was the ability to work on fun projects like this with crazy typefaces. In the design work I do for most clients, I’d never dream of using these typefaces, but somehow all together they’re fun and chic. Something about this style really works for Jonathan Adler and isn’t seen anywhere else.

One last project I was super excited about was a line or prints JA was developing for a big picture frame & art company. I’m not sure what happened to this project, but I spend several days coming up with really cool type prints based on Jonathan Adler’s “Alderisms” or words and phrases JA uses a lot in their stores. Sadly this is the only one I have a copy of. How cute would this be in your apartment right?

The end is finally in sight. Above is a photo of the newsprint posters I designed for This brings me joy: The Joy Project, which serves as the final project in my Pratt MFA Thesis. I’m trilled with how the posters turned out, despite last minute file issues when sending to the printer. I have over 1,000 of these posters, so if you’d like one, please let me know! The poster (above) opens further and larger discussing the project and giving opportunities for people to interact with the twitter account. I’ve started leaving these posters around the city, and will soon distribute all 1,000 of them.

After the newsprint poster was sent to the printer, I shifted ALL my focus to reworking my thesis paper – remember that? – the joyous 60+ page monster of a paper. After two weeks of work, I sent my totally reworked paper to my advisers, and now I’m patiently waiting for it to be accepted. As of now, I’m scheduled to defend on December 1st! So if all goes well, I should have all my final hurdles in completing this thesis done by the end of this week. So pray for me! I can’t even begin to tell you what a huge relief crossing these projects off my list has given me. I have so many ideas for all the projects I WANT to do, instead of HAVE TO finish, so in coming weeks I should have a bunch of new things in the works.

Before I wrap up this post – I wanted to share a GREAT source of inspiration I stumbled across in reworking my paper. I find the ideas of Bruce Mau to be very inspiring for what I’m trying to accomplish in my thesis, but they can apply to anyone really, designers and non-designers. Like Debbie Millman, I’m more interested in his ideas/approach to design than what he actually designs. As I say in my paper, “In my thesis, I’m investigating the power of joy and delight to grow as a designer and creator. Joy is an opportunity and has the power to transform and empower. This sense of empowerment can take countless applications, especially in design.” The ideas of Mau are a great example of a designer focused on the subject of growth, and an important precedent in my paper … so I wanted to share his ideas with you!

“An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth”

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project.

1. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
2. Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth.
3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
5. Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
6. Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
7. Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
8. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
10. Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge.

And here it is – the 1st page of the final paper, documenting my inquiry into joy … a year and a half in the making!

” In order to strive for a remarkable life, you have to decide that you want one.
Because if you expect less, less is all you’re going to get.”
-Debbie Millman, Creative Mornings, February 2011. 

It should come as no surprise that I’m blogging about one of my design heroes Debbie Millman once again. Just this past week I was lucky enough to attend the launch party for her latest book, Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits here in NYC. But that is not what inspired this post. For months I’ve had this idea marinating in my head about an aspirational post in response to graduating (or almost) with my Masters degree from Pratt, starting my design career in NYC and life in general. While the past few months haven’t panned out the way I envisioned in May, I’m beginning to see the pieces of my life falling into place. This summer I spent an amazing 7 weeks in Copenhagen learning about textile design in a place I’d never been, doing something I’d never done. Studying abroad seemed like something I’d never be able to do growing up, but it happened. I returned home and started a job as a designer for Starwood Hotels. In the coming weeks I’ll finish this all-consuming thesis that’s been on my mind for the last year. In many ways I’m exactly where I should be and I wanted to share some wisdom I learned along the way, especially for those in the process of getting to where you envision yourself to be. (I’ve also been watching a lot of Oprah lately, and her gospel is really speaking to me ..)

At the end of the spring I had this great idea of creating a list of tips for surviving your MFA thesis. Little did I know I myself would be in need of some of these same tips. As a current thesis student today, I don’t feel it’s the right time to create that list. BUT, I wanted to share some words of encouragement about life and working hard, because I feel that is something I so desperately lacked in my thesis journey. Weeks ago I started watching the show 1 Girl 5 Gays as I’d go to bed each night. Pretty mindless entertainment – mostly funny conversations about love and sex. One of the questions really struck me: What was your lowest point in the last year? Most of the people on the show talked about a break up, the loss of a friendship or family member, etc. All I could think about was school. I’ve spoken in great length about my struggles the last year at school and I’m still living with those struggles today as I’ve yet to finish. I think it’s important in life to acknowledge failure or set backs. It’s something people don’t really ever talk about, but I think it’s so important. Because it’s what we do in response to failure and set backs that define us. For the last year I’ve been spending my days and nights in an MFA program where I felt I never fit in. I always felt like I was battling for the legitimately of my ideas and my approach to design. That semester I received the lowest grades of my entire college career. A semester later, the day after graduation, I learned that I wouldn’t be in fact graduating as my thesis committee decided there was more work to be done. I was crushed. It was hands down my lowest point. I thought I could power through all the negative energy I was getting in school and win in the end. I didn’t.

The attainment of my MFA from Pratt is one of the hardest things I’ve done to this point. Never has a process created more fear, stress, and self-doubt within me. And that’s really a shame. In a design program we should be inspiring the next generation of designers through challenge and encouragement, not through fear. “You have ideas? Well we’re going to show you how to make them stronger.” I thought that’s what grad school was about. Not the case, or at least that wasn’t my experience. Recently a close friend reached out after a rough thesis critique. He said he was almost driven to tears as his ideas were ripped apart and dismissed. I’d been in that position several times, and it feels horrible. We (sometimes) put so much thought, effort, and heart into our work as designers, and to have it ripped apart can be devastating. It inspires fear and self-doubt. The night before I’d been listening to a Design Matters podcast where the speaker said, “Fear is the mortal enemy of innovation and happiness.” I felt so much fear my last year at Pratt, and I know many others did, that I second guessed everything I was doing. It was so unproductive. And it’s a horrible way to inspire students to go about creating work.

I want to balance this story with one of my highest points in the last year. While abroad in Copenhagen, each program awards a student with an academic/design award. I was lucky enough to win the award for textile design as student that best embraced the process and overall did a great job. That feeling of being recognized for the first time after a year full of self-doubt was an amazing feeling. After everything I’d been though, someone finally said good job. It made all the struggles of the past year worth it in some way, and powered me to move forward. So things brings me back to Debbie Millman and her countless words of wisdom. While you’re young and just starting out, “Don’t compromise” she says. “Now is the time to try and fail. Work as hard as you can, and harder than anyone else … and if you expect less, less is all you’re going to get.”

Many of these great pearls of wisdom came from a talk Debbie did for Creative Mornings back in February 2011. You can watch the entire presentation here. In this talk, Debbie shares her list of “The Top 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Graduated College.” I saw this talk online and wanted to write down all 10 in a list to share. So here they are! What I love about Debbie is that she’s so open to share her life experiences with others. She is honest and thoughtful, and happens to be a designer. But I ultimately find myself more interested in what Debbie has to say about life and being a designer, than what she actually designs. That’s never been important to me, though I do love her work. So my hope is that you’ll read Debbie’s list of 10 things she wished she knew so that you’ll know them today, and they’ll inspire you for the road ahead. Whatever that road may be …

1. Design talent = operational excellence. Operational excellence is what it takes to operate a business or a service well. Therefore design talent is a basic point of entry.

2. Design is not about design. Design is about a whole lot of things that ultimately result in design. You need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything. Everything else (but design) is what fuels design.

3. Money is not about money. Sex is not about sex. If people really want something, they’ll figure out a way to pay for it. Period. If somebody tells you they don’t want something you’re selling because they can’t afford it, it’s a nice way of saying like don’t want to hire you or like you enough to spend the money. Or you have no convinced them that the value that you will provide will be valuable enough for them to pay for it.

4. Ideas are easy. Strategy is much harder. Strategy, or coming up with a unique point of difference for a product or idea is incredibly difficult. “Strategy is choosing to perform activities differently, or to perform distinctly different activities than rivals.” – Michael Porter, Harvard Business School . You need to know why you do what you do a nd be able to communicate that easily and effectively.  You need to know your mission, believe it, and communicate it.

5. Know what you’re talking about.  Tell the truth. Admit when you don’t know something. When you do, it allows someone to share something with you.

6. Common vocabulary does not equate with common behavior. It’s important to understand the vocabulary of direction prior to starting a design job. The best way to capture that is with a creative/design brief.

7. Relentlessly prepare. Prepare yourself for every possible opportunity when showing your work. What are all the possible reactions that could happen? And what will I do if that happens? Anticipate the unanticipated.

8. Be aware of “artificial harmony.” AH – happens in meetings, when no one wants to tell the truth. If you ever get that vibe that someone isn’t madly in love with the work, they’re not madly in love with the work. Use it as an opportunity to confront the issue and find out the truth.

9. Seek out criticism. 3 ways of knowing things: We know what we know. I know what I don’t know. What we don’t know is what we don’t know. And that’s the important stuff to know. The only way to find that out is to ask somebody. Only have work in your portfolio that you love. Better to have less things in your portfolio that you love, then to have filler work. If you’re not making enough mistakes, you’re not taking enough risks. Fall on your face. Fall on your face a lot.

10. You must know how to present. You need to know how to talk about your work and what you do, even if you are afraid or nervous. Presenting is a skill the same way design is a series of skills. It must be learned.

And I’ll finally leave you with something joyful I designed

This weekend I finally attended the NY Art Book Fair  at PS1 in Long Island City. I missed it the last two years so checking out this FREE event was a long time coming. Two friends from NC were in town so we boarded the G train shuttle and headed to Queens. I found a bunch of art books I really liked in the tent outside which housed the independent designers and book sellers as opposed to the established/international ones inside. The primary reason I headed this year was to look for thesis inspiration. I’m about to start my final project and I’m looking for experimental, and dare I say, more conceptual ways to approach these final projects. I found three artists/designers I’m pretty excited about.

Above: My spoils  – 4 books and free posters!

First up is RRR Project, a group of artists and designers that pool their work together and create some pretty awesome experimental zines. I picked up RRR.002, which you can view on their website here. I love how  RRR Project combines work from independently working designers from all over to create these zines. Somehow all the mixed-matched pages tell a story, one that is impossible to conceive if it wasn’t for experimenting to see what works. An important way to approach design I think.  You can also download a FREE PDF here. According to their website RRR Project is …

“A COLLECTION OF RECYCLED ART
MADE NEW BY AN INTERNATIONAL
GROUP OF TALENTED FRIENDS.

We make waste for a living. So now we’re gonna make waste live. With a very short deadline a number of international artists and photographers were asked to act and respond. Look around your environment, see what you can save, pick it up, turn it over, and look at it in a different way.

This is RRR.”

Another group that I really liked was Red Fox Press. I’m in love with their data screenprints. They even combined them all into one book that I’d buy in a second (if it wasn’t $400). I do wonder though, how truly “DADA” it is. The whole Dada movement was a big deal at the time because it was new and unlike anything else existing at the time. Working in that style today just looks like collage and abstraction to me, but that’s a minor point. The prints are beautiful! Take a look below.

The last artist’s work that I’m really excited about is that of Edie Fake and his Gaylord Phoenix series. I bought two of his books for $7! What a deal. I love Fake’s illustrative style, humor and playful use of color. So fun to browse through! You can buy a collection of all his zines together in one book here. 

“Eight years in the making ,  Gaylord Phoenix collects  all of Edie Fake’s  raunchy queer comics serial in one volume. Perverse and surreal , Gaylord Phoenix follows  the  danger-fraught journeys of the Gaylord Phoenix, a creature willing to sacrifice anything for lost love and hidden memories. In an ever-shifting landscape full of ever-shifting genders,  Gaylord Phoenix plunges head-first into a realm full of murderous psychedelic smut and  intense magical beauty.”

Sounds like fun right? See more below.

Hello everyone, while I’m in this limbo period trying to figure out what I’m going to create for my final thesis project, I thought I’d give you guys some links I found this week. First up is the band The Weeknd. I saw their Thursday EP on a blog weeks ago but didn’t listen to it until last night. I’m in this group! Or is it just a him? I’m not totally sure. Either way you should check them (him) out. You can download their first two EPs on their website FOR FREE and LEGALLY! Just go here to download. I really like the song Rolling Stone from the Thursday cd, listen here.

Another place for great LEGAL & FREE music is Urban Outfitters music site, UO Music. Each week you can download free mixes through iTunes. Go to their LSTN page to download the free mixes, each has about 15 free songs. They also have another page, Music Mondays where you can get 5 free songs every Monday. So if you’re ready to embrace your inner hipster, check that out.

On the design inspiration front I found two blogs I was excited about this week. The first is aqua-velvet.com. As I do with every new blog I find (and like) I go back as far as I can through their posts. I’ve found so many great posts on this blog, lots of vintage modern design inspiration and some pretty cool photo collections. I’ve been posting a ton of theses to my tumblr recently to share with others. So if you don’t have tumblr, check out the blog.

Another source is that is thesis oriented is the blog aestheticsofjoy.com – !! A blog about joy in design. Sound familiar? I’m seriously an idiot for not finding this blog earlier as it would have been so helpful in the thesis writing process. There are some really great projects on here, joy-related or not. The site is a project by Ingrid Fetell, an industrial designer for Ideo and Pratt graduate. She also lives in NYC so I’m hoping to meet or talk with her about both of projects. Here’s a little more info on Fetell,

“My work explores the emotional relationships between people and things, particularly the basic objects we interact with every day. Many of these interactions are unthinking—the way we sink into a chair or grasp a cup—and my goal is simply to expose the emotionality inherent in the material action. On a deeper level, I’m interested in the dialogue between objects and our long-term emotional well-being. Much has been said about the unhealthy culture of consumption in modern life, and I believe part of the solution lies in designing products that are emotionally satisfying in a more durable way. The designs on this site are physical explorations of questions related to this premise — questions about empathy + emotion, movement + materials, social issues + sustainability.

My current focus is Aesthetics of Joy, a blog and book-in-progress that draws on insights from neuroscience and psychology to suggest ways that design can enhance our emotional health and well-being. The project looks at the unconscious effects of architecture, products, fashion, and art on our psyche, and suggests ways that better design might lead the way to happier, healthier, more sustainable lives.”

One of my favorite posts is this one about “The Joy of Illegal Rainbows” by “Rainbow Warrior” (lol) working in Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to Fetell, “The warrior is a street artist working in Albuquerque, using spilled paint to pour rainbows off the tops of buildings. The charm of the story is in how the community has rallied to the warrior’s defense. This Facebook page has drawn 1,492 fans “in support of the Rainbow Warrior, whomever s/he may be.” And the soul of the story is in the warrior’s own words. This is the warrior on his/her inspiration for painting the rainbows:

About three or four years ago … I was feeling really depressed and I had this notion that if I went out and painted a rainbow, maybe someone would see it and feel what I was feeling or feel anything as intensely as I was. The first one I did, I just literally dumped the paint over the side of a pretty ugly, abandoned, alleyway building.

JOYFUL INDEED!

 

In this post I’m going to give you a small peak into how I go about creating the visual responses that make up This brings me joy. The Joy Project.  The first time I read each letter I like to make sure I’m somewhere alone so I can truly reflect and connect with the person that wrote it. I generally read each letter a few times to decide which response is the most touching, original or would make the best visual response. The challenge with this round of postcards is that I don’t know the sender. Each letter was given to a friend of a friend so I’m designing for someone I don’t know. This is good and bad as I’m removed of prior knowledge of that person that ultimately informs the visual response I create them (it’s almost like cheating in a way). It’s also bad at the same time because I have no idea what they’ll like – and I’m hoping I’ll design something that strikes a cord. In the first round, I knew who wrote each letter and knew who I was designing for … and could use that to create something I knew they’d like.

In the example above “Dinah Washington” was listed as something that brings this person joy. I’m only vaguely familiar with the Swingin’ Miss D from her song “Relax, Max” that was used in a Double Tree commercial a few years ago. I liked the song so much from the commercial I downloaded it and Miss D now lives in my “Jazz/Oldies” playlist on iTunes. When thinking how to visualize the song and Dinah Washington, the tagline Relax, Max is so simple and bold, I knew a typographic solution could communicate the song, something bold yet playful. I played around with a couples versions in Illustrator below …

The music of the song makes me think of vintage neon sings, or multicolored letters on vintage record singles from the period.

I wanted to make the type look old so I was playing with adding a more yellow background to give it that vintage feel. But at this point it was just retro, and not retro-modern.

Above: After many tweaks, here is the final version! See it and 70 more here.

Here’s another example. The response I loved from this particular letter was, “the first kiss.” That’s something everyone can relate to and it certainly brings me joy, the excitement of that first kiss with a potential  mate. And here comes the challenge. I don’t know the person … who do they like to kiss? Boys? Girls? Is this a straight, gay, pan or a-sexual person?? Who could know?!? Therefore typography or images that aren’t too specific should be used. That way the receiver of this postcard, and anyone viewing this response within the project, can be free to interpret the statement “the first kiss” anyway they want. That is ultimately my goal with most of these responses, that any view can place themselves within the picture. Here is how the process worked for “the First Kiss.”

I started playing with the letters of the words “kissed”  and noticed the two “ss” would be fun to play with. I could reflect one ‘S’ so the letters themselves could kiss, thus freeing me from finding a photo of a kissing couple. Whew.

Then I arrived here (above), I love the type but it was looking a bit too Valentine’s day …

I decided to go through my iTunes and look for songs that dealt with the subject matter. The words “and then we kissed” kept coming to mind which are lyrics to a Britney Spears song (withhold judgement). I experimented with adding lyrics of the song and layering them to create a web of emotion visualizing a moment … that moment when your mind races just before a kiss.

Above: The final version, “The first kiss”

Here’s a look at a few of the newly designed projects below.  I now have a collection of 70+ visual responses on the project website, thisbringsmejoy.com

“The Modern Love column in the NY Times”

“Durham, NC”

“Too Wong Foo! Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar”

“Immersion, the merging of the past, present and future”

“Complexity”

“Dancing solo”

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