My work on Typography Served!

Today I got quite the surprise in my inbox from the folks at Behance. My work for Jonathan Adler is being featured on Typography Served, a site with curated work from leading creatives on Behance. What an honor! Thanks Behance!

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Windows of New York

162 Stanton

Windows of New York is a project by NYC-based graphic designer José Guizar. Each week Jose draws different windows he sees during his travels around NYC. You’re probably thinking, windows? Why would anyone be inspired by windows? As someone also living in NYC, I can attest to the large variety in architecture that appears throughout the city. This is such a simple idea and José illustrates his area of exploration so well. This project really speaks to his skill as an illustrator! So take a trip through NYC with José and his Windows of New York. See the entire project here.

290 Lafayette

461 W. 47th

617 9th

199 E. 4th

962 Lexington

See them all here – Windows of NY.

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Foundry Co. – Designing in Dallas

Today while exploring the wonderful world of Pinterest, I stumbled cross the work of Foundry Co, a Dallas,TX-based design collaborative. Quickly I feel in love with their typography, crisp vector work and layering, which seems to signature of work from this studio. I particularly enjoy their sensitivity to color, which is apparent in several of their different projects. If you find yourself working for one brand (ie, an in-house situation, as I do), it is quite refreshing to see work from independent studios that cover a range of projects and brands. I enjoy seeing the freedom from these independent studios and finding ways to push my brand forward.

So let’s see some of the work! First up, Weld: A collaborative photo studio

Weld is a collaborative creative space in the industrial district of Dallas, therefore the building and space is the product that sells and furthermore the brand itself. Our goal with the logo was merely to accompany the space so we had to do something in the spirit of the building: industrial, clean and simple.

Urban Organics is a local organic food co-op that retrieves crops from local farmers and brings them to the city, allowing members to purchase local organically grown food direct from the farm.

Emporium Pies is a boutique pie shop in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff Dallas.

And finally, here’s a sampling of some of their branding projects.
I particularly love the branding for Ashlee Renee (below).

How awesome is this church branding?? Can I get an amen?

If you’d like to see more of what Foundry Co. is up to, check out their website, blog and see their work in progress on dribble.

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Let’s be Frank.

 

Photos: William Waldron, courtesy of Elle Décor.

Today I’m giving you a glimpse into the home life of Frank Muytjens, head menswear designer at J.Crew. I’ve seen editorial features on Frank for a while, popping up in magazines and online, but I particularly enjoyed this profile at Elle Decor giving readers a tour inside his country home 2 hours outside of NYC. Not only does Frank have excellent taste when it comes to designing menswear (at least half of my wardrobe is J.Crew these days), but he’s equally adept at designing beautiful interiors. When in the city, Frank calls Williamsburg, Brooklyn home (we’re neighbors – I must meet him!), and he’s created an equally beautiful space there. So happy Friday, and get into these beautiful interiors by Frank Muytjens, the man behind the men at J.Crew.

 

Living room – looooove the light and flowers.

Simple kitchen.

In front every great designer, is a great desk. It all starts with a desk.

Love the painting on the wall, and the fan/stack of National Geographics.

How amazing is this closet? SUCH ENVY.

Frank at home in the country (above). Frank and his two-year old Dutch.

These spreads are featured in the Dec 2012 issue of Lonnymag.com

Love the bed. Neutrals forever.

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The internet lives … in NC

 

For the first time, Google released photos of one of it’s data centers showing the complex networks of pipes, servers and technology the technology giant uses to power the internet. The facility, located in Lenoir, NC, is part of a complex of buildings recently built in North Carolina. Apple also recently broke ground a data center in Maiden, North Carolina – so the internet is alive in NC! I love how Google color-coded their infrastructure to match their iconic logo – what a great idea. Playful, and very organized. It’s mind blowing to think of the level of organization needed to design and build one of these centers. See more photos below.

 

To see more photos, visit 8 places your computer has already been.

Technology is beautiful!

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What I’ve been up to ..

 

It’s been a few weeks since my last post so I thought now would be a great time to update you guys on my freelance projects from the last few months. While things have been busier than ever at my day job (designing for Moroccanoil), I’ve been doing more and more freelance the last few months. One of the groups I most enjoy working with is ConnCAN,  an education non-profiled based in New Haven, CT. I was approached by ConnCAN last spring to work on a Field Guide (pictured above) highlighting the state of education in Connecticut. We were inspired by the graphic look of the Field Notes series of products, so we applied this theme to ConnCAN’s Field Guide.

 

 

 

The Field Guide is filled with lots of charts and tables all designed to match the “Field Notes” theme. I designed a set of icons that appear on each page to look like field guide badges. The look of this report was so well-recieved, that one of Deleware’s non-profit groups designed their own guide/report inspried by my design.

Another fun project I’ve been working on is a logo/branding project for a NYC-based fashion designer. After years of working for some of the biggest brands in the business, he’s decided to make his impact on the fashion world with his own label. I’m going to wait to show you the final product once his site launches, but I think some of the process/behind the scenes screen grabs are particularly beautiful. I don’t actually design that many true “logos,” nor do I do that much custom lettering, but for this project I had the opportunity to do both.

Custom “A” and “R” pictured above.

Playing with letterforms – beautiful no?

One last project I have in the pipeline is helping Two Inch Cuffs, a NY-based fashion lifestyle website, that curates an impeccable collection of clothing and accessories. I was approached by Ruben Hughes, a talented gentleman I’ve followed on tumblr for a year or two now. I’ve always admired the sense of style and taste he brings to Two Inch Cuffs.  So be sure to check out the site for Two Inch Cuffs, shop their collection, follow their journal and sign up for their newsletter, as the next one you recieve may be designed by me

One last shoutout to all the designers at Appalachian State University! I was told last week that my blog has been showed in studio classes for my thoughts on resume/portfolio design. It’s nice to come full circle, just a few short years ago I was in those same classes myself. So sending loves of love to ASU!

 

 

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The paintings of Julio Alan Lepez

I stumbled across the work of Julio Alan Lepez on tumblr this past July and it was love at first sight. The painting above appeared on my dashboard and I quickly reblogged it (for obvious reasons), but the original post lacked information about the artist. I love the combination of realistic portraiture with writing and the scratched out parts. I wasn’t sure if it was mixed media or just paint, but I’d never seen paintings like this before. Months later I got a message on tumblr alerting me to the artist, from …. the artist himself! I was trilled to find his site and see more of his work and learn more about him. I reached out asking if I could feature him on my humble blog, and thankfully he agreed. Today I’m featuring five of my favorites, but these only represent a small snapshot of his work. Check out an extensive collection of his work on his site (here), and follow his blog (here).

In writing about his show Inventory in 2011, Chelsey Henderson writes,

“Julio Alan Lepez has been painting portraits since back when he was at Art College. It is well known by now that Lepez’ subjects are always his friends. He works from photographs he takes of them, asking them to pose according to the idea he wants to portray, and even though it is evident that he has many very willing friends, after a few years of following his work one starts to recognize them, to almost feel like part of the group, like walking up to one of them and saying “hey, how have you been, its been ages!”

Solution nr. 1

31 x 31 cms. | collage, oil on mdf | 2011

The titles Lepez gives to his works are very important. “If I don’t have a title, I don’t have a painting”, says Lepez. Often, the title comes before the painting. Other titles, such as “Retratos imposibles” (Impossible Portraits) or “Retratos psicologicos” (Psychological Portraits) are constantly re-used with different characters. “To me the title is a way of capturing the spectator’s attention, a way of intriguing him and drawing him closer to the work. The image captivates, but the title sets him thinking all the more. I go crazy if picture and title are not perfect together”, explains the artist.”

Impossible Portrait 10

90 x 60 cms | oil and collage on canvas | 2005

Impossible Portrait 17

70 x 100 cms | oil, collage and charcoal on canvas | 2006

Laboratory (polyptych)

180 x 180 cms. | | 2011

I cheated with the last one, a group shot for my final favorite! But don’t these paintings look amazing together? I hope you enjoy Lepez’s work as much as I do and if you’d like to see more, check out his site (here).

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2000 & Counting

It’s been a while since my last post but a lot has happened in the last few months! No longer am I an unattached freelance designer, free to design for any client of my choosing. I’ve entered into an exclusive long-term (design) relationship with …. Moroccanoil! In a few days I’ll have been there 2 months. Time really does fly. While adjusting to a full-time work schedule, I’ve tried to blog here and there but I haven’t been able to get back into my grove, but I plan on changing that soon. I have a huge list of artists, designers, illustrators and photographers I’d like to share, and hopefully some new work of my own too.

I also want to celebrate that for the past FOUR consecutive months, I’ve hit 2,000 page views. While that pales in comparison to many design blogs out there, it’s miles away from the 17 views a months I had back in May 2010. This blog has been a great outlet for me to share inspiration and put into words my goals and passions, especially when it comes to design during my two years at Pratt Institute. Blogging turned into cheap therapy for a grad student that never felt at home in an MFA program. Good bad and ugly, it’s all here. And some really GREAT things have come from this blog too!

While studying abroad, I blogged about Scandinavian Textile Design and was featured on a few blogs about my travels through Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Blogging about the artists we saw and the showrooms we visited ignited my interest in learning more about textile design and writing about design in general. It also gave my blog a particular focus. Last summer I was completely shocked when I was invited to interview with a creative director that has and continues to make work I greatly admire. Last month my thoughts on resume design and interviewing were featured on another blog, also to my surprise. So while this remains a side hobby, no matter how small, your hobbies and interests can open doors! So here’s to opening new doors in the coming months and sharing more stories.
-Daniel

See more of my pin’d type quotes (here) on my pinterest.

Lastly, a quote from one of my favorite posts, and read more about Marimekko here.

 

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Mason London: Illustration & Hip-Hop

 

Today I stumbled across the hilarious work of Mason London, a London-based designer and illustrator. There’s not a ton of information about London online, but one blog writes,

Mason London is an illustrator from London, UK. He picked up his first felt tip at age 6, drew a 400 page comic about a man that turned into a car and he’s never looked back. These days he spends most of his time making drawings that are heavily influenced by 80s Hip Hop and New Jack Swing culture and wishing he could grow a hi-top fade.’ -link.

I love the sense of play and fun you find in his work. Some may call it lowbrow, but I love smart and talented designers that don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s quite refreshing. So get into the work of Mason London, check out his website (here), see what he’s up to on Dribble (here), and buy prints at his shop (here).

King Henry the VIII.

Abraham Lincoln.

Picasso.

Mickey

Marilyn Monroe

Love this shirt!

High on life.

Great type.

RIP Nate Dogg

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Arts & Architecture 1945-54 by David F. Travers

This weekend fab.com had something A-MAZING on sale, Arts & Architecture 1945-54 by David F. Travers. Arts & Architecture was a design publication active from 1929 to 1967 focusing on American design, architecture, and landscaping published and edited by John Entenza from 1940-1962 and David Travers from 1962-1967. It was the leader in bringing attention to American architecture and in particular California Modernism. The magazine was also known for their Case Study Houses and their design to build programs. I first came across the publication in the Pratt Library in Brooklyn. You know how libraries have all those archive copies of old magazines rebound in plain hard covers? I saw a few that said Arts & Architecture and decided to flip thought them. It was an amazing discovery. Not only does that magazine feature covers designed by artists such as Herbert Matter, John Follis, Ken Chapman and Michael Weinberger, but that archive copies have the most amazing period advertisements from each era. I took so many pictures of the ads and spreads so I could take the copies “home” with me.

In 2008, Taschen reprinted and repackaged the iconic publication during a 10-year period, 1945-1954. You can own newly printed copies in beautiful packaging of every issue during that 10 year period, for $700. Now Fab had the set on sale for $450, but that was still too big a price to swallow for a newly-employed designer. I want this set sooooooo bad, but I wasn’t sure if the reprint features the ads, which for once I actually want. The ads, aside from the covers, are my favorite part! In this post I’ll feature images from the publication, and I’ll begin to share ads from the iconic magazine in the coming weeks. Enjoy!

Vintage ad/illustration from the magazine. How great right?

I wanted dependability. Amen.

The entire boxed set, each year is divided into it’s own box with each issue inside.

The issues – how amazing are these covers?

So in love with these, wanted to buy them so I could scan and turn the covers into art.

Really love the golden yellow one (above).

Example of a Case Study House story.

Now these covers are from issues in the 1960s, but you see the aesthetic carried over from the 40s and 50s.

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