Awards for design work are weird. Recognition is nice. I like to brag about my skills. But awards don’t really mean anything. They cost money to enter and the ROI is really unclear. It’s close to zero, probably negative. Anyway, I digress.
For my poster Climate of Denial I was recently awarded a Silver Award for the next Graphis Poster Annual. You can buy the book in the Graphis Store. They are always very beautiful, inspiring books.
May 23, 2018 is the 6th annual charitable challenge for the city of Omaha. That’s right, Omaha Gives! is back. A huge day for the city to celebrate giving and building and working together to create a brighter future. More info can be found here. Join in the fun:
UPDATE: More than $7.37 million was raised for 960 nonprofits with 50,463 donations. Nice, nice work Omaha.
— Originally published Nov 7, 2009 by Design Feast —
Coming up with something new, something moving, something relevant. And in the mix of it all, there is the big question: is this authentic? In a world of faked, contrived, staged, hyperbolic, and outright lies, it’s something designers have to continually be asking. It’s not the most glamorous, and it’s hard to do completely, but without that check on yourself, there’s a good chance you’re just creating garbage for the media (and physical) wasteland of the trite and the useless.
Adaptable, daring, imaginative, dedicated, determined and good with your hands. From there, a designer has to connect the dots, see the larger picture, and put it all together in a simplified, compelling way that is honest and true.
Princeton Architectural Press has a beautiful new book out called Posters for Change. I have a couple designs in the collection. It’s a book Shepard Fairey has said some nice things about it:
Using our voices, not only to call out the injustices happening right now, but to empower creatives to amplify a spirit of resistance and unity, is essential medicine. This collection of protest posters showcases bold and impactful graphic design with a message, which is always something I can stand behind!
Having received 800 submissions from around the world, the best 50 are presented in a large format book with tear-out pages. You can buy the book at papress.com or wherever books are sold online or in stores. There’s been some nice press coverage as well:
Press via The Guardian »
Press via Co.Design »
Press via The Washington Post »
In the afterward, Avram Finkelstein writes:
Physical posters in physical spaces have a power that exceeds the evanescence of internet messaging. The poster comes for you where you live.
The annual event for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland to show support for reproductive health care and education is called MOXIE. As a long time supporter of Planned Parenthood, given our current political climate, I wanted to do a little more than simply donate money. Working with Tessa Wedburg, I designed two new posters to be auctioned off.
Both designs ask us all to Hear, Share, Listen, Believe. I’ll post the designs here after the event. If you’re interested in showing your support, check out MOXIE or simply donate online.
Last night Nebraskans for Civic Reform hosted Jason Kander of Let America Vote at Love’s Jazz & Arts Center. An art and activism rally event to raise awareness and support to protect the right to vote in Nebraska.
That means no to any voter ID bill, no to closing down of polling places, no to messing with the right of students to vote, and on and on. Basically it comes down to this. One party is cheating. And the people, ALL people, are fighting back to make sure our democratic process is protected and ALL people are allowed to vote. No tricks, no obstacles, no more cheating.
The art side of the evening took the form of a small collection of posters designed to highlight various barriers to voting in our state; felon disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, voter ID, etc. Posters were designed by Kelsey Scofield, Matt Carlson, Jessica Smolinksi, Jesse Harding, Oxide Design Co., and myself. I did two posters because few things piss me off more than cheating people out of their constitutional right to vote. All money raised from poster sales goes to Nebraskans for Civic Reform and their efforts to protect the voting rights of all citizens in our state.
Text VRA to 31996 to get involved.
