These things seem odd to me when you experience them again for the first time in awhile:
TV Commercials
Smoking
Catholic Mass
Airport Security
Snakes
The band Rush
Professional Wrestling
Big Gulps
Cable News
Car Salesmen
All snacks made by Hostess
In all of these, there is either an obvious or elusive alternative. Regardless, they’re just odd.
I’m trying to read more books. Here’s how that’s going:
Books Finished
Fantasyland, Kurt Andersen
Chuck Klosterman X, Chuck Klosterman
But What If We’re Wrong, Chuck Klosterman
Books In Progress
Why Buddhism Is True, Robert Wright
Men Without Women, Haruki Murakami
Design for People, Scott Stowell
We Were Eight Years in Power, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Music is deeply tied to my work. All day long, while I’m designing, I listen to what I consider to be the best music out there. And for the last few years I pick my Top 10 albums of the year for the KEXP countdown. This year was extra difficult.
I had a shortlist of about 30 albums. From some of my all-time favorite bands to other artists I heard for the first time this year. It was tough getting it down to only 10.
It’s also worth noting, given the state of America and our insistence on going backwards, the music was a counter. It pushed us forward. It kept us dreaming, hoping, wondering, working. It was full of beauty, hope, outrage, unity, solidarity, and, most of all, truth.
With that, these are the albums that spoke to me in the year 2017, in no particular order:
Run The Jewels, RTJ 3
Kendrick Lamar, DAMN
Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Navigator
Ibeyi, Ash
Ted Leo, The Hanged Man
LCD Soundsystem, american dream
SZA, Ctrl
Jay Som, Everybody Works
Vince Staples, Big Fish Theory
Beck, Colors
Also worth noting, the Arcade Fire Everything Now tour was absolutely incredible. While their album, which I liked very much, didn’t make my Top 10, their Seattle show was probably the best concert I’ve ever been to. And Valerie June on a freezing cold winter’s day in Omaha? I’m in love.
Do a lot of design
Do more design
And then do some more design
Work with open-minded, thoughtful collaborators who have high standards and keep their word
Then make sure you still feel good about doing design
Find inspiring clients you want to help
Do more than just sell
Take feedback and criticism gracefully
Have your own very high standards
Never think you know everything
Be stubborn
Be brave
Be humble
Remember to also have a life
Keep a (public) journal
Add to it often [...]
Things I’m getting tired of:
Hustle
Startups
Social Media
Things I’m getting stoked on:
Podcasts
Walking Slowly
Cooking
Now offering brand assessment services on a scale:
Quite Wonderful
Super Solid
Appropriate
It’s OK
Falls Flat
Hmmmmmmmmm
Not Even Average
Um, We’ll Get Back To You
Maybe As An Album Cover
Your Cousin Do This?
We will tell you it’s tremendous while winking
The albums that pushed me through this year of intensity and loss, of dread and motivation. The music out there in the world is always a sign of our great potential for beauty, harmony, understanding, and hope. For me, these are the albums of 2016, in no particular order:
A Tribe Called Quest, We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service
Kate Tempest, Let Them Eat Chaos
Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
Beyoncé, Lemonade
Conor Oberst, Ruminations
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, A Man Alive
David Bowie, Blackstar
Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, I Had A Dream That You Were Mine
Common, Black America Again
Blood Orange, Freetown Sound
I’ve always known Beyoncé is really something special. But until this year, nothing she’s done has really spoken to me. Then she released “Formation.” And the Earth stood still. Also, special shoutout to that new Beck song “WOW.” Still can’t believe how amazing it is. Finally, I discovered Valerie June this year. Can’t wait for January 27, 2017.
