Omaha has many, many exciting nonprofit organizations. One in particular is Omaha Girls Rock. They empower youth through music education. I’m really impressed with the positive impact they have on our community and now they’re looking to make things a little more permanent. The Roots to Rock HQ Capital Campaign is looking to convert a 5,000 square-foot space to allow them to solidify the rock for the next generation. And they need your help. Consider supporting. If you need inspiration, check out this sweet poster we designed together.
Do Not Work for Facebook Ever
Young designer who wants to change the world, don’t work at Facebook. Old designer who wants to make a difference, don’t work at Facebook. Regular designer who wants to make a decent living and provide for his or her family, don’t work at Facebook.
A job is not just a job. A job is your chance to put a marker down. And I simply can’t believe you don’t care about human rights, democracy, elections, communities, mental health, and privacy. Deep down you care about all of those things, and since you do, you can’t work for Facebook. Ever.
To the argument that if you’re already on the inside, that’s where you can really make a difference because there’s always another asshole who will take your place. Well, maybe. But are you actually making a difference then? Or are you just pushing buttons in the same old way everybody else is?
That’s what I thought.
Big Oil? Nope.
Big Tobacco? Nope.
Big Pharma? Nope.
Big Finance? Nope.
Big Tech? Sorry, but nope.
Do not work at Facebook ever.
I don’t know how … A Mid Life Assessment
I’ve gotten to mid-life not entirely sure how these things work:
Flying Standby
Snapchat
Trickle-down Economics (pretty sure these don’t work)
Mail Order Catalogs
Toilets
Caucuses
Internal Combustion Engines
The Suburbs
TV Ratings
Wireless Technology
Network Television
Credit Card Points
Conservative Ideology
Poster: We All Need Room to be Human
For this year’s annual Good Apple Awards, the poster I designed is focused on prison reform. The design takes on the issue of overcrowding and the efficiency of treating people like they aren’t human.
Starting in 1619, slave ships crammed people into perfect configurations. Now it’s being done with cell blocks. A pattern of people with their hands up, outstretched, ready for inspection upon entry into prison. Is anyone able to let their guard down ever again?
For this issue, our list of demands:
reduce severe overcrowding
stop warehousing people
fewer people in prison
intentionally help people exit incarceration
Good Apple Awards
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Livestock Exchange Building Ballroom
Omaha, NE
I find perfect geometric patterns quite beautiful. And the maximized use of space comforting. But in this case, both the pattern and use of space represents a cold, calculated brutality.
It might seem logical to just say we should build more prisons. That misses the point entirely. Inspired by the Central Park 5, the New York Times 1619 Project, and Ramsay Bolton.
Lives Radio Show
Hosted by one of my favorite people Stuart Chittenden, Lives is a radio talk show about conversation, community, and people. I was recently a guest. We talked graphic design, activism, punk rock, collaboration, the Clash, going to Catholic school, truck driving, clients, limitations, knocking doors, and other rad stuff. Check it:
The Theater of Work
Design Alliance Omaha welcomes Clive Wilkinson to OMA by way of LAX. Architect, designer, writer, and strategist with particular expertise in the application of urban design thinking to interior design, specifically in workplace and educational communities. He will be signing copies of his new book The Theatre of Work and maybe even some posters, too.
Clive Wilkinson, FAIA, FIIDA, RIBA
Thursday, October 3, 2019 @ 7 pm
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha
Create yet another account? Oh hell no.
Hey, everybody. I have Account Creation Fatigue, or ACF. Seriously. I had to create one on USPS.com the other day. I know, I know. Privacy and security. I get it. The internet these days is crawling with hackers, incels, bots, Russian operatives, and the alt-right. It’s a scary place. And we need to be vigilant. But goddamn. What used to take me less than a minute, to hold my mail, apparently is going to take 7 business days because the USPS website with my newly created account on it can’t send me a text message because my number isn’t, well, I’m not sure what my number isn’t. So instead, it will send me something through the mail. Or I can try to put up with their voice automated system where I lasted about 2 minutes. I mean kill me know. I guess just keep my mail coming. Hopefully the Amazon package thieves don’t take it as it overflows. The internet superhighway of interconnected utopia just ain’t what it used to be.
