The Middle

The Great Plains.
Middle America.
Flyover country.
Nebraska.

Let it be known, in April of 2021, with our collective hope of soon emerging from the great pandemic of our age, this little design practice that could has decided it’s as good a time as any to formally announce the completion of its first book.

A designer monograph of the last 10 years, roughly. What went in and what came out. Told cover to cover, with the small pieces piling up to make a big worldview in 240 pages. Hardcover, full color, ready for your eyeballs.

More to be shared in the coming weeks and months.

Shaping the Future

The University of Nebraska works every single day across all 93 counties to help our state recover from the pandemic and grow stronger for the future. From workforce development to deferred maintenance to need-based financial aid, the University of Nebraska is telling the story of why legislators should invest in public higher education.

We just printed a brochure designed to showcase how the University makes a positive impact in our state. Oversized and beautifully printed for maximum impact.

Learn more about NUforNE »

View Work

Oppose any and all attacks on our voting process

From the Nebraska Democratic Party:

The Republicans have launched an attack on our voting process in our state at the Unicameral. As reported by the Omaha World-Herald, state Sen. Julie Slama has introduced bills requiring voters to show ID in order to cast a ballot and another measure to change the way Nebraska allocates its five Electoral College votes — which helped President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris win the White House.

Take Action »

The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen

This is chiseled in the stone of our state capital in Lincoln. Powerful words, they’ve stuck with me since I first saw them so many years ago. Especially when neo-Nazis held a rally on the capital steps in the early 2000s. And now when the Republican party has openly embraced American style fascism, an uptick from their denigration of the citizen through a constant hobbling of our government institutions.

I don’t take kindly to people who wreck what we’re supposed to be building together.

Stay watchful.

The America Years

I’m a straight white man of privilege from very modest upbringings who has managed to skate through this life into his 40s with a combination of hard work and dumb luck and of course a head start arriving at a comfortable, pretty good life. But still, when I think about how the last 20 years will be studied in the history books, here’s what comes to mind:

  • The Gun Violence Years

  • The War Years

  • The Security State Years

  • The Recession Years

  • The Polarization Years

  • The Disinformation Years

  • The Pandemic Years

  • The Climate Change Years

You can call this pessimistic but, it’s just a fact, you can’t hide from national politics. How they work directly effects how life is in America and our collective experience.

And it’s that collective experience I think is most defined by trauma and pain. Sure, we have the Internet, but not universal healthcare. This is the golden age of television, but white supremacy is allowed to run rampant throughout the country. I certainly love the craft beer craze, but I’d rather everybody got their news from accurate sources who actually do journalism.

Time to do better America. We need to define these coming climate change years by opportunity, equity, and balance.

Time to get to it.

- UPDATE -

There’s an important prologue to these years. The initial years of an American experience that set us up for where we’re at today starting in the 80s:

  • The Anti-Government Years

  • The HIV/AIDS Years

  • The Abortion War Years