I am so incredibly f***ed.

Postcards

I think this is a keeper. I'm okay with having an entirely different look from the posters, and the cut up look of the photograph with the fading typography conveys the disconnect of the Chris/Topher christopher idea. Now to figure out if handwritten type works on the back. Augh.

I was very pleased with myself when I decided to dot the "eye."

Eh. Not as strong I think.

11x17 Posters

Same concept as my other posters, only I finally drew my 9th grade hair (unifies the series). I switched back to a sans-serif typeface. The color adds a lot, but I'm still deciding between Avenir or Din Schrift. Both look a little friendlier than some sterile modernist thing.

I think the larger type will work better for screen printing. I have already screenprinted 10 or 12 posters of just hair. Now I just need to make screens for type and test it out.

8.5" x 11" Posters

Note the book's title: The Last Hurrah. This could double as a show title (since my name is the real title). Anyone paying attention would notice each poster has a different head of hair and a different page from the same book, which I think would be a cool postering exercise.

The hair isn't as effective in the 8.5" x 11" format.

The gallery guide has been nixed. There is no way I am going to finish any extra design material for my show. I still have 10 paintings to finish (17 days... Jesus), some photos to matte, all of my labels, printing of this material, and a printmaking portfolio due Tuesday. I need to find a couch and someone to commit to driving me. I need a few people. I will have a lot of shit to hang come March 20th.

Why am I going to Chicago for spring break? A brief bit of rest before my complete mental break maybe.

Posted by Topher McCulloch at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click the thumbnails to open a larger version.

. .

Presentation? We don't need no stinkin' presentation! Web design is so much about boxes inside other boxes. No wonder everyone wants rounded corners and drop shadows. I'm excited to make the Tweed website look like every other site (content everywhere! the hobloginization of the web! boxes! columns! lists!). It should be exciting. I am leaning towards the design on the bottom left of the third set of thumbnails. Header with Tweed name/logo and a photograph of the interior, Sax Gallery icon to right, with a large "feature" image of a current exhibition flanked by thumbnails for other current exhibitions. The column on the right is for weekly events like speakers and student exhibitions. Below the feature current exhibition there's space for upcoming exhibitions and a "modular" space for store specials, featured work from the collection, announcements, etc.

Posted by Topher McCulloch at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The spreads can be viewed here on a good day when my website does not suck. Augh.

Things to do:
Finalize gallery guide, postcard, poster by next Tuesday (must be approved)
Get estimates
Finish Screenprinting posters
Send to printer

Posted by Topher McCulloch at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Front:

Back:

It's designed to fold down into a map-like shape: 8 columns and 3 rows. I decided a simple accordian format would be too boring, and booklets folded down from 11x17 seemed too small. Folding down an 11x17 into this map format, however, makes the page seem much much bigger. I need to integrate the imagery better (I'd like to break the grid more instead of having a ton of equal sized rectangles), and the line through the white space on the bottom is space for a timeline of my life. The idea is that the gallery guide is literally a "guide" to my life, leading through all the development up to now. It's also a prototype for a "designer's memoir" which is told primarily through images and all that ephemeral crap kept around. Someone pointed out that that's the function of a scrapbook, but my approach is a little more abstract.

I have a prototype printed that I'm going to write all over and try to think of ways to enhance the design and content.

Posted by Topher McCulloch at 2:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posters

The poster is more about subtlety, so I don't think I like the huge lettering here. It shows you better my tracing of some typography. I am attached to how "SELF-TITLED" looks (not that I'm even sure that's my final show title), but I am open to criticism.

Playing around with collage some more here. Bud suggested incorporating the show information into the book pages, which I thought was clever. I need to print this one to see if it works in the real world.

Postcards

A secondary idea inspired by too much abstraction. For the hair posters, I definitely need to use a silouhette of this year. The hair idea was inspired by how hair is in reality a poor determinate of gender, as lots of men have long hair and lots of women short, but it marked me as a 9th grader. This school picture inspired the entire painting series, and was cause for plenty of angst. The covered eyes hint at discomfort with the image. In a final version, I'd physically collage the title over the image and have visible tape.

Back of the postcard. I like the computer-based hand lettering, but it does not work mixed with digital versions of the same font I think. The concept is that I'm primarily a design major, but the show is going to be 95% studio based. It's also a critique of the awful typography show cards have.

Posted by Topher McCulloch at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)