One Week Less.

I was aghast today in class when we were discussing the rest of the quarter. Apparently we only have 2 weeks left of class before studio and critique week. UNBELIEVABLE. For some reason, I thought we had 3 more weeks of class left. Plenty of time to complete final concepts and really get my designs straightened out before taking them to print. Have I mentioned my mom and aunt are coming to visit during their spring break? This also happens during my studio week. I'll be working and celebrating a lot during that time. It's crunch time for this second quarter. For those of you out there expecting phone calls, letters, or long emails....expect short and succinct. See you at 3am.

Movie Break.

I'd like to take a moment here to talk about the recent Academy Award nominations. In my history of film appreciation, I have never missed so many films in one year as I have in 2004. I've always looked forward to the awards season from nominations to online contests and finally the show itself. This year, I don't feel like I can honestly say anthing should win because I haven't seen anything! In fact, let me mention it one more time, I haven't seen any of the big nominated films this year. From the top nominees, I've only seen one, "Sideways." This was a fantastic film, also a hilarious book, and I will pick up the DVD when it comes out, but it won't win Best Picture...probably just the screenwriting nomination. "Million Dollar Baby", "Finding Neverland", "Ray", "The Aviator", "Closer", "Hotel Rwanda", "The Incredibles", and "The Passion of the Christ" are all big movies this year that I've missed. Thankfully 2 of my favorites this year made some of the categories, "Collateral" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Perhaps I'll still be able to catch at least The Aviator before the big show. Props go to Jamie Foxx, Natalie Portman, Brad Bird, "Super Size Me", and Thomas Haden Church...hope some of you win next month. For a complete listing, go to www.oscars.org.

End of Week Two.

School is now challenging on an even higher level than last quarter, so for those that still don't quite understand what kind of stuff I'm doing here, I thought I might fill you in a bit. Grab a coffee, and enjoy.

Type II. After Type I, I thought we couldn't get into any more detail with Typography, but that's because I didn't know better. Here we're breaking type down to the parts of a letter, what they mean, type styles based on these letter parts, how they work, typefaces that can work together and why. I will never look at Helvetica the same way again. Final project here will be a 10-14 page brochure for something not yet announced to us.

Design II is about identity systems (logos, letterhead, envelopes) and promotions, plus we picked an Artist out of a hat and all our work revolves around the style and promotion of that artist. I reached in the cup to find that Frida Kahlo chose me. Yes, our instructor believes that WE don't choose the artist, they choose us. It really has proven true based on my classmates and the artists' that chose them. Deliverables are the identity system above, a poster, and a promotional product with packagaing.

My Color + Communications class revolves around seeing color, understanding it, breaking it down, and seeing how color palettes are used in projects, buildings, and aesthetics to communicate the idea you want. We've chosen a 'place' around town (for me it's the Starlight Six Drive-Inn, go figure), shot photos, developed a 20-30 color palette, and will develop a box of cards, a set of 12 or so with 5 or 6 different designs, promoting the place using the color palette of the place.

I've got a Photography and Writing class team taught by 2 profs, 1/2 the class is photography - learning the camera, depth of field, shutter, telling a story with a photo, etc. Different assignments each week that will lead to our final project. Other 1/2 of the class is about writing, learning metaphor, simile, dialogue, narrative, telling the story with words, utilize the senses, engage the reader to create a picture. Wonderful in class 20-min writing prompts, homework are writing examples, short stories, based on a single statement, or character, etc... Final project will be a hardbound, accordian fold book, one side photography, other side writing, telling a story, which we will create, most likely something personal. They really push developing personal life stories in our projects, the angels and the demons.

Lastly, Quark II, a page layout class. Had Quark 1 last quarter, no project, just learning the program. This time, more details, really learning what it can do and how to use it, also a bit of Photoshop tips and tricks for cool details. A huge project on this one. Create a target audience for a fictious extended-stay hotel which we'll develop, concept the amenities, location, name, then create a logo, a 12 page Brochure/pamphlet selling this place, and packaging for a product at this place (restaraunt menu, bar soap boxes, postcards, whatever).

So, that is what my quarter looks like. 5 classes, huge projects, 10 weeks. Wish you were here.

Jason and the Giant Peach.

For the first time in my life I saw the PEACH drop. That's right, peach, not million dollar crystal ball. Here I am in Georgia, some would consider the east coast. After spending my whole life in the Central Time Zone, you wouldn't believe how excited I was to experience a New Year time change in official EST, what the networks consider el primo tiempo zono. Lyndsey and I had a couple friends over for dinner, drinks, games, and to watch the ball drop. 3 out of 4 isn't that bad. In Downtown Atlanta, 40,000 people gather to celebrate the new year by watching a Giant, non-million dollar, orange fruit drop from a tall post. I know, just watching anything drop from the sky to celebrate a new year seems ridiculous, but the New York special was nowhere to be found on Atlanta television. No Regis, no history, just a peach and the local newscasters. The only highlight of the show were some great tunes provided by Sister Hazel. So I want to welcome everyone to 2005, a year of new beginnings, exercise programs, and many creative directors using the the 2 and 5 creatively and interchangably in many programs, brochures, and posters. Have fun everyone!

Spirit of Giving (and receiving).

With the first quarter done and the holidays here, Lyndsey, her sister and I traveled back to Texas for a little R&R with the family (hers and mine). Unfortunately, since a couple of us had to come back for work, we only had 3 days to celebrate. So between planned lunches, dinners, birthdays, Christmas breakfast, grandparents, cousins, and my family, it was a fast and furious Christmas. Fortunately, it was great to see everyone. They all seem to be having a great time, life is well, and we were all in the spirit of giving. We were given a lot! From Seinfeld DVD's to rent to a new portfolio case, it was a holiday to be thankful for and to tell all our family and friends how much we love them. Of course, by 'we', I'm including Lyndsey as an author on this blog. To everyone out there, Merry Christmas!

1st Quarter Complete.

Monday night at 8pm, I presented my final projects to a panel of 4 instructors/professionals from school. 17 minutes later, each of them spoke their minds about my concepts, execution, craft, and professionalism; and you know what, it wasn't as bad as everyone kept saying it was going to be. They were constructively positive....and negative. Craft was good, presentation was good, some concepts were great, some were not so well executed, mainly my work was too neat, too organized, and they wanted me to get dirty, get gritty, experiment more. The times where I was experimenting just needed to go further. And that's fine, no problem, that's been the design criticism of a lot of my work. So I'm making my New Year's Resolution now, design related, to get messy, not over-analyze my cleanliness (except in terms of not slicing through our dining room table with my x-acto knife), and let my ideas flow to infinity....as one of my instructors says, "Get Over It." Let's see what I can do.

Studio Week

We are on the quarter schedule here at Portfolio Center, which means we have 11 weeks of class and then a 2 week break. Of those 11 class weeks, 9 are actually in-class, the 10th is Studio Week, and the 11th is Final Critique Week. Today is Tuesday, studio week, and I have approximately 6 days to complete all my final projects (roughly 11 separate deliverables for 4 classes) and go over my short presentation. It's the time everyone cringes about. Admissions reps talk about it, former students ponder the importance of it, and our instructors constantly inflict pain through our skulls with just a mention of this moment in time. 2 ways these critiques can go: 1. Panel, where the student presents and defends his projects in front of about 4 instructors/professionals in a 25 minute time frame. 2. Round Robin, where a few students set up in a room as instructors go by each one to discuss their projects. Round robin takes longer because you have to present to 4 people individually, and the panel critique offers openness for a more intense critique. I'm hoping for panel, simply because I hope to be reamed severely, and it feels more like an official presentation. My only hope is that I convey my excitement and ideas for these projects thoroughly enough to keep the panel intrigued. First things first, let's get these projects done.

Football and other Sports.

While Lyndsey and I enjoy Turkey in Georgia, my brother, his wife, and my parents are enjoying the raucous Cowboys/Bears game in Dallas. I've only been to one NFL game in my life and that was back when the Houston Oilers were still in existence. LIVE baseball was always more prevalent simply because the tickets were cheaper. Lately I have become more interested in the game of football for reasons similar to any other guy. Watching the old alma mater, the enticing integration of chips/queso and beer, and since we only get a couple channels off the antenna, football on Sundays is all there is to watch. With the Baseball season over, Hockey on strike, and the NBA going down the tubes, the only sport left is football...unless you were offended by the Desperate Housewives/Monday Night Football debacle last week. In that case, I'm sure you can enjoy some professional poker tournaments on ESPN2.

Thanksgiving Day.

So it's been 3 weeks since my last post and I know all of you are cringing for more daily news from life. Today is Thanksgiving. Lyndsey and I are here at her sister's in Atlanta and her family has come up to celebrate with us. There's a big turkey about to be cooked, an even bigger Pumpkin pie waiting to be eaten, and a "Seinfeld" story to watch this evening. Which reminds me, a couple of great multimedia items were released this past Tuesday. "Seinfeld" seasons 1, 2, and 3 can be bought on DVD with some great special features (really great deal at Best Buy); plus the new U2 album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" is out in 3 different formats for fans of all levels. And for the digital music lover in all of us, iTunes is offering "The Complete U2". A collection of almost 400 songs, including live, b-sides, and some hard to find tracks for about $150...pretty cool if you don't have any of there albums. Now, on this Thanksgiving day, I have a lot to be thankful for. For my wife, my family, our apartment, my school, friends, and a day off from class projects. I hope this doesn't put me too far behind because I only have one more week of classes left!

Thursday Seminars.

Thursday seminars give all us a students a look into new artists, photographers, and companies big and small. They come in talk about what they do, changes and innovations in the design world today and what we can do (as young designers) to help make things better. Before I started attending, I visited a seminar hosted by HATCH SHOW PRINT. Hatch is a printing company that primarily does posters for concerts or other activities in traditional letterpress format. Since the quarter began, we've had guests from Chronicle Books, Coca Cola, photographer Rodney Smith, and today Marc English from Austin, TX. I've really been blown away by work from each company and have been taking notes for future interests. If anyone has an interest in book printing, posters, magazine photography, or general publication design, check out these groups.

2a.m. Rummaging.

55 degrees F outside, flannel pajamas, prismacolor markers and a 14x17 non-bleed marker pad can only mean one thing: creativity; at least I hope so. Phase II of a design project involving trademark designs, the Apache civilization, and notans. A notan is a trademark style when 2 or more objects can be seen within one image, whether it be reversed, inversed, upside down, rightside up, or inside itself; see this trademark. Just one of many new design terms I've learned in my first quarter, and one of the most challenging to execute. And since I chose an ELK to represent my tribe (before I knew what we were to do), this makes things even more difficult; however, I know that nothing comes better than a burst of creative thinking at 2a.m. If this makes absoluety no sense to you, I apologize, part of it may be a right-brain/left-brain struggle to distinguish sketching from writing. Oh and this is only one of my five classes. Designers Unite!

School has Begun.

So we're into the first week of October, and for all of you following my adventures this year, you know what that means....School has begun. Two days ago was orientation, registration, and even a night class. We are a large group starting this Fall Quarter, a whopping 40 or so. An interesting group from all backgrounds and places, primarily the east coast with a few from the midwest, one person from Utah, and one from Thailand. Classes meet once a week in 4-hour blocks for 9 weeks, then Studio Week is to prepare final compositions of all projects, and critique week closes the quarter with presentations to a professional panel of instructors. After a two week break we do it all again with new classes and projects. Professors are really great, a couple are graduates from the school, everyone works in the Design field in their own time as well from freelancers to corporate or personal businesses. Studio atmosphere is reminiscent of Architecture at A&M, which I love. Open spaces, small groups, intelligent lectures, concepting, discussions, critiques, learning. Subject matter is unique and innovative. Assignments this week range from mind-blowing developments (large quantity and research, i.e. it's been a while) to capable challenges. Nothing I can't handle, everything I'm excited to do. Can't wait to get my talent back.

Books, Movies, Music.

For a guy who loves 2 out of the 3 listed above, working at a place like Borders sounds like a great gig. Discounts, being surrounded by great product, helping others enrich their lives with the sounds and stories of great artists...and you’re right, it is. Unlike my last entertainment retail experience, the people here are great, management is respectful, and the store is calm and clean. It’s located on the sidewalk of the heavy trafficked Peachtree St., which means we get a lot of pedestrian action and sidewalk shoppers that come in, read an entire book in one sitting and leave. The other popular thing amongst streetside customers is to grab a handful of CD’s, stand by a listening station, and rock out for 4 hours. This is something I yearn to do; of course, I’d love to keep my job as well. The challenge is not to return my paycheck to Borders in exchange for product. With my new adventure in life and as a husband and provider, priorities have changed. However, I have developed a newfound interest in reading and I can still enjoy music one song at a time with iTunes.

New Favorite Fruit.

Upon talking to some nice old ladies at a Dillard’s department store, we heard of this award-winning, legendary place called Harry’s Farmers Market in Alpharetta, GA. I’ve been to a few markets, fruits and vegetables are cool, but Lyndsey absolutely loves them so we had to go. And it is here that I was introduced to the PLOUT. A sort of glorified plum, sweet, and refreshing like an ice cold glass of your favorite beverage on a 90 degree day. I had never heard of them before, not sure if I just overlooked them in the grocery store, or if they are even sold in Brownsville, let alone anywhere I’ve lived in Texas. Regardless, they’re great and I will look for them with every trip to Kroger or Publix. Keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to indulge, and like most fruits, it tastes better sliced rather than in-hand direct bites. And like the plum, it does come with a pit, so watch out.

Lack of Updates.

Ok, I know everyone has been at the edge of their seat, checking back, refreshing the page, probably getting in trouble at work, missing family dinners, worried about what has happened since my last post. Not to fear, a lack of updates in this case is not such a bad thing. I started a new job as a multimedia seller at a Borders Bookstore and have been adjusting to a new schedule while taking care of other things in life. Of course experiencing two more hurricanes since last we talked can affect a lot of things as well. With Ivan we lost power for about 8 hours and enjoyed a nice evening at my sister-in-laws’ place. Jeanne didn’t cause any power outages on our block but did cause some leaking through our back door. The direction of the rain was aimed right through the door and imperfect caulking along the baseboard brought in some water. Thankfully, nothing was damaged, and a couple of towels helped us defeat Jeanne 3-1.

Hurricane Frances affects Atlanta.

Thankfully we returned from our Labor Day weekend road trip before Frances had come to the Atlanta area. Unfortunately, we woke up at 5:30am, warm and to the beeps of a smoke alarm's dead battery. Frances has arrived. As of right now, both power and phone lines are down and I update this blog from my sister-in-law's place. Half the city is down, schools were canceled, tress have fallen, and the lakes are high. Even my first day at work has also been postponed due to the unfriendliness of Frances. Nothing compared to all that has occurred in Florida, and for that I thank my lucky stars and untuck my shirt.

Apple Store: Chicago.

So I've been out all weekend long and have not updated this blog anywhere. My friends are I are walking down Michigan Ave. in Chicago, Illinois, and here we are at the Apple Store where I can update this thing. It's been great. Camping in Kentucky, partying in Detroit, a wedding in Merrillville, Indiana and now pizza in Chicago before our trip back to Atlanta. We'll see if we catch any rain from Hurricane Frances on the way back Monday. Wish you were here.

Getting Used to Atlanta.

It all revolves around time, Eastern Standard Time (EST); 1 hour ahead of the Central Standard time in Texas. This one hour changes everything. Where in Texas families eat dinner at 6 or 6:30, here it's 7:30pm. The news is on one hour later. Sitcoms, Letterman, Leno, even The Price is Right; they all begin one hour later, and it just messes me up. How will it affect my life span? Should we be living in the west coast? Is that why it is so populated? Anyway, this is about getting used to a new city. The other major observation is about traffic. I have no qualms with traffic. Not the size, space, or construction, it's going to be the same no matter what big city you live in; of course, everyone has their opinions. Best times to drive here or there, speed traps, short cuts, you just have to experience it in order to believe it. The biggest difference are the Turn Lanes, because there are none. If your eyes are not on the road ahead of you, 9 times out of 10 you will RAM into a car in front of you who was waiting for a clear spot to turn left. In a 2 or 4 lane two-way street in Atlanta, drivers will stop to turn left whenever they want! Top of a hill, end of a curve, whenever. And good luck finding a protected left arrow, those are few and far between as well. You have to jet across the road when the light first turns green if you want to make that left. Also, there are a lot more "No Turn on Red" signs than I have ever seen before. In Atlanta, patience is key. Thankfully, patience is one thing I have plenty of.

Friday the 13th.

August 13th lands on a Friday once every 7 years and with my name being Jason, it's obvious I would get a little freaked out. There's the fictional serial killer character of the above titled film, plus bad things seem to hover around '7 year' increments (like breaking a mirror), and the paranoid fact that I'm the only person who recognizes the coincidence between my birthdate, my name, and the horror film, really just drives me nuts. So this happened yesterday, and you can see that since I've posted today, all is well. I slept in, Lyndsey made breakfast, we did some shopping, and went out to eat with my sister-in-law at what is now my new favorite restaurant, the Rock Bottom Brewery. Of course, nothing bad has ever really happened on my Friday the 13th birthdays, so I will continue to be hopeful about future years. Turning a quarter of a century isn't really a bad thing, is it? So for those of you with strange and unique birthdays like April 1, February 29th, or the 13th day of any month, I wish you the same fortunes and happy days.

Tom and Will.

Two of the flicks on my Summer Movie Hit list were Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy and Collateral, starring Will Ferrell and Tom Cruise, respectively. Lyndsey took me to see Will the night before our wedding. She also took me to see Tom this evening, while she went to see The Princess Diaries with her sister...we'll call it a 'date night.' Although two completely different movies, I'd have to say Collateral was easily the best. It's top notch in its genre of noir suspense thrillers that grab you by the throat and pull you through to the end. Michael Mann has directed a great film, with some great characters, unusually tender moments, and another well executed gunfight just like the downtown chase in his film Heat. Jamie Foxx plays a cab driver with a dream interrupted by Vincent's violent rampage. Both players run through the night with witty repartee and determined hearts. Foxx shines during a pivotal moment in a club after a story about Santa Claus and Pedro Negro...watch for it, brilliant. Anchorman, though really funny, will only work for those of you die hard Will Ferrell aficionados. It's 180 degree of non-sequitur humor will either drive you crazy or drive you out of the theater.