rambling #31 @ 6:58pm

@ the union

Currently listening to nothing.

I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH EXAMS!  Woot!

Now I can start packing up my dorm.  I actually like packing.

I’m leaving for home early Saturday morning, and coming right back to Ann Arbor early Monday morning.  So I’ll be schleping all my stuff home for about two days, and then its all coming right back to Ann Arbor.  My parents are not gonna be too happy.

I am so excited to be moving into a co-op for Spring and Summer semesters!  I’m also really excited about working on The Michigan Daily’s New Student Edition.  The next few months are going to be great.  I can feel it.

Graduation’s this Saturday.  I’m going to miss some of the graduates.  In just one year, I’ll be in their shoes.  Yikes.

The list:

1) ffffound.com.  I’ve listed this site before, but it’s so awesome that I’m listing it again.  There’s just so much design and non-design stuff to look at.  You have to be invited to be able to post things, but you’re still able to view the website in its entirety as a non-member.  I really want an invite though.

I’m going to start writing my o’s like this!!

2) Smarts&Crafts.  “Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith are the owners of the Curiosity Shoppe and gallery in San Francisco where they offer crafts, kits and curios for the creatively inclined (curiosityshoppeonline.com). They are the co-founders of the Curiosity Guild, an arts-and-crafts collective that offers workshops, field trips, appreciation nights and special events, and are frequent contributors to a number of design blogs and publications, including ReadyMade magazine, where Derek is the Projects Editor.  Smarts&Crafts is where they write about their current obsessions, observations, craft projects, inspirations and discoveries.”

I love their crafts!!!  I haven’t made anything yet, but I plan to over the summer.

rambling #30 @ 10:48pm

in my room (not the fishbowl!!)

Currently listening to nothing.

I really should be studying right now.  But I’ve been studying all afternoon and have a super early day tomorrow.

I’ve started collecting cork tops from wine bottles for a project that I’m planning to start over the summer.  I stopped by Vinology (a wine place/restaurant/bar) earlier today and the manager gave me about 70!  I need a ton more for my project though, so over the next few weeks, I plan on visiting all the restaurants that serve wine and asking for cork tops.

I think I’m going to create some type of wall sculpture with all the cork tops.  I’m just not sure how I’d like it to look.

The list:

1) Design Sponge. I love this site.  I’ve been visiting it way too much over the past couple of days.  I really like the Sneak Peeks section, where you get to look into other people’s houses.  It’s not as creepy as it sounds.  One of my favorite Sneak Peeks is Caroline Gomez’s place.

Caroline’s office area is really cool.  The colors are great.  I especially like the white table.  So simple, so clean.

2) Digital Mash. The superawesome portfolio of Australian designer Rob Morris.  Definitely check out his photos.

One of Rob’s photos.

rambling #29 @ 11:44pm

@ the fishbowl with ann

Currently listening to the hum of the fishbowl air conditioner.

It’s super cold in the fishbowl tonight.  I had on a hoodie and had to run back to my dorm to grab my coat–it’s that cold.  I fell asleep for a little bit and ended up with a weird mark on my forehead.  It’s slowly fading away.

Ann and I are attempting to study for our Cognitive Psych exam next Wednesday.  I haven’t been very productive…the Internet’s just too amazing.  I’ve mostly been looking at notcot.org.

My plans for the summer include taking four classes.  I’m taking a drawing class, which I’m super stoked about, and three Communication Studies classes, which I’m not as stoked about.  Boo.

They just turned off the fishbowl air conditioner.  Now it just sounds weird without the constant humming.  The fishbowl is probably gonna turn into an oven soon.

The list:

1) Notcot.org.  Pretty cool site with a ton of random stuff: design, furniture, food.  You name it, it’s on here.  I find the furniture on here really fun.

“Designed to help you claim your other chair back from your clothes.”

2) Stuff You Should Know. A pretty entertaining podcast about stuff you should know.  The hosts of the show have talked about lame duck presidents, how altruism works, and men who feel pregnant when their wives are pregnant.  Yup.  And the podcasts aren’t that long, maybe 5-10 minutes.  Worth listening to as you walk to class.  You’re guaranteed to learn something new.

rambling #28 @ 1:33pm

@ the fishbowl. of course.

Currently listening to nothing.

Absolutely gorgeous out today!  The Michigan Daily‘s design team had an election for Summer Managing Design Editor today.  At 9:00am.  Yes, 9:00am.

I think it went well.  There’s going to be two Summer MDEs, and they’ll be rotating their weeks at the Daily.  Speaking of the Daily, the last two issues of the school year are coming out Monday and Tuesday.  Exciting.  And there’s a special Graduation section that I’ll be helping design!  Hoorah!

I went for a walk in the Arb earlier today.  The trees are starting to turn green, and I can’t wait until the whole Arb becomes a land of green.

Oh, I won the t-shirt design contest for my dorm!  I actually can’t believe I won.  I threw together the design a few hours before the deadline.  The typeface I used is called Merrily, and it was created by mrspillowhead.  It can be found on Deviant Art.

The list:

1)  We Love Typography. I Love Typography‘s John Boardley started this supercool website.  “Think of it as FFFFound for all things type, typography, lettering, & signage.”  It’s amazing!  I visit it a number of times a day.

2) FFFFOUND! “Image bookmarking!  FFFFOUND! is a web service that not only allows the users to post and share their favorite images found on the web, but also dynamically recommends each user’s tastes and interests for an inspirational image-bookmarking experience!!” (from fffound.com)

3) NEED.

Ok.  So I don’t put bananas in my cereal.  But if I had this handy-dandy banana slicer, I’d definitley start.  Visit Graphic Hug to see even more fun fruit/veggie slicers.  There’s even one for a mango!

rambling #27 @ 10:29am

@ the fishbowl

Last full week of classes!  Classes end next Tuesday!  Hooray!

But I’m taking Spring and Summer terms.  Boo.

I’ll be staying in a co-op this summer, and it’s the same co-op that I’m living in once school starts back up in September.  I am SUPER excited.

Besides classes, I’ll continue to work at the hospital and The Michigan Daily.  I’m one of the editors for the New Student Edition, the newspaper that gets mailed to incoming freshmen before they move onto campus in August.  I think that’ll be a ton of fun.  I get to design pages all summer!

The Daily’s design staff is having elections for Summer Managing Design Editor this Saturday.  At 9:00am.  9:00am. 9:00am.

The list:

1)  Yulia Broadskaya. “Yulia has a wonderful style of illustrating typographic treatments. Her website, ArtYulia is choc full of similar work that’s really worth checking out. Found via the nice folks at YCN.” (from formfiftyfive.com)

It’s all done with PAPER!!

2) Sarah Walsh. Another awesome portfolio I found on formfiftyfive.com.  I love FFF.

rambling #26 @ 6:17pm

@ the fishbowl (it’s really cold here)

Currently listening to nothing because my headphones pinch my ears.  I need to get new ones.

I just finished listening to the latest podcast of Read Between the Leading earlier today and can’t wait until the next one airs.  They’ve had some pretty cool guests on the show, like John Boardley from ilovetypography.com and Glenn Garriock from formfiftyfive.com.  I viewed the entire archives of formfiftyfive.com over this past week…all 250 pages of them.  And I keep going back.  I love that site.

I registered for classes this morning, and got all the classes that I wanted, except one, which the University dropped from the Fall 09 semester.  Boo.  I’m taking two Communication Studies classes, two Psych classes, and one American Culture class.

I don’t want to major in Communication Studies anymore.  But I’ll be a senior this fall, and am in way to deep.  I need to talk to an advisor asap.

I went to the Hill Dining Center for a quick dinner, and their dishwasher was broken, so they had paper plates, bowls, and cups out.  I felt bad about all the paper that was being used.

I’m meeting up with a friend for sushi in a little bit.  There’s always room for sushi.

The list:

1) Lizania Cruz.  Saw one of her works on formfiftyfive.com.  She’s a graphic designer at Anthropologie and has got a great portfolio.  I especially like the clutch she made from FexEx mailers.

2) It’s Nice That.  Learned about this site through a link on formfiftyfive.com.  There’s a ton of posts on this site about design.

3) I ordered this Goorin bag online last week and received it a few days ago.  It’s okay, but it doesn’t look like the photo!  It’s not very yellow.

rambling #25 @ 4:00am

in my room

currently listening to my computer hum loudly

These past couple of days have been intense.  So much reading to do.  For Comm (no surprise there) and Psych.  Argh.

Back in February, I decided that I’d like to go to art school, and I just looked at the application and portfolio requirements for Pratt.  I’m freaking out.  I haven’t taken art classes since I was 13, and I don’t have half the things they ask for (like typography, drawings, photography).  Ohgoshohgoshohgosh.

The list:

1) John Owens.  I forgot how I came about John Owens’s portfolio.  Probably twitter.  I spent forever looking through his designs for Lake Shore.

2) Yesterday afternoon, I spent a good chunk of time listening to Read Between the Leading podcasts.  I learned about the show a few weeks ago on ilovetypography.com and downloaded all the available podcasts to my laptop, but I didn’t sync them to my iPod until a couple of days ago.  The podcasts are pretty funny, informative, and very enjoyable.  Two students at the Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta, Georgia, Aaron Heth and Matt McInerney, host the show.

“Aaron Heth and Matt McInerney are two extremely passionate design students at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Because we enjoy design, and talking about design so much, we thought we’d give the audio world a try. There is no schedule right now of how often we do shows, although you should be able to expect one or two a month.” (from readbetweentheleading.com)

I haven’t listened to all the available RBTL podcasts yet (I think I have 2 more to go), and Aaron and Matt are interviewing formfiftyfive.com tomorrow later on today!  That should be a great interview, like all their other ones.  I can’t wait to listen to it.

I’ve decided that instead of listening to music as I walk to class, I’m going to start listening to RBTL.

3) Formfiftyfive.com.  Design inspiration from around the world.

Back in January, someone suggested that I keep tabs on this site, and I visited it once or twice, but never really looked around.  But after learning on twitter (where else?) that RBTL would be interviewing formfiftyfive.com, I visited the site and spent a few hours looking through their archives.  This site is a great place to go to when you need a little inspiration, or if you just want to see some superawesome designs.  I learned about Simone Niquille through this site.  Here’s a poster she designed for the Rhode Island School of Design’s library exhibit on dazzle camouflage.

So cool.  So jealous of her mad skillz.

I’m looking into the Rhode Island School of Design.

4) I finally made it to the University of Michigan Museum of Modern Art this past Thursday with a friend!  The building is abso-frickin-lutely gorgeous.  I have to agree with @hruffe–the Museums in the 21st Century: Concepts, Projects, Buildings was my favorite exhibition.  I actually went back to see the exhibit today, but only got to walk around for a few minutes, as the museum was getting ready to close.

5) Today was Hash Bash in Ann Arbor.  FYI: I spent the whole day in sitting in front of a computer and reading.

rambling #24 @ 11:31pm

in my room

Currently listening to The Beatles.

Happy April Fool’s Day!

My friend invited me over to her apartment for lunch today, which was AMAZING.  She made pasta and quiche!

PS. It’s getting harder and harder to keep this blog updated.

The list:

1) frankchimero.com.  His quickie folio and shop are awesome.  You have to visit his website.

Reminder: Lan, print this out and post near your desk.

2) I turned in my American Culture art assignment today!  I’m really happy with how it turned out.  We had to use found/readily available materials for our assignment.  I used old magazines, cardboard, and tape.  I was inspired by the works of Jen Stark.

One of Jen Stark’s works.