Conceptual typeface, 2007
This typeface is based on seasonal depression which is caused by lack of sunlight during the cold, winter months.
Flowering plants were used to construct Bloom, the summer variation of the typeface. Since plants naturally go through a living and dying cycle from season to season, plants were a logical choice to represent the typeface, and their bold colors made them appropriate to represent Bloom.
To create Gloom, the winter variation of the typeface, Bloom was laid out on light sensitive paper under bright light for a set period of time. After the light sensitive paper was exposed, it was then developed and scanned into the computer, which created a faded, semi-transparent version of Bloom, referencing the feelings that people with seasonal depression experience.
Bloom/Gloom has been published in the following books:
Playful Type, Ephemeral Lettering and Illustrative Fonts - Gestalten, 2008
The 3D Type Book - Laurence King Publishing, 2011
Handmade Type Workshop - HOW Books, 2011
Created at College for Creative Studies
Role: Concept Design, Visual Design, Typography Design
Wood, 2007
This piece of typography was created out of wood, then stained and displayed on a wall. The project entailed choosing a three to five letter word then typographically representing the meaning of that word in any way. I went more visually literal. I then added little drops of blood to make it a bit more playful, which could be placed on the wall under the type.
Gut has been published in The 3D Type Book - Laurence King Publishing, 2011.
Created at College for Creative Studies
Role: Concept Design, Visual Design, Typography Design
Kinetic identity, 2007
The Eastern Market in Detroit is known for being devoted to the local population every Saturday morning, when thousands of people gather in the stalls to get premium quality food at absolutely dirt-cheap prices.
The goals of this identity were to provide a subtle way-finding system and to provide individual identities to the farmers and sellers without breaking away from the market identity.
I created a versatile, product-specific color-coded system that could be applied to every aspect of the market. The applications could be as broad as subtle signage and way-finding systems that inform customers but also leave room for user exploration and discovery and as narrow as individual farmer business cards that keep the aesthetic of the identity system while tayloring to the specific products each farmer sells.
Created at College for Creative Studies
Role: Concept Design, Visual Design, Typography Design, Bookmaking
Poster, 2007
This poster was created by documenting everything I did for a week straight. After analyizing the massive amount of data, the poster was produced and turned in exactly two weeks after the project was originally assigned.
Throughout this process, time was a major factor. Towards the middle of the project, I began to notice that I was becoming very nervous, which bred the idea that perhaps I should map out my weekly stress levels.
I created a system that I could use to rank stress levels, using vectors of nerves as a visual device, with other types of data layered over the nerves to support why, how, when and where I was the most and least stressed throughout the week.
Created at College for Creative Studies
Role: Concept Design, Visual Design, Motion Design
Poster installation, collaboration, 2008
The original idea behind this poster was to create a poster based on the word “void.” We decided to use the concept of phantom limbs, which is the often painful feeling of having a limb after it has been severed due to nerve endings tricking the brain.
The only way to cure phantom limb is to use a mirror box, a box with a mirror in the middle into which you stick both arms. The reflection of your remaining arm causes the image of a limb where there isn’t one, effectively tricking the brain into thinking the limb is still there, relieving the pain.
Using this concept, we created a backwards poster that is “cured” by a mirror, which also created another poster that projected into a space that doesn’t really exist, extending the idea of a phantom limb into a poster form.
This piece was a collaborative effort with Rachel Kayuk.
Created at College for Creative Studies
Role: Concept Design, Visual Design, Motion Design
