Books

Citywide Poets 2008 : City Breaths


The latest CityWide Poets book cover, City Breaths is done! I struggled with this one for a little while. At first, the formless nature of breath led to designs that looked too much like literal smoke, which I knew was not going to fly. I searched and sketched for different ways to represent vaporous things, tucking those away as I went.

I kept pressing the question, What is 'city' breath, and what would it look like, anyway? How would it be different from anything else? That also seemed like a dead end of urban environments, gritty and strong, but sometimes unsettling. And sometimes too much like a hip-hop album.

Then I thought, Wouldn't city breath be... fresh?. I suppose it dates me a little bit (the horror!) but I felt I could make that work. I started with Andes mints, remembering the iconic mountainside that they use. I would replace the mountain with a cityscape. When I tried photographing the mints, there was something underwhelming about them, and the outline of the city on the mint I didn't think would work.

Taking a break I found an old Altoids tin, instead of the "old timey" design, it had the strongman on it, and the type was set in Myriad and a Slab Serif. That's when I got the idea here, I photographed the tin and photoshopped the cityscape and spirals representing breath, making the solid connection with the mints such that it didn't come across as smoke.

The spirals carry throughout the book, and thankfully I was able to get full-page photographs of a number of the Citywide Poets, just like with ZerO Gravity.

I think the result it successful, pairing the tongue-in-cheek humor of "fresh breath" with "fresh words" and stealing a bit from Altoids "Curiously Strong" campaign that just about everyone can relate to.

The type is Myriad, with a slight modification to have the "r" reaching for the "y".

House by Mariela Griffor

A dear friend Mariela Griffor chose one of my photographs for her book, House.



It is called Mid Michigan Palm and it was taken just outside of Ann Arbor on a frozen lake one Sunday morning.

Folding a River by Kawita Kandpal



Kawita Kandpal is a local Detroit writer who commissioned me to do the photography for her book Folding a River. She brought several items of clothing, all of which were some variant of the color blue.

One item was a large sari cloth that I photographed in a number of different ways. THe final choice was one that depicted the sari as a vast liquid landscape, and on the back as a crumpled cloth, revealing its true nature.

The galleys were designed by Sean Tai of Pagitica Design.

The Dropped Hand by Terry Blackhawk



I was commissioned by local writer Terry Blackhawk — founder and executive director of InsideOut Literary Arts Project to design her book The Dropped Hand

While it could be construed that I took the title of the book literally with the typesetting, the mood of the type to me conveys the deeper pensiveness and melancholy of the book. There is loss, love and, grief and joy in her words and I wanted the type to be configured in a manner that was sympathetic to her themes.

The artwork was contributed by Sophia Rivkin.

The book was released in May of 2007 by Marick Press.

View a preview of The Dropped Hand

Citywide Poets 2007 : Fresh Ink


I created this cover for the 2007 Citywide Poets. Unlike the rest of InsideOut's books, no artwork is made for the book. So instead I'm free to make whatever I want based on the title.

For these I tend to take on Bob Gill's approach of redefining the problem.

For Zero Gravity, I asked myself what would a performance in zero gravity look like? I chose the image of the microphone as a focal point, since besides the performer nothing else is on stage.

For Fresh Ink I arrived at this solution, asking myself How could ink be fresh? and photoshopped this image together evoking the memory of fresh squeezed juice with the visceral spattering of ink.

Changing Faces (2007)


For 2007 I designed two books. This is one of them, for Coffey Middle School. One nice thing about designing for the same school is that the name stays the same but the art usually changes dramatically, especially several years later when all the previous students have left.

ZerO Gravity : A Citywide Poets Anthology



InsideOut published the first Citywide poets anthology in 2006. The book featured work from the current year and a retrospective from past poets.

It was larger than most of the other books, plus there was an intention to sell it in book stores. Along with the book was an audio CD with performances by 2006 poets. All the photography was done by me at their Slam Tryouts in Detroit. Four of the poets were voted to advance to the finals in NYC (in 2005 it was San Fransisco).

I was extremely excited to design this book. It was 84 pages, with a 4C cover and Pantone flood on the inside cover, plus it came with matching CD jacket and CD silkscreen. I wanted these students to feel like rock stars, so I even put up a promotional site for them as well.

To design this cover, I actually set up a microphone and stand and dangled the cord from the ceiling via strings. The resulting photographs were never quite convincing in terms of lighting (I don't own any hotlights) but they were the basis for the perspective and shapes ultimately created on the cover. So while what you see are shapes created via illustrator and photoshop, they were derived from an actual photograph of dangling cables. The microphone & stand are taken as is from a photograph, however; that was a separate shot.



Buy the book and CD - contact InsideOut to find out how! It's only $5.00.

The World Through Our Eyes (2005)



Detroit Open School is my alma mater. I spent more over nine years in that school, from Kindergarden through eighth grade, and probably a couple of years before I was even in school because my brother went there too.

When I discovered that the school would be in our 2005 lineup, I was ecstatic to design the book for them. I got to meet some of my former teachers!

Some of the students drew fantastic creatures which created tweens and turned into flip-book style animations (something I used to do a lot in the margins of my books). They run on all sides of The World Through Our Eyes.

View a banner I created using some of the animations.

All Eyes On Us (2006)



Not two year prior to this book's design, Longfellow had a great art teacher and art program. In 2005 I visited the school to do a quick art activity with the students and I was led by a room that had two or three large electric kilns, big tables...but no art teacher.

In 2006 there still was no art teacher. So the problem this year with Longfellow's book was that I was handed very little art. But a little abstract piece caught me eye:



and so I made the best of it, carrying it throughout the layout.

View the book as a PDF.

Coming from Within (2006) & Above Not Beneath (2006)



This year I had 11 students, some of which couldn't quite get it together to design a cover. Some lacked initiative, others just got waylaid trying to get to class. Whatever the reason, I ended up designing two books covers, while the students finally pulled through and finished the final interior layout.

I got some help on Above Not Beneath from dedicated art teacher Ann Hegerty.

(No PDFs, since I didn't design the interior layout)

Tinta Corriendo de mi Boca (2005)



The ink runs from my lips...

One of the students in my class started to design Tinta Corriendo de mi Boca but was unable to complete it due to transportation and grade-related issues. She got so far as to design to cover, but the interior was left to me. I was happy to finish it, since it involved Shadow Puppets that were created by the students with help from artist and Queen of the Random Job, Bethany Mooradian.

View the book as a PDF.

Be Anything (2005)



Schulze Elementary School is a great new school, in a relatively new building - but they don't have an art program! Program Director (writer and good friend) Robert Fanning and I went in, armed with clay and paint and had the students create their own "be anything" creature - and the results were outrageous!

The cover is a collection of some of the best sculptures, compiled in Photoshop from individual photos of each sculpture.

View the book as a PDF.

Wear Consciousness (2005)



Hutchins middle school was creating its second book with their new title - previously the title of their book was "Dream House." Most often, schools and writers choose color art, understandably, since the cover is full color. But as I leafed through the artwork for that year, a simple pencil drawing, a quick picasso-ish sketch caught my eye. It resembled a mask and I felt it fit the title well. The cover shows this mask with confetti streams of the poems inside springing forth.

The best part, though, is the interior which swoops and swirls the titles and authors in spirals that create movement on and across pages.

View the book as a PDF.

Talking Hands (2003)



My first book was for Davis Aerospace Technical High School, and I was fortunate enough to work with the talented Rebecca Dosch on it. As a pair, we really worked well together, deliberating over which pieces of art and poems should go in the book and where. I was glad to see, in my first experience, that it could be a bonding experience with the writer.

Davis did not have an art program, so I took in some clay, paints and pencils and had the 9th-11th grader create simple art with just a few basic prompts. One student created the cover art's flowing misture of primary colors and I added the handprint that was extracted from a student's digital photograph. The words inside the hand are taken from the students' work.

(PDF not available yet...it's a long story.)

Changing Faces (2004)



Coffey Middle School had some wonderful artwork submitted in 2004, but for whatever reason is usually ends up being pen or pencil - very little color. This cover art was actually a pencil drawing, but it struck me right away as a perfect compliment to the book's title - with a little change. The faded color is my addition, alluding the idea of memory and time, where both fade with respect to one another. I tapped into the emphemeral nature of the butteryfly by using it as a persistent design element.

But truly what makes the cover special to me is not the color, but the expression on the little girl's face, as if to say, "I'm growing up....aren't I?"

I also designed a cover for 2007.

Beautiful Dream (miyume)



I created this book for my niece Idalia out of her own artwork. The catalyst was the art itself and her name which means "beautiful dream". The book was printing and hand made by Alex Appella. She runs her own business in Cordoba, Argentina called Transient Books. I found them via Google and when I approached her about a custom book she was delighted. She also makes wonderful handbound journals.

I hope that my nephew starts creating art because I'd like to do one for him too.

Shimmering Stars (2006)



This past year I worked on five book covers and three interiors. Of all of them this year, this was my favorite. I combined the artwork of four students to create this otherworldly space.

View the book as a PDF.
Note that the work is ©2006 InsideOut and all of its respective student authors.

Print Design

Citywide Poets Logo


In 2005 I created an illustration for a t-shirt design and a bunch of other merch we created for the Citywide poets. Lo and behold before I knew it, the thing had been adopted as the Citywide Poets "logo".

I never really thought of it as such, so I went about creating a more suitable logo for the group, with the line "from Page to Stage" as an inspiration. At its core, that is what the group involves, not necessarily taking written poems on the page to the stage in a linear sense, but that the group encompasses and nurtures both art forms.

I've learned in my time here that the two are quite different, that a brillant writer on paper doesn't always translate to a great performance poet and vice versa.

See the evolution of the logo

One of the most "neat-o" moments of this process was the fact that I had to draw my right hand. I'm right handed, so obviously, I had to use my left. I found that my left hand was much more fluid, albeit unsure of itself, while I feel as if my right tends to be much more symbolic and quick.

Truth to the whole Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain thing? Maybe...regardless, I'm going to draw with my left hand more often, so I have to consciously control it rather than be on autopilot.

ZerO Gravity CD Package



The ZerO Gravity Book was packaged with an audio CD, which I designed simultaneously. The cover graphic was kept the same, though it transitions to the back differently.

View as a PDF

Buy the book and CD

Just Add Amigos!



A promotional campaign for Amigos de SER, a sister organization to SER Metro Detroit. This six panel design was created with the idea that Amigos assistance the operation of SER Metro, through in-kind, financial and workforce support. In essence, what Amigos contributed helped SER Metro acheive its goals and therefore all of the clients of both organizations as well. The six panels illustrate the various ways in which Amigos helps SER Metro and SER Metro to its clients through association of familiar objects. The objects are shown in two states: active and inactive, with the active being in the foreground visually.

The active state shows the same object after something has been added; helium to a balloon to make it float, water to a seed to make it grow...the idea being, "Just Add Amigos!" and you will achieve your goals.

View the series

Trillium String business card



The Trillium Strings frequently played at weddings and attended wedding conventions to get clients. They approached me to create their business cards. I illustrated several version of the trillium flower and this is the one they liked the best.

GEODE Logo



This logo was designed for the GEODE : Geographic Data in Education Initiative. The client wanted a logo that used a visual allusion to a literal geode, using the globe an a signal for the use of map data.

You can see the logo in use on their website

Seed Packs



I created this promotional item for Marshal Ranger, a small independent marketing company in Detroit.

It was spring, and the idea was to have something to give potential clients to spark their interest and give them an idea of what was possible with the company.

Using photographs that I took in a local Frank's Nursery & Crafts, I used several packets to illustrate the various talents of the company on the front. The back of each packet had contact info. Packets of six were handed to potential clients - who loved them and actually planted the wildflower seeds we planted in each one.

See the series

Michigan Basic Property Insurance Association Newsletter



The MBPIA saw my InsideOut newsletter redesign and approached me wanting a newsletter redesign. They felt it was time to "take it up a notch". I worked with them to get the look they wanted - a serif face, a modern look and the use of organizational colors.

The newsletter currently goes out four times a year.

View the June newsletter
View the October newsletter

The Seed Thieves Postcard



Postcard designed for my friend Robert Fanning's book release in 2006. The artwork is his wife's sculpture (which is him).

View the postcard

WordPlay : The InsideOut Newsletter



The InsideOut newsletter, previously called The Performance got a makeover when I became Artistic Director. I gave it a new name and a new look that corresponded with the newly redesigned logo.

The newsletter has somewhat been superceded by the use of the Insideout website, but nonetheless continues to be produced at least once a year.

View the PDF of WordPlay.

Roger Bonair-Agard



Roger Bonair-Agard made a special appearance for the Citywide Poets. This poster was distributed to announce his performance.

Poetry Party



Schulze Elementary School was having a poetry party to celebrate the printing of their second book, Be Anything

I designed this 4-up flyer to distribute to the students.

Writers Reading Series Postcards



Used to announce the Reading Series for InsideOut Literary Arts Project

InsideOut Logo


The InsideOut logo has been through several stages of evolution over the last ten years. The original logo was a simple merging of type and the image of a pen. In 2002, the first revision occured, where the letters "I" and "O" (the typical acronym used for InsideOut) were used to form the logo along with the image of the pen. It was geometric, the lines clean and forms distinct. Her logo introduced many of core concepts that were present in the final.

In 2005, I looked at the previous logo and liked it, but through some doodling I saw the beginnings of a more vibrant approach, so I took on the task of redesigning the logo.

The organization had matured since its inception and to me, the previous logo lacked a certain degree of passion that was present in everyone that works there. Using a sable brush and lots of India Ink, I created a painterly swash that set the basis for revised shape. I retained the typefaces that were chosen for the last revision to contrast the existing shape and maintain a degree of "clean stability" in the mark.

Interactive

Zero Gravity Promotion Site



The Citywide Poets of InsideOut are part poets, part rock stars.

Well, okay, maybe not rock stars, but these students never cease to amaze me with their highly charged, pulsating and poetical political rhymes and rhythms.

When InsideOut released it's first ever anthology of their work - both in print and on a CD - I felt they needed a little rockstar action to introduce them.

The music is some old track I made a few years back. The site carried over the whole idea of weightlessness that I used in the design of the book cover. The zeros float randomly and all look the same, encouraging the user to click and explore.

View the site

Earth System Today



I was part of a design team involved on this textbook-companion CD-ROM. Earth Systems today is used in conjunction with a textbook from Brooks/Cole Thomson.

See slides of various activities in the CD-ROM.

Space Cat!



Space Cat is an interactive game I developed. Using the keyboard, control Space Cat as is skids down the hill, collecting the necessary items to escape the hostile planet!

Avoid the craters, grab the Vitamin C (it's good for you) and get out of there!

Play Space Cat!

Spin to Win!



I worked for an online interactive promotions company. One of the promotions I worked on was for Crunch N' Munch, creating this slot-machine like game that was used online.

Whether or not the game would win was determined by the backend that served up either a winning or losing scenario. This is a losing scenario.

Play Spin to Win!

Australia Photo Browser



Flickr wasn't here in 2000, so when the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club wanted a CD with all of the pictures from their recent trip, I had to create something myself.

Using Macromedia Director 7, I created a cross-platform CD-ROM that had a searchable database of pictures, the ability to save "favorite" photos, and an interface that grouped the pictures by location.

It was distributed to all the members of the club that went on the trip, ~50 units.

View screenshots from the CD-ROM.

Physics Simulations



Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning wanted some online interactive physics tutorials to complement their textbooks.

I worked as in the interface designer for these activities, working with a programmer who made them come to life. The interface was meant to resemble the 16-bit graphics of the Super Nintendo, in order to be more fun an approachable. All of the sprites were created using Photoshop as pixel-perfect drawings.

The activities were done in Macromedia Director 8. They don't appear to be working on my Macintosh but they still work under Windows XP if you have the Adobe Shockwave Player.

View the Activities
See sprite sheets of various activities.

Download a PDF of selected activities interface explanations as given to the programmer.

See the activities in action (View offsite at Brooks/Cole)

LivingText Scientific Animations

I created some animations for Thomson Brooks/Cole that illustrated various scientific processes. They're located in the animation section, since some of them are scripted and some are not.

Web

Kawita Kandpal


My dear friend Kawita is a local Detroit poet and she wanted a website to showcase her writing and herself.

I designed the site around Wordpress with a custom template so she could easily edit things herself, as well as making it easier for me to administer.

Her first book, Folding A River is published by Marick Press and is available for purchase there.

InsideOut Literary Arts Project



The website for InsideOut Detroit needed a fresh look and a fresh approach.

There were two fundamental problems to address: how often and how easily the content of the site could be updated. I wanted to make it so the site could feasible be updated by other people at the organization (not just me.)

Using PHP and the mySQL database structure that is the backbone of PHPBB, I designed the site to be approachable, updatable and highly dynamic. New masthead banners load every 60 seconds. Content is updated as soon as an article is submitted to the database and sorted intelligently for the public. In all, the website is a quiet content powerhouse, delivering information to the public quickly and efficiently, while still maintaining a modern and useable visual aesthetic.

You may notice that this site looks fairly similar - well, that's because for the time being I appropriated the code that I wrote to use here. Many CMS systems exist, but I found that PHPBB was a good solution and not so difficult to latch onto. However, I do like drupal and I'm looking into it.

A Poem A Day!



A Poem a Day was designed to showcase students' poetry throughout the month of April. Using PHP and MySQL, the site automatically populated each day at midnight in a calendar, allow a new poem to be viewed. Using PHPBB, the site allowed users to register and vote for the "Reader's Choice Awards".

View the site

Marick Press


Local publisher Marick Press approached me to redesign their website. I was asked to make the logo more prominent use specific colors. In particular the site needed another look at navigation and organization.

The site was all hand coded, while Dreamweaver has its place it wasn't necessary for a site like this.

ACDFA 2002



Website designed for the American American College Dance Festival Association in 2002.

(site not available)

Conversation : Interrogative



Designed as a personal project as a seamless narrative - both in the sense that the navigation is circular and that the flow itself is driven by a story.

The lack of CSS and heavy reliance on tables is archiac, but I still enjoy this website from a design standpoint.

View the Site

Seclusion



A collection of personal writings that center around the idea of isolation and being alone. Throughout the presentation, single lines fade in and out, and focus in put upon specific words and elements as the works progress.

Though the coding is a little archaic, it illustrates the power of just HTML and Javascript - there are no plugins being used and the code will work in a browser as old as NS 4.0 and as new as IE 6.

View the site

Passtime


I am a big fan of the Art of Doing Nothing, though I am not very good a practicing it. So, I designed this as a personal project to play with the idea of doing nothing, even if the act of creating the site was very much doing something This was done when contraints were higher on browsers, so there's no CSS, a heavy reliance on tables and dithered graphics that I wouldn't necessarily use now.

View the site