Finding the thread.

Well. I’m getting some stuff out of the way in order to start generating the work for early spring. I ordered some more prints for the type series I may include. I also got some duct tape in order to make a dress forme, but for a guy. So, what, Suit Forme? Then last night I found a great deal on a basic sewing machine. $60! VM looked at me like I was crazy when I told her I needed to get one.

“But don’t you already own like 20?”

“Yeah, but those are for leather. I can’t prototype with those.”

She then gave me that you’re-crazy-but-I-love-you smile. I deserved it.

I’m still not exactly sure what I want to produce for this show. A bunch of type related pieces would be simplest since I’ve done them before. But I’m also thinking about shoes and apparrel that has to do with emotional safety. Another idea is to completely deconstruct and glorify the process of making shoes. Showing each step. It might be a great teaching tool, but could be more like a museum piece than I’d like it to be. Going to a very different place, I was also thinking of doing something that would be a different sort of mapping of the bay. Everywhere I paddle, I could log wind speed, tides/currents and pollution levels. It’s not quite there yet, but the most interesting aspect of that is the fact that the process of creation is also something that will keep me sane, mainly exercise.

I’d like to keep it contained so viewers don’t have to work too hard to find the theme but divergent enough to keep it exciting. Clearly, I’m still working through exactly what I’m going to build.

Taking Risks

This is part of a series of photographic typefaces I did for my Personal Statement while I was in grad school. I did it at a very painful point of my life… a time when niether images or words seemed to do justice to what I was feeling. It was my way of giving voice to feelings without the specificity of content. It was a shitty period. One that I don’t wish to visit again.

But this was also one of the better things I’ve done. In part because the personal statements at Stanford are a point where the faculty takes a break, they don’t interfere with the students for a two week period. That freedom from constraints helped me to let loose and play. Something that I think I’ve been missiong for quite a while.

I’ve been really stuck on trying to figure out how my creative process fits into my career path. I’ve been doing this for a while with very little success. And despite the variety of jobs I’ve had in the last couple of years, the way I’ve been going about finding fulfillment has been relatively narrow. So call it prototyping, or going broad, but I’m going to take a risk. I’m going to let go of trying to figure out how my projects lead to a profitable, fulfilling career. Instead, I’m just going to try to channel my creativity into something that’s meaningful to me. Carissa at Snowflyzone is an inspiring example of this with her explorations in skateboards.  So, for the next five months, I’m going to skip thinking about how what I do will fit into a distribution system, business strategy or even design thinking. I’m just going to build.

On April 1st, I’ll have a small “show” going up with a friend I met a few weeks ago. I think it’s an opportunity to create without limits, to get myself building and perhaps to do what I’d do if I couldn’t fail. It’s an experiment, so we’ll see how it goes.

Icon Aircraft

If you haven’t heard of Icon Aircraft, check them out. They’ve been getting tons of write up lately and I recently got a sneak peak at the “looks like” prototype while they were showing it off at the Product Design Loft at Stanford.

I’m really excited about the project, and not just because one of the founders, Steen Strand, came out of my program in product design. For starters, duh, it’s an airplane. It’s beautifully designed, and then it’s an exciting disruption to a stagnant industry.

They’ve launched into the Sport flying space which is a new category of license available to recreational pilots. You have to fly during the day, in good weather and you can’t go that fast. Because of that, you it’s not as difficult to get the license.

At $139,000, it’s not cheap, but it’s also the first time I’ve ever known the price of a plane. (If you have to ask, you can’t afford it, etc).

I’m looking forward to watching this develop over the next few years. I think it could be a great example of disruptive innovation. I know they’ll have plenty of challenges, but they’ve already got plenty of orders. I believe production starts in 2011.