Posted by Melanie on August 14, 2010 – 6:13 pm
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the creative process and inertia. As a young designer aware of “Where I’m At” and “Where I Could Be,” improving my creative skills seems like an agonizingly slow process. I’ve heard this sentiment echoed by plenty of other design students: “I’m not getting good enough fast enough.”
I think we need to chill out (and work hard).
All the energy funneled into comparing ourselves to other designers is a waste and something I am entirely guilty of. I call upon all young (or old) designers to quit stalking ffffound/The Die Line/portfolio sites (it’s called procrastination, not inspiration) and think critically about what’s clogging up your head space. How can you be more productive? How can you unhinge your mind-claws from “Being Good” in favor of being a thoughtful observer of the world?
Ideas for freedom, plus links to extra reading »
Posted by Melanie on July 26, 2010 – 5:06 am
An excerpt from Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer. A conversation with the author and his grandmother:
“The worst it got was near the end. A lot of people died right at the end, and I didn’t know if I could make it another day. A farmer, a Russian, God bless him, he saw my condition, and he went into his house and came out with a piece of meat for me.”
“He saved your life.”
“I didn’t eat it.”
“You didn’t eat it?”
“It was pork. I wouldn’t eat pork.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“What, because it wasn’t kosher?”
“Of course.”
“But not even to save your life?”
“If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.”
Posted by Melanie on May 30, 2010 – 1:13 am
In the process of adding an ask page to my poetry Tumblr, I clicked to allow anonymous questions, and received this pop-up:
Use at your own risk: Anonymity can be fun, but can also bring out the worst in people. Don’t feel bad about disabling anonymous questions if they turn nasty or inappropriate.
It was a small moment, but I’ve never seen a website protect its users in this particular way before. I was actually a bit touched by this tiny slice of honesty and sensitivity in a climate which is—as they point out—often harsh under its cloak of anonymity. I can appreciate Tumblr’s attempt to preserve humanity in a system which unwittingly encourages negative commentary that might not surface in face-to-face interactions.
Posted by Melanie on May 9, 2010 – 10:59 pm
Everyone’s posting pictures of their moms today, so here’s a recent one from Facebook. My mom was such a cute little munchkin in ’72. She’s to the immediate right of the type in the center. I’m starting to think she’s had that haircut with the bangs her entire life.
Posted by Melanie on May 2, 2010 – 4:58 am
Yesterday, while at The Sun Shoppe (one of my favorite places in Melbourne, FL) with some friends, I remarked that I had never been to a comic shop, and was curious about the whole phenomenon. Luckily for me, Free Comic Day just happened to be today, so my friend Carter took myself and my little sister to check out Famous Faces & Funnies.
Carter showed up at my house dressed up as Tony Stark, that is, Iron Man when he can catch a break. Carter gets pretty into character whenever he shows up in costume to free comic days or to conventions. The “wine” in his glass is flattened black cherry soda.
And what became of our beloved heroes?! Read more under the jump »
Posted by Melanie on March 30, 2010 – 8:56 pm
Flyer credit: Paul Pino
If you’re in Gainesville, FL this Friday, make sure to stop by Wild Iris on University Ave for my Art in Ecology course’s group show. My work will be of the book arts/communal art variety, but there will be quite the variety as my classmates span the Fine Arts majors here at the University of Florida.
Can’t wait to see you there!
Posted by Melanie on March 29, 2010 – 7:52 pm
I forgot to mention that I am in Issue 4 of Underground Art School, a magazine created by Racheal Anilyse and her SWAT (read: really awesome and on the ball) team of creativity. UAS is an informal, bright publication that seeks to help fellow artists in their personal work via interviews, inspiring work (including responses to calls for entry), and contributors’ thoughts on making art.
The issue Racheal interviewed me for centers around simplicity, & I’m honored to be a part of this awesome magazine. Congrats to Racheal and co. for producing yet another awesome issue; if you’re interested in Underground Art School, you can buy a print copy of Issue 4 or if PDFs are more your speed, there’s a $4 version here.
Posted by Melanie on March 11, 2010 – 3:22 am
Spring break is a great excuse to put life on pause for a little while, drive to the park, and sit on a bench, reading, in the company of some waterfowl—which is exactly what I did yesterday. I had forgotten truly how many birds hang out at the park by the Melbourne Public Library: it’s birds in the grass, birds in the air, birds in the water, birds on the rooftops. Birds, birds, birds.
I know these photographs are highly reminiscent of cheesy tourist photos, but I can’t help but laugh at how much this one gull (above) is high-tailing it with a piece of bread.
What do you do to relax?
Posted by Melanie on February 11, 2010 – 4:54 am
Above: People beginning to filter into the gallery! Credit: Wendy Tan Lui Chan
This past weekend was Ligature 19, the entirely student-run annual design symposium at UF. Our guests this year were designers Emily CM Anderson and Nikolay Saveliev, as well as AIGA President/Sterling Brands VP Debbie Millman. The weekend included a gallery opening featuring all student design work; presentations from the three designers, which were free & open to the public; and workshops and portfolio reviews for UF graphic design students.
Each designer had a lot to contribute, especially during one-on-one portfolio reviews. Some interesting points, paraphrased:
Emily Anderson:
+ trust your intuition and ideas—sometimes it happens
+ know and understand your audience
+ sketch things for awhile; push things around
+ focus on content you care about
Nikolay Saveliev:
+ Never underestimate the communicative power of humor.
+ Think about the kind of work you want to do; do it for free—you may get paid to do it again
+ it’s good to stop looking at design blogs at some point so that they don’t pollute your ideas
Debbie Millman’s shared in her lecture the research she has been doing on how social constructs/biological tendencies affect design. In her workshop, she divulged 10 things she wished she knew upon graduation. Read More »
Posted by Melanie on January 27, 2010 – 4:19 am
Since the picture of me on my about page is a bit out of date, I thought I’d share with you, the Internet universe, a more recent picture. Steph Davlantes, one of the seniors in my design program, gathered a bunch of us together to photograph the t-shirts she designed and printed for Florida Alternative Breaks. About the shirts Steph says:
“Students brought in their own t-shirts, which I screen printed. By educating the FAB participants on my process, I hope to create awareness about sustainable practices and emphasize the ‘reuse’ portion of “reduce, reuse, recycle.”
Steph did a great job on these t-shirts and the rest of the promotional materials; you can check them out here on her website.