arepeatingloop

shoes

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:29:12 GMT

almost done with the planar analysis. admittedly i've been kind of taking my sweet ass time on it.

adam franklin was AWESOME! that dude is like a closet guitar god. i was secretly hoping for a swervedriver song, as i heard he had been slipping them in his set occasionally. but no dice. shame i won't be in nashville next friday... he's doing an in-store at grimey's (man, all the record stores here so far suck compared to grimey's) where he has reportedly promised to play some swervedriver songs. anyway, i was quite pleased. probably one of the best performances i've seen all year. of course, i can probably count all the shows i've been to this year on one hand. seemed like a humble gent, too, when i spoke to him briefly.

bobcat and megan returned home safely yesterday. he's still got the bandages on his paws (they come off at 4pm today) and is slightly loopy from the pain meds. he's only just this morning purred and used the bathroom. i swear, i'm not a crazy pet owner... i just love my boy.

just nostalgic for lost time (chapter ?)

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:17:40 GMT

alright, my wife has even posted in this thing after almost a year of absence...

i have a lot on my mind, but i need to get my ass in gear and complete the following tasks: draw a planar analysis of 3 different views of a shoe, finish the math pre-test for chapter 6 and work more in my color theory journal.

but here's a shorthand version of the goings-on in my brain:

- school, while good, takes a lot out of me... and i'm not even sure i'm giving it everything i've got yet. my color theory class troubles me like no other class has.

- i'm struggling with being a good friend and speaking my mind or just letting things roll off my back, which in turn possibly makes thing worse.

- my little boy got his claws removed. which was necessary... but this reduces me to putty. still, hopefully, this will help some of the behavior issues we've been having with the little brat.

- i'm beginning to lose my faith in people in general. seriously, seems most people only care about themselves these days. been wanting to journal about this for some time now. perhaps later when i can best collect my thoughts. and yes... we should know that people will fail us and our faith should not be put in flesh... but honestly! people used to have more common courtesy, more common sense, more goodwill, more...

- still adjusting to atlanta, i recognize there are things here that already make this a better place than nashville. but in some ways, i miss nashville and i feel something beyond my geographical locations is... off?

- which leads to me feeling a little lost in general right now. yes, i'm in school and studying something that i think i was meant to study... yes, i have a wonderful wife who is pretty much fucking awesome. but i feel like i have no place and i feel like there are things in my life that i miss and i'm not sure they will ever return.

shit! it's past time that i said i would get started on things... so, gotta run.

i'm going to see adam franklin (ex-swervedriver frontman) at the earl tonight. however, at present, i am going alone. the wife is out of town, other friends doing other things, and i'm pretty sure that the majority of my classmates that i am possibly forming friendships with are most likely under 21 and i do not want to be the weird old guy sending out a mass email asking who wants to go out to a bar with the married guy. and... and... and...

the end.

support thinking outside of the box! (or: buy some of my art!)

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 21:29:52 GMT

my friends at the P is for Panda are selling a limited edition art print i did at Hatch Show Print! you can check it out here.

a third of the profits go to the atlanta printmaker's studio, a non-profit community arts education organization!

booyah!

today my life has been changed

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:27:46 GMT

in several ways.

the most obvious way that my life has changed today is that it was my last day of working at hatch show print. my life - my weekly routine no longer includes entering this shop for three days at a time and having the honor and privilege and joy of working with a historical archive of wooden and lead letterpress type. so ends a period of my life that has forever affected the way i design and will design. at least on a regular basis...

today my life has been changed by a man who has blessed me with his teaching, his influence, his friendship and his offer to allow me to come back to the shop at any time to work on any future projects.

this same friend has also affected my life by sharing with me the story and works of one of his own mentors/influences. i took interest in a certain print that i had often seen laying about jim's various piles of work. i asked to purchase this print today and instead had this particular poster gifted to me. jim proceeded to explain to me and megan that this particular print was his tribute to Hendrik Werkman. Werkman was a dutch printmaker who was executed by the nazi's just three days before holland's liberation for distributing jewish children's poems. he was a pioneer in many modern printmaking techniques, and what survived of his work is GORGEOUS! and therefor this will be the next book i purchase:

jim's print was modeled after an existing hatch print, but reads "print werkman" in a motif that is repeated 2 times horizontally but each time is handbrayered in a different color. the amazing thing is that jim was able to exhibit this print in Werkman's hometown.

just a quick skimming of the book floored me and i cannot wait to consume the entire thing over and over again.

damn. i'm going to miss this place. and the people that inhabit it. and the history that permeates it. and the lessons in life and art one can learn here.

and... and...

i have decided that today has served as confirmation that i MUST continue to pursue printmaking. no matter if my degree says graphic design or printmaking, prick me and i will bleed printer's ink.

need your guys help / art project

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 01:17:15 GMT

ok... so i'm doing an art print for some good friends who have started this awesome business venture called P is for Panda. you can read what they are about right here. good stuff.

so here's where i need your help. as part of being the designer of the print, i get to decide which charity a portion of the profit from the sale of the print goes to. i'm having a bit of a time deciding exactly who i want to donate to. i've thought about donating to AIDS research/relief effort and charities like one.org or blood:water mission. but i've also thought it would be really awesome to donate to some kind of charity for arts education. my high school art education kinda burned me out... and i think in some ways it's because i had the same art teacher all four years and the curriculum wasn't anything to write home about... whatever... i'm sure some schools don't even have art programs. i came across a site for the georgia art education association, which might work... but i also want to make sure the money that Panda donates is actually going to go good use. does anybody have any suggestions?

also, i'm going to try and blog/document the whole process of making the print. check here or themiottis.tumblr.com if you interested in any of that.

for the print i want to do a "makeready" style design. my first step was to gather some images i thought would look cool or have been some of my favorite things to use during my time at Hatch Show Print. after getting together some rough ideas, i decided to pull some vellum proofs to get an idea of where i was headed.

the thing about makeready or "test" prints is that they are somewhat experimental in nature and i want to stay true to that. i also like things that don't reveal everything at once but when you inspect them closer they reveal more than you thought was initially there. that's part of the beauty of letterpress... feeling the impression that type or carved images leave on paper or playing with transparent inks can be half the fun of a design.

before getting too ahead of myself, i knew i wanted to somehow incorporate the P is for Panda logo in the design somewhere. so about 1pm or so, today, i started carving the panda head logo out of linoleum.

the thing about the logo is i want to try and "hide" it somewhere in the finished product. more of that hidden layer stuff i was nerding out about above.

next, i decided to print these on two different paper stocks. chipboard and this really intriguing light blue paper that had been laying around the shop for a while. for the first layer i decided to print this floral looking background that is a favorite block of the staff at Hatch. this block was originally carved to be the background for a rolling stones tour poster in the 80's but ultimately the job got killed and we all that remains of it is this gorgeous block.

since the theme of this post seems to be "hidden layers" and fun with transparent inks, i should inform you that i printed the first layer using a mix of mostly transparent white and a dab of opaque creamy yellow to give the ink a "varnish" look. if you hold the paper a certain way you almost can't see that there is ink on it at all.

this print will end up being 4 colors (if you can call the first layer a color.) one down. three to go.

some recent posters

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 01:10:47 GMT

the blue and gray zz top is going into a travelling smithsonian exhibit as well as a "hatch staff" show at the country music hall of fame. the interpol poster is going into the same show at the CMF and in addition the shop got an email that the band's management loved the poster and wants several copies for their offices.

less than three weeks left at hatch show print makes brett a dull boy.

good friends and good times.

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:27:42 GMT

got to see my good friend chad pearson wednesday night and thursday for some quality hang. he was in town with the band umbrellas, whom he manages, so i caught the end of their set at 12th & porter and hung out with chad for a bit on wednesday. then on thursday the band and chad met up with me for lunch and then i gave them all a quick tour of hatch. it's been way too long since i've seen chad and now i miss him more. luckily we will be living within 40 minutes of eachother in about a month and half.

in other hatch news, i'm super excited to be working on a poster for INTERPOL at the ryman real soon.

the nuge

Sun, 27 May 2007 17:17:32 GMT

some links for you to check out if you'd like

Sat, 19 May 2007 15:21:33 GMT

this is pretty much my online portfolio for the time being. i've got a number of posters up from Hatch Show Print as well as some of the projects i've done for school and such.

tumblr is something i joined after being convinced by some friends to do so. it's sort of a streamlined blog/online scrapbook thing. you can share videos, photos, websites, make text entries from the web or from your phone or email. so i decided to try and make this the new blog that megan and i would keep... only she hasn't posted yet. heh. so pretty much it's been serving as the place where i've been geeking out over various media and such.

next up at Hatch: poster for THE NUGE! (um... that's ted nugent, in case you didn't already know)

supergenius

Fri, 11 May 2007 03:46:53 GMT

alright... so, some how i still managed a 4.0. go me.

now i'm just waiting to hear about the other thing. and it's taking longer than it should. bah.

that's all i got really.

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 03:32:07 GMT

i got some CDs in the mail today. they look perdy. can't wait to listen to them. perhaps while cramming/studying/finishing up projects for the end of the semester tomorrow.

braggadocio

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:45:17 GMT

seems like EVERYONE is using braggadocio lately. ever since promotional material for this year's south by southwest came out it seems like this lovely little font is appearing everywhere. posters, ads, album packaging. i used it a while back on packaging for a mix cd exchange i was part of when i realized i didn't have a nice poster bodoni on my mac. i liked it so much that i'm currently using it on an assignment in a class. we have to make a logo using basic shapes and typography only (no illustrations, etc) and then place it on business cards, letterhead and stationary. maybe i'll post the logo soon.

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:59:48 GMT

this is a sad day.

of mice and (super) men

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:54:55 GMT

this is totally sweet!

the perks of being a wanna-be graphic designer

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 15:44:42 GMT

new lj layout!

so, at hatch i've been pretty busy. sent off the proof for the RCA studio B poster and in the meantime started on a poster for a school fundraiser with Brooks & Dunn. I'm not really a fan of country music and i'm definitely not a fan of Brooks & Dunn and their logo for that matter. at any rate, i went upstairs where most of the logos are stored (and peeked at the glorious archives whilst on my logo retrieving errand) and got to work on the poster. i must say the poster turned out awesome and the client was VERY happy. the poster is actually one of my favorite that i've done now. right after finishing that i got word that the hall didn't like my idea for the studio B poster. so from there i pretty much just re-typeset the poster exactly the way they wanted. very boring and standard "our logo needs to be bigger" BS. mind you 2/3rds of the poster is taken up by the studio B 50th anniversary logo so i was given the instructions to include that logo and about 2 lines of copy("celebrate with us" and "www.countrymusichalloffame.com") and include the hall of fame logo somewhere on the poster. on the top of the poster i had set the word "celebrate" in large letters and then right below it the words "with us!" and for the period in the exclamation mark i used the hall logo. everyone in the shop loved it and thought it was very clever. no go. ah well... now i'm working on a poster for a bluegrass festival in Raleigh annnnnndddd i get to do a poster for fucking SEAL AT THE RYMAN AUDITORIUM!!!! i'm so stoked for the seal poster. i don't even have to start typesetting it for a few weeks but i've already been compiling ideas for it!

on thursday night i went to watkins college of art and design to see Matteo Bologna from Mucca Design. I met up with Jim from Hatch and he got me in for free. mr. Bologna was hilarious and spoke in very heavily italian accented, broken english but was probably the most hilarious speaker i have ever heard. the design his firm puts out is gorgeous and you should check it out. the next day he came into Hatch and we got to speak one on one for a bit. he asked me had i ever heard of a little company called aesthetic apparatus... to which i promptly geeked out over my love of their posters and how i was in fact currently waiting for my explosions in the sky print to arrive.

shit! i just realized i'm going to be 31 in a week. i'm an old fart.

matteo bologna does not mean matthew baloney

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 02:49:43 GMT

i'm super duper tired and i have mix CDs i need to finish packaging and mail tomorrow... but don't let me forget to tell all (three?) of you about what's going on at Hatch lately and my going to hear Matteo Bologna from Mucca Design speak and getting to hang out with him a bit at Hatch the next day some time soon. whew!

i love the mercury program... and it's good to have new songs by them to listen to as i walk the city streets like i did in chicago while discovering their last album. this next record is going to rule.

i know, i know you are... what am i?

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:00:45 GMT

a. does anyone or has anyone ever used .mac or a mac.com email address? i've been having some problems with my hotmail and meganandbrett.com email and so i'm trying out this whole .mac thing. if i like it and continue to have problems with my other email, i'll be switching to that email. i know, i know... i do this a lot. switch email addresses and screen names and such. call it an insatiable thirst for change or habit of never being satisfied.

b. which by the way, one of my teachers yesterday said that the sign of a good designer is never being satisfied. well shit! then i am a great designer! ha! had the toughest time designing something in class yesterday and finally got it 99% there. no thanks to fucking a know-it-all who ironically can't design for crap. i by no means consider myself a great designer (despite above comment) and don't like to judge other people's work too harshly, especially if they are still learning. but, if you're going to act like you know everything to the point where you are finishing the instructors sentences and telling other people what their design HAS to have in order to be good you better fucking be chip kidd, scott hansen, aesthetic apparatus and art chantry rolled into one super robot designer. </rant>

c. jessypie , ermm my CDs are going to be a tad late. i'm sorry, i suck.

d. megan got a flat yesterday and so i have to drive her car today to get it fixed. i hate driving her car. sorry, hon... just being honest. i do love my fiona (that's what my focus is named) and it's times like these that i truly appreciate her. she even got a long over due interior cleaning over the weekend.

e. happy one year of being married to me and megan. our anniversary was sunday. we ate at the wonderful germantown cafe. megan got me this awesome limited edition one sheet print at hatch that is signed by jim sherraden. my wife rules.

f. that's all i got...

catastrophe and the cure

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:26:55 GMT

this will be mine in a matter of days. freshly ordered from the clever folks at aesthetic apparatus.

of course i COULD have had the print tonight. megan and i left a little later than planned to go to the sound in print exhibit at MTSU and while en-route found out that we wouldn't be meeting some of the folks from hatch who were at the school earlier doing a workshop. once we finally got the school's campus, finding the building with the exhibit was it's own little adventure. after finally finding our destination we were met with an obnoxiously loud crowd and the fine gentleman who found it necessary to be extremely rude when i inquired if any of the EITS prints were left. soured by the experience i left in a foul mood, but not before taking a little time to gaze upon all the gorgeous posters hanging on the walls. prints by jay ryan, 33 rpm, aesthetic apparatus, the heads of state, furturtle, and more. but alas, i could take the environment no longer and to boot megan felt horribly under the weather.

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:25:56 GMT

i'm doing a poster at hatch for the 50th anniversary of RCA Studio B. 85% of the poster is the 50th anniversary logo but i think i came up with a fun little twist on the small amount of copy and the mandatory inclusion of the country music hall of fame logo. hopefully the hall likes it when i show them the proof tomorrow.

people who have recorded at studio B include elvis presley, chet atkins, willie nelson, roy orbison, and others.

not too much else going on at the moment. tomorrow, megan and i are going to check out the sound in print exhibit at MTSU.

other than that, the weekend includes finishing up some mix CDs for a mix CD exchange i'm supposed to be taking part in.

train no track

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 05:06:37 GMT

once again i've neglected post any kind of regular amount of entries here. no excuse or reason why except that i am busy, busy, busy.

some fun and interesting things of note since my last entry:
-a few weeks ago megan and i were production assistants on a video shoot that one of our friends was producing for the band mutemath. megan had the awesome job of throwing paint on the lead singer.

-we saw the shins last friday at the ryman auditorium and they were awesome and obviously having a good time on stage.

-i got to hang out with jessypie, joanofarrgh and their friend shauna and give them all a tour of hatch last saturday

-i went to the 5-spot tonight and saw questions in dialect and they were excellent and the girl selling merch was quite nice and remembered my name as i was leaving the venue.

so i think i'll retire for the night and go back to being busy with hatch, school, being a husband, the frame shop, etc, etc...

speaking of being a husband, our one year anniversary is ten days away!

don't mess with texas

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:57:02 GMT

here is the fruits of my latest venture at hatch show print.

and i just heard explopsions in the sky as background music on the today show... huh !?

the history of a great american poster shop

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:39:41 GMT

have i mentioned that i work/intern at the greatest place on earth??!

my ian moore design got approved and i will be printing the poster today. 'going with a different color scheme than originally planned but the client is happy. also the shop is currently doing a shins poster and will be doing a sonic youth poster soon.

yesterday was megan's birthday. i made her a card at hatch and got her a "date night" (tickets to the shins @ the ryman and dinner at sole mio.)

hatch update

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:39:29 GMT

on valentine's day, kathy, the assistant manager at hatch show print, made all the employees and interns these baskets made out of posters and filled them with candy and other goodies. each basket was identified by a poster that the recipient of the basket had made being the top portion of the basket. in my case, it was the poster i had just completed for the american studies group at vanderbilt university (picture of poster to follow soon.) they were all hanging on the table where we typeset when we arrived in the morning.

at the moment, i'm in the middle of two jobs. one being a logo design for a local organization who are hosting several upcoming charity events. the other is a poster for ian moore at ballroom marfa in marfa, texas. i am really stoked about this poster. it's the first poster that i've had free reign on, as far as layout and imagery, etc. i pulled a proof on friday and i'm actually quite pleased with the results. hopefully the client likes it too and i can start printing come wednesday.

***

on "day we met" day (megan and i don't really like to celebrate valentine's day, even though it is the day we met) megan got free tickets to the predators game that night from her work. our seats were very close to the ice and the predators kicked ass! it's kind of exciting to live in a town that has a decent hockey team and get to go to several games a year. not one for sports, i actually enjoy hockey.

as far as living situation stuff goes, we're just going to renew our lease where we are and casually look at listings for houses. i think we'll feel more comfortable about affording a house when i am at least working part time again.

tell 'em that the house is not for sale

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 02:16:29 GMT

so... we almost bought a house.

almost.

after making an offer on a house, having said offer accepted, paying for an inspection, extending the inspection period after finding code violations (or what we were told were code violations at the time) to get estimates on fixing code violations and submitting a very fair estimate to the sellers for money on what SOME of these repairs would cost us, all within the span of 3 weeks, we woke this morning to the news that the seller is not willing to pay anything towards the repairs and all of the sudden they have a better offer on the table from another buyer. to add insult to injury, our agent, who has been strongly advising us to "be aggressive" with the sellers, is suggesting that the code violations found in the inspection are not really code violations 'depending on how you look at it' and that we should just accept their terms.

500 dollars later for inspections and electrician estimates we're back to square one.

this might be silly... but megan and i are living on her salary only right now and we don't really have the money to throw away on inspections for houses we're not going to buy.

so now we're apartment hunting again... which is not turning up promising results... which is why we decided to try investing in a house in the first place.

so yeah... we almost bought a house.

almost.

in person on stage

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:01:27 GMT

this is the first poster i printed at hatch show print for those of you who wanted to see it.