In 1984 we took a family vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I was nine and hadn’t even dreamt of a career in design nor was I aware that it even existed. But looking back now, I recognize that the symbols and branding at EPCOT Center were the beginning of my design education and my love of simple, elegant, and visually appropriate design.
EPCOT Center opened in 1982 and… read more
The Twitter Novel Experiment has begun.
The premise of the project is that I will write a “novel” over a period of time, one tweet at a time. I have no idea where the story is going and nothing has been planned. Also, I will not write posts ahead of time to be posted later: everything will written as if it were a free writing exercise. Each day, I will read what I… read more
I’ve had many people ask me what onjejank actually is. I’ve had even more ask just how to spell it (in case you’re one of those people, it’s spelled o-n-j-e-j-a-n-k). The word is made up (surprise, surprise) and comes from my grandfather, Leo.
My grandfather liked orange drink. And as legend has it, one day he was craving an orange drink. He said it loud and fast:
I wanna arnge jank!
I wannaanje jank!… read more
Twitter is a fascinating platform for quick bits of information or nonsense or pictures of Llamas. Each tweet is its own island. Isolated. Contained. Short prose.
But what if one connected the string of islands? Would the road actually go anywhere?
Using my onjejank Twitter account, I’m going to attempt to write a longer form of fiction, 140 characters at a time. Within 140 characters, it should be possible to create enough interest… read more
My wife and I stayed at NYLO last weekend for a local getaway. We had both been wanting to check out the hotel for its overt styling and obvious attention to design detail.
NYLO is a fascinating concept: it’s a hotel that’s inexpensive ($79 a night when we stayed) but still has a unique style that attracts guests because of it’s panache. While I wouldn’t recommend NYLO for those seeking luxury or… read more
Creativity comes from all kinds of places. But one thing I know well is that it doesn’t come from sitting at my computer hacking away at InDesign or driving in traffic (though I have written about traffic-sitting).
My best remedy is always to get out. To head west. Most notably the Davis Mountains in West Texas. It surprised me when I first arrived in that part of the state to find mountains. I… read more
So, just what type are you?
Pentagram has an excellent (and very fun) site that addresses “What Type are You?”. As a lover of type and a fan of Pentagram’s work, the site is a fun “analysis” of your personality and then what typeface you are. For what it’s worth, I don’t agree with their findings on what type I am though I agree that I am a slab serif.
Check it out… read more
A couple days ago I flew to Kansas City… to bring back dinner (from Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque). If you know me well, you know I actually live in Dallas.
It was officially the furthest I’ve been for a meal, but the point of this story is not Kansas City Barbecue or my adventures. It’s about design. And my escapade was good for me creatively as much as it was a boon for my taste… read more
Design is as much about empathy as it is about selling product. I think that’s my favorite part about what I do for a living. Like actors, designers must place themselves into a character when working to solve a communication design problem. By understanding the end user (for lack of a better way to say it) designers can speak visually in an appropriate way.
Take maxi pads as an example, the end user and as… read more
