So, BarCamp was hella fun

This was my first BarCamp. Not exactly sure why, but it just hasn’t been on my radar in years past. For #BCO15, Jake Welchert and myself had a special role to play. We were asked by AIGA Nebraska to be this year’s new design partner. It’s a role Grain & Mortar has typically filled, making some truly amazing brands over the last few years. But as with any good idea that evolves over time, new partners are eventually needed.

We executed the work as Round and Round with Jake taking lead on the project. From the initial brand to the BarCamp 2015 website, all the way through to posters, stickers, buttons, and Ts, I’m really stoked on how everything turned out. For my part, I committed to doing a talk. It ended up being about the importance of knowing what you don’t like. In the spirit of the event, I tried to make it insightful, fun, and a little weird, all at the same time. 

Taking place at The KANEKO, starting promptly at 8AM and moving at a brisk pace, remaining on schedule from morning to afternoon, by 4PM, feeling quite spent but oh so inspired, I thought to myself, what an impressive showing of community. It’s a wonderful thing seeing such a committed group of volunteers, supported by some amazing sponsors, and a large room full of energized unconference-goers. All the friendly faces are a nice bonus as well. Nicely, nicely done Omaha.

BarCamp 2015

BarCamp. The un-conference without a speaker list. Without a fixed schedule. Without remorse. With plenty of blue. The branding this year was designed by Round and Round led by the mighty Jake Welchert. So stoked for a T. Opening party August 28th. Event August 29th. Get registered now. Almost finished assembling my talk. Mostly I think it’s about a song, maybe. See you there!

UNENDER

Creative generalist Jason Hardy, known on the Internet as Unender, and myself go way back. Before our design careers began, we wrote songs together during the college life of a punk rock band. After we officially became professional designers, we collaborated on an endless number of creative endeavors including a short film about running, T-shirts showcasing Nebraska being everywhere, and activist posters to stick it to the man, punk rock style. He has hands down taught me the most about seeing the world differently and passionately living a creative lifestyle. He was recently Designer of the Week for Print Magazine. The article features his stellar work for Tesla and Criterion as well as some gold nuggets of wisdom. Nice recognition for this hardworking, boundary-pushing design leader.

Feeling So Grateful

Independent design, five years and counting. Design for progressive changemakers and do-gooders. Design with inspirational people who make it happen. Design as activism, entrepreneurship, citizenship, art, and expression. Design to get good things done.

Right now, I’m just feeling grateful for everything that goes into making this independent design business work. The rock-solid support of my wife Katie. The amazing clients I get to do work for. The amazing collaborators I get to do work with. A community, on multiple fronts, that has welcomed me with open arms. Whether nonprofit, startup, civic, or institutional, all have made me feel very much at home. As does a design community that values friendship more than winning. 

The work over these last five years is something I’m extremely proud of. Those TED Talk slides on Filter Bubbles. All that graphic design for President Obama’s re-election campaign. Helping a civic startup in the Midwest gain traction. Organizing all those posters for justice. Manifesting Justice and Equality in Los Angeles. Stopping that goddamn pipeline. Uniting art and community in North Omaha. Helping raise millions of dollars for Omaha nonprofits. And on and on. And now thinking, making, and collaborating on Action Backed, Round and Round, Tiperosity, and Design Alliance Omaha.

Yes, very grateful. To be here at this moment in time. In this creative, supportive community, working alongside some pretty remarkable people. What the next five years will bring is anybody’s guess. What I’m planning for, with what these last five years have taught me, is a meandering journey. One to be approached with an open mind, thoughtful interactions, and a fierce work ethic. I’m hoping for a bit more balance and a more intentional line between life and work. The work itself will remain focused on moving people to action, making our community better, and creating beautiful, inspiring design. And in the interest of keeping it interesting, special emphasis will be put on making things with weirdos. 

A final note of thanks goes out to all the people who I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years. You’re so damn good at what you do. You inspire me on so many levels. And you’re stubborn enough to make anything possible. Because of you, what comes next is sure to be something worth shouting about. Let’s get to it.

The Year of Words. That Went Fast.

In June of last year I put an emphasis on writing more. Specifically, on working as an independent designer, making things with other people, and general life learnings of note. Those words have been shared on this blog, on Medium, and as longer form author posts on Flywheel. I’ve been committed to putting up at least one post a week. Keeping a regular schedule, I was able to get into a good rhythm with my writing. It was something I looked forward to posting every week and it allowed me to work through successes and challenges, where I previously would’ve just internalized things, which sometimes isn’t all that helpful. If you read some of those words, hopefully you enjoyed them. As my workload allows, I’m planning to continue regular writing because it’s not only fun, but it’s made me a more thoughtful person. If there’s anything in particular you’re curious about, hit me up.  

Vacation

The offices of JKDC will be closed until June 4th. Time is being taken to recharge and hangout with my wife. And to not look at a screen. To the 2015 successes, challenges, failures, you’ve been great thus far. I’ll be excited to keep at it when the time comes. Until the 4th, godspeed.