Milestone: 8 Years Independent

Marking another year down in the ledger. At the close of June 2018 I’ll have been at this independent game for eight years. Hard to believe. I suppose it’s gone fast, sort of. But good goddamn a lot’s happened. The summer or 2010. Back then I was listening to a lot of Dylan and enjoying the fact Barack was president. I was just beginning to get after it. Because let me tell you, being an independent designer is not an easy job. You have to get after it, if you’re going to last. At the time, I was hoping to last at least a year. The fact that it’s been eight certainly makes me smile.

I appreciate all of you who have been there along the way. You people full of wisdom and grace, action and intention, passion and hope. If we’ve had many encounters or just a few, the clients and collaborators to this point have made my career. They’ve been (mostly) spectacular. To those who have been pains in my ass, you may have been terrible to work with, but you taught me patience and helped me hone my ability to compromise. And to those I have yet to meet on this journey of making a difference in this crazy world, I can’t wait to see what we do together.  

So with that, I’ll be enjoying a celebratory drink tonight with my lovely wife tonight. Grateful for what has been and for what’s to come.

Graphis Poster Annual 2019

Awards for design work are weird. Recognition is nice. I like to brag about my skills. But awards don’t really mean anything. They cost money to enter and the ROI is really unclear. It’s close to zero, probably negative. Anyway, I digress.

For my poster Climate of Denial I was recently awarded a Silver Award for the next Graphis Poster Annual. You can buy the book in the Graphis Store. They are always very beautiful, inspiring books.

Share on Instagram »

Show up, dig deep, shout out!

May 23, 2018 is the 6th annual charitable challenge for the city of Omaha. That’s right, Omaha Gives! is back. A huge day for the city to celebrate giving and building and working together to create a brighter future. More info can be found here. Join in the fun:

UPDATE: More than $7.37 million was raised for 960 nonprofits with 50,463 donations. Nice, nice work Omaha.

Designer’s Quest

Originally published Nov 7, 2009 by Design Feast

2. Challenges you encounter as a designer and how do you deal with them?

Coming up with something new, something moving, something relevant. And in the mix of it all, there is the big question: is this authentic? In a world of faked, contrived, staged, hyperbolic, and outright lies, it’s something designers have to continually be asking. It’s not the most glamorous, and it’s hard to do completely, but without that check on yourself, there’s a good chance you’re just creating garbage for the media (and physical) wasteland of the trite and the useless.

4. From skills to values, what makes a designer successful?

Adaptable, daring, imaginative, dedicated, determined and good with your hands. From there, a designer has to connect the dots, see the larger picture, and put it all together in a simplified, compelling way that is honest and true.

Full Interview »

Posters for Change: The Book

Princeton Architectural Press has a beautiful new book out called Posters for Change. I have a couple designs in the collection. It’s a book Shepard Fairey has said some nice things about it:

Using our voices, not only to call out the injustices happening right now, but to empower creatives to amplify a spirit of resistance and unity, is essential medicine. This collection of protest posters showcases bold and impactful graphic design with a message, which is always something I can stand behind!

Having received 800 submissions from around the world, the best 50 are presented in a large format book with tear-out pages. You can buy the book at papress.com or wherever books are sold online or in stores. There’s been some nice press coverage as well:

Press via The Guardian »
Press via Co.Design »
Press via The Washington Post »

In the afterward, Avram Finkelstein writes:

Physical posters in physical spaces have a power that exceeds the evanescence of internet messaging. The poster comes for you where you live.

Hear, Share, Listen, Believe

The annual event for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland to show support for reproductive health care and education is called MOXIE. As a long time supporter of Planned Parenthood, given our current political climate, I wanted to do a little more than simply donate money. Working with Tessa Wedburg, I designed two new posters to be auctioned off. 

Both designs ask us all to Hear, Share, Listen, Believe. I’ll post the designs here after the event. If you’re interested in showing your support, check out MOXIE or simply donate online.

MOXIE 2018
Holland Performing Arts Center
March 24, 2018

Donate Now »

Thank You, We’re Closed

The offices of JKDC and co-working time at Round and Round will be closed starting December 22nd because we’re exhausted. We’ll return January 3rd ready to kick some ass. #BlueWave. Happy Festivus!