Posted April 12, 2010 5:47 pm.
Filed under: clients, lessons learned, process
Tags: branding, Christopher, d.School, House of Air, illustration, Photoshop, poster, so clean, so fresh, Stanford, Stern Groe Festival, Tim, typeface, Yulia Brodskaya
There are a lot of exciting things happening at MINE™ today. We are finishing up the project for the Stanford d.School, we received final art from Yulia Brodskaya for the Stern Grove Festival poster, and we continue to rock the House of Air branding.
I apparently need a tutorial in making shadows in Photoshop. Unfortunately for Tim, I looked at the tutorials after I gave him the files of some faked Post-it notes. Christopher made fun of me for how long it took me, but at this point in the internship I’ve got thicker skin. It’s very strange to think back to my first days and how nervous I felt about the tiny tasks they gave me to do. Now I am a more confident person than I was in January, but obviously have much to learn.
The illustration we received from Yulia is beautiful! If you have been anywhere near a design blog in the past year, you’ve probably seen her previous work. She uses the edges of cut paper to make intricate, well-crafted, gorgeous illustrations. We’ve have been back and forth with her for the past few months about layout, typography, and color. Everyone needed to be on the same page about the illustration, because once its made, the illustration cannot be changed. Our clients at Stern Grove have already seen the illustration are delighted. Next steps are to find a secondary typeface and put all the festival information on it. Be on the lookout for the poster within the next month.
Lastly, I got to make penguin feet today! These might be used to make impressions into the floor at House of Air in their so fresh, so clean new cement. It’s been super exciting working on House of Air. I’ve never had the experience of seeing something that I helped create that is “alive” in the world. Sadly, the end of my internship is nearing and I probably won’t be around when House of Air opens. I will definitely bug Christopher about going to the opening though.
Posted May 18, 2009 6:40 pm.
Filed under: clients, inspiration, process
Tags: brainstorming, branding, naming
Most of today’s work was spent brainstorming for the re-naming of a national non-profit we’re working for. I really enjoy the freedom of these sessions and I’m slowly becoming more and more comfortable with speaking my mind in the office. Christopher and Tim have been really good about considering my ideas and we’re coming up with some really exciting concepts.
It’s a completely different experience to work in a design-focused environment like the office – a productive change from all the distractions of one’s own bedroom and a springboard for concentration and productivity. Although if I feel like going to grab a book and spending some time absorbing the material within – or even just appreciating the pretty pictures then that’s ok as well.
We spent the day with our shoes off, brewing up possible names and utilizing mind maps attempting to balance both institutional strength and human compassion. It’s a nice change from the student design experience, where most of these larger questions and decisions would be forced to be made concrete in much less time. Having a concerned client is a blessing because they understand the need to nurture ideas, let some slowly develop and others quickly wilt. Time is much more on your side in the professional world than the student world – a luxury I’m really appreciating.
Posted May 13, 2009 6:00 pm.
Filed under: inspiration
Tags: branding, development, everything is ok, heidi reifenstein, intern, nathaniel sharp, sagmeister
Today was an eventful day at MINE™ as it was the last day in the office for both previous interns, Heidi Reifenstein and Nathan Sharp. We started the morning with some standard intern duties like shipping some Everything is OK posters and tape from the MINE™ site (one to Stefan Sagmeister), and some more creative moments during our brainstorming session for the re-naming and re-branding of a national non-profit. I was really surprised to see how strongly encouraged we (the interns) were to contribute ideas to the pool of names. We all spoke out when we felt we had something worth proposing (and sometimes even when we knew it wouldn’t work). The simple act of exhausting all the possibilities creates the most stable ground from which to move forward. Once we’d dumped the contents of our brains onto sticky notes and transcribed through scribbles in Moleskines – we left to celebrate the final work day for Heidi and Nathan at a Korean restaurant on Polk Street.
Nathan rode shotgun and I was in the back as Heidi piloted us in her veggie oil powered Volkswagen towards Hahn’s Hibachi. It was great to hear Nathan and Heidi reflecting on their time at MINE™, the ups and the downs. It gave me a little taste of what is to come and I have to say I’m more than excited. Seeing the four of them at lunch, talking, joking and laughing really showed me that the interns at MINE™ are treated less like employees and more as peers. It’s inspiring and comforting to see that familial aspect of MINE™ up close. Past interns like Jennifer Hennessy, Emily Craig, Oona Lyons, Dexsy Repuyan and others all have expressed the same sentiment to me – that once you stop working at MINE™ the relationship doesn’t cease with the position. I know Heidi and Nathan know this and that they truly enjoyed their time here. I was sad to see them go – but simultaneously excited for the future and for my own relationship with MINE™, the working world, and design in general to develop in an environment that I know is much more than a paycheck.
