Summer to Fall

A train ride and four nights later I was across the country and back to the NW. Not two days later an art opening was held with much celebration. Surrounded by family, professors, friends, art and array of delicious treats cooked up by Matthew, I knew I was home. It was life-giving to be able to tangibly and visually share a part of my New York experience with the people who loved, supported and prayed for me while I was living there. 

The following weeks included a move to Newberg, and a two week trip to Hawaii with Matthew and his family. The tides seemed to wash away the rumble of the MTA subway and the clickity-clack of 3,557 miles of Amtrack Rails. 

Summer in Newberg was beautiful. My routine looked something like this — 

• Morning coffee

• Freelance

• Friends

• Adventure

• Sleep

Freelancing daily felt wonderful—I am still not over what it feels like not to have Homework. An uncanny turn came one day while perusing Craig's list. It was a one sentence ad listing the need for "a graphic designer for branding companies and websites but not code them." That was it. It was comical compared to the long listed ads for a designer who can write java script in their sleep and create fortune 500 logos on a whim using windows. 

I decided to go for it. Shockingly, I received a reply the next morning and by one o'clock I was in an interview. My attitude sounded like — "Well, it's probably a production artist job… not interested, but good interview practice."

The interview went something like —

• We Love your work

Wow, Thank you -

• Tell us about New York 

New York Design firm, Art Opening, Blah blah, New York... 

• That is the coolest Business card I've ever seen

Wow, Thank you -

• Would a 24" iMac be ok as your computer?

Yes….(holy what? no, duh)

• Call you with an update Monday for a second interview

Great, Thank you. ( Dream job….Omg, I am never going to get this)

Sunday - 9:00 AM - Job Offer

Monday - 12:00 PM - Terms and Agreement

Two Weeks Later - Start Date

Two Weeks Later - Moved to St Johns with Lucas Tomlinson & Seth Terpstra, Bought a Car

A month later have I found my first rhythm since April. I now have the responsibility to 6 companies (branding each from scratch) + freelance. It feels more like I have all my clients InHouse with me, versus the normal picture of the InHouse Designer. All of the lessons learned in MarCom & freelance have been invaluable here. 

Thank you all who have loved and supported me through these life journeys. Your friendship and prayers mean so much to me. More Updates Soon. 

Theodolite

The culminating event here in New York was a gallery opening held in Manhattan April 8th. Four artists gathered, worked, critiqued for nine months and prepared for the show Theodolite.

theodolite |θēˈädəˌlīt|
    noun    a surveying instrument with a rotating telescope     for measuring horizontal and vertical angles.         We felt like this instrument symbolized an invitation to look through the lens of each artist. The properties of this devise also touch on each of our works through its ties to viewing, angles, mapping, and drafting.      Artists:  Rachel Belgard - Typography & Mixed Media (more) Tegan Brozyna - Maps, Oil Bar, Mixed Media (more) Stephen Monkemeier - Mixed Media (more) Rebecca A Peters - Photography (more)
Artist Statement:The production phase of my work began in the fall when I first set a pencil to translucentgraph paper. My objective was to create my own typeface entitled Belgard. After drawing thealphabet by hand I began to learn a new software (Fontlab), where tangible type becomesdigital. Through this training, my eyes were able to distinguish subtle intricacies of type asprojected light through technology.
Illuminated type offers a different experience of language through its instant and seamlessqualities. Though it looks and feels different from printed text, it still refers to the sametraditions and letterforms of classic typography, holding fast to the handcrafted and organicnature of our Latin alphabet. 
Shift - The vintage letterpress case (California Job Case) reads as a typographical map. Every letterhas its traditional and respective place. The letter spaces marked out in red glass are: S-h-i-f-t. This symbolizes the cultural shift from the old traditions of letterpress typography to thenew: Type as projected light.
Cyanotype Series -The cyanotype is an early form of photography that was introduced in 1842; it is created bymixing the two iron compounds, Ferric Ammonium Citrate and Potassium Ferricyanide. Aprint is made by exposing a wash of the solution to UV light on watercolor paper. I exposedvarious samples of Belgard in the sun using the traditional cyanotype process. Each printreflects on different typographical forms and traditions. 

California job case with the characters, S, h, i, f, t cut out and replaced with red glass. The box is lit from behind with LEDs. SOLD

Series of Cyanotypes displaying font Belgard
(Prints, 22x30)

Theodolite Opening

The Experience: Looking back I am unable to completely relay just how remarkable the opening was. Over night ourwork that was once tucked and turned over in the corners of our studio spaces was now displayed asa collective show, mounted, and aligned in the magical nil context of the gallery. They hung therebringing life to the gallery canvas and although different they related wonderfully to each other. 
The greatest joy was was gathering and sharing with my friends from afar and the different communitieshere in NY that have poured their love into my life. It felt like I was finally able to share my love andgive back to them in the way that I most relate with this world - through making. The second greatestjoy was being able to get excited about typography and watch others marvel and get excited with me. 
I felt like I succeeded at making a body of artwork that spoke into its viewer. The creations didn't stopwith themselves or myself - but allowed for a reflective conception by the viewer which is somethinggreater than art and artist. The works were purposely made and didn't become deities or commoditiesthat contributed to the consumeristic nature of some art today. 
What Next: {Collect / Reflect & Keep Making}I have my ticket and am taking the train across the country at the end of May! This summer I will befreelancing, living in Newberg and plan on continuing to build onto the font that I have made this yearby finishing its italic form. There are already four more type cases that await me in Portland and plan onmaking more light boxes and cyanotype prints. I'm excited to see where this design life and growingbody of artwork will go. 
Thank you to all who have loved and supported me through my journeys here! My life and makingwouldn't be the same with out you. More updates soon!

Designer Breakfast

• Toasted Whole
  Wheat Bagel 
• Garden Vegetable
  Cream Cheese
• Sunny Side Up Egg
• Garlic Powder
• Italian Seasoning
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Sea Salt
• Pepper

Happy Accident - ⌘aclick

When Font Book decides to show you a preview of your entire collection - it gets a bit crazy... It's about like seeing your life flash before your eyes.

Slush Bucket

Growing up in a city where it only snows two inches and stays around for less than 8 hours lends it to be a foreign sight when snow banks the size of me start slopping down storm drains. I was just about to leave the house when my room mate looked at me suspiciously -

"You are going out in those?" One eyebrow raised.

I look down and without hesitation walked back to my room and put my boots on. Now up to my knees in rubber I was ready to face the day. I sloshed through puddles that looked like the same color as the road. Even the snow banks are starting to turn gray. The city is taking back it's somber tones. I wonder when we will hear Mister Softee again.

Street Find

It was evening and two friends of mine and I left a church on 23rd after attending a conversation hosted by Redeemer about Artist as Creator (more on this to come). We kicked the dirty snow banks as we walked down the dark and now narrow sidewalk.  Old Christmas trees reached their dry branches from the soot soaked snow as calling out to be rescued.

"What's this?!" My friend Ned pointed at this garbage heap.

"Looks like Styrofoam."  Janna replied.

My attention peaked and I started rolling the big block of solid potential around in the garbage snow.  "Yep, I want it." After a brief discussion about bed bugs vs. my incessant will on having the material I grabbed the object and began to try to haul it down the street.

When we reached a major intersection Ned began hailing cabbies. One stopped - looked at the object and drove off. The second stopped opened his trunk and after us trying to shove it in his cab, said no and pulled off. The third was a Van that pulled over and with out even letting us try to pop it in the back said no and pulled off.

I knew what had to be done - walk it from 23rd to 28th st. Ned said his farewell and Janna took up the other side of the behemoth and we began our ascent to Midtown. Stares, laughter and questions came from every direction. The experience showed some of the chivalry still left in the city too as many business suites stopped and asked us if they could help.

After we got to the studio the night guard looked at us in suspicion. Janna thumped her head with her hand and said we couldn't bring it in the front elevators EVER and were only allowed to use the freight elevators during business hours.

My heart still courageous looked at the near subway with ambition and then back at the security guard with a bit of snark in my eyes. Laughing we took it down to the underground and slid it into the car jumped the gap right before the train doors shut. The other car passengers were a little shocked to say the least. We unloaded our street find on the outskirts of Queens and into the storage closet where Janna lives.

Today is Tuesday and my goal is to get it from Queens to the 7th floor of NYCAMS.

FAQ of the night:

Q : What is it?
A: A large block of raw potential made of Styrofoam about 6x4x2"

Q : What are you going to do with it?
A : Sculpt it into a Letter of a typeface that I am designing. Come see April 8th!

Q : What does your font look like? Does it have those little thingies?
A : Yes, my font has serifs and is inspired from the early typefaces of the Italian Renaissance.

It was evident that walking around with this big thing was out of the ordinary. More posts soon about the progress of the typeface and the show as a whole.

Snowy Night

Tuesday evening began in Housing Works bookstore in East Village listening, meeting, and communing with Abigail Washburn and friends. These wonderful new kin live life beautifully, building community everywhere they go. It is no wonder why my insides feel like they are soaring when in fellowship with them and their music.

Snow fell all evening and after the concert we piled into the blanketed streets. The grime of the city was gone - everything had this purity about it that seemed so foreign. Those who were walking around carried a happy countenance - it was evident that the spirit of the city had changed. It was like walking around in daylight, and with every dark crevice painted white it was a shadowless and quiet night.

Taxis weren't running between Midtown and Astoria so I tucked into the subway - where to my surprise I saw snow falling through the grates above. The walk home from the Broadway station down to 33rd ave was magical - a foot of untouched snow covered the trash heaps and dirty pavement. I couldn't help but skipping as snow whirled around me. It was so different to see snow fall like this in a city.

I laid in bed a long time fighting my burning eyes and watching the snow swirling around outside; until, against my will, fell asleep.

Photo : 
Taken outside my apartment
Astoria, Queens

Designer Christmas

You know you are the world’s biggest nerd when under the tree Christmas day sits packaged fonts, and the Pantone Color Library, that at the sight of want to make you wet your pants.

I spent much time strolling through the leaflets of gradating color. I ran my fingers over the coated and uncoated color bridge and felt like I held the key to the color kingdom. These are going to come in handy for sure!

It’s also so exciting when fonts come in the mail! These spectacular little pieces of software seem to be so elusive. They live in all your programs and can be found in a digital book, – to have a tangible copy of them seems a little like holding marbles. How crazy is it that once it took a whole room to house all the fonts one could now fit onto a disc. I think that if I lived in Venice in the renaissance I would most definitely have been a punch cutter and would have lived in one of those storehouses.  

Fall Feast

As room mates discussion of a fall festival / housewarming gig had been going on for quite a while and we had finally been here long enough to have enough friends to invite. Our inspiration was autumnal to say the least, cooking with everything we could that was in season and bought from the local markets and produce stands.  A few days before the party the menu was sent out as the invitation via email and printed for local neighbors and stuck in their mailboxes if we couldn't find them.

The morning of the event I walked out into the kitchen where I had found that my room mate Felix had gridded off the kitchen cabinets with post it notes describing in detail the timing in which all the cooking was going to occur. Rubbing my eyes I opened the fridge to see it packed out with everything that could be prepped, chopped, marinating, washed, and measured. I went back to bed.

The day flew by and Ivy (third room mate) and I set off with a mission to bring back small pumpkins for carving. The smallest ones we could find weighed in at about 12 pounds each. Hauling our prizes home we got some strange looks from passers by. It wasn't after I got the key into the front door when our first guests began to arrive.

From there the party began to take off. People from all sides of our lives gathered in our warm living room and kitchen as we prepared chapati, home-made caramel, african peanut soup, and roasted chicken.  The eight of us huddled around our four person kitchen table and feasted together. One of our friends asked us - "So, how do you all know every one?" We exchanged funny looks and all laughed at the incredible connections that sat around the table. We went around in a circle telling each of our stories and how we met people in the group. It symbolized a lot for me - How we are all in this together, for each other, and how we meant to love and feast together.

After our feast I began scrapping out the pumpkins. It reminded me of all the times I watched my father scooping out the seeds as we watched as little girls from across the kitchen counter. Pumpkin carving has been a tradition in my family for as long as i can remember and tonight I got to share this tradition with my new friends and neighbors. Many hadn't ever carved a pumpkin before.

As these squash were hallowed out they turned into murals of light representing the laughter and warmth shared with one another. After most of the guests had gone my room mates and I put them on our porch with candles in them and ran outside.

We hope to have a feast for every season.

Designing Uphill

A spread lay out recreated from "Elements of Typographic Style" by Robert Bringhurst 

displaying the use of the golden mean commonly used throughout medieval book design

* * * 

The words of Robert Bringhurst's “Elements of Typographic Style” and Frederic W. Goudy’s “Typologia” ring in my head. Numbers of the golden mean dance around the page as my fingers run over letterpressed copy and linen deckled edges. My eyes grow wider and I forget to blink as the perpetual gilded dusk of the New York Public Library sky echoes every pensive thought.

The learning curve of this past month has been like hiking a mountain without view of the vista. The lines on this topographic map of design in this new world are stacked one over the other. It’s that kind of hike that you are doing more bear crawling up big rocks than sight seeing. O, but it feels so good.

So far my journey here has been a wrestling match with thoughts & questions like; “Ah! I am not in school anymore.”,  “Why am I here?”, “What is [good] design?” and, “What is my Thesis?”

Like all big questions they usually are multifaceted with more complex answers than desired. Within the first weeks of being here answers started coming from all sorts of people I was meeting. So far I have felt immensely encouraged, and whenever I look up I remember that I am not on this hike alone.

One of the first nights here I was invited to a rooftop party. Artist friends gathered around wine and good food amongst the twinkling lights of the Manhattan skyline. While I was talking to an artist who sculpts and makes incredible rings out of rare metals he told me two wise words. “Don’t create in fear, and don’t be afraid to fail.” This was perfect wisdom to take in my first hours in this big city. I looked over the rise and falls of the iconic pinnacles and repeated them over and over.

“But why here? And Why?” was my next question. That next week I met with two design firms in the city. I asked the first, Dwayne Flinchum of Iridium Group what the biggest lesson he has learned in his life as a designer, and now owner of a creative design agency. His reply was that “Anything is possible when you take small steps over a long time, just keep walking.”

“Right,” I thought, “Of course!” Why was I expecting myself to know everything just out of school in a new place right out of the gates? These great designers that I have look up to have put in their whole lives into it. “Time and persistence” – got it.

 I also asked him what was special about the New York design scene, and he circled around till he came to the fact that, “Well, we have everything here.” This was my answer to “Why this place.”  Is there a better place to find where you want to be in design other than New York City? – A place where there is a niche for every obscure scene in design.

The next firm I had the opportunity to meet with was Lippincott. They work with major companies like Walmart, Sprint, Delta and Petco. On the nineteenth floor of the tallest black skyscraper on the Westside I sat with the creative director Connie Birdsall. This is where I learned of the difference in creative vs. strategic design firms. Lippincott speaks the same strategy and business language as the major corporations they work with and therefore they are sought after for those accounts. It’s important to have a balance of the two. One thing I enjoyed about my tour of the creative offices at Lippincott was seeing the collaborative effort of branding that goes into the new faces of these major companies. I experienced a sense of teamwork and a constant creative community. It also helped me rediscover my passion for small brands, businesses, people and ideas that are overwhelmed in the flashing lights of Time Square.

“A career as a designer will take you over great waters and teach you of every industry.”

Connie Birdsall | Lippincott

* * *

These visits and being in this big new iconic melting pot of a city sent me into a spiral of thought that sounded something like this: “Is design only meant to be consumed?! What is my place in this consumer marketplace? What does ministry look like here, is there even room for it?!” Somehow out of all these questions came the answer to my first question of “Why am I here?” – to figure this all out.

As I am doing freelance and auditing a typography class here I am learning the subtle beauty of design. I’d even go as far as saying that it would be my theme for this year here. The refining fire of design has been turned up. Around every turn I hear whispered messages of seeking profound subtlety and the importance of a strong message. Design for the sake of design is nothing more than unconscious and empty art. 

Type Speaks

This fun poster was pulled from fffound.com

A few days this past two weeks I have been able to lock myself away in the Rare Books Room in the New York Public Library. The lofty ceilings and marble staircases make you feel like you are in a French palace. This last time they had a small hand bound french folded work for me on hold. It was Fredric W. Goudy's "The Type Speaks.

* * *

I AM TYPE! Of my earliest ancestry neither history nor relics remain. The wedge-shaped symbols impressed in plastic clay by Babylonian builders in the dim past foreshadowed me: from them, on through the hieroglyphs of he ancient Egyptians, down to the beautiful manuscript letters of the mediaeval scribes, I was in the making.

With the golden vision of the ingenious Gutenberg, who first applied the principle of casting me in metal, the profound art of printing with movable types was born. Cold, rigid and implacable I may be, yet the first impress of my face brought the Divine Word to countless thousands. I bring into the light of day the precious stores of knowledge and wisdom long hidden in the grave of ignorance. I coin for you the enchanting tale, the philosopher’s moralizing, and the poet’s phantasies; I enable you to exchange the irksome hours that come, at times, to every one, for sweet and happy hours with books – golden urns filled with all the manna of the past. IN books, I present to you a portion of the eternal mind caught in its progress through the world, stamped in an instant, & preserved for eternity. Through me, Socrates and Plato, Chaucer and the Bards become your faithful friends who ever surround and minister to you. I am the leaden army that conquers the world: I am Type!

Walking to Home

I've decided to audit the typography class here at Nycams this semester. Our first assignent was to walk the city home. We received a reading that explored walking as poetry.

"The ordinary practitioners of the city live 'down below,' below the thresholds att which visibility begins. They walk - an elementary form of this experience of the city; they are walkers, Wandersmänner, whose bodies follow the thicks and thins of an urban "text" they write without being able to read it. These practitioners make use of spaces that cannot be seen; their knowledge of them is as blind as that of lovers in each other's arms. The paths that correspond in this interwinning, unrecognized poems in which each body is an element signed by many others, elude legibility..."

I took this walk to bridge my home from the Manhattan to Queens and Portland to New York though typography and place.

Brick faces echo the past, like they do on the old brick in Portland.

Stepping up in the Ace Hotel, a place from home reminds me all will be fine. 

 

Just a few blocks away from the studio, Stumptown was a warm and welcome site.




The subway, how I cross the bridge to get from the studio home.

First Two Weeks.

Time has settled the restlessness of the move and provided new adventures everyday. Also, the apartment is starting to feel more like a home, with additions such as our 3 piece leather sofa set from a lady in Brooklyn. We got them down/up two flights of stairs with the help of the truest New Yorker I have met thus far "Big Mike."

Many of my afternoons consist of walking the streets of the city. It still surprises me to look up and see the Empire State sitting right there out of my studio window... I don't think it's something that I will get over. Touring the sights hasn't been the top of my agenda thus far, though it will happen a bit at a time. The other day I took the train to Time Square, just because I could really.

The moment you left the cool haven of the subway it was clear that there was not a local New Yorker in site, except for the NYPD and those who couldn't get a job anywhere else. The signage itself was overwhelming. All brands that were "any brand" shouted proudly, flashing and accounted for there in the Media Mecca. The mass advertising of the area was described to me this week as the "Disynification of Time Square".

I kept seeing oddball brands that I had no idea why on earth they were there - Office Max for instance... What!? My favorite one was the newest addition of PopTart World! Ever try a Sushi Poptart? - Well just crumble up your favorite toaster pastry and wind it up in a fruit roll up - sick.

Apart from the occasional sight seeing, a few routine activities seem to be emerging throughout the week. My favorite is a 9:00 am free yoga class in Union Square every Saturday morning. After brunch with a friend we walk around the square and enjoy the riches of the farmer's market. They have everything there from cactus, homemade pies, and lavender mint ice tea. It's quite a sight.

Other mornings I have been enjoying a run. Every time so far I have gone in a different direction to explore the neighborhood of Astoria. My favorite run so far was to Roosevelt Island. You can run the whole rim of the island and enjoy an incredible view of the city while being close to the water. Believe it or not I saw schools of fish in the river. Way cool.

Although everyday is full of new things and adventures it seems to be more of a rhythm which is fast paced and quite exciting. Until next time, I shall continue to dance to this new life beat.

Tickets to Tomorrow

Exciting things are happening as the days drop off of the calendar. This week has been full of big steps towards the move to the Big Apple. By this last Tuesday my future roommate Felix and I found an apartment in Astoria Brooklyn. The lease was signed today! Its located only 15 minutes away from central Manhattan by train and one block off the main street of Broadway where there are laundry mats, grocery stores and numerous fun eats!

My new space is over the garage on the right side.

The other big thing that happened today is that I bought my one way ticket! I am officially leaving 10:30 PM on Monday the 16th of August.

New York - here I come.