Pictures & Doodles From Pivot

As promised, here are my doodles and pictures from the AIGA Pivot conference. It would be more accurate to say they were just from the trip to Arizona, because I seem to have put away the camera after I finished the studio tour.

I left for Arizona on Wednesday, October 12th. Had great flights with short connections in the morning. The aisle seat is best for sketching because if you're short like me you can actually see something other than the seat back immediately in front of your nose.

Wednesday afternoon I was footloose and fancy free. My smartphone clued me into nearby restaurants, and I wound up at Famous Sam's sports bar. No curbside appeal whatsoever...passing by the place, I would have just kept on walking/driving/cycling, but the food was very yummy. I could only make it through half of the turkey wrap and sweet potato fries.

Bloated and swollen from lunch, I retired to the poolside at my uncle's house...

And sent the above picture to a couple of friends back home with a note reading something to the effect of "wish you were here?" I'm mean...it's no secret.

Uncle Ray treated me to a delicious steak dinner that night as an early birthday treat...thanks again Uncle Ray!

The first day of the conference registration opened at 9 am, and I was there right on time. I passed out my ATCs and had a wonderful conversation that I wish could have continued for another hour or two. Around 11 I had to excuse myself to check in for the Downtown Studio Tour.

The tour was initially going to take us to four studios, but another was added at the very beginning of the tour. Our first stop was at MM Identity Lab where they served us a lovely lunch. They had some of there work on display, but the real focus of the stop was the refurbished warehouse in which they were located. It is one of many throughout the Phoenix area reclaimed and repurposed by Michael Levine.

A few photos of the 605 E. Grant Street building:

Mike Levine telling us a little bit about the warehouse.

Next stop on the tour was P.S. Studios. Again, their work was on display for us (it was a treat to have a look at their work up close), but the main story was the building they occupied. The building was built by an architect as their own office, and much of it was still intact...desks, shelving...just about everything. Ecologically appropriate for Phoenix, most of the building was below ground level, but the interior atmosphere was anything but cavelike because of the windows from ground level up all the way around the building. Sorry no photos of my own to share, but if you go to their "About Us" page, they have a link to a slideshow about their office and the architect, Al Beadle. They did have a nice little surprise for us...a gift bag with a small toy. As a holiday treat for their clients they send out little toys each year. They gave me the bird...

Next Stop on the tour was After Hours Creative where Russ gave us a tour.

Russ on the far left in their main work space.

After Hours' space includes a gallery, an upstairs office space for a small architecture firm, and an apartment on the very top floor.

Next stop was Kitchen Sink Studios, and they had the most appropriate artwork in their courtyard.

We had a tour of their space (led in part by a golden retriever), and saw a video overview of their work.

Obviously, there was a lot more to this tour than I am describing here...I was pleasantly overloaded by the work of these companies, and impressed by the versatility of their creative office spaces.

Our last stop was at Moses Anshell—the only ad agency on the tour. Craig Hedges, VP and Creative Director, gave us a tour of the place, and he'd put together a video presentation of some of his favorite projects.

One project on display was the work they'd done for Girl Rock Nation:

It was a nice illustration of the design process...many work-ups in a variety of styles. The one in the center with the pink logo was the identity chosen.

A few more doodles in my Moleskine from the conference. Most of my notes were taken in the Moleskine App for the iPad, these scribbles were just to kill a little time between Affinity and General Sessions and see if I could recall just some of the ideas buzzing around.

Collier Center doodled while eating lunch at Kazim's. 

What I hoped to achieve at the conference (finding new tools/ideas/methods/the "next big thing" to improve my day-to-day work) did not really come to pass (with the notable exception of Muse). The ideas being bantered about were loftier. They were inspirational, but they don't translate well (and by "well" I mean "immediately and obviously") into the work I'm doing and the clients with whom I work. The main message of the conference was to encourage designers to step away from "making pretty things" and focus on designing experiences.

There was a strong emphasis on systems thinking, as well, and that was nice to hear. It is impossible to design for the seventh generation (too many variables in play). But it is possible to design with a conscious mind toward the immediate ramifications, and make day-to-day decisions that will accumulatively have less of an impact down the road.

These ideas are stuck in my head, and as I keep forging ahead from one day to the next, I may find ways to implement some of what I saw. If I hadn't gone to the conference and been exposed to all these wonderful people and their incredible work, I wouldn't have those lofty ideas in my bag o' tricks.

I got to do a lot of good people watching (a favorite pastime). Designers come in many styles, but there is a certain look prevalent among the menfolk...spiky hair, longer sideburns, 5 o'clock shadow, and rectangular frame glasses.

Too bad I can't spell...

Thanks to the Twitter feed in the Pivot App, I was able to nab one of the limited edition "Perfect Pair" card decks when 10 of them were put up for grabs at the O'Neil Printing booth. The decks were a collaborative effort between O'Neil Printing, R29, Just for Kicks, and Neenah Paper.

See!?!? "Male Designer de Rigueur" is featured in the deck!!! I bet he's got spiky hair under that hat!

On the last day, I camped out for a while in the "living room"...these wonderful chairs (made of reclaimed materials) were sprinkled hither and yon inviting attendees to kick back for a bit.

It was a great trip overall!

Thanks for stopping by!

Like it says...

Doodlin'

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Doodle Progress

As some of you may know, I'm currently in between jobs. More accurately, I'm in between iterations of the same job. You see, the parent company was no longer interested in the child, and gave it up for foster care. The child is taking its fate in its own hands and reforming with new independence. There's an amazing amount of prep work to be done, and the very act of being unemployed has many time-consuming responsibilities built into it as well. So I'm happy to report that I haven't taken to roaming the streets lookin' for trouble.

Perhaps someday I will be more specific about the above, but I'll wait until there's an exciting and happy ending to the story.

In the meantime, I've had some opportunities to fill small moments of time. One of those moments was filled with a little doodling while listening to NPR.



I've been in possession of Lady Orlando's moleskine for several weeks. I'm attempting to come up with a witch-themed bit of art for her MolyX-42 book. The witch doodles are part of that process, but it remains to be seen if any part of the doodle will make the final cut. Needless to say, it's a work in progress.



The Guinness doodle with accompanying leprechauns was purely a time waster. I met some friends at Hackney's in Wheeling for dinner and drinks. I got there a bit earlier than we were supposed to meet up, so I doodled. Fascinating story, no? No. I know, sorry.

Thanks for stopping by!

Illo Friday "Green"

Pencil sketches with the green in...uh...green. The parrot ended up looking a little strange, but had to be true to the theme.

Datebook 3-26 Thru 4-2

The quotes: "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." —Bruce Lee (1940-73)

"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
—Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977)

"I wasn't born a fool. It took work to get this way." —Danny Kay (1913-87)

I'm afraid to admit the three mile mountain bike train commute on the 2nd was the first of the year. That is a rather late start on fuel conservation for the year—my apologies to the environment (and to my waistline).


The quote: "Peace is not an abscence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice." —Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)

The sentiment above is an important one. If it were more widely embraced—if it became the core of man's (mankind's) motivation to act—it would certainly dampen the rage that leads to war in the first place. As a comfort in a time of war, however, it fails as any piece of rhetoric is doomed to withstand that level of violence. I'd simply rather have my peace without war. Still, I'll tuck the idea away and try to protect it from encroaching cynicism, and I'll hope to see it blossom some day.


The quote: "Cheese—milk's leap toward immortality." —Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999)

The news (which I acquired on the elevator at work during lunch via the Captivate [or captive] network): Lloyd Brown, the last U.S. Navy veteran of WWI passed away today (the 29th). He was 105.

Thank you, Mr. Brown, for your years of service to the United States. Thank you, also, to all the veterans and active service men and women.


The quote: "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." —Bertha Calloway

This quote would have worked a bit better on the next day's spread. Oh well, you never know how these things are going to work out.

Datebook 3-18 thru 25

Sorry, no quote for the 24th and 25th. I simply had other things to ponder. The weather was so beautiful that there were bike rides to complete. I also spent some time sitting in my garden having an "Artist's Date". The artist's date is a concept from the Walking in This World book, and I haven't held true to it every week.

The doorway is a sketch from memory. I was watching the movie Holiday, with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant—great movie and the third or fourth time I've seen it. Anyway, I caught a brief glimpse of the doorway of the house. I'm sure the details above the large globe are wrong, but I was having fun by the time I got to those details and just didn't want to stop.


The quote: "Eat a live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." —Author unknown

Gee, as much as I'd like to get the worst stuff out of the way first thing in the morning, I'm going to have to take a pass on this.

The background on this spread is the worst one in the book so far. The doodles helped a little since they cover some of it.


In the way of "less is more", I really like this spread. The sunset was one I saw from the train on the way home weeks ago, and I did it via reflection since I was sitting with my back to the west. The quote is the end of the one from the previous spread—it was rather long.


H.D. Thoreau's journal entry 17-Mar-1852:
"I catch myself philosophizing most abstractedly when first returning to consciousness in the night or in the morning. I make the truest observations and distinctions then, when the will is yet wholly asleep and the mind works like a machine without friction. I am conscious of having, in my sleep, transcended the limits of the individual and made observations and carried on conversations which in my waking hours I can neither recall nor appreciate. As if in sleep our individual fell into the infinite mind, and at that moment of awakening we found ourselves on the confines of the latter. On awakening we resume our enterprise, take up our bodies and become limited mind again. We meet and converse with those bodies which we have previously animated. There is a moment in the dawn, when the darkness of the night is dissipated and before the exhalations of the day commence to rise, when we see things more truly than at any other time. The light is more trustworthy, since our senses are purer and the atmosphere is less gross. By afternoon all objects are seen in mirage."

Datebook 3-8 Thru 17

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I'm just getting over a bug that was going around. These won't quite get you up to date, but within spitting distance at least.


The quote: "There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read." —G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

How true, how true. I'm not a person who memorizes quotes very easily. They strike a chord of accuracy in me—or echo my own thoughts—and I note them down, but they don't often stick. This one sticks.


H.D. Thoreau's journal entry for 14-Mar-1860: "No sooner has the ice of Walden melted than the wind begins to play in dark ripples over the surface of the virgin water. It is affecting to see nature so tender, however old, and wearing none of the wrinkles of age. Ice dissolved is the next moment as perfect water as if it had been melted a million years. To see that which was lately so hard and immovable now so soft and impressible! What if our moods could dissolve thus completely? It is like a flush of life to a cheek that was dead."

A little note about how this journal is put together: The backgrounds are done in advance. In this particular case, Thoreau's entry and the background seemed to suit each other very well which is a result of coincidence instead of design.

I have a difficulty with one of the adjectives he used to describe the melted water—"impressible" doesn't seem accurate because it suggests that an impression will remain (which it certainly won't in water). Of course, "fluid" would be the logical substitute but also terribly obvious and less profound. I'll have to ponder it a bit more.


The quote: "In religion and politics, beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination." —Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Gotta love a little Twainism. You must have your beliefs and convictions, but it's necessary to revisit their basis every now and then and reassess them in the light of new evidence. Just my 2¢ worth.


The quote: "If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." —Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)

I think I would still be impressed because that meant his mastery came to him very naturally—an enviable talent.

Now for a bit of cycling analysis. I'm waaay behind on my mileage for the year, and I'm rather disappointed that Saturday, March 10th was the day of my first outdoor ride. This was the first year in a long time that I didn't ride outside in January and February. I'll have to work that much harder for the rest of the year.

On the upside, the trainer work I've been doing, combined with the walking to and from the train station (and elsewhere), seems to be keeping me a bit more fit than I usually am this time of year. When I went outside for that 21 mile ride, it wasn't as difficult as it normally is this time of year.

Sunday the 11th was all about cycling too. I spent some quality time on the trainer. The weather was nice enough to ride outside, but I didn't feel like putting on lots o' layers. It's good to have options.

Sunday evening the Versus channel (formerly known as OLN) had coverage of the prologue of the Paris-Nice race.


The quote: "Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an aquaintance, or a stranger." —Franklin P. Jones

The drawing: my slippers. The measurements: a framing project I was working on. The Floyd Fairness Fund Art Sale & Fundraiser: an event I thought of attending but didn't.

Illo Friday "Hide"

Just a quick little Illo Friday doodle in the datebook.

The quotes:

"He plants trees to benefit another generation." —Caecilius Statius (220 - 168 B.C.)

"Surburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them." —Bill Vaughan

Not unrelated concepts, and a sad testament to mankind's priorities. Kinda makes me want to stick my head in the sand too.

Datebook 3-4 and 5

The quote: "It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off." —Woody Allen

I'm not usually a Woody Allen fan, but this one tickled the ol' funny bone.

Sneak Preview of 2-24

This was a bit of a breakthrough sketch for me. It was a quick 5-minute thing (ok, maybe 10), but I saw the shapes and values very quickly and I was able to process them and put them on the paper faster than usual. It really flowed.

Datebook 2-16 thru 23

"The wisest men follow their own direction." —Euripides (484-406 B.C.)

EDM #18: The view from my office (at least part of it). It also inspired a Nanism: Seeing the sky in the city is very often a matter for reflection. I know, I apologize. I just couldn't resist.



"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult." —Rita Rudner

Because why wouldn't I draw a poodle?



"They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days." —Garrison Keillor

One of my Uncle Pete's stained glasses. This was an early trial piece of his. I have another hanging above the sink in my kitchen.



"When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves." —Confucius (551-479 B.C.)

"To find a fault is easy, to do better may be difficult." —Plutarch (46-120 A.D.)

I won't tell you who I was trying to sketch on the 16th, the results are terrible. I suppose we'll just have to scratch it up to practice.

DB 2-12 and 13

Your memory is a monster; you forget—it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from you—and summons them to your recall with a will of it's own. You think you have a memory, but it has you!" —John Irving

This monster started as the usual watercolor something-whatever on the spread. Memory and imagination conjured the purple people eater. The eyes were inspired by Stefen Bucher's monster series.

Datebook 2-4 thru 9

The 4th was a very difficult day—better luck next year, Bears. Things didn't get much better on the 5th because of the deep freeze. I awoke to frozen pipes and no cable! I'm happy to report the pipes thawed and the cable is back on.



The spread for the 6th and 7th stayed blank until Friday. I put the quote on the page, and just couldn't seem to live up the the drama of the color and quote. I really wasn't in such a bad mood on Friday, but the darkness doesn't go away in the light it just hides in the shadows.



Thursday's scribble is a rescheduled lunch date. Friday's art was done from memory. Had a lovely lunch at Lalo's, and the tile art was on the wall next to our booth. The colors were much more vivid on the tiles, and the original had beautiful detail too. Still, this little watercolor brings the original fresh to my mind when I see it.

Illo Friday "Sprout"

Colored pencil in my Moleskine datebook. Scroll down a bit and you can see the full spread. I did a quick electronic cleanup to isolate the little sprouts.

DB 1-23 and 24

I was sitting on my couch last night, watching a little TV, and pondering what to draw. I glanced up and saw a box from my collection. Not real pleased with the way it turned out. Looks like I need to practice drawing wood. Into every life a few clunkers must fall, and this spread seems clunky enough to me.

Bears Fever!!!