30 March, 2011

Coming Soon

School is winding down and graduation is fast approaching. During the next month or so I will be posting more of my work from this semester including print and outdoor ads for JCPenney as well as excerpts from a book I am currently designing for my graphic design class. Here's a teaser from the former:


It looks like I will have no problem staying busy for the rest of the semester via tests and final project deadlines, not to mention the continuous job search, so postings may be sparse (as if they aren't already). That aside, continue to stay tuned for more insights into the realms of graphic design, advertising, and the world around us. Speaking of which, I plan on launching a sister blog this summer as an outlet for my obsession with kerning. More on that later. As always, thanks for reading.

24 March, 2011

Who am I?

INFJ Personality Type

As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit with your personal value system.

INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.

INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk.

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress.

Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubborness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions. They believe that they're right. On the other hand, INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals.

INFJ is a natural nurturer; patient, devoted and protective. They make loving parents and usually have strong bonds with their offspring. They have high expectations of their children, and push them to be the best that they can be. This can sometimes manifest itself in the INFJ being hard-nosed and stubborn. But generally, children of an INFJ get devoted and sincere parental guidance, combined with deep caring.

In the workplace, the INFJ usually shows up in areas where they can be creative and somewhat independent. They have a natural affinity for art, and many excel in the sciences, where they make use of their intuition. INFJs can also be found in service-oriented professions. They are not good at dealing with minutia or very detailed tasks. The INFJ will either avoid such things, or else go to the other extreme and become enveloped in the details to the extent that they can no longer see the big picture. An INFJ who has gone the route of becoming meticulous about details may be highly critical of other individuals who are not.

The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.

23 March, 2011

Art fart

I'm coining that phrase right now. How many times have you had an amazingly creative idea come to mind at the most inappropriate time? For me this usually happens when I'm driving. Since I commute to school, I spend roughly 20 hours each week driving back and forth which gives me a lot of time to think about things. It's during my commute that I end up having a lot of brilliant ideas that come to mind, most of them come out of nowhere. Unfortunately, by the time I get home I usually forget what I was thinking about or I only remember bits and pieces. This happens more often than I would like so I thought of a name for the occurrence: art fart. See the handy definition I put together below.


I find that I experience a lot of art farts pertaining to graphic design. I have so much going on every day on top of multiple design projects for school, etc., that I tend to have a lot of fleeting ideas at the same time. By the time I have a chance to sit down and work with these rogue ideas, I can't remember what they were entirely, thus, art fart. Think of it kind of like a brain fart but more creative and such. Have you experienced anything like this? Does this make any sense to you? How often do you experience art farts? How do you cope? Feedback is more than welcome.

19 March, 2011





16 March, 2011

Justice for all

Finally... the nearly 4 year wait is almost over. My favorite French electronic duo, Justice, has announced that they will be releasing the first single from their new album on April 4th. The single, called Civilization, made it's world premier in a brand new Adidas spot directed by the legendary Romain Gavras.



The track sounds pretty spectacular even with the added sound effects and noises from the commercial. I love the breakdowns and the vocals at about 50 seconds in and am very excited to hear it in full. It's impressive that the song and album were kept under wraps so well. Anticipation for a follow up to Justice's 2007 debut album "✝" has been killing me and many fans for quite some time with little-to-no news/hints about this comeback. With the combination of Romain Gavras' directing abilities and Justice's musical talent, this commercial becomes quite successful. However, will it succeed in the intended Adidas sales or will it alternately drive Justice album sales? Expect more updates about the album in the future.

08 March, 2011

New mix: TECH ED


Here is a new DJ mix I recorded. It's full of techy acid house, minimal, tech house, and all around funky songs. Download it here and check out my page on Facebook for more mixes.

Tracklisting: 

Strip Steve - Breakin (Rynecologist Remix)
Djedjotronic - Feta
Jason Taylor - Sabotage
Angger Dimas and Neon Stereo - Zorg
Miles Dyson - Zooloo (Pleasurekraft Remix)
Harvard Bass - Caked
Renaissance Man - Spraycan
Nouveau  Yorican - Boriqua (Douster Remix)
John Roman - Sing!
Tiga - You Gonna Want Me (Hey Today! Remix)
Beltek - Eclipse
James Blake - CMYK

07 March, 2011

This year's Pitchfork music fest logo


I really like it. It's an improvement from past years (see below) and has really strong design sense. It's extremely simple but works extremely well. My only complaint/question is; could the three text elements be tied together more completely? The treatment of "Pitchfork", "Music Festival" and "Chicago" almost divides them into individual elements rather than making the entire logo one cohesive element. As of right now the lineup for the event itself sparks little to no interest in me but kudos for moving away from these images:





For a comical opinion regarding the new logo, check out this post on the Hipster Runoff

03 March, 2011

Typography + travel + beautiful cities = great commercials

Check out these ads for EF International Language Centers. I love the typography in each of them and the overall creative execution. Not only that, but each video tells a story while teaching us common words. These remind me of studying abroad and soaking up different cultures, I must travel more! Which one is your favorite?










http://www.ef.com/