A motley collection of pieces I’ve shared on social media. Since I’ve spent more time on books and less time online, there’s only a few left…unless things switch up again. We’ll see.
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Whenever I get a new tool, I start with the (super creative) word test. In this case, it was a big fat hake brush, which has raw feel perfect for some assignments.
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I taped two Pentel brushpens together to make this Laugh.
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I call my cursive “brush cursive” since I primarily use a Pentel brushpen for this hand. But really, this was cemented last summer with the use of the ruling pen like this Tension. There is a beautiful rush in using this ruling pen—now I need to learn how to use it slowly.
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white space is OK
I have a hard time letting myself use white space, it’s one of my great shortcomings as a designer.
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Last October I was playing with both gothicized italics and testing a cover for a NATO alphabet zine at the same time. I don’t know about the cover, but this script has become a rabbit hole that I’m still chasing. It’s been my default hand (along with brush cursive) whenever I whip out a piece.
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We celebrated the 4th of July by visiting a local park where folks go wild with illegal fireworks. They were going full speed when we arrived at sunset and were still shooting with gusto when we left an hour later.
It was so visceral that no one noticed the fireworks show from the casino a couple of blocks away. I can still smell the gunpowder. We’re gonna bring earplugs next time.next time.
Cya next time!
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PS—Riding a Bicycle
I was walking a group home campus for disabled clients. We’re putting up a fence they can enter and exit their houses without supervision by the nurses.
A couple of clients rode by on bicycles (with their nurses). The joy on their faces were infectious, only dampened by the barren dreariness of our facilities.
We don’t treat our wards nearly well enough, and yet they persevere. We need their strength in these times.
—November 2021
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PPS—Some aphorisms on managing a career
If the company doesn’t promote you in a couple of years, then that’s your position for the long haul.
But be careful about being promoted, they’ll get their pound of flesh for that extra status and money. (Double check an opportunity in terms hourly wage and stress.)
An architect is paid in experience and money*. (Make sure the balance is good for long term growth.)
You start a career getting good at technical stuff, then spend the second half dealing with humans.
40 hours a week keeps you from being fired. If you wanna climb, then you gotta invest more time (inside or outside the company).
Don’t just stay cause you’re comfortably miserable.
DON’T FUCK WITH HAPPY.
Be nice. It’s a small world.
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* I’ve been toying with the other side of the equation. As an employee, you offer time multiplied by skill, which results in this equation
Money + Experience = Time * Skill
This isn’t as memorable as the original aphorism, but it’s a start.
—August 2022
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PPPS—Practice
—August 2025
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PPPPS—Practice
—November 2025
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