monrovian

RUGGED MAN

2011-01-21T19:01:00.001-08:00

I finally got around to practicing some illustration, more to come.

SEARCH: CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

2011-01-20T13:53:00.001-08:00

YOU AINT NOTHIN BUT A

2011-01-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

Quick lil sum'n sum'n put together at Davids

SEARCH: BOWL

2011-01-18T16:03:00.001-08:00

SEARCH: STOVE TOP

2011-01-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

What is it about stove tops that make photographers feel a need to express their dark side?

SEARCH: COFFEE

2011-01-10T11:04:00.001-08:00

Quick! Let's get this gem into Yuban's next annual report!

THE GIVING TREE

2011-01-09T14:48:00.001-08:00

One of the best ways for me to clear my mind visually is by doing a collage or two. That and drawing. Since I'm on break, I really want to take advantage of my time and explore as many things visually as I can. So I started today with a quick collage. I set out for it to be non-sensical, but as always, it seemed to eventually make some sort of sense. Do you get it?

I'M IN YOUR NOODLES, BEING QUIRKY N SHIT

2011-01-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months, one of my jobs as an intern has been image searching. Not surprisingly, extensive image searches yield some questionable results. Many of these results clearly have no place anywhere in the world, and are a complete waste of online storage. That is, until today ;)

Every time I've come across a ridiculous photo I've tucked it away, assuring it that one day it will actually be put to use. Since I'm on break from school for a month, I thought I'd open that folder and share these gems with the world; one day at a time. There's nothing better than a stock photographer "getting conceptual".

Searched for: Pasta

MODERN MILK

2009-12-17T18:24:00.000-08:00

Here is one of three packaging projects I completed this semester. I'll be posting the rest of my packaging design, along with tons of other work over the course of the next few weeks.

For this project the class was assigned to either re-design a current line of milk, or to make our own milk company from scratch. I chose to create Modern Milk, a milk company that employs modern practice and responsibility throughout the entire process of manufacturing.

NOBBS

2009-12-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

My good friend Chelsea gave her fun touch to my monrovian logo. I'll be screen printing t-shirts this winter, and will most likely make a run of these on girly tee's if any of you ladies out there want one. Also, be sure to follow Chelsea's blog as she is always updating with fun work!

SKETCH

2009-08-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

Today I realized that I never share any of my random sketches on this blog. So I've just begun the process of digging up recent sketches and scanning them. Here's one for now, I should have about five or six more up on here in the next few days.

TARANTINO'S FAVES

2009-08-22T11:38:00.001-07:00

Not to overload you with youtube videos, but this is a cool little clip of Tarantino discussing his favorite movies from the last 17 years. Btw Inglorious Basterds was amazing, go see it now if you haven't!

PANDA BEAR

2009-08-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

Zone out for a bit to this awesome collection of vintage film set to the song "Bro's" by Panda Bear.

MMMMM

2009-08-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

Or not. I'm quitting fast food. Short term goal is for this entire semester (with an occasional in-n-out sesh), and the long term goal is for the rest of my life. Shits disgusting.

HELP A BROTHER OUT

2009-08-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

So I submitted a slogan to "type tees" (a division of threadless) earlier today. Please take 30 seconds to vote for my slogan here on their website. All you have to do is click the "I'd wear that" button, and if I get enough of those they'll print up shirts and give me $500 dollars that will go straight to rent!

My slogan is "Silence is golden but music is platinum"

PRACTICE PRACTICE

2009-08-13T18:21:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been trying to make at least one interesting image a day. This is what I came up with today while wandering around downtown with my point and shoot. Although I've been meaning to start being a lot more progressive and innovative in my approach to design and image making, I feel I first need to get a lot of past tried and true approaches out of my system (hence the very Bauhaus like approach here).

YOU KNOW THAT FEELING?

2009-08-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

I think this fool is following me.

SHE THE BEST

2009-08-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

MONROVI(V)AN

2009-08-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a little illustration I came up with the other day. I've been needing to practice my illustrator skills, so I've been sketching anything and everything out in the program lately. This was made from a photo I took the other day when Bobby and I were on our way to check out Grace Cathedral. This awesome stubby little van was trotting along, and I had to take a photo of it (I apologize for the crappy camera-phone quality).

I would like to eventually have this printed on a t-shirt. With fall semester approaching quickly, I doubt it will see the light of day for a while. But who knows, maybe eventually it will be a part of a collab I have due with Subtle Detail?

OLDIES

2009-08-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

As I was gathering old images to archive today, I ran across some of my old favorites. Here are a handful of them, I'll post more later.

CUT/COPY POSTER

2009-08-08T15:27:00.001-07:00

Of course my pace will pick up about a month before school starts, and not two months ago. No matter, I just finished this poster for Nat. She has some empty space on her walls, so why not fill that with a Cut/Copy poster? For those who haven't heard them yet, check out some of there songs here.

And although I already posted this James Pants poster, I thought I'd repost it since I finally got around to printing it. I'm really happy that the red and orange came out so well, so easily. Usually those colors are pretty hard to achieve with an inkjet printer.

SOME SERIOUS DAMAGE

2009-08-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

Three of my best friends from SB came up this last weekend. After a weekend of mayhem and no sleep, we decided to hit up a nice little breakfast spot down the street. A beautiful sunday morning, amazing breakfast, and inside jokes primed the morning canvas, until we got the check. Some expensive coffee and eggs!

All in all it was a great weekend, although it was a bit crammed for four of us in my little downtown studio. Especially with this fool hoggin up all the space:

LOS RANDOM STALLIONS POSTER

2009-08-05T17:44:00.001-07:00

Another poster design. This time for the "Los Random Stallions" crew. The idea I had here was to embody the two extremes of media in which the crew works. Organic vs. digital, hence the overly pixelated horses on an old and organic feeling background. Check out this website to see some of the crew's work!

BLUEPRINT 3

2009-08-03T13:39:00.001-07:00

I'm very happy to see Jay-Z sporting this as his Blueprint 3 cover. It isn't everyday that you see a hip-hop album cover this artfully designed. Maybe Kanye is rubbing off on him? Either way, its a nice breath of fresh air for this genre. Also, MGMT will be on the album? I'm completely sold.

REMAINS

2009-07-31T15:09:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago in Santa Barbara we decided to drive out to one of my favorite nature spots: Steve's Park. Bobby introduced me to this amazing trail about six months ago. I remember being immediately won-over by hundreds of lush trees, running creek water, and the soft sounds of forest creatures making their way through another day.

But since then things have changed.

The last Santa Barbara fire pretty much disarmed half of the trees, badly burned the rest, and killed any friendly forest animal that lay in its path. A depressing sight it was, but at least we were able to pull some nice photo's from the wreckage.

Natalie captured these two shots below. I'm proud to see how good she's getting at photography in such a short amount of time!

JUST CALL ME BOSEPH

2009-07-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

Ryan never ceases to amaze me.

NAT-SACK

2009-07-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Spreading the violence via my boo's backpack! holllllller.

MONROVIAN CREWNECK

2009-07-24T12:26:00.001-07:00

Ahhh look at what came in the mail. I've wanted to make a Monrovian crewneck sweater for quite some time now. Unfortunately, two semesters of design school and a legal issue with my initial sweater design kicked this project in the teeth countless times. But now that I'm smack dab in the middle of summer, and have all the free time in the world, this was finally able to see the light of day.

I've wanted to establish a very limited clothing line for a couple years now, and this is the first step in that direction. I'll be printing up some tee's with this design in a couple color-ways as well soon enough.

NOBBY'S BAG

2009-07-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

She wanted some weapons on her bag, so thats what I gave her sonnnnnnnn.

INK INK INK

2009-07-24T12:06:00.001-07:00

If you're a graphic design student, you're well aware of how expensive ink can be, and how fast it bleeds itself dry. I decided that while it's summer and I have some money, I will spend a ton of it on ink. There is nothing worse than having a huge project due, and having to run across the city with nervous hopes of your cartridges being in stock. Wasting precious time that you don't even have in the first place.

Moreover, the cost of ink in this damn city is nearly $20 after tax per cartridge.

I just got all of this ink at a sweet discount through On Paper Supplies. They were recommended to me by my Pack 1 teacher, and from now on is going to be my sole ink supplier. Cheap prices, extremely fast shipping, and all around good people.

MIKE LEON

2009-07-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Mike Leon is a long time friend and inspiration of mine. He's fuckin hilarious, and is a bad-ass at painting. See more of his work here.

TYPE GENERATOR

2009-07-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

_/\/\______/\/\____/\/\/\/\____/\/\____/\/\_
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_/\/\/\/\______/\/\______/\/\____/\/\_
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___/\/\____/\/\/\/\/\/\__/\/\__/\/\/\_
_/\/\/\/\__/\/\____/\/\__/\/\____/\/\_
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Here is an awesome site that will generate anything your lil ol' heart desires!

STUDIO SESSION

2009-07-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

After baseball yesterday we headed to goleta beach to bbq, then crashed in on Zach's radio show. Andrew or Bobby noticed an empty studio booth in the back...

After 20 minutes of messing with the equipment, Andrew got the system going, and before you know it Bob and I were freestyle battling with an occasional chorus of "grab the mic like a sausage, bout to hold all you fools hostage".

It was a fun lil private studio party. Then to top things off, Andrew threw on this little gem:

SB VISUAL UPDATE

2009-07-13T00:09:00.001-07:00

Just finding a balance between chillin and shreddin the gnar.

FLICK ME

2009-07-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

I just started a Flickr account the other day. If any of you have an account, check out my photostream and add me as a contact!

Probably won't be blogging much for the next few days, I'm currently in SB right now with the family. If you need to find me I'll be somewhere with this foo:

James Pants

2009-07-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a poster I made the other day out of boredom.

If you haven't heard of James Pants, and you're remotely interested in psychedelic, old school, new wave, or hip-hop; listen here sonny.

E-DOT-ORIAL

2009-07-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

These dot drawings depicting editorial pages by Bay Area artist Lauren DiCioccio are stunning! It's refreshing to see this familiar structure in a new and playful light. More can be found at her website.

GAME RELATED

2009-07-05T22:01:00.001-07:00

Remember this song? All 7th grade status.

Mr. 3000

2009-07-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

The other day I was in the middle of another boring bus ride, when all of a sudden this guy slides into a bench across from me:

At first glance I thought I was sitting straight across from Andre 3000, who decided that day to dress like a mix between Madlib and Prince. But after a half second of further inspection, I found he was just some noble ass dude who seemed to not have a care in the world. He rummaged the bus floor for a second, gathering pieces of unorganized newspaper, and proceeded to reading all casual poet status.

This then reminded me of a song Simon showed me the other day. Give it a listen, its Devin the Dude, Snoop Dogg, and of course...Andre 3000.

THE VINTAGE ADVANTAGE

2009-07-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I've taken a different approach to buying books. Instead of going to borders and paying around 20 bucks for a book, I opt for used book stores.

Main reason: OG book covers.

I've made a promise to myself to read as many classic books that have championed the test of time, before diving into more contemporary literature. And given the situation this promise puts me in, I get to reap the benefits of beautiful vintage books with inexpensive price tags.

Today I picked up Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut for $2.50!

Given how much I love this book (it was my first venture into the land of Vonnegut) and how amazing this cover is, I would have easily paid 5x that price.

Another addition to my vintage collection is this edition of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Now all I need to do is set aside enough time to read all the books I've been buying/borrowing this summer!

RAW DEAL

2009-06-25T17:34:00.001-07:00

Raw Deal is the music of Dave Esquer, Zach I (aka Ralphie), and I. Above is the cover of our first album that is currently in the works. There's a funny story about how that came to be the cover image...

The three of us were in Zach's garage digging through samples and drinking beer, when all of a sudden Zach tips over one of his empty beer bottles. Attempting to clean up the mess, he cuts himself pretty badly, and starts bleeding all over the place. It was either his or Dave's idea to write RAW DEAL on the neck of the bottle. I then grabbed Zach's camera and snapped a few shots of the raw/bloody ordeal. After a minute of reviewing the shots, we decided on the photo above as the album cover. It's funny because previously I had been going through rough ideas in my head about an album cover for the project, but then all of a sudden the cover just created itself in front of us. True definition of Raw Deal right there.

Anyway, I thought I'd post two beats I made that will most likely find there way onto the project. The first is something I made about two years ago, using samples from an old spanish record entitled Never on Sunday. What's pretty funny is that I named it "NOS" for short, which you see tagged on the wall behind me in the video below. I wonder who did that????

The second is something I made a couple months ago. My friend Reginald aka Iron Clad, an mc from oakland/sf will be hopping over this one.

METALISM

2009-06-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

I came across this amazing helvetica shirt on haight street yesterday.

I love how it's executed in the same vain as Experimental Jetset's Modernism banner, a hilarious and ironic statement about modern/minimalist type.

RAINWATER CASSETTE EXCHANGE

2009-06-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

For those of you who don't know, or haven't hung out with me long enough to have had me force music into your ears yet, I'm a huge Deerhunter fan. About a week ago they released this EP "Rainwater Cassette Exchange". I go by amoeba every other day to pick it up on vinyl, but for now they only have in on CD's which is absolutely pointless these days. If I'm going to spend money on music, why not have a 12x12 cardboard poster to put up on my wall as well as the timeless sound of vinyl?

Either way, give a couple of these songs a listen, and if you feel so inclined go pick up a deerhunter record on vinyl.

Rainwater Cassette Exchange - Deerhunter

Disappearing Ink - Deerhunter

MY RECENT LIFE: A VISUAL UPDATE

2009-06-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

The places I've been & people and animals I love, as of recent. All from the iPhone (that will explain the crap quality and or nice vintage look of everything). Also, working on a new website/blog, more new work is on its way!

PAPA BEARS HONEY & TYPE 2 FINALS

2009-05-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, its the end of my second year in design school. It feels really weird going from constant work to having absolutely nothing to do. I need to get a summer job. Here are my other main projects from this semester. Papa Bears Honey and the West Coast Green event. I also threw in a type specimen book I did for my Type 2 class, and the summary poster for the class.

GREENLITE PACKAGING

2009-03-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while since my last post, but I've been busy busy busy with school projects. Here is one of them. The assignment was to redesign packaging for lightbulbs. We chose companies that had very ugly design, and turned that right around. Here are my packages I completed for Greenlite.

TED

2008-11-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm assuming most of you know about TED. If you haven't heard about it yet, make sure and watch some of their videos at www.ted.com. I watched this one today and it really got me thinking about current events and people in my life right now, and how I'm interacting with it all. Not to sound corny, but I myself am stepping back and re-evaluating a few things. Mainly how I treat certain people and situations. Its worth a watch!

FIRST RAIN

2008-11-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

This is the first day it has rained since I moved into the spot on Post street. So I decided to take some photos and make this little diddy. Today I'll be avoiding homework to work on my last images for the street mag Mr. Wishnack and I started. If you live here in sf you'll be seeing them scattered around town on election day!

PRIMERO

2008-10-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

This is the first design for my limited clothing line. They'll be screen printed onto american appy t's as well as grey crewneck sweaters. Both will be limited to 20 pieces each. Coming soon enough!

TEKKONKINKREET

2008-10-25T23:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Yuko brought this movie over the other day. I've already watched it twice, my friend Seth watched it three times in one day. Go rent it. I'm not super into anime or anything, but this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

R2D2 disco

2008-10-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge star wars fan, but this R2D2 reductive woodcut print by Jason Urban is nuts! Some of his other pieces are worth a look at his website:

www.jasonurban.com

NOWHERE MAN

2008-10-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's amazing seeing how Yellow Submarine is still relevant today. The imagery is still ahead of its time, and conceptually stronger than most music videos we'll ever see in our lifetime. I cannot say I've seen the entire film, although I will get to that as soon as I can. For now, here is one of my favorite clips from what I've seen so far.

PHOTO vs. DESIGN

2008-10-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

I took this photo about a week ago on a field trip, and it got me thinking. This is my ideal, some might say "signature" photograph. I haven't taken one like this in about a year, but it is what I strive for every time I pick up a camera. I can't help it, I love images that look like this, and I'm pretty sure until the day I die I will be producing them.

What got me thinking though is how I approach graphic design. Most of my projects have come out completely different, and I am very proud to say that. I want every project to be 100% different, and I want to constantly re-invent the way I approach them. I think as a designer its pretty easy to fall into trends, and habits of using the same "joke", and typefaces. I won't lie, Helvetica and Akzidenz Grotesk are all I think about using right now, but I'm working on changing that.

I guess the whole point of this rant is to say that I am very proud of the fact that after all these years I have nailed down a photographic style that I plan on holding onto. And that as a designer I will strive to do the exact opposite. I will be printing these photos out as 13x19's if anyone is interested.

WORKINONIT

2008-10-15T02:02:00.001-07:00

I've been spending tons of time on an experimental design book I'm making for class. My concept is earthquake, and so far it has been very challenging to come up with fresh ideas for it. Not to say it isn't fun. More to come on that very soon.

In other news, Simon and I went in on a fabric screen printing kit together. We'll be churning out shirts weekly, and most likely open an online shop or something. Until then.

AND THEY SAY YOU CAN'T BUY HAPPINESS

2008-10-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

This one goes out to Mr. Mike Leon for opening the window of true mexican food for me. The Steves and I have been eating at cancun and farrolitos on the regs. By far the most bomb chorizo quesadilla you will ever have. When you flying up Mike?

FOR MY TREETOP HOMIES

2008-10-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Saw this in a 1980's typography book today, pretty funny stuff. I have no idea what the concept is for this. Is it simply to fit in and be as 80's as possible? If so the designer hit it dead on.

A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

2008-09-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

Watched Mad Max the other day for the first time, and let me tell you, Gibson kicks some serious ass. Steve got some special edition dvd of it, I kinda wish I saw it on vhs on a crappy tv though, so it would have been more meaningful/authentic. But oh well. Maybe soon it will come out in the virtual reality format.

NEW STUDIO ON POST ST

2008-09-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

I now have a place to live all to myself. After all these years. No more Hunsley Bunsley, or Hoodrat house mates. Notice how minimalist it is. It's going to stay that way.

VETIVER

2008-09-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to this band a whole lot lately. They're from SF and have a very mellow sound. Perfect for having people over, or just getting work done. I say give them a whirl.

To Baby - Vetiver

PEEKABOO

2008-09-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've been shooting a lot more lately. Mostly due to design class assignments, but I'm happy about it. I missed photography for a while.

Leather So Soft

2008-09-17T01:31:00.000-07:00

Found this bag on Balboa street. It reeked at first but after washing it and letting it dry for about a week, and after customizing it by adding a wooden Mother Mary, its street ready. I've been getting a lot of compliments on it, especially from the ladies, so I've decided it may be a good idea to sell it on ebay for a million dollars once I become a design superstar. It will serve as a collectors item, and also a thinkpiece due to the fact that most likely some buddhist lady will buy it, and walk around with the Mother Mary all day. I tell ya.

3 Kings

2008-09-17T01:18:00.001-07:00

The other night we decided to go to Town Hall for dinner, celebrating Canadian Steve's quarter century mark. Mind you, there is about a 3 week waiting list to even eat at this place, and an even longer wait (if you're lucky) to get the vip table we did. $400 dinner for most, ended up being about a bill for us (Mr. Wishnack pullin' the strings), and the best part was all the business men staring at us wondering who the F#$% we were.

Ohhh yeah

2008-09-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Had me a little spill the other night. Someone who doesn't-know-how-to-skate-but-still-tries-to-bomb-hills-in-front-of-people-who-actually-know-how-to-skate, ahem, fell in front of me and sent me down a lil sf hill going about 30 mph's. This photo does no justice, as I couldn't walk for 2 days, and it took me about a week before I could move my right arm. Also scraped a lil chunk off my ankle and got some nice road rash on my side. All in all though, it was a nice chaotic end to a nice chaotic summer.

Oaktownnnn

2008-09-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

We'll kick this little blog thing off with a new print. I won't be posting too much of my work on here, but for now checheckk it.