Lazy days with Caz and Copper...

Well today I decided to just take it easy and not do a damn thing. Every now and again I think I need to do that. I have been fighting this cold/cough now for a week, a pulled muscle, and looming deadlines. Well the deadlines have been met, the muscles is healing, and the cough is coming and going. So today I figured I would just chill out and lounge around the house. I definitely got some good napping in and I do find it necessary to withdraw from my fellow man every now and again just to relax and clear my head. But this was a special day for two reasons.
The first being that I found the new issue of Copper came out! Since going to school at SCAD I have been exposed to more than the traditional comic fare and web comics are very unique and abounding. One of my favorites is Copper by Kazu Kibuishi. He runs a great site over at Boltcity.com and it is definitely worth checking out. I think he has one of the best webcomics out right now and the way he presents it is also enjoyable. So take a look!
The other reason today was special was that my buddy Caz sent me three CD's via FedEx today. For those of you not in the know Caz is a pop culture guru and music is one of his specialties. Be it a question about music or a band, he generally knows it. So I asked him not too long ago to make a mix he would use if he were to go to the gym. Well this expanded into three CD's, one for work, one for play and as he puts it "one for being a badass". Now it is a bit early to tell but I have a feeling that these three albums may go down in history as some of the best mixes ever created by human hand. The "Green Album" aka as Merkle at Play is my favorite so far. But now I am going to lay down and listen to more tunes...Good day to you all
M.

Birdhouse from Hell...

I just can't win some days. This weekend I have spent an insane amount of time working on building my birdhouse. Designing this thing was clearly the easy part. Not matter what I did this weekend, nothing on this project has done right. My biggest challenge is that I have many angles and trying to get the corners to meet flush is virtually impossible. I have bigger than the Marianas Trench! Plus the material that I am using is frustrating. MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) is easy to manipulate and forgiving but the complexity of my design is leaving me with pieces that just don't fit. I am really frustrated at this point. I sort of feel that the facutly know how to do what I am trying to do but won't tell me. I have ZERO building experience and once again I am faced with the reality that while my design is cool and possibly effective I don't have skills to see it through to the end. I am constantly changing things to meet my deadline and because I just have NO idea how to building what I drew. I am sure there is some equation out there that would help me but I have neither the time and that patience at this point to research. Why couldn't the shop monitors or my instructors just tell me how to do it? How does one calculate the angles so that the sides meet flush?
On top of all this I have caught a cold. Not sure how or where it came from (although I have my suspicions) but it is really annoying. The sore throat especially. The other morning I woke up and felt like I had sand in the back of my throat and no matter how much water I drank it would NOT go away. At this point I have a typography and my birdhouse project to get done and all I want is to get them done. I don't care how they look at this point...I am sick, tired and frustrated.
Ah well, this too shall pass...
M.

Look out squirrels!

Just a quick post in between assignments. The above is a model of a design I am working on for a squirrel proof bird feeder. Yes there are "squirrel proof" feeders already out on the market. But then tend to be unattractive, non-functioning, violent, or just plain stupid. I am attempting to keep the squirrels alive but hungry and the birds have a place to go to hang out, drink, pick up chicks, etc etc. I have some design considerations that I will toy with when production actually comes underway (which will be VERY soon). For now though it is Typography Time...WEEEEEEEEEEE!