In collaboration with writers, project managers, and other stakeholders, I designed printed and interactive publications that told stories about how donors' funds made opportunities possible for students and faculty.
This white paper template was used throughout the university to raise funds for future projects.
Inside spread
Inside spread
I created a style guide to accompany the new template, as I was responsible for rolling it out and training people how to use it in each of Stanford's seven schools.
I designed this template of featured stories to be sent to donors on a quarterly basis.
Michael Friedman came to Stanford to speak about his experience writing music and lyrics for Fortress of Solitude which recently showed at The Public Theater in New York City, and to discuss his upcoming project, American Pop.
Front
Back
Inside featuring facts about the first year and a timeline of events
This report template was created to show donors the impact of their gifts. It includes letters from the Dean and the scholarship recipient, and a list of and quotes from previous recipients. It was a major success and dubbed "The Genius Report" by one of the donors who received it.
Letter from the current recipient and list and quotes from previous ones
List and quotes continued
I did these projects for the Communications Department within the Office of the President. Incorporating a redesign of UC's identity, I wanted to infuse the pieces with light, clarity and a sense of openness. Projects include an internal web site, a 50-page book, PowerPoint presentations for the Regents' use, lecture posters, and a slide show presented to newly-hired employees during orientation.
Home page and inside page of a pilot project to create a web site for university employees.
Cover and inside spreads for a 100-page report
This PowerPoint presentation was shown to new employees during orientation, showing them some of the benefits of working for the university system.
I created a PPT template for the university's regents.
Posters announcing upcoming events to employees
For several years, I worked in Francis Ford Coppola’s art department. We created art for his wineries, movies, personal projects and events, and worked in a range of media from packaging to print to web.
There were six varietals within the Francis Coppola Reserve line. Each varietal had six unique labels with different configurations of C-O-P-P-O-L-A. The wines were a limited production, featuring the best grapes from Sonoma Valley.
I designed this label and wrote the copy for it, and learned how literal the FDA can be. If you claim that Grappa can put hair on your chest, it had better put hair on your chest. (Ours did not.)
Upon its opening in Geyserville, CA, Francis Coppola's new winery, Rosso & Bianco, launched a Wine Club. Along with wine shipments, its members received a quarterly newsletter with stories of what had happened in the previous quarter and announcements of what was to come in the next. Incorporating the winery's unique, informal and somewhat edgy personality, I thought the poster would be a fun format for delivering the news.
I designed these screens for Amazon's soon-to-be-released mp3 player.
Installation | Crissy Field Beach,
San Francisco
Addressing the process of simultaneous loss and gain by being from one place (East coast) and rooting oneself in a new one (West coast), I set out to line up one 8' x 8' weather balloon for each year I lived in the West (at that point, eleven). My plan was that the ebb and flow of the tide would gradually move the balloons from the beach out to sea. Unpredictable weather took hold, and more than half of the balloons popped before I could get them lined up. Despite unseen circumstances, they were quite a spectacle. Kids loved them, dogs feared them, and adults wanted to know where to get one.
Radios in flight
As I began exploring my thesis visually, I looked at Surrealism and how the meaning of an object is changed once it is taken out of context. So I took a radio, (an electric appliance), and threw it in the air, along with expected notions of where a radio belongs and how it should be used. I liked how, once the radio was airborn, it became a drawing, and because I set it free, it drew itself.
Fans in flight
Excited at how alive my radio looked in the sky, I decided that photographing electric appliances in mid-air was the way to go. My next challenge was getting multiple objects in the air at one time. I needed to build a machine. I spent a week gathering stray appliances including a toaster, a phone, a humidifier, a vacuum cleaner, a clock and some fans. My cousin, Steve, helped me construct a human-powered trampoline out of bungee cord, metal pipes, duct tape and outdoor patio furniture fabric. We crossed our fingers, and to my delight, the trampoline worked. He, his wife, and I spent the next two hours hurling objects in the air and photographing them.
Thesis study: Fans in flight, revisited
After looking at the photos for a couple of days, I brought them into Photoshop, and played with them until they looked more like charcoal drawings than photographs. I realized after applying my method to a couple dozen of the photos that I was trying to create that sweet spot between my appliances being recognizable and “What the hell is that?”
Dream text in flight
My thesis investigations led me to recording my dreams, as a way of accessing my subconscious, a place where anything is possible. I cut letters out of paper that spelled parts of my dreams (in this case the words were “family reunion”), hung them in front of a window, and let them fly. The letters were photographed on a windy day, and within thirty seconds of opening the window, they had wrapped themselves around each other and became entangled, not unlike a you-know-what.
Thesis exhibition
Bringing my raw materials of photographed flying objects together, I designed and wrote my thesis publication and made three giant posters for the final exhibit. I wanted to emphasize the drama of flying things and the personal nature of dreams to be made public, so I made the posters as big as the printer could handle. The largest one is 14' wide.
Flying typography study
Flying typography study
This poster is 14' x 4'.
Detail
This poster is 4' x 10'.
Gallery setting and Josh for scale
Form study: Glue in oil
These form studies are part of a semester-long investigation of the idea that exploration through process leads to unexpected results and happy accidents. Using Elmer’s glue as a point of departure, I explored the idea of the filter-like, epidermal quality of membranes.