As a follow up to my post on passion, I couldn’t help but post this short film about Tartine Bread. Not only do I have an obsession with good bread, but I also love people who are incredibly passionate about their craft. To most people bread is just bread, they don’t think much about it but to Chad Robertson, co-owner of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, bread is so much more. He spent over two decades apprenticing under the finest artisan bakers and continued to refine his recipe and process to create the perfect bread. My goal with Ugmonk is to apply that same attention to detail and passion into everything I do as I continue to learn my craft. And next time I’m in San Francisco I’m definitely going to be stopping by the Tartine Bakery.
Fall is in full swing here in PA and I’ve been enjoying everything that comes with this time of year: the cooler weather, the leaves turning, apple cider, apple pie, and of course pumpkin carving. I’m certainly no expert carver, but my wife and I had a lot of fun carving up some pumpkins this weekend. It was nice to get my hands dirty and sculpt with tactile materials after staring at a screen all week. If you’ve been reading the blog for any length of time you know I have a slight obsession with ampersands, and I just couldn’t resist carving one of them Ugmonk style.
“Do what you love, love what you do.” Most people have two separate parts of their lives: their careers and their hobbies. I am fortunate to be able merge these two areas and do what I love doing as my career. Design is my passion, it’s what fuels me, it’s constantly running through my mind, and even keeps me up at night. For me the line between work and hobby has been completely blurred and I often forget whether I’m “working” or just doing what I love. People often ask me how many hours a week I work now that I’m doing this full-time, but honestly I’m not really sure, I just put in as much effort as I can. I can say that I’m working far more now than a typical 9-5 job, but the upside is I’m never counting down to the end of the day or dreaming about the weekend. Don’t get me wrong, designing and running an independent brand is a crazy amount of work, but at the same time it’s so rewarding to see everything come together as Ugmonk continues to grow.
I encourage you to really figure out what you are passionate about and pursue that one thing. For me it’s design, but it could be anything: photography, cooking, sports, technology, or whatever else that drives you. It’s that thing you just can’t wait to do after work and on the weekends, the thing that you can’t stop talking about to your friends.
I didn’t start Ugmonk with the goal for it to become my full-time job, I started it because I just really enjoy designing, and launching my own line was a great creative outlet for me to pursue this. In my opinion far too many people have it all backwards, they start businesses with the intent to make a quick buck but end up doing something that have no real interest in and don’t enjoy doing. While not everyone has the opportunity to do exactly the type of work they want, I encourage everyone to launch the side project you have been talking about or the blog that you’ve thought about starting. Yes, the risk of failure is always there, but you’ll never know unless you try.
If you’re anything like me, you enjoy watching the behind-the-scenes special footage after a movie. In fact many times I find myself more interested in the special features than the movie itself (maybe I’m just weird). I thought I’d show you a “behind-the-scenes” of how I numbered the coins for the 2nd Anniversary Collector’s Set. I certainly didn’t invent this method, but thought it would be helpful to share as it can be used in many different applications.
Each of the wooden coins were laser-engraved on one side with the 2nd Anniversary logo and the other side was left blank for numbering. The first step in the process was to layout all of the numbers in Illustrator and flip them horizontally so that everything was backwards. Then the numbers were printed out on a laser printer. (*this method only works with a laser printer)
Next, I then cut the numbers into strip to make them easier to handle individually.
Once the numbers were cut, I placed the paper strip face down on the back of the coin and colored over it with a blender marker. This is where the magic happens. The blender thins out the printer toner and transfers it from the paper onto the coin. To get a solid image I used the back of a sharpie to firmly rub over the paper to make sure everything was transferred. The more pressure applied the better, just be sure the paper doesn’t move.
And that’s it. Just remove the paper and let the coin dry. I repeated this process for each of the 200 coins. It was definitely a tedious process, but it’s a great inexpensive method to do variable data like individual numbering and can be use on all sorts of other materials. You can see more photos of the finished product here.
I posted these photos a while back but thought I’d repost them for a little inspiration. I had bought this set of old metal type just to experiment with and had some fun photographing different arrangements. There’s something really cool about handling the solid pieces of metal type and looking at the unique wear on each letter from when they were used for printing. I don’t currently have a letterpress machine or any type of printing setup, but who knows maybe they will show up in a new design someday.
I spent this past weekend in Boston and anytime I’m in a city I’m always fascinated by the variety of typography and signage. Urban areas are a visual overload with every street corner overflowing with advertising, signage, architecture, textures and colors. It’s easy to tune out this visual noise and not think twice about the typeface used on a sign or the positioning of a logo on a storefront. Maybe I’m just a typography geek, but I like to try to absorb these details and pickup on the subtle nuances of how the letters are treated for each application. Looking at a font on-screen is much different than viewing a three-dimensional sign constructed out of physical materials. Next time you’re walking through a city take a minute to stop and look at the typography, it’s amazing how much detail you’ll start to notice.
When designing, it’s very easy to get stuck on a specific direction or style. I often find myself “working” on a project, but end up just going in circles and not making any real progress. In most cases I find that the more I work on a design, the more I tend to overwork and over think it. It’s easy to get wrapped up the fine details without looking at the design as a whole and considering all of the options.
The best advice I ever heard, though it may seem obvious, is to “sleep on it.” It’s amazing what can happen when you step away from the sketchbook and computer and give it a good night’s rest. Unfortunately it doesn’t magically work itself out while you’re gone, but it does allow you to approach the design with a fresh perspective which often triggers new ideas and concepts. So if you’re ever stuck on a design, illustration, or any type of creative project, drop the pencil and mouse, take a break, and sleep on it.
Just got back from a great week at the beach with my family. While most people prefer to just sit around and soak up the sun, I’m usually busy attempting some type of crazy sand sculpture. I’m certainly no sculpting pro, but I always enjoy the challenge.
Being a typography geek, I thought it only fitting to create an “amper-sand” out of actual sand.
Forget sand castles, we decided to create a gigantic foot that ended up being about 12ft long! We got plenty of laughs and strange looks from the people walking by.
There’s something fascinating about the temporary nature of sand sculptures. Though they do take a lot of time and effort to create, it’s also fun to watch the tide come in and wash them away in only a matter of seconds. It takes the pressure off of getting every little detail perfect since the creations only exist for a brief period of time.
Awesome opening titles for the Typophile Film Festival created by BYU design students. The thing that makes this animation even better is that everything in the film is real and there was no CG used. Sure this could have been produced digitally with lots of special effects, but there is something about using real materials and photography that cannot be replicated. The way the materials react with each other and the slight imperfections of the objects all add to the rich viewing experience. Looks like it would have been a ton of fun to work on as well. Read the full story here.
Awesome work by photographer Bela Borsodi. By combining everyday objects and precise angles, he creates visually stunning compositions that form giant letterforms. My personal favorite is definitely that uppercase ‘A’ in the first photo below.
