August Recap

The auditorium in the Old Chem Building at the University of Cincinnati.

Teaching

August is always in the back of my mind. That’s because class starts in August. As much as I love teaching, I’m often full of anxiety leading up to the first class. However, once the first class begins, I remember why I said yes in the first place. Most of the fear goes away. At least, that’s what I am experiencing this semester. It’s my second time teaching Interdisciplinary User-Centered Design at the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP program. Now that the content is more familiar I can focus on creating a more engaging learning environment. That’s not exactly an easy task with 230+ students in a basement auditorium of the Old Chem Building. Still, a little goes a long way. One method that seems to be working is momentary pauses for reflection during class. I’ll ask the students to ponder how they can apply the content to their profession. At the very least, the pauses are a departure from the rambling nature of my lectures and a rare moment of silence in the stress-ridden routine of a design student.

Single-page Squarespace page for Scroggins.

Workshop to Website: Scroggins

We’re excited to share the outcome of our partnership with Scroggins, a custom home builder based in Loveland, Oh. Our work began with a Mindful Brand Workshop that uncovered the overall direction of the brand identity and led to various collateral items including a single-page Squarespace page. Our services included copywriting, logo design, web design, stationery design, and the design of a custom icon set. We collaborated with Colin Moore on the website copy, and Anna Maffy on the icon set. We’re proud of the results and anticipate working with Scroggins even more in the future.

Poster design for the Wine Over Water Wine and Food Festival in Chattanooga, Tn.

Wine Not?

We designed the artwork for the Wine Over Water Food and Wine Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the third year in a row. This year we gleaned inspiration from Arp and Matisse. We’re always in favor less literal, and in this case, we got to go pretty abstract. A big thanks to Jon Flannery of Cryptogram for suggesting we draw the shapes with a sharpie attached to a dowel rod purchased at the local hardware store.

We’re Contracting…

We’re exploring what it would look like to contract a young graphic designer for two half-days a week (8-10 hours total). Hopefully, the need would increase, but we’re starting with baby steps. Ideally, the person would have typographic skills, a handle on the creative suite, and some experience with Squarespace. If you’re interested, click the button below.