I read them. I write them (or try to). I make them. I love them enough to do right by them. Books of all sizes deserve attention down to the commas. I respect the thick history of bookmaking, but also understands that the nature of the book is changing. My priorities are making the physical book beautiful, the digital book available, and the life of the book long and loved—and it'll start here.
This full-color book, comprised of photographs taken by "citizen journalists" and first-hand accounts of their trip to Guatemala with Agros, was a pleasure to assemble—beautiful images and truly inspirational stories are the best kind of content.
For their first-ever web issue, Fairy Tale Review wanted an online edition that shared the stark and fantastic sensibilities of the print publication while standing alone. Little Red's torn cloak provided a visual cue that is at once abstract and familiar.
This online-exclusive press, begun in 2008, strives to "(bridge) the gap between the beauty and tradition of print with the accessibility and possibility of the web." In monthly installments, Blue Hour Press provides artful poetry collections, free to access, and its publications have received over 22,000 reads.
Published biannually, Black Warrior Review bucks the stodgy stigma of the literary journal by offering forward-thinking literature and art alongside traditionally-minded work. The design demands of each issue were many—greatest of all was the challenge of giving a magazine composed of many voices a singular one.
Every time ink meets paper, there's the potential to make something that amuses, provokes, resounds, and endures. As it always has, print communicates in artful, tactile terms, and I thrill at the chance to make it talk. From business cards to complex campaigns, your print work in my hands will wow.
For the first major reading at this small liberal arts college, a bit of sensationalism was called for. Although printed with laser jet equipment, the halftone, spot-colored method mimicked a screenprinted aesthetic, giving the promotiona youthful, anarchic edge.
SadSon Music Group and I have shared both a business relationship and friendship for years; our work together with a variety of artists has been diverse, demanding, and overall, a total blast.
These three advertisements illustrate how collaborative demands can transform a project's direction. The first draft, deemed too traditional by faculty, was followed by a more spontaneous and minimal second go; the final design marries the first attempt's tangible print sensibilities and the abstract contemporaneity the third possesses.
A variety of work, from flyers to print ads, was done for this respected graduate literary journal, now in its 36th year of publication. Every project was an opportunity to not only enter into its esteem, but to add to the magazine's cumulative identity.
The Internet has made it simple to inform, entertain, and communicate, but designing this content shouldn't be seen as a breeze—the importance of well-conceived, well-edited, well-executed content doesn't disappear when inches become pixels. Whether starting from scratch or slicing your designs, I am equipped to make any web presence modern in construction, sleek in design, and prepared to evolve.
The Kansas Secretary of State asked for an update to the look and feel of Charity Check, a service they offer which compiles non-profit organizations and information on how the funds they collect are used.
The Lied Center, a performing arts venue in Lincoln, Nebraska, formed Club/Carson to appeal to twentysomethings who may not click with the theater’s official season. The Lied needed Club/Carson’s website to reflect the series’ hip ambitions, so I went with a high-contrast, monochromatic palette and glossy, gradient typework.
The beauty of Black Warrior Review is its refresh rate—a new set of editors take the reins of the magazine every year, resulting in a perpetually evolving perspective that keeps the journal current. This also means that some aspects of the magazine have a track record of fluctuation, with the website being a prime example. When given the task, my objective was to provide a timeless, intuitive and sleek site that wouldn’t need another yearly redesign.
Overhauling the user interface of this internal filing system for the Kansas Secretary of State's office is the first project of its kind for me, involving wide browser compatibility and .Net application.
Design and copy aren't just symbiotic—every design, from a handbill to a website, relies on text for purpose, and that text should be confident and competent. Discerning readers won't forgive a typo or clunky line, no matter how splashy the art is. I can ensure your copy is top-notch, or create copy that is, whether or not I'm your design solution.
Culprit Café and Bakery operates on the belief that good stuff should go in to everything, be it a body, a restaurant, or a community. Its owner and executive chef, Luke Mabie, breaks Omaha out of the average with forward thinking; the result is deliciously unfamiliar food, offered with a guerilla aesthetic and responsible, community-centered practices.
Though Culprit's menu, centered around an innovative take on the kolache (dubbed "skrilla"), earns all the buzzwords--organic, natural, local, fresh, nouvelle--Mabie's true passion lies in creating a healthy environment that supports quality cuisine, creative expression, physical exertion, and social encouragement.
Good friend and baked goods whiz kid Luke Mabie needed his proposal for a brash new bakery to embody the attitude and quality he hopes to offer with Culprit. The copy I provided retained an intelligence, but didn't back off of Mabie's youthful ambition.
Remembrance is not an unfamiliar landscape, yet, in Fata Morgana, Jeremy Pataky manages to erect monuments there that feel ephemeral and necessary. His circling, like that of a lost traveler who knows he is returning against his desire to, is skillfully replicated with an attention to language, image, and the intangible. Pataky works folds of memory--those difficult, those defiant, those not even owned--into "the world's most careful paper crane," object-making as coping with terminality and with lack. That this act is done with such honest grace and pathos makes Fata Morgana a true accomplishment.
Every chapbook produced by Blue Hour receives a "blurb," which encapsulates the spirit of the project and also offers some plaudits. Above is the blurb for Jeremy Pataky's gorgeous long-form poem, Fata Morgana.