I wanted to follow up on a previous post where I was writing about “New Heroes” and my inspiration for the work in progress typeface. A few months back I went to an AIGA event where James White from SignalNoise spoke about design, cool stuff, and making cool stuff. It was really great to hear him talk about what he called “Getting out in the woods.” What I took away from this and what I think he meant to express is the idea that as visual artists we need to push our own boundaries. We need to really work on things we love, that way we attract client work that will reflect our true passion. His illustrations for NASA actually ended up getting used simply because he was putting his work out there.
I wanted to write about this for a few reasons. I did not want to discredit any work that re-designs “old heroes” such as Yoda for instance. I was merely saying that future generations could benefit from new stories, new heroes, and new ideas. The other reason I wanted to post something here is to give props to SignalNoise for really getting out there and making awesome things. It was great to hear about the work he did on the un-official Drive Blue-Ray sleeve. A great idea, and even better execution. He designed his own sleeve to insert in place of the very poorly designed original. And until I heard about this from him, I actually thought that it was the official design. I have recently been following him on Instagram, and really like the way he has been Illustrating all kinds of pop culture icons. I suggest anyone who is reading this to click the SignalNoise link above and check it out. And for all of you who are trying to make it in the world of design– take the advice of James White and get out in the woods. I am certainly trying to, and it’s harder than it sounds, especially here in the city.
