Mr. Mucca

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a Design Madison event featuring Matteo Bologna of Mucca Design. I actually had the opportunity to see Matteo speak several years ago when he was a visiting artist for NOWhere at UWSP, but didn’t go. I almost always seem to find a reason to skip speaker events, but when I do make myself attend, I leave inspired and refreshed. Note to self: Force self to get self’s butt off the computer chair and out into the world!

Mucca is a very professional, diverse, award-winning design studio, and yet Matteo is surprisingly approachable and authentic. The studio’s work is beautiful and inspiring, but Matteo’s thoughts on design are what really stuck with me. For instance—when’s the last time you heard a designer say “I don’t beleive in logos?” Instead he believes in creating an environment of sorts—take design a step further than slapping a logo here and there by employing secondary and tertiary design elements on all surfaces to design an experience.

I did get a little jealous when Matteo spoke about his relationships with his clients. Of course they’re never perfect, but it was pretty amazing to hear about the value his clients place on design, that they understand design is good for business, not just something they have to do because it’s just what you do. He also got to be one of ten featured designers to create an anniversary cover of Italian GQ—another thing to be jealous of: all-typographic covers!

Impressions

As letterpress becomes more popular, more and more customers want their pieces to look LETTERPRESSED, by which I mean they want their design to be printed with a deep impression that they cannot only see but feel. That is the point of springing for letterpress isn’t it?

Results on my press can vary greatly and what I’m learning is that the design of the piece can influence the depth of the impression just as much as any adjustments I make on press. Some designs can only go so deep.

Take, for example, these two holiday cards I embossed a few years back. The design on the left is a busy, all-over design that consists of many very thin lines. When a plate like this is pushed into the paper, the paper has nowhere to go, no space to give to the design on the plate. The result is a relatively light impression, especially in the areas where the design is particularly concentrated.

The design on the left is much simpler, with slightly thicker lines and less of the paper covered with them. The result? A very clear, deep impression.

A detour

I don’t often write about what’s going on in my personal life on this blog. I’m the type of person who needs time to process what happens around me—I know better than to think I can come home at night and write something entertaining or meaningful about my day. So I usually confine my writing to projects I’m working on and handmade goodies I covet, but sometimes something so important happens that it creeps into everything I will do from that point forward.

Two weeks ago, my mom was in a terrible terrible accident. She was driving home on a country road when a driver crossing her path chose not to stop at a stop sign. These are not busy roads, he’d probably blown through that intersection dozens of times before. But this time someone was there, this time his decision broke all of her ribs, both collarbones and her pelvis. His decision filled her chest cavity with fluid, his decision made every shallow breath incredibly painful.

His decision will keep her in the hospital for almost a month. His decision will not let her sleep next to her husband for another six months. His decision will change the lives of everyone she loves.

My mom is amazing. She is dealing with the pain and focused on recovery. What she is taking away from all of this is how incredibly lucky she is to be here. One setback after another comes her way, and she finds the good in all of it.

I have been described as an aggressive driver. I’ve never blatantly blown a stop light or sign, but I do speed and probably take more risks than I should. I used to drive the same route a lot, much of the time on autopilot. What I am taking away from this is how much one decision can impact your life. How quickly the world can change.

As you head out to work this morning, remember what an incredible responsibility driving a car is. Honor the agreement you’ve made with your fellow drivers: Pay attention. Watch out for others, they may not be watching out for you. Obey speed limits and stop at stop signs. Those few seconds you shave off your commute are just not worth the risk.

Even if you think you’re invincible—or worse yet, you don’t care about yourself—you don’t want to be that guy who makes that one stupid decision to put someone’s mom in the hospital.

NOW here

No, that’s not ‘no where’ it’s ‘now here’ (see what they did there?). And “here” is obviously the UW Stevens Point’s art department. I’m heading up today for the annual conference featuring presentations by visiting artists and designers, workshops, portfolio reviews and alumni presentations (that’s where I come in). If you’re in Wisconsin, head up for the public presentations tonight and tomorrow night, stop by for dinner, or you could probably find us at Guu’s later this evening. (Does Guu’s still exist? I’m so old.) Have a great weekend!

Joel Robison

As an art director, I spend entire days looking at photos. For an average monthly issue, we shoot thousands and I sort through every single one. Needless to say, it takes more than a nice smile or a sunny day to make me pause on a shot. But when I stumbled across Joel Robison‘s imaginative work, I did just that.

My definition of art has always had to do with purpose and intention, so the fact that these are so well conceptualized, planned and executed speaks to me. Check out the selections I’ve included here, visit his shop for more and read what he has to say for himself below!

Tell us about your work—why do you create what you do?
I create the work that I do because I feel that it best allows me to express my feelings, wants, dreams and ideas. Photography for me has grown into an opportunity to share how I see the world with the world around me.

When did you start taking pictures?
I started taking conceptual images about 3 years ago and I’ve learned everything pretty much on my own, through trial and error and just by experimenting. I do put a lot of pre-planning into my images and I’d say that majority of my photos have had at least an hours worth of planning or setup just to get everything the way I want it.

Post-production really depends on each image, my time frame usually ranges between an hour to three hours and I usually end up with something that is quite different than how it looked in camera :)

Where do you work? What type of environment stimulates your creativity?
Well, I have a “regular” job as an Educational Assistant working with students with various learning needs in a high school. I’m most inspired by nature and being outside in the forest or mountains really helps me to think and be creative, when I’m stuck indoors or in a big city for too long I start to feel like my creativity is depleting.

How has your work evolved?
My work has definitely changed and evolved in the past few years, I think in the past I didn’t do many images that depicted sadness or intense emotions, I’m comfortable doing so now. I’m more willing to try new things and keep developing my skill set now rather than depend on what I already know.

What is your greatest challenge?
Having patience when things don’t go my way. I get into a groove around photography and editing and when that gets broken or when I have to adjust it’s not always easy for me.

What inspires you?
The world that doesn’t actually exist inspires me. I love to create images of the impossible but make them look possible.

Tell us about your etsy business.
I started using Etsy a few years ago to sell mostly just little paintings and such and then I opened up my print shop last June after some requests to start selling prints. There’s always a learning curve and my first few prints didn’t ship so well so I had to re-ship them at my cost, I think now I’ve got it under control although I need to list items more frequently!

What advice do you have for new etsians?
Network and create treasuries, browse and favourite and see everything that there is on the website!

Where else can readers find your work?
my flickr www.flickr.com/photos/joel_r/
my facebook www.facebook.com/joelrobisonphotography
my blog joelrobisonphoto.wordpress.com