Blog
New Swag for Mission Year
08.28.09 | No Comments »
Super stoked! I just got several emails from Atlanta with photos of some new Mission Year materials I worked on with Jeff Shinabarger. I like how the different items turned out and how they look together in a bag. The recycled binder and notepad add some nice texture to the package (printed by Sustainable Group).
Our goal was to have a standard “Lifestyle” logo that could then be altered to highlight the many different areas in which Mission Year challenges people to live different lifestyles (ie. A Lifestyle of Love, A Lifestyle of Solitude, A Lifestyle of Justice, etc.).
These will be given out to all of the new Team Members starting Mission Year next week.
Mission Year 2009 Swag Bag containing T-shirt, water bottle and notepad.
Mission Year 2009 T-shirt. I am a huge fan of dark gray T-shirts… waiting for mine to come in the mail…
Mission Year 2009 Handbook. First time my artwork has been printed on recycled material, must do it more often.
Posted In: New Work
How I Spent my Summer Work-cation
08.16.09 | 1 Comment »
My summer work-cation is winding down as we are planning on heading back across the country this next week. I wanted to get more done then I did, but with completing this site and several other projects popping up, I am satisfied at what I was able to accomplish. I am looking forward to getting back to Chicago and getting my current projects done.
I often tell my wife that I constantly do things to confirm my nerdiness. I have come to accept the fact that I am a nerd and am not ashamed. With the last few days being surprisingly robot filled, the below examples do a good job of securing my place as a nerd.
Last Saturday our extended family were taking family photos at a local park. While walking by a play-place I noticed a rotating cylinder play area that was almost the same size grid as the DTR logo favicon (nerdiness confirmed). Above is what I came up with.
Here is a zoomed-out shot with my daughter Kaelyn and niece Kaiah in the foreground.
Who needs professional cake decorating when you have a box of Transformer figurines and a bag of Twizzler Nibs? I made the above Transformers cake for my nephew Benjamin’s 8th birthday and it was a nice break from the girl themed cakes I make for my daughter’s birthdays.
Benjamin posing with the Transformer cake. I think he enjoyed it. It has been nice to have a nephew that is into robots…
I got Benjamin a “How to Draw Robots” book for his birthday. The next day I ended up drawing the above robots with my nephew Elijah. His (the middle one) turned out way cooler than mine.
My daughter Kaylen checking out a Tyrannosaurus Rex Robot at the Wild Animal Park. Not as cool as these dino-bots.
Featured Cause: SimpleSizeMe
My friend Ryan started a social experiment/cause this last year where he ate only rice for 5 months in order to raise money for organizations fighting hunger around the world. I loved the idea, execution, and dedication Ryan gave to this project and he inspired me to take a hard look at my own consumption. He has since ended his fast but is starting some new projects that include an Automotive giveaway. Learn more about the project here, and join his cause on facebook.
Posted In: Featured Cause, Robots
Patches from Outer Space
08.07.09 | No Comments »
On my families recent trip across the US, we had the pleasure of staying with a family Mara, my wife, used to nanny for. In their basement they had a room filled with very interesting framed collages. The husband of the family used to work as a doctor for NASA and had 10–12 collages from the crews and the missions he worked with. These collages featured various photos from the mission, notes from the crew, and patches that had flown with the crew in outer space. These patches instantly caught my eye. I enjoy the look that a design takes when it is embroidered, and the limitations of designing for a small shape, make patches an interesting design study. Add the fact that they were at one point in outer space, even better!
Here are some of my favorites:
Caption below this patch, “This patch was flown aboard the Orbiter Discovery, STS-48, September 12–18, 1991.”
I like the U.S.A./Russian wings surrounding the shuttle and the gold around the outside makes it pop.
The outside ribbon fold adds a unique border around this shuttle that is coming at you.
Not a big fan of this design, lots of elements but nothing really stands out. The colors suggest this might have been a mission in partnership with Germany.
This design has a much stronger composition. I like the spinning flag connected to the shuttle wings. Looks modern and retro at the same time.
I liked this patch the best. The geometric sunburst/moonburst creates a simple but powerful image that I would love to rock on my backpack. You can see how the embroidery adds so much depth compared to the digital version.
These are two Russian emblems in a collage that didn’t have any extra information to determine their origin. I like the simple modern shapes, good inspiration for future projects.
NASA has a database of all of their mission patches if your are interested in further investigation.
Posted In: Inspiration, Space
Status Update
You should follow me on twitter here.
Subscribe
Subscribe to the Don't Talk to Robots RSS feed.
Recent Articles
- New Swag for Mission Year
- How I Spent my Summer Work-cation
- Patches from Outer Space
- 3, 2, 1, Launch!
- From the Desk of Don & Apos T Robots*