http://work.cliftonburt.com Clifton Burt Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:30 +0000 http://work.cliftonburt.com en http://work.cliftonburt.com/Boomshakalaka http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Boomshakalaka Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:30 +0000 Clifton Burt 868931 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/868931/boomshakalaka-postcard-600.png" width="600" height="387" width_o="600" height_o="387" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/868931/boomshakalaka-postcard-600_o.png" data-mid="4295696" border="0" align="left"/> Boomshakalaka is an event I curated at Land Gallery which opened on February 18, 2011 and runs through March 13, 2011. It is a group art show on the subject of Portland's NBA team the Trail Blazers. I'm interested in providing a platform to investigate the idea of the Blazers as an art object and to allow the participants the freedom to perhaps explore working in mediums or direction in which they might not have had the chance to do previously. Mostly though, it's a chance for us to have fun and celebrate the Blazers. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/868931/Boomshakalaka_FirstLook_600.png" width="600" height="601" width_o="600" height_o="601" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/868931/Boomshakalaka_FirstLook_600_o.png" data-mid="5097817" border="0" align="left"/> For now, more information is available at our write-up in the Portland Mercury or the show's Facebook event page. Documentation of all of the show's work is forthcoming. http://work.cliftonburt.com/Pinball-Bangback-Scout-Books http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Pinball-Bangback-Scout-Books Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:29 +0000 Clifton Burt 830371 Living in Portland, Oregon allows me to be able to work with some of my favorite people. For example working with Pinball Publishing we’ve developed and built some really fun projects that, like printing presses, are made with productive capacity at their core. Scout Books is pocket notebook brand for which we launched a shopping and ordering website. What distinguishes these notebooks from others is that they’re customizable. So the challenge was to build a site that at once presented the exisiting products while also presenting user with the option of producing custom products. It’s a classic design-challenge and the solutions emerged through discussion, iteration, and refinement. The production-result works great and looks great. See it for yourself: scoutbooks.com <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830371/Picture 47.png" width="313" height="342" width_o="313" height_o="342" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830371/Picture 47_o.png" data-mid="4248589" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830371/scoutbooks_browser.png" width="600" height="424" width_o="600" height_o="424" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830371/scoutbooks_browser_o.png" data-mid="4260459" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830371/Picture 48.png" width="360" height="630" width_o="360" height_o="630" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830371/Picture 48_o.png" data-mid="4248591" border="0" align="left"/> Bangback.com An ongoing project I work on with Pinball is a daily blog called Bangback. The tagline is “Print is Dead. Long Live Print.” The blog’s purpose is to explore the new role of printed materials now that the internet has changed the way we do so many things. I think we could all agree that the internet has eliminated the need for many wasteful paper-based objects in our lives (example: phone books) and yet at the same time there are many cases where the tangibility of print is an appropriate choice (example: a nice poster). And then there’s everything in between those extremes. My writing on Bangback explores those boundary lines and seeks clarity in the fuzzy areas between pixel and print. Some of the posts I’ve written are: Will the iPad Save Zines? Best American Comics 2010 Publication Fair 2010 So You Need A Typeface Sorted Books See them all here http://work.cliftonburt.com/Web-Design-Code http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Web-Design-Code Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:25 +0000 Clifton Burt 823584 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 12.png" width="595" height="389" width_o="595" height_o="389" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 12_o.png" data-mid="4260767" border="0" align="left"/> tippr was a concept for a twitter-based micropayment system. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 13.png" width="670" height="478" width_o="670" height_o="478" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 13_o.png" data-mid="4260770" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 14.png" width="670" height="470" width_o="670" height_o="470" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 14_o.png" data-mid="4260771" border="0" align="left"/> Marc Horowitz maintains an active archive of his goings-on. From time to time I pitch in and work as a mechanic on his site helping with performance-loading and design cleanup issues. The stuff he does is really great, go check it out if you haven't do so. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 15.png" width="670" height="430" width_o="670" height_o="430" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 15_o.png" data-mid="4260772" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 16.png" width="670" height="429" width_o="670" height_o="429" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 16_o.png" data-mid="4260773" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 17.png" width="670" height="449" width_o="670" height_o="449" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 17_o.png" data-mid="4260774" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 19.png" width="670" height="444" width_o="670" height_o="444" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 19_o.png" data-mid="4260775" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 20.png" width="670" height="444" width_o="670" height_o="444" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 20_o.png" data-mid="4260779" border="0" align="left"/> Together with Austin Whipple at Pinball we built, designed, coded, and launched scoutbooks.com <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 111.png" width="670" height="444" width_o="670" height_o="444" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823584/Picture 111_o.png" data-mid="4260781" border="0" align="left"/> I concepted and did the early-stages coding for The Advice of Strangers. http://work.cliftonburt.com/Design-Build-Alliance http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Design-Build-Alliance Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:24 +0000 Clifton Burt 830168 Located in Austin, Texas, Design Build Alliance (DBA) is a non-profit develop/design/build lab which explores alternative means of producing sustainable, low-income housing by connecting existing resources in new ways. My task was to build a visual identity that would represent the organization’s ethos while at the same time remain within the budget of a new non-profit group. So, we kept the identity-framework simple. It’s a flexible grouping of the three elements: three typefaces, halftoned images, and a simple color palette. In many identity systems, typework is the foundation. For DBA, we established that three typefaces would be used in a variety of combinations: VAG Rounded, Andale Mono, and Palatino. Why those three? Because, they were already present on the computers of the DBA team. • VAG Rounded because it looks great as display type and headings, and is an unlikely approach to architecture —like DBA itself. (And it’s fun) • Andale Mono because it was already being used on DBA project materials and I find it important to keep in place elements that emerge naturally. There’s usually a good reason they’re being used even if it’s somewhat unitentional are un-articulated. I try to identify those elements and clean them up for production use. • Palatino because every organization should have a good serif with which to work, if nothing else for financially related material. Photos, in general are halftoned to enable consistency across an array of photos and to allow photos to be integrated nicely with the type and layout. The white, or non-printed, border around the printed material is a budget-related mechanism. By establishing the border as a sytlistic element, one which frames the content, it not only provides further consistency across the materials but is specifically purposed to reduce the need for full-bleed printing thereby reducing the costs of printing. Of course, this is a matter of utmost importance when printing budgets are tight. Whether produced in a full-color or reduced down to a one-color printing-job, the DBA identity system achieves its goals of consistently conveying the voice of the group while remaining flexible enough to grow with the organization. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/dba_business_card.png" width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/dba_business_card_o.png" data-mid="4232873" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/dba grey.png" width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/dba grey_o.png" data-mid="4232875" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/layout600.png" width="600" height="394" width_o="600" height_o="394" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/layout600_o.png" data-mid="4232886" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/RV.png" width="418" height="524" width_o="418" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/RV_o.png" data-mid="4232888" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/trailer.png" width="265" height="211" width_o="265" height_o="211" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830168/trailer_o.png" data-mid="4232890" border="0" align="left"/> http://work.cliftonburt.com/Advice-of-Strangers http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Advice-of-Strangers Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:23 +0000 Clifton Burt 830368 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830368/Picture 111.png" width="670" height="444" width_o="670" height_o="444" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830368/Picture 111_o.png" data-mid="4260789" border="0" align="left"/> During the month of November 2010, Marc Horowitz sought advice from, well, everyone. He crowdsourced the decisions in his life, both small and large, via a web-based project called The Advice of Strangers. I worked with Marc on this project from its inception concepting, prototyping, iterating, branding and preparing the project to go to production. The project's challenges were fun to problem solve. For example, Marc would need to post poll-questions, receive audience input, and then act on that poll-result while living his life. That made mobility—Marc's ability to post from the iPhone—a central constraint. The resulting project, now complete, was a fascinating romp through a month of Marc's life. theadviceofstrangers.com http://work.cliftonburt.com/Collateral-Matters http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Collateral-Matters Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:22 +0000 Clifton Burt 823609 The Museum of Contemporary Craft invited my wife Kate Bingaman-Burt and I to create an exhibition from materials often overlooked in museum collections. Through a process of sorting, sifting, and re-organizing, we created an installation using printed materials and ephemera from the Museum’s archives. Each section of the installation reveals different elements of the history of printing and graphic design in Portland, and how such printed materials can construct and communicate institutional identity. Focusing primarily on the 1940s through the 1970s, the collateral materials on view provide a simple study of both intentionally and unintentionally designed pieces in the pre-desktop publishing era. The critical role of printshops is revealed through designed print pieces, such as invitations, posters and letterhead, and then contrasted alongside office paperwork – handwritten artist statements, pastel-toned invoices and receipts speckled with red “sale” dots, for example. In an installation designed to show the visual impact of printed materials, we engaged typography from the mundane to the meticulously designed, showing how graphic language functions in a range of types of printed collateral. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm1.png" width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm1_o.png" data-mid="4150675" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm2.png" width="600" height="742" width_o="600" height_o="742" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm2_o.png" data-mid="4150677" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm3.png" width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm3_o.png" data-mid="4150678" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm4.png" width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm4_o.png" data-mid="4150683" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm5.png" width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823609/cm5_o.png" data-mid="4150684" border="0" align="left"/> http://work.cliftonburt.com/PSU-MFA-Lecture-Series http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/PSU-MFA-Lecture-Series Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:21 +0000 Clifton Burt 830172 Harrel Fletcher contacted me to put together a promotional system for a recent season of the Portland State University’s MFA Monday Night Lecture Series (PMMNLS). A budget existed for a season-long poster to promote the entire series as well as outdoor signage to promote each presenter. The challenge was twofold: 1) Build a typographic system that could work as the Series’ branding and 2) build a framework in which each speaker’s work could be showcased to promote their event while at the same time including the relevant copy large enough for passers by to read. I like these kind of challenges, they're puzzles that need to be solved and I believe that there's always (yes always) an solution it's just a matter of finding it. In the case of PMMNLS, we were able to determine a way for all of the pieces to work well together and be effective. The end results turned out quite nicely. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/treatment5.png" width="550" height="425" width_o="550" height_o="425" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/treatment5_o.png" data-mid="4232304" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/treatment1.png" width="550" height="581" width_o="550" height_o="581" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/treatment1_o.png" data-mid="4232306" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/PMMNLS banners.png" width="550" height="412" width_o="550" height_o="412" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/PMMNLS banners_o.png" data-mid="4232338" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/Picture 12.png" width="505" height="730" width_o="505" height_o="730" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/Picture 12_o.png" data-mid="4232310" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/PMMNLS banner.jpg" width="550" height="733" width_o="550" height_o="733" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830172/PMMNLS banner_o.jpg" data-mid="4232314" border="0" align="left"/> http://work.cliftonburt.com/Folk-Object http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Folk-Object Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:20 +0000 Clifton Burt 823601 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/folk-object-cb.png" width="275" height="229" width_o="275" height_o="229" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/folk-object-cb_o.png" data-mid="4235876" border="0" align="left"/> Folk Object is a year-long project in which I collected visual works along the theme of "folk" and how I interpret that term. The collection lives on a tumblr blog. Images are posted chronologically, as I find them, into a 3x5 grid layout cropped to fit into a standardized thumbnail size. Those thumbnails serve as the sole content on the page except for a bare minimum of navigational furniture. On the front page, the viewer is presented with an array of images with almost no context but that derived from the site's title "Folk Object." Captions do not accompany the thumbnails. Juxtapositions between content are exaggerated by the site's grid layout. For example a felt kite rests next to an image of a deer being whittled which is near a strange african costume which itself is near an ornamented bulbous object. To investigate further, the visitor can proceed in any manner that suits him. I would like to think that the cropping of the images results in visual constructions that encourage a visitor to want to click on an object to uncover its story. So, why curate this collection? It began as a question, or rather, a cluster of questions: Aren't many visually-oriented blogs essentially curations? What if we did away with the blogging aspect of it and instead used the systems as primarily image curation machines. And the concept of folk, of course, was key as well: Is the Internet becoming our new folk culture? Where does that leave pre-internet folk? What if we were to look at folk through a different lens, one that draws no distinctions? With those questions in mind, I set up the site in a matter of moments and began this year-long publishing project. I was pleasantly surprised by the response, Folk Object has gained a strong following; of my many tumblr blogs this one has the most followers many times over. Fascinating stuff when you consider that this one is primarily solely image-driven. Some remarks that describe Folk Object better than I: "On the Folk Object site, you've got your curious expressions of nationalist craft rubbing shoulders with album covers, high fashion and distillations of "folk" sensibility that range from psychedelic to dollar store. Academically trained artists rub shoulders with craftspeople, designers and business people. It's up to you, the viewer to juxtapose everything and sort it all out." ..."I dare you to take a look through the pages of Folk Object and walk through a thrift store without seeing the objects on the shelf anew. Prepare to have your paradigm shifted." —Give Up the Folk! , Extreme Craft <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/Folk_Object_1.png" width="600" height="435" width_o="600" height_o="435" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/Folk_Object_1_o.png" data-mid="4235924" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/Folk_Object_3.png" width="600" height="421" width_o="600" height_o="421" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/Folk_Object_3_o.png" data-mid="4235926" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/Folk_Object_4.png" width="600" height="437" width_o="600" height_o="437" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/823601/Folk_Object_4_o.png" data-mid="4235927" border="0" align="left"/> Folk Object http://work.cliftonburt.com/Public-Design-Center http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/Public-Design-Center Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:20 +0000 Clifton Burt 830377 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/wnickel.jpg" width="450" height="450" width_o="450" height_o="450" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/wnickel_o.jpg" data-mid="4235959" border="0" align="left"/> During the years I lived in Mississippi, I founded and along with Kate Bingaman-Burt and Will Bryant operated a storefront non-profit organization called the Public Design Center. We developed programs that worked to improve communication design in under-served communities. Our goal was to enable small businesses and organizations in distressed areas to produce engaging print and web materials. Our programming consisted of a range of pragmatic ways to transfer our experience to the community and (theirs to us). For example, Drop-in Consulting was offered for two hours each workday in which the PDC was open to anyone with questions about their print or web materials. One of the hours was during the workday, the other was in the evening. Workshops were offered three times per week on the subjects of printing, branding, and publishing. The cost per workshop was $15.00. Wooden nickels were passed out in the under-served areas of our community and served as a free pass to any workshop. Examples include: Pretty Much All You Need to Know About Adobe Illustrator The Pathfinder Palette in Illustrator Hands-On Screenprinting Open Critique Basic CSS Secret Weapon of Layout: Baselines Why and How to Write Creative Briefs Ticket Systems and Incrementalism Spot Color Press Checks and Proofs Imposition in InDesign Another program we offered was PDC Servers in which we provided free web hosting through Media Temple. This proved to be one of our most requested services. The PDC housed a library of zines and visual resources including a collection of of about 150 titles. A quick glance across the shelves might look something like this: McSweeney's Grid Systems for Graphic Designers — Brockman Cabinet Magazine Best American Comics Design Writing Research — Lupton / Miller Nest Magazine Monocle Tibor The Art of Looking Sideways Things I Have Learned — Sagmeister <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/pdc_exterior.jpg" width="600" height="400" width_o="600" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/pdc_exterior_o.jpg" data-mid="4235990" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/pdc_interior.jpg" width="600" height="402" width_o="600" height_o="402" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/pdc_interior_o.jpg" data-mid="4235995" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/pdcsite.jpg" width="345" height="418" width_o="345" height_o="418" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830377/pdcsite_o.jpg" data-mid="4236002" border="0" align="left"/> http://work.cliftonburt.com/think-make-think http://work.cliftonburt.com/following/work.cliftonburt.com/think-make-think Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:11:19 +0000 Clifton Burt 830166 In April of 2007, John Maeda quietly posted a haiku he had written to his blog. It was entitled think-make-think and to me it fulfilled the potential of Maeda's concept of simplicity. Over the next few months, that haiku often found its way to the forefront of my mind. When our studio acquired the remnants of a discarded arrow sign, it was clear to me that think-make-think was a perfect fit, both in form and function. I have fond memories of my wife, Kate, Will Bryant and I digging through a Mississippi junk store in an old railroad warehouse on the rumor that there were arrow-sign letters in there... somewhere, if we could find them. Well, we did find them and I'm happy to have the opportunity to share think-make-think on 20x200. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/20x200.png" width="550" height="550" width_o="550" height_o="550" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/20x200_o.png" data-mid="4227166" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/newyorker.png" width="550" height="550" width_o="550" height_o="550" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/newyorker_o.png" data-mid="4227167" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/Make.png" width="550" height="550" width_o="550" height_o="550" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/Make_o.png" data-mid="4227172" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/coudal.png" width="550" height="550" width_o="550" height_o="550" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/2458/830166/coudal_o.png" data-mid="4227174" border="0" align="left"/>