The end

It's the end of two things. One: Augoblogmo, 31 posts in 31 days. And two: life in Bellingham. I've been living in Seattle for two months now, but last night I went up to my old college town to clean the house that many people have called home at one point or another. This post is for Sara, Erika, Mac, Brian, Jackson, Michele, Nick, Kyle, Raf, Jordan, and Alex. And Carly. The view is still amazing, the carpet is still ugly, and the bathroom will always be pink. 

Thanks for tuning in to Augoblogmo, the support from all of you has been so wonderful. I'm tempted to make a funny word for what I have planned in September... but I won't. Just keep checking back, exciting things are happening at Banana Giraffe Industries!

Le Pen

Is my favorite pen.

All kinds of good

I've told you before about an organization 826, and the ingenious Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.  in a previous post. "Tactile" is a chapbook I picked up while in the store; I'm blown away by the talent of all these people:

And the hard work of all these people:

Frigate

This is an illustration I did for a class to accompany this poem by Emily Dickinson:

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toll;

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul!

Speakers

On softball Mondays, I don't get home till past my bedtime, so tonight I dug up this for you: my homework, from 2007. My other gift to you is that I'm not showing you any of my figure studies from the same time period.

WA weekends

Too much to see, too little time

Saturday

Friday night

And I'm staring at a text book. It never stops.

Opaque ink

So much more is possible.

Summer, wait, don't go!

I just want to play outside

Special FX

Sappi Fine Paper has released 5 handbooks to aid designers. Previous editions included topics on scoring and folding, varnishes and coatings, color management, and preparing files for the press. Torin and I went to the release of the 5th, which was done in support and in cooperation with 826, a national organization that teaches writing and publishing, along with tutoring support. Each branch has a different, imaginative theme. Seattle's branch is the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. 

This edition of the Standard focuses on special effects, while using the themes of the various 826 branches as content. Superheroes, detectives, robots, time travel, etc. This book is pure eye-candy, with a wire-o binding. 

DSGN

Grids are made to be broken. #designjokes

150 things

From the back cover: "They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees."

Books on repeat

You know you & your sister have read a lot of Harry Potter if:

You've created new suspects, weapons, and rooms for the game 'Clue.' Professor Trelawney with Furnunculus in the Trophy Room is a viable senario.

One summer you took turns reading aloud chapters from GoF, while the listener tried to recreate the chapter illustrations with markers.

For fun, you can open up any of the seven books at random, read aloud a single sentence, and the other has to give the context.

All seven books audio books were given as a graduation present. 

Discussions are held about "How to talk to your kids about Harry Potter." How old is old enough? 

Summer Reading

August '05 we had just moved to Washington, and I had to catch up on the summer reading that my new English teacher had assigned the previous spring. This summer, I picked up my old copy, curious to see if 7 years would change my opinion of what I already thought of as a 'good' book. As it happens, it was beautiful, cryptic, intriguing - I have the desire to write multiple essays that ponder each character and their desperate actions. Do you think Ms. Jones would read them?

Thursday

I decided, I like being 23. TK421 kicked off this new year with a 20 pt. Arial ampersand necklace. And if you understood that last sentence, here's a free high-five! Maybe when I'm 24, I'll have finally mastered the vital illustration technique that always seems to elude me: perspective. 

Can't seem to say it enough

Time flies when you're having fun

Family Vacation

If I didn't have plans tonight, I'd be tempted to repaint this. I was copying a picture (months ago in the delirium I called "spring quarter") and while I love the original, something fell short. The lake is this unbelievable turquoise, my sister is 1000 times cuter, and my dad doesn't have a five o'clock shadow. All over his face. The main message is that my childhood was chuck-full of happy times like this, and now that our family has grown to include a angelprincessmiracle baby and Oz, they'll only keep coming.

Lunchtime Sketch

This is a Becker&Mayer title that I A) Love, and B) completely botched. Sorry pups, I didn't do you any favors. If you want look inside the book, you'll see the little puppies are much cuter.

Stange

Cover Art by Jessixa Bagley

Bus Reading

At the start of this summer, with hours of metro transit before me, I picked up this. It was a good read, especially considering that economics are not my forte. But it made sense, to try to understand this huge  entity that effects every aspect of what we buy and use, no matter where we shop. The book covers the history, methods, and culture around a company that has one mission: to deliver low prices, always. I'll abstain from a long-winded book report; pick it up for yourselves if you're curious. 

Required Reading

Somewhere in my K-8 education, the Giver was a book that only half the class read, and I was in the other half. When the book popped up in Stampadoodle's community library, I picked it up and finished it in a couple lunch breaks' time. The story is about a dystopian society far off in our future, where everyone is the same. They have the same schedules, the same conversations, the same clothes and houses. When they turn twelve, they get sorted into different career paths by community elders. SPOILER ALERT: This is a miserable way to live, but the protagonist (Jonas) doesn't know it until he is chosen to be the "receiver," and learn all the memories, feelings, and wisdom that the giver departs to him. Whuta page-turner.

Thursday

More from Ye Olde Sketchbook

Last fall I began to contemplate "my identity," which is normally a weird thing to say, unless you study Graphic Design. This was a sampling of different textures I'd hoped to use. I ended up going a different route (a somewhat "cheesy" route), but I still appreciate a good pattern here & there. 

Pegboard

This is a doodle I did awhile ago, whilst pondering an unpleasant predicament. But what is pleasant: all the lovely birthday wishes! Thank you so much, all of you, you've made my day!

Brianna's Book Club

It's been too long since I've posted a book on here, so expect the last five books I've read soon. My favorite: GAME OF THRONES, a gripping fantasy story with complex characters, interwoven storylines, scandal and intrique. I watched the pilot episode of the eponymous HBO series last night... I'd critique it, analyze the differences, but right now I must get ready for tonight's softball game. 

A postcard for the UTAS dragons

Wine Glass Bay, Tasmania

Nail Polish

I challenge all my readers (hey Michele) to find a color I will not wear... on my toes.

Snow Globe

This morning when I left for work, it was so foggy I could barely see the bus before it reached my block. It burned off quickly and I'm gearing up for a very sunny weekend...but I still did a google search for THIS.

Giraffe

If the Graffs had a modern coat-of-arms, a giraffe would most certainly be emblazoned upon it.

2nd Annual Augoblogmo

It's the first of August and it's time for Augoblogmo (AUGust BLOG MOnth). Since my last post was an embarrassingly long time ago, it's time for an update. The few but faithful people who read this blog already know this, but in June I graduated from Western Washington with a degree in Graphic Design. My emphasis was in print production, so I got to know the above tools very well - they went everywhere with me. I currently have an internship at a publishing company, Becker&Mayer!, in Bellevue.

The company is ideal; my love for books, toys, games, design, and geekdom can all be found there. My co-workers are awesome, and the past few weeks I've been playing softball with them (go Bookers!). As the month goes on I might find more time for gushing, but right now I just want to express how lucky I am to have the family that helped me get to this point. Without them (and you know who you are), graduating and moving would not have been possible, and now I live a short distance from Torin and many of my old college chums. 

And so, Augoblogmo begins. I learned so much last year. For example, don't be homeless. (Backstory: I couch-surfed all of last August). And I'm committing myself to the insane schedule of 31 illustrations in  31 days to see what I learn this year. I'm very excited to start; painting was one of the hobbies I had to put on hold during the crunch of senior year. So tune in every day for a little something, and wish me luck!