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Daring To Leap

Everyone has those turning points in their lives. You know what I’m talking about; those “leap” points. The times that arise when you realize that in order to do something, you must take a gigantic leap, almost a blind leap.

I’d like to think that those leap moments are the catalyst for change as well. As a way for us to move forward. These leaps can be anything from change in lifestyle, to buying a car or house, moving, engagements, and the like.

I believe that I’m at a leap point in my life right now, a point at which I am not allowed to advance until I take the specific leap that is plaguing me. I know what the leap is, I just can’t seem to bring myself to jump. How does one do that anyway? Do I over-think things too much? Do I analyze every action into too much detail? I do actually, so I guess those aren’t the questions I should be asking myself. How do you overcome over-analyzing everything in your life? That’s the question right there. Leaping with blind faith, in the hopes that it might work, or ideally work, is something I haven’t done since I moved up to Milwaukee in 1999.

Perhaps this is the catalyst that I need to move beyond my current situation? Perhaps I need to leap headfirst and believe that it will work. I need to overcome the idea that money is the main motivator in the decisions of my life. Remember back when we were younger when money wasn’t all that important than happiness? I believe if I tap into that idealism that we once had, I can overcome this inability to believe that I can attain that which I want to, that which I need to.

However, all this talk of ideally taking the jump relies on one thing. Once I have established that “one thing,” I can move forward. I can take the leap, because after that, everything is beautiful and doesn’t really matter. After that “one thing,” I can be at ease with any decision I make.

In the end, I need to be bolder. I need to be comfortable with asking the tough questions and engaging in difficult decisions.  Otherwise, I am just going through life and wasting it right? That which I truly want, and don’t strive after, becomes a wasted opportunity and a wasted time.

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OpEd: A Designer’s Responsibility Is Communication

A responsibility of the designer is to make sure the communicative process/dialog is never impeded or broken. As designers, we are the masters, or hope to be, of the communication process; whether it be through identity development, advertising or the making of publications. We set type, layout images, create copy, all in order to communicate the idea or message to the audience. It is our responsibility, or divine calling to maintain that communication, to create that communication.

However, it has become customary for designers lately, to forget or disregard the notion the we must maintain and facilitate the same amount, if not more, communication with our clients. They didn’t hire us so they could do all the talking nor did they hire us so they could communicate with the audience by themselves. They hired us for our ability to communicate a message. There is always information that we need from our client. Always something to think about that the client needs to say without dialog. We as designers have no idea what to do in order to finish the project, unless we can establish and maintain dialog with the client.

Also, we as designers, are the conduit through which all communication from the client and the audience travels. We are the interpreters, the ones who translate one language to another so the marriage between the client and audience or client and consumer will never be interrupted.

Like what was mentioned before, it is our divine calling, as designers, to facilitate and maintain that conduit between client and audience. Without it, all design would be chaotic and most communication would be chaotic. None of the messages would make sense.

Our job is communication. Our job is dialog and it’s our job to defend, create and maintain that dialog.

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Recap: Gallery Night – Winter 2010

I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Gallery Night in Milwaukee, in the Third Ward. First off, my friend Bridget and I got a late start to the evening. So, we were a bit rushed right off the bat. No bother though, we knew where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see, which helps a lot during a Gallery Night evening.

Our first stop was to the Milwaukee Public Market for some letterpress prints. Very cool prints, however, they were few and far between. Color was spot on, although, I wish they were a bit larger. Overall, cool prints.


Our second stop, after the Public Market and Starbucks, was Cranston in the Marshall Building on Water Street. It’s one of my standard stops during Gallery Night it seems. But, out of all night, it proved to be the most fruitful. I didn’t get a chance to see who created the prints, like the one you see, but they were amazing. So beautiful were the colors, the aesthetic, texture and imagery. These prints were simply intoxicating. What a great find tonight!

After Cranston, we head over to (Shoo) for some beautiful, vivid landscapes. I guess there were custom Chuck Taylors, but I didn’t see them. After which, we ran over to the Dye House for a Bob Marley photo exhibit. Standard portraiture, nothing that hasn’t been done before.

Unfortunately, time was not on our side and we had to head back. It was a cold night and the coffee’s that we got, helped out a great deal! I would like to throw out a personal thanks to Bridget for being an amazing companion on the whirlwind Gallery Night tour.

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Son of Erik Mixtape Release: What the Funk

Hey everyone! The new Son of Erik mix has been finalized and posted. It’s entitled “What the Funk – Why the Funk is it so Funky in here?” Yes, as you can imagine, there is quite a bit of funkadelic drops in this hip-shaking mixtape.

I have provided a link for you (at the bottom of this post) to download the mixtape. (If you would like it split into tracks, let me know, and I’ll provide.)

What’s the tracklisting look like? I’m glad you asked.

Dr. Funk – Sidechains
It’s Too Funky In Here (Vs. James Brown) – James Brown
Disc Odyssey – Crazy P
Make You Mine (Codebreaker remix) – Miami Horror
I Feel Love – Donna Summer
She’s A Lady (Vs. Tom Jones) – Tom Jones
Sweet Disposition (Full Vocal Mix) – Morgan Page
When The Lights Go Down – Armand Van Helden
Set It Off (At The Playboy Mansion Mix) – A Taste Of Sugar
Who Said – Planet Funk
Good Luck (Tim Deluxe Funked Club Mix) – Basement Jaxx
Blinded By The Light (Extended Mix) – Funkstar Deluxe with Manfred Mann

Download What the Funk Here

These mixes are not intended for sale or reproduction. Son of Erik does not and will not receive any proceeds from the production of these mixes. Please respect the copyright of the original artists that have been listed.

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OpEd: Never Fear Critique When Designing

Let me start out by saying that no one is perfect and there is no one right or perfect designer. If there were, we would all hail that person as the messiah of design. Now, granted, we all have out ideal candidates for the high and mighty, end-all-be-all designer, but no one truly is. And especially us, we are not perfect nor do we make perfect designs every-time. And we must remember that. We must remember humility.

Every designer loves to critique other designs, other advertisements, clothing, music, etc. What we may not realize, all the time, is that all those designs, advertisements and clothing are designs and subsequently designed by someone, a designer. We are critiquing someone’s design. It’s not fair to  not expect it back in return. In fact, being critiqued or opening up dialog about your work will bring about new ideas, approaches and insights that you may not have thought of. Who knows, these insights might prove to be very important for the next stage of your design. Alternatively, it is important for the designer to share their designs with another designer for obvious defects and offer a chance for the designer to present and articulate their thoughts. A time to prove your work.

Remember, humility is key in design. No one is perfect. We can strive for the perfection, ultimately that perfection comes in part through the openness to others and critique. Think of it as a type of oversight.

Design is a rough profession. There are no lollipops or rainbows. There are crushed feelings, harsh words, dropped jobs and always someone better than you. In order to survive, you must be aware of this. A think skin is necessary. They aren’t critiquing you personally, they are critiquing your work. If you can’t separate that or disassociate yourself personally from critique, you should think of another game.

Somethings to keep in mind when working and critiquing:
1) Never take criticism personally.
2) Elitism should never be tolerated.
3) It’s not about your work, but the work period.
4) Oversight in design is necessary and should be encouraged.

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Say It Ain’t So Conan.

The New York Times reported this afternoon that Conan will not host the Tonight Show after Leno. Basically that he is tired of NBC’s indecision. I agree with him. However, he will be sorely missed.

Why get rid of the funniest guy you have and replace him with someone who isn’t and frankly, just doesn’t get it?

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Media Saturation: It’s Time To Move On

There are so many things that saturate the media and are overhyped (and using the term ‘overhyped’ is an understatement) to the point of being annoying. Kind of like when a radio station over-plays your favorite song. You know how it goes, it’s really interesting and cool to talk about, but after a while, you sort of want to move on.

Below is a list of the items I believe are overhyped and done. Items that we should just move on from.

1) Avatar: Yes, I know it’s a triumph of special effects and Cameron’s masterpiece to date. And yes, it has grossed a lot of money in the theaters. I will be honest, I haven’t seen it. I wanted to, but with everyone so infatuated with it and all the non-stop talk about it, now I don’t want to see it. I’ll watch Sherlock Holmes instead.

2) Tiger Woods: Yes, he cheated. Yes, he’s no longer a model athlete or spokesperson. And yes, it’s time to move on.

3) American Idol: Not another season. The show never changes and the latest winners aren’t doing anything of “Idol” note. Also, the Bachelor(ette) belongs here too.

4) Nexus One, iPhone, Android OS: These are amazing devices that make me believe I live in the future. However, the technology has been around for a while now. Let’s move on to the next big thing in cell phones: complete integration.

5) The Packers Playoff Loss: They lost. They didn’t play like a Super Bowl team should. The season is over.

6) Mark McGwire: We all knew he took steroids. He just admitted what we knew already. Do we really have to dwell on this?

7) Cigarette and Cigars: If it’s detrimental to the health of everyone, don’t keep taxing it, don’t pass ordinances saying you can’t smoke in most places. Just make it illegal. How about that for a solution? (I should run for office)

8) Sarah Palin: Releasing a book, getting a tv show, going on the lecture circuit. Why is this constantly on the news?

9) Snow in Wisconsin: Wisconsin says it all.

10) Unemployed Numbers: We all know it’s still bad out there. People are still losing jobs and having a hard time getting new ones. The numbers won’t bounce back overnight either. Let’s try a positive outlook for positive results?

So, this is maybe a dark type post. It wasn’t my intention. I’m actually a very happy guy. I just have been saturated by things.

What are the things you think are overhyped?