Pixelgawker

By: Megan Deal

Recently, I spent a solid half hour in the school cafeteria, chatting away with another student. We were table mates by default really, she approaching me and my unoccupied seats in a desperate attempt to find for herself a place to land and enjoy her lunch. I introduced myself, she did the same, and we proceeded to talk about a variety of topics ranging from Detroit to the over-priced sandwiches offered in the cafe. As we casually spoke to one another, I remember thinking to myself, “Wow…how nice; how exciting to be interacting with a student from another discipline.” Then, as we both described the structures of our respected curriculums, along with the type of classes that we each take, something happened. This girl, this seemingly pleasant girl, looked me dead in the eye and said: “You see, the thing I don’t get about graphic design is that you’ll do anything to make money…it’s like you sell yourselves out.”
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By: Megan Deal

Failure. To lack success. To cease all function. To fall short. Failure is that doomed state that human beings, from all walks of life, indefinitely attempt to avoid. For many design students, failure is the unwelcome condition that we tend to block from our minds. The thought of being denied the personal or creative success that we all feel we deserve, is enough to send us running home to our parents in tears, straight to the local bar, or at the very least, to consider dropping all design related courses and enrolling in a business and accounting program at the closest state university. For some, the fear of failure becomes so prominent that the afore mentioned scenarios inevitably become the final “fix” in failure avoidance. But for others, all of us who are still here, still progressing forward, and still loosing every ounce of heart and soul in every single project that we complete, we’ve somehow managed to successfully suppress our fears of failure, and/or figured out how to still be productive when the possibility of defeat looms nearby. (more…)

By: Megan Deal

I live alone. I grocery shop by myself. I prefer to drive without any passengers, and normally, I do. I have, on occasion, dined companionless, and despite constant warning from both of my parents, I sometimes go on an unaccompanied bike ride, (Though never past dark, and always with a keen eye for suspicious looking vans). (more…)

By Ken Blaznek
“I tell you one thing I don’t get. This whole nostalgia for the late 60’s, early 70’s that’s happening right now. The Black Crows wearing bellbottoms again? I don’t think so, ok? I wore them once, they sucked, I didn’t get laid, I’m not wearing them again!”
-Denis Leary

The above quote is from Denis Leary, one of the great comedians of my generation turned network tv darling. It’s from about 1994, when my generation was embracing 70’s cool. Bellbottoms. I wore them, in 1994 they were available for two dollars at Value Village and they were “sweet.” (more…)

By Ken Blaznek

I think it’s fair to say that I’ve developed the reputation as one of the more nervous graphic design seniors at CCS. I know that I am not alone, and that things are not all peachy for some of the rest of you as well, so I feel like it is my duty to take a look at things from this angle. Call it a sacrifice.
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posted by megan deal 

I have developed a conditional process. These conditions have become habits, no less obsessions – a set of circumstances that must be present in my design process if I am to perform with the highest degree of creativity. Some of these conditions are material (i.e. strong coffee, black fine point pens, jazz), some are environmental (campus library, office, secluded apartment), but most often these factors are determined by the task at hand. We each have established our own set of process rules that, when followed, allows us to design with heightened capability. All of these conditions, however different for each designing individual, share a common thread, that is, they are desirable. They are our addictions, and we are dependent upon them to function. They are the constituting parts in our creative process that we utilize on repeat, and the predictable patterns that form between projects. We strive to reach them. They are the conditions that are important in shaping our design process and who we are as designers. (more…)

posted by chad reichert

Several years ago, my wife and I had purchased our first home. We were very excited to move in and make it our own. It was a 1933 Cape Cod with lots of “charm.” If you have ever purchased a similar home you know that charm can mean several things. It can represent unique character that only a house from that era can have including original wood floors, hand crafted staircases, oddly shaped rooms and cozy spaces. It can also represent non-operating windows, turn-of-the-century electrical wiring, peeling paint and a built-in (more…)