It’s not often one gets an opportunity to collaborate on such a unique project like Open Space and have it viewed by a group of respected peers; so I jumped at the chance a few months back to do so.

What appealed to me about this project were the following:
- Collaborating with a group of designers I’ve grown to respect through Speak Up
- Being involved in a project with people in different locations throughout the USA
- The chance to add my two cents to a project that will culminate as a very diverse and intriguing body of work

As a designer, joy and satisfaction come from creating a solution to a design need and, of course, getting paid for it. However, there are times when I long to be released from criteria in order to focus on process alone, eliminating the influences of client approvals and marketing strategies from my mind. So for me this journal was about relaxing and enjoying the creation process. A personal “design retreat” of sorts. Hopefully, beyond my own personal enjoyment, Speak Up viewers gain an interesting piece to explore and upcoming Open Space participants will have something inviting to interact with.

After bouncing around a few ideas on how to make use of my pages, I decided to create a mini book designed to evoke interpretation and response (sounds a bit artsy-fartsy, but it’s the truth). It felt great to do collage work again, and I made use all the books I’ve been collecting over the years from that free stack at the library.

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate and look forward to seeing how the rest of the collaborators contribute. Enjoy!

Click here to launch a new window and start with the first picture.

You can also download Open Space in its entirety via a PDF [3.2 Mb] with the latest additions to it.