Interesting and fun project. I really tried to keep two “journal” aspects in mind, one being a space for very personal and exploratory dialogue, the other being a collection of work for public consumption.
The first spreads were done extemporaneously, and the process was surprisingly thrilling. Patterns and meanings emerged as I worked (played!), and the whole thing made a strangely profound kind of sense to me. Since the story I wrote was about my relationship with my father, I thought a lot about fatherhood in general, about being a son, about having my own son, stuff like that. I’ve spent so much time focusing on the more goal-oriented, audience focused side of the equation (design) lately that I had forgotten how much fun the more intuitive (art) parts can be. Open Space was a much-needed reminder.
I had a great deal of fun working with my friend John Swick on the illustrated story. We’d played music together before (he’s a walloping drummer) but never had we done anything like this. I have always really liked his drawing style, and I think he brought exactly the right degree of humor to the text. Thanks, John, your contributions were spot-on.
All in all, I am really honored to have been involved with Open Space. Speak Up, and the community its name now implies, has done a lot for my professional engagement and development in the past year; I am proud to have contributed.
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.
Oh my god, Paul's pages are pure genius. Sorry for the valley girl-ness of my post, but it was hard to contain myself -- to just a cheesy throwback from the 80s -- when describing how nicely Paul's pages came together. His collaboration with talented illustrator John Swick helps to make the whole section swell with contagious energy and subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) humor. Truly a work of art.
Thanks for all the hardwork, Paul!
On Dec.09.2003 at 09:46 PM