Monthly Archives: January 2011

Andrew Le

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Andrew Le is just one of my favorite people. Witty, clever, and talented. And what some of you might not know is he’s really got a soft spot for his friends. He has been a very good friend to me over the years. He lives in Austin, Texas, being just awesome there. We talk on iChat everyday now, thankfully. (It’s lonely here in Yazoo City!) I love going “shopping” with him online. We send each other links on stuff we want to buy. We bought the same paper cutter which we both highly recommend!

He graduated a year ahead of me in school. His work always inspires me. He’ll always be one of those designers I just look up to. I can’t do what he does. His style is very clean. He’s great at type. His copy is so clever. He’s just a master at what he does. There is no way for me to put all of his work on here. There is nothing this guy touches that isn’t amazing: photography, songwriting and playing, letterpress, video.

So here is a very limited sampling. This is the Valentine’s series. He started off giving these out to friends, but now letterpresses some of the prints. They are for sale in his shop! And check out all of his work!!!

One of my favorite things about Andrew – his Twitter.

Here are some of my favorites.

  • It’s 2011. You can stop posting fake vintage, square photos now.
  • Looking forward to 2011′s portmanteau offerings for women’s leggings.
  • I predicted the rise of the ninjas, pirates, and lumberjack… and I think the next big thing is going to be private detectives.
  • I can’t remember people’s names, but I never forget a typeface.
  • I know some of you guys don’t care, but this new Gap logo is like the graphic designers’ Gulf Oil Spill.
  • Hipsters lead to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

Okay. Now this next one probably needs some explanation. Andrew loves to ask anyone this question: If you put 5 elephants against 5,000 poodles, who would win?

You’ve got to watch this video. It’s Andrew interviewing everyone around the art department. Oh my goodness this makes me miss everyone so much!

 

Elephants Versus Poodles from Andrew Le on Vimeo.

So. Who do YOU think would win?

Captain Carl Carbonell

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I think I’ll just start at the beginning. Carl was my first friend in Graphic Design at State. We became friends doodling together. We both went to the same campus ministry. We’d be in Starbucks at the same time, so we’d sometimes sit together. We would just sit and doodle for hours. Then we started making it a thing. We’ve been friends ever since. He introduced me to the Avett Brothers (if you don’t know who they are, look them up!) and jorts. I have learned so much from him about life. He’s the brother I never had.

I honestly think everyone needs to get to know him. I really do. I think the world would just be a happier place.

Carl makes lists a lot. So I’m going to make one about him.

  1. Mollie Simpkins. This is the love of his life. She is pure sunshine.
  2. His faith. He takes it seriously. And he’s open and gracious to all around him.
  3. Good music, good coffee, good design, and good whiskey.
  4. Jorts, beards, pocket knives, and red hats (like the gnomes. He buys his usually at Wal-Mart.)
  5. Poop stories. He loves talking about poop.

Carl is a prolific designer. Everything he touches is magic. I think it’s apparent in his work. I’m not going to post any of his “portfolio” work here. You can go look at his work yourself (which you should!). Instead, I’m going to post a few of his doodles that I have. I have TONS more, but they are all in storage right now. I’ll get them out and post them when I move somewhere and can unpack all my boxes. I feel like they’ll be worth a lot of money one day. But I wouldn’t dare sell them. You can’t put a pricetag on something that reminds you of such a dear friend.

Here’s Carl, y’all, drinkin’ some sweet tea.

Here is a picture of Carl with Mollie. (photo by Rebekah Grafton)

Oh! Forgot to clarify! Carl’s not a real captain…

Little Things in Life #2 – Stamps

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I would have to say there are two redeeming things about the United States Post Office for me.

1. Vintage post office boxes. Love them. I always love to go look at the numbers and decoration on them.

2. Stamps. I love stamps. But let me refine that statement. I love pretty stamps. I always seem to hold up the ridiculously long line (why is there always a long line at the post office? If the post office had a better designed website, I guarantee there wouldn’t be anymore… anyhoo!) to ask “Do you have any cool stamps in?” Of course they do! And the thing I LOVE about the cool stamps is that you are paying the same price as the boring ones but you get a little bit of fabulousness that goes on your letter! It is something so little that just makes me so happy. There’s nothing like a Snoopy sticker, or pretty Christmas ones. NOTHING.

I’m mailing out self promos to everyone I can think of that I would want to work for. I have an awesome envelope and I *think* the contents are pretty. The shipping is $1.90 for each envelope. After my third visit to the Post Office, I realized I could just put at many stamps on it as I wanted as long as it equaled $1.90. (My teacher Jamie Mixon had given me that idea a few months ago). I think it makes is soooooo much more fun. Hopefully the people getting them will think so too.

Okay. I’m not a huge fan of that deer looking thing, but it was 17 cents! I’m in love with the 5 and 10 cent stamps. I think I’m going to address several with just that. That will be a lot of stamps and probably a lot of work for the Post Office. BUT that is what I’m paying them $1.90 to do, right?!

Okay. But let’s get to the good stuff. Obviously the Post Office in Yazoo City, Mississippi is not going to have very interesting stamps available to me. Thank goodness other people appreciate this kind of stuff. Go check out one of my favorite collections on flickr – Vintage Stamp Collection.

Here’s a sampling of her collection!!!! So good!

Dave Whitley – Little Things’ Best Friend

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I’m starting a new series of posts on my friends. I have to show off Dave first.
He’s my best friend. We had almost every class together for 2 1/2 years. He’s graduating in May from Mississippi State in Graphic Design.
Of course he’s talented. That’s obvious looking at his work. But he is a such a good friend. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him. And let’s just go ahead and state the obvious. Would I even have my own website without him? Much less one for LTS? NO!
Several facts about Dave:
He LOVES cats. He loves Weezie. Weezie actually lived at his house for several months and slept with him every night. He is an amazing drummer. He’s very very very very quiet. Which is just great for me because I talk a lot!!!
Go look at his work!

(I colored this poster. He lets me fix his colors when I think they need it!!!)

(LOVE this one. It’s a poster for the student graphic design competition hosted by MSU.)

(That’s Dave with me at my senior show.)

Uzbekistan Embroidery

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I recently found this book in a bookstore in Jackson. I sat looking at every page just in aw. Incredible. If I did believe in reincarnation (of course I don’t!), then I KNOW I lived in 1850 in Uzbekistan making tapestries. I should have been there weaving these tapestries. Everything in that book took my breath away. I feel so much when I look at these beautiful tapestries.

I am always cut off guard to think that just normal peasant ladies created these. They didn’t have formal training. There was no “Masters of Fine Arts.” They lived off the land and were poor. Yet look at what they created! Look at what they made with the little they had.

I just hope one day I can look at some of these in person. I hope you can too! We need it for our souls.



All images from the Textile Blog