On my trip to New York City last week I had the amazing opportuninty to stop by and visit with Paul Sahre at his studio. Paul is participating in Creative Grab Bag, my visual collaborative book and it was a great experience to meet him in person, discuss design and creativity with him, and view the space where he works.
Graphic designer, illustrator, educator, lecturer, foosballer and author Paul Sahre established his own design company in New York, in 1997. Consciously maintaining a small office, he has nevertheless established a large presence in American graphic design.
While I was there I interview him for Behance Magazine and that article will be up soon, you can view more photos of my visit here.
I can’t help but be drawn to the Happiest Book in the World by Alex Ostrowski. It just seems like such an amazing book by looking at the photos and hearing what its about, there is only one copy as of now, which makes me not happy at all. Alex shares with us the story behind this book.
In one way or another we are all looking for happiness. Some people even say that man’s sole purpose for existence is to hunt down and capture this intangible and elusive treasure. In 2006 researchers at The University of Leicester concluded that Denmark is the happiest country in the world - this was good enough for me. In March 2008 I made the decision to visit happiness, and embarked upon a pilgrimage to find it. My experiences are presented in this book.
To listen to them play these two songs provides such an amazing feeling. I was watching television late one night and this came on and I was blown away by Sigur Rós, I quickly recorded the show so that I can watch it in high definition whenever I want to. It is absolutely stunning piece of work.
Discovered Days With My Father online and it is a brilliant piece of online storytelling. By combining beautiful photographs with simple text it tells a heart warming and sad story. The piece develops the character of Phillip Toledano’s father through written memories and visual moments captured in time.
Just wanted to take a moment and provide an update on the book that I have been working on for over a year. The first announcement is that the book will be entitled Creative Grab Bag which is a name that I am very pleased with. This was approved a while ago and I have been trying to get around to telling you all. Before we go any farther here is some background on the book.
It is a visual collaborative book that forces creative people from around the world to explore their creativity. Each artist is randomly assigned a creative task that is not in the area of their expertise or training. The book is due to come out this spring and is being published by F+W Publications’ HOW Books.
At this point in time I am waiting for the final round of work to come in from the amazing people that have agreed to take part in the book, the final count will be one hundred artists. The list of artists has been updated on the book’s website.
On a trip to New York City about a week ago I acquired for myself a Nikon D60 Digital SLR Camera and proceeded to walk out of the store with a new toy to capture the world with. For the past couple of years I have been using similar cameras that the school had provided. I have enjoyed capturing the lives and moments of my friends and I as we went through high school along with the many different things I observe in life.
Now as I prepare to enter art school it is even more important to me to observe and capture images. See what I see on my Flickr photostream, just signed up for the professional account as well. When you carry a camera you see the world more.
I have an idea of where and how I would like to spend the later years of my life. I don’t ever want to retire but I think this is how I would like to end up and be able to live out the rest of my days.
I plan to build a small house that combines modern and rustic into one livable and well designed package. It will be located on the coast of a Scandinavian country maybe, possibly Denmark or Sweden. I will have a greenhouse and garden to grow plants and food. I will stock the kitchen shelves with cookbooks and create dishes of food that are full of color for us.
I will have tons of books and read them on the beach all day long. I will fly kites and kayak in the ocean. I will think and ponder the world, I will write, design, and paint. I will ultimately create there in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of nature. I will make my own scarves and mittens and build snowmen with my grandchildren when they come to visit us. I will learn to play the piano again and compose music that I can call my own.
The house will have wooden floors and big windows. There will be neighbors but they will not be close by. I will have a cat and dog that are best friends and they will play all day on the beach with us. I will ride a bike as my only mode of transportation.
Ethan Bodnar is a graphic designer, author, and student who lives and works in the United States.
Books and Publications
Creative Grab Bag (HOW Books)
A collaborative visual book that challenges artists from around the world to explore their creativity. Hitting the shelves in 2009.
A New World Platform
A blueprint, framework, and collection of ideas. It is a new design for how the world works and communicates.
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