Wishing all of you a Happy New Year. Thanks to everyone who made life beautiful. This year I will learn, grow, explore, create, and love more. Go forth and explore the new year.
Pentagram is pleased to announce the publication of the Black Book, a new 800-page overview of our recent work. The book is a compilation of over 400 projects from the last several years, arranged in alphabetical order, like a dictionary, and printed on Bible paper, like a Bible, complete with tabbed sections and ribbons for bookmarking..
I think that this book looks very interesting and look forward to picking it up someday soon. Sure to offer great insight into the work of the firm.
Hand made type base on Helvetica. Made by printing a pattern on sticker sheets and cutting out the letters using a scalpel. Brought to us by Idiot Copenhagen.
In modern art we have artists statements hung on the walls of the museums.
In design we have creative briefs.
This is not true for poetry and music.
For poetry and music we simply have the language and the words.
Left for us to interpret.
Lately our focus in English class has been on poetry, both modern and from the past. We have be analyzing the poems for tone, metaphors, allusions, situation, symbols, among other aspects. During a discussion we started talking about how the reader never know what the poet intentions truly were with the poem. They do not write about the poem, the just write the poem. This got me thinking.
In poetry and music we get to find the meanings. You can either go looking for certain aspects and symbols or you can accept it simply for the way it sounds. You are not told what it is about or what you should think.
For some people this will turn them off from poetry and music.
For me I think it makes sense having an unspoken meaning.
In my travels yesterday I found myself right next to a brand new building from Cesar Pelli that was under construction. There was a display case in the building next to it where I happened to be for the day and the final product looks amazing as you can see above.
The new science center will be built on a site overlooking the Connecticut River adjacent to the new convention center in Hartford. The new Connecticut Science Center was designed to communicate the excitement of Science. The ambitious and dynamic forms appear to reach out, beyond their physical limits.
Several weeks ago I watched a program on television about his work and what he said was inspiring. It felt great to be around the work of a very well respected architect.
La Bonne Merveille has created some inspiring work. Especially like this work and how they presented the work through the composition in this photograph.
Nikolay Saveliev is a graphic design from New York City.
Supplemental material for a presentation of Michael Haneke’s films, realized as a series of eight eight-page film analyses, and one director bio in a string-tie envelope. Each analysis is sealed to prevent the viewer from spoiling the film.
There is some great work at En Bloc which provides art direct and design by Ben Atkins.
As well as graphic design, I love Belgian beer, esoteric music, Robin Day, buying books, eating with friends, modernist architecture, Hector Pottie, Constellation Records, French toast, Gil Scott Heron, riding my BMX, Natalie Portman and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
As an excerise for english class we had to write a poem about an animal.
It is the boxer in the outback, the powerful legs,
It is a tall one, standing strong.
The huge ears jutting from his head, tuning in always.
The short arms contrasting with the long legs.
The tan trench coat it wears twenty–four–seven.
Why does it, why does he hop, leap, jump.
Moving through life, never strolling, walking, crawling.
What is his life about, his family, his friends,
It stops, observes, always looking.
The name is Jack, the marsupial mammal.
The way it moves, the way it thinks.
Living there, here, anywhere.
This morning on The Serif I found a new font being introduced.
FontFont have announced that they are to release Helvetica Serif, following the discovery of drawing of that typeface by Max Miedinger. The sketches which were discovered by Miedinger’s granddaughter have been redrawn to create the digital version shown above. The font has been released today, April 1st.
Just wanted to let you know that the site is going through a major update. The blog is completed right now, but the rest of the website is not. So if you are to use the navigation at the top you will be brought to sections that are not done.
I am very excited to share with you the progress on the new site and look forward to having it complete very soon. It’s going to be awesome, I promise. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, please visit the current www.ethanbodnar.com for more information and to explore projects, books, and other work. Thanks!
Several weeks ago I received a letter in the mail. The envelope was a bit large and had some colorful stamps placed in the corner, which I opened it up and found inside a letter from a writer. This writer happened to be my fathers English teacher from highschool that I had met at a recent wedding. It turns out he made an attempt to email me but it was rejected. So he printed off the rejected email and sent it along with a letter explaining what had happened. I can’t begin to explain how wonderful it was to receive a paper letter in the mail. It seems that I am so used to connecting and talking with people from all over the world through email that I haven’t had that much experience with letters. Sure I receive cards, magazines and more in the mail, but this is different. To put it simply, this caused a sort of amazement and excitement when reading through it. And for that, I am grateful to have received that letter and will be writing back shortly.
Today I got up early in order to make an attempt at getting some work done before breakfast. I dragged a long ethernet cable out the window so I could sit outside with the MacBook. I still have yet to get wireless at the house, I know, I should. Anyways, it didn’t quite work, but I had some great rye toast for breakfast. But for some better news, I am getting a good amount of work done right now, including writing this blog post which was on my list of things to do today.
I am going to try something new here on the blog. That is listing some links in which I would like to share with you. Not to worry, I will continue to tell stories and share ideas. I have had so many things that I would to share but never really share a bunch of them at the same time, so here it goes.
Behance Network
Just launched yesterday, Behance has created an online community for all types of creative people. The site has a nice design and they have thought it out very well. Still room for some improvements though.
Video from Dwell
The ever popular and wonderful magazine, Dwell, has some great videos online. There first online video projects is a series of ten videos covering the green remodeling of a town house in Harlem. There current series profiles leaders in design and architecture.
Iron & Wine
Just discovered this musician yesterday, and I like what I here. Take a listen for yourself.
Five and a Half’s Blog
Five and a Half, the people who have brought us beautiful hand made journals also has a blog that is full of great resources and stories about handmade items and life. I strongly recommend digging through their archives, for you might find some amazing posts.
The World Without Us
Saw Alan Weisman, the author of The World Without Us, on The Daily Show with John Stewart and thought his book sounded great. Although I have yet to pick up a copy for myself, the concept behind the book is the global warming and all of that scares people, so Weisman killed off all of the humans in the first chapter. Not a bad idea if you ask me.
Design Notes
A blog all about design that is published and written by Michael Surtees. Always some great posts that you can find here.
Found this pebble kitchen sink mat at a kitchen supply store in Vermont. Thought it was pretty cool. A little while later, my mom has it in her hands and has decided to buy it. A nice addition to our kitchen.
Graduation (not for me) is tomorow and then this weekend I will be studying for exams, followed by exams next week. So you wont be hearing a lot from me, until I head down to NYC for the Future of Online Advertising Conference, which I will tell you all about. If you will be there let me know.
This past weekend I took a lovely trip down south a bit with my family. Our first stop was to visit Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore. We took a tour around the beautiful campus, which is located on the outskirts of the city. Their newest building where the Graphic Design department is, is three years old and has huge glass walls that images can be projected onto. Overall, It was a wonderful school and I look forward to applying there.
Next stop was Fredricksburg, VA. We were heading down for my cousins wedding. The wedding was the next day, Saturday, at Mary Washington College. We then partied the night away at a awesome reception. Congrats to the married couple.
On sunday we headed home and hit hours and hours of traffic. Besides that it was a great trip.
Yesterday, I headed down to New York City for Candy’s Sweet Talk 20. My dad and I went down early in the morning and checked out MOMA and School of Visual Arts. Then we went to the Center for Architecture.
There was a good crowd of about 100 people and an awesome line up of speakers.
BrenB / Michael Gillette / Timothy Saccenti / Elisabeth Arkiphoff / MIchael C. Place of Build / Dalek / Glenn E. Friedman
They were all great and Veer recorded video of them all. Perhaps they will put it online. Candy is sending us pictures of the event in a couple weeks and I will share those with you.
Consumerism is a problem today in this world. People are consuming mass produced items from “super” stores. These stores do not pay their employees well and the mass production manufactures use cheap labor in foreign countries. We then go buy and support all this. Back
in the day people used to make what they needed and they turned out just fine, happily living their lives. Why don’t you make some things for yourself and not just run out to the store to pick up the item?
You could knit a hat instead of buying one. You could grow potatoes in your garden and make potato chips. And maybe someday it will be legal to share music online and have no digital right management system in place.
My source artist for this piece was Kate Bingaman. She draws one thing that she buys each day and publishes them online and in her zine entitled Obsessive Consumption. The theme was “consumerism”.
I would like to leave you with this quote from William Ralph Inge.
“The happy people are those who are producing something; the bored people are those who are consuming much and producing nothing.”
Yes, that is correct. Today is National Gorilla Suit Day. It was created by Don Martin, a well known artist of MAD Magazine. The basic idea is to go get your gorilla suit out of the closet, put it on, and go door to door with it on.
Learn more at the Gorilla Suit Day website.
I started a sketchbook a month ago and have been drawing in it quite alot lately. It is also part of a class at my school called “Artist Sketchbook” where we have more independence then other art classes to do work in our books. I photographed what I got so far and put them online in a flickr set. Go check it out.
This weekend I will be in Boston for the annual Harvard Model UN conference. Hopefully I will be able to blog from there. Stay tuned for some good stories.
Recently, I have become interested in buttons. During a recent trip to NYC there was a man around the market in Union Square who was selling buttons. He happened to be a friend of my art teacher who was on the trip with us. I got to buttons from him and am looking to get more. Some sites that I have found that have awesome buttons are….
Check those out.
Safari Feature Request
I never used a feed reader, until a couple months ago. I would just open up a bunch of tabs in Safari. Then I found the feature, where you can make a bookmark folder and then open all sites as tabs. What if it just opened up sites that had new blog posts. With the feed reader I fell that I have lost something. People spend time designing their sites and now I don’t see their design anymore.
Nobody’s Watching
This was a show that they were making for television. It was about two brothers who set out to make a television show. Well the actual TV show didn’t make it. So they released it on YouTube and it has been viewed many times. Maybe well see it some day soon on TV. Check out their website.
I was only two years old when I got my first LEGO. It was a fire engine. After that day, my life changed. I fell in love with these little pieces that stuck together to make buildings, trucks, helicopters, roads, and what ever I dreamed up. I used to have two big foldable table with a whole LEGO city. Under the table you would find plastic storage units with drawers that stored countless pieces. Playing LEGOs was the thing to do when I was young.
At around the age of ten I got LEGO Mindstorms. With these LEGOs I was able too build robots that I could program on the computer. In middle school I joined the LEGO Mindstorms Robotic Team. Here we built robots that had to do specific tasks and then took part in big competition with local schools.
I used to always play with my two younger brothers. They still play sometimes today. But no wheres as much as they used to. Today they have been corrupted by watching television, playing video games, and going on the internet. Nevertheless, all the original boxes are still saved in the attic, so that one day I can repackage them and pass them down to my kids.
LEGOs were awesome because they taught me to be creative and to imagine. Thank you LEGOS.
Hello, my name is Ethan Bodnar. Here you will find my thoughts, ideas, and stories on design, the internet, life and more.
I am graphic designer, blogger, author, and entrepreneur
I am a high school senior and plan on attending college for graphic design.
To design, draw, photograph, and ultimately, to create. To connect with people sitting next to me and across the globe. To be a creative thinker and solve problems and imagine change. This is what I live for and this is who I am.
I have collaborated with well-known artists, published authors and respected bloggers from around the world on projects that I have created myself. Furthermore, I have developed a network of web designers, bloggers, artists, entrepreneurs, authors, and more in order to connect with them and have conversations about creativity, trends, and ideas.
I have been invited to speak at conferences, take part in digital books, start businesses, take part in internships in California and New York City, and have attended conferences for design and online advertising.
I live in a suburban town with my parents, two brothers, and four cats. Thanks for coming and I hope you enjoy the blog.
Grab Bag Book
I am the author and curator of a collaborative visual book that is being published by F+W Publication’s HOW Books. It is a book about 100 artists who explore their creativity by trying new disciplines and mediums and will be available in Spring 2009. Learn more at www.grabbagbook.com
Backwards
This is a book about what is wrong in the world and how to fix our problems. It takes a look at my original ideas on how we can create new systems and re-work old systems to solve global issues. Learn more at www.backwards.ethanbodnar.com
Videos for Creative
This is a website and blog that I made which features videos from the online creative community. Visit the site at www.videos.ethanbodnar.com
Thank You
Who I am and what I have done would not have been possible without some great people. Thanks to my Mom and Dad, for they are the ones who raised me, provided me with so many things, and have taught me so much. Thanks to my teachers, they are the ones who have educated me in the many subjects that make up this world. Thanks to my readers, you are the ones that I have created this place for. Thanks to all of the people that I have met and connected with online, I am ever so grateful for what you have shown me and inspired me to do. And thanks to the people that I will meet someday, the stories, ideas, and thoughts that we share will be the best gift anyone could give me. And for that future when our paths cross, I am grateful. Thank you.
The Story
A year and a half ago I discovered blogs and the new internet. Since that day, I have read many blogs and have explored the new internet made up of web application, communities, and people. For a year after that I had dreamed of starting a blog that I could call my own. This place would be where I could share my stories, thoughts, and ideas with people. And, here it is. Thanks for coming.
The Future
I look forward to pursuing an education in graphic design and using my creative thinking to have a positive impact on the world through design in both conventional and new ways of expression. I wish to imagine, learn, and explore the world in which we live and the many aspects and people within it.
Colophon
Made on a Mac, using Wordpress and the K2 theme.
Visit my main website at www.ethanbodnar.com
And of course you can see where else I have content online, from videos to photos, in the sidebar under “Elsewhere”.
Getting Things Done is about being more productive. The system works like this.
1. You take stuff and put it in the inbox.
2. Empty the inbox and decide if you can take action on it.
3. If no, you trash it, file it for reference, or add it to a someday/maybe list.
4. If yes, decide what the next action is.
5. If it is a project, add it to the projects list and your project plans.
6. If it will take less then two minutes, do it.
7. If it will take more then two minutes, delegate it or defer it.
8. When you defer it, you add it to your calendar or next actions list.
For more information see Merlin Mann’s post on the system.
There are many ways that you can implement this system. Here is how I did it.
1. I have an physical inbox at my house, I use index cards to add ideas to my inbox.
2. I use Backpack for my someday/maybe list and next actions list.
3. I use Mori for project planning and project lists.
4. I use file folders for my reference system.
5. I use a HIpsterPDA at school for homework.
Thats about it. I encourage all of you to go buy this book and start doing what it says.
We have been going to the same video store forever. We love it. The prices are good. The people are nice. And they normally have what we want. About two years ago Blockbuster moved into a new retail development with a parking lot to small for their business. Now I don’t like Blockbuster for several reasons.
First, their prices are higher then our video store. Second, they don’t seem to have what we want. Third, you can’t reserve a movie like at the other store. And lastly it always crowded and you can’t ask the owner if they saw a movie you are thinking about getting. My dad and I can never figure out why everybody goes there. Too bad for them.