More Chi-town

The O.C. - Orange City, Iowa that is...

Last week I was in the exciting little town of Orange City, Iowa for work. Mainly I was there to do some more training to set up designs for screenprinting and embroidery. In my down time, however, I managed to get around town and shoot some of the interesting character of the buildings. The town has a Dutch immigrant background and they are very proud of their heritage. Looking at a few of these shots you may think you're in the Netherlands, but I assure you the cornfields are within arm's reach.

Signs from Chicago

Chicago from the Rooftops

Cleveland

MS Society Dinner of Champions

Last May Jess White, a friend from KU's Design School, and I began collaborating on designs for Kansas City's Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. The MS Society holds a banquet each year called the "Dinner of Champions" where they honor an individual from the community that has contributed a lot to their cause. This year's honoree was Tom Bowser, head of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City. Jess and I came up with several ideas for the look of the dinner materials, and then worked with the MS Society to pick a direction. I think it's important to continue to do a certain amount of pro bono design work along with more commercial pieces. This was a project that was a pleasure to work on because it brought awareness to a disease that is not always well understood. For the look of the designs we ended up going with a modern, yet elegant design that incorporated a bright color palette with suggestions of sophistication. The blue pattern is from a photograph I took while touring the Brown Mansion in Coffeyville, Kansas. The orange and blue colors worked with the current brand guidelines of the MS Society nationally. The Dinner of Champions was held last Thursday night at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, and it ended up being a great night and nice culmination to the project.

Movie of the Week: Citizen Kane

Niagara Falls