URBAN ART: SHEPARD FAIREY

There's a chance you may not know Shepard Fairey's name, but unless you've been without a TV or any kind of news in the last few months, you'll recognize his art shown at right.

Fairey's iconic image of President Barack Obama has been shown on newscasts, plastered on walls and telephone polls across the nation, and featured on magazine covers such as TIME and Esquire. Just last week, an original of the Obama HOPE image was also selected into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian. 

Two months ago while I was in LA, I came across an original Obama poster that had been stapled to a telephone pole in Silver Lake. I didn't want to pull down the poster with a lot of people around, so I awoke at 4 a.m. and drove back to the place where I'd seen the poster. When I went to take down the poster, I saw that the bottom of the poster (and every other other poster on the block) had been ripped off. Unlike the "HOPE" image above, the poster on the pole was the "OBEY" Obama poster. I can only assume that the individual who tore off the OBEY on the poster, thought that OBEY was referring to something derogatory, and didn't know that OBEY is actually Shepard Fairey's tag that he has become known for in the urban art world.

I took the image anyway and have it hanging in my design studio office. It reminds me of the campaign, the hope that a lot of people are looking toward for the future, and it is a reminder that not everyone who comes into contact with your art will understand or agree with it.

CHARACTER APPROVED

Check out this great video of Shepard Fairey explaining his art and processes.

Other urban artists and sites you should check out:

WK Interact (NY street artist)

Wooster Street Collective (Street art collective in NY)

100 Artworks (urban art from the UK or sale)

Art Crimes (Best of Graffiti art sites)

Have fun.

-Daniel

FINDING A JOB

With the economy in dire straights and companies across design industries announcing freelance hiring freezes, this seems like a good time to offer up some valuable ways for our current and past students to find potential employment.

One of the questions students ask me on a regular basis is "How do I find a job in the design industry?"

This is always a great question, and I want to offer some links on where to look if you're one of our students who already has a portfolio and a bit of experience.

Indeed.com is a link that was just sent to me by John Avakian, Statewide Director of the Multimedia & Entertainment Initiative. Indeed.com is a great resource. Go to the site and type in "freelance design" or "freelance graphic"and "California" and take look at the large number of jobs (163) that pop up in the search results.

For local work, craigslist Chico is a great site to check on a regular basis. I check the site at least once a week, and often end up sending e-mails to students I think might be interested in specific postings.

Checking today, there are postings for: (School Portrait Photographer), (Wedding Photographer), (Apparel Graphic Designer), (Web Graphic Designer), (Sign Maker Assistant).

Below is a list of design and technology related job links:

Craigslist Chico: local jobs. Click California and then "art/media" to see recent jobs.

Creative Hotlist: Jobs for creative professionals and portfolio site.

Reel Exchange: A professional networking website connecting film and video professionals with clients and collaborators.

KROP: Creative and Tech jobs

Computer Love/Coroflot: Design and Tech jobs.

GURU: Providing/connecting freelancers for design projects

HOW design magazine: job bank and portfolio resources.

Indeed: Design jobs

While I'm listing job sites, I think it's also important to give some links for agencies (temp agencies) that hire temporary and full-time positions for the design industries:

Aquent: Check out the agencies video resources.

Big Creative: Freelance, Project-based, Permanent

Visuals: Freelance and direct-hire for creatives.

Artisan Creative: Finding jobs for top creative talent

The Creative Group: Marketing and advertising jobs

If you have any links for creative jobs that aren't listed here, send them our way.

-Daniel

ART IS WORK: MILTON GLASER

I recently purchased a great book featuring the work and writings of renowned designer and artist, Milton Glaser, titled "Art is Work". Glaser is known for his posters, illustrations and logos, such as the "I Love New York" logo that has become a recognizable icon for New York, and has been replicated around the world.

In the introduction to "Art is Work", Glaser discusses the defintion of Art:

"If one of the definitions we have concerning art is that it serves its public by reflecting and explaining the world at a particular moment in history, it is hard to believe that design does not serve in a similar way. …There seems to be much confusion about what we mean when we use the word art. I have a recommendation. We eliminate the word art and replace it with work and develop the following descriptions:

1. Work that goes beyond its functional intention and moves us in deep and mysterious ways we call great work.

2. Work that is conceived and executed with elegance and rigor we call good work.

3. Work that meets its intended need honestly and without pretense we call simply work.

4. Everything else, the sad and shoddy stuff of daily life, can come under the heading of bad work.

This simple change could eliminate anxiety for thousands of people who worry about whether they are artists or not, but this would not be its most significant consequence. More important, it could restore art to a central, useful activity in daily life – something for which we have been waiting for a very long while."

Glaser's words, not just within the Intro to the book, but also within the book's interview with Glaser, chapter lead-ins, the Role of the Poster, The Monet Project, and other chapters focusing on specific design and art elements, are well worth reading and offer up more insights into art and design. 

To watch Glaser speak personally about his work, Hillman Curtis has a great video of the designer speaking about Art as Work, in Curtis' Artist Series located on his Web site, hillmancurtis.com. You can also head on over to miltonglaser.com to see more of Glaser's work.

Not having gone through formal training in either art or design, I missed the educational challenges that many artists and designers I've spoken with had to endure; art instructors putting down designers and design programs because design wasn't "art", commercial art instructors forcing students to adhere to strict definitions of design, rather than allowing exploration within the media.

If you have stories to tell about your experiences in either direction, let me know and I'll share them with our readers.

-Daniel