What began as an exercise in my sophomore typography class has become the primary focus of my research. LMNOBeasts™ is a brand of educational products that teaches children to identify letter shapes by leveraging the expressive power of typefaces. Storytime springs to life as words transform into a menagerie of creatures. 

LMNOBeasts™ is also a teaching model for my Innovative Product Design class. Most of the work in this gallery is geared towards branding and prototype development as an example of what a small team can accomplish with limited resources. A Kickstarter campaign is currently in development to fund the publication of a hardcover storybook that will lay a foundation for the LMNOBeasts™ universe.

With help from colleagues in speech pathology, I presented the first LMNOBeasts™ study to the International Toy Research Association's 2014 World Congress. Our work will be soon published in a hardcover journal documenting the proceedings.

This LMNOBeasts™ spinoff re-imagines the game of horse shoes as a lesson in type. Rival typefaces—Helvetica vs. Arial—battle it out as players learn the subtleties of type design. The U's are cut from 3/8" steel providing a hands-on example of the difference between light and bold type. 

My love for screen printing and bookmaking takes an entrepreneurial turn to create Padorama™. After perfecting my process through countless classroom demonstrations I decided to launch a brand of handmade screen printed products. I emphasize the physicality of the process by incorporating textured materials, phosphorescent inks, and laser etching.

I take the concept several steps further with my S.O.S. pad—an emergency notepad for outdoors enthusiasts. Key features include: neoprene covers that provide buoyancy when shrink-wrapped; glow-in-the-dark crosses; reflective binding tape; supply checklist; signal mirror; instructions for building a signal fire; and a fresnel lens fire starter.

Some of the work I enjoy most is designing and printing merch packages for independent bands. My most recent work is for Chief and the Hounds. They wanted a hand-printed aesthetic for their new album to exemplify the artistry and craftsmanship of their work. The screen printing process can accomplish this with a high degree of customization. All of the posters you see here were printed in one run as paper and ink changed along the way.

Faculty Show posters are some of the many gallery projects I created for the School of Design. As with all my projects, I approached the job as a teaching opportunity. Both posters tackle the problem of presenting a unifying image without favoring any one department or medium.

Every art student follows the same core curriculum, regardless of major. Therefore, I chose painting and drawing to reflect the universal experience all art majors share. A balance between disciplines is achieved by pairing studio-influenced visuals with aggressively styled typography. 

The 2006 poster delves deeper into process by incorporating vintage signage stencils I found while taking students on a one-day research road trip. I wanted the design to appear hand-drawn, so with grad student help I created a set of Photoshop brushes from hand-sketched letters. 1,980 brushes and hundreds of thousands of clicks later the 2006 poster was completed.

One of my responsibilities on the Gallery Committee was to produce an assortment of promotional materials including posters. I took advantage of this opportunity to design examples for my layout classes. This explains the strong grid-based appearance. The first example in this gallery is a series that uses a simple modular layout that 'devolves' as the design progresses.

I designed this poster while serving on our recruitment committee. I took the same universal image approach as I did with the Faculty Show posters. This time I used a tack board as the subject matter, with a pushpin becoming an iconic reference to the art school experience. 

The design is two-sided providing separate micro and macro viewpoints—each side stands on its own. This technique highlights the process which used a state-of-the-art digital adapter for a 4x5 camera. The 21"x33" closeup of the pushpin is a 1:1 reproduction meaning the original image was used without enlarging.

When the time came I naturally designed and printed our invitations. The design was inspired by Thorncrown Chapel and its architect, E. Fay Jones.

The entire package was printed on Neenah's Classic Crest duplex which is two papers sandwiched together—smooth cream over green with laid columns. My original plan was to laser etch the type on the invitation by removing the cream layer to expose the green. The process worked but was ultimately too time consuming, so I settled on printing instead. 

I designed the poster for an exhibition of work by me and a colleague, Patrick Miller. Both our last names start with M, hence the title of the show. With this project I wanted to incorporate two new processes into my work: laser etching; and an interference varnish.

The paper I used was created for gift boxes for department stores—natural kraft with a thin layer of white ink on one side. The brown 'printing' is actually laser etched through the white to reveal the natural paper underneath.

The blue ink is covered by a layer of Golden's interference color which switches from iridescent purple to green depending on the angle of light, similar to a beetle or butterfly wing. This effect works best on dark colors so I printed a limited run on black wth gold ink replacing the laser etching.

The M cloud is built up using scans of prints made from pieces of wood type. 

A fun poster I designed for art festivals. My work often includes a humorous element so for this print I played around with some phosphorescent ink. Spooky glow-in-the-dark eyes appear when the lights go out.

In 2003 I collaborated with DA Advertising (who gave me my first job out of college) to create a pro-bono poster series for the Louisiana Art and Science Museum. The LASM was undergoing major renovations and the museum director wanted to produce a poster campaign to coincide with the grand re-opening.

Much of the design was based on a new identity program LASM had established. The minimal aesthetic was driven by necessity since there was no budget for photography of any kind—I used my friend's children as stand-ins then created a vector rendering. In 2003 the series was recognized by the Advertising Federation of Baton Rouge with a gold and silver ADDY Award.

Soon after grad school I partnered with three friends from Seattle to design a new product that would provide a service never before offered. We founded TrafficGuage Inc. with the mission to deliver real-time traffic information where it’s needed most to reduce wasted time and unnecessary stress on the road.

I was responsible for branding, packaging, UI, and web design. The original device was low-tech and utilitarian by necessity and design. As a small startup we couldn't afford to develop for anything more complex than an LCD display. However, this played into our minimalist 'gauge' approach to keep the interface simple and avoid distraction while driving. Ultimately, our service moved into the virtual realm with mobile apps, and the display graphics became more advanced.

Of course, we were soon overtaken by giants like Garmin, Google, and Apple. After a few successful years the company was sold. In it's short time TrafficGauge® received high praise from media outlets such as NBC, ABC, NPR, Autoweek, Discovery Channel, New York Times, Popular Science, and Wired who gave it a 10/10.

I was commissioned to design an illuminated floor and vehicle graphics for a customized Airstream Skydeck. The RV was conceived to be a state-of-the-art mobile music venue and VIP lounge, so naturally the floor is sync'd to the sound system and pulses to the beat of the music via strips of LEDs.

Given the trippy nature of the project I decided to incorporate ChromaDepth® 3D technology into the design. The result created imagery that moves in space as the floor changes color and intensity. The jungle path artwork was meticulously composed of thousands of digitally enhanced elements to give a surreal complexity that heightens the experience. The exterior graphics carry over the 3D aesthetic using layers of WanderLust™ emblems in a cloud over an embossed metal texture.

This client also commissioned an art car for Burning Man that was designed by one of my former grad students, Sarah Plaia Davidson, and piloted by your's truly on several occasions. 

This print commemorates the retirement of Doug Wadden, who was one of my professors at the University of Washington. This was my second attempt at CMYK screen printing—the first was a complete disaster. The trick(s)? Extend your ink at least 50%, set the screen angle of each separation to 22.5, and use the smoothest uncoated paper you can find.  

Sento at Sixth and Main: Preserving Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage documents 10 places significant in Japanese/American heritage. Its purpose is to develop a clearer understanding of the meanings these sites hold in the collective memory of Nikkei communities in the American West, and to help build a new constituency for preserving these overlooked cultural resources.

Based on my work documenting the 2000 WTO riots, I was asked by the designer, Karen Cheng, to be a contributing photographer. I traveled to Japanese/American communities in Los Angeles and Seattle to photograph and document the history and lives of the people who lived there.

The book, and its photography, was honored by the University and College Designers Association and the American Institute of Graphic Arts.