Category Archives: WORK

this is the stuff I get paid to do.

nomad

room with a view

Well… It’s official… We’re moving our studio. The talks with our friends with the loft downtown were successful and they’re going to let us set up shop in the corner of their HUGE space in exchange for design services.

Technically, for a myriad of bureaucratic reasons, we’re not really there. We’ll simply be vendors working on-site for a client… Our “official” business will be nomadic… (yes – there’s a way you can actually do that – and it requires carrying your business license in your car… The city of St. Louis is tedious when it comes to working with small businesses.

view overlooking Washington Ave.

The building is mid-restoration. Still dirty and funky… A welcome change from the dry-walled, drop-ceiling cave we work out of now. The building is primarily inhabited by photographers, artists and other designers and sits at the corner of the newly revitalized “urban-hipster” part of town. (St. Louis’ latest, mega-expensive, effort to gentrify downtown.) The area is peppered with lofts, night clubs, boutique stores and restaurants.

While anything dictated by someone else as “cool and hip” generally makes me snarl – I think the change in environment will be stimulating.

We’ll be taking over my friend, Jeanette’s old space. She gave us permission to box up her stuff which still sits frozen in time from when her and her husband moved to LA. It’s a corner with a great view but I’m afraid of heights so I’ll probably sit back from the window a ways.

I’m really nervous.
I’m really excited.
I’m really not blogging.

free lunch foiled

we do windows

Ran BACK down to the restaurant client’s to throw up one more vinyl on a door from the previously botched self-install attempt.
I figured it’ll be a decent excuse to get us out of the office and mooch a free lunch. nadoz interior

The manager wasn’t there and the newbie staff had no idea who we were so we wound up paying for lunch. Not a big deal – the food is actually quite good. Five bucks will get you a side of Asian Pasta Salad (stupid good) and a nummy chicken breast sandwich with olives, roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella, and some form of shi-shi spread.

I was really worried about how the restaurant was going to look when they began construction, previously not-blogged, but it turned out way less* hideous than I thought it would. The layout / flow is wonky – but at least the interior drekorator put enough black design elements into the space to jive with my stuff. (Their identity is all based on mega-cheap one-color black print).

Definitely not the most progressive / interesting ID I’ve ever done, but given the parameters, the budget and client’s satisfaction, – I’m happy.

It’s always cool to see a project get implemented in the real world. The client’s pretty cool about letting me fuss over details like the little cards which label the carafes at the coffee refill station.

So.. I can’t bitch…. I can’t blog either.

nadoz identity

favors

suthukuzi, seen by suzy

Sunday was an exercise in distraction from what’s normally my coveted day of rest.

Got up early and ran to my dad’s house to put some software on his newly acquired G5. What was initially intended to be a 45 minute visit turned into two hours as I wrestled with drivers to make his scanner and printer work with Panther.

Returned home to pick up the boys and head to Sonic for a tasty brunch and then to Borders to replenish our readables at the house.

Got home in time for my ritual Sunday nap to be awoken later by a phone call from my mom’s friend Suzy Gorman who is undisputedly the top fashion photographer in St. Louis.

Apparently she had an emergency gig that a less reliable graphic designer had dropped the ball on. Not having anyone else to turn to, she called me in a panic.

She was leaving in 9 hours to deliver photos, CDs and press kits for her friend Suthukuzi Arozi, an African celebrity / singer who’s recently come to the US and is currently touring with The Lion King.

Feeling charitable, and a certain degree of mishpochah, I agreed to meet her at my office.

Suzy…. Half Chinese, half mixed anglo with long, straight jet black hair and a decidedly blue-collar sense of fashion. Mannerism? – Think Patti Smith.

album covers

She jumped from her vintage Suburban, materials in-hand, cursing the designer that had failed her.. Suzy’s got a mouth on her that would make the saltiest of sea dogs blush.

Between “cunt” “bitch” “fuck” – she was able to articulate the project and we got to work.

In the next four hours we cranked out a bio sheet, packaging and labeling for the stack of promotional CDs she had brought.

Between running prints we got a chance to shoot the shit, which was nice. We hadn’t really had any “hang out” time before.

By the time is was all said and done – I didn’t get my ass in bed till 2am. It’s o.k. though – because I got to cultivate a friendship with another unique person to add to my collection of strange friends.

Plus it’s reassuring professionally to have the city’s top fashion shooter owing me big time favors.

Between prints I showed her some of my photo work which she said she liked. (deeply flattering) – I explained most of my photos were for this trendy online journal thing which I don’t do.