Quite a while ago we got an invitation from [hyperwerk] in Basel (Switzerland) to give a speech about going abroad. All right… We were away, we had a request and we had definitely no idea how to fill four (!) lessons with rich content. However, we did not start with preparing for the speech… Instead we decided, we have to bribe the students with a personal gift. So we started to order cardboard, did screenprint, bought a corner rounder and invested a shitload of work to produce an edition of sixty fans. But in the end we couldn’t sneak around the preparations for the day itself.
Apart of a loose of orientation in Basel we had an awesome time. The school is situated in the heart of the inner city and its building is astonishing beautiful. For the first time we saw in real, what we knew since years from the webpage – the hyperwerk! What a great concept for a school. The responsibility to set a focus of the study is delegated to the students themselves. They can choose between many teachers, workshops and topics. And we were part of it! If you also like to see what we did, you can download the [presentation | pdf 151MB] or the same with [less pictures | pdf 60MB].

We crossed the country, experienced wonderful moments and people, saw a lot of nature and got in contact with so many people. But after all it's time to say goodbye. While Michael is taking a flight to Cancun, Stefan is going inland by bus. We spent two month together in a land, in a car and in a move. And even when we had a few difficulties – all in all it was an experience we will never loose! So we say thanks to our readers and see you soon. Michael & Stefan

On our last days of our graphic-road-trip Michael thought, it would be a good idea at least once to use our silk-screen-material, which we bought a few weeks ago in San Francisco. but we realized, that we didn't had all necessary things to do it. So he decided to do it in his own way. The resalt was a poster with the title «(no) more mr. niceguy», which is his summary for our time in america. If you need any explanations, so just ask him.

We where out. It was late and we were loud. Kernel something who fought in the first and second Iraq war, who gets retired in a few month and who tries to run – beside his job on the air-force-base – the tour-guide-business of his parents in the night, picked us up when we where about to go home. So late at night we couldn't resist his eloquent speeches and we followed him blind on his nightly tour in San Antonio. Despite he had a strong accent and Michael might had one ore two beers, he pointed us some interesting points and showed us on a map where we had to go the day after. So we did at least a little trip to the public library. That thing was huge and beside a friendly stuff and a cool coffee shop (Michael won a filter-coffee) there is a bright coloured architecture. Interesting spot and certainly worth follow a stranger in the dark.

Not only that the miss-teenager/high-school/whatever-final was in the city when we where there. No. We also had the chance to see three concerts of the highest league. First we saw a minimal music composer Nick Hennies from Austin. His composition was reduced to the max and he also involved the whole place in his play. After such a night you know why you have to go out and not just consume the CD. Best! The day after we saw Ian Moore with his new CD-release concert, a few local headliners and his fans from his hometown Austin. Little Brave was the last concert in S.A. the young lady is an interesting singer-songwriter who gave for here CD-release an artistic show with many volunteers, costumes, a huge band and an extensive commitment she was able to bring in this only show.

Our last spot was San Antonio. First when we reached a new city we snatched the magazine «weekly», which is for free and where you can find some interesting gigs around the place. We were lucky guys because we read that March is the contemporary art month with many different spots to visit. Maybe some crazy days for us...

Everyone who ever was in Alamogordo could have been there for two reasons; 1) a sand dune so with and empty like a sheet of paper. 2) The air-force-base. We did both of it. First the air-force-base with bowling alley and the next day the sand. But the rangers at the dunes where definitely more open-minded then the air-force-guys – they took a small entrance fee and everything was fine. Whereas the solder agreed that there are bowling alley on their terrain but when we don't have a military permission we could not even get close to that. Hmm... But anyway – Stefan’s favourite in Alamogordo was the only (worth mentioning) restaurant in town with a bar, good food and cool waitresses (thanks for the tip with the bowling...) so we slicked to feast.

We entered a place filled with concrete boxes and empty roads in-between – no human being somewhere. Welcome to Phoenix. Oh my gosh. Not that Phoenix is a little village – no no it's a real city. But our first impression was not fulfilling – not at all.  But after a fast-food-diner we picked up the local going-out-mag. So we had a small guide to find out where we could go. And luckily we where; we found a street with a lot of alternative culture going on. We had a kind of a «wild night» (you know us... we're not wild at all... but we pretend sometimes to be like that.) with a few bars, CD-release-party, bonfire, third class local artists and quadrilimilitrilions of thins we will never tell you.

First we thought it's just a funny road-sign – or we don't understand it correct. It was trying to communicate that there could be ice on the road. We where kidding about it and still had in mind how warm it was when we said goodbye to L.A. What no one told us, was that the Grand Canyon is quite elevated and when we saw the snow in the woods we know, that we got the sign completely right. But too late; Michael had just an autumn sleeping bag and we hade to sleep out in the car. Outch! Minus ten Celsius. So after he phoned to his wife Deborah to say a few kind words (just in case), he had to promise to Stefan that he's not going to die. He kept his word and the next day we made a walk down to the valley and the more we came down the less snow we saw and the more spring it became. Amazing! An awesome spot and because it was not season it was also absolute calm. Perfect!

All right. I mean we are fucking Europeans. So we always get the news about USA filtered through the medias. And of curse only sensation and drama reach’s us. That’s also the reason, we already heard about the «intelligent design movement» in the stats. But today we became witnesses of that crude (in our opinion) branch of the Christians. On the way back from desert hot springs to L.A. we made a short stop in a kind of an [attraction-park-museum-thing] in Cabazon. The place was all over dinosaurs and why they are not extinguished and why evolution in general is a wrong model to see the world. At one hand it was quite amusing on the other hand we started to worry about the mental constitution of such people. But yea lets wrap it in Charles words; Survival of the Fittest.

After our first week in L.A. we where astonished by the huge waste of a city we were confronted with. Because April was not able to offer us a place to stay, she sent us to the desert hot springs outside of the city. There she runs a little spa [Miracle Manor] and we spent a few nights in that beautiful surrounding. We went to the Joshua national Tree Park to have a hike and to proof that the Swiss-guys are still able to climb mountains. – Ok these were rocks but anyway...
And of course; we also enjoyed eating pizza on the bed looking film and doing nothing. After the last few weeks of a hurry (holiday is sometimes sooo hard…) we thought it's time to lay back.

Today we went to Kent’s workspace to get an idea what the friend of Allan an Chiyoko is working on and also to discuss how we could represent him in a small webpage to push his artistic and also his professional work. What we saw was the documentation of a great career in film business and different fine art pieces, which seams to have some opulent and dens notes in common. And of course it was also obvious that his really cool dog Walter is in love with the neighbour’s hound. After the briefing with Kent and a brainstorming between us two we came to the conclusion that it must be something truely simple. More like a c.v. than a website: [www.kentallenjones.com]
[Kent Allen Jones – Recent Projects]

Since we started our walkabout a few weeks ago in the states, our English improved anyway. It’s not that we came here to work on our register or vocabulary, it just happens when you have to communicate. The people are always really helpful and when we don't get something they try to explain, so that also the Swiss-guys have a chance.
But let's talk about the [Getty Center]. Today we've been to Brentwood, because a couple in a coffee place (the same spot we met Allan) told us we have to see the free museum of Jean Paul Getty on that little hill. And they where right. Beside it is absolutely free (also the little train to the top) it also offers an astounding view over L.A.! On the Top there is an immense building complex. Beside different administrative constructions of the Getty Research Center there is also the huge J. Paul Getty Museum. And because it is open till late we almost missed the BBQ-party at Allan’s house. But at the end of the day we knew how oil-Tycoons invest their money in art and how a BBQ-party works in the stats (we had in the beginning some minor issues...).

Today we sat in a coffee-corner and had a discussion where we want to stay in L.A. The first night we spend in our car. But now it’s the time to have a shower. A man at the other table overheard our conversation and before he left, he gave us his address and a warm invitation to park our van in front of his compound and use his facilities. After Michael convinced Stefan that the bald man can't be a serial-killer, we followed the directions and ended in a little oases direct in Venice (part of the city). Wow. Allan’s wife Chiyoko runs such a beautiful garden and a rich decorated house in a huge compound. What we didn't know at this time was the fact, that we will spend in the next three weeks so many wonderful hours with Allan, Chiyoko and their beautiful friends. They would invite us to party’s, concerts, best Japanese diners and many many more. As a little reward we made for Allan (film producer) a little website: [www.allanmoyle.com]

Jean-Benoît helped us to find the next studio southward of San Francisco. He told us we should definitely try to convince [April Greiman] to let us work for here. We did that with a video in [animated typography] because we knew she is doing all kind of media design. And after a few mails from Jean-Benoît and us we were got an ok to start as fast as possible.
After a nightly drive straight towards Los Angeles and a breakfast on the well known «walk of fame» we arrived her studio called «made in space».
April and her crew gave us a welcome and also a lot of work. During the next week we will prepare a [presentation] about the history of type and also about the fine points in typography. We also gathered a lot of addresses, tips and information from the employee. Sensational! A huge city and tones of advises in our notebooks. We will see, what we are able to glimpse in such a short time.

The architect and star Frank Owen Gehry build a few things in his hometown Los Angeles. From the early years in his professional career until now he completed a large number of building here. But one of the most famous construction in town is the [Walt Disney Concert Hall] (2003). Although we were not able to go inside, it was one of the very rare moments on our trip where we were able to see world-class architecture in live!

Although we were not longer than 12 hours in town we already attend to a speech in the [Architecture and Design Museum]. We saw [Colin Schaelli] in a presentation about his work and his approach in design. The museum showed the «Design Preis Schweiz» (design award Switzerland) witch was brought to L.A. by the [swissnex] (a firm witch tries to connect the dots between Switzerland and North America).

Today we've been to a co-working space in downtown. For a few dollars you can rent there a desk for a day. They also have events in the field of graphic on a regular base. Although the atmosphere was quite "clean" we were very pleased with the fact that you are able to have your own desk in a city witch is not yours. Great concept!

Since 2009 Stefan is fascinated by the work of zimoun (Swiss artist) but he was never able to see a piece of him in live. However here in San Francisco we crossed accidently an exhibition witch was under construction. But we were already able to see that the artist must be zimoun (dc-motors are a good indicator).  Today was the [opening] and we were able to go there to see his exceptionally art. Sometimes the world feels like a village but every now and then the village feels like a world –we had to travel all around the world to see a Swiss guys exhibition.

Close to the cca is a small typesetting space and it is also a center for all topics around the book. On their [website] they claim «We’re a place where you can learn about the many arts and crafts of the book.» And that’s exactly what it looks like. There are old presses and a bunch of sets of letters.

Today we've been to [Volume Inc.] Eric and Adam (owners) presented us their company and also their interesting works and concepts for their clients. The successful entrepreneurs have around 4 employees and a huge range of clients, freelancers and medias they work with

Yikes! Stefan already spotted the yahoo-Poster but thought it must be just another screen-poster. But JB spotted us that it’s an interactive Touchscreen. We gave the bus stop derby a try but to us the games doesn’t seam to be that cool. But of course the idea with the interactivity while you are waiting for the bus is just brilliant. It’s the time where the computers get touchy so the ads do.

Our first contact here in San Francisco to the local Graphic Scene is Jean-Benoît Lévy. Even tough he’s originally a Swiss he lives here since years and has his own atelier here. Michael got his contact and he was open-minded enough to meet up with two graphic travellers like us. After spending a lot of time and a coffee he invited us to his house and encouraged us to work on our blog and gave us a lot of inputs for San Francisco and our journey in general. A valuable meeting to workout how our journey could progress. We’ll see what’s next.

Michael is always hunting for new murals and interesting stencils. The Fibonacci Numbers [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number] close to a bus-stop where one of our favourites because of the simplicity in graphics and the whole theory behind. But of course we also liked the more figurative stuff. These things are catchy for sure…
Inspired of the artist with the little yellow robots close to many pedestrians Michael made a San Francisco Poster with that little bugger.

While we where in the city for our administrative errands to get all the paperwork done for our car, we crossed time by time quite interesting walls. We saw collages, stencils and posters from independent artists as well as legal paintings on shops and bars. Like in many other cities we see daily different areas with complete other faces. While the inner city lacks a bit on artistic additions, the quarter close to Haight-Street seamed to be a good spot to see what’s going on in this field of graphic and art.

After sketching and planning is our Pontiac Montana now redy to get modified. Our handcraft skills are not one hundred percent professional but whit the slaphappy mood we where in, it was a good time we spent to saw, screw and rattle. And in the end we had our car ready to pack up and still enough space to have a cosy bed in the back. Jeah!

San Francisco. Peninsula. A place with vibrating lifestyles. Stefan did a poster for the city. Do you spot the typography in it?

Hello Frisco!!! Im USA-Hostel angekommen haben wir uns gleich nach einem Fahrzeug schlau gemacht. Uns schwebt ein Van vor, in diesem wir auch kochen und übernachten können. Uns haben viele CH-Zungen gewarnt, es dürfe recht schwer sein, in den USA als Tourist ein Auto zu kaufen. Doch waren wir bereits bei drei Autohändlern, die alle fanden, es sei kein Problem. Doch müssen wir noch einiges an Admin-Kram erledigen, bis wir die grossen Macker mit aus-dem-Fenster-schauenden-Ellbögen raushängen können: Auto-Wahl treffen, US-Konto eröffnen, Postfach beantragen, Versicherungskram etc... So weilen wir sicher noch eine Woche in S.F., bis es weiter südwärts geht.

Nun ist es auch endlich soweit, dass ich mit unserer Site zufrieden bin und somit setze auch ich einen Startpunkt. Wohl noch aus meiner Stube, mit einem Gedanken jedoch schon fast im Flieger. In 4 Tagen geht es auch für mich los nach San Francisco, wo unser gemeinsames Projekt startet. Ich bin gespannt, ob unsere verrückte Idee irdendwo auf dem amerikanischen Kontinent Fuss fasst oder ob wir 90 Tage in unserem Van, den's noch gar nicht gibt, verbringen...
Ich freue mich wie ein kleiner Caminante Grafico auf die bevorstehende Zeit. Hasta pronto!

Nachdem ich nun diverse male mich gedrück hatte, die caminantes-grafico-Site fertig zustellen, ist es nun soweit, dass wir online gehen. Obwohl Michi noch dies und das zu beklagen hat, geht es jetzt mal mit dieser ersten Version los.
Immerhin bin ich in einer  Woche schon fast im Flieger und da muss ja mal die Hintertüre zur Heimat geöffnet werden. Doch auch für den Blick in die Zukunft soll die Site dienen. Nun können wir Mails versenden um alfällige Atelier-Besitzer auf unserer Reise besuchen zu können. Ich freue mich auf caminantes grafico!