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!
From the fairy building (san Francisco) we took the
boat to Sausalito. During half an hour we were able
to enjoy the beautiful sight and while we drank our
soda the sun trickled our skin.
In Sausalito we met
[Erik Adigard]
and he presented us his work and also the beautiful
houseboats in his hometown. How amazing was
that?!
He also showed us some project he did in the last
years and also current material. He has a truly free
method in getting design tasks done. Complete
different than the strict Swiss graphic but
especially interesting for us to see how other
people are working.
Wow. Today we attend to an epic session! [Kevin Kelly] had an impressive speech about «what technology wants». His theory handles technology itself equivalent like scientists think about species. He showed us parallels between the evolution of an organism and technology. It was absolute unclear what the whole monologue had to do with design even thought it was at the cca (local art academy). But of curse the audience was astonished. It was more about live and how we act in our world. That means the design aspect – as a part of the bigger question – was certainly covered. Great stuff! Wow!
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.
Today we went to [compost modern] to see what's next generation of sustainable design. After unsuccessfully trying to get a press-pass we managed to get at least the student-discount. We had both a bit fever and we didn't feel so well. Therefore it was hard do get all the high qualified speakers one hundred percent. But all in all it was a good experience to see how an US-congress is running and to get an idea of that topic.
Once again the cca (local art academy)! Today we saw a speech of Bill Moggridge. That was just awesome! He spoke about interaction design and why a straightforward idea can lead to success.
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
Every Friday [Jack Stauffacher] invites some friends to come together to meet and have a talk about life, design and poets. Lucky guys we are, we had the opportunity to go there with Jean-Benoît and we gathered a lot of ideas and impressions of the art- and design-scene close to the wharfs in San Francisco.
Today was our first official working day! We got two posters from Jean-Benoit Lévy to work on. One is about coffee and one is about an French restaurant. We decided to work at the same time on the same project. While Michael was doing the layout and composition, Stefan did the Illustrator-part.
Today is Michaels birthday! We thought we follow the recommendation of a French guy Michael met in the plain from Paris to San Francisco and go for a deluxe diner to Haight Street. But to be honest; the Jazz-Bar afterwards war much worth!
Our host published recently a new poster for a client back in Switzerland. So we not only enjoy the great bread in Jean-Benoît Lévy and Claudia Dallendörfer house, also we are surrounded by good design and Jean-Benoît organize us a lot of contacts with local graphic designers. Just Great! [Here] you can find JBs last Poster plus the story behind and of course the [Studio A N D] of Claudia and JB
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.
Three dimensions or five. On a nightly walk – left and right skyscrapers – Michael spotted a «housenumber» in an entrance-hall. Just a little impression but worth showing it here. A cube with five-sides.
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.
We were not sure what us will face in the «San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art». We expected to see
an Exhibition of a average collection. But we saw a
bunch of different artists, several medias and
hundreds of impressions. The range was wide enough
to cover also Street-Art and Product-Design. In the
atrium we where able to play with an interactive
light-spot.
We were not sure what us will face in the «San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art». We expected to see
an Exhibition of a average collection. But we saw a
bunch of different artists, several medias and
hundreds of impressions. The range was wide enough
to cover also Street-Art and Product-Design. In the
atrium we where able to play with an interactive
light-spot.
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.
Here in San Francisco are a couple of advertisement-methods we never saw before. But one of our favourites is the «gonzo-head-style». Unfortunately we were not on a Monday there but to be prepared we took a moustache with us.
