big tech
smiley
generator

week 1: big tech smiley generator
Generative flat illustrations in cheerful colors accompanied by office space buzzwords. Each composition sized as an Instagram post (1080x1080 px).

“friction” in pink, outlined black, above a blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a peach oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. To the right of the image is a warped Clippy.

“robust” in light blue, above a light blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a wide yellow oval as a torso. In the background are rolling hills and a blue sky.

“piggybacking” in pink, above a magenta smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a round yellow circle as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky.

“deepdive” in pink, outlined black, above a blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a yellow circle as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. At the top center is a warped Clippy.

“sprint” in purple, outlined white, above a wide blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a pink ellipse as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky.

“buzz” in green, outlined in a gray-blue hue, above a cyan smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a light yellow oval as a torso. In the background are rolling hills and a blue sky.

“rockstar” in purple, outlined olive green, above a lavender smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with an orange oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. In the top right, behind the smiley’s face is a semi-transparent Clippy.

“heavylifting” in red-purple, outlined in pink, above a light blue-gray smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a pink ellipse as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky.

“pivot” in bold green text outlined in red, above a light pink smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a light yellow-lime green oval as a torso. In the background are rolling hills and a blue sky.

“minimumviableproduct” in pink, outlined in purple, above a light blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a wide, round pink oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky.

“operationalize” in pink, outlined blue, above a hot pink/magenta smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a red-pink oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. To the left and right of the smiley are distorted and reflected images of Clippy.

“hero” in neon green, outlined in a warm golden yellow, above a cyan smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a light cream oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky.

“huddle” in a dark blue-gray, dotted/pixellated font, outlined in white, above a tall blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a large pink oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. Warped images of Clippy flank the word “huddle” to its left and right.

“ideate” in yellow, outlined brown, above a light purple smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a light yellow oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. Warped images of Clippy surround the smiley, stretched beyond recognition.

“nimble” in a heavy purple font outlined green, above a round purple smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a yellow oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky.

“datapoints” in teal, outlined dark blue, above a pink/purple smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a muted orange oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. Behind the smiley are squished images of Clippy.

“zoom” in orange, outlined in gold-brown, above a wide blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a coral/salmon oval as a torso. In the background are rolling hills and a blue sky.

“pivot” in a grassy green, outlined in a darker forest green, above a light purple smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a light cream-beige oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky.

“launch” in light pink, outlined in a darker pink, above a long blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a pastel red-orange oval as a torso. The background is of rolling hills and a blue sky, with an edge of a distorted image of Clippy appearing in the upper right corner.

“frictionless” in cyan, outlined in purple, above a bluish purple smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a red oval as a torso. The background is a duplicated image of rolling hills and a blue sky. Faint, distorted images of Clippy float about in the background.

some of my favorite process shots

“buzz” in a black textured receipt-like font, above a narrow light blue oval (as the head) with a cream-beige oval as the torso, against a white background.

“buzz” in a black textured receipt-like font, above a narrow light blue oval (as the head) with a cream-beige oval as the torso, against a white background.

“frictionless” in a magical, black angular font (as if a diamonds/sparkling stars), above a light lavender smiley face with a yellow oval as a torso. A nose and mouth are outlined in thin black strokes. The background is white.

“frictionless” in a heavy, tightly set black font, above a light blue smiley face (whose features are outlined in thick black brushstrokes) with a pink oval as a torso. The background is white.

This Drawbot program generates random compositions of a perpetually smiling blob figure positioned in front of the Windows Bliss wallpaper, with a looming office buzzword floating in the background. As a mishmash of a reflection on Corporate Memphis/big tech illustration, some of the program's text is sourced from “Stupid Stupid Office Words.”

4KB. Python.

week 2: Remake and Pressurebound
Typetesting for journal of undergraduate work and collaborative project with hza.

Screenshot of a draft of a page layout, black text on a white background. Title at the top reads 'Black Gooey Universe' with filler text below, in indented paragraphs.

Screenshot of a draft of a poster, in black text/images on a white background. 'PRESSUREBOUND' stretched tall and narrow, with the text 'Pressurebound is a lsl & hza collaboration with the goal of making art in a more honest way.' (A dagger stands in for the & symbol.) sitting above it. There is an image and three other pieces of text anchored at the top of the composition.

Screenshot of a draft of a poster, in black text/images on a white background. 'PRESSUREBOUND' stretched narrow and rotated on its side to sit at the left, taking up a column of space; entangled with it are the words 'lofigadgets' and 'glitterbitch' in a slightly bubbly font. To the top right corner is an unidentifiable image (likely a closeup of something) with two snippets of text stacked below. At the bottom right is the text 'Pressurebound is a lsl & hza collaboration with the goal of making art in a more honest way', where the & is replaced by a dagger symbol.

Screenshot of a draft of a poster, in black text/images on a white background. 'PRESSUREBOUND' stretched tall and narrow, positioned in the center of the composition. To its top left and bottom right are 'lsl' and 'hza' respectively, similarly stretched thin and long. At its top left and bottom right, 'PRESSUREBOUND' is intertwined with the words 'lofigadgets' and 'glitterbitch', both in a bubbly font. To the top and bottom of the composition are crops of an unidentifiable image and filler text, of which the top left paragraph reads 'Pressurebound is a lsl & hza collaboration with the goal of making art in a more honest way'. (The & is replaced with a dagger symbol.)

Screenshot of a draft of a poster, in black text/images on a white background. Two paragraphs of text sharply angled to form a 7-like diagonal composition, of which the uppermost paragraph reads 'Pressurebound is a lsl & hza collaboration with the goal of making art in a more honest way'. (The & is replaced with a dagger symbol.) The word 'PRESSUREBOUND' stretched tall and narrow in a black outline (with no fill) in the background. At the top and bottom of the composition are snippets of an unidentifiable image and some filler text.

Remake: started reorganizing the Are.na channel, created a Notion page for recordkeeping. First round of type lockups yields a primary body copy setup, now working on the exterior of the book.

Pressurebound: moodboard site created, made first drafts of posters to introduce the project.

This was a week of several in betweens, attention misplaced elsewhere.

assorted files. InDesign.

little lovely things

week 3: Untitled (little lovely things)
Finishing up a personal project put on hold.

a flyer with text 'WHO ARE YOU IDOLS?'' in a bold, black font in the center, pinned to a board.

a scanned image of a poster folded so that it's tented, receding from the surface of the scanner; the poster contains a few images and quotes.

a colorful poster with overlaid images of several people, as well as quotes from them.

a small folded booklet perched on its pages to resemble a house; it's placed on a gray surface. in the distance are trees and school buildings, against an overcast sky.

a colorful poster with overlaid images of several people, as well as quotes from them. the quotes circle around at the top of the poster, with dotted lines trailing down to correspond to their respective sources.

Compiling text from a questionnaire I put out last summer, I designed a foldable poster that doubles as a book home to people's responses to the following three questions:

what do you love?
what are you afraid of?
do you think we're united?

The poster contains quotes from Sea Oleena (Weaving A Basket), Bahamas ("Less Than Love"), Joy James, Grace Lee Boggs, and Mae Jemison.

8.5x11" (Letter).

week 4: computer grass is natural grass
Adapting a poster from the spring.

webpage with a light gray background: in a big sans serif font is the text '(growing... planted at midnight)' below a large flower/snowflake glyph and a symbol/glyph of a snowperson. Under the heading is more text about the website and a few buttons containing links to other URLs with relevant information. The text is a dark green.

Reinterpreting a poster as a microsite about interfaces, digital navigation/materiality (whatever this means), and metaphors, among other things.

week from mid June — late June empty — reorganizing online tools, reorganizing tiny projects' overall structure and workflow

June 30 & onward, documenting old sketches: a daily small interactive thing

thin carbon: paint clouds

memory auras: a scrapped sketch for an Instagram stories exhibition.

Inspired by Ben Stokes’s Tiny Projects and notes from instructors to noodle around, this is a shed for all the stuff I’ll be making this summer (2021). The only goal is to have fun and mess around with different materials, exploring stray ideas and not worrying too much about the final polish of things.