Changethethought

I am a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick. I am also a huge fan of his landmark achievement in film that in my opinion has never been matched, 2001: A Space Odyssey. I am also a fan of Kubrick’s favorite font, Futura. Tonight while watching that movie with my computer in my lap (like any good multitasking American) I thought it might be fun to knock out some posters celebrating 3 of my great loves with 3 different posters. I realized in the process just how remarkable the movie really is that it can be represented through such minimal symbology. Anyway, it was a fun little exercise and you can see the other 2 posters in the print section of the site. I am not sure I could print a run of these without getting in trouble but I will probably print some just to hang around my home.

written by Christopher | tags: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Graphic Design, Posters, Stanley Kubrick

Well, it’s time for my first vacation in something like two years. I will be traveling to Sunderland on Friday evening to attend the Think Tank show at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art. I will be in Newcastle for a couple days after that and then on to Barcelona for 5 days, then Berlin for a few days and maybe Hamburg or provincial Northern Germany. I will be traveling with my wife. I hope to rekindle some romantic fires and find some new inspiration. I have some big plans upon my return. I will be redesigning then hiring someone to redevelop and then relaunch the blog. I have an account now with Media Temple as well, who will be sponsoring the hosting for Changethethought now. I will be moving over to their servers when I return from my Holiday.

I want to say thank you for all of the sincerely amazing submissions that have been rolling in lately. I have seen some amazing things and beg you to keep them coming. Many more of the posts now are coming from user submissions and I hope that number continues to rise. I also wanted to apologize for any unanswered emails or forgotten posts. I have been overwhelmingly busy this year between my work for Cactus, my new house and Changethethought. I am doing things I love right now though and that is all that matters. I work with some really wonderful people who make me laugh everyday, and I have been surrounded by and speaking with some truely talented and inspiring people this year. All of this is a real blessing.

I have added some new Editors to the site in the last few days and hopefully there will be a few posts while I am away. It is a full time job posting as many things to this site as I do, so I don’t expect that from my Editors. That is my job. Expect that job to resume full throttle upon my return and thank you so much for your support. Keep those submissions coming and stay tuned for more.

You can download a wallpaper for your iPhone of the above logo treatment (minus the type at the bottom) right here. Just click and hold on your iPhone and save the image. See and speak with you again in two weeks.

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought, Ctt News, Holiday, vacation

I will be in Sunderland, England (north country) for an exhibition at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art this Friday. The show is part of North East England’s annual design festival. I am really excited to be a part of the show this year and just had to be there in person. If you are in or around Newcastle or Manchester, hop on a train or bus and try to make it out to say hello. I will be flying into Newcastle this Friday at 5pm and hauling ass to make it to the gallery around 6:30 or 7. I hope to see and meet you there.

More about the show:
Britain’s leading think tanks collaborate with leading designers to imagine how we might create a better nation.

‘Think Tank’ is part of the Design Event 09 (DE09), the North East’s annual design festival, www.design-event.co.uk.

The preview evening is part of the DE09 Sunderland Launch Night. A bus will be available to take people to the different venues. To book a place on on the bus or find out more visit  www.design-event.co.uk.

written by Christopher | tags: Graphic Design, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Think Tank

I just put 2 new posters in the print section of the site. They were both created by recycling some old graphics. I am trying to get back to my schooling a little bit and simplify my approach to my graphic design work. I am still working on some new illustrations as well. I also just had some really nice business cards printed last week that were letterpressed with holographic foil. The design of the cards is very simple but the the subtle combination of the black rubberized paper and foil really turned out much nicer than I had even expected. I will post some pictures next week. Stay tuned for more. There are a lot of plans in the works yet this year and Changethethought will most likely look much different next year. I also wanted to thank all of the people who have been sending in emails of their work. There has been some really amazing people emailing in lately and that has been really exciting. Thank you.

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought News, Graphic Design, Posters

Insound has teamed up with renowned hand-style typographer and illustrator Mike Perry to create 10 designs for classic indie, punk and post-punk bands spanning the last few decades. The end result is 10 tee shirts, matching posters and tote bags.

Insound contacted Changethethought and has offered to give away a t-shirt to one of our readers. The shirt, which you can see above, is for the classic lo-fi indie rock pioneers ‘Beat Happening – Olympia Zine Sunshine’. All you have to do is visit this page at Insound and enter to win. The winner will be announced next Thursday September 24th.

Free stuff. You can’t miss.

written by Christopher | tags: Beat Happening, Contests, Fashion, Insound, Mike Perry

I am still trying to work out some new ideas for illustration. I have been drawing up a storm lately and finishing the coloring of the graphite drawings in Photoshop. I have gotten some interesting results lately and you can check them out in the illustration section.

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought, Ctt News, Drawing, Illustration

Next week on Wednesday June 24th, the official Bike to Work day here in Colorado, Denver-based advertising agency Cactus (for whom I work as an Art Director) is throwing its inaugural Bike From Work Bash . I can personally guarantee a seriously kick ass throwdown the likes of which will be stuff of legend forever recorded in the mythical annals of Denver lore. You have to seize any available opportunity to use the word ‘annals’.

There will be Illegal Pete’s burritos, Breckenridge beer, Amp energy drinks (and Amp Energy girls), a live DJ (my good friend Tom Metz), bike stunts by Yellow Designs, bike valet service from Bike Denver along with security provided by the Denver Roller Dolls. I also designed the materials for the event, although it was a collective effort with my Creative Director Norm Shearer, Art Director Matt Chiabotti and Copywriter Lee Perlman (he’s the crazy guy in the helmet in the video above). Consequently, Indyink will have have larger 2-color screenprinted Bike from Work posters available at the event as well. As far of the event overall is involved, it was a big team of us at Cactus who put our heads together to pull this off and we poured the love in all the way to the top.

There will be also be a ‘Revenge of the Nerds-style’ tricycle relay race. The race is being hosted by Ad2 Denver and will benefit Wish for Wheels, a non-profit organization dedicated to supplying bikes for kindergarten students. Relay teams will consist of 5 members and the cost per entry is $100. There will be prizes given to teams with the most creative uniforms and tricycles. Maybe a team of luchadores?

You really can’t miss. There is going to be stunts, food, drinks, pretty people, money going to charity and you can rub elbows with the local creative and advertising people. I will be there for the duration of the party helping set up and break down (I am in it to win it). So, if we have yet to meet, stop by and say hello. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

The mayor said he wasn’t coming but that’s just an added reason to turn the volume all the way up to 11. Especially after turning down the best invitation ever.

written by Christopher | tags: Advertising, Bike from Work Bash, Cactus, Denver, Events

I want to personally apologize for the site misbehaving periodically for the last couple of weeks. The current traffic numbers have become to high for my host to handle under my current plan and consequently they have been shutting me down until I upgrade. Unfortunately the cost is now about 5 times higher now than when I started the site and I am looking for a better host. Currently the site is averaging around 200GB of exchange/bandwidth a month and growing each and every month. My current plan allowed for 20GB.

So the conundrum arises. I am now on the market for a new host. Changethethought has grown enormously over the last year and is now reaching a very large audience. So I need a host who can handle a growing site and would be interested in potentially marketing their services through the site. I have tried hard to keep the site ‘ad free’ but the expense of running it is starting to worry my wife and I. I didn’t really realize just how crazy this was going to get. Good problem to have I guess but now I have to find a new way to handle it. Any and all suggestions welcome and thank you for visiting. New and better things are on the horizon.

I am currently considering Media Temple but am still not sure.

written by Christopher | tags: Ctt News, Hosting Services, New Host, Site Down

I was browsing through some of my older work today and for some reason it struck me just how much my work bears influence from things I have seen. I spend so much time looking at other creative work that sometimes I feel over saturated by it. You start to pick and choose and push and pull the elements that you think people want to see and what you think will gain favor. Unfortunately, without even realizing it, the end result is that I end up producing work that resembles things I have seen and like much too closely.

A lot of times I will kick off working on something by gathering inspiration and then starting out. After I have started on something, I cast aside the inspirational resources and work until I feel I am done. After that, I usually never look to the inspirational sources again and trash them. Its not until much later that I will sometimes stumble across something on the net or in print, that I realize just how close some of my work turns out looking like whatever I looked at before I started working. I have always had a powerful memory and I used that memory to get through classes as a pre-med/chiropractic major for the first couple years in college. I switched over to design later in my studies. It’s a great thing to have, but sometimes I think it hurts me because I take a mental note of something and am able to recreate something I have seen very quickly and easily (just from memory).

So I end up being a junk man, a collector of influences and images with no real original or individually recognizable feature. I am growing as a creative and a designer just by continually working, but in order to reach something that is really my own, I need to push away from my current process and do something completely different. One of my greatest influences in the past was Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant). Although I still have a lot of respect for Shepard and always will, I am not sure anymore if I agree with appropriating imagery and inspiration. I think the real objective of an artist and a designer (creative not commercial), is to reach something that truely represents you as an individual and carve out your own space.

As a result of this questioning and searching, I will be cleaning house. I am going to be slowly casting out things in my portfolio that I think too closely resemble things I have seen. I will no longer be appropriating imagery or collaging appropriated imagery into my work. I will still be blogging like a mad man, but I am pushing away from the computer when I start working on my personal art and design work. I am picking back up the pencil and starting there. Hopefully, a change will begin to emerge in my work that I have been seeking and my real identity as a creative will begin to finally emerge. That is my end goal. This won’t happen overnight. It will be a slow process but in time I think my creative work will take on a completely different aesthetic that belongs entirely to me.

I have never hidden myself from public scrutiny on this blog. I wanted it to be something different. I wanted it to be something that helped me grow as an individual, artist and designer, but also share that growth and inspiration with my peers and the world. I think of it like a conversation I am having with a very large audience. It helps me to state my intentions and bear my flaws and mistakes. I just want to hit the reset button on some of the things I have done and turn over a new leaf.

As a result of this epiphany, I will be culling down my print and design work and casting out the things I think don’t represent my new ethos. And eventually, I will most likely pull my work from the site, and continue Changethethought as a source of creative inspiration while housing my studio work elsewhere (Changethethought studio, if you will). I am no where near what I hope to achieve as a designer and artist and I hope committing to this new model will push me where I want to go faster.

Again, thank you for visiting the blog and being a part (even if it’s just spectating) of my growth and journey as an artist and designer. I won’t bore you with my inner-struggles anymore. Back to design porn.

written by Christopher | tags: changing, convictions, Ctt News, reinvention

Well, I am in it to win it with the American dream now as I have purchased a new home here in Denver, Colorado complete with adjacent art gallery and studio (yes, there is literally an art gallery in my back yard). Needless to say, I am on the hunt for projects to help me hold down the fort. I will also be working towards putting together some design/typography related art shows next year at the gallery as soon as I have it up to speed. It’s high time to bring the international design scene to Denver. There is a hunger here for it and I am ready to load up the plate.

I recently completed a large series of comps for Ride Snowboards and I am currently seeking more project work in the snow/skate sports market. I am also just looking for new freelance project work in general. Have a look at the recent work for Ride and please contact me via hire(at)changethethought.com if you are interested in discussing using or collaborating with Changethethought for your next project.

Here endeth the self-promotional plug (gotta feed the family).

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought, freelance, Graphic Design, snowboards

Changethethought will be a little slow for the next week. I am moving into a new house and will not have internet on my property the following week. I will still be posting during the day though. So think more 3-5 posts a day as opposed to the normal 8-10. I will be back in full swing the week after, once I have established a connection.

Don’t worry though, I will still be doing all I can to bring the news next week. This weekend will however be slower than usual. Thank you so much for all the support lately. The blog has been receiving a huge volume of traffic the past few weeks and that has been great thing to watch happen. I promise once I am settled that I will come back stronger than ever and keep trowling the internet to find every scrap of interesting material I can find.

written by Christopher | tags: Ctt News, First House (Yeah), Moving, Reduced Posts

ARTCRANK is a new art exhibition hitting the Denver scene that will be showcasing bicycle-inspired original poster artwork that you can enjoy looking at and actually afford to take home. The show rolls out in Minneapolis this Saturday, April 4, and in Denver next Saturday, April 11.

A good friend of mine here in Denver is helping host the show at 8pm this next Saturday. You can see my poster above (the red, white and blue one). I screenprinted them here in Denver. I did a little overprinting and was pretty pleased with how it came out. It is one of those posters that reads different up close and at a distance. I suggest standing back about 10 feet. I printed 39 (kept one for myself) and the rest will be available signed and numbered at the exhibition for $30. I did a really large print (18×24 inches) so it will take up a nice chunk of wallspace. I decided to go old school on this one and toss out my sometimes heavy digital style. I am the worst Colorado resident ever gracing the mountains only a few times a year so when I ride my bike, it is usually almost always in the city. But that is kind of the way I like it (haven’t ridden hardly at all this year though).

My good friend and occasional CTT blogger, Aaron Ray of Legwork Studio also did two really nice prints that you can see above as well. Great work Aaron.

If you would like to come out and have a beer with us next Saturday we would love to see you and meet you at the show. Below are the details. Plan on a party. Oh and ride your bike. I will do another post next week to remind those of you who might forget.

ARTCRANK Denver

• Opening Night Party
• Saturday, April 11th 8pm
• The Shoppe · The Fabric Lab
  Plastic Chapel · Neopolitan
  • 3105 East Colfax Ave, Denver CO

ARTCRANK Block Party

• Bicycle Carnival

at ROCKBAR
Bike competitions (fixed gear, bmx, mtn bike) Chain Lubes, Light-weight Adjustments & Safety Checks by Track Shack & Salvagetti

Live bike build out at Neopolitan by: Fahrenheit Collective
Bicycle Fashion Show (Time TBD)
Cupcake Eating Contest (Time TBD)
LOOPS ARTCRANK Edition group bike ride following show by XROCKSTHESPOT
Music by: Cacheflowe – Postman – DJ Tyler Snow

written by Christopher | tags: Artcrank, Bikes, Ctt News, Denver, Exhibition, Posters, Print

Alright, this is a little something different. Let’s face it, it’s a tough time right now and a lot of us are hurting. That’s just an unfortunate fact. So maybe there is a way I can help and we could all work on something together.

This is probably a big announcement to make to the amount of people that read this blog, but I am currently about to purchase a home here in Denver, Colorado that actually has a small private art gallery separate from the house in the backyard. The deal isn’t completely done yet, but if it goes through I will have that space to start doing some exciting new things with through Changethethought.

I have been watching the Omega Code project evolve and have really just been amazed by how many people have contributed. It’s insane really, and I think it shows there are just a lot of people out there who want to collectively contribute to a project to have the opportunity to just be totally creative and get there work out there in front of a larger audience. I also think the small parameter of having to only use the  Omega Code logo gave everyone a subject to start with but still express their own individual brand of creativity through that subject.

So, I am not officially kicking this off yet until I finish buying my home, but I was thinking… How would you out there feel about creating A3 sized posters using a template with the Changethethought logo (pictured above only in a simpler black and white version) in whatever way you choose?

I would be curating the poster selection and featuring the work permanently on a Flickr page similar to the Omega Code. At the end of the submission segment of the project, I would choose 100 posters to show at the Changethethought gallery at my new house. This might not all take place until the end of this summer or early next fall but each artist could then ship me up to 50 of their posters (25 minimum) that they could then sell  at the gallery. The gallery would keep 30 percent of the sales for tubes, entertainment and shipping so the profits could be mailed back to the artists in the show.

I think it might be a really cool project that would bring some art from all over the world to Denver and offer some people who may not have had the chance to sell some of their work. You could print your poster however you wanted. Digitally or screenprint, it would be totally up to you. The poster would need to use the Changethethought logo, but that would be it. The rest would be up to you. The 70% profit made from the sale of your poster would then be shipped directly back to you as soon as the show was over. I would keep the show running for several weeks to a month giving as many people the chance to purchase your work as possible. I might also be able to put the posters up for sale via the Flickr page for a limited time so people could purchase them via Paypal. The point being, that as much money as possible would go back to the artist.

I am just throwing this out there because I may or may not be able to do it yet, but I would really like to know what you think about the idea. Leave a comment after this post or send an email via the contact section and let us know. Best wishes to all of you out there in these difficult times. Keep your heads up and keep creating. I appreciate your support of this blog very much and thank you for reading. I hope to do more for you in the future.

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought, Ctt News, Exhibition, Posters

I am still working hard, bit by bit at building my illustration portfolio. I was really obsessed with deep sea creatures last year and spent some time doing some very detailed graphite drawings of squids. I have always found them fascinating. This was created using one of those graphite sketches. More to come. You can see a closeup in the Work/Illustration section of the site.

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought, Ctt News, Drawing, Illustration

I have decided to push away from the computer a little more often now and take up illustration again by way of drawing, painting and then finishing the imagery digitally. I have been intrigued by this process for a while but it has taken me some time to learn how to combine both those fine art skills with what I have learned to do digitally as a designer. I worked up three new illustrations last week and was pleased with how they turned out. You can see them now in the work/illustration section of the site. I have several more in the works right now but I am also trying to finish a poster for an upcoming print show here in Denver (which will be more of a design poster versus a hand-generated illustration).

I am really excited by this new style though as it has allowed me to once again dive headlong into my right brain and just really use my imagination. It has felt great just picking up the pencil again and getting my hands dirty. I was equally excited by what happened once I scanned in the drawings and the watercolor and started finishing the images in Photoshop. The illustrations came out in a way I never expected and just kind of ‘happened’. It is strange as an artist when something emerges like that because you always wonder where it came from.

Anyway, I want to do a lot more of this so expect to see me adding more imagery to the illustration section of the site as I try to grow that section of my portfolio. I may eventually start another site as well that houses only my illustration work.

As always, please contact me if you are interested in contracting me for a freelance and thank you so much for supporting the blog.

written by Christopher

By the way, yes I do have a Dropular account that I occasionally post to. It is really a great little application that makes it super easy to post to and I do try to put a few things up there now and again that I don’t always put on Changethethought.

I keep forgetting to mention it but if you have any interest you can follow me here. Furthermore, if you haven’t yet visited Dropular, it is worth a browse now and again for a laugh, dose of inspiration or just a little visual stimulation.

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought News, Dropular

I posted a couple new bit of work to my print portfolio last week. The first poster was a personal project based on a drawing I did last week. The second, which involves a set of 3 posters that you can view in the print section as well were for my friend and fellow Ctt blogger Aaron Ray and his band Peña. Aaron will be selecting one of the posters to screen print for his upcoming venue on April 11th at the Larimer Lounge. If you are in Denver plan on stopping by to have your socks rocked off. Posters will be available for sale at the show.

Right now I am beginning work on a new illustration style combining pencil drawings with digital finishes. I want to build up an illustration portfolio this year and see if I can start getting some illustration work under my belt.

I am currently seeking freelance work to keep growing as a creative and polishing mys skills so please email me at hire(at)changethethought.com if you are looking for someone for your next project. I am also still looking for someone to represent me for both my illustration and design work. Any help on that would also be greatly appreciate and as always thank you for reading Ctt.

written by Christopher | tags: Ctt News, Graphic Design, Posters, Print

Just wanted to say thank you to Yay Everyday and Yay Monday for the links on their websites, both of which I check often and consider fantastic sources of information. Someone over there picked up on what I have been laying down last week and linked me up on both sites. I usually try to check Yay Monday out at the first of the work week every week and was really excited to see my work posted there this week. Thanks guys.

By the way if you are looking for my work on this site you can find it by clicking any of the following: Print, Illustration, Personal, Apparel, Typography.

written by Christopher | tags: Changethethought, Ctt News, Yay Everyday, Yay Monday