This weekend I had some time to geek out and watch Gary Hustwit’s documentary film Helvetica. In listening to the designers he interviewed talk about Helvetica and type in general, I started to think about the choices we make as designers and the impact they have on the people we work for.

There are times in a designers career when we question our choice of profession – does what I do matter? Would I make more money and be viewed as more important by my organization if I were a salesperson where my influence on revenue is more obvious? Is what I bring to the table unique and valuable or am I easily replaceable?

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I’ve been watching Top Chef for a few years now–unfortunately I still can’t cook my wife an egg that meets her satisfaction.

For those who don’t watch–every show begins with a short preliminary challenge that has no barring on elimination. Typically the winner of the ‘quickfire’ challenge receives immunity for the main challenge or otherwise some type of monetary prize like cash or a trip.

The host delivers the topic and the chefs have a short period of time to produce a dish based around that topic before facing judgment. The main challenge is formatted the same but whoever is chosen to have the weakest dish is asked to “pack their knives and go.”

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Here is my first ever homebrew label design. It was created for my good friend Tony D’Amico (Tony D!) and his Dirty Guy Brewing Company of Sylvania, OH. The recipe is called AK-47 Pale Ale. Tony bottled them in 22 ouncers.

I stopped by and got to taste a few of the beers while Tony worked on the next batch. Poured a nice mid-orange color but was a bit thin on the tongue. Tony was stepping up his malt content as well as the hops for round two in hopes of thickening up the body.

Really happy with how these came out. I suggested condensing the design a bit but Tony likes the way it wraps the bottle. Very pleased with the result and looking forward to tasting the next batch.

I created this poster late night on Friday, February 26 after it was determined Team USA and Canada would meet in the Gold Medal game.  I was hoping Team USA would prevail, in which case, I was considering doing a short run of high quality prints.

Although the Americans battled valiantly, they fell 3-2 in overtime, marking the first time the Olympic hockey tournament has been won by the home team.  What a great tournament.

Click the image for a full-resolution printable download version.