Mid-life Crisis

I swear, I think I am having a mid-life crisis...right before the end of school, I signed up for two summer classes at UC Berkeley Extension. Classes that have nothing to do with my professional life, but I have been getting nudged in this new direction by friends and colleagues. So I thought, what the heck, why not?

My first class (graphic design) started before my school year ended. At four hours once a week, it is a long class. On the first night, to soften the blow of having to sit in class for that long, we started to watch the film Helvetica, a documentary about the typeface. I never thought a film about typography would be so interesting! Of course, after watching it, I became a little obsessive-compulsive about identifying the font every time I saw it around me. Evidently, there's also a traveling exhibit that is commemorating Helvetica's 50 years. So far, I am really enjoying it; even though it freaks me out a bit creatively (Always comparing myself to others & coming up short. Why are we always so hard on ourselves and easy on others? ).

This week, I had to photograph signage: billboards, posters, etc. Of course, I had to have a juvenile moment:Is it me, or is the word of a little too close to the word ART? This is what happens to your brain when you teach second grade for seven years (potty humor abounds)!

We've been designing stamps too (it's all based on the alphabet):