This morning I sat in a meeting with a new client and the meeting went as typical meetings go. First there was the handshaking and baby kissing followed by a quick introduction of myself and who/what/why/when (and sometimes how) Franchise Studios is/came to be/does/and most importantly, the question that changes them all, “where are you located?”

Some of you may already know this. Some may not, but the truth of the matter is I work from home (please allow a moment of silence to enjoy the envy of those imagining themselves working in pj’s most days) … In all seriousness I rarely do work in that fashion. I treat my home office just as I would a real one, complete with a studio dog.

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Fonts are every designers dream. We can spend a whole pay check just on different fonts. Fonts for projects, fonts for experimental projects, or simply, fonts because we just have to have THAT special font for our collection.

Recently, I got a gift card to buy fonts…it was a great Christmas present! I was a bit overwhelmed and excited but unsure of what type of fonts I needed and what I could get for my money’s worth. Most fonts come in families. A font family is a group of fonts that are related in thickness, weight, and orientation. Most families come in at least 2 or more than a dozen fonts, such as Helvetica Neue…ah, Helvetica Neue, every designer’s go to font!

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This past Monday, December 12, Pete Baker passed away at the ripe old age of 82. She was one of the most interesting people I have ever had the privilege of working with, dedicated to her love of historic preservation she will certainly be missed by many.

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This past weekend marked the premiere of the last 4 months of hard work and dedication from both the Franchise team as well as several high school young men and women on a hip-hop video project entitled “54.”

The Youth Ambassador Program or YAP! as it has come to be known is a partnership project between the National Park Service and Third Eye Unlimited where teens communicate national park themes through hip-hop culture and social media outreach. This includes creating music and videos about local, regional, and national themes and sharing them through sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other music sharing sites.

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Throughout my career as a designer and artist I have become more and more critical of the work I see and design I am exposed to on a daily basis. I think the same can be said for many as we move faster and faster in a technologically driven world. We are exposed, even hourly, to so many ads and people selling something that you begin to ignore it as it just becomes noise throughout your day.

Today I write because I hope to get a few folks off their chairs and couches to excite and inspire them to think outside the box and see that this is some “noise.” In fact, this is more of a “making noise” and “creating noise” than actual background static and should not be overlooked. . .

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