Ideas We Forgot To Steal.

Dance, Magic Dance.

2009-10-23T10:15:00.008-04:00

This really needs no explanation.

Full Rinse.

2009-09-07T13:37:00.008-04:00

Washing off the grime of the past few months. I just moved in with my best friend and favorite girl in the world, and finally have some steady freelance work with "a Viacom company." I feel so incredibly fortunate - almost blessed - when I look at the hardships faced by those I care about, coupled with some of my experiences moving out of the cradle of the nation's capitol and into capitalism's landfill. But there's a fine gray line between cathartic release and exploitation, however tempting it is to transfigure these experiences into an above-average blog entry or even a book or short film. But time has a habit of broadening the gray area, so maybe one day I'll get on that.

"It's like everything happening at once..."

2009-07-25T12:13:00.013-04:00

Entries in the Nidecker / Core77 snowboard design competition - both typographic studies on the "Nidecker" name, however from very different approaches. They were designed to be separate boards, but it would be pretty tight to have one as the reverse of the other. Reworking old concepts here - which is kind of the idea, I usually move on to something completely different before I'm satisfied with what's in front of me. Ideas We Forgot To Redo. (Click for higher-res versions)

Postscript: Two variations of the first design were selected as "notable entries" in the final competition; not bad considering some of the insanely-talented people who entered.

Let's Get Weird.

2009-04-15T17:47:00.004-04:00

A few of the more gnarly pictures from Luray Caverns, which we checked out after MACRoCk - one of the more gnarly weekends I've had in a while. Back when my closest friends all began to move out west, I convinced myself there wasn't much left for me in the DC area. So of course I've been proved wrong a hundred times over since then, and I'm thankful to still know good people down there, both old friends and new.

The Wilderness of Mirrors (Part 2)

2009-04-13T15:55:00.010-04:00

Benjamin Lee White, Untitled
2009

It took a lot of restraint to keep this piece within the commissioner's guidelines - sometimes simple is best, yeah?

Silver Thread.

2009-03-21T18:46:00.004-04:00

Torche t-shirt redo; much much happier with how it turned out but I'm not holding my breath. Still, there's another submission in the works, and hopefully something positive will result between the two of them.

Arctic Exile.

2009-03-06T12:58:00.005-05:00

I think my surroundings have been rubbing off on me more than I anticipated. Spring me from this icy prison, please.

In-between job-hunting, painting, and getting back into producing (major timewaster, I'll dedicate a future post to this), I'm duding up a couple shirts for Torche right now, yeehaw! I knocked one out maybe three months ago but it wasn't approved, and I decided to rework it from my original ink drawing because it reeked of a rush job. When all's said and done, it should look like an umbilical cord (think astral projection, not disembowelment). And if you think that's nasty, then just you wait - the second design will be the nastiest. If you're familiar with the band, then, well, you know...

Postscript: Things have been a little wonky with this blog, with the redesign and with me transferring it to my own server. Some of the functionality and conveniences of hosting it with Blogger are sadly gone, but it's a work in progress, bear with me and I'll make it worth your while, promise.

The Wilderness of Mirrors (Part 1)

2009-03-03T12:16:00.006-05:00

Back in December my former landlord back in Virginia asked if I'd be interested in creating a piece of art for her, based off a drawing she'd seen in an old sketchbook of mine. I'd never been approached about this kind of thing by someone I wasn't related to or already good friends with; it was my first legitimate commission and I immediately agreed, even though I hadn't actually painted in years, and with full knowledge that I've never had the necessary patience or craft when it came to painting. I always kind of sucked at it. But I was also kind of broke. Now, two-and-a-half months and 14 conniption fits later, and I can finally see the finish line in sight. I've taken a few photos along the way to track the progress, a glimpse behind the often intentionally-enigmatic artistic veneer. My granddad used to say "never let them see you sweat," but that's provided you have a reason to sweat in the first place. Art isn't really fun by definition but it's not quite work either. It's meditative and revelatory, and that means there should be no curtains or facades.

Also, a word of advice: don't buy art supplies from sketchy online wholesalers on the other side of the country.

I Lied.

2009-02-06T11:20:00.004-05:00

I was really posting here.

I also put together a portfolio site.

And all in the midst of falling for a girl and moving to NYC (read: Jersey City).

Jersey City. No joke.

But aside from having a different set of priorities for the past 5 months, I stopped posting on here because it eventually became this oppressive thing in my life that I felt compelled to do. I started Ideas We Forgot to straight-up kick my ass; and in the process it became an end in itself, when it was really just supposed to be a means to an end. A stepping stone as they say.

So now that I'm semi-settled in and seem to need another metaphorical ass-kicking, I'm bringing it back. Create our own problems, something to do, you know. This time around I want to focus less on finished work, more on process and craft, and let this be a depository for ideas, influences, anything goes.

And while I was at it I had to hit refresh on the layout. I'm my own worst critic and it was beginning to look tacky. I still have a lot to learn about design. I'll be fine-tuning the code over time because I'm pretty amateur when it comes to the web stuff.

In short, sorry to leave you hanging old friend.

Waiting For The Next End Of The World.

2008-08-19T11:36:00.005-04:00

It's pretty obvious things have slowed down to a drawl here. I'm planning to eventually replace this blog with a legitimate portfolio website, which is what I should've had all along really. And then I'll probably be posting a lot more here: www.ideasweforgottosteal.com

I'm Back, Baybeeee!

2008-07-30T19:27:00.005-04:00

Hey there old friend, long time no post. Here's something I did recently: a logo for The Fordists which, hopefully, will be printed in gold ink, and adhered to each copy of their 7" coming out in August. I say "hopefully" because I took my sweet-ass time getting it to them. Still, if you're a fan of the Minutemen, Shellac, any or all of the Dischord catalog, or even Dispatch, you should come see them play at the Rock and Roll Hotel tomorrow.

That's all I got.

Someday they'll build a memory machine...

2008-07-05T12:17:00.005-04:00

So I was thinking about weddings and how annoying the overly elaborate ones are, and then I was looking at Kristina Collantes' pattern designs, and it reminded me of the wedding invites I did for a friend around this time last year. I remember spending a lot of time on these, maybe too much time, from the researching of henna tattoo designs and wedding symbolism to illustrating the intricate backgrounds and the typography. I got a bit immersed in it and I have a tendency to do that in general – especially when it comes to friends – I can be a total perfectionist sometimes. But in the case of the actual wedding, things didn't turn out perfect unfortunately. And though it'd be pretty tasteless to post these invites with all the names and dates intact (and maybe even to post them at all?), I've stripped out all the text and left only the background patterns. I think it's worth sharing, and worth focusing on the positive moments rather than dwelling on the negative.

Things that Rip/Shred.

2008-06-20T11:00:00.016-04:00

Well this doesn't really "rip" or "shred" but I wanted to share:

It's a logo for my ladyfriend Sara's burgeoning baking business (I know, there was too much alliteration in that sentence). Very 70's fast-food. And I wanted it to be as fat and thick as possible, because I'm into that. And Gill Sans Ultra Bold was the most heavyweight font I could find without making my own. So there you go. But don't blow your cookies just yet.

In other news, I've decided I'm quitting my job and opening a taco stand:

Yeah, I know it's a shameless knock-off of the Santa Cruz logo. I've been subconsciously in love with Jim Phillips' artwork for years, before I even knew who he was. I think it all goes back to when I used to draw flying eyeball comics in second grade. And there's some Shawn Wolfe in there too, he's been an influence for a while before I ever actually realized it (track down some Beatkit® posters for me, please). I mean, I have this illustration I drew years ago tattooed on my leg, to give you some idea:

Fer sher, brah.

The Future Is Stupid: Los Angeles, CA May 2008 (part 2)

2008-05-30T15:34:00.006-04:00

I thought about making a separate blog for posting photos, because I kinda wanted to keep this thing about art and design. And then make another blog for these crappy cell-phone photos. But I am lazy, so be delighted:

Postscript: I think that last photo deserves an explanation – it was part of a performance at this nightclub in Hollywood we were invited to. It's not my kind of thing but if you know me then I'll tell you the story. And if you don't know me, well I hope your sensibilities haven't been too offended.

The Future Is Stupid: Los Angeles, CA May 2008 (part 1)

2008-05-30T15:16:00.010-04:00

The Experts Agree... (part 3)

2008-05-09T01:38:00.005-04:00

Maintaining a blog is kind of hard work. Especially when it involves making stuff. And trying to have any sort of social life. I'll post some new things soon, but in-between then and now you should check There Once Was A Rebellion. I was good friends with this guy back in the day and helped mentor him a bit with his artistic talents; since then he's dedicated himself to the graphic arts in ways I could have never imagined, and found his voice in representing those voices that society ignores. And he just completed his Master's Thesis. Also check out his portfolio site while you're at it.Truly one all-around inspiring dude.

Oh yeah, and if you're searching for a good laugh, have a look at this.

Where thoughts are reborn.

2008-04-24T22:44:00.007-04:00

Alright. Something's gonna happen with this Pelican thing... but not really. I was asked to submit a Pelican shirt design for the Keep-A-Breast charity. So I put it off for a while; played with some different ideas; spun my wheels; and eventually put together some rough typography using photos I'd taken of opium-scented incense smoke (which tends to give me massive headaches, and maybe you too so I'd say stay away from it unless you're into getting headaches). I will say that although I think it turned out tight enough, the idea isn't that strong - and I wanted to tweak the letters and add some layers of pattern behind it. If they chose my design I mean. The band decided to go with an older shirt design with a new color scheme, and (for now) this gnarly graphic gets filed under Ideas We Forgot. You'd buy one right? Me too.

"I should take a nice long vacation. Maybe go to Hawaii. That's what I'm gonna do, give up design and start playing music again. I wanna sing."

2008-04-19T03:58:00.009-04:00

Hi blog buddies. Haven't been posting nearly as much this month. But then I'm just basing that off February's record-setting 8 posts - that's a lot to keep up with when each post involves countless hours of making something from scratch (as opposed to posting YouTube videos). And it's not nearly as cold out as it was in February. And I don't get paid to do this (yet).

Not excuses, explanations. Still, if you really want to know what I've been up to then here's a few recent/current/future design/art/creative goings-on (on top of the 9 to 6 job):

• EDTA work: WTOP's "The Electric Drive" Logo, Diagrams, Banners, Print Ad, Poster for Iceland Fuel Cell Bus Workshop

• PELICAN t-shirt design submission for Keep-A-Breast

• Lying to Make Friends graphic novel

• Minority Corporate Council Association 2007 Annual Report

I'm also pretty stoked for a couple things in the near future. Artomatic 2008 starts May 9 and, while I had no idea they were doing this yearly now and probably would've tried to get in on it if I had, this should be pretty sick (in every sense of the word). Also I want to check out the Takashi Murakami retrospective in NYC soon, similarly sick. And then I'm going out to Los Angeles for a week at the end of May. And then in a cloud of smoke I'm leaving it all behind and moving to Hana.

Ideas We Forgot to Steal: "Photo Blog Time!"

2008-04-09T23:31:00.014-04:00

I was planning on posting these without any explanation, but then I thought one was probably necessary. A little over 3 years ago I participated in an art show with 3 of my friends at the Charm City Art Space in Baltimore, MD. If you know the CCSpace, then you know that the actual space they exhibit art in is about the size of a kitchenette. Very DIY. If you know me or my friends in real life, then you instantly know who did what. But if not I'll break it down for you. Krange did the giant charcoal drawing of himself masturbating in the corner, along with the graffed-up skate decks (I think he gave out some of these as Christmas presents). James did the surreal Monty Python-esque illustration, and seemed deeply embarrassed at the time that he didn't put more effort into preparing for the show. Don did all the random colorful canvases spread around the space, a lot of which I think were experiments from his painting classes at Marymount. He definitely won the award for Most Art Exhibited. Don was also instrumental in organizing the whole thing — and even made a pre-show set-up mix cd which we all made fun of at the time but in retrospect was pretty awesome of him. And then I'm responsible for the bizarre black-and-white pattern graphics. Yeah. I printed them out that morning for free on the oversize plotter at Kinko's. I knew there was a reason I ever worked there. I was going for a punk-psychedelic style with them, although "drunk with anxiety" is probably a better description for the final results. Along with how I'm looking in that group photo. Yikes.

Work In Progress #1810052

2008-04-01T20:11:00.014-04:00

Blog time. I was accused of running out of things to post after that last one, it must have seemed pretty half-assed. And it kind of was. So, I hope you're into that, because here's another half-assed post: a half-finished illustration. Which I don't have a thorough explanation for right now. Just know that it's based of a dream I had years ago – aren't you glad you don't have dreams like this? Eventually it will become some type of poster or large print, possibly in a series. And the colors will very likely change as well, I was testing out this palette and I'm not that into it. Cover of Juxtapoz, here I come, woo!

Here's a detail of the illustration:

The Exploding Psychology.

2008-03-24T19:38:00.001-04:00

Just a quickie. Some time ago a friend told me that she'd never seen me draw people before — you know me so not well. So I thought I'd share a couple old illustrations from "back in the day," 2000 or 2001, I think. These were some of my first attempts with the whole vector illustration thing... I sketched them on paper based on either real life or some random Asian cinema magazine (take a guess which is which), then scanned them, brought them into Adobe Illustrator, and tried to recreate the pen-and-ink look on the computer. You needed to know that. They're both in a fairly realistic style, and by no means reflect how badly I draw now. And in saying that, I could probably pull off a very successful web-based indie comic, and sell lots of stamp-sized hand-made booklets about my feelings to hapless comic con attendees, if I were so inclined. Looking at these now, one might get the impression I was mad at the world back then. I'm not going to validate or dismiss that statement. Let's just say I had a lot on my mind. Enjoy.

"One hand will wash the other..."

2008-03-21T10:09:00.000-04:00

So here's something new. Well not entirely — more thrash and bubbles, and another idea I've had for a while now. To the point where it was just annoying to think about, and I had to bust out the Micron pens and finally draw it out and make some space in my head for more weirdness. It's a flyer for these dudes, and the final artwork reminds me of Pettibon's stuff for some reason - to the point that I wanted to slip in the "one hand will wash the other" quote somewhere. But then I decided that would be a bit much, and "WASH DC" was plenty. I like the enigmatic open-ended artistic/political ideas more than the obvious ones, obviously.

Postscript: James apparently likes the reversed version better. So do I honestly. But I gave the two options to the band, and they picked the version above to post online and I'm cool with that. Below is the alternate version. I think it's less legible but the soap bubbles look a lot cooler. And likely it would photocopy better. Reminds me of manga for some reason. There's nothing wrong with that, I used to be into that stuff. There's nothing wrong with manga. Unless you're in your early 30s, still living with your parents, and have never experienced the touch of a woman. Because then, there's something very very wrong with manga.

5ive: Hesperus (part 2)

2008-03-14T15:06:00.000-04:00

Project Title:
5ive - Hesperus T-Shirt

Project Type:
T-Shirt, Illustration

Cliend Name:
Tortuga Recordings / Hydra Head Records

Year of Completion:
2008

Rationale Behind Project's Execution:
I was approached to design a shirt for the experimental stoner-metal band 5ive (not to be confused with the British boy band of the same name), to accompany their 2008 album Hesperus. The inspiration and themes for Hesperus were drawn from the band's time spent in Cape Cod, MA, represented by the stark nautical photography and Art Nouveau type used throughout the album artwork. For this t-shirt design I decided to take the concept in a different direction; with Hesperus being the name of a sunken ship immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous 1842 poem, I imagined the album title dredged up from the bottom of the ocean, warped and eroded by years of neglect and exposure to salt water, and host to a colony of barnacles.

Production Method, Material or Process of Development:
Unsatisfied with the original typeface utilized on the album, I recreated my own version from scratch in Adobe Illustrator to allow for better manipulation. Each letter was distorted and overlapped in an intentionally asymmetrical fashion, creating a haphazard and unconventional visual rhythm. Texture in the form of barnacles and seaweed were added in Photoshop, using online photography and encyclopedia sources as reference. Additional art and print production was assisted by James O'Mara of Hydra Head Records.

Artist/Designer(s) Involved:
Benjamin White, James O'Mara

So I'm attempting to get published in a book called TYPOMOFO, showcasing experimental and unconventional typography from around the world. I submitted these photos as part of the entry, and personally I don't think they came out that great - or at least as good as I'd hoped. I borrowed a 'step-up' digital camera and tripod from my good friend and roommate Ryan (that's Joseph to you), and the quality turned out just barely adequate. Maybe I just suck at photography. Anyways, I think I want to drop a wad on a professional-quality SLR digital camera - any suggestions? Nothing too expensive, but I'd like to be able to swap out lenses at least, and take pictures that don't require a crap load of Photoshop retouching.

Postscript: How awesome is it that these photos look like something out of an LL Bean catalog? I won't be satisfied with this t-shirt until my grandparents buy one.

"So, like, what's the deal with that font? I mean, is it, like, available?"

2008-03-09T12:32:00.000-04:00

If you haven't caught on by now, I'm kind of a typography nerd. I think it started when I was a kid, from randomly flipping through this book my parents had on handwriting analysis. The idea that every stroke of a letter is imbued with personality and meaning - that so much of who you are is in there, if you know how and where to find it - it was wild, it sort of blew my mind, and it's always stuck with me. I decided to "borrow" that book from my parents a couple years ago to re-read and never gave it back. Most likely they don't even miss it.

Then around the age of 17 I started getting into graffiti. I blame the friends. A lot of them were into it at the time, and a few of them were really good, and even still write today. I only went writing a handfull of times, but never got too into that whole thing. I loved the artistic side of it and sketched a lot, but when it came down to the reality - the vandalism, the paint fumes, the snot dripping out of your nose while you froze your ass off and lost feeling in your hands, all the while hoping some variety of authority figure wouldn't catch you in the act - I didn't get off on that rush. More power to those that do, it's kind of a thankless art form in a way. So with all that, eventually the graffiti interest stopped being something separate, and started working its way into my other projects.

I came up with this font in late 2001, and I called it "Polluted." The idea I was going for was to turn an entire page of text into a graffiti piece, to mutate the letters, to turn it into visual pollution. The general style was inspired by some techno-ish font I'd seen with the ends rounded off, I can't even remember who's it was, all I do remember is that the dude was from somewhere in South America. And obviously by the POP magazine logo. And then by keeping everything aligned to an isometric grid, and making the letters as tight and bold and cartoonish as I could while still keeping it semi-legible, well it pretty much made itself. But there's no uppercase letters? you say. Good catch. I made a few and they just looked retarded. So no uppercase for you. And I'm showing it here on a black background because it looks a lot better that way - there's limits to making an actual font and I had to give up on having both an outline and fill. I think it loses a lot of the 3d effect when it's black-on-white.

It was also supposed to look kind of like worms, or snakes really. There was this computer game I always played as a kid, where you steer a snake around eating up apples, I think that was another influence. And I wanted to do a version of the font with little faces on the ends of the letters, like the image above or this other page from my sketchbook. And I thought it would be funny if it looked like the snakes were actually saying the letter that they were spelling out. Yes, I was definitely taking the whole idea way too fucking far, I must've been delusional. Because in reality I was simply not able to pull it off. I know because I tried. It's one thing to get an idea, but knowing the difference between a good idea and a realistic one, and then having the skill to make that idea work in real life, that's something else entirely. It was simply not happening. I think I could pull it off now, but I'm not even interested in going back there again.

Anyways, after all that hard work I decided it looked kind of rigid and already dated, and wanted to try out the idea with more fluid and natural letter shapes, something hand-drawn-like but subtly geometric. So I started on this version that copied the proportions of Futura Extra Bold, mostly because when it came to actual real proper typography I was not so well-educated. Probably shouldn't have dropped out of college. Or at least finished Typography I. And also because I wanted it to have a really classic/timeless/safe feel like Futura. But I didn't get that far into making it, I decided it looked waaay too phallic, and by this point I was pretty much over the idea. And pretty much burned out on graphic design altogether, and getting sucked more into the music production thing. Wish I had a happy ending for you to all this, but I don't. Well, maybe I'll knock out the other letters one of these days, and then sell it off and make a shit ton of money. And then it'll become the next Futura - or even the next Helvetica - when Obama finally legalizes marijuana, and maybe hopefully even LSD. And love will be free-for-all, colorful graffiti will cover every surface, and the whole world will be super-chill and truly empathetic and awash in enlightenment, and we'll all sing together in beautiful pitch-perfect harmonies. Can an ending be any happier than that?

The Experts Agree... (part 2)

2008-03-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

I didn't forget about Shane's blog, GuitarBassman; simply put, he never told me he had one, I ended up hearing about it through James. Maybe it's only meant for his Best Coast friends. Maybe he's shy about it. Too late. Anyways, it's very awesome, and very Shane. He has a lot of opinions on everything related to instruments, audio gear, records, gigs, and the intricacies of living in LA. And he can always back those opinions up with a pretty massive knowledge base. No, Shane does not fuck around about that. So don't fuck around either, go look at his blog.

Speaking of said conversation with James: when I made a sarcastic remark about how all our friends have blogs now, he claimed it was all my fault. That I started it. I had to remind him that it all goes back to Chris. Chris has a blog. I've unofficially linked to it before, but this time it's official. Chris' blog is called BidHardcore. Scouring Ebay for rare and obscure hardcore, punk, metal, etc, it's so very Chris. If you don't know of, or get the type of bands he posts about, just imagine the aural equivalent of someone puking square in your face. There you go.

I need to point out that both of these individuals have, at one time or another, had very long stoner haircuts.