spatial. the poetic. the initial information.

my partner is Kim Huynh.

Our proposal is for our monument to be representational of the history of the West Bottoms. Currently our thoughts are focused on representing the West Bottoms involvement with the creation of the Landing Craft Tanks during World War II. We’ve been working with the idea of creating some form of a clock or pretty close representation of a Landing Craft Tank, while keeping art at the forefront through use of nonstandard statue materials and a representational, not literal form.

West Bottoms History.
West Bottoms is an industrial area. This area is located west of downtown Kansas City, basically at the union of the Missouri and Kansas River. It is also the oldest area of Kansas City. The area itself is prone to floods, including the Great Flood of 1951 + 1993. During World War II, Darby Steel Corporation built most of the Landing Craft tanks in the West Bottoms. This corporation/plant would build about one craft per day and then would float them down the River, which equated to about 1000 miles.

Possible Ideas to be executed.
The tank can be literal, recreational and abstract. It can be built near the river, below the flood line or somewhere in the industrial area. Materials are currently unknown, maybe metals, or other hard materials. We’ve been playing with the idea of adding an iPhone app. This app would be a teaching tool for history, provide an interaction, provide a narrative and/or provide an attraction/tourist app. Or maybe we could do an arc, without the biblical direct connection, says Assistant Professor Michael E. Kidwell.

pinterest board can be found here.


it looks currently this.

*Assistant Professor Michael E. Kidwell approved.

January 2014 career goals + possible positions.

Goal setting tends to stress me out because by making it visible to an audience I feel a need to stick to them, even if they aren’t “finalized.” I feel that life is best when lived following what we have where we are. Thus far my goals have focused on schooling + my education since I was in high school; I knew I needed my Bachelors before anything else could really become a focus. I would state that my goals are more so hopes at this point and are in no set hierarchy. All of my goals focus on further refining my own creative, connecting + communication skills.

short term.
receive my BFA.
become part of a Kansas City design or advertising family.
build a solid connection base in Kansas City.

long term.
refine storytelling capabilities.
become a creative director + see if I enjoy it.
write one or more children’s picture books.
refine writing, connecting + critiquing skills.
find “home.”


possible solutions, careers or career enhancers.
Fulbright + National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship (learn here)
This is part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which allows students in the U.S. to study overseas and focuses on digital storytelling in up to three countries. Students applying have to fill out a lot of paperwork, including a thesis that states what the student will be focusing on (chosen from one of their given themes), connections that the student has made with professionals in that country, examples of their work and other documents. It would allow me to refine my storytelling skills, make more connections and create more stories to tell!

School of Visual Art's D Crit Program (learn here)

This program focuses on Design Criticism in the form of a Masters Degree. It is a two-year long that trains students to evaluate design and its impact on the environment and social aspects. Students focus on design, architecture and urban infrastructure and "work alongside New York's best-respected editors, authors, critics, curators and historians." The program teaches students "how to build an argument, develop a critical stance and hone a writerly voice." It would allow me to further refine my writing, connecting + critiquing skills, as well as my storytelling capability.

Design Fellowship at Chronicle Books (learn here)
This fellowship would allow me to learn more about creating of children's books, allowing me knowledge to create my own children's books and further refine my storytelling skills. Specifically I would learn the various positions that are required to produce a children's book, where I would assist many of the designers on the team. I would learn the aspects of research, design and production for the book process.

Full-time Designer/Writer at Diamond Merckens Hogan (learn here)

This position would allow me to further my writing as well as my design skills in the web, design and advertising realm. So far my internship at DMH has been nothing but great, being able to enjoy two of the ways that I love to spend my days and nights. It also allows me a good amount of time to get to know the other 26 other individuals that work at DMH total. DMH really sees their self as a family first + foremost, valuing the opinions of all those that work there as well as their clients. I think their priorities and interests are in the right place, which also currently coincide with my own, so I feel it only makes sense to try to continue this past just an internship.

Copywriter Position at The Integer Group (see post here)
I have the potential to be a copywriter for a bunch of larger brands. One of my friends already works here and seems to enjoy it. We've also talked about me moving out to Colorado for a bit, so it makes a solid possibility for a position to focus solely on copy writing and building connections in the Colorado community.

Graphic Designer at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
(Smithsonian Institution) (see post here)
This position would allow me a change of scenery, as well as allow me to work with the branding of a current establishment. I miss working at a library, so it would be a nice change to be working in another building full of knowledge. This also seems as though it would be a bit similar to the work that I've been doing on the Design Team and did at KCAI's School for Continuing and Professional Studies. 

reaction to Chimero's advice.

"Frank Chimero's Advice To Graphic Design Students" article can be found here (thanks MML).

Advice is just that, the automated thoughts associated with a given topic. We fuse together our thoughts of advice based on our own observations, be that first-hand, second-hand, or many sets of mouths later. With that idea, it makes sense that much of what Chimero stated I knew or had heard before, but that did not make any of it less important. Graphic design or being a creative is about interacting with everything and not necessarily putting one experience before another.

As designers we are merely interpreting data in a visual language, same as foreign language interpreters, translating information in one format to another. The great and difficult part about our language as designers is knowing the correct layout, wording, imagery and appeal to attain the target audience and inform them. Through our process we figure that out all of that, as well as battle our own demons, which sometimes get in the way of executing the designs. To be a great + effective designer, we must constantly re-observe + re-experience the world in as many ways as possible.

My favorite Chimero quotes that also helped to form the above response were:
“Sympathy is medicine."
“Aesthetics are fleeting, the only things with longevity are ideas.”
“Take things away until you cry.”
“The best communicators are gift-givers.”
“Look people in the eyes when you are talking or listening to them.”