This is the door from the front stairwell into our office. We’re on the third (top) floor.

This is looking back at the front door from inside the office. We just got this lobby furniture! Thank you IKEA.

Spinning around and looking from the lobby area straight back. That’s our sales manager’s desk front and center.

Here is my desk. You’ll notice the Ikea Galant and a drawing table on the right.

Standing near my desk and look back across the office.

This is a fancy metal counter we have “floating” in front of the sale/project manager’s desk.

Behind the sales manager’s desk are these cabinets.

Here is a look through one of the glass walls in our conference room.

Here is a close-up of the conference room table. Yes I made it! It took a large piece of plywood, contact paper, large logo printed on paper, glue stick, Xacto knife, two colors of stain and lots of Polyurethane. I’ll let you figure the rest out.

This is the Aquarium. Obviously it’s not set up yet. We just got this in today!

This is the fancy glass we have suspended over our half walls.

Here is a close-up of how that glass connects to our half walls. These cables go up to the ceiling. It’s really quite amazing.

Designers hard at work.

More designers hard at work.

One more designer hard at work.

This is our messy area. As you can see, it’s messy.

This is the back hall where we have two enclosed cubicles, two bathrooms, HVAC closet, server room and a storage closet.

This is cubicle one. Eventually we will be putting our Wacom Cintique back here. Don’t laugh, yes, that IS a CRT monitor.

Here is cubicle two. I’m not sure exactly what will go in here. But we are about to paint one wall with “Idea Paint.” It turns any wall into a giant dry-erase board.

Well, that’s it. We’re very excited to be in here. There are a number of items that need finished - like our library and the aquarium. But it’s been a fantastic upgrade from my house so far. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Before I left I got in touch with a few designers who are working in Copenhagen and got some great recommendations for sights to see relating to design. One such place is the Danish Design Center in downtown Copenhagen. I was really fortunate to set up a meeting with a designer, Morten, who is currently working there! He was kind enough to give me a private tour of the museum and introduce me to an amazing instillation artist Mads Hagstrøm. He currently has a show at the DDC called FlowMarket.

For me, FlowMarket was an intriguing user experience. On a long table he set up a bunch of different syringe bottles labeled with different emotions: happiness, truth, sensitivity and so on. At the end of the table there is a stack of shopping baskets, indicating our insatiable desire to be consumers. This piece really spoke to me because, in my opinion, we place far too much importance on material possessions.

Morten and I also walked through another exhibit called Sauma, user-driven design. Several of the pieces were typical house hold items but designed in an intelligent and beautifully simple way. One item in particular that I thought was interesting were these jackets with Velcro all over the outside of them. If a couple people wearing them bumped into each other they would be held tightly together. Some of the objects were more practical than others but they each were interesting perspectives on how products might be improved.

Denmark is known for the furniture design; the Egg chair seems to be their claim to fame. I flipped through a few interior design books with Morten and he explained that Danish homes are all very sparse in the amount of objects placed in a room. The beauty is in the negative spaces. This seems to be a trend emphasized in all aspects of design in Denmark.

There was a really interesting juxposition between old and new in Copenhagen. All the exteriors of the buildings were extremely old with lots of beautiful details on the outside. Inside most of the rooms were filled with modern furniture that had absolutely no decoration. I also learned that IKEA is pretty much the worst place to shop; it’s only for people who are really poor. I love IKEA, most of my apartment is furnished with IKEA furniture because it’s beautiful and simple. You can’t find furniture that is so beautiful for such a great price in the states. Well in Denmark, IKEA isn’t exactly a novelty since it’s been there for years.

After meeting with all these designers I got a pretty good perspective about the difference between American design and Danish design. One thing I found interesting is that in Denmark it seems most clients want very simple designs, with pretty much only typography and no frills to anything. Here it seems that most clients want everything but the kitchen sink! Danish designers seem to crave wanting to try something new that is overly designed and crazy looking, while I want to make all of my designs extremely simplistic! I found that really fascinating. I guess no matter where you are in the world you want to try doing something that is different from the norm.

My overall opinion of Danish design is that they strive to focus on the beauty of negative spaces. Their work is extremely simplistic but shows a wide range of stylistic voices through utilization of simple elements. Their sensitivity to typography was the most inspirational to me. I commend anyone who can use Helvetica for everything but still have the ability to make each piece unique.
Experiencing another country was so amazing and inspirational. Now, I just need to figure out the next country I will visit!

Monday October 13th

1:30pm

I’m sitting in Cleveland Hopkins Airport waiting to board my flight to Orlando Florida. I’ve been booked as a speaker at Create Magazine’s design convention Create Chaos. At least for the moment my morning nerves have calmed down and I’m looking forward to the next three days. It’s the first such speaking engagement that I’ve undertaken. I’ve taught and spoken plenty at the office and at local design schools. I’ve even gone to career day at a local elementary school. But this is different. I KNOW kids at a school can benefit from my knowledge. The pressure to impress an auditorium full of fellow professional designers is a bit more daunting. I just hope that I can provide enough value to Create. After all, they have generously paid to fly me down to Orlando, given me passes to the convention and put me up in a nice hotel for two nights; all for one hour of work. I’ve never been paid so well.

If you’re wondering how I was booked as a speaker at a convention like Create Chaos, I think that’s a good question. I’m wondering it a bit myself. Go Media developed a relationship with Create magazine by submitting cover illustration. While none of our cover illustrations were accepted we did eventually land a gig illustrating an article for them. That article; Webtechnologic eventually went on to win an award. Our strengths in the area of vector illustration and apparel design must have lead Create to think we had some good information to pass along.

4:20pm

After surviving a turbulent descent and landing in Orlando I begin to make my way to the baggage claim. I need to pick up my bags then rent a car. The Airport is about 30 minutes from the hotel and convention center. Just before I reach the appropriate baggage gate I notice a nicely dressed young man holding a sign with my name on it: “Bill Beachy.” What the heck? Why is this man holding a sign with my name on it? Wait – I’ve seen this in the movies before. This young man is a driver! And he’s there for me! He’s not driving a Pinto either, it’s a black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows. And inside is a fresh USA Today sitting on a leather seat. Wow. This is luxury. Create magazine obviously has me confused with someone of great importance.

The “hotel” is no less extravagant. It’s Marriott’s Orlando World Center Resort. The lobby is a huge cathedral of a space with 10 story vaulted glass ceilings, restaurants, coffee shops and three glass elevators. Just outside is a huge swimming pool surrounded by palm trees. I’m talking Las Vegas casino style swimming pool complete with twelve water falls and a mote! This is ridiculous.
By the time I’ve checked in and made it to my room I’m feeling sweaty and exhausted. Traveling tends to wear me out.

5:20pm
There is one last bit of “work” I need to take care of before I can relax. I need to go check in with the Create Chaos people and pick up my all access pass and goodies bag.

6:30pm
After a quick shower I decide to take some of the notes I’ve prepared and head over to one of the many restaurants in the hotel. I can eat some dinner and plan out how/what I want to present on. I have not yet written my presentation.

8:30pm
Still feeling calm. The food was fantastic, but a bit pricey. I think I will raid the mini bar for a beer as I watch some tv and settle in for the night.

Tuesday October 14th (presentation day.)

9:00am
Ok, it’s a beautiful sunny day in Orlando Florida. My balcony overlooks a giant resort style swimming pool with a drink cabana. I’m officially frustrated as I sit in my room working on my laptop. I need to keep reminding myself that I am NOT on vacation.
This is the actual view out my hotel balcony doors. Yes, I have a balcony too.

I had not prepared a formal presentation because I knew I would have these six hours this morning. I’ll be working on this all morning and afternoon while everyone around me is running around having fun. What a drag.

Ok Beachy, stop your bitching. Coffee? Check! Sunshine? Check! Let’s get to work.

12:00pm
Presentation is coming together well. Downloaded some images from HQ – time for lunch break. Feeling good.

12:20pm
Back from lunch – just consumed a 12” Philly cheese steak sub. I think I’m going to burst. I’m feeling a massive food coma coming on; time for a power nap.

12:50pm
Back awake and feeling good. Time to get back to the presentation. I’m almost done. I’m taking three vector tutorials that I’ve previously written and combining them in PowerPoint to create one uber tutorial. This will hopefully fill an hour.

2:10pm
Presentation is done and I’m ready. I still have one hour and forty minutes before I speak. So far I’m feeling no nerves. I think I will double-check my event information. Then I will take a quick walk over to the convention center where I’m presenting to get a lay of the land. After that I think a short jog and shower will keep me loose. Once I’m back I can make a final review of my presentation, clean up and head to the presenters lounge. They have asked us to check in there 20 minutes before we have to speak. If I’m going to get nervous – that will probably be when it happens. Ok… off I go.

2:25pm
Ok, just got back from my walk-thru. I am now feeling a lot less pressure about this presentation. I was anticipating thousands upon thousands of designers floating around (like I had seen at other design conventions.) But this is nothing like that at all. The crowds are light and the few presentations I’ve popped my head into only had about 15-35 attendees per. So, I won’t be speaking in front of hundreds – just a small intimate crowd - phew.

I have discovered that this is their inaugural Create Chaos convention. That explains the light crowds. They have obviously spared no expense in putting it on. Everything is top-notch. The Create Chaos Café - which my goodies bag included $20 worth of credit for was full of fancy snacks, Starbucks coffee, salads, sandwiches, etc.. They are REALLY taking care of their guests. I anticipate that this convention will grow rapidly in the coming years. They are certainly pampering their guests.

3:20pm
Just got done with a short walk-jog around the golf course here. It’s an amazingly beautiful golf course; rolling hills, white sand traps and flower lined water holes. I am constantly in awe by this place. I can’t help but wonder where the money comes to make all of this possible. (For the record: I do not own stock in Marriott hotels. I guess I am just easily impressed by lavish things.)

3:35pm
Off to my presentation – still feeling calm.
Here is my class starting to fill up.

5:35pm
WOW! That was awesome. Just finished my presentation and I fell like I seriously rocked it. I didn’t feel nervous one bit. The turnout was good. I suspect I had about 50 attendees. I felt like I was being personable, funny and informative. After the presentation a number of attendees came up to thank me and make small talk. A few told me it was the best presentation that they had seen yet. Man, I feel good. There was even a good number of designers in town from Cleveland. It’s nice to know that C-town is representing.

Ok, time to go visit my boys at the JakPrints booth and grab some grub. Gratuitous plug: JakPrints is the printer we use for most of our print projects. They’re really great guys and do fantastic work.

Wednesday October 15th

10:00am
Well, it’s Wednesday morning. I really don’t have any responsibilities today. I didn’t think through this schedule. I should have flown back late last night. I need to grab a cup of coffee and work on my article about this trip (that you’re reading right now.) After that I guess I’ll attend some classes and do a little networking.

12:30pm
Ha. I’m sitting in the convention hall working on this article when a designer walked up to me because he recognized the Go Media logo on my shirt. Several minutes into our conversation another designer walked up to join the conversation because he was also a fan of Go Media! Dare I say that Go Media is famous? That feels really good to know that other designers are aware of our company and instantly recognize our logo. It puts a smile on my face. They were really nice guys. Shout-outs to Brian Little (motion graphic artist from Tennessee) and Ricardo Bernardini (owner of Tentara Digital www.tentara.com). Nice meeting you guys.
Ok, time to go find a good class to attend.

1:00pm
On my way to the class: I Didn’t Know I Could Do That in Illustrator, taught by Sandee Cohen.

If you’re wondering why an Illustrator whiz like me would be going to this class - well, I’ve been using Illustrator for 10 years and I’m STILL learning new things. It’s an amazing program. I always try to tell young designers that they need to give this program a solid two months of dedication. You will likely find that Photoshop is not the Holy Grail of design software after all.

2:40pm
Good class. I did indeed learn a few new tricks. To summarize in 30 words or less; Sandee showed us how to quickly change copy that is sent in all caps to sentence case - basically all the first letters of each sentence are capitalized and the rest are lower case. Then she showed us how to use the graphics styles. She showed us how to map raster images onto 3D shapes that were created in Illustrator. Finally she showed us how to quickly recolor vector artwork using the Live Color option. These were all things that I never really used much, so it was an informative class. Thanks Sandee.

3:00pm
Time to pack up and head back to Cleveland. My Chariot -er- Cadillac Escalade awaits!

7:00pm
Plane landed safely! Phew.

Home Sweet Cleveland!

Chthonian (Ka-thow-nee-yin) qualities in art , my professor explained, can be recognized as dark, lurking, natural, flowing, passionate, and unclear. Apollonian (App-o-low-nee-yin), in contrast, can be seen as light, present, man-made, ordered, impassive, and lucid.  Although my understanding of these two terms are tragically watered-down, my professor was essentially examining the classic dichotomy of nature versus man, of chaos versus order, of the illogical versus the logical.

Years later, I’m still plagued with an awareness of all that is creative and all that is just plain boring. I can’t look at an object, person or website without labeling it as one thing or the other. Maybe it’s just my lunch talking, but I’m sick of  noticing such extreme separations. I’m especially weary of those who sever structure and order completely from the ominous creative process, as if beautiful designs floated down from the heavens with trumpets blowing and rays of light blinding any who dare look. Yes, wonderful moments can certainly happen by accident, but structure and creativity rely on each other much more than we care to admit. This happens naturally, gleefully, like a dog rolling around in a big, steaming pile of poo.

Let me reveal a surprisingly obvious example of when structure and creativity harmonize: If you’re fortunate enough to be in a work environment that keeps a project manager, go up and give them an uncomfortable bear hug right now. These lovely individuals communicate with clients, estimate quotes, create and assign tasks, organize and plan projects, file documents, manage calendars, and much more. On their best days, project managers intuit your needs and tell you politely that the reason you’re cold might be because the window right next to you is open (thanks again, Heather).

It is, in part, because of the creative potential of any work environment that the project manager role exists. Conversely, the project manager’s orchestration of structure and order can keep a designer, in particular, from worrying about all the annoying, extraneous shit that they would rather forget. These two roles have a symbiotic relationship, they need each other.

This is only one example, which is actually a bit counterproductive to my point. Treating one job as “creative” (Chthonian), and another as “structure” (Apollonian) is completely unfair; we know that order and chaos come with any job, filling up any life.  What I’m ultimately getting at is this: there is no canyon between what is logical and illogical; they live side by side, even one on top of the other (hold all dirty jokes, please).

I digress now to ask: what’s your take? Does structure and order play a large role in helping you create? Does creativity play a large role in establishing structure and order?

Trivium

Amores Perros Poster

Junk Culture

Killer’s Tee

Minus the Bear Poster

After a few months worth of hard work and hand illustration, we’ve finally released Vector Pack 12. This set is cool because we are introducing color! Imagine that! So for those of you who dig stock vector art, keep reading.

We listened to your suggestions and a lot of you requested some asian or japanese style artwork. We’ve included a bunch of it in this set.

New Vector Pack 12 Contains:

• Color 8-bit
• Zombies
• Guts & Slime
• Tiling Halftones
• East Asian Folk Art
• Linework 2
• Tattered Scrolls

Get a closer look at
www.gomedia.us/arsenal

And for those of you expecting a freebie, you’ll have to wait. We plan to put out some freebies soon from vector pack 12.

Here’s a time-lapse video of me drawing a scroll from scratch:

Let us know what you think of the new set. Are we giving you what you want?

Go Media is trying something new here. We’re using our official twitter account to offer design help and customer service. Crazy? Maybe.

Basically, designers like you can ask a question and we’ll try to answer it. It’s like having a know-it-all designer working next to you that you can bug from time to time!

We could be opening up a can of worms here, but we think it will work. I know most designers probably wouldn’t want hundreds of people asking them where the “make it cool” filter is or “How do I use Photoshop?” But we’re hoping we can actually offer some real help here. Let’s make it work!

Read up on the new project and find out how you can get involved.

For the future: If this works out, we plan to get some of our favorite designers to help out as well. Imagine having a network of brilliant designers there to give you tips when you need it? It could happen.

Without further ado - here are the latest pics. ENJOY!

One last photo… this is not for the faint of heart. THIS is what happens when you take a Friday off at Go Media.

Katie has still not recovered from this devastating hate-crime.

• Top commentors of the past 30 days. As of this posting Geoff May, ChequeredManiac, and Tiffany have the most comments on this site. Edit: Don’t forget Grant at 4th place!
• User Link Feed that allows all our readers to post links to their own articles.
• We have a Twitter box for those of you that Twitter.
• And also a new Muxtape box to broadcast some of our designer’s favorite music. We’ll be adding new playlists for Adam, Liz, and probably a few others here.

If you can think of anything else cool you’d like to see in our sidebar, let us know.