LA LA LAND from | Yero | on Vimeo.

It’s that time of year again when a new batch of designers lands in the real world. I’ve been told that approximately 30,000 design students graduate each year and enter the market. This sounds terrifying but shouldn’t be. The reality, as in most of life, is that the cream will rise to the top. Out of that huge number, there is a much smaller group dedicated and really talented designers. I was worried as I approached graduation. Lorraine Wild gave me this advice, “if you’re good, willing to work hard, and keep learning, you’ll do well. Nobody good slips through the cracks.” It turns out that this was true; short of those people I know who self-destructed by smoking pot all day.

Here, then, is a slate of amazing designers who graduated last Saturday from Art Center. I know each of them, and can vouch not just for their abilities, but also for their dedication and willingness to work.

However, just to make this clear, I am not an employment service. The last time I posted a group of grads, one of them sent me an email clarifying that she would only work in Los Angeles or San Francisco and would not accept less than $50,000 salary. To this I sent a simple reply, “Not my problem.” Yes, I too can be mean.

Josh Finklea - http://joshfinklea.info
Teodros Hailye - http://teodros.tv
Tyler Hamilton - http://www.tylerhamiltondesign.com/#!home|mainPage
Ben Hickman - http://benhickmandesign.com
James Ihira - http://cargocollective.com/jamesihira
Kevin Lam - http://kevinclam.com
Scott Langer - http://work.scottlanger.com
Chanmi Grace Lee - http://chanmigrace.info
Chul Lee - http://chulgrafik.com
Christian Morin - http://mdistrict.net
Tomo Ogino - http://tomoogino.com
Aldis Ozolins - http://aldisozolins.com
Yerem Tagvoryan - http://yero.tv

Christian Morin, Chocolate Skateboards

Christian Morin, Crail quote of the day website

Tyler Hamilton, Randsburg

Scott Langer, The French New Wave Cinema Series

Chul Lee, Omnibus Film Festival

Chul Lee, Omnibus Film Festival

Ominbus Film Festival from chul lee on Vimeo.

Kevin Lam, Discovery Science Center

Tomo Ogino, Griffith Observatory identity

Tomo Ogino, Griffith Observatory identity

Chanmi Grace Lee, Architecture and Design Museum

Aldis Ozolins, Winter X Games

Aldis Ozolins, Winter X Games

Josh Finklea, Sonny Grotesque

Ben Hickman, Decca Nashville

Ben Hickman, Decca Nashville

SyFy Summer Identity from T on Vimeo.

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1984 Olympics poster

You’ve been reading some old letters —

You smile and think how much you’ve changed.

All the money in the world

Couldn’t buy back those days.

These are some of the lyrics to This Is The Day by The The. I was thinking about this as I was cleaning out the flat files at home and came across some of my student work. Unfortunately, I found that I haven’t changed. I might be a little smarter and definitely have a bigger waist size, but damn if those colors and the whole attitude looks the same. This means either I have a strong and consistent vision, or I have one idea that I keep banging out repeatedly.

I made these projects in 1986, my last year at CalArts. Yes, they have little new wave in them, but that was what you did in 1986. I rather like the Olympics poster, but the Neo Youth project is scary. I remember it was a proposal for a monument to Los Angeles. This was the idea: L.A. is obsessed with youth. It needs a monument, rather than building a big statue, create an organization of young people who would travel around town and help people. The more good work they did, the more medals they would get. This would take the place of the latest Guess jeans as a status symbol since everyone between 14-18 would be in uniform.

Yes, you may be saying, this sounds quite a bit like Nazi Youth, Young Pioneers of China, or the USSR’s Communist Youth Organization (Komsomol). I may be rather dense at times, but this was part of the concept. If being young were a religion in Los Angeles, go all the way. Of course, now I realize that I was wrong; the uniforms were probably too trendy.

French Structuralism poster, Roland Barthes and leg

Gang of 4 record cover

Neo Youth book cover, 24"x36"

Neo Youth book poster design, 24"x36"

Neo Youth book headquarters across from Beverly Center, 24"x36"

Neo Youth book day uniforms, 24"x36"

Neo Youth evening uniforms, 24"x36"

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Poster, Spring Dance Ensemble, 1985

I’m often asked to bring in my student work by my students at Art Center. I went to CalArts from 1982–1986, so the work tends toward the New Wave. I was fortunate to have some great instructors including Lou Danziger, Lorraine Wild, April Greiman, and Roland Young. Here are a few of my projects. Now, remember, this was when type was generated by an old Merganthaler VIP photo-type machine, or by letterpress, and you needed to make giant negatives and print posters either as a slikscreen or Diazo print (blueline). So they ain’t as purty and slick as the fancy pants digital printed student work today. And I walked ten miles in the snow to get to school after milking the cows.

Poster, 4 Australian Poets, 198

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