Evan Roth

Evan Roth is a designer & media artist deeply rooted in the realm of graffiti, open source development, and popular culture. Born March 5th, 1978 in Okemos, Michigan, Roth developed his ambitions as an artist early on. By the time he graduated from the University of Maryland he received B.S. degree in architecture. After graduating he moved to Washington, D.C. for two years to work as an "autoCAD monkey".

Soon he traveled back to New York to get his MFA from Parsons The New School, graduating valedictorian. While in school he began to hone his craft, developing projects under the name "fi5e", namely Typographic Illustration, Explicit Content Only, Graffiti Taxonomy.

After he graduated he worked on open source projects at the Eyebeam OpenLab for about two years. Open source technology is a method of development that bares the "goods and knowledge" of a product to the public, specifically its inner workings and how it was created. This is done most notably with software development and even some hardware development as well.

One would assume, given Roth's dedication to open source and graffiti, that the designer's motives were certainly that of raw, personal freedom. This came together most prominently when he collaborated with OpenLab fellowship co-worker James Powderly and formed the Graffiti Research Lab in 2005. The GRL was designated to be an art group dedicated to supporting graffiti artists and protestors in combination with open source technology to be utilized in urban communication. Much of the projects led by GRL were documented on video as well as accompanying instructions for viewers to take on the same projects for themselves.

One of most notable projects was the invention of "LED Throwies", which were small LED lights used for the purpose of non-destructive, graffiti-based light displays. Another great achievement was a project entitled "L.A.S.E.R. Tag", which was a system set up that allowed for graffiti writers to non-destructively tag (or write on) the side of a building via a projector and laser pointer.

In 2007 he helped form the Free Art and Technology Lab, which describes itself as "an organization dedicated to enriching the public domain through the research and development of creative technologies and media". The projects done by the collective are often in relation to sociopolitical statements. One project entitled "China Channel Firefox Add-On" allows you to surf the internet from an IP address located in China; many sites, such as ones containing information about Tienanmen Square, are blocked off and your connection is terminated for 10-15 minutes. Projects such as these signify the new technological movement that designers such as Evan Roth are leading with regards to graffiti and political statements.

Today Evan Roth lives in Hong Kong with his wife's work is posted on his own personal website, www.evan-roth.com, which details just about all of his work since the beginning of his career. He currently teaches at Parsons The New School for Design, specficially courses on visual programming, internet fame, even "geek graffiti", a course that has come under fire from anti-graffiti city council member Peter Vallone, Jr. Roth's work still continues on as usual, just completing a video for Jay-Z's latest single "Brooklyn (We Go Hard)", an open-source video that displays typographic illustrations of rappers Jay-Z and the Notorious B.I.G. using only the word "Brooklyn". The video has been a great success, just like much of Roth's portfolio as a designer, artist, and political activist.

Lyle Owerko

Lyle Owerko, on first sight, is credited as a professional photographer.  However, by the end of his guest lecture, he had proven himself to be much more.  He is a designer and an artist at heart, who has inadvertently touched the hearts of many around the world solely through his work.

Owerko believes that any designer over time naturally develops a creative consciousness, or becomes more aware of their surroundings as source of influence for their work.  He also states "the golden rule is to follow the gold", or to just simply flow towards what is guaranteed success.  This key rule, as well as building a degree of trust amongst your clients and colleagues, is vital to enjoying a successful career.

Although very soft-spoken and humble, Owerko is a very focused artist in his own right, and in a way a humanitarian, as the gold he himself followed brought him a great deal of trust amongst citizens of third-world nations all over the world, some of whom have received substantial financial support due to his photos and other works.

Blog Commentary: Week 9

Core77: Red Bull's DJ Table

Very interesting design. Functionality as well as simplicity. The the table is designed for vinyl-oriented DJs and listeners. The entire table just looks like one piece, but still has the necessary grooves and design to serve a great purpose.

Seth Godin: Marketing lessons from the US election

Seth again applying the concepts of the Presidential campaign to every life in general.

Core77: Manfrotto's fold-flat tripod

Economic thinking in the form of great compact design. Done by imaging & staging company Manfrotto, this handy tripod is a great example of supporting photographers & videographers on a budget.

Seth Godin: A friend in need

Is a friend indeed. This ties into this quote by Dr. Thomas L. Garthwaite, "People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel." Leaving a personal mark on anyone can go a long way in terms of progressing your business as a designer.

Nusrat Durrani

Nusrat Durrani worked literally from the ground up to get to his position as Senior Vice President and General Manager of MTV World. Growing up in India, Durrani was raised in the midst of a giant sea of culture in and outside of his own country. In 1993, Durrani recalls seeing a television network that was aptly titled Music Television, or MTV, for the first time. Immediately he was infatuated with the network, researching for the next four years about MTV and trying to find his way in to be part of it himself. This passion got him through having to basically restart his life in America and struggling his way into the company's New York-based headquarters during the harshest winter the city had seen in 100 years.

As the surprisingly mild-mannered and down-to-earth Durrani states, "finding a passion isn't a science, it's an art". By this, he means one cannot calculate how to excel in a field that they love, it must more or less express itself naturally. This is an important concept for anyone who chooses to take up any job or life for themselves, as it will be this artful passion that will get them through the almost imminent hard times that life will bring them, and ultimately a great deal of success.

Julius Caesar Project: Research

Synopsis:

A tragedy by William Shakespeare.  Portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator, his assassination and its aftermath.

Symbols:

Dagger

Roman Column

Roman Statue

Bloody cloth

Julius Caesar Project: Storyboard

Blog Commentary: Week 6

Seth Godin: What does this remind you of?

Very true assessment. Companies and sellers often tend to try to reinvent the wheel when releasing a new product, which more often than not works against them. Sometimes it is best to just do what works. Actually, most of the time it's best to do that.

Core77: Apple design, old vs. new

I remember using one of the earlier Macintosh computers in my house when I was a kid. It is true that Core77's assessment of the design of macs being awfully similar throughout the generations, however I believe that is due to the fact that Apple has always held onto the concept of simplicity and whatever is not needed is to be left out. So extra broader design is simply not necessarily, and so it is not exhibited. We see this concept especially now with the newest macs, in which Apple stresses the fact that they were design with fewer manufacturing pieces than before. Again, the company truly has mastered the assertion that less is more.