Artist, graphic designer, & tech consultant in Nelson County, VA
Author:lemsy
John LeMasney (lemsy) is an artist, graphic designer, and technology creative. He is located in beautiful Nelson County, VA, but works remotely with ease. Contact him at: lemasney@gmail.com to discuss your next creative project.
Love was that moment when... - Stieg Larsson CC-BY lemasney
Love was that moment when… – Stieg Larsson CC-BY lemasney
Love was the moment when… – Stieg Larsson
“Karl Stig-Erland “Stieg” Larsson (/stiːɡ ˈlɑrsən/; Swedish pronunciation: [ˈkaɭ ˈstiːɡ ˈæɭand ˈlaʂɔn]; 15 August 1954 – 9 November 2004) was a Swedish journalist and writer. He is best known for writing the “Millennium trilogy” of crime novels, which were published posthumously. Larsson lived much of his life in Stockholm and worked there in the field of journalism and as an independent researcher of right-wing extremism. He was the second best-selling author in the world for 2008, behind Khaled
Barn's burnt down - Mizuta Masahide CC-BY lemasney
Barn’s burnt down – Mizuta Masahide CC-BY lemasney
“Mizuta Masahide (水田 正秀?, 1657–1723) was a seventeenth-century (Edo period) Japanese poet and samurai who studied under Matsuo Bashō. Masahide practiced medicine in Zeze and led a group of poets who built the Mumyō Hut.[1][2]” – Mizuta Masahide – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – http://goo.gl/2cHtrQ
“The moon in this haiku may symbolize many things, but for me, it represents the presence of God.
This is the first illustrated quote of this project, and I think it’s apt. Let’s break it down. This is a common thought, and so in this case, not attributed to anyone in particular. There are many quotes that involve this idea, and you can see some of these at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/one_thing.html
This is a mindfulness quote, essentially meaning ‘don’t try to do two things at once, because you are less likely to do either of those as well as doing one alone’. The phrase “do just one thing” takes a much more positive approach to the notion, in affirming the active idea, e.g. doing one thing well.
On the use of “just”.
It also uses the word just, which could have multiple meanings. For instance, you might read just as “only”, or solely. However, I like to think that it might be used as a verb here, as in do justice to one single thing by spending the time and attention necessary to do that one thing well.
This illustrated quote was made in Inkscape, the open source digital vector illustration program. It uses Didot as its font with a tight kern, and a minimalist off-black, deep red, and newsprint tone with a vignette treatment.
If you like this quote, and you’d like your favorite quote illustrated for a presentation, poster, or other inspirational memorable purpose, please contact me at lemasney@gmail.com.
She feels in italics – Henry James, CC-BY lemasney
On Henry James – She feels in italics…
“James contributed significantly to literary criticism, particularly in his insistence that writers be allowed the greatest possible freedom in presenting their view of the world. James claimed that a text must first and foremost be realistic and contain a representation of life that is recognisable to its readers. Good novels, to James, show life in action and are, most importantly, interesting. His imaginative use of point of view, interior monologue and unreliable narrators in his own novels and tales brought a new depth and interest to narrative fiction. An extraordinarily productive writer, in addition to his voluminous works of fiction he published articles and books of travel, biography, autobiography, and criticism, and wrote plays, some of which were performed during his lifetime, though with limited success when compared to the success of his novels. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912 and 1916.” – Henry James – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – http://goo.gl/67fA3m
A waveform of me saying the word 'open' by lemasney.
calligraphy by lemasney
When in doubt, visit your library by lemasney
Do not covet your ideas by lemasney
Symphonic logo by lemasney
delicate stained glass chandelier, photo by lemasney
A waveform of me saying the word ‘open’ by lemasney.
Tonight, at 7 pm at Princeton Public Library, I’ll be introducing self-designated non-designers about the basics of graphic design for non-designers. It’s free to the public, no registration necessary, in the technology center.
In the talk, I introduce the key ideas of graphic design to those who may never have had the discussion before:
Fonts and typography
Layout and space
Color and palette
Defining and simplifying messages for casual viewers
Getting one’s attention and engagement in an over-engaged world
Visual branding
If you are like me, you went through 12 years of school learning about reading, writing, communication, arithmetic, history, and other important basic skills.
But I did not learn about video production, graphic design, data visualization or other contemporary communication skills while I was in school until I went to college. Not because it was too difficult to learn, as many kids are introduced to these topics in grade school now, but because the emphasis was different. So those of us who are asked to communicate in the new visual ways are often lost, not having even the vocabulary of visual communication. If this describes you, I think you would benefit greatly from the class. I hope to see you there!
Oh, you can’t make it? That’s too bad. Luckily, I have a phone (609 553 9498) and an email address (john@lemasney.com) where we can still talk about it! Talk to you soon.
I had a lot of fun designing this visual brand for Symphonic, an ideological company I’m thinking about that focuses on ways to bring people together. One of the themes that they might use to bring people together ideologically is through sustainability, another through making, another through understanding technology, and so on.
I have served with a few sustainability organizations, and even served on a committee for one. Their purpose is usually transparent: help people to understand that our choices affect the planet, in either positive or negative ways, and that the effects come back to reach us later, in an almost karmic way. Festivals are one effective way to expand outreach, and so they are common event choices for these kinds of groups. The festival usually involves food, awareness games, and other activities to create an impression that reminds you of the organization and its messages. I have seen many t-shirt giveaways at these kinds of festivals as incentive for people to collect a reminder of the event. I have a problem with this, very often. But, maybe you can help me to solve it.
My problem is that I do not see giving t-shirts away as pro-sustainability. If we are buying new shirts, they are still getting bought, new, not reused, not thrift, not gift. It supports the consumerist ideals: more, new, different, need, want. But, done correctly, we might be able to work with t-shirts, differently.
What if the Symphonic festival was a free-thrift and recycling/reusing drive?
The idea is simple: People bring clean, used shirts (and other items) to give away, as they might at a thrift store. then, they get to choose from whatever shirts and other items that have been collected, and choose a visual design (in the form of stencils or other materials) to change it if they wish. There might be a t-shirt stencil-printing station using recycled or high sustainability ink or a manual embroidery station where someone’s monogram might be taught and sewn by the new shirt owner. Simple designs with ideas about the best of sustainability and preservation could be screen-printed or stenciled on exchanged shirts by the new shirt owners. The festival would be free, services donated, t-shirts and other items exchanged and up-cycled by them. Donated leftovers that were not exchanged could be donated to thrift stores, or life support groups.
Imagine, we would have people participating in Making (designing, printing, creating), as opposed to consuming (browsing, liking, buying), in the traditional sense. By understanding and participating, not just observing and consuming as we are asked to do in many parts of our society, we understand that tiny bit of the universe in a new way.
This is an amazing possibility for a thread to emerge in the minds of attendees through open source, sustainability, sharing, teaching, reusing, recycling, up-cycling, code awareness, making, understanding, and seeing.
The common thread? These activities all point to truth, as one can know it, as they put their hands on it, modify and understand it, and know it. They get to see, act, and make (design, etc.) choices for themselves, and possibly discover a truth of their own. We are usually limited to buying or only knowing another’s truth.
