Nate Burgos's Blog, page 7

Pride, Work and Necessity of Side Projects: Emily J. Smith’s Itch to Keep Writing Naturally Sparked the Founding of Matchmaking App Chorus—Her Tech Startup

What are you working on—on the side?

My main side project is my writing. I write essays, mostly, and I’m also working on a novel and a nonfiction book. I started writing about five years ago. I never studied it, or did it professionally; a career in the arts had always felt out of the question, financially. I studied engineering and then went to business school. My world was always numbers, not words.

I started writing on the side in my thirties. At first, I was afraid to admit that I wrote in...

Pride, Work and Necessity of Side Projects: Freelance Graphic Designer Jess Lewis Took the “36 Days of Type” Challenge

What are you working on—on the side?

36 Days of Type, a personal project to animate all 36 letters and numbers of the alphabet with cities across the world. 36 Days of Type is a project organised by designers from Barcelona that invites designers, illustrators and graphic artists to express their particular interpretation of the letters and numbers of the alphabet. Participants are challenged to design a letter or number for each day, showing the ability to represent the same symbols simultane...

Pride, Work and Necessity of Side Projects: Designer Sarah Jackson’s Animated GIFs of Crime, Philosophy of Design and More

What are you working on—on the side?

Everything I do feels like a side project! What makes them “side projects” might vary, depending on what I consider to be that day’s “main project.” For example, I was working on my Master of Design full-time for the past two years which made my design work the side-project, perhaps?

Former side-projects include (but are not limited to): competitive salsa dancing, building a series of children’s books about jam, and creating/hosting monthly Philosophic Salon...

Illustrator Cornelia Li Is Greatly Intrigued by Ideas and Emotions Through her Art for Books and Editorial Projects

I first discovered Cornelia Li’s work in National Public Radio Correspondent Allison Aubrey’s report “From Gloom to Gratitude: 8 Skills to Cultivate Joy”—for which Cornelia made a beautiful illustration (where the wonderfully drawn koi caught my eye). This led me to discovering her artwork for children’s books, like “Voyage Through Space.” In addition to the cosmic perspective, here she shares her perspective on becoming an illustrator, a creative discipline she is passionate about—and i...

Accountability by Design: Christine Gaspar, Community-Engaged Designer and Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy

Photography by Steph Goralnick

One of the most provocative and memorable talks at the 11th (and last) annual gathering of the Cusp Conference in 2018 was by Christine Gaspar, the Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy—“a nonprofit organization that uses the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement particularly among underrepresented communities.” Here, she gives her opinions on her organization’s community-driven work that rigorously fuses research, design a...

Cusp Conference 2018: It’s Time

One of the things I cherish most about the annual Cusp Conference in Chicago is the seemingly random nature of it—up to twenty-five speakers from disparate industries, on stage, sharing the fuel behind their work. Motivational to learn what it is that truly drives people to actf on their life’s commitment—and the resulting patterns across different disciplines. It’s a glimpse into their long-term focus and its by-products of determination, passion and joy. In 2018, time and flow were the stan...

The Best is Yet to Come: Maria Montes Improves and Grows as a Freelance Designer, Illustrator, Letterer and Calligraphy Teacher

Designer and Artist Maria Monte’s work in illustration and letterforms is tremendous—and fantastic in scope. Been revisiting her wonderful work over the years. Excited about her opinions on creativity and craft as part of my Design Feast series celebrating remarkable Makers. Here, Maria gives a detailed peek into her world, from her beginnings to getting established to continually improving her illustrating-lettering talents to shaping a creative community—and being shaped by it for...

Positively Engaging Communities and Putting People at the Center of the Design Process: Director Libby Cole of The Work Department

The pioneering urban thinker and author, Jane Jacobs, expressed, “Design is people.” This embodies the people-centered design approach practiced by The Work Department, directed and owned by Libby Cole. Here, she shares her opinions on the benefits and ultimate value of participatory design, harnessing grounded collaboration, especially the experience of doing good work with good people for good people.

How do you and your team make
your design process “people-centered”?

The Work Department...

Pride, Work and Necessity of Side Projects: Digital Transformation Consultant Sally Lait Turns Her Admiration of Japanese Details into Animated Art

What are you working on—on the side?

My side project is natsukashii.art, which is a site that houses my ongoing quest to capture some (quite niche!) beautiful Japanese details that I’ve encountered over the years—specifically train station stamps and manhole covers—in digital form.

Both of these items have a bit of a cult following, with many people going out of their way to collect photos. Before knowing this, on an early trip to Japan, I ended up being struck by the wonderful design and the c...

Pride, Work and Necessity of Side Projects: Copywriter Janelle Blasdel Creates Comedy from the Page to Stage

What are you working on—on the side?

My side project is comedy, both performing and writing, which is a pretty broad arena to be working in, but that’s one reason I enjoy it so much. Comedy attracts a range of voices, talents, styles and approaches, so there are a lot of opportunities for crossover, collaboration and moving into a new medium that you want to explore.

More specifically, I perform improv across Chicago, namely at iO Theater with my Harold team ’66 Mustang (below) and with Th...