Sub/Conscious Meanderings

It seems that transitions and life moments all converge to a singular and relatively short span of time. The last week has only supported that belief. Graduation was Friday and marked the beginning of the rest of my life as a graphic designer. It was met with great anticipation as the conclusion of six long years of university study finally arrived. My parents came to town to celebrate two of their sons graduating the same weekend.

My mother’s family also planned a BBQ for Saturday. Attending became an obstacle as my sister’s car broke down on the way. So, Dad and Craig, who had been at the BBQ since earlier that afternoon, came to our rescue. Austin and I continued to the BBQ while Anita stayed behind to take care of the car. By the time we arrived, most of the family had already left. Excepting that were Grandma Cheshire, Christine, and Diane, with a few cousins still around. It was nice to see the few people that were there.

The ride back brought on conversation about the line between right and wrong, tattoos, piercings, and causes of general evildoing in the world. My father, who did most of the talking, has very strong opinions that differ greatly from mine, so the conversation was lively and at times approached heated. Mom and Austin didn’t say too much, although Austin started contributing moments before we arrived home.

After the car was parked, Austin stepped out of the car and I opened my door to leave. Dad asked me to “stick around” for a minute (which became several). His first words came in the form of a question—”What is your relationship to Austin?” I, of course, responded honestly when confronted so directly to a question that I knew had been looming for quite some time. “He’s my partner,” I replied. The conversation the proceeded to increase its emotional charge by several degrees, but the level of respect remained fairly level. Dad expressed his distaste for my relationship with Austin and requested that he not attend any family events. I responded that if Austin couldn’t attend, I wouldn’t either. Many of the details of the conversation escape me, but it ended with expressions of love and differences of opinion.

Mom, who had, for the most part, been entirely silent during the affair, leaned toward the back seat and, with tears in her eyes offered a hug and simple words. “I love you. Some people’s love is different. I love you. I love you. I love you.” These words rang true to the core. Although her beliefs teach that homosexuality is wrong, she did not let that interfere with her love for her son. Dad stepped out of the car and we embraced, exchanging the same words. “I love you.”

Although neither of my parents condone my relationship with Austin, I know that they love me as their son. That love goes both ways. And the end to what could have been a very negative experience became a celebration of love. As I left the parking lot weeping, the love from my partner, Austin came to comfort me in the most honest moment I have had in my entire life.

The freedom of total honesty has brought more solace since.

Tonight I have a contract to review for full-time employment at Hint Creative here in Salt Lake. Christian and I discussed the terms, goals and expectations today over lunch and I’m pleased to be part of a very talented group of designers.

So within the span of four days, I have officially concluded a major chapter of my life and begun anew looking forward to new opportunities with anticipation.

After six years of school, I finally participated in the pomp and ceremony of graduation. My Mom and Dad flew in so it had to be a special occasion. Thursday night, after commencement—which I did not attend—the graphic design department hosted a little party for all the seniors, most of whom won’t actually graduate for another 6 to 10 months. As part of the pre-dinner events, a slide show was prepared. It was scheduled for the beginning of the night, but was finally shown at the end. At the request of my parents, here are a couple of the photographs that were included.

After gasping for air for the last few days, running around trying to tie up lose ends on this project and that test, it was immensely refreshing to walk out of my last final, pause for a moment, and take a deep breath. I was the first to finish the final in my Business Management class. I took a refreshing look at the last final of the semester, picked up my things and walked toward the front of the classroom. After handing the instructor the test and the answer sheet, he walked me out and shuttled me to the nearest empty room and requested to see my portfolio. I was flattered by the unexpected attention, but also dying to get home and sleep after a 42-hour stint of sleep depravation. And yet here I am writing about the whole thing and still not sleeping—such a masochist. So, at that I’m off to bed.

Now that school is wrapping up, I decided to redesign the blog. I’m now using WordPress, which I like much better already. I imagine that things will continue to be updated and changed just to finesse what’s here, but I’m pretty happy with how things are arranged. Please let me know your thoughts on the changes.

The pace of my life has significantly decreased within the last week. I have two more finals to take and my BFA to finish, but most everything else has tapered to a close. I’ll hopefully be updating my website within the next couple weeks with more work. I might be undertaking an overhaul of my blog also, but we’ll see.

Graduation is in less than a week, and I’m excited to start another chapter of my life without school—finally being able to read my extensive list of books and focus solely on type design (apart from work, that is)

My fame as a type designer has begun. Okay, not really, but I was asked to participate in a very interesting project that highlights creatives in the Salt Lake area. Dallas Graham, the owner of Montage Creative has started a personal project that delves into the depths of individuals artistic endeavors—as deep as you can get in 45 minutes. Daily Documentary is a year-long project to interview and photograph a person a day. I was lucky enough to participate and thought I’d pass it one. Take a look.

Here’s a different kind of project I’ve been working on for my motion design class. I’m pretty happy with the results and my final project, a 30 second ad for Pink Pearl Erasers will have a similar style. Enjoy. (The video will appear to be missing, but if you click on it, it should load.)

Well it looks like the Water, Politics and Hope show got some pretty big attention. Linda Sullivan, the Graphic Design Department Chair, wants to have the show travel to several galleries in Salt Lake. It is going to be featured in an upcoming issue of BYU Magazine as well. One of the most exciting parts is that my piece might be printed for distribution and/or sale. We already have one gallery that is pretty interested. Another might be in the works.