I’m still grinding hard on a few new projects, but recently I debuted a collection of images that I took in Havana over the years. I miss working in photography, expect more photo-based work pretty soon! The work originally appeared over at Parlour.  Click on the image to start the show.

*S

So while I sit here and crank out some openers in After-Effects for Parlour, I can’t help but think how much I would really like to be back in Cuba right about now. You probably won’t find an image like this in any tour book, but it is the toll stop on the main road that connects Havana with all of the cities/provinces east..as well as the beeeaaaaaccchhhhheeeees. Great for top-down driving.

Ok, I have to finish these things.

So in early 2009, Berman Fenelus asked to photograph me as a part of a set of creatives that he was capturing for CLAM Magazine, based out of Paris. But there was a catch—I had to answer a set of questions about living creatively, being green, art, life, etc. So fast forward a few months and there I am, towards the front. It’s dope to have been selected to appear along side culture-creators like Wajeed, Fuse Green (my twisted mentor and honorary big-brother), DJ Rashida, Amir Ebrahimi, and Emanoel Aranujo, who served as the inspiration for the issue. Peep some tidbits of the editorial here:

Clam 19

This is issue we want to explore your world and most importantly the world around you

What’s your job? Freelance Creative Director, Producer . Co-Founder and Publisher of ParlourMagazine.com

Does what you do reach and affect a lot of people? Yes! And that is the scary part about what I do. In the past 365 my work has appeared on network television, toured the country and is probably sitting in your house. I feel a responsibility for anything that I attach my name to, to have some resonance of style and substance. I hate frivolous things and won’t work for gratuitous or irresponsible brands/companies.

What kind of  control you have  over what you do? It depends. With Parlour I hold a majority of creative control but still run everything by my partners. With my clients and events, I tend to be a bit of a control freak, but it’s really when I am feeling a brand or project. My clients appreciate it, I can be obsessive! However, I do love a more collaborative environment. I just love to push the limit and don’t accept bare minimums—you only have one life. I say live to the maximum.

How important is the work you do to your world? Through my work I am able to help my friends, which means a great deal to me. I constantly hire out of and support my personal network. We are our families away from home. My younger cousin called me her idol on her FaceBook page and that really choked me up. She went to my university and is inspired to live independently. At that moment I realized that I don’t just live for myself anymore. I have to succeed.

What is the most important….politics, economy or art? Art.   Why? Art traverses time and sustains society in times of chaos. A society can live off of it’s art in the event that it’s politics and economy wane.

Do you have any tips to others how to handle it? Remain positive and utilize your friends. I have traveled internationally twice during this time, I figure it to be an investment in myself. Don’t stop living because eventually this will be over and you can be fresh for the rebound.

What question should we have asked…? …Can you answer it then? You should have asked me about my strange infatuation with Herman Miller, coffee and leggings. I can’t live without all three. It effects the world, seriously.

Finally what’s your tip for successful living? Love freely and go out dancing every month.

For the full package, you have to go to your nearest full-service newstand and pick up CLAM for yourself!

Recently, my friend Nichelle decided to start her own consultancy, Private Intellectual and needed a quick and dirty identity and web-presence while she builds her materials. The logo (see above) I did it pretty straight-forward. A Helvetica-family typeface, with just some simple mods and kerning. She came up with the idea and I just tightened it up – but there is something about the yellow that I absolutely love.

Only the granddaughter of Che Guevara, Lydia Guevara could get away with posing naked, sans a bandolier of carrots in support of PETA and vegetarianism. Now, I wonder, are those Marxist carrots? I just need to make the connection because “join the vegetarian revolution” is not enough.

Source

spotted while having lunch at Cafe Habana yesterday. I’ve heard about Claudette but props to the crew at Eleven Vintage for telling her story to the cool kids who frequent that block.

What a week. Other than polishing up 2 projects for a client, banging out a website and 2 logos I had two awesome things happen to me. 1) I got to hang with two of the illest motion designers in the biz, and 2) I was hooked with Soul Train as a client.

Yes, that Soul Train! Legendary dance show with one of the best identities ever….that train and the Soul Train logo always held a special place in my heart. *moment of sappiness*

But before that, a big crazy shout out to Ricardo & Deka for braving that reggae night with me in Williamsburg on Tuesday. See what happens when 3 tired creatives blend with roots and red stripe after a long day of RGB debauchery:

left: Ricardo (Sao Paulo motion master, selecta & After Effects wiz) and Deka (Guerilla Artist)

Dek went BK cool while I suddenly remembered my favorite Malcolm X pose

So while I spend my days trying to remix the website, enjoy this candid glimpse into the life & times of a freelance creative with secret dreams of singing back-up for Tina Turner.