Bio 1
I am an energetic, compassionate and thoughtful communicator. I have experience in designing for the individual and the organization both in print and on web. I believe graphic design exists either to give individuals visual language for what they already feel or to draw them in using captivating narrative. The goal is not the design itself but a deep connection with the end user. I love working as part of a team and the creativity that dynamic generates.
Bio 2
Everything I create and design is the result of communication and exploration. Communication means conversation, discussing of ideas, brainstorming, asking questions, quiet time to think, pray and process; through exploration one can realize ideas and processes that one may never have come across, they may yield unexpected and unique results; creating is knowledge of form and function, it's important to understand the mechanics of design.
I believe that with the two values of communication and exploration in place, creativity can issue forth more easily. If you don't ask questions and do research, the design will be purposeless. My logo reflects these values: red is stop - stop and communicate; orange is explore - get ready to go and green is go, that's when things take off.
What should underpin these values is good leadership. Without it design can be stifling and meaningless. It is key in helping the design process move forward. I believe in the gifts of emotional intelligence for good leadership; empathy, social skill, motivation, self-regulation and self-awareness.
EDUCATION
08/09– Bachelor of Fine Arts: Graphic Design, Kansas City Art Institute, USA
09/97–06/99 Distinctions Course in Applied Photography SCAT, UK
09/95–05/96 City & Guilds Introduction to Photography Exeter College, UK
09/89–05/91 BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design Stafford College, UK
WORK
08/09– Business Owner Tom Morse-Brown Design Kansas City, USA
06/10–08/10 Graphic Design Intern: Marketing, Payless Shoes, Topeka, USA
09/07–08/09 Creative Director International House of Prayer Kansas City, USA
09/02–09/07 Senior Designer International House of Prayer Kansas City, USA
01/00–09/02 Lead Designer Cornerstone Vision Plymouth, UK
03/95–12/99 Graphic Designer The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth, UK
REFERENCES
John Ho AIA, Project Manager, Hollis & Miller Architects, Kansas City, USA
Juergen Kramer, President, Juergen Kramer International Consulting, Niedersachsen, DE
Ian Pilkington, Partner, Cornerstone Vision Publishing, Plymouth, UK
ONLINE
Design Portfolio: http://www.tommorsebrown.com
Design Process: http://tommorsebrown.blogspot.com
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret
I like the sound of Charles's architectural manifesto. For the longest time I've wondered why people build houses the way they do, especially here in the midwest. My roommate this morning was complaining that it was cold inside the house. It was 64 degrees. Outside felt warmer. It was 42 and the sun was shining. Our house has almost no windows on the south side so none of that warm sunlight heats up the house! Amazing.
Le Corbusier (as he was more commonly known) wrote about 'an entirely new kind of building.' He details 5 distinct areas of construction:
1. The supports: these are the supporting and non-supporting elements, the ground floor is elevated from the soil so there's no rising damp. There is a garden underneath the house and on the roof.
2. The roof garden: this is the most favored place in the building. Extreme hot and cold on the concrete is prevented by having constant humidity (provided by a layer of sand and soil on the roof). The waste pipes are in the interior of the building so the latent humidity remains continually on the roof skin.
3. Free designing of the ground plan: concrete supports on the outside of the building.
4. Horizontal windows: these are positioned between the supports and provide maximum illumination.
5. Free design of the facade: the facade is extended beyond the windows, a balcony around the house.
This type of house allows for mass production. The parts and pieces can be shipped in and assembled. It sounds like he's taking into consideration the elements which I like: sunlight, air circulation, heating and cooling and I love the roof garden idea, giving back the greenery to the city. Here's a picture of one of his buildings courtesy of Wikipedia:
Le Corbusier (as he was more commonly known) wrote about 'an entirely new kind of building.' He details 5 distinct areas of construction:
1. The supports: these are the supporting and non-supporting elements, the ground floor is elevated from the soil so there's no rising damp. There is a garden underneath the house and on the roof.
2. The roof garden: this is the most favored place in the building. Extreme hot and cold on the concrete is prevented by having constant humidity (provided by a layer of sand and soil on the roof). The waste pipes are in the interior of the building so the latent humidity remains continually on the roof skin.
3. Free designing of the ground plan: concrete supports on the outside of the building.
4. Horizontal windows: these are positioned between the supports and provide maximum illumination.
5. Free design of the facade: the facade is extended beyond the windows, a balcony around the house.
This type of house allows for mass production. The parts and pieces can be shipped in and assembled. It sounds like he's taking into consideration the elements which I like: sunlight, air circulation, heating and cooling and I love the roof garden idea, giving back the greenery to the city. Here's a picture of one of his buildings courtesy of Wikipedia:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Career Goals
I was recently sent an email by the guys at Offf saying this design studio called Physalia were speaking at the next Offf Design conference in Barcelona this year. I checked out their website. I think these are the kind of people I want to work with.
Timelapsus from Physalia Studio on Vimeo.
If I was to write down my career goals, they would look something like this:
Vision
Be an integral part of or lead a group of creative professionals using different mediums to create large multi-media projects.
Mission
Continue study and exploration of design methods, processes and mediums while continuing to build a network of client relationships.
Timelapsus from Physalia Studio on Vimeo.
If I was to write down my career goals, they would look something like this:
Vision
Be an integral part of or lead a group of creative professionals using different mediums to create large multi-media projects.
Mission
Continue study and exploration of design methods, processes and mediums while continuing to build a network of client relationships.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Do You Believe Edit
This one's more finished. I think the contrast works a lot better here (thanks Abby), the inclusion of the shadows on the thoughts makes the those really pop (thanks Mo), the hand rendered type is looking good (thanks Lance) and the exclusion of the girl in the top makes for a simpler, more intriguing image (thanks Sean), oh and yes, I made everything lowercase with a real apostrophe in "what's" (thanks Josh). Ya'll make a good critiquing team! What do you think now?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Third creative brief
This time I'm addressing the individual. I'm going to the root of the problem. If you address the individual and they themselves slow down, that will in turn create slowness around them.
Project Proposal
Busyness is increasing at a steady speed, the pace of life is getting faster and faster, businesses are working harder and harder and life is becoming more and more fragmented with technology trying to help us better organize and manage our lives but, like frontline designer and programmer Jonathan Harris recently said after a huge project he just finished, “I lie on my bed in the afternoon and look at the wall and it’s hard to know exactly what I’m feeling because my mind is entirely inside the machine.” With all our efforts to advance in the world, are we losing touch with who we are? Is this kind of thing happening to other people caught up in the progress of and advancement of modern society?
I’ve worked in four design studios in two different countries, both large and small business, I’ve been a part of seven different sized churches from small house fellowships to 3,000 member mega congregations, and also been involved in two non-profit organizations dealing with both the animal kingdom and human ethics, and in all of my involvement with these either by profession or by volunteer work I’ve had to learn how to find a sense of balance and stability so that I don’t get burnt out while giving of myself but continue to grow and flourish in who I am as a creative individual.
If the demands of the world around us, friends and family and even the demands we place on ourselves only increase in life how do we continue to create space for us, to nurture our own selves emotionally, physically and spiritually, and how do we then interact with other people, other institutions and the world on a day by day basis in ways that don’t burn us out but bring us life? The more I advance in even my own career the more I see others struggling with the same issues. Is this a global problem or is it only particular to western culture? Has it always been happening or is this a new phenomenon?
As far back as the 5th century, Benedict, an Italian nobleman founded 12 communities on a rule he wrote to help bring stability to his household, his extended family of brothers, and their busy shared life and all its inevitable demands. Esther de Waal’s commentary on his work said that his writing “helps us all, both in our personal and secret inner lives (where, as it were, we nourish the hermit side of ourselves) and also in our relationships with others (the community side).” What he developed helped bring a sense of order and balance to the individual in the midst of a very busy community.
How can graphic design help people to slow down. How can it help us spend time on us, on personal reflection? How can it encourage us to get some regular ‘me’ time away from all of life’s distractions to nurture that ‘hermit’ side of ourselves.
I believe that many people, like me have been on a journey of discovery to find themselves in amongst a driven, frenetic world. It’s like the old things have never gone away; we still need to find out who we are, we still want to find places where we can be all that we were created to be and we need help to do it.
Social Objectives
The time based piece wether it’s motion, print or interactive will be a tool to help the user find time in his/her busy schedule. It will incorporate sub tools to help him/her get the most out of their time and it will be a means to learn from the time they get. The user will hopefully go back to the tool again and again.
Messages
Reflection takes intentionality and time. By doing it you will nurture your inner self.
Audience
The people I’m reaching will be those searching for a simpler life in all of the chaos, regardless of age. They’re tired people, trying to find meaning and purpose amidst all the hubbub. They’re people who have lost all sense of who they are because of the speed of life.
Communication strategies
The tools will be made for people by hand. Just having hand made products will in themselves give a feeling of time and slowness.
Competitive Landscape
The Slow Food Movement
Citta Slow
Aukana Buddhist Meditation Center
Bibliography
In Praise of Slowness - Carl Honore
Seeking God by Esther De Waal - A commentary on The Rule by St. Benedict
Project Proposal
Busyness is increasing at a steady speed, the pace of life is getting faster and faster, businesses are working harder and harder and life is becoming more and more fragmented with technology trying to help us better organize and manage our lives but, like frontline designer and programmer Jonathan Harris recently said after a huge project he just finished, “I lie on my bed in the afternoon and look at the wall and it’s hard to know exactly what I’m feeling because my mind is entirely inside the machine.” With all our efforts to advance in the world, are we losing touch with who we are? Is this kind of thing happening to other people caught up in the progress of and advancement of modern society?
I’ve worked in four design studios in two different countries, both large and small business, I’ve been a part of seven different sized churches from small house fellowships to 3,000 member mega congregations, and also been involved in two non-profit organizations dealing with both the animal kingdom and human ethics, and in all of my involvement with these either by profession or by volunteer work I’ve had to learn how to find a sense of balance and stability so that I don’t get burnt out while giving of myself but continue to grow and flourish in who I am as a creative individual.
If the demands of the world around us, friends and family and even the demands we place on ourselves only increase in life how do we continue to create space for us, to nurture our own selves emotionally, physically and spiritually, and how do we then interact with other people, other institutions and the world on a day by day basis in ways that don’t burn us out but bring us life? The more I advance in even my own career the more I see others struggling with the same issues. Is this a global problem or is it only particular to western culture? Has it always been happening or is this a new phenomenon?
As far back as the 5th century, Benedict, an Italian nobleman founded 12 communities on a rule he wrote to help bring stability to his household, his extended family of brothers, and their busy shared life and all its inevitable demands. Esther de Waal’s commentary on his work said that his writing “helps us all, both in our personal and secret inner lives (where, as it were, we nourish the hermit side of ourselves) and also in our relationships with others (the community side).” What he developed helped bring a sense of order and balance to the individual in the midst of a very busy community.
How can graphic design help people to slow down. How can it help us spend time on us, on personal reflection? How can it encourage us to get some regular ‘me’ time away from all of life’s distractions to nurture that ‘hermit’ side of ourselves.
I believe that many people, like me have been on a journey of discovery to find themselves in amongst a driven, frenetic world. It’s like the old things have never gone away; we still need to find out who we are, we still want to find places where we can be all that we were created to be and we need help to do it.
Social Objectives
The time based piece wether it’s motion, print or interactive will be a tool to help the user find time in his/her busy schedule. It will incorporate sub tools to help him/her get the most out of their time and it will be a means to learn from the time they get. The user will hopefully go back to the tool again and again.
Messages
Reflection takes intentionality and time. By doing it you will nurture your inner self.
Audience
The people I’m reaching will be those searching for a simpler life in all of the chaos, regardless of age. They’re tired people, trying to find meaning and purpose amidst all the hubbub. They’re people who have lost all sense of who they are because of the speed of life.
Communication strategies
The tools will be made for people by hand. Just having hand made products will in themselves give a feeling of time and slowness.
Competitive Landscape
The Slow Food Movement
Citta Slow
Aukana Buddhist Meditation Center
Bibliography
In Praise of Slowness - Carl Honore
Seeking God by Esther De Waal - A commentary on The Rule by St. Benedict
Monday, January 10, 2011
Do You Believe edits
After meeting with Ashley, and hearing feedback from a few others, here's the direction. There is a difference here with the title, one is in hand drawn type, the other in computer generated. The rear of the sleeve is not designed at all.
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