Graduation kicks ass. Big time. It’s the grand culmination of delayed gratification: a lifetime of academic rigor rewarding you with an open door of opportunity. It’s pure elation cut with relentless optimism. Excitement multiplied by confidence. You are unstoppable, on top of the world, and hopefully still a little drunk. But as thrilling as it is, the euphoria inevitably dissolves…
Preface: I love my mom. Ever since I fled the nest, we’ve established a finely-tuned calling schedule, wherein she phones early on the weekends and I, either distractedly wrapped up in sketching or fending off ravenous vegans in DC’s three-hour grocery store lines, ring her back late in the evening, when things calm down. Our conversations often touch on design…
Win. Win. Win. Such is the anthem of modern culture, and in one form or another, the drive to succeed is likely the single most encompassing force in your life. Relax: this is okay. You can’t help it and I can’t blame you. It’s what we’re taught. No one plays for a coach who advocates lobbing an interception in the fourth quarter; you play to win…
Not long ago, I got an e-mail from a young design student asking about style, a word that is both elusive and ubiquitous enough to define the careers of countless designers, writers, musicians and filmmakers. In the student’s message, he especially was curious if I thought maintaining a personal “look & feel” was a necessary consideration…
Matt Chase is a designer and illustrator living and working in Washington, DC. His work has been recognized by Applied Arts, AIGA, The Society of Publication Design, Communication Arts, HOW, Coupe, The Art Director’s Club, The DC Ad Club and the Dallas Society of Visual Communication.