Sometimes all those years spent as a graphics and exhibitions designer at a museum (10 years! The Exploratorium!) can pay off in that when it comes to setting up and designing things–websites, print materials, exhibition spaces–I can pull from a general roster of tried-and-true ideas.
Yesterday I designed and set up the website for The Counterfeit Crochet Project (http://www.counterfeitcrochet.org, natch!) and made it live in a few hours. It’s still missing some large swaths of a photo archive and other info, but it works and I’m happy with how it turned out. It’s got a gridpaper background (to suggest one’s plotting of counterfeit patterns) and a basic dark red, grey, black, and brown color scheme that reminds me of the Bauhaus basics. Or at least Russian Constructivism. Whatever.
I had registered the URL ages ago but only now set it up since when the show opens it’ll hopefully drive traffic to it’s own site. And in the past it was always piggybacked onto my main site (http://www.stephaniesyjuco.com) but it really deserves its own space.
I’ve been spending day after day on my laptop in the kitchen, feeling oddly like a giant deja-vu from my designer days. Designing flyers, space installation layouts, signage, catalog spreads, postcards, websites, etc. It’s weird that all this is needed for a project on crochet (the most analog and crafty of mediums). If I didn’t do this myself I’d have to hire a designer, ironically, so in the end it’s best to be in control of everything. And wouldn’t you know I’m a control freak when it comes to design. But darn if I can’t wait to get some real analog drawing and artmaking time into the near future!
March 11, 2008
From an email sent out earlier today:
Hello friends and colleagues!
I’m writing to invite you to participate in a Counterfeit Crochet opening night event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on the evening of Friday, March 28! As part of the exhibition “The Way That We Rhyme,” the Counterfeit Crochet Project will have an installation and workshop area that will be active during the opening and duration of the show, and I’m seeking folks to participate in something akin to a “crochet army” of collaborators. See details below, the project statement, plus a plethora of your questions answered… Hope to hear from you 
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INVITATION DETAILS
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WHAT: Invitation to be a part of the activated Global Counterfeiting Ring
WHEN: Friday, March 28, 2008, 8-11pm (opening night of the exhibition)
WHERE: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 3rd and Mission Streets, San Francisco, first floor galleries
AS PART OF: the exhibition “The Way That We Rhyme” curated by Berin Golonu
CONTACT: Stephanie Syjuco, studio@stephaniesyjuco.com
exhibition website: http://www.ybca.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=4024
counterfeit crochet website: http://www.counterfeitcrochet.org
artist website: http://www.stephaniesyjuco.com
(more…)
March 10, 2008
The instructions have been published in CRAFT magazine a year or two ago, but I decided to make a downloadable PDF file on “How to Bootleg a Chanel Purse” complete with logo and basic instructions. It’s the first part of designing a flyer/handout for the Counterfeit Crochet show coming up, and helps me distribute the information for free. Copy it! Share it! Spread it!
It’s linked from the temporary website design that I just set up for www.counterfeitcrochet.org, and is 2-pages, less than 520k and fits on letter-size printer for ease of printing (hooray for thoughtful design!). Stay tuned for more how-to’s and a better, more improved counterfeiting website!
March 10, 2008
