Brian Watterson
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A book cover for Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, which reinterprets Calvino's text in the form of an interaction. Calvino writes short tales of cities in rhythmic, philosophical patterns that, in essence, are enveloped by each city it precedes. With each story you're left feeling intrigued with something new, yet at the same time it feels vaguely familiar. This pattern is carried throughout the book and creates a cyclical pattern of sorts, as does the jacket for this book.

This project took place over the last twenty-five weeks leading up to my BFA degree. Each week a postcard was conceptualized, produced—utilizing a variety of printmaking techniques—and sent to Mr. Sagmeister. The project explored my interest in self-imposed limitations and conceptual forms of making over formal decision making. I had just read Sol Lewitt's Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, "In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art." The underlying structure of the project was based on a sequence of diminishing numbers—the number of days left until graduation. I was interested in the generally shared attitude that after one receives a degree, they are somehow justified to work professionally, and from thereon are a professional, to which I simply disagree. I find it more accurate to describe this series of events—or any for that matter—as a cyclical action where the end is simply just another beginning. On the back of each postcard is detail of a larger image that is to be assembled as the postcards are collected. The image is a direct response to this notion, one glorified moment that quickly becomes another starting point.

During my last semester at Bowling Green State University I participated in the student-initiated exhibition, Circumstance: The Intersection of Choice and Chance. Together with Zack Seuberling, we created an experience that acted as a dialogue between we the designers and the viewer. At opposing ends of the gallery walls were framed sheets of Plexiglas hidden under a field of black and white ink, each bearing a word or phrase in opposition to the other. In front of each framed object was a pedestal on which a mound of pennies sat. Throughout the exhibition viewers scratched at the surface revealing the image on the underside of the Plexiglas further continuing the dialogue.

An installation of three serigraph prints accompanied by four wall drawings that examine the amount of waste accumulated each year of common recyclable materials—paper, aluminum, and plastic—within the United States. Each print states the percentage of a material that is not recycled each year. That percentage was then removed from the substrate, creating a window within the composition. The removed portions of the sentences were then drawn directly onto the gallery wall. Statistics are based on the 2008 Statistical Abstract. With Zack Seuberling

Due to budget constraints, only one poster mailer could be produced to promote both the 2009 BFA and MFA shows at Bowling Green State University. In order to avoid the unconsciousness that naturally occurs as a person is subjected to the same environment day after day, two distinct posters were created out of one sheet of paper by utilizing folding methods and color variation. The days leading up to the BFA show, the posters are half the size of that when the MFA show promotion begins and the poster is unfolded completely and becomes almost twice the size of the original. This drastic change in environment ensures that the viewer re-experiences the environment as new and takes note of the "new" posters hanging throughout the space. The grid structure on the MFA side becomes the main element of the poster on which all typography is situated and is carried onto the BFA side to reenforce the idea that the MFA candidates have been guiding the BFA candidates throughout their education. This visible grid structure also acts as optical line typography that can be read more easily the further away from the poster you are (get up from your computer to simulate this effect). As you get closer to the poster you are able to read another level in, displaying information such as when the show will take place, and even further in, more subtle information such as the participants' names or areas of study. These spacial relationships are used as a metaphor for the narrowing focus of study and craft and this apex moment as one pursues a degree in the fine arts.

This identity was used to represent myself as I applied to various design studios in May 2008. Throughout the process, I felt limited by the systems I created, which eventually led me to explore the idea of an identity not in terms of graphic design, but as a sense of self. If your sense of self is always changing based on the things we experience, how can that be portrayed in an identity system? The kinetic mark is comprised of two elements, school portraits and a screen printed text over top of these images. Each phrase plays off of the notion of an identity system in terms of graphic design and anthropomorphizes the term.

The Fatty is a forum for the students of the Graphic Design department at Bowling Green State University. Together with Zack Seuberling, the forum was created in order to strengthen the design community at BGSU in hopes of creating a space outside of the classroom where a critical dialogue could take place. Upon completion, the department allowed us to realize the project and is now open to students in the program. Since the forum is made available only to the BGSU design community, an account is required to view the contents of the forum. Temporary access is available by entering guest into the form fields.

Outside In is an agency located in Portland, Oregon that helps homeless youth and other low-income individuals receive medical, mental, and social attention that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Since the agency receives very little funding to sustain themselves, a utilitarian identity system was put in place in order to promote themselves in an economical manner. The basic structuring of content and use of typography and color acts as an identifier for the agency. Accompanying this structure sometimes is a Necker cube that acts as a symbol for Outside In. A Necker Cube is a three-dimensional cube where the perspective of the cube shifts depending on the way the viewer looks at it. Thus creating the ability for the viewer to make the outside wall appear on the inside. A poster project has also been implemented to create visibility not only for the agency's patients, but also for donors and other sustained individuals. Furthermore, a series of site-specific posters are utilized to direct patients to the clinic throughout the downtown area.