SoftSpot Blog

Ashley, Mike and I just finished our portrait session with Emily Pilloton, Project H founder and executive director. Emily started Project H Design as a means to encourage more socially-conscious design initiatives within the product design industry. She is also a regular contributer to GOOD, ID and ReadyMade, and although she may tell you otherwise, we found out her true SoftSpot is cupcakes.

Mike, Emily, and Ashley catch the last of the sun’s rays at Ocean Beach, SF.

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When we sat down to speak with IDEO’s Jennifer Leonard, she took us up to the park by her cottage in the Bernal Heights district of San Francisco and shared her thoughts on design for social change, punk aesthetics, and how she got personal with Global Warming.

Photo: Jonathan Snyder

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The Soft Spot crew was graciously invited down to Half Moon Bay for a candid interview and photo shoot with John Bielenberg, founder of C2 Design and director of Project M. John is also on the board of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), is the Vice President and Director of the Pop!Tech Institute, loves bikes and has a studio so close to Mavericks surf spot that you can practically step into the water from the front door. He is awesome, and we are very grateful for the time he gave us. Thanks John.

Photo: Jonathan Snyder

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A few days of editing film, a lot of scanning, and we have images! Here is a peek at our photo shoot with Mark Randall of Worldstudio.

Photo: Jonathan Snyder

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We met Mark Randall from WorldStudio a few days ago. He’s a great guy and an awesome designer. Photos to come, but in the meantime check out this video from Cause/Effect where he talks about the Urban Forest Project.

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So I’m traveling a bit for work right now, and having the great opportunity to be in Paris for a few days, I decided to see what’s new at the Pompidou. I came across a great exhibition; a retrospective of the works of one of today’s major French artists, Jacques Villeglé.  Since 1949, he has developed work almost exclusively using a single material – the ripped or lacerated poster. 

It is always great to run into artists who have been working in this vain for years and see how they have informed the mash-up art that is happening today.

The exhibit runs  September 17 2008 - January 5 2009 at the Centre Pompidou.

Image: Rues Desprez et Vercingétorix - “La Femme”, 1966

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Last week Jenna Wortham and I caught up with Shepard Fairey at the White Walls Gallery in SF for the opening of his new show, The Duality of Humanity. He talked about his work and the runaway success of his posters for the Obama campaign. Read the entire article here on Wired.com.

Photo: Jonathan Snyder

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I’ve been in the studio working on some techniques that I think will lend themselves well to the walls. Word up to Nadav.

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The semester begins again, and it’s time for another Directed Study to push the boundaries of what  I want to accomplish with my final thesis project. Over the next four months, I’ll be meeting with Josh Kirschenbaum, Director of Planning and Development for PolicyLink. PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity, and Josh has led community building and technology projects for six years.

I chose to consult with Josh to aid me in fine tuning my goal of using photography to bring attention to the disparity between people and the political process. Since proposing my project last fall, I’ve experimented with many approaches, visually and conceptually, and I feel that with Josh’s guidance I will be able to combine the seriousness of this issue with a striking visual style.

I’m excited to see where this next step leads me, and look forward to any and all feedback from the Soft Spot community as I begin this next phase of work. I will be posting edits from upcoming shoots regularly here and on my portfolio site jonathanasnyder.com.

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Watching last nights acceptance speech from Barack was a little piece of history unfolding before our eyes. Andrew Sullivan said it best, “This is a remarkable man at a vital moment.”

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