adam j. kurtz super serious work blog

Just a quick note, my WINNER HARBOR shirt is available for...

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:29:54 -0400

Just a quick note, my WINNER HARBOR shirt is available for purchase ($20) via More Collective’s online store now, but it will not be reprinted, so if you’d like to own a tshirt with Willie’s arms on it, now is (most likely) your only chance!

The shirts are American Apparel and the printing is super light so they are extremely comfortable!

business card variant it’s back to school time, and i...

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:18:29 -0400

business card variant

it’s back to school time, and i found this awesome pencil stamp tonight. it feels appropriate for a number of reasons including “it’s a pencil, duh,” and “i’m a nice guy.”

older variants: here

Also by Tony Venne, this exhibition for Taste, his MFA thesis...

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:32:00 -0400

Also by Tony Venne, this exhibition for Taste, his MFA thesis work. I saw this last year, and have one of the zines shown in the display at home… somewhere. Really clean work.

I love this piece for the Walters Art Museum by Tony Venne!...

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:29:21 -0400

I love this piece for the Walters Art Museum by Tony Venne! Simple, to the point, and well done.

(via baubauhaus) I don’t know Jen Mussari personally, but...

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:24:29 -0400

(via baubauhaus)

I don’t know Jen Mussari personally, but I first saw her art via her involvement in More Collective, and it’s great! It’s exciting to see her work floating around the internet! Plus, I do have a soft spot for pencils ;)

krisatomic: Space 150 v25 Business Cards « Beast...

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:18:17 -0400

krisatomic:

Space 150 v25 Business Cards « Beast Pieces

I’ve been excited to reblog this all afternoon, the detail is just so cool! Printing the edges is clever, and a tasteful-not-tacky gradient is sometimes hard to come by. This design by Evan Nagan is the 25th in a long line of Space 150 rebranding projects. Space 150 re-brands entirely every 150 days. It’s a challenging and interesting concept. Click-through to see more of this design and see related posts with more of Space 150’s past designs.

I’m moving to a new house, and finding all kinds of old...

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:12:24 -0400

I’m moving to a new house, and finding all kinds of old surprises in the process…

Here’s a “selected works” poster from 2007 that I submitted for inclusion in Visual Aid, a student art showcase at UMBC organized by commonvision, UMBC Print & Copy Center. (This was before I joined the staff in 2008).

The poster features snapshots of various print, web, and identity work I had done up until that point.

Willie / The Winner Harbor Recognize those arms? ;)

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:04:42 -0400

Willie / The Winner Harbor

Recognize those arms? ;)

I found these old drawings I did three or so years ago when I...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:18:08 -0400

I found these old drawings I did three or so years ago when I was working on some t-shirt designs for the band “All Time Low.” The designs never went anywhere, but the camera illustrations ended up on a “TIGER, TIGER” t-shirt, and I later used the drawn wood treatment on the Fall 2008 Service Hours sign for UMBC’s student union building.

Neon Indian poster, 4 colour print, by Christopher Muccioli. I...

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:54:51 -0400

Neon Indian poster, 4 colour print, by Christopher Muccioli.

I saw some early variations of this design as it was coming along, and loved it from the start, but the details in the printed piece, like the shiny silver ink in the background, really make it absolutely perfect. Chris is a really talented designer and illustrator, and he definitely knows his way around a screen press!

He has a few prints of this design, and a couple others, available online here, and you can also follow him on tumblr.

“THE WINNER HARBOR”

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:03:45 -0400

“THE WINNER HARBOR”

morecollective: Well our booth at Charles Village Fest is...

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:01:43 -0400

morecollective:

Well our booth at Charles Village Fest is officially up and running. The weather is great and we are ready to meet some new people. Come out today and tomorrow and check out the first batch of shirts.The festival runs from 11 - 9 Today and 11 - 6 tomorrow.

More Collective had a really impressive display today at Charles Village Fest! I love that they silkscreened the cloth hanging shelves! Follow them on tumblr for news and updates about the first batch of shirt designs, as well as the launch of their webstore and the complete first series of shirts (not all of which were available today).

Swing by tomorrow to pick up my shirt (you’ll get a pencil with it!) or one of the other great shirts available right now!

morecollective: The Charles Village Festival is this weekend. This is your first chance to come out...

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:54:44 -0400

morecollective:

The Charles Village Festival is this weekend. This is your first chance to come out and buy or see the starting lineup of MORE Collective shirts!

The collection features t-shirt designs by your favorite Baltimore artists such as:

Nolen Strals of Post Typography
Eric Conrad
Adam J. Kurtz
Isaac Orloff
Alyssa Nassner
Ace Kieffer
Jen Mussari

The weather is supposed to be beautiful, so come on down to Charles Village for some food, fun, and to support your local artists and designers!

Charles Village Fest is this weekend, and it’s your first chance to buy my “Winner Harbor” t-shirt design, part of the More Collective line-up of t-shirts from Baltimore-based artists. I’m honored to be participating along with other artists that I love and appreciate (not to mention some friends!). I’ll be around for a little bit tomorrow with some friends, but if you miss it, don’t worry, the shirts will also be available at Baltimore’s Hon Fest, Artscape, and online (full website launch to come).

baubauhaus: via www.owengildersleeve.com Really great work by...

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:52:35 -0400

baubauhaus:

via www.owengildersleeve.com

Really great work by London-based Owen Gildersleeve, who has worked with The New York Times, The Guardian, WIRED, FastCompany, and other high-profile clients. Cut-outs, collage, photographed physical objects, ribbons, and illustrated type… it’d be a tragedy if I didn’t blog this!

sweepmeup: Circus birthday themed invites One thing I’ve...

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:49:00 -0400

sweepmeup:

Circus birthday themed invites

One thing I’ve never worked with before is letterpress, and I’d love to in the future. There’s just something about the look and feel of the printed piece. This example by Meadowlark Creative in Colarado is really great, I especially like the little flags.

A year or so ago I visited Gilah Press here in Baltimore for a studio tour, and I had a great experience. I have a few of their samples and they just feel amazing, not to mention everyone who works there is just so nice!

heyneil: New Business cards! I’ve known him for a while,...

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:46:49 -0400

heyneil:

New Business cards!

I’ve known him for a while, and Neil J. Rook’s work has always made use of bright colours and clean lines, but in the last year, he’s really found himself a perfect niche. His work is impeccably drawn, and translates well across illustration, print design, web design, even paper cuts. His background in fashion design lends itself well to some excellent pieces.

These new business cards are no exception. “BAD ASS” + “Clean Cut” + “Slick as hell” seems like the perfect way to leave them wanting more.

In the summer of 2009, I was interviewed for tired hands, a zine...

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:01:00 -0400

In the summer of 2009, I was interviewed for tired hands, a zine by South Florida-based artist Paige Place.

So where do you live? How is the creative scene there?
I live in Baltimore, home of crab cakes, John Waters, and the cat-eyed, high-haired homage to working class women in the 60’s, the “Hon.” I feel like a lot of people are creating here, not for attention but really just because they need to. Baltimore has a quirk and a charm and you can get away with all sorts of antics. The local music scene seems to be getting a lot of attention recently as well, which is great for the bands and everyone involved in their respective projects, as well as the city’s creative types as a whole.

How/when did you know you wanted to pursue an education in Art and Design?
When it came time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, it just seemed like the only acceptable choice. I’ve always felt a need to “make things” and can’t imagine doing anything else. I’d rather be poor and happy!

If you could live and work out of any place in the world where would it be?
I don’t think I’ve seen enough of the world to know just yet, but of all the places I’ve lived, Baltimore feels the most right. Give me a big old space with high ceilings, a bed, a table, and some supplies and I think I’d be set forever.

Do you have a dream client you would love to work with?
I think it’s less about dream clients and more about dream projects. I’m most excited about interesting projects with some creative freedom and room for quirky behavior.

Favorite font?
That changes frequently, but I am using “ITC Century Std” in Ultra Italic for a project now, and I love it. Oh, and Papyrus, I use that in all of the graphic designs I make on Photoshop.

What is your ideal creating environment? (alone, with music, tv, etc?)
My gut reaction is to say alone and with music, probably just one really good album on loop for hours (more often than not it’s just one track on loop, actually), but in the last year I’ve learned to really value collaboration. You learn a lot about your ideas when you have to communicate them to someone else.

If you were given a pencil and paper and told you draw something off the top of your head what would it be?
I would probably return the pencil and pull a pen or two out of my pocket. I love pencils ~~but hate drawing with them~~. Parallel lines, apples, lumpy squares, ribbons, tiny letters, cubes, cartoon pencils, glasses, ugly people, the phrase “now what?” written repeatedly.

WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW (arm courtesy of Willie Archer)

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:33:00 -0400

WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW
(arm courtesy of Willie Archer)

Speaking of Baltimore, this I Heart Baltimore tshirt by Nolen...

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:30:00 -0400

Speaking of Baltimore, this I Heart Baltimore tshirt by Nolen Strals of Baltimore-based design duo Post Typography, speaks to some of the city’s “other interests” and “repuation.”

Bits & pieces around Baltimore’s “Inner...

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:24:00 -0400

Bits & pieces around Baltimore’s “Inner Harbor” area…