HELLO

LEVYdance is an exteremly talented dance company that I had pleasure of collaborating with as I styled and art directed their seasonal photoshoot. Final poster and postcard designs to come soon. Photography by Kitfox Valentin.

Design and Design is focused on the community of designers worldwide and was created to showcase innovative design work. Published by Index Books, Design and Design, Vol.3 will include my Loading Viruses project amongst some very talented peers.

Congratulations to PressPausePlay for their premiere at SXSW. You can view their teaser here. It was great collaborating with the team at House of Radon to help develop their brand guidelines and blog.

Excited to received my first copy of Creative Quarterly that features the Pencil Project.

Just got my copy of the Magic Branding book printed by Chinese publisher, Designer Books, in which the Pencil Project was featured amongst some very talented designers from all across the globe.

Many thanks to Clare Acheson for writing about Superluxe in the current issue of Mix Magazine. The magazine's publisher, Global Color Research, aims to provide a complete overview of new trends and innovative projects in design, colour, materials, products and architecture.

The AAU Spring Show was a great event. Thanks to those who came out to support me and all the recent grads. I also wanted to thank the Academy and Chipotle Corporation for awarding me with MFA award for Design Excellence.

Just finished printing and binding my portfolio and will be presenting at the AAU Spring Show this Thursday.

I just wanted to say thanks to Rob Walker for feature my Superluxe project on his blog, Murketing. Also, thanks to www.psfk.com for featuring my window display.

I feel so honored to be spotlighted in GDUSA's first Students To Watch feature. Also, congrats to my fellow schoolmates Maria and Alex.

For the past couple of months I've been working on my final thesis project. You can visit the blog to follow my research, findings, and process. I have a window display up that show my satirical line of products. It's on view until June 12 at 74 New Montgomery St., San Francisco.

Currently, been busy working with House of Radon, a talented Stockholm based film crew on a documentary titled PressPausePlay. A new generation of global creators and businessmen are emerging and this film, sponsored by Ericsson, will document the change in production, distribution, and consumption of creative works. The project will also consist of 20 interviews with world leading thinkers in various creative fields (media, sustainability, technology, etc) that will be featured on Ericsson's mediasite. Below is their identity and businesscard I've been working on. Lots more to come soon.

I've been invited to take part in Debbie Millman's Honors Workshop that will be held at the Academy of Art University. The workshop will result in the creation of a visual narrative project that'll be featured in an exhibit sometime in Spring.

I've been teaching graphic design to high schoolers for a couple years now and I've decided to compile a selection of their projects that they've worked so very hard on. Good job guys!

The publication we've been collaborating on over at Graphic Hug is finally published and available for purchase here! This is the typeface I designed specifically for the project.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded that everything will be just fine or, even better, everything will be fucking awesome. These cards just arrived from the printers and I'm excited to pass them out to people that I think need some cheering up. More pictures to come.

Here's a sneak peek of the publication that we've been working on over at GraphicHug. In these two books we've attempted to address the ideas regarding adaptation. As designers, how do we adapt and respond? How do we communicate it? Are we instigators for change? Stay tuned. I'll let you guys know when the books will be available for purchase.

Design 360°, an awesome magazine from China, asked me to participate in their design exchange in which various creatives from around the world commented on the topic of 'designers in the financial crisis'. The magazine is finally out on newstands, unfortunately it's only available for purchase in China or online. It's a beautiful magazine that's art directed by one of my favorite designers, Javin Mo.

I just found out today that How Magazine has selected Mundane Saves the World to receive an editorial merit in the April 2009 International Design Annual.

I've been taking letterpress classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book and as you can see from my very first date with Mr. Vandercook, it takes a while to learn the art of letterpress. It wasn't until I ran my first run did I notice all the errors!

I'm extremely excited to start my internship at Office, an awesome design firm based in San Francisco. I have a hunch I'll be learning a tremendous amount from my extremely talented coworkers.

I'm so thrilled to have been acknowledged in the new IdN issue as their Top Talent feature. I'm just so honored to be in this magazine that constantly spotlights amazing artists and designers who I've always looked up to. My interview is featured on the page right after the Viktor&Rolf article!

I've been busy making a mess while working on some silkscreen prints. They'll be up for sale once I get the set of prints completed.

I've been invited to be a contributor for an amazing graphic design blog, Graphic Hug. It is an honor to be contributing amongst so many talented designers that I admire. We love graphic design. We love to hug. We love to hug graphic design.

Today is the debut of my new design blog! I've been writing posts for a while now while i've been fixing minor details. It's finally up and running full force. If you have any spare time in between those long hours of kerning and tracking, please visit my blog at www.thisthattheseandthose.com.

I just came back from a week long design workshop held by Paul Sahre, James Victore, and Jan Wilker at the Art Directors Club in NY! I can definitely say that these guys are on the top of my "people with brilliant minds who are super nice" list. Thank you, gentlemen for a great, one of a kind experience. Paul Sahre exhibited a bunch of his test print silkscreens that he had accumulated over the years. We were all very fortunate to be given a signed copy of his one of a kind prints!

James Victore is known for painting on plates and I'm so thrilled to be an owner of one of his plate illustrations. Thanks!

I've been given a great opportunity this summer to work with some very talented designers at Eleven Inc. This internship experience has taught me quite a lot about design in the real world. Currently, I've been busy working on Autodesk, Apple, and Northstar projects. Hope everyone is having a great summer! Stay cool. Portfolio updates will be made very shortly.

Exciting news!! The magazine is finally printed and ready for distribution and will be available at our spring show. If you would like a copy sent to you please email me at crystal.chou@gmail.com.

I've been invited to be a part of the Design Milk blog as a graphic design contributor. I'll be posting every Friday so please keep an eye out for my posts!

I've been busy the last few weeks helping design some print collateral for the upcoming Vapor Exhibition at Southern Exposure. Vapor is a survey of new art, architecture and design that bring awareness to the troublesome issues of our declining air quality. The gallery will be featuring work by Amy Balkin, Natalie Jeremijenko, The Living, Eric Paulos, Preemptive Media, and one of my favorite design groups in San Francisco, Futurefarmers. The opening reception will be on Friday, March 14th.

Big thanks to Design You Trust, Behance Network, and one of my all time favorite blogs, FormFiftyFive for featuring my work!!

I've been working on a collaborative project with Boisset Family Estates. The Boisset Family, France's leading producer of wines from Burgundy and California has led an industry pioneering efforts toward biodynamic farming practices and innovative packaging. They have asked my classmates and I to help promote their passion for terroir and innovative packaging to other vineyards around the world. Jean-Charles Boisset will be presenting the work we have designed for him at the AIGA Compostmodern Conference on January 19th.

Just started my exhibition/installation intership at Southern Exposure and have been working with Jenifer Wofford and Chris Bell on their brilliant installations. The opening night will be on Friday, January 11th.

I've finally finished the photo shoot for the YCN piñata Challenge! Here is a sneak peek of what I did. Can't wait to see what others have done. The YCN piñata publication will be out early next year.

I'm so happy to be invited to take part in the YCN's Piñata Challenge. YCN will be sending out 50 piñatas designed by the very talented Anna and Lauren from Jiggery Pokery to 50 different people around the world. Each piñata has a unique mix of surprises inside relating to this year's YCN Awards. The challenge is to break open the Piñata in an interesting way, and to photograph or film the process.

Fall semester has started and I'm taking part in a collaborative project with my very gifted classmates. We will be designing a magazine in partnership with New Leaf and Cenveo Colorgraphics. Our magazine, Mundane Saves the World is a publication that celebrates the normal. In a world where popular culture dictates beauty, success and happiness, this magazine recognizes the inherent interest in the lives of ordinary people. Our goal is to share the stories of the everyday person in an attempt to expose the beauty and wonder of the seemingly mundane and in doing so, reclaim our sense of self-worth.

The photographs that I took for my Growing apart together project were chosen to take part in Rock Paper Scissors Collective's "Family Portraits" showcase. I'm extremely excited that my photographs were selected! This will be the first time my photos will be exhibited in a gallery. The opening will be part of the Oakland ArtMurmur on Friday, August, 3rd.