I love it when a plan comes together

There's something very satisfying about having an idea, working out all the details, creating the idea in a tangible way.. without too may compromises to the original idea... and then sharing it with the world.. or whoever will come and see it.. The sports exhibit opens today, my photos don't do it justice... You'll have to come and see it for yourself! :) It's been a big project, but I think it was all worth it.

Nate here!

Hello all, I'm Nate. I've been a part of J-2 for almost two years now. I'm also an exhibit designer for the great state of Kansas

I thought I'd share a bit about my job for the historical society. There are 5 people in the exhibits department, 2 graphic designers and 3 exhibit designers. We do everything from the initial sketches to the fabrication and the final installation. A lot of designers like to say they design from both directions, taking every issue form the beginning to the end user into account.. I think we can safely say we do that because we have to build, distribute and maintain our exhibits. Here are a few examples of the work we do:

We are currently working on the Sports exhibit. The exhibit includes a stadium front, a fan's room, a hometown cafe, and a bowling alley! It opens on Friday, so if you're in the area come visit!

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Our last project was Shawnee Indian Mission. We got to practice our fine wood working skills





























The great thing about working at the museum is that I constantly have to challenge myself and that helps me be a better designer for J-2 and in everything else I do.

Cartoons

The last 2 years, I have been teaching drawing/cartooning classes for kids. I even did a cartoon camp last summer for a week, and I plan another this year. This all comes from the years I spent as a cartoonist (on the side). I never made much money, but I was published quite a bit. Maybe someday I'll go after the golden syndicate again. For now, it's just a fun thing to do, and I enjoy teaching the kids.

The Oil and Gas editorial cartoon was published in The Kansas City Star, and later included in a book compilation called "The Best Editorial Cartoons of 2001". That was pretty cool. Only got $20 for the work, though!

Painting

Last year, as a self-promo I did miniature studies of famous works of art. Most were post card size, done in acrylic. I did around 25 or more of them. That was really fun, because it forced me to paint and to study each work. I used to paint quite a bit, but my time is pulled in so many directions these days, it's hard to find time. Guess the other hobbies win-out for now. Maybe if i take a class or workshop it will be the kick in the pants I need to do this again. Here's a few pieces from around the house.

Remembering a great kid

I met Zach Marion in the fall of 04, when he was at Children's Mercy undergoing treatment for Leukemia. I heard from his dad, while at church, that he liked to draw, so for the next several months, I would go on my lunch hour and draw with him. We did cartoons, cars and bikes. I gave him a sketch book, and he ended up completely filling it. He was so creative, and truly loved to draw.

Zach fought a hard battle and was so brave through all of the surgeries and invasive treatments. The week before Christmas, I went by to see him, and though he was in a lot of pain, seeing my drawings and talking about "The Incredibles" seemed to give him peace. Zach passed the next day. An entire church family and communitiy were devastated.

That was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but it gave me a new appreciation of my own children, and being a father. That's why we have helped with the poker run/ fundraiser the last 2 years. Zach's dad, Bill, made it his personal quest to raise money for children's cancer research. I did the art for the first shirt, and last year, Nate did the art. Hope we can continue to raise money and awareness so no kid has to endure this.

Rod and Custom

I used to be all about motorcycles, especially choppers - that is until I got bit by the car bug. I guess I figured it was too expensive or I wasn't ready to work on a full car yet. But after building a chopper from the ground up, I grew in confidence and bought a hotrod project. 2 years later, she was on the road for her first car show. 1949 Chrysler Windsor mated with a 29 model A body. In-line 6. Still a lot of bugs to work out, but she's runnin.



Now I'm trying to get grandma's 64 Ford Falcon on the road as a daily driver. It's gonna look like this - I swear!

Inspiration

Where do I find inspiration? Everywhere. Car shows, architecture, First Friday's gallery shows, furniture, everyday objects.

Old School Mask

I love the old fiberglass goalie masks from the 70's, and as a goalie, I've always wondered what it's like to be behind one. So, I built a Parent/Lindberg style mask last summer. I made a paper mache copy from a mask I got off E-bay, then used fiberglass over that. Then I used that as the buck to create a new mask. It took about a week and a half - as I had time. I have tried it in practice and during warm-ups in the over-30 league. But I know whay they don't use these anymore! Hot and poor vision! I won't use it in a game for fear of losing track of the puck and getting hurt. But it's pretty fun to wear!

Crazy Characters

Just for fun, Nate and I participated in a "character design" workshop last weekend that was led by a toy designer who worked for Hasbro and Mattel. It was geared toward creating a marketable character, either as a vinyl toy, or as accessories or useful objects such as kitchen tools. A good example is "Hello Kitty".

We went on a shopping scavenger hunt, looking for cool materials, textures, and forms - without any pre-conceived notions behind them. Just visual shopping. Then we came back and organized the pics by a set of categories, like a face, or describing a member of the team.

Later, after playing free-association games, we took the images we collected and brain-stormed ideas for characters, toys, and accessories.

I felt invigorated and freed by the scavenger hunt and brainstorm session. It was fun to work with students and come up with ideas out of the blue. The sandwiches were pretty good too!

I ended up with 3 solid ideas for new products, and one of them I may pursue.

We plan on doing some more shopping trips in the future to get ideas, and hopefully there will be more workshops like this in the coming year.