It was interesting to be an outside reader for the dissertation defense of Zach Whalen, a PhD candidate in the UF English Department under the guide of Profs. Terry Harpold and Don Ault.

My article First Impressions: Cherokee Printing Type in the 1800s appears in the newsletter of the Cherokee National Historical Society, published through the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, OK. You can download a PDF copy if interested.

See more work on DesignRelated.com.

This year I was able to serve again as reviewer #35 at the AIGA Student Portfolio Review in Jacksonville. Its always nice to see work from other schools and to meet-up with faculty from the area like Claudia Scaff at UNF. Also attending were UF alums Selin Ozguzer (Jacksonville University), Dennis Eusebio, and Mike Neutzel (FCCJ).

Prof. Qianshen Bai of Boston University delivered a talk at the Harn Museum on calligraphy, seals and the scholar-officials of the Qing era.

Prof. Guolong Lai says the talk was innovative "...because the conventional wisdom in the field was that Mao and other, like the emperors of the Qing and other dynasties, emulated the traditional literati's taste and skills of calligraphy. He looked at instead the practice of using seals on calligraphy, and argued convincingly that modern calligraphy at least those practiced and promoted by the communist leaders are very different from the traditional calligraphy."

After the talk, Prof. Bai did a demonstration of his own calligraphy technique.

My spring break was spent in rainy Atlanta doing a bit more Cherokee Printing History research. Filtered through records and books the Atlanta Historical Center and the Georgia State Archives in Morrow. On evening at the OK Café, I was able to meet up with alums who work in the city: Matt Grady, Ciara Cordasco, Jon & Sabrina Kay, and Karen Pearson.

Two more research days at the Western History Collection of the University of Oklahoma.

Three days of research in Eastern Oklahoma at the Cherokee Heritage Center, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah Public Library, the offices of the modern-day Cherokee Phoenix newspaper as well as Dwight Mission and Sequoyah's Cabin. Hey, look at these geese in the 100 degree heat on Oklahoma's Tenkiller Reservoir...

Over the summer I've done a good amount of inspiration posting on the social-net site for designers — Design:Related — on topics like typography, animation, and design stuff from the 1980s. The site was launched by UF alum Matt Sung and is edited by UF alum Karen Horton.

I spent a day at the recent powwow, a competitive dance and drumming event, in North Carolina. Interesting to see both traditional and "fancy" dress.