papershine

I have been doing a small stone work project in Chapel Hill recently. This is a 3.5 hour drive from home which encourages me to plan the project in greater detail. I can’t run home to grab a chisel I forgot I needed. This graphic shows the way I organized the project for myself on an odd scrap of big paper. I was particularly concerned about the hidden costs of working so far away- forgetting an important tool, not realizing that running the truck is way more costly, etc. The dollar signs represent my costs of doing business (gas, materials, hotel, etc.) I had my specific budget numbers at the bottom of the page. It has worked exceptionally well so far. I did before the bid was finalized to make sure I covered my costs and have used it as a guide since the work started, to make sure I hit milestones and am properly prepared.

Here’s the work so far. Just waiting for the ironwork to be completed.

In a previous entry from August 2005, I presented the first graphic version of the Positive and Productive Meetings process. This was built for a short, introductory paper about PPM. As we were developing the course book, I decided to redo the graphic entirely. The course book includes a running sample of a small team working to change their meetings. The new version of the process includes the characters from the team and better matches the bolder, iconic style of the PPM organizing principles.

Songlines is an online journal or blog that I started in March 2005 when my wife and I discovered she was pregnant. Abe was born in October, but I continue to maintain the journal. The blog includes my stories and essays and Kristin’s artwork and other images from the pregnancy and Abe’s early days. Family and friends visit often to stay connected to newest of the tribe. For Christams this year K and I decided to collect the writing I did for the blog and her artwork into a book for those closest to us.

I laid the book out in Adobe InDesign, easily the coolest software ever. I printed all twelve copies at home on an Epson Photo R1800. This machine does magnificent inkjet prints at up 13″ by 19″ (or more with rolled paper.) The pages were printed on tabloid paper (11″ x 17″), cropped at Kinko’s by an inept young man, creased with a bone folder and stapled together, magazine style. The finished book is 8.5 inches by 8.5 inches.

Here are a couple of page spreads from the Songlines book. The images below link to more legible, larger versions.