I thought you might like to see some pictures from our recent graduation here at Portfolio Center. Our ceremonies are simple but sweet celebrations of all their hard work and growth as individuals. This was a great group of students, and as always, we’re very proud but sad to see them go.

PS. I’d like to thank Witt Langstaff (top picture, tall guy in the middle) for his dedication and hard work on the Portfolio Center website while he was a student here. Witt always goes above and beyond.

Data Blitzes are done every week at Portfolio Center, and we just had one of the craziest ones ever. These are little chunks of media that students showcase during the weekly seminar, so they might get to know each other a little bit better or discover something about their peers that they never knew. The performances are a lot of fun, and over time we’ve had some amazing ones, but WOW—oh WOW—this one was pretty wild: it was the story of two roommates…the challenges of getting along, and a lesson about how PC classmates often turn into valuable, lifelong friends.

“Hey! Carnase here,” the voice in the telephone said.

“Be right down, Tom,” my hurried reply.

And that was the beginning of the re-invention of an acquaintance, friendship, and inspiration with a true design hero that had misplaced itself for several years— my friend, Tom Carnase.

It is a reunion that would last for several hours on this evening.

Tom is not a hero simply because of the work he has done but because of the humanity he is, a side that most don’t know… the personal ethos he is, is one we might all wish …more

Eva Cassidy, the late eclectic-to-unpegged singer, was not properly celebrated in her lifetime, but that didn’t stop her from creating exquisite music (which is finally getting recognition)… I am reminded of a comment she made just four months before her brave death… “You reach people because you love it, not to please someone else.” She devoted her time to perfecting her art and leaving her mark.

When I see their spirit—the talent, the thinking—it’s clear how much our student body loves their work and how their attitude defines this quarter’s new WALL and all the work put into last quarter—what a …more

American humorist Evan Esar said, “A signature always reveals a man’s character - and sometimes even his name.”

This morning in the New York Times, Steve Heller interviews Brian Collins on the meaning of a signature in the supreme game of politics as they opine the value of typography in that arena. Brian takes time out to respond to him while in the middle of building his new design firm Collins offering up some poignant viewpoints on how effective visual communication can raise the meaningfulness of the messages through design. Thought you might enjoy reading about it …more