Houston is the most populous city in Texas, the largest city in the southern United States and the fourth most populous city in America. Houston’s economy has a broad industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation.  The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. It recently surpassed New York as the most diverse city in the United States. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract approximately 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and offers year-round resident companies in all of the major performing arts. Throughout this book, you will take a peek at some of the most visited museums in the Museum District of Houston.

Through out the 40 plus pages of this book, you will see all original photography and fun typography. Photoshop was use to add filters to add a more interesting look and feel to the book. The process was long since the photography is architectural and Houston’s weather is quite unpredictable. 

In the Mexican culture there is no family meeting without “botanas” or what can be referred to as the typical Mexican snacks or junk food. Even though junk food may have a bad connotation, this custom plays a huge part in the culture. Whether it is for a match of fútbol, watching a film or simply playing a few rounds of lotería; botanas are always present for everyone to enjoy and have a good time.

Some of the favorites have been selected and this book focuses on critiquing their packaging by categorizing them as good, bad or ugly. The critiques are based on the elements and principles of design. This French-fold book itself is a representation of the Mexican culture with a lot of bright colors and flavors. I decided to make a French-fold book because the pages mimic the way chip bags look and they are opened.

Public Service Announcement on the issue of Global Warming. I created a silhouette of a human face to resemble an ice cap. The face is also used to further explore the concept of Global Warming and its main effect; sea levels rising because ice caps are melting. In addition, the face was illustrated in a manner to depict a person about to take its last breath before drowning. That is where the sub-title, "Don't Wait Until the Last Minute," comes into play. 

Andromeda

A modular font inspired by simplicity.

Penicillo

A font created by handmade brush strokes.

The infamous Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June. Eighteen others followed Bishop to Salem’s Gallows Hill, while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months. By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witches and granted indemnities to their families, bitterness lingered in the community, and the painful legacy of the Salem witch trials would endure for centuries to come.

This book takes a photographic approach to the way some of the “accused witches” were treated accompanied by a brief summarized history of the terrifying events. I had the opportunity to work with a close friend as my model and she was perfect for this project. I shot all the photography and I used Photoshop to manipulate the images to resemble scenes from that period in time. 

The Sandy Hook Elementary shooting happened on December 14, 2012, in Newton, Connecticut, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and six adult staff members. Prior to driving to the school, Lanza shot and killed his mother and after the school shooting he committed suicide by shooting himself. The incident was the deadliest mass shooting at a grade school and the second deadliest mass shooting by a single person in U.S. history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.

This experimental typeface was inspired from these horrible events to create awareness on the issue of gun control in the United States. It also serves as a memorial to the school victims as the number of victims matches the number of letters in the English alphabet; 26. The letters were put together with broken crayons and pencils, as well as bullets. In addition, the red and orange crayons were melted to mimic blood. The project includes two posters, invitation to an exhibition, and sample cards.

In the 1970s, an outwardly wholesome family begins cracking at the seams over the course of a tumultuous Thanksgiving break. Frustrated with his job, the father, Ben, seeks fulfillment by cheating on his wife, Elena, with neighborhood seductress Janey. Their teenage daughter, Wendy, dabbles in sexual affairs too -- with Janey’s son Mikey. The family’s strained relations continue to tauten until an ice storm strikes.

This project focuses on recreating the movie poster with the addition of some collateral pieces. The poster takes a photographic approach while the invitation to the premier, movie tickets, and the dvd gift box take a more graphic route.

The photography from the poster came by surprise one cold morning when I went inside my car. I saw the windshield was cover in ice and I ran for my camera to capture the frozen image that became the poster.

The project includes one poster, invitation to the premier, two movie tickets, two versions of the films, all packed in a special edition gift box.

The Night of the Radishes is one of the most anticipated celebrations in Oaxaca. Every year, the humble radish is carved into beautiful, intricate sculptures and once Oaxaca’s radish-artists are done with this vegetable, it barely resembles something you might eat at the dinner table.

Nobody really knows how this festival started, although it is believed to have originated in 1897, when the then mayor of the city started the first exhibition of radish art. In the last century, markets during Christmas eve sold salt-dried fish and vegetables for customers coming out of the midnight mass. To differentiate the items from one another, vendors sculpted their radishes into tiny figures, sometimes even decorating them with other vegetables such as onions or lettuce. The radishes seemed to be a hit with the housewives then, as these women sought out the most interesting sculptures to add to the air of cheer to their Christmas tables. Every year since the first exhibition, the best displays receive cash prizes.

Radish artists begin carving three days before the festival, which is held on December 23. Children are taught this unique craft on the morning of the festival itself. By the afternoon of the festival, the Zocalo is filled with contestants all eager to display their fabulous sculptures. Over time, some artists started toying with other vegetables such as flowers or corn husks for their masterpieces.

This project is entirely photographic and its concept, besides being an advertisement for the festival, is one with a dark twist. Since the name of the festival is 'Night of the Radishes,' I thought a thrilling scene would be attracting for the audience, which after reading the information is surprised by a completely different story.