Copter Design Studio

Mojo Barbershop: Handsome not Hamajang

cj — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:59:39 +0000

Working with Mojo Barbershop’s creative director Kalani Fujimori, I designed a mural for the shop using traditional brush lettering. Mojo is Honolulu’s premiere barbershop, rooted in tradition and history but geared toward the modern day men of Hawaii.

In Hawaii’s local slang, the word “Hamajang” basically means the opposite of handsome, so “Handsome not Hamajang” is a fitting mantra for this local barbershop.

Mahalos to Marian, Matt, the Mojo ohana for your support, and to Kalani for bring me in on this project. Photos by Marian Lee and CJ Dunn.

Windows Cafe: hand-painted signage

cj — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:38:30 +0000

I created hand-painted signage for the 5th annual Pop Up Flea menswear shopping event in Chelsea.

I designed the lettering and painted it in a traditional sign painter style, making directional signage for the main floor of the event as well as interior signage for the Windows Cafe upstairs.

How to be Stoked Everyday: film titles

cj — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 05:41:53 +0000

I created hand lettered titles for a short film entitled “How to be Stoked Everyday”, a lighthearted guide to positive living.

L’usine: Branded Poster

cj — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:56:09 +0000

L’usine is a retail space, café, and gallery in the heart of Saigon. For their new Le Loi retail space and café I worked with Anthony Nguyen to design a “branded poster” in the style of vintage French poster art, which was rendered as a 6′ x 9′ wall painting inside the shop.

Bombardier. True Mobility: iPad App

cj — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:36:39 +0000

Bombardier is the world’s only manufacturer of planes and trains. Working with the advertising agency TAXI, I created the visual design for the iPad app, including photo direction and type treatments, showcasing interactive visuals of some of the most impressive and advanced planes and trains on the planet.

Types We Can Make & Type@Cooper exhibition

cj — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:29:03 +0000

My typeface design work will be on display at Cooper Union as part of the Types We Can Make & Type@Cooper exhibition. The exhibition includes original typeface designs from the New York City based Type@Cooper (postgraduate typeface design program at Cooper Union), along with a selection of contemporary Swiss typeface designs from ECAL/University of Art & Design Lausanne (Switzerland).

Range, the typeface family I designed in the Type@Cooper postgraduate program is featured below.

Types We Can Make & Type@Cooper

41 Cooper Gallery
41 Cooper Square, The Cooper Union

Exhibition Hours:
October 23 – November 17, 2012
Monday – Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday, 12-5pm, Sunday, 12-5pm

Opening Reception:
Tuesday, October 23 from 6:00-8:00pm

Free and open to the public

Event Details

Language Arts: Contrast Magazine

cj — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 16:47:15 +0000

Contrast Magazine interviewed me about Language Arts, the type & lettering exhibition I had at The Human Imagination in May.

Some the of the handpainted signs I created for Language Arts
Original typeface I designed for the exhibition which I had laser etched into wooden blocks

Polar Shift: lettering & custom typeface

cj — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:25:14 +0000

For Polar Shift, the latest record from the band Judgement Day, I created custom lettering for the cover as well as a custom typeface for the tracklisting and spine, inspired by old victorian books from the artistic printing tradition.

Why create a custom typeface? Well, I was originally interested in using an existing revival typeface from that period like Brioche by Jessica Hische or Alabaster by Jesse Ragan, but Brioche wasn’t bold enough and Alabaster wasn’t released yet. So rather than compromise, I decided to draw a custom typeface to match exactly what I was looking for. I researched original source material from the turn of the century, drawing inspiration from historical sources and adding details of my own.

Some original sources I looked at are below:

And here are some of my early sketches:

And a specimen of the final design:

Also, an early sketch for the cover:

Language Arts: type & lettering exhibition

cj — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:07:22 +0000

My type & lettering work will be on display at The Human Imagination Gallery in Honolulu, located on the corner of Nuuanu and Pauahi Street. The show runs from May 4 – 30, with an opening reception on Friday May 4 from 5 – 10 PM.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shred Aloha!

cj — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:12:31 +0000

I created this brush lettering for a custom surfboard with JC Hawaii.

JC Hawaii, founded by master surfboard shaper John Carper, is know for making boards of the highest quality for world-class professional surfers such as Shane Dorian, Peter Mel, Sean Moody and many others.
Here are some sketches I did for the brush lettering.