That single "woo"

Living an
asymmetric life

I often think about my life as a fine artist working in the tech world. When I start to feel like an outsider, I muse about the overlap in practices and what tech has taught me — how it’s made me a better artist and vice versa.

Mathematical harmony

When I discovered “Golden Ratio Typography (GRT)” and GRT calculators, I got to benefit from “other people’s math.” It’s like being drawn to an extraordinary sacred geometry tattoo. While I will not integrate sacred geometry into my paintings soon, it feels good. There is a “rightness” to it.

GRT creates an innate natural cadence. It’s a 1–3–5 chord progression. It is not a law but rather a vibration, a background hum that, in those proportions, we find balance.

The grid & the click

Years ago, a producer encouraged me to play to a click track. I was resistant, but then something happened: I learned to play a click track and began to love it. It taught me how to amplify emotion and impact not with speed but with deep, authentic expression.

The grid is “the click” of the design process, a regular beat that supports the structure of the work. It offers the structure, so we deviate from it and do it purposefully.

Breaking the grid

In my paintings, I adore asymmetry. I’m prone to using a single spark of color set aside from the rest. In design, it’s a brilliant mechanism to draw the eye and create space for the eye to rest, ensuring your crucial message has the prominence it requires in the 3 seconds you have to capture customers’ attention.

“A song like “‘What’s Going On’” That single ‘woo’ at the end of the second verse…That’s what you remember. The silly things, the little things… there’s only one, and it makes the song. It’s what you leave out. That’s rock and roll.“
— Russell Hammond, Almost Famous.

My wish for all of you today is that you find that single “woo.”