In early 2009, I did some pro-bono identity work for a startup named “The Daily Blank,” a satire news site for the Chicago area. The founder, Nick Peters, is a young entrepreneur who turned out to be a great contact.
Less than a year after my work for “The Daily Blank,” Nick was contacting me from Oslow, Norway with a new business he was involved with. The company, owned by Tor Kielland and founded by his grandfather, used to be in the textile business but was now moving into the digital age with a rather pragmatic goal. They were interested in creating products for people within new and merging businesses.
My role in this was to create two logos: One for the newly renamed company, BrightArch, and their first product, Organization Weaver. Read the rest of this entry »
To round out my final semester of undergraduate school, my web design class required a final multimedia project. The project needed to be journalistic in nature with a story about something that had impact on the community. What resulted was a website collecting stories from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender group on campus.
A link to the site can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Before I graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a B.A. in Journalism, I had the opportunity to create a departmental brochure for prospective students. This project started out as an assignment, but I quickly took it seriously enough to be considered by the department.
Understandably so, as the department was handing out bland packets of information every semester. The EIU department of Journalism is very well-developed for such a small school. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a while. I’ve since graduated and began my life as a freelancer.
You’ll see the fruits of the past 4 months pretty soon. I’ve had about a project per month and I’m just finishing up two of them. Once they’re done, I’ll be sure to post them.
Two of my projects have been some web work. I’ve learned a lot of new web skills in the past 6 months and have decided to my own host and start a new blog. I’ll be either making a whole new theme from scratch or
basing it on another theme and heavily modifying it. The site will be grid-based and reflect my personality a little better. It will also be a better format for my portfolio (which has always been the focus). I hope to blog a little more, but it probably won’t be more than once a week. I may need to expand the focus in order to achieve this. We’ll see.
After having gone on numerous rants about how awesome European news design is and having confirmed my love by actually visiting Europe this summer (and therefor seeing these papers in my hands), I have finally made the plunge.
After seeing the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s redesign this summer, I dropped all hesitation. I absolutely loved the look and if one mainstream American newspaper could pull this great look off, I had to try it.
As the new managing editor of The Daily Eastern News, I was able to accomplish, with the help of my advisers and faithful Editor in Chief, a (successful) total redesign of the paper.
Most of the touches are entirely inspired by the international (or modernist or swiss or whatever you want to call it) style most papers around the world now adhere to.
Here is today’s front page.
This page was entirely designed by one of our nightly copy editors/designers. She has minimal experience and yet she was completely capable of producing a pleasant front page with little creative effort.
The redesign, introduced in August, is entirely grid-based. Front page sections are 16 columns and inside pages are 15. This ultimately amounts to 5 columns of text. The additional column on the front sections is in order to allow a wider rail or grid-based white space. Unfortunately, this formula was impossible to impose on inside pages with designers who have possibly never touched Indesign. Read the rest of this entry »
New project from Rock Valley. No theme this time, so I had a (mostly) wide-open brief. Summoning a similar feel to the original Student Life marketing while giving it a little unique twist, I think this is shaping up nicely.
Over at the Charles Apple Blog, a report that Apple put up about some scary Tribune production tactics has caused a huge stir. Seventy-seven comments and counting, this is clearly an issue no one should miss. My take: I don’t find the templated modules to be such a problem provided they are done in a tasteful manner. They need to fix the reported problems that don’t allow local copy editors to change the text within said modules. For inside pages, this is a fairly streamlined way of saving the company money and only hurting the readers when it is done poorly. That said, I am not comfortable with where this is going. If section fronts and styles are being overtaken by the “mother ship,” then we have a serious problem. That concept would effectively make newspapers pointless. The paper may as well shrink down to a one-section local.
This spring semester has nearly come to a close. Two finals left and I am off to the Netherlands for a month. What a great feeling of relief.
Since my semester is complete, this blog is no longer a requirement. So, at this point, I cannot say if it will continue. I hope to keep it going, but I also know myself well enough that without a serious passion or deadline, I rarely find the motivation necessary. We shall see…
As a side note: Here is my final video project for my class.
Finally, here are the finished May Fest advertisements.
From left to right, clockwise, is an 11″ x 17″ poster, a 24″ x 32″ poster, an 8.5″ x 11″ flyer (ready for fax or copy), and an 11″ x 8.5″ tri-fold table tent.
I really worked on creating a more deliberate design than many of my past advertisements. Often I like to take the approach of throwing anything at the fan and seeing what works, but because I had a very distinct style in mind, I was able to create a more hand-crafted look. Ironically, I think some of the designs almost look like stock art with blanks filled in. I’m not actually sure if that’s a success or not, but I’m fairly pleased with how everything turned out. I would have liked to include some more details on the cyan (some cracked or peeling ink) and maybe added some folds here and there, but I did what I could within a reasonable time. That said, I always feel there is places for improvement and I think everything came out nicely textured and polished regardless.
This weblog’s existence can be credited to Bryan Murley, my Multimedia Journalism professor at Eastern Illinois University. I say this because a weblog is a requirement of that class. As such, we (the students of the class) have a few requirements for our blogs. One of which is a final project entitled “Adopt-a-multimedia Journalism” where we choose a journalist in the field that is currently creating new media work (videos, Flash, Soundslides, etc.) and then we have to write a critique of their work. That said, I have chosen Amanda Cox of the New York Times and her work is amazing, so there will be inspirational value within. Avoid or flock to these posts as you see fit.
Earlier this morning I was mentioned on the Charles Apple blog. Charles must be an early riser because I was unaware of this until 9:30 a.m. when my Communications Law professor, Dr. James Tidwell, congratulated me. So caught off guard, I had no idea what he was talking about until I did my daily visit to Mr. Apple’s blog. Since then I’ve received a number of congratulatory words from both students and professors.
To clear things up: Charles Apple asked for submissions for this post. He did not choose me, nor did I get nominated for something. He essentially offered free advertising and myself and 30 others took him up on the offer. Not to diminish the awesomeness of Charles’ mention, though, because the publicity for a Midwestern college student such as myself is extremely helpful.
The second reason for this post (the fortune part) is that I was offered and officially accepted the job of Managing Editor of The Daily Eastern News (Eastern Illinois’ student newspaper). I will take the position in the Fall under editor in chief Tyler Angelo.
Note: The Charles Apple post (probably) didn’t influence Tyler’s choice and yes, my ego is as the picture shows.
This weblog’s existence can be credited to Bryan Murley, my Multimedia Journalism professor at Eastern Illinois University. I say this because a weblog is a requirement of that class. As such, we (the students of the class) have a few requirements for our blogs. One of which is a final project entitled “Adopt-a-multimedia Journalism” where we choose a journalist in the field that is currently creating new media work (videos, Flash, Soundslides, etc.) and then we have to write a critique of their work. That said, I have chosen Amanda Cox of the New York Times and her work is amazing, so there will be inspirational value within. Avoid or flock to these posts as you see fit.
I loved Gary Hustwit’s “Helvetica.” The way Hustwit interweaved the history of modernism and graphic design into a discussion about a single typeface was purely brilliant. His new film, “Objectified” sounds like it is all I hoped it would be. Plus, who doesn’t want another film where people just talk about straight design?
As with Helvetica, what is said about the chosen arena of (industrial) design can really apply to all design fields. Discussions of utility, objectivity, and efficiency come up regardless of whether or not you work on paper or in steel. The film is really about design thinking and the creativity designers bring to whatever problem they are solving.
Well, at least someone is trying something different. Hopefully the Monitor publishes the results of this experiment. My guess: No one will care.
Beginning this Sunday, we are going to begin reversing that trend a bit. From now on, each Sunday edition of The Monitor will prominently feature one or more “Print Edition Exclusive” stories that are of major impact, importance and interest to Valley readers.
This post by James White is really inspiring and I think some of his word choices really sum up the predicament a lot of designers (including myself) find themselves in. Read it.
As it may or may not be known, I work for a community college in the Rockford area (Rock Valley College) as a freelancer. I was a former student employee during my time there and our relationship slowly evolved into one where I was kept on as a graphic designer when they needed.
As such, we have an extremely trusting relationship and I am given plenty of creative freedom (which I appreciate to no end). So, whenever I’m given a project (usually events for clubs), I take the freedom and really give these little projects my everything. Often these projects have themes and I use these themes as a jumping off point, but beyond that, my designs are rarely regulated.
Currently, I am working on the identity and advertising for Rock Valley’s annual May Fest celebration — a week-long year-end event — and the theme is the circus.
I took inspiration from some old circus posters, but I also discovered a similarity between those and Russian propaganda advertisements, so there’s a bit of that in there as well. Ultimately, I think it’s shaping up quite well. I’ll be adding some more texture and refining details before it’s finished and there’s a lot of detail that cannot be seen from this JPEG, but I’ll wait to post the finished product until after I’m finished and Rock Valley has printed them.
Leave a comment. Let me know what you think.
With these blog posts, I hope to inspire both sides of the design community. One post may consist of news pages with tons of beautifully executed text with the next featuring a vector graphic with nothing but a title off in expansive white space. Whatever I find inspires me and what I hope will inspire you. The work may not be current — in fact, it may be from years ago — but it will be nonetheless inspirational.
Why is this inspirational?
This flickr stream of scans of the magazine “Intelligence in Lifestyle” is awesome. Not only are the covers simple and great, but the inside pages are equally amazing.
There is a subtle old style — almost regal meets the old west – but this is all mixed with an extremely modern design philosophy (It reminds me a bit of the Camel cigarette package redesign). There is a strong grid in place and the whitespace is used to full effect.
The news graphics are no less impressive. They are packed with information while maintaining a visually stunning look.
For every designer out there, this should inspire you.
From Scott Hansen’s blog. He is the king of posting vintage/retro inspiration and his love for 1960s and 70s has given me a better appreciation for art within that era. I agree whole heartedly with his point on this particular photo. Film grain adds so much more to an image than the digital grain our modern cameras.
I believe this blog is both one part news industry and one part graphic design. I find that most graphic design blogs do not cover news design and news design blogs do not cover the outside world of traditional graphic design.
With these blog posts, I hope to inspire both sides of the design community. There will be news pages with tons of beautifully executed text, and in the next post I may feature a vector line art drawing with nothing but a title off in the expansive white space. Whatever I find inspires me. I will then describe why I like the work so much. The work may not be current — in fact, it may be from years ago — but it will be nonetheless inspirational.
Here’s the first:
Why is this inspirational?
This inside spread from Excelsior, a mexican newspaper, blows me away everytime I see it. There is so much liveliness to the page and yet it follows an extremely rigid grid. The designer knew how to break to grid (the smoking pipe), and make it stand out.
I have to admit that I really don’t know what the page is about, so much of the context is lost on me. However, it can be assumed that the information within all of those break out boxes and that lead in isn’t garbage. Using that assumption, this is a knock out page. Style, grace, grid. Fantastic.
It’s very European in its use of white space (thick pieces of white and gray rather than a fluid mix that most American designers abide by), and admittedly I have a weakness for that modernist look. What I admire most about this look is its elegance and ability to look sophisticated while maintaining the the beauty and grace that lots of white space gives off. Its a nearly perfect meld. The story must be over 1000 words and there are plenty of additional pieces of information given. Who isn’t satisfied by that concept?
My final point about this design: What I admire most about this style is how grid-centric it is. And while most American designers are still in their honeymoon with post modernism, news design needs grids. Not only does it create an almost automatic beauty, but it saves ubelievable amounts of time. A copy editor could easily fill in a template that adheres to a strict grid. The difference between this and American pages is that the generic pages set up by the swedish, modernist design philosophy look completely coherent with the rest of the paper. This is a struggle American newspapers have faced since they have existed. USA today is about the only design that doesn’t have this problem.
If you are the author of this page, please contact me so I can give proper credit.
Design You Trust Similar to delicious, but only for images and oriented toward designers. Registration and approval required in order to create an extremely well moderated dose of inspiration.
Abduzeedo Daily updates on great pieces of design inspiration
Newseum
A site dedicated to news design. Based on a real museum located in Washington D.C., the Newseum‘s goal is to archive news pages throughout the ages. The inspiration comes from their daily feed on daily newspapers from around the world who upload their pages to the site.
Read between the Leading, a fairly new graphic design podcast recently brought up a subject of concern to me: Logos and color.
The issue being whether it should be used as a fundamental piece within a logo and whether or not we should ditch the pure black and white logo. The logic being that technology has advanced so far that the B&W logo is obsolete and just an artifact of old graphic design standards.
Personally, I call shenanigans. As Aaron Heth, one of the show’s co-hosts, points out, it is less about color than it is about creating a good mark and a strong shape.
A good mark should be maliable and infinitely resizeable, meanwhile still retaining its dignity and identity.
(Edit: From my understanding, the difference between Blurb and Lulu is their focus. Blurb mostly focuses on photography and Lulu focuses mostly on text-based books. They can both do either, though.)
Blurb is an on-demand self-publishing tool and website. Similar to others, but with the exception of its great desktop program available.
I’ve used Lulu to create a book of my political cartoons, but what bothered me, as a designer, was the lack of layout functionality. There was no real way to move text or images around as I saw fit. Blurb’s Booksmart appears to allow that. With its slick and intuitive interface, your mom would even feel at home here.
I really think this is a service worth using and supporting. If you’re applying for a job or just want a professional print of your portfolio, this seems to be perfect. I’d hate to see a start up with this much effort behind it lose out to something else just because it was there first.
