Completion

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.

Feel free to leave me some comments or thoughts.

Filed under: General, Graphic, Graphic, My Work, School

Adopt-a-multimedia journalist

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.

Click the image for the actual piece.

Filed under: Adopt-a-multimedia Journalist, Graphic, Inspiration, Newspapers, School, Web, Web Design, Adopt-a-multimedia Journalist, Assignments, Beauty, Class, Graphics, Inspire, Interactives, Personal, School, Web

Scott Hansen gives his impressions of “Objectified”

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.

via ISO50 Blog – The Blog of Scott Hansen » Blog Archive » Objectified – San Francisco Premier.

Filed under: General, Graphic, Misc., Movie, Objectified

Inspiration of the moment #2

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.

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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.

Filed under: Graphic, Inspiration, Inspiration, Magazines, Print

Inspiration of the moment #1

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:

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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.

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Other inspiration sources

• FFFOUND!
• 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.
• News Page Designer
• Visual Editors
  Both sites allow users to upload their own news and editorial design portfolios, creating communities of critique and idea exchange.

Filed under: Graphic, Inspiration, Newspapers, Beauty, Inspire, Newspapers

Logos and Podcasts

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.

Filed under: Graphic, Identity