crunch time at its finest.

Yes, spring break is most definitely over. And leave it to the j-school to inform us of that fact as quickly and alarmingly as possible. With no time to spare before graduation on May 13/14 (?), these next six weeks will be a test of my time-management skills as well as my ability to maintain sanity. 


Critique: 'Strange Addictions' cover
This week I finalized my cover for the addictions story in Vox which will be running tomorrow. The cover had some changes from the very first draft including adding a television illustration behind the headline and changing the handwriting font. There were some minor bumps in the road, including finding a suitable and high enough resolution photo of a television anywhere on the internet that didn't cost $50. Other than that, I am very pleased with the final product and really excited for it to go to print tomorrow. 

Above is the second draft, and I will post the final product once it is published. 


Yay! Below is the official final draft of my cover.

Response: Spring Break photo assignments
We were assigned two projects over spring break. The first was to create a photo journal of sorts and take one picture a day. Because my break was at home and full of job applications, projects and sleeping, I found inspiration from my family and places around my house. Below are my three favorite photos I took. 

They're obviously not the highest quality photos or the most interesting, but they're all meaningful to me. At first, I was skeptical about the assignment and a little bit forgetful, but now having the pictures from the week makes me appreciate the project. Ideally, I would take a picture everyday to document life, but I'm not even going to attempt it at this point in my life/schedule. 

The second project was to create our names or another word out of found and combined typography off of other signs, posters, etc. I found the letters of my name in signs around my hometown or in my house. It definitely does not mesh as well as I hoped, but it has character and makes me laugh. 

Check it Out: YOUTHEDESIGNER logos and CSS/HTML help

Ever since our capstone class began, I have been so inspired by logos. YOUTHEDESIGNER has helped in the inspiration department without a doubt. This is one blog that is really on top of things. They find the coolest illustrations, photoshop techniques and other tips. This week, they featured some really awesome animal logos that I fell in love with. Here is one of my favorites. I think it's beautiful and clever and so clean. 

(original via logopond)

They feature a huge collection from lots of really amazing other sites. So I would absolutely recommend that you CHECK THEM OUT.

The second thing I found this week was a very helpful website in my quest to teach myself CSS and XHTML. I'm really starting to like learning about it even though I've always thought of myself as strictly a print designer. I'm not saying that I'm looking to go into web design, but at least I'll be prepared. So HTML Dog is simple and straight to the point, and if you're looking for help in the web design department, it's a good place to start. (Thanks, @ashleycummins) It has tutorials for all levels of experience, too!


Back to the lab for more design work! Until next time, enjoy!