challenges.

The past week or so has been a litttttle hectic. Okay, a lot hectic. Tests, a feature, department pages, logos, blogs, prototype work. Just a lot to do. I apologize if this post is a little scatterbrained. Enjoy. 


Critique: SJI Logos


We have been commissioned by the Sports Journalism Institute to make them a new logo like I mentioned earlier. Yesterday, we all had 20 logos due to be critiqued. From there, with the help of Jan, Erica and the rest of the class, we narrowed it down to our top five. Next Tuesday, we have to turn in our new and improved top five. Below are my top five (in no particular order). 

The biggest challenge I faced was trying to encompass the entire mission of SJI: bringing diversity to the newsroom. The program strives to bring women and minorities into sports journalism. Encompassing all aspects of the motto into a logo that still looks professional is definitely not as easy as it seems. With the second round of logos, I'm definitely going to have to work on bringing the minority/women aspect into the logo in a way that isn't cliche or tacky. It's definitely going to be a challenge. New logos to come next week. 

Response:MU iPad Conference

Monday was the MU iPad Conference and let me tell you, it was very impressive (and pretty exciting). There were editors, art directors, writers, etc from magazines from ESPN The Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Popular Science and Wired. They talked about the industry, the future of their magazines in terms of technology and the rapid changes going on everywhere. 

We're going to be creating an iPad app for our prototype, and while I'm nervous because I literally know nothing about Mag+ at this point, it will be really great experience. As a lot of us get ready to graduate, it's a little scary how much the industry is changing. I consider myself a print designer mainly because it is what I enjoy doing the most. However, as the industry continues to change, I guess becoming knowledgeable about all things technology is the best idea. 

For me, listening to ESPN's Rob King was the most inspirational. He was not only funny but very encouraging. One of my favorite things that he said was:

"It's gonna work out; you just don't know how yet."

It was great to hear that kind of encouragement from someone who has been so successful in the magazine industry. I am personally terrified to enter the job market, but the conference definitely showed me that many people in the industry understand our worries. 

Check it Out: YOUTHEDESIGNER &


This week on YOUTHEDESIGNER, I found some really cool vector patterns that can be created in Illustrator. I was thinking about doing ANOTHER redesign to my blog and maybe creating one for my background. Hope you like. 

awesome vector patterns

Also, I found this really cool video on YouTube. I'm not going to give it away. But seriously, watch it. It is beautiful and unbelievable and makes me happy. 

tall painting

Happy Wednesday!

gearing up for a design-filled weekend.

In true j-school fashion, instead of spending my weekend at home in STL for Mardi Gras (like most of my roommates and most normal college students), my weekend will be spent in good old Lee Hills, and I'll get to dabble in True/False. Lots to do this weekend that I'm very excited about. 
The pictures will finally be in for my Vox lethal injections features, so I'll be creating my final draft (photos to come). I'm also designing my second set of department pages this weekend and am creating a charticle (?) for Insight. That should be an adventure. AND I'll hopefully finally find the time to start/finish my 20/10 SJI logos (being too busy is no longer an option).

Critique: Lots of miscellaneous
Seeing as this week has been spent doing little bits of work on lots of projects, I don't have any real completions to post. The first draft of my lethal injections spread gave me a little bit of difficulty because the copy was in the very beginning stages (I'm talking 200 words with much to come) and the photos were non-existent when the draft was due. But I threw together a four page spread using previously published Missourian photos and got the initial concept together. 


In thinking about how I wanted the spreads to turn out, I decided that I wanted a lot of white space and very little color. Death (and especially the death penalty) is a somber thing and needs no celebration. Even without the pictures, I think the story is going to be very driven by the photography. So I ran the photos big and left a lot of white space. I'm super excited for the real pictures from the penitentiary to be taken tomorrow and to be able to make some real progress on this feature. 


One thing that I've really come to appreciate through designing for Vox is that I get to learn a LOT while I'm designing about the stories that I'm designing about. For instance, reading the Dirty Jobs vignettes for my cover and now reading the lethal injection copy for my feature has taught me a lot about subjects that I probably otherwise wouldn't have learned about (or would have avoided learning about). 


Response: Charlie Sheen (are you surprised?)


Normally I would respond to some event/design/creation of some intellectual value, but with any good celebrity breakdown, some internet and designer humor has come of Charlie Sheen's recent....deterioration. Not sure what's really going on with this self-proclaimed 'rockstar,' but his very epic quotes are providing material for many creative outlets. 


Here is a wordpress page that features kittens alongside some of the 'Sheen-isms.' 

not-so-nice kittens

And yet another site that has actually garnered some media attention is titled 'Live the Sheen Dream.' It is a random quote generator that includes only a picture of Sheen's angry face. 

the Sheen 'dream'

I don't condone Sheen's actions or his completely off-the-wall beliefs, but he is definitely providing some much needed comedic relief through his insanity.

Check it out: Some Smashing desktop calendars and YOUTHEDESIGNER web design

I LOVE calendars. I especially love the kind that you tear off each day individually and they give you some fact, quote, photo, mindless joke. However, I also love monthly calendars, and these are NEAT. Every month, Smashing Magazine allows designers to enter their own desktop calendar designs, and they feature some of the best. This one is currently on my desktop because I love the design, and this is one of my favorite quotes. 

But there are lots of other cool, funky and really unexpected ones as well. Take a gander.

The other cool thing I found this week was from YOUTHEDESIGNER. They really like the number 40, and this week they have '40 Cool Website Design Ideas You Should Check." And they really are cool. Websites can easily just be boring templates. That doesn't make people want to explore, use, discover a site. So here are some very different, very fun web designs for everything from Sony Ericsson to web designers like Gunjan Bhutani. But those are only two of the cool ones. 

Here are the rest.

Okay well for some reason, I am having very much difficulty focusing on this blog whether it's due to the sunshine or the full page to-do list sitting next to me. That's all for now. 

learning to just roll with it.

Well this week was busy to say the least. With lots of tests and other assignments outside of design, it has been a bit of struggle to master the balancing act. (This is in part due to the fact that I don't care in the least about any of my classes other than design.) But I've realized that I am quickly adapting to the routine: leaving my house around 7:30 a.m. every morning ane not returning until 9 p.m. at the earliest. My roommates (all 10 of them) wonder what I'm doing all day, and they all roll their eyes when I say I'm in Lee Hills or Vox or working. I've definitely gotten into the swing of things though, and I don't hate it. I actually really like having a routine, and I know that all of the time I'm putting into my projects will be worth it in the end. So here's what I've been working on this week. 

Critique: Plaid Dad/Vox Cover

For our first prototype draft, I made lots of changes. Last week I posted my first drafts and my class' response to them. After taking some constructive criticism, I completely reworked my drafts and came up with these! 

I am much happier with them. I think it took me awhile to adapt to designing for a male audience, but I'm catching on (I think!). I went from being frustrated with our prototype to now being very excited about it. I think there is still definitely room for improvement in my designs and developing them, but I think this is a good start. I'm excited for the group creative director to be chosen so that we can actually get to work on the final product. 

Also! My cover got chosen for Vox this week and I was super excited. I posted my earlier drafts of the dirty jobs covers. There were a few tweaks and rearrangements, but here is the final cover which comes out TOMORROW! Hooray.

Response: The September Issue

Yesterday in class we watched The September Issue, the documentary film centered around Anna Wintour and Vogue. Jan wanted us to focus on the role of the creative director, Grace Coddington, and her role at the magazine and her relationship with Wintour. 

To me, it seemed that Coddington's role was basically to act as a managing editor. She made sure that everything happened on time, she coordinated photo shoots, and she made sure that Wintour was pleased with the content of the magazine (even if that meant sacrificing her own creations). She seemed to have less power than the editor-in-chief but put in a lot more behind-the-scenes work. 

I loved the color block photo shoot that she arranged and was the brains behind. I thought it was so creative under pressure and the fact that she tied in the cameramen shooting the documentary gave the shoot a fresh and very original look. 

The relationship between the two positions seems to be that the editor gives her opinion and the creative director is responsible for executing it in the appropriate way. However, with Wintour and Coddington, it seemed that the creative director position held much more freedom. 

The documentary definitely showed me that there is a chance that the position of creative director could be one that is taken advantage of. If Coddington hadn't stood up for herself, it seems that Wintour could have potentially tossed all of her work. However, the long relationship between the two definitely seems to have created an understanding of one another's creativity. 

Check it out: yayeveryday and How to Create Ornamental Patterns

So I LOVE the website yay!everyday. They feature some of the coolest art, videos, music, articles, etc. And the awesome thing is: they post something new everyday! So, because Arcade Fire has just announced a St. Louis tour date, and because so many people were hating on them after winning the Grammy for Album of the Year, I wanted to post this really awesome concert poster I found on yay!everyday. 

One other little gem I found on yay!everyday is the video posted below. Once again, it is typographic humor, but I find it beautiful and very well planned out. 

The Alphabet by N9ve

Also, YOUTHEDESIGNER features a step-by-step how to of creating beautiful ornamental backgrounds in photoshop. COOL.

YOUTHEDESIGNER

Oh, I forgot! My roommate, Sara, asked me to design a promotional poster for a concert she and a few others are planning called 'Music 4 Mobility.' It benefits the Culture That Crawls organization. The concert is March 24th at The Blue Note. Come one, come all.

She wanted the poster to be very similar to The Hangout festival poster, so this is what I came up with. 

A good laugh.

Because I am feeling both generous and highly entertained, I am going to share with all of you two of the funniest things I found this week. The first was posted by a friend on Facebook, and although it is DEFINITELY designer humor and finding so much hilarity in it makes me a nerd, I will post it anyway. See below. 

Someone proceeded to comment underneath this picture: "I really hope someone else posts a note that says "We are a fortune 500 company, please stop capitalizing things like 'company' and 'lemonade stand'. They're not proper nouns."


The second find is 27b/6. It is a website (more of blog) run by David Thorne. Ultimately it is a compilation of his email correspondences with other people. He is also a designer, and often ties graphics and other illustrations into these emails which make them even more hilarious. He is extremely quick-witted and manages to make people look and probably feel like complete idiots while also getting his way. Below is the link to one particular email between David and his co-worker who requests that he create a flyer to help find her lost cat. 


Try not to laugh. 

'Missing Missy'

and on and on and on it goes...

Critique: First Prototype Draft

• This week we had the first draft of our magazine prototype due. We are creating the prototype as a pitch to the large magazine corporation (which shall remain nameless by request). For this week, we had a cover, department page, feature spread and color palette due. Our magazine is title Plaid Dad and is based off of the Better Homes and Gardens Red Plaid Cook Books. The magazine is geared toward males ranging in age from 21 to 35. It is mainly aimed at family men who want to improve their skills in the kitchen as well as around the house. Here are my first drafts. 

• I realize even after this first draft that this assignment is going to be much more difficult than I had originally anticipated. Not only the workload but especially designing to a male audience. I'm going to have to get in touch with my inner-tomboy in order to create something that will attract and keep a male audience interested and engaged. 
• I faced some difficulty in organizing the department and also in trying to make a feature about moms still seem 'manly.' This should definitely be an interesting project...

Response: First draft class critique

• I was lucky enough to be one of the first drafts that we critiqued in class on Tuesday. I got a lot of helpful feedback and what it really came down to is I have not yet accessed a creative side that is male-friendly yet. After hearing the critique of my classmates, Jan and Erica, I realize that I have a LOT of work to do. Basically, I'm planning to basically redesign my draft completely. I think I need to include more bold typography that is fun and approachable. The typography I am using at this point is a little too intimidating as Erica pointed out. 
• Jan told us that she was going to be tough on us this week, and I'm so glad she was. I thought that my design was gender-neutral enough for the type of magazine that we're creating, but after her comments, I realize it definitely is not. It needs to be completely geared toward men. While some other mens' magazines have a small female reader-base, Red Plaid is intended to just be for men. The class critique definitely helped me to realize that. 

Check It Out: Some really awesome logos and more

• SO, this daunting logo assignment is glaring at us from our calendars. 20 logos sounds like a LOT for just one company, but this feature from YOUTHEDESIGNER.com shows 33 original, modern, fun logo designs. The battery logo below is my favorite. It's very quick-witted and at the same time straight to the point. 

(Original  logo from logomoose.)

Check out more awesome logos HERE.

• Today, Paste Magazine featured the work of artist Patrick Dougherty. He creates LIVING tree houses. He weaves together tree limbs into life-size creations that can even be made to depict people. It is an unbelievable sight and definitely a form of art I've never gotten to see before. I can't imagine the planning and time that goes into making one of these magnificent structures. They are definitely a sight to see. 

(Photos by inhabitat.com)

• You can read about the sculptures above and see many others HERE. 

some new learning experiences.

Critique: Insight 2/10

• This week was my first designing the front of book section, Insight, for Vox Magazine. The experience was reminiscent of the times I spent designing inside pages at the Missourian. I sometimes feel as if designing inside pages/department pages is more about strategy and putting together a puzzle than actually creating a content-driven design. While it is frustrating to have very limited freedom, it is a good experience. I definitely like reading the stories and seeing the photos that go into Insight, but designing department pages makes me appreciate some of the other projects I've worked on because of the amount of creative freedom I have had. Advertising is one of the main reasons the designs face so many constraints in terms of space. This might sound like I'm complaining (which I'm definitely not). I'm so excited about and grateful for the experience that I'm gaining at Vox. Designing department pages has just been a little different than the other stuff we've worked on last semester and this semester. 

 Below are the two Insight pages I designed for the February 10th issue. 

Response Part I: Sports Journalism Institute 

• Yesterday, we met with Greg Bowers who is the Sports Editor for the Missourian. He talked to us about an organization called the Sports Journalism Institute. It is aimed at diversifying newsrooms around the country with an emphasis on sports departments. The program works to bring more minorities and women into the world of sports journalism. As a girl who has grown up playing, watching and loving sports, I think this is such a great mission. The sports world is definitely dominated by men as is evident in almost any news outlet. Bowers asked that we all work toward creating a logo for SJI. So our next assignment is to each create 20 different logos for SJI, narrow it down to 10 and then present them to him. 
• I was baffled that an organization (which started in 1992) could go almost 20 years without having a logo. But in all honesty, I'm very excited for this assignment. I love working with typography and haven't had the chance to create much in terms of logos yet. We have to have them ready by March 8, so check back later to see the finished products. 

Response Part II: Magazine design past and present

• With three snow days to spend working on design and other assignments, I had a chance to read an interesting excerpt from William Owen's Modern Magazine Design. I found it very interesting read about the switch in the early 1900s from illustrations on the cover of magazines to photos. Specifically, the use of a single photo bled across the cover with the magazine logo and sell lines over the photo. Previously, covers and really all content in magazines had been made up of illustrations. The debate over illustration versus photography was a hot topic during this era. According to Owen, color lithography had its heyday right before photography became the most widely used technique. However, journalists came to realize that production value increased significantly with the use of photography rather than hand-drawn illustrations. Below is one of the first uses of photography on a cover from Leslie's Weekly as featured in Owen's book.

• A modern example of this type of photo bleed and technique is from Interview Magazine. Interview has a very distinct style that is similar to that of the Leslie's Weekly example. They feature the same masthead on all of their covers over a full bleed photo. They often use spot color with a white masthead. Below is a classic example of Interview's cover design from their October 2010 issue. 

(Photo courtesy of Interview Magazine)

Check It Out: YOUTHEDESIGNER.COM and The Sartorialist 

• All semester, I am following an AWESOME blog called YouTheDesigner. There are literally so many useful and mindblowing posts and updates to the site that it's hard to recommend just one to check out. But this week, in preparation to design my covers for the upcoming feature, I found this one especially helpful. It includes 40 tutorials for Illustrator that create really cool text effects. Enjoy.

YOUTHEDESIGNER

• My second recommendation is to look at The Sartorialist blog. It was created by Scott Schuman, a New York based photographer. It is a compilation of photographs of people from around the world on the streets. It features fashion trends and surprisingly interesting outfits and styles. It is makes fashion into an outlet for human creativity and gives me an appreciation for the fashion world that I previously thought of as shallow and unnecessary. I check it everyday and am never disappointed. 

here it goes.

Critique: Spring Preview

• For my Spring Preview, I chose to go with a sort of Scrabble theme. The spreads originally started with the brown scrabble squares. However, it then transformed into a black and white cover with colored typography. I thought colors were more appropriate to represent springtime and give the whole package a more seasonally appropriate mood. 

• I decided (with help and suggestions from Erica) to coordinate my Spring Preview dates in chronological order rather than by category. I used colored boxes to signify each event category and put them next to the even title. The only real difficulty I had was finding a way to make an otherwise boring list of dates look interesting and accessible. 

Response: Baby Beauty (published) Cover and Spread

• After hearing the class critique and discussion of the final Baby Beauty decisions, I realized what the editors were looking for. I definitely understood wanting to use Ronnie on the cover because he was such a huge and important part of the core story. It was interesting to hear from Jan and Erica about why the photo that was used on the cover was chosen. I never even thought about using that photo, but after hearing the rationale, it opened my mind to more possibilities for the spread. 
• For the inside spread, the critique helped me understand the necessity of using fewer LARGE photos rather than lots of small ones. Although I thought there were lots of great photos and wanted to use as many as possible, I realize it is more important to tell the story clearly rather than using all of the cute photos. 

Check it Out: Beautiful Maps and Projects

• I don't know why, but this week I chose to look at a bunch of different maps. I think maps are beautiful and intricate and so interesting. So after a little research, I found this really awesome blog that has some very different and cool maps and projects made of maps. The blog, Things of Beauty, has some really cool projects like this one. 

• The map on the left is from The Icicle and the Sun book and the map on the right is a Taiwanese map from a shui wooden map card. Maps are a necessity that could be boring, but this blog has so many that are helpful and beautiful at the same time.