Pretty Things [of Design]

Some Backlogged Work: Creative Brief, Portfolio Site

2011-11-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

Site URL: LauraJennette.Wordpress.com

Description of Contents: Projects (photographs, posters, identities, cards, website design, motion design, apparel design), About Me, For Clients, For Fellow Artists, Inspiration, Contact, links to process blogs.

Target Audience: As this will be a portfolio blog, I want to engage both prospective employers and casual web surfers. Pretty much anyone and everyone out there.

Some Backlogged Work: [Motion] Design for the Screen

2011-11-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

Design for the [Mobile] Screen Example

2011-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

This week's Design for the Screen example comes with an additional requirement: That it be design for the screen of a mobile device.

A good design for the mobile screen should be simple, streamlined, easy to use (to the point of being painfully obvious), and load quickly. Being fitted to the screen is an absolute must, so that your text and pictures won't be cut off when they're sized to fit the screen of a mobile device, or stretched when they're fit to a full-sized computer screen.

My example for the week:

http://www.quickmobile.com/sundance/#_home

Simple, easy to use, easy to understand, engaging colors, interesting enough to catch the eye, but simple enough to load quickly.

Website Re-Design Project

2011-10-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again! This time, discussing...

Websites! And - The Design of Same.

And I am really to tired right now to come up with anything useful to say. So! Here is my homework: Screenshots of the pages that I've made, critique from my peers. In. That. Order.

Here we go.

(Ohoh, and this right here is the layout that I want to apply to all of my webpages, but whenever I try to, it just shows up with a big black bar in the middle. Which is annoying.)
Comments:

-Add depth to overall site

-Include a more colage-y, artsy feel

-Alignment of pages - text, images, etc.

-Menu - explore different states (i.e., rollover, click, active), perhaps NOT type change.

Design for the Screen Example

2011-10-24T06:19:00.000-07:00

The example I've brought this week is the website for the Blue Lotus Yoga Studio on NW st. in Raleigh. I love the color palette they've chosen, their overall aesthetic is calming and cohesive, and the site itself is easy to navigate.

http://www.bluelotusnc.com /

And that is that.

Partial Participation

2011-10-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

WELL hello again, dear readers. Haven't seen you all around here in a while! How's life been going?

Oh, I don't really care. It's the end of fall break, I have to get back to work now, let's cut the pleasantries short here.

*Ahem*

The Design for the Screen class has been assigned the [collectively individual] task of discovering a website that we think displays either very good or very bad design.

Therefore, behold: uwall.tv. Apart from being based on a really cool concept (it's a wall! Of music! Yay!), it's also interactive, well-defined and laid-out, clear and concise, and, perhaps best of all, free.

HW: The Unknowable Interface

2011-09-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

This week's homework assignment: sketch or take a picture of an Unworkable or Confusing Interface.

A lot of people brought in washing machines/driers (including, but not limited to, clothing and hair driers), we had one Remote Control, and one car radio.

I brought in my sketch of an Apple device.

Apple is supposed to be revered for it's design. Smart, right? Definitely streamlined. Simple to a fault. Strategically marketed. Superbly iconic. My list of adjectives beginning with the letter 'S' could go on.

So I was frankly surprised and slightly shocked when I tried to change the song on my roomie's iPod. And couldn't.

The Nefarious Instrument in question

This is her iPod Nano. It's the newest version, so it's a touchscreen. Which I don't actually find confusing in itself, except that this Nano is also about the size of a quarter, so making it touchscreen seems a little counter intuitive, to start. I am constantly worrying that I'm going to accidentally push a bunch of other icon/buttons at once, and cause the device to explode.

So last night, we were just sitting around, twiddling our thumbs, listening to Sixx: AM, and she asks me to change the music (to Lonely Island, in case anyone cares about what music I listen to in my "free time", which is in itself a Complete and Total Myth, but that's another story).

So anyhoo, I'm thinking yeah, whatever, I can do this, right? It's just a song, I mean, really, how hard can that possibly be?

So I confidently walk up to the screen. And poke it.

Aaaand - No. Blank. Nothing.

A list of the music that we were currently listening to. A small dark gray bar at the top for rating songs. Nothing. Else.

It might as well have been a fortress. It might as well have been a Chinese puzzle box. It might as well have been a futuristic device dropped from a passing alien space cruiser. It was blank.

How could you do this to me, Apple?

A New Semester!

2011-09-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

...And message my Fictional Secretary about that, that's important, and after you've done that, make sure to get a meeting set up with that Important Place, I'm free all day tomorrow - No, I don't care about that, just get it done - then go to my Fictional Office and look in the top drawer of my desk for all of my - OH MY! Hi there, I didn't see you. *giggleblush*.

No, I really didn't see you. I was too busy twiddling my thumbs.

Well then! Adoring readers, here we are. A New Semester, A New Start. Isn't that lovely?

My Graphic Design class this semester is Design for the Screen, a subject which instils both excitement and fear in my heart, because I AM NOT TECHNOLOGICALLY SAVVY. But I can design, so that at least is some comfort.

The irony here is that our first assignment is to manually physically draw out a map of our Digital Usage in the Past 24 Hours, without the computer. So don't judge here, okay?

Okay.

See you soon!

No, No, No: A Retracted Statement.

2011-08-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Oh, dear reader...Just ignore that last post. It's all a load of hooey.

Instead, turn your eyes to The Sidebar! Where! Some exciting new links have lately appeared!

Please and Thank You.

I Told You I Would Be Doing Something, Didn't I?

2011-05-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

And do something I shall! Although cleaning my room is an inutterably enjoyable activity at times, I recognize that it is not Appropriate Entertainment Material for this audience, who have by now become accustomed to my Rants, Rages and Ramblings as Pertaining to Design.

Therefore! To the subject of Art and Typography.

Article 1. I have recently been entrusted with a collection of MRI scans of a spine, all blue and black and translucent and creepy-beautiful:

Article 2. In my last Imaging class, one of my classmates used a Japanese booklet-binding technique that, apart from being lovely and functional, Blew Our Collective Minds:

Article 3. Cooper Black + a thin ubiquitous script typeface = leaves me imagining Love On Paper.

And that is part One of Doing Things.

A Note On Activity, Conclusions, and Summer [Break]

2011-05-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know, this promises to be a long post. Grab one of the buckets of popcorn that I KNOW are standing around right now and get comfier: I am about to inflict Necessary Tedium upon your eyes.

Ready?

Go.

1. A Happy Adventure For You All.

So as I was absent-minded-ly scrolling through the old Type 2 and Drawing blogs - I miss my teachers so much, honesty does not properly convey my desperation here - A Thought suddenly dawned upon me: I need something to do, right? And I really ought to be able to prove to the universe (or at least, the Interwebiverse) that I have, in Actual Factual Actuality, been doing something, right? And this blog is supposed to be about design, right??

And I finally put 1 and 2 together in wonderland.

[Side note: Don't laugh at the fact that it took me an entire day to come to this conclusion, okay? I am nothing if not a slow mover. My college's Athletic Team's mascot is a Pacer, I have come to terms with this. It does not mean that I'm a fast woman.]

The conclusion to Our Happy Adventure being that I am going to work on Design. And yes, that is an extremely vague conclusion, but it is never the less a conclusion. Don't push me during Summer Break, but I will go so far as to say this: Days Before I Disappear to Never Ever Land: 42. Expected Postings: 15, more or less. Probably less. Get ready for disappointment.

2. For My Inevitable Stalkers: Where I Shall Be [In The Near Future]

An astonishing circumstance has befallen me, my Roommate, and Several People We Know: We are going to Mexico this Summer, attached to the Anthropology Dept. at our school. We shall study ruins, Spider Monkeys, rural human habitats, and (because I wouldn't even be blogging about this occurrence otherwise) taking a Graphic Design Class. The last part of which I am particularly excited about, because a) Graphic Design + Picturesque Landscape; b) Only 3 of our group are taking the Graphic Design portion; c) One of those 3 is my friend; d) Whom I work well with (3X fast); e) One of my (Officially) Former Design Teachers will be there over the last 10 days of the trip.

Some other Things You Should Know: I am a recreational knitter, and a recreational photographer. And I plan on knitting a camera bag (Extra-Just-Especially for This Upcoming Trip). Which is why I feel justified in posting my progress here. Which is Coming Soon.

All this to say, I will be posting all kinds of whosamacallits here soon, and had I not properly informed you then you would obviously be in a state of bemused confusion when said occurrence eventually occurred.

3. The Final Item On Today's Agenda:

There actually is no third item on this list, but you can't really have a proper list with just two items. So here's the third. Hope you like it. Here, how about an interesting interactive website about typography to make up for all the nonsense I've made you read? www.typorganism.com

2011-04-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

New Post on Advancing [Graphic Design].

Link on the right-side panel!

Well. It's Been A While. Hasn't It.

2011-03-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Hi there, lovely, talented, discerning populous! Have you missed me during my almost-semester-long hiatus? Were you worried that I was staying with another blog and gone from you for good? You know I couldn't keep myself away from you for long.

Now, I know that I usually post only those projects that are directly related to my education. I usually only have time to complete projects directly related to my education. But! This is not a project for which I receive school credit. This is not for my instructors' benefit. This is because I was feeling totally altruistic (and I was procrastinating from the four-foot-long list of Things I Must Do Before Tomorrow).

The school's AIGA club (I think I've mentioned them before, but if I haven't, it's the American Institute of Graphic Design) has been asked to display some posters, and so we've each been asked to come up with one (if we aren't too too busy). I actually did two, not because I am a fast worker, but because I didn't really want to do anything else:

(I know this one needs some refinement of the main typography, but I like to think that secretly, Carolyn and Denielle are cheering for the "social justice" aspect of our Graphic Design Education).

(Just because I like flowers).

They're both kind of mediocre, but I had so much fun just doing what I wanted to do with them. I feel like this semester, I've been doing what my instructors want, but I haven't really been getting anything out of it.

It was so nice to work in Illustrator again, I forgot how zoned out to anything else around me when I'm tracing around! A few of us in the Graphic Design department went to see Von Glitschka's lecture at the City Museum, and after all his talk of vectors and lines and the importance of getting your points in line, I was really eager to get back to Illustrator!

You Just Can't Get Enough, Can You?

2010-12-14T17:11:00.000-08:00

It's here! The Last Blog Post Of The Semester! We actually finally made it. After a long struggle, much heartache, many headaches, several late nights, countless early mornings, blood, sweat, tears and frustration, nervous breakdowns, spontaneous Graphic Design Room Counseling Sessions, and far too few cups of coffee, we come to the end of yet another Scholastic Semester. Congratulations!

I feel a need to mention certain academic setbacks--because yes, folks, whatever else you may hear, they are setbacks--that directly affect my Major: the school is saying goodbye to the only two full-time teachers in the Graphic Design department, my mentors and the friends who thought me the first things I know about Graphic Design. The rest of the department (that's a bunch of students, one Adjunct, and a really lousy printer) wish them all the best, and hope that we see them often.

So if I seem a little shaky in my imminent postings, well, now you know why.

But! We've finally made it through Typography 2 together! I don't know about you, but I am SO EXCITED. Now, for two weeks of restful languidity, and then back to the stress-filled hours of endless aggravation and gratification that Graphic Design can bring! See you next semester in Imaging! Wish me luck!

Finally Final: Semester Edition

2010-12-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Just in case you guys need a reminder of the marvelousness that I've been up to this past semester, here are some pictures to jog your memory:

1. Identity Design (for Ornamentea); Bracelet, T-Shirt, Letterhead (front and back), Business Card (front and back), and envelope (still sideways):

2. Newsletter (two inside pages, two outside pages):

3. The Desk Callander (for the Numeric Institute):

4. The Photoshop Band Poster:

And that little smattering? Took me FOUR MONTHS. I really need a break.

Project 5, Part Only: Wit Optional

2010-12-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Our final project for Type 2 was a poster advertizing an album of our favorite band. Parameters: Must be a collage of photos, drawings, typefaces and/or other images; Must explore the difference between connotative (abstract) imagery and denotative (concrete) imagery; Must have the dates of at least 5 concerts on it; Must be printed on 11" X 17" paper.

I chose Negramaro, because a) nobody in America knows who they are AND THEY SHOULD, b) they are actually my favorite band at the moment, c) their latest album, Casa 69, uses a lot of interesting imagery and has some pretty awesome easily interpreted themes, and c) they use Helvetica for their band logo (not that I'm a big fan of Helvetica, but hey! It's a band that doesn't use something atrocious like Curlz MT for their logo! LOVE!)

I made one version that fulfills the project parameters, and one that I just like:

Photoshop Tutorial 4: Tupperware [Type] Party

2010-12-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

This tutorial took a while, but it wasn't hard. The main difficulty was finding an appropriate typeface, but once I had that selected, the rest was pretty easy (though tedious). I think it needs to be a bit more 'plastic-y', but I'll figure that out later:

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photoshop-text/text-effects/plastic/page-5.php

Photoshop Tutorial 3: Shine on, You Crazy Typeface.

2010-11-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

This was actually a really fun tutorial! I would absolutely do it again, just to play around with it some more.

http://www.tutsforps.com/Photoshop-Tutorials/Texteffects/text-magic-glowing-sparkles.html

Once again, I did a few things differently:

Font Size: 36

First Brush: 3px, Spacing 90%

Second Brush: 2px, Scatter 450%

Third Brush: Spacing 150%

Drop Shadow Color: #89dcfe, Spread 20%

Outer Glow Color: #7598c0, Noise 5%

Gradient Foreground Color: #77a3b3

Gradient Background Color: #051d3b

Photoshop Tutorial 2: Uninspired, But Required.

2010-11-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

This is a deceptively easy Chrome-like Type tutorial that I found. I had a little trouble with it - couldn't find a few tools, unclear about colors, and the tutorial itself was written by a person who is evidently unaware of the invention of the comma - so I had to make a few adjustments:

www.idigitalemotion.com/tutorials/chrome.html

1) For the background color, apply a color overlay (Layer > Layer Styles > Color Overlay) of # 252729.

2) Skipped the Lighting Effect Filter (apparently it only works in Photoshop RGB/32-bit mode, but I wasn't able to find it).

5) On the outer glow, add 3% Noise

Random Notes:

On the bottom 3 text layers, the text should be black.

The top (4th) text layer should be white, with

- A Blend Mode of Hard Light

- Overall Opacity of 95%, fill opacity of 85%

- Stroke of 1 px, color e9e9e9, soft light

- Bevel and Emboss (Contour) Style > Inner Bevel, Technique > Smooth, Depth > 131%, Direction > Up, Size > 8 px, Soften > 16 px, Highlight Mode and Shadow Mode both set to Multiply.

Project 3, Part 4: Wait...What Day Is It?

2010-11-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

HERE is my final calendar for the Numeric Institute (you thought it would never get here, didn't you?). I revised the title and the overall layout; though it still has the fun colors and typography, it's a slightly more sophisticated and nuanced fun than the first renditions:

Project 3, Part 3: In The Eighth Month

2010-11-18T03:40:00.001-08:00

Today, Type 2 has an in-progress desk critique, for which we are required to have at least 8 months, a front cover and a back cover.

And they are all posted here.

There is really no way in Dante's Seventh Level that I'm going to label each of these individually here, so I'll just say right now: Front and back each, except for that very last one, which is just back.

I'm definitely reconsidering my colors, this just seems too much, and I'm not totally feeling the pink and orange combination. And I'll be figuring out that front page, it's so simple in comparison to the inside pages. And I don't know about my orange text boxes, I might want to make them a transparent white like the calendars (speaking of the calendars, I know they're all the same month, I'll fix that).

Now, to print them!

Photoshop Tutorials 1: Give Me Some Sugar.

2010-11-11T06:18:00.001-08:00

This tutorial was, I admit, ridiculously easy (even for me). It took me about twenty minutes, including the time I spent changing typefaces about a million times. But I really like this, and I think I might even use it for something.

I'm not totally sure that this typeface worked out (the white background letters look a little awkward and cut off and the dot in the 'i' is just not working), but I love the overall shape of this typeface!

http://pshero.com/photoshop-tutorials/text-effects/the-sugar-bag-effect

In class exercise/quiz

2010-11-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

Project 3, Part 2: 365 On A Desk

2010-11-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

This week for our desk calendar project, our homework was to create three renditions of a front page, as well as have a few sketches or screengrabs of the type treatment.

However, I cleverly misread our instructions and skipped to next week's homework.

Here's a sampling of that happy medium:

One:

Two:

Three (which I already think is questionable):

(P.S. I told you I'd come up with a clever title.)

In-Class Exercise: The Slightly Disagreeable Photoshop Workout

2010-11-04T14:56:00.001-07:00

In preparation for our Calendar Project (and just as a general learning tool) Type 2 has been assigned the task of completing/presenting one Photoshop tutorial per week. To kick off this exciting new venture (and YES, I mean that honestly, no sarcasm. I'm kind of in to all this), we were to complete these two Photoshop Type tutorials (one of which was slightly incomplete and FRUSTRATING) in class.

1. Gold Type:
2. Jelly Styles Type:

How'd I do?

Project 3, Part 1: A Functional Desk Calendar, Witty Name Soon To Follow

2010-11-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

Our latest project in Type 2 is to create a "functioning Desk Calendar", to promote the core values and mission of the Numeric Institute, a fictional company invented for this excercise, celebrating the function and visual integrity of numerals.

Idea 1: Using the Fibonacci Sequence:
Idea 2: Sacred Meanings of numbers:
and idea 3: making all numbers prime:

Project 2, Part 4: Finally Final, Folks!

2010-11-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, you have to look closely, but there ARE differences here: the Type (both faces and ography), contrast, images, placement, opacity, and my grid.

Now for the real challenge! Try to find all the changes!

Project 2, Part 3: Fashionably Informally Unfinished.

2010-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Today is our in-progress critique of the Newsletters, a day set aside for the class to mock, exalt, discriminate against, loudly adore, apoligize for, roundly score and/or say 'yeah, sure,' to each other's newsletter designs. I printed mine out last night, and of course our Repulsive Printer RICOH completely messed up the colors, but no matter. Because lo! I have the screengrabs posted here for your entertainment.

Front:
Inside:
Back:

Project 2, Part 2: Fashionably Late is 15 minutes.

2010-10-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

The time has come to unveil the subject of my Newsletter.

Cover Page:

First Article:

Neither of them are anywhere near done (I need to add the other articles, some more images, pull quotes and end signs), but they are THERE, a fact I attribute to my annoyance with InDesign and my longing to get it over with as soon as possible.

Project 2, Part 1.5: Newly Newsworthy News, No Notes.

2010-10-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Upon further critique, it was decided that more examples of nameplates were required.

I think that these two typefaces (Bordeaux and Didot, respectively) are different enough that they communicate two views of this same overall idea, though both have that great contrast between thick and thin strokes and the nice strong verticals and horizontals.

(Side Note: The type on the right is for the end sign, which I might or might not actually use.)

So here's my first one of the second batch:Then one with color, just to say I did consider color on this:Then, with 'fashionably' and 'late' stacked (and with a little almost-box around it, to keep it from falling apart):

And one that looks like an advertisement for a late night TV show (I'd watch it, but then, that could just be me):
And finally one that looks reasonably like a nameplate/Newsletter Name:

Still wondering what the name means? Tune in next time for more exciting news on that score!

Project 2, Part 1: Newly Newsworthy News and Notes

2010-10-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Our second project in Type 2 is to produce a Newsletter (more eco-friendly and manageable than the Magazines required in last year's class). These Newsletters will be in three versions: Print, On-Line, and Interactive.

First, we got aquainted with some of the terms associated with Newsletter Design:

-Nameplates, headers of articles/title of the Magazine or Newsletter (I think).
-Sub-Heads, those longer titles in smaller type, positioned directly below the Nameplate.

-Continuation Heads, the 'continued from page such-and-such' line at the top of an article on a fresh page.

-By Lines, that line that tells you who wrote the article.

-Pull Quotes, quotes from the article, in larger type than the body copy.

-Jump Lines, the 'continued on page such-and-such' line at the bottom of an article that isn't done on that page.

-End Signs, those little shapes and/or colors signaling the end of an article.

Next, we are to choose one of four subjects (Local, Global, Design, or Fashion), and come up with three renditions of a Nameplate for our Newsletter.

Here's the fun bit. A lot of you may have noticed that the majority of my designs thus far have been whimsical and fanciful and pretty. And that's all well and good, I really like pretty things and all, but it does get rather monotonous after a while.

So!

This time, I intend to do Something Completely Different (but of course, still aesthetically pleasing), and to that end I have decided that Fashion will be my subject. Yes, I know that it does seem like a cop-out at first, but it's really a rather versatile subject: fashionable things crop up everywhere, not just in clothes and makeup but also in the words we use, the foods we eat, the jokes we tell, the entertainment we enjoy, the technologies we use, the politics that we embrace.

So here's the deal: I will show you three of my Nameplate designs, and you get to speculate on my intentions!

One.
Two.
Three.

Project 1, Part 1 and Many Additional Parts That Took Me Completely By Suprise.

2010-09-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I posted - believe me, nobody feels that more than I - but I have come to this place with a post full of Designed Design Designs!
You remember the little Logo design that the Type 2 class was working on? The one that we made all those sketches for? The one that we wrote a proposal for?

Yes, you remember. It hasn't been that long since I posted.

Well, that little Logo design quickly grew to a Business Card design, which then sort of Frankenstined into a Letterhead and Evelope design, which then grew some long hairy legs and became known as an Identity Design.

1. The Business Card (front and back):

2. The Letterhead (front and back):
(Yes, I know this one doesn't have any contact information on it. That's all fixed in Final.2)
3. The Envelope (I'm sorry that it's sideways, but I'm trying to use *certain frustrating computer-based technologies* as little as possible right now):
And then just two Random Cute Things that I thought would be nice to present along with the other required Identity Design elements:

A Bracelet:
And a T-shirt!
I was going to make an ad, but I was uninspired halfway through. So instead, I made Random Cute Stuff. I will most likely create an ad for my Final-final piece, as well as change the color scheme, but I think that overall it's a successful Identity.

Project 1, Part 4: The Business Behind Business Cards.

2010-09-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

The next step in our logo design project was to create at least 3 different business cards using our logo. I kind of overshot that mark by just an eensy weensy bit, so I actually have 9. Which is good, in my opinion, because it kind of lessens the horribleness of the fact that I can't get our Nasty Evil Particular Screwy Weird Printer Rihco to work (I suppose now my secret is out: I dislike our Printer).

But anyway. 9 Business Cards:

(The rest are front and back/back and front)

Have I mentioned that I dislike Rihco?

Project 1, Part 3: An Embarrassment Of Pitches

2010-09-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

Aaaand welcome back to Type Two! Today we're bringing you more variations of the previous week's designs, this time including eye-catching colors, funky and/or elegant typefaces, clean vector-based lines, and descriptive imagery!

And when put together, we all know what those make: a logo!

After a Class Critique of our first 24 sketches, we were to pick six of those - three "Logos" and three "Symbols". I'm still not entirely clear on which is which, so some of mine might be sitting on the fence in that respect, but I did three variations of the type (with and without a bunch of hit-you-over-the-head imagery), and four variations of what I consider to be the logo (entirely hit-you-over-the-hear imagery - Sorry, Ali).

I first picked out three typefaces, two of which resembled the current one and one of which is a big hand-done one:

(By the way, the 'O' is not really that round a shape in the original typeface. Just in case you were wondering.)
Next, I experimented with just a single earring and the type, giving a little more balance to the weight of the words vs. imagery:

...And then I just entirely gave myself over to the obvious (but lovely!) imagery:

My personal favorites are the two on the right, but with the type and earring the same cream color of the ones to the left. But I'd leave the type where it is in the right-hand one, I was just showing variety to show YOU what's going on. That's it.

Project 1, Part 2: The Details Are Sketchy.

2010-09-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Our next step in this Logo Design Project is to start sketching, just getting ideas down on paper without really censoring our own creative process:

For several of these, I operated under the impression that the Nameless Client needed everything spelled out for them (i.e., I used reverse color/positioning on many, instead of just trusting that the people I'm targeting will get the message and change it in their own minds), and that was kind of a lot of unnecessary work.

One of my friends also pointed out to me that the logos of many successful companies - Target, WalMart, FedEx, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, etc. - are signs that are "informed by the product, evoke the product, but don't illustrate the product", and I totally agree with that, but I'm not exactly sure what to do with that information. I think that with a little more 'push', the bottom middle of the second page could do that, but I'm concerned about having the tea cup in there, like that could make people pronounce Ornamentea 'Ornamen-tea' instead of 'Ornamen-ti-a'.

I think the silhouette is good, but then it might look like Ornamentea caters exclusively to women, and it doesn't (mostly). Perhaps give her a male companion-silhouette with a jewled stockpin? Or maybe the silhouette of a woman, and a man fastening her neclace?

Hm. I shall ponder this.

ADDITIONALLY - Over the weekend I checked the comments of my blog post of Sept. 2, and found that the designer of the original Ornamentea Logo, Alison, had contacted me. (And dispite my cool and calm attitude towards this, I am SO EXCITED!!!) This now gives me the opportunity to disappoint or delight both my teacher (who actually is/has/will be a professional designer) AND a Professional Designer From A Local Company That I Admire.
No preassure.

And in latest world news, I can't think of anything clever to say right now. Bad sign?

'Painted Bird' from a Painted Bird

2010-09-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today's Typography Exercise Du Jour was an activity to re-familiarize us with Illustrator and InDesign, and introducing some new functions of Adobe CS5, like the Selection/Direct Selection tool in InDesign, and agonized over the Utilities/Automation Discrepancy in Illustrator. At the end, we each created a (slightly different) business card and letterhead:

Project 1, Part 1: Proposing a Proposition (Presuming Positive Pressure and Perhaps Payoff)

2010-09-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

Our first Project (that's 'Project' with a capital 'P', indicating lots of work, as opposed to 'project' with a small 'p', indicating an Exercise) in Type 2 is to design a company logo. Now, I know this sounds ridiculously easy at first, but rest assured, there are ways to make it SO much more interesting:
1. The logo must be eye-catching. It must be something that people will be so interested in from a distance, that they will cross three lanes of rush-hour of traffic to fully understand it.
2. It must be memorable. It can't just be something you look at and immediately lose in the vast black recesses of your mind. It has to be something that people remember throughout their day, perhaps into their evenings and nights, until they have a deep and gnawing craving for whatever your logo is advertising.
3. It must communicate the purpose and meaning of whatever company it stands for, using Typefaces, colors, shapes, textures and images that portray this company at a glance.

To sum it up, these logos must display Simplicity, Wit, Uniqueness, Timelessness, and a Consitancy with other aspects of their company (website typeface, mailer and advertizement colors, physical product design).

And you thought that was going to be so simple.

To begin with, we must find 6 logo designs (within our chosen Industry of Logo Design, i.e, Spa resorts) that display these characteristics (Simplicity, Wit, Uniqeness, Timelessness and Concistancy). My chosen Industry really doesn't have that many logos to choose from, but I did my best for you guys:

Most of these have Witty names, all seem to be pretty Unique, at least two are nice and simple, five of the six are Timeless (no matter how old you are, you never will get past the 'aww!' factor of Bumble Beads), and they are all consistant with their other Company aspects. And excepting that 'Studio Beads' logo, I like them all (in varying degrees, of course). I don't really know what's up with that 'anh & roe' logo, there's no indication of the product, but I just think it's so pretty, which kind of leaves me in a limbo of hate/love.

Anyway.

Next, we were to write a Design Proposition for our "client", which was actually not nearly as challenging as I thought it would be, and post it here, along with the logo/business card that we wish to re-design. this is very short as Design Proposals go, but I think it communicates the required information:

Graphic Design Proposal: A Logo for Ornamentea

Ornamentea started in 1990-1995 as a small, local jewelry designing company called Bedizen Ornaments. Cynthia Deis, the creator and self-proclaimed Queen Bee, ran the business out of her home in Raleigh, NC, with few customers and fewer employees. It quickly grew, and by 2005 had expanded to accommodate a shop in North Raleigh and an online store.
Ornamentea’s main competitors are other small, local bead businesses, such as the Raleigh company Carolyn’s Bead Addiction, Fuquay-Varina’s Carolina Bead Company, and Fayetteville’s Strung Out On Beads; however, larger, cheaper bead and craft retailers, like A.C. Moore and Michaels’, pose a threat as well.
Ornamentea is set in the heart of downtown Raleigh, nestled in a garden of brightly colored flowers, bushes, and vines, creating an atmosphere of calm sanctuary within a bustling city. It offers hand-dyed ribbons, paper and beads from Nepal, Italy and Japan, and many well-presented and entertaining programs, like Breakfast and Bead, Sleepover/Crafting Parties, technique demonstrations, and Try-It-Out Tuesdays.
The target audience of Ornamentea is as wide and varied as the inhabitants of Downtown Raleigh, ranging from young children first discovering creativity to The Ancients of Crafting, and supportingleisurely beading for arts enthusiasts as well as support for small-time professional jewelry designers and creators.
The current logo design of Ornamentia does not match the actual “on-the-spot” image of the store.
Although lovely and consistent with other aspects of the store’s advertising, it is a conservative design that does not fully convey the fun, accessible, quirky nature of Ornamentea. I propose:
1. A user-friendly, easy-to-understand organization of necessary information.
2. A memorable design that highlights the stores most desirable aspects and promotes the store’s appeal to both returning and first-timer customers.
3. To create imagery that summarizes the store’s purpose.
4. More technically, to create a logo design that will accommodate many different sizes and color combinations.
I am very excited by this project, and I look forward to the design process!

And that? Is my Project.

Exercise 1: Takin' Care of Business Cards

2010-08-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

In our first Typography 2 class of the semester, we were assigned the task of creating business cards (to prepare for our later projects in Identity design!!). But we didn't jut create them - we were to pay attention to the creative process that Typography allows us to explore. We were to create four business cards, going from least typographically detailed to greatest. So first, we created a business card with only the type aligned right on a white background, everything on it's own line, no formatting, no spaces between the lines, nothing:
If you four-year-old child decided to get on Word, then this is what they'd do. And it would be genius for them, but we in Type 2 take great pride in asserting that we have progressed beyond the age of four.

It does get better: Our next rendition could use Leading (you remember Leading?) and scale:
That was a little less plain, there's more detail to entertain and engage your brain. But it's still awfully boring.

The next one fixes the boring problem. In this, we add indents and right-and-left-side alignment and COLOR!
See? I told you it would get better. It's all pretty and interesting now! This isn't the one that I actually turned in, but it's my favorite. But here isn't were we stop! NOW, we can break apart the text and change it's directions all around, play with it a little more, and basically remove all parameters (except for the size and the business card information):
There's my finished exercise! I think the type should be a little larger, especially down at the bottom, but 8-point type is supposed to do it for business cards. So I will content myself with the fact that there is so much "white space".

But I was so into it, I couldn't stop there. So I created a fifth one, just for [family-friendly] giggles:
My rags need LOTS of work, but I was bored. I think it's a good idea, it just needs more refinement. That's it.

A Pre-Emptive Edition of Put On a Show and Tell All

2010-08-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Since I have little doubt that our Typography 2 teacher (the same lovely lady that brought you Typography 1) will again require us to post one example of Typography (whether good or bad) per week, and I have no wish to spend my first weekend back at college trolling through Internet sites, AND I am experiencing a level of boredom that has heretofore gone undiscovered, I will give you an example now. Something I stumbled upon over the summer:

Found at www.underconsideration.com/fpo/archives/2010/05/so-you-need-a-typeface-poster.php

I shall now proceed with my Critique Sandwich* of the Post: I think it's so cute! And witty! And fun! And gives off a sense of usefullness! And is a great poster design! And come on, who doesn't love a good flow chart to break up the drab and the unfabulous stuff of life? The stark black and white keeps the busy-ness from being too overwhelming, I love the structure and organization (or lack thereof) of flow charts, and how they sprawl out and look kind of like big sneezes, but very orderly ones.

I think that the first couple dotted lines coming from the center should be a little larger and get smaller as they go out. And would a solid (but slim) white line (¼” from the outside edge) work? Maybe the box of text in the top left corner should be more like the one in the center? Or maybe it should be a color, to set it apart from the other text more? Or maybe it should be positioned differently, perhaps as a small box running the length of the bottom? Or maybe it's lack of color keeps it from distracting too much from the rest of the poster. Maybe the flow chart itself should be a color.

That being said, I want this on my wall. Not because I would actually use it, but because it is cool and interesting. And I think it uses the white on black/negative of customary print work to great effect; this poster would be SO much more confusing in black on white.

*For all those who were in Black and White Photography last year, you will be familiar with the Critique Sandwich. For those of you who weren't, or are otherwise unfamiliar with the idea of a Critique Sandwich, let me elaborate: Love. Critique. Love more. Stop.

I Know What I Did Last Summer. And Now, You Can Too!

2010-08-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings, O beloved fans and dedicated following! Can you believe it's been a whole three [or four] months since last I took a Graphic Design course and imparted my knowledge to you??

Now and once again, we stand with our toes upon the precipice of a New School Year, ready to dive into that deep and dark chasm below that we know as 'Learning'. How short the Summer has been! (Except I'm really actually glad it's over, and I can give myself over to the blissful leisure of a 24/7 college schedule.)

But lo! I hear you-all impatiently cry out, 'what did you actually do during those long three [or four] months?' Well, during my time of Scholastic Independence I have--

1. Designed a cute little postcard layout for the company Natural Math. It's in Cary. You should check it out.

2. Worked on a fairly ubiquitous logo for my friend's church.

3. Was accosted on the telephone by a lonely author, who invited me to join a team of designers and create the Cover for his Book. I barely got out of that one.

4. Went to New York to visit An Aged Relative With A Great Many Children, and found that I actually relate to some of the people I am related to (!!).

5. 'Sat', (or, alternatively, 'lay' and/or 'rested', but in any case 'relaxed by') a large chlorinated pool, imagining a tall cold tropical drink in my hand, a fashion magazine by my chair, the Beach Boys playing in my ears, and the sun beating down upon the land as I gazed at the diving board and imagined a tanned and oiled pool boy at my beck and call...

6. Was Anguished and Annoyed to learn that my Camera must take a leave of absence to be inspected by the lovely people at Nikon, who have apparently built a malfunction into my dear Adrian, and have chosen THIS time of year to fix it.

7. Knit a Great Many Things, some of which I actually finished and each of which either a) is fabulous and useful and pretty or b) taught me a lesson about Patterns, Reasons for Following.

This semester I begin in Drawing 1 and Typography 2, both of which are difficult separately and will in all probability be hellish together. However, I am determined to complete both classes with my usual decadent panache and rapier wit (see #5 above).

But enough about me. What did you do this summer?

It is June, let's all go and re-design Davy Byrne's Pub sign.

2010-06-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

To answer what I am sure is your first question, I changed the layout, design, and color scheme of my blog in a fit of creativity-induced pique. (Also because Google has new layouts to apply here).
And in answer to you second question, I have deigned to post over the Summer because I have recently taken a job with the company Natural Math, a small company in need of small display/take-home advertizing/customer encouragement pieces. Or, alternatively, postcards.

The front: (Those fractal flowers were a considerable pain, but a good friend of mine advised me to fiddle with the file type and they haven't been any bother since then, thanks for asking.)

And the back:

(There will, of course, be text inside the flower.)

I personally believe that the front and back would "go together" in a more pleasing way if the front were not so...detailed. Perhaps more color in the back, and less in the front? More texture in the back? Or adding more stuff (leaves, pictures, etc.)? Or add a gradient to the background? Or replacing it with a blue?

I have ideas, and no solutions. To work!

Put on a Final Show and Tell All

2010-05-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

My final show and tell of the school year is in two parts, because I LOVE both of them, and because the second part has some language in it that would be unsuitable for the delicate ears of most Graphic Designers (and my mother), and I do want this to be a lovely family-friendly site.

So. One:

Found at http://25.media.tumblr.com/de7HUzqK3m99xboiPuoYqBrFo1_500.jpg

I like this example because a) it's red and I really like red, b) it's creative, and c) I know it to be a totally incorrect statement. Typography is so much more than 'numbers and symbols'. Of course, those do enter into it, but typography has to be seen as History, and Science and Art. Typography is kerning, leading, placement, anatomy, color, transparency (which SHOULD be called 'translucency', but I won't get into that here), size, proportion, ratio, organization, integration, hierarchy, manipulation, emotion, and long hours spent staring at a blank computer screen.
[Rant over.]

Two: What Does Marcellus Wallace Look Like? from the movie 'Pulp Fiction'.
Perhaps you've seen this, or something quite like this, before, but it is new to me. And I like it. Very much. Kinetic Typography like this is constantly moving, changing and evolving to Typographically describe the happenings of the dialogue/music played over it. In the first half of the video, the typefaces used are almost identical, but the weights, sizes and colors used help each to appear completely different. I even watched this without the sound, and the type still conveyed the proper emotions to me. That is just cool.

...And that is also my very last blog post of the semester. I shall possibly post a few tidbits for your pleasure, but don't get your hopes up. I shall be sad to leave Peace for a whole summer, but I will bear the deprivation of CS3, of sleepless nights spent in Pressely 303, of night security guard checking to see if I have expired, and even of Dear RICOH, with grace and dignity. I will have to console myself with sunbathing, reading trashy romance novellas (cleverly disguised as Historical Fiction), and sipping Very Cold beverages while I sit by the pool.

I wish you a happy and productive summer!
Until next time,
Laura

Type 1 Finals: Letter

2010-05-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

And Typography 1 has come to a close! I shall miss the long hours spent in Pressely 303, the nights spent dreaming of kerning and leading, the endless times that the night security guard came to check up on me. But that is all over now.

And time to revisit the projects! Our Type 1 final is to submit a CD of all our finished projects (Letter, Word, Grid, and Hierarchy) with revisions. And those revisions that we make have no requirements, so for instance, color in a black-and-white only project, a font change in a Garamond-only project, or the exclusion of information that would be required otherwise.

First, Letter. Our letters were to be in black and white only:

But since restrictions had been removed, we could do pretty much anything:

This was my first, and I like it's mix of playfullness (hot pink! And that dot of the 'j'! And the way it sits right there in the 'L'!) and seriousness (Bodoni, strong lines, forcefully elegant curves).

But one of my classmates suggested that I play with the merging of the two letters, like this:

And now, I don't know which to like!

Type 1 Finals: Word

2010-05-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Our second Typography project of the semester was Word. We were to illustrate the word (s) and their meanings, using the typeface Futura and the Grayscale. Since it would really be too time-consuming to post my four originals and my four finals, I'll just put up the finals (but if you want a refresher, go back to the Word project postings).

One.

Two.Three.
Four.

Type 1 Finals: Grid

2010-05-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

Our third Typography project of the semester was Grid. I'm sure you remember it well, but just to joggle your memory:

This is my final for the project, and I don't think I'll change it. True, it is not very inspiring, but I like it. It's quiet, simple, and easy to read. I think it communicates the french language well, and also the elegance of old-world America. I'm keeping it.

Type 1 Finals: Hierarchy

2010-05-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

For this, I really wanted to play. The urge to be completely crazy has been building in me all semester, and since all requirements were now pretty much null and void, I ran with the feeling.

I'm sure you remember my Palatino Poster Project:

It fulfilled the requirements, it was true to the era in which the typeface was created, it was pretty and detailed.

Revision:

I like this better. Possibly just because of the color. I am a big fan of color now.

The Poster Post, part 2

2010-04-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last time, I showed three renditions (don't think about that first one, it doesn't count) of a Palatino typeface poster.

It was decided that the first

and second

should get together and have at least one baby. This is the semi-finished product of those two:

This is one of many renditions of this poster. The other variations use red as an accent color, and had ampersands in the little corner letters. After our critique, my new adjustments will include kerning, leading, sizing and orientation. Wish me luck!

Put on a Show and Tell All

2010-04-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

I believe that I want this very much:

Found at http://www.typographyserved.com/Gallery/txtBOMBER/406136

It's a cross between a musical instrument and a printer. Handmade becomes mechanical. And the type that it produces is not disgusting (though far from attractive).

The Poster Post, part 1

2010-04-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

To facilitate our learning of hierarchy, we have been assigned Poster Projects: we choose a typeface from a list, research that typeface and its designer, give a presentation of that typeface and designer, trade off typefaces with our classmates, and eventually create posters about that typeface. The requirements of the poster are that it be 11x17 inches (some of mine are actually 17x11 inches, but I think it's okay), and include

1. The name of the typeface

2. The name of the designer of the typeface

3. The year that the typeface was created

5. An explanation of the typeface

6. An example of the typeface

I started out thinking about this project as a page in a book, not a poster, and my initial designs were very much like those I showed for the Grid project: small type, spare color, nothing to tire the eye (because if you're looking at it, I already have your attention).

I was having some trouble creating layouts and ideas, until I overheard my teacher telling one of my classmates, "do something you would never, ever do. Make something totally crazy."

So...Even though that advice was meant for somebody else, I took it. And I made something totally crazy:

I spent a lot of time on the illustrations of this first piece. Really, I shouldn't have. I dislike the colors, the angles were difficult (and most of them are wrong), and the design doesn't really make sense (I was trying to illustrate the time that the typeface came out - between the Babyboomer and the young "computer" ages). But it fulfilled one requirement: it was totally crazy for me.

That wasn't the right idea, but uselessly expending a lot of energy over something is oddly freeing. The next are better (slightly):

(I really don't want those yellow-orange circles to be filled, but I think it's kind of required. Which is a bummer.)

1. I'm really sorry the little red +'s are still there, I couldn't figure out how to turn them off.

2. Yes, I really like that face. I worked hard on that face. It's a good space-filler. It's a sweet little touch that doesn't draw too much attention away from the typeface. It brings Hermann Zapf closer to you. Say yes.

3. OH MY GOODNESS I love color so much. It makes designing so much easier for me! Empty space? Fill with color. Repetitive/tedious design? Try some color. Feeling bland and uncommunicative? Color. It is awesome. And I am just now realizing it's full potential. I think it could really catch on.

Put on a Show and Tell All

2010-04-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

My show and tell piece this week comes from the designer Kevin Duff:

Found at: www.kevinduff.co.uk/ play_01.html

I really like the playful childishness of this typeface. It's fun, clean, and modern, but feels familiar (perhaps because of all those targets). The crossbar in the 'e', the 'f', and even the 't', are reminiscent of the Power button on [most] electronic devices. It's used so much, it kind of makes me curious about the uppercase letters. Would the 'G' have that same crossbar? Would the 'F'? Or would the designer do something completely different?

Also - love the tension between the 'i' and the 'j'. The two letters competing for the same dot gives it an added psychological layer of playful childishness.

Put on a Show and Tell All

2010-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Found at poppypetunia.blogspot.com/ 2008_12_01_archive.html

The concept of illustrating an image with the type is such a wonderful idea, and it's carried out so nicely here! I love the composition of it, the single knife opposite the 6 onion forms (which are actually all from one really big onion, but the layers have been peeled back from it to make 6 shapes). The onion seems like such a maligned little root, it's good to see a carefully designed piece just about the onion!

And maybe it's just because my "pop culture" onion-related exposure is so limited, but this piece makes me think of Calvin's mom, in the comic strip 'Calvin and Hobbes', as she "anthropomorphizes her vegetables".

Put on a Final Show and Tell All

2010-04-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

My final Show and Tell for the school year is in two parts, because I adore both and because the second part has some language in it that would not be suitable for the delicate ears of most Graphic Designers. Or my mother.

The First:

Found at http://lutu.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/typography_is_wallpaper_1024.jpg

I like this example because 1. It's red (and I like red), and 2. I know that it is an incorrect statement. Typography is so much more than numbers and symbols. Typography is history, and science, and art. It is kerning, spacing, leading, placement, anatomy, color, size, proportion, ratio, organization, integration, and, of course, numbers and symbols.

The Second:

"What Does Marcellus Wallace Look Like?" from the movie 'Pulp Fiction'.

You've probably seen this before, or at least something like it, but it is new to me. And I love it. It's constantly moving, changing, and evolving. In the first half, the typeface is the same, but the weight and color are different enough from each other that they seem different. I watched this without sound, and the emotion was still conveyed to me through the letters.

That is just cool.

...And that is also my last post until next semester. I will miss working on CS3 in the Design Lab on 3rd Pressely, but I shall console myself with a summer full of North Carolina Humidity, trashy romance novellas cleverly disguised as Historical Fiction, and Very Cold poolside beverages. I wish you the same!

Until next year,

Laura

Gill Sans Presentation

2010-03-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

1. Eric Gill’s bio

He was named a Royal Designer for Industry, the highest British award for designers, and was a founder-member of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry.

He designed the typefaces: Golden Cockerel Roman, Solus, Joanna, Aries, Gill Floriated Capitals, Bunyan, Pilgrim, Jubilee, Felicity, and, of course, Gill Sans.

February 22, 1882—born in Brighton, Sussex, England.

1900—moves to London to train as an architect for W.D. Carrow, a firm that specialized in ecclesiastical architecture. He leaves soon afterward, to study with Edward Johnston at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.

1904—marries Ethel Hester Moore.

1913-1918—creates 14 bas-reliefs in Limestone of the Stations of the Cross, for Westminster Cathedral in London. He used himself as a model several times, as well as his wife (who was the model for Mary).

1914—meets Stanley Morrison, a scholar and typographer. He was appointed as Typographical Advisor to the Cambridge University Press from 1923-1959, and to the Monotype Corporation from 1922-1954. He also edited The Times Literary Supplement from 1945-1947.

1924—creates Perpetua. It is based on classic roman lettering of the Trajan column, and is the serif-ed companion typeface to Gill Sans.

1928—Is commissioned by Stanley Morisson to create Gill sans. It is based upon lettering that Edward Johnston did for the London Underground in 1916.

1930—creates the font ‘Joanna’, named after his daughter. (Joanna has rounded bowls and counters, thin serifs, and the Italic letters are full of Roman forms. It looks kind of like Futura became illicitly intimate with Bodoni.)

1931—he uses Joanna as the primary text type for his book ‘An Essay on Typography’, which combines his views on Typography with his views of industrialism and morality, and is noted for the ‘quirkyness of its typesetting’.

1932—designs and creates the sculpture ‘Prospero and Ariel’ for the BBC Broadcasting house, London.

1937—designs the background for the first King George IV stamp

1938—creates ‘The creation of Adam’, a series of three bas-reliefs for the Palace of Nations in the Legue of Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Gill Sans, timeline

1916—A version is used by his teacher, Edward Johnson, for the London Underground.

1926—He first uses it in public for a bookshop window, his publisher’s, Douglass Cleverdon

1928—Stanley Morrison commissions Eric Gill to create a full typeface of Gill Sans, to battle the Germans: Erbar, Kabel and Futura.

1929—Gill sans gains popularity when Eric Gill is commissioned to use it for the London-North Eastern Railway.

2. The Times that influenced: Eric Gill wasn’t really part of a specific movement, but during the late 1800s-early 1900s, there was a definite resurgence of clean, simpler, more streamlined typefaces. There was also a revival of hand-done letterforms at the same time, which seems rather contradictory—While it is certainly possible to create a ‘clean’ hand-done typeface, the hand necessarily creates unique and individual variation, not always associated with streamlined shapes.

3. His influences/information on his influences—His teacher and mentor, Edward Johnston, who designed a font similar to Gill Sans to paint signage in the London Underground, and in ‘A typographic workbook’ is described as being “a central figure in the English revival of calligraphy and hand crafted lettering.” (Claire, 91).

The lowercase letters are based on calligraphic lettering, or ‘Carolingian script;’ the uppercase forms are modeled after the writing found on the Column of Trajan, and other classical Roman monuments. Since he was trained as an architect, and spent much of his time working with stone, the ancient Roman forms make a lot of sense!

5. recognizable individual style—All of his typefaces are based on a combination of ancient Roman letterforms and calligraphy, and are pretty similar to Gill Sans in some way: In Gill sans, Perpetua, Jubilee and Joanna, the stem and crossbar of the lowercase ‘t’ always forms a complete, connected angle; the top bowl of the ‘2’s are very large in relation to the bottom crossbar/leg/thing, and the rounded edge starts relatively high in the stroke; the tails of the uppercase Q’s don’t enter into the counter at all. In a family of typefaces, it was considered usual to design each branch of the family with a different name—for instance, Felicity is the Italic companion to Perpetua, Perpetua is the serif companion to Gill Sans, etc.

6. Quotes— “Letters are things, not pictures of things.”
“The Artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist.”
“The truth is that a thing fit to its purpose is necessarily pleasant to use and also beautiful.”

7. Personal analysis—I have to confess, I am not a huge fan of san-serif typefaces, because they usually seem so distant and cool to me. But I really like Gill Sans, because it’s so individual and unique; it’s not quite as round as Futura, not quite as narrow as Franklin Gothic, and it still retains a lot of calligraphic elements—the tail of the lowercase ‘a’ and the leg of the uppercase ‘R’, the round bowls and sharp edges (seen in the lowercase ‘b’ and ‘q’, and uppercase ‘G’), and the way the point of the lowercase ‘k’ doesn’t quite touch the stem, but still reads as a ‘k’. I think this would be a great typeface to choose for most san serif needs!

5 reasons to love Gill Sans:

Classic Serif typefaces might seem more old-world at first glance, but this typeface has been popular since the 1930s. The Uppercase letters are modeled on ancient Roman letters, the lowercase on calligraphic lettering or ‘Carolingian script’.

Popular It was Monotypes 5^th Best-selling font of the 20^th century. It is used in the BBC logo (pic), the London North-East Railway logo (pic), Philips electronics, QVC, Her Majesty’s Government, Saab automobiles, the Cunrad Line (ships), the Otis College of Art and Design (in LA), The Seven Network in Australia, Penguin book jackets (1935), etc. Gill Sans is to England what Helvetica is to America.

Great legibility, even as small type! Gill sans has a smaller x-height than those of Helvetica, Frutiger or Futura, but it still retains its legibility at small sizes, because it’s based on Roman letterforms, not geometric shapes. Designed to act as a display font and as a text font.

A large type family to choose from. Gill sans was originally designed to have 14 different styles. The ones that we have in our Font Library include Light, Light Italic, Roman, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, and display weights.

Versatile It works well with some other fonts that we’ve been asked to use for this project, as well as a lot of our Type 1 fonts.

8. list of sources—

Bear, Jacci Howard. “Eric Gill.” About.com. March 24, 2010. <http://desktoppub.about.com/od/typedesigners/p/eric_gill.htm >

Boulton, Mark. Home page. December 16, 2005. 24 March, 2010. <http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/typeface-of-the-month-gill-sans>.

Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. 2^nd ed. Hartley & Marks, 1992, 1996, 2001.

Claire, Kate. A Typographic Workbook. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1999.

Meggs, Philip and Rob Carter. Typographic Specimens: The Great Typefaces. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1993.

“ Morrison Room Papers”. Archives Hub. 27 March 2010. <http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/0512morison.html>.

The Fall 2000: Typography 1 project website. Typography 1. Class Project Website. Fall 2000. 26 March 2010 < http://msp.sfsu.edu/instructors/rsellers/fall_2000/f13a.html>.

ThinkExist.com. March 27, 2010.
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/to-rebuild-the-labor-movement/597537.htmlSteiner, Robert.

TrendSetting Design. “Inspiration: Eric Gill”. April 3, 2009. March 27, 2010. <http://www.trendsettingdesign.com/2009/04/inspiration-eric-gill/>

For additional images, visit the Peace College Library's link to CAMIO.

Put on a Show and Tell All, number I've Stopped Counting I

2010-03-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

Found at http://tech.clik.gr/index.php?more=16&seen=16

I love how the illustration of the type is so rich and bold, while the other images are so faint and delicate by comparison! The vines and swirls look beautiful on their own, and add meaning to the text but don't obscure it (though they do kind of make it difficult to read). The stark black-and-white of the text makes it pop more, but the organic vines and swirls help to integrate it with the background.

This reminds me of something that Ms. Parker said in my first semester - "As a designer, you just have to raise the question, not answer it." The above is really a statement, but it raises questions, and doesn't answer a single one.

The Pen Project is Mightier Than the Sword, part 2

2010-03-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here we are again, with our friendly pen tool. But today, we learned to do something else with it: How to make our images appear more than 2-d, cartoonish representations.

Here is my finished work (but since it took me a long time and I am kind of ridiculously proud of the finished product, you will see my Creative Process! Lucky you!)

First, the image to trace:

I just pulled a random pretty picture off the internet. Flowers + yellow = awesome. This is a universal truth.

Then, I decreased the opacity and traced over it, using a brush effect on the pen tool. Mostly 3-wide 1-pt, but some 5-wide .25 point and a bit of 1-pt round oval:

After the "big picture" stuff, I changed layers and did some detailing:

And then, changed layers again and went for color. (I'd like to point out that I love color, but I'm just a little nervous about using it. Just so you know.)

Guess what I did after the color? CHANGED LAYERS. I realize that I might be a little too layer-happy in Illustrator, but whatever. They keep my work organized and clean. I like them.

So, after I changed layers again, I added some color detail:

And then created a new layer, took out the photograph behind it, and added a background color:

And it was DONE!!

Personally, I think it looks better without color:

But that's just me.

The Pen Project is Mightier Than the Sword

2010-03-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we (the class) were introduced to Adobe Illustrator. Just so that we would become familiar with it, we were assigned to the Pen Project: pick an animal, use the pen tool to illustrate it.

After choosing and discarding giraffes in various poses, I settled on:

A chicken. A rooster, actually. And no, this isn't because I actually like chickens or roosters (MUM), but just because a giraffe's spots are very time-consuming.

From a distance, it actually looks like I did a good (if very cartoon-y) job.

Once I figured it out, I discovered that I am very much enamored of the pen tool. It allows you to create smooth curves, sharp edges, weird little ampersand-like shapes, and pretty much whatever else your heart desires. The one thing I don't like about it (and this is probably because I haven't figured it out properly yet) is that after a while, it starts anticipating your preferences - straight line, curved line, swirly line - and you have to hit save and select the pen tool again and click the last anchor and go on from there. But overall, I like.

Not-so-strange cravings

2010-03-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have been craving warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies lately. Melting chocolate, oozing out of the crisp, slightly burned shell of every chocolate chip. Warm, supple cookie dough, rescued from the oven just before it becomes crumbly.
The texture. The scent. The hue. The very idea. Even...the sound.

Then I realized that I didn't actually want to eat a chocolate chip cookie, just look at one:

Found on postpwned.deviantart.com/

Now, maybe it is a little too soon after St. Patrick's day to haul out the orange, but I'll chance it just this once. I love this idea, taking something so mundane as a recipe for chocolate chip cookies and making it so lovely! I'm a sucker for paisleys and organically flowing lines and swirls, and this design has those in abundance. I feel like the colors help the design, even though one does not readily asociate yellow and orange with chocolate chip cookies. I like how the letters and numbers are arranged, we see them so often that an individual letter facing the wrong way isn't a handicap to the viewer. My favorite bit is right above the title, where 'preheat the oven to 350' is nestled against 'Chocolate', it takes the visual communication of 'Chocolate Chip Cookies' and makes it more verbal.

My one problem with this design - and if you haven't spotted it, check the picture again, I'm sure it will pop out at you - is the 'C' of 'Chip'. It's not there. It's gone. It's distracting and disrupts the visual flow of a lovely piece.

I want a piece with COLOR.

2010-03-10T12:40:00.000-08:00

This was my final solution for our Grid/booklet project:

Cover

Inside

If you remember this from my last group of designs, there's a reason for that: This is one of them. Except with color. And a different font. And a completely different cover. And a pull quote.

But that is the extent of the changes.

Enjoy!

Put on a Show and Tell All, part 6

2010-03-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

While on my weekly lookout for interesting Typographical works, I found this:

http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Periodic-Table-of-Typefaces/193759 by Cam

I love that this is so organized and easy to understand, yet pleasing to the eye and just FUN. Its play off of the Periodic Table of Elements is clever and the design itself is useful, even if it's just being used as a talking point.

A Found Design

2010-03-04T10:33:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do blog postings unless they are assigned, but I had to share this one with you:

Found at http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/03/04/opinion/04oped_ready.html, by Kelly Blair.

I really like the symbolism, it looks so confusing until you actually start to pay attention to it! Anyone who's heard of the Oscars knows that there is an award for Best Actor and one for Best Actress. Recently, there has been controversy about whether distinctions between the two sexes are necessary, and this design is an illustration of those contradicting opinions. The hand-done 'Or' both finishes the word 'Actor' and makes the two statues into a question: Men or women? The hand-done skirt and bow tie also help to soften the crisp, stark white statues and text, and transform this design from a ubiquitous image to an intriguing and communicative message.

Pages of Projects, the Critique Day

2010-03-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

Our next Type project is a larger paragraph work, kind of like our paragraph project. We are to copy a supplied body of text to an InDesign document, and use a grid system to create an interesting pamphlet, to be presented in English and one other language (French or Spanish).

This is the cover of the design that my group of critiquers thought was most successful:

It opens like a wide greeting card (which you have probably already guessed), and is apparently an original, unique-is way of presenting this project, which is always a nice surprise.

Here is the inside (it was oriented the same way as it's cover, but I flipped it just for you):

This is the cover of my English/French design (originally it had the english beside it, but I had to flip the english to get it to print correctly):

And the inside that goes with it:
Cover 3, this one English and Spanish:
And it's insides:

We have been encouraged to use color, but I have a hard time pulling myself away from black and white. In the final, perhaps I'll give you a bit of color and some new shapes and fonts to play with!

Put on a Show and Tell All, part 5

2010-02-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

A recent troll through the internet (on a non-related Academic Project) led me to the website www.behance.net, where I found an AMAZING designer, Stephen Chinof:

That's a beautiful illustration. The type itself is such a perfect eggshell brown, the eggs look so realistic that I almost don't mind the fact that the egg at the bottom seems to be all yolk. There aren't any other breakfast-y foods here, but I think that he pulls it off well with just the eggs.

And:

I can't wait to be this good. I really like how it's farther back, kind of falling down, it looks like a real spill, not like you just threw coffee at someone you don't like. I love the little handle on the 'C'! It's so cute, and I think it helps the viewer to visualize 'cup' better.

My favorite part about these designs is that while they're kind of 'thickly' illustrated - it's really slathered on there - the text is still clearly readable. And it's 3-D Helvetica! Everyone needs more 3-D Helvetica in their lives.
All the depth gives such a nice spacial feeling, even with the black "white space", the design doesn't feel claustrophobic.

There are a lot more designs like these in/on his corner of Behance Network, http://www.behance.net/chin2off.

Another Word on Type.

2010-02-24T08:26:00.000-08:00

This is another short project that started as in-class, and morphed to not-in-class soon after that.

Our goal was to create an interesting design, using a paragraph arranged in a grid. We could play with different fonts, font families, and sizes.

Here's Futura:

Garamond:

Franklin Gothic:

and Bodoni:

Put on a show and tell all

2010-02-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

I love words that make up things. Whether they're describing something visually or just being molded like clay into whatever the artist wants, it's beautiful.

And sometimes, a little freaky.

Found at http://fortheloveoftype.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-05-20T05%3A51%3A00%2B10%3A00&max-results=100

Colors aren't even required to make the design communicate, its size and detail pack a big enough punch that color would be distracting.

And I love that this communicates such a widely felt phenomenon, but doesn't look like a 'social justice' outcry at first glance. Just pretty.

An Exercise in Expression

2010-02-17T14:01:00.000-08:00

Today in Typography we had a lovely little in-class exercise on the expression that can be communicated by placing text differently in a paragraph:

Fortunately for you, I have an urgent appointment that I am anxious to miss, so I must dash and leave you without having said much at all. Pity.

They're only words.

2010-02-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

For this Typography project, we were given a list of single words and a list of word pairs, and instructed to choose two from each list and illustrate the word. With nothing but the word.
And only in Futura (the typeface).
No distortion of the letter itself (no stretching, skewing, or adding drop shadows).
You can repeat any letters in the word.
You can vary the size, scale, chroma and direction/orientation of the letters.
You can vary the stroke and fill of the letters.
You can vary the shading inside the letters themselves.
You can do an awful lot, actually.
This was my first word pairing:

No, I didn't accidentally chop off the 'L'--I meant it to be just like it is. I wanted to illustrate the idea that global is so humungous, so thick and tall and deep and long, that it hasn't got enough space on the paper. As my page was 6X6, this wasn't a hard illusion to pull off. By contrast, local is so tiny, barely even there, just a dot of almost nothing. I relate this to food: the global food market is so easy to access, just go into your supermarket and pick up oranges from Florida, tomatoes from California, chocolate from Belgium, coffee from Brazil, cheese from France, and all kinds of "unparrishable goods" from China. In contrast to that, you have to search high and low for food that is grown or raised locally.

My second word pairing:

'fast' is always dashing around, late for a meeting here, jittery on coffee there, always late for everything because the day before is never soon enough. Slow is just...Slooooww. As in molasas. Picture Marilyn Monroe singing 'Lazy' in 'There's No Business Like Show Business'. Sanguine. Supine. Languish.

But don't dwell on that, or you'll fall asleep. To enliven you (somewhat), here is Single Word One:

I loved making the shadow on this word. It wasn't exactly the easiest out of the bunch (you wouldn't belive how much trouble that 'p' gave me), but it's effective and doesn't look to flat. I think that the letters seem to be enlarging, not coming foreward.

And my last:
This was perhaps the easiest that I did. I kept thinking of that scene in 'A New Hope' when Han, Luke, Chewy and Lea are about to be crushed in a garbage compacter on the detention level of the Death Star. I tend to anthropomorphise inanimate objects, and I feel that lowercase letters must feel so maligned and discouraged, as they are always second to capitals. That is why my lowercase letters are so large and powerful in relation to my uppercase letters. Yes, that is slightly odd, but it's also my creative process.

Put on a Show and Tell All, part 4

2010-02-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

Recently, we have been working with Helvetica a lot in Typography. And it has therefore come to my attention that, although a san-serif, Helvetica is lovely in it's ability to communicate absolutly NO FEELING whatsoever. And therefore, is perfect to communicate all feeling:

Found at http://www.slate.com/id/2166887/

But for the life of me, I could not tell you why Helvetica became so popular - Target and Gap, every single sign on the New York subway system, and even the American Airlines airplanes use it - and other sans-serif fonts were left in the dust.
Helvetica is clear and readable, but so are other fonts. It's lines and curves are very distinct, but so are those of other fonts. It feels disconnected, aloof, and rather cold, but so do other fonts!

The only conclusion that I can draw from all this is that, as the great Kerry Roper observed, "Helvetica is Wank."

And the finish!

2010-02-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you remember my Project Process Posting of last week (if you don't, scroll down).
This was the most important piece: the letter group that was 1. legible, 2. understandable (as an L and a j), 3. fun to make, and 4. earned the most popular approval. From that, I made several different renditions, played with my "white space", experimented with different pens and markers, and presented the finished piece:

Now, to be fair, I need to work with the 'L' a little more, and round the dot of that 'j'. But overall, it's pretty okay.

Put on a Show & Tell All, round three.

2010-02-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

At first, I couldn't tell that there were white letters under the red. After that, I couldn't tell whether or not the white letters were actually saying something different from the red ones. And once I understood that the white was different from the red, I couldn't understand what it was saying.
So if it takes you a minute too, don't feel bad.

Found at http://hunch.se/stuff/good-and-bad-typography-is.jpg

I liked the contrast between the letters, the glaring red against the white, the red sans-serif versus the white serif, and the way that the design is visually discriptive.

Well, that's sketchy.

2010-02-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

The second project that we have in Typography is to make a logo-esque design using the initials of our respective names. The font choices were Garamond, Bodoni, Baskerville, Helvetica, Futura, and Franklin Gothic. Each letter was sized to have an x-height of 3". And they're all sketches, naturally. I would never turn in such sloppy work for a final, you know.

Now, perhaps it's that streak of Classism in me, perhaps it's just that I prefer print to digital presentation, but I love serifs. I adore the individuality that the serif of each font presents. I adore the weight and permanence that it brings to a letter. I adore the flow and grace that it gives a stroke. It is an extension of a letter, and always reminds me of a ballet dancer's fingertips, just hanging there, all long and elegant and such. I know it's kind of a stretch, but bend your mind with me and you'll see what I mean.
But back to the project at hand.
Here is one attempt in Garamond. My initials are LJM, and (hopefully) you can identify them all here. This was my favorite to make, because even though all the serifs looked EXACTLY the same, they were different. Some had variations of up to 1/4 of an inch. It took me a bit to size them all up correctly, and when I did it I was So Happy.
But though the overall shape was lovely, it was decided that since readability was such a problem (you can't really see the L unless you already know it's there), this was an unsuccessful design. I tried a few variations of it, but the L still does not translate very well.

Here's another try, also Garamond:

One initial dangling from the others was a popular design, and I like the concept. But for my initials, it just looks too elongated. The 'm' looks a little to balanced, and the 'L' and 'J' are very long for this purpose.

Number three (another Garamond):

This is merely to illustrate for you the concept of a jumble. You may not repeat this design. To anyone. Ever. Unless you really don't like them or aren't being paid for your work.

Four was pretty well-received, which kind of surprised me:

Apparently, the 'l' and 'j's play within the 'm' was nice, and though their serifs needed a little more connection with the 'm', it was considered to be pretty and fun. I didn't like it very much, but I MADE it! That is the important bit!

And now, we get into my favorite bit: Bodoni. One rainy morning, alone in the computer lab, I realized that I was doing exactly the same thing in all my designs. I told myself that I should probably get some sleep and try for some originality in the morning, but I was bored, had nothing else to do, and wanted to work off the caffeinated tea that I had just drunk. So I got started on a new font:

I love serif fonts, and I especially love Bodoni. I think that I engaged in an illicit love affair with Bodoni at an ungodly time in the morning. The strong verticals, the slim-but-solid serifs, the elegant, decadent curves...It's very art deco, and I like that.

That said, too much of a good thing can be not good. Meaning capital letters. So one had to change to lowercase:

Only with a line on the 'L' and serif attached to the end, of course.

I went through a few different renditions, with varying degrees of success:

And then, the latest model (which of course, would still require some finessing):

Namely, a clean-up and a few hefty doses of Proximity (with the little dot over the 'j') and a little line of black between the 'L' and 'j', up at the top there.

Then, to the mount board and I'm all set!

Put on a Show and Tell All, two.

2010-01-30T08:51:00.000-08:00

Whilst I was tripping along the Internet, I came upon a great website called ilovetypography.com (probably old news to most of you). And since my hunger for pretty things could not be satiated by the current postings, I decided to take a stroll through the archives and see what was to be seen:

Found at ilovetypography.com, by Sarah King

Graphically speaking, Format to taste.

2010-01-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, Emily and I gave what we laughingly refer to as 'a presentation'. Since I am horrendous when it comes to speaking in public, and since it is required by the syllabus, I have posted our findings and rescources here for your pleasure.

First, create a new indesign document, either by hitting command + N, or going to file>new>Document. Now you have a clean new digital page!

Next, import a graphic by going to File>Place and select your graphic. You can also drag it into your document from the desktop, either into a frame or straight onto your page.

Now, to the Links Panel! All files put into your InDesign document will show up on your links panel (unless they happen to be Internet Explorer documents). To get to the links panel, go to Window (up at the top>Links, or go to the bar at the far right side of your screen, and click the fourth button down in the first section, the one that says ‘links’. Easy, right? If these files are up-to-date, all you’ll see on next to it on the links panel will be a little fountain-tip pen if it’s selected, and its page number in InDesign. If it’s been modified, then a little yellow triangle with an exclamation point will appear next to it. If the file is missing altogether, a red octagon with a question mark will appear. If your file is embedded, then the management options for that file will be suspended, you won’t be able to work with it anymore. An embedded file will stay right there no matter what, it becomes part of the document instead of a low-res preview of the file that travels with the document.
To embed a file, select the graphic, go to your links panel>fly out menu>embed. A little icon will appear with the file name and page number, it looks like a box with a smaller square and a triangle inside it. Don’t embed too many files, especially if you’re working with a large document, because it will make that document get Really Big Really Fast, and that will make editing a long, painfully slow process. If you want to link a file instead, then go to your links panel, and click the re-link button at the bottom, the little chain links.

But getting back to my graphic…If you want to resize a graphic, fit a graphic to your frame, fit a frame to your graphic, fit graphics with frames proportionately, or center your graphic in it's frame, then you’ll use your frame options. You get there by going to object>Fitting>frame fitting, and you’ll get a fly-out menu with all those options that I’ve just mentioned. Fitting graphics to your frame is just re-sizing them to fit the frame. Fitting a frame to your graphic is re-sizing the frame to fit your graphic. If you want to make your graphic larger or smaller, but don’t want to stretch it out, then fit your graphic to your frame or your frame to your graphic proportionately. If you want the graphic to be centered in your frame, then center the graphic. This one could be useful if, say, you’re laying out a magazine article and want a picture in the middle of the second column, but your picture is too long/wide to fit correctly. Draw your frame, put your graphic there, and center it.

To work with Transparency (which should really be called Translucency, but don’t mind me)—go to Window>Effects, or go to the Effects panel (in the same place that your Links Panel can be found, on the far right side of your screen. This one is the first button in the third section). You’ll see a list of the different aspects of the graphic that you’ve selected: The Stroke, Fill and overall Object. There’s a little bar in the top right corner labeled Opacity. Depending on what aspect of your graphic is selected, you can change the Opacity of your stroke, fill, or entire graphic. With the bar to the left of Opacity, you can control other variations. For example, the Multiply selection will darken the area behind a graphic.

Clipping paths remove unwanted background from your graphic, like cutting out the focus point of your graphic with a scissors and laying it down on your page. You can use Photoshop for this kind of thing, but it’s a feature that InDesign CS3 has as well. Go to Object>Clipping Path>Options. A dialogue box will come up, and you can select the type of clipping path that you want to use and fiddle with the threshold and tolerance to remove precisely what you want.

Colorizing images is another thing that is usually done in Photoshop. To do it in InDesign, first make sure that your graphic is saved as a TIF, BMP or JPG as grayscale. Select the image using your direct selection tool (I don’t have to tell you which one that is, now do I?) and then select a color from your Swatches menu (on the far right side of your screen, second tab of the second section).

Now to Layers. Layers are a good thing—a really good thing—to know about, especially when working with a document that contains text and image. Layers keep your document organized within the page. A layer is like a film that lies over your page, holding graphics or text. The Layers tab is on the far right side, third from the top in the first section, just above the links tab. Click that, and a little window will pop up, with one layer on it—that’s the layer that you’re working on now. A list of your layers will appear as you create new layers. To make a new layer, click on the little square at the bottom of the page, the one that looks like a page being flipped. Click on that to create a new tab. To turn a layer off or hide it, click the little eye icon beside that layer, and click that square again to turn it on. To lock it, click on the blank square beside that layer, and a little padlock icon will appear there. To move a locked or hidden layer, then hold down Control while you drag that layer to a different position on the list.

And so we go over to Selecting objects—which probably should have come at the beginning, because you can’t manipulate objects without selecting them first. But common sense aside, here we are at selecting objects. There are two selection tools. The first is just a selection tool, and it’s a little black arrow, at the very top of the toolbar at the far left of your screen. With that arrow, you can grab your graphic and move it all around your screen. The second is called the direct selection tool, and it’s a little white arrow located directly below the black one. With this arrow, you can move your object around within the frame.

From there, we go over to basic strokes and fills, which are on the Swatches menu (guess where the Swatches menu is). Click on that tab, it will open the strokes menu and let you control your strokes and fills: Stroke is the border that goes around your image. Fill fills your image with color. For more advanced strokes, click on the tab labeled Strokes, right beside Swatches. You’ll be able to control the style and type of your stroke, as well as the direction that you want it to grow—inward, outward, or half and half.

And now, the wonderful world of drop shadows! On the Control panel at the top of your screen, in about the middle, there’s a tiny box with a drop shadow behind it. That’s fine to use, but you won’t have any control over the drop shadow that this button creates. To make a drop shadow that you can control, click on either the Effects Menu button (labeled FX, just to the right of the drop shadow button) or go to Object>Effects Menu>Drop shadow. You can apply a drop shadow to the entire shape of your graphic, or to only the fill, stroke, or text. When the preview box in the bottom left corner of that window is checked, you can see your edits as you go.

If you don’t want a drop shadow, but you do want your sharp, clean edges to look softer, then use Feathering. Go to Effects Menu>Basic Feather. The Basic Feather will make every edge appear softer, but there’s also a Directional Feather and a Gradient Feather. Directional Feather lets you soften each edge individually. Gradient Feather lets you soften the entire image as a whole, not just the edges.You can increase the feather width, that will decrease the size of your object, and you can add ‘Noise’, which is basically a softener to your softener—it just makes the Feather look a little more natural. Always pay careful attention to the other settings as well. For instance, the ‘Shape’ Feather will feather out any prominent or ‘Leading’ edges when selected.
The Eyedropper tool lets you take an applied effect from one object and copy it onto another object. Select the object that you want to apply effects to, click on the eyedropper on the far left toolbar, then click on the object whose special effects you want to copy.

To find objects (graphics or text) go to Edit>find/change>Object, then click either the Find Object Format box, or the Specify Attributes to Find icon (a little box with a magnifying glass on it). On the left side of the Find Object Format Options dialogue box, select a type of formatting and the format attributes, and click OK. This will now search your entire document for any objects that have those particular format attributes, i.e. drop shadows. If you want to apply a new format to the object that you just found, go back to Edit>find/change>Object, and click either the Change Object Format box or the Specify Attributes to Change icon (still a little box with a magnifying glass). Select a type of formatting, formatting attributes, and click OK.

Some Miscellaneous Bits and Pieces:
Other Effects (all can be found under Object>Effects):
Inner Shadow—adds a shadow just inside the edges of your object, making it appear to be farther back.
Outer Glow—adds a glow/darkness to the outside edges of your object.
Inner Glow—adds a glow/lightness to the inside edges of your object. While this is lovely in InDesign, you might want to get a pregnancy test if you’re experiencing this on a more physical level.
Bevel and Emboss—adds inner shadows and highlights to your object to give it a 3-d look.
Satin—adds a bit of shading to your object, makes it look like satin.
Global Shadow—any object that you add a drop shadow to will have the exact same drop shadow, so you don’t have to do it all the time!

The Edit Original Command: Go to Links (far left, first section, fourth tab), select the link (object) and either click the Edit Original button at the bottom (a little pencil, drawing a line). Select your graphic on the page, then go to Edit>Edit Original. Or, just bypass all of that and hit option + double click your graphic. This lets you open most graphics with the application in which you created them. Once the original is saved, then the InDesign document to which you linked it will update.

To Copy/Paste from Illustrator to InDesign, select your Illustrator image, copy that by going to Edit>copy or Command + C, open your InDesign document, and paste it in by going to Edit>paste or Command + V. Now all that you need to do is select it with the white direct selection tool/arrow, and it’s in InDesign.

Resources: Adobe InDesign; Livedocs.adobe.com; Lynda.com via Youtube and 5min.com; communitymx.com.

File>Save as>Document type>24-bitmap.

2010-01-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

No, I don't have time for a witty and entertaining editorial. Pretend there's one here anyway, and then look at the nice bitmap font that I've just created! I know you'll love it.

Put on a Show and Tell all

2010-01-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

(Found on www.graphicmania.net)

Are you wondering what this is all about? Well, if you happen to be where I am at the time that I am there, I will most definately tell you.

A Change of Scene

2010-01-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

In today's Type 1 lesson, we were informed as to the many bits of anatomy in any one typed letter of the alphabet (we didn't get to numbers, but I'm sure that the same rules apply): the eye, the counter, the mean line, the loop, the bowl, the shoulder, the stem, the spine, the x-height, the ascender, the descender, the serif, and the san serif, among others.

Well, one thing led to another, and I have discovered that a san serif letter is easier for online reading than a letter with a serif.
And so, I am trying a san serif typeface for my blog. You may now read all postings with ease, as I will no longer be using the lovely, old-world-y serif fonts here...That is, until I decide that I really prefer beauty to legibility, and switch back.

Just to let you know.

Imagine All the People

2010-01-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

I have returned! Just as I said I would.

Cast your mind back to my previous post. If you recall, the Type 1 class was exploring the characteristics peculiar to certain letters. And playing with them. A lot.

Figures. After class ends, I'm on a roll.

Guess Who's Coming Back, Not Necessarily to Dinner!

2010-01-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

Hello dedicated and darling following! Did you miss me over the long freedom of Winter Break?

Well, here we are again. Together at last.

In the very first Type 1 class of the semester, we were directed to the website www.typeisart.com, where we explored the Anatomy of a Letter:

Although my first offering is rather uninspiring, rest assured that more shall follow.

The Dirt On Design, Part I

2009-12-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

For this, the last design project of the semester, we were required to explore "Dirty Designs"--basically, sophisticated non-scattershot collages (Scattershot being when there are a handful of random images, united only by one common factor.

The Guidelines, please:

1. You will be making two designs.

2. You will be exploring Type in these designs. The language used will be a quote (one for each design). These quotes must be driven by Self-Identity.

3. One of your Dirty Designs will be on the subject of either Indecision or Introspection, the other on either Rebellion or Manifesto. You will also introduce an additional parameter that will be applied to both designs.

4. All images must come from magazines, newspapers, or other forms of print media. Tracing is encouraged. Although you will be allowed to take your own pictures later, please refrain from doing so now.

5. Some portion of these designs must be hand generated.

For my first dirty design, I chose the theme of Introspection.
I began to create by looking through my Enormous Pile of Magazines and cutting out any images that attracted me.
What first caught my attention was:

The page had a few bits on it that I didn't want, so I just cut the stairs out and drew around it to finish the form. But the stairs had to be going somewhere. And so I introduced this image:

I had a little issue with the coffee cup there, so I found a fashion model and borrowed her hand, just for this one picture:

And then traced the whole face and had it Xeroxed.
My stairs had never really fit the face in terms of size, but now there was the problem of color, too. So I had the stairs Xeroxed, shrunk down, and flipped, so that it flowed into the head.

Now, I just had to deal with the text. I decided on a quote from Buckminster Fuller: "I live on the earth at present, and I don't know who I am. I know that I am not a thing, a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process. An integral part of the universe."

At first, I made the language very overblown, and accented almost every word:

But after some prodding, I toned it down, and for the finished product, I put all of the smaller text on bits of paper the same color as my ground:

The Dirt on Design, Part II

2009-12-14T00:02:00.000-08:00

My second dirty design was on rebellion, and I actually didn't have an actual breakthrough on it until 1 AM of the day that my Idea for it was due: When sitting up in Pressley, cutting out pictures from a stack of magazines, I suddenly realized that all I was doing was getting pictures of cookies. This, I decided, was probably borne of hunger and drowsiness mixed with anxiety about my [so far] delinquent project. And would therefore never do. I sat up straighter, took a new grip upon my scissors, and flipped the page. And found a Clorox ad. But this was not just any Clorox ad. This was a lovely, messy, wonderful, fantastic Clorox ad. The kind of Clorox ad that can mean a girl's beauty rest on a cold, dark morning.

And from there, my Ideas just started flowing. I chose a quote by Barry Schwartz, "A wise person knows when to make the exception to every rule." The little mud girl took care of the exception, but now I needed a rule.

My first idea on that score was to layer some very made-up little girls over some stereotypically model-perfect adult females with tissue paper over them (to drive them back slightly):

But this just seemed too busy. Also, I couldn't find a nice translucent tissue to use, my vellum was WAY too heavy, my tracing paper wasn't much better. So I scrapped my model background, and just kept the little girls:

Well, this was better, but the little girls were just too much of a line. And my mud girl was much too small to compete with the group. There was a definite visual hierarchy, but it was the wrong one.

So to fix that:
(sorry that it's sideways, had a few uploading problems). Now I had two distinct groups that had apparently nothing to do with one another. And what in the world was I going to do with my text?

I ended up using a typeface that I had created/taken from a Behr Paints ad, that looked like fanciful typewriter font:

Okay, that's sorted.

Now...I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here, but...as my Design teacher, Carolyn Parker, pointed out, the group of girls does look quite 'truncated', as though they've just been chopped off, and the other half look like they're absentmindedly floating. Fortunately though, she had just the thing: the latest copy of the New York Times magazine, and the images included. Namely, those using a grid line as the cutoff point for other images. So I tried that:

And then had some visually hierarchical fun with the font:

And then finished:

And that is that.

Thanks so much for watching! We'll be back next year, with more of Laura's Adventures and Tears in 3rd Pressely!

Merry Festivus and a happy New Year!

Until next time,

Laura

Not a Meta-morph-margis.

2009-12-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

Our second Official Project in Graphic Design was a metamorphosis project, in which we changed one complex image into another radically different image. As this was a significantly more complicated project, our guidelines were also significantly more complicated:

1. Though you are allowed and encouraged to use the computer to search for images, you may not use drawings or clip art that are on the Internet.

2. There must be a "conceptual link"--as understood by Western culture--between the two forms. So, for example, you couldn't use pictures of Angela Merkl, and an Umlau, because those aren't widely recognized images in Western culture (however, if you do recognize them, you get brownie points).

3. There must be at least three steps between the starting image and the finished image, but there are no limits on the number of steps.

4. The degree of change must be approximately the same in each step, to allow for a smooth visual flow.

5. The final arrangement must enhance the fluidity of your metamorphosis.

6. It is recommended that you use black and white. If color is used, there must be a compelling conceptual reason.

7. The image must be 2-D.

8. The final presentation will be judged as part of the design solution.

9. These designs must also be on a "social justice" theme, for example, a cheeseburger turning into a fatty heart.

To begin, we were required to come up with an idea, and write a proposition for it. And because this blog is all about my design process, I shall read it to you:

I researched several Social Justice issues that interested me, concerning environmentally unfriendly producing methods, the outlawing or discrediting of certain proven health aids, and the glorification of cheap, unhealthy food.
But as tantalizing as these Ideas were, I felt particularly drawn to the African Conflict Diamond or Blood Diamond trade, and the repercussions of that market.
The buying and selling of these diamonds on the Black Market became prevalent during the 1990s, when much of Africa was engaged in civil war. Civilians of all ages were made to mine for diamonds at gunpoint (National Geographic, Blood Diamonds) to pay for the very army that was enslaving them. In most cases, those who refused to take part or who did the job badly were mutilated or murdered.

So yes. Quite a cheery subject, I wasn't feeling creative enough to think up a solemn theme.

The second step was to collect images of my subject, and weed through those. I wanted a starting image of a male African lying on the ground, with his right hand separated from the rest of his arm.

I found several nice pictures of ballerinas in terrific poses, but I really required a more native African body. With this in mind, I took a trip across the campus to our Library, and there found a book with a picture of a very cool African hairdo-braid-weave-thingagummy (and an African head inside it).

But I still couldn't find a body in the pose that I wanted, so conscripted by younger brother into posing for me.

With a little estimating, some tracing paper, and the Miraculous Lightbox, I was able to transform him into a passable Mutilated Man:

Now, for the finishing image, I wanted a really big, in-your-face, ostentatious diamond ring. I mean something REALLY gaudy. Something that even the most tasteless Hollywood starlet wouldn't be caught dead in. Something like--

Oh yes. Like those. But all together.

Like that.

Now all I had to worry about were the in-between steps:

This one gave me some trouble. Although I got the whole planar structure thing right away, I didn't like the way that it looked. With a little imagination/poor eyesight, the plane coming out of his chin could seem like a long skinny beard, which (in my mind, at least) made him look like a Oriental Wise Man. Which wasn't the look that I was going for, so revisions occur ed.

The middle image was slightly easier:

All that I had to do was let go of the human figure, add a few more lines, move the head a few centimeters, and poof! A star is born!

And, of course, the third:

Just finishing his journey to becoming a more solid box-and-ring form. I feel so maternal, I could have postnatal depression.

Those little flecks in the diamond were so annoying to morph! But after a long struggle, I got the entire thing down on mount board:

And now it's done!

With the option

2009-11-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

I said before that I went through several revisions of my 9-grid project, switching some out, re-arranging them, et cetera. I now have them posted, for your viewing pleasure:

This is option number 1. I think my reasons for not going with this one are clear-ish, if only you can get closer to your computer screen. It's rather Gestalt-y, with the three rolls of tape on the top, and then the bottles making that L shape in the middle. Also, a strong movement towards the right from all those pencils and paintbrushes on the bottom.

For option number two, I did some re-arranging:

Even though I swapped one picture out, I still seem to have the same problems; the bottles, the right-slanting lines at the bottom, and those rolls of tape. Except that now, I have three rolls along the left side as well as along the top.

On to option number three:

...and yet more re-arranging! I managed to get rid of my Tape Problem, as well as my Overt Directional Thrust, but those bottles are still giving me trouble! Looking back, I'm amazed that I didn't take the easy way out and just add a bottle to every picture and be done with it.

Ah, well.

I actually did add a bottle to some pictures, but that was only because it made visual sense. Really. See for you self:

See? That feels slightly better now, doesn't it?

I changed quite a lot in this draft: extended the pen in the bottom far-right, put scissors and a pencil sharpener in the bottom far-left, added ear buds in the middle row far-left, added pencils in middle row far-right and top row center, and added (my favorite!) a spilling glue bottle in the top far-left.

And it was Finally Done!

I think it looks pretty good for my First Project!

But don't tell anyone that I said that.

The Shaped and the Shapely

2009-10-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

Our third Design exercise was a work with Shape.
Just take a 4"X4" piece of black construction paper, cut the pieces up, and arrange it so that it doesn't look like a square anymore. Easy, right? Right!
So...directions, anyone?
1. Use ALL the pieces.
2. None may overlap.
3. Each design must use one or more of the following strategies: Mutual tension (sort of a gravitational pull/push, but visually), interlocking (puzzling), abutting (right up against one another), and continuation (letting the brain see a line or shape continued off the page).

Individual Design requirements: Two must be non-objective, but not using the same strategy; one must be abstract and the "identity of the square must be completely destroyed"; and one must be non-objective, "retain the essence of a square", and be fun to re-configure.

Still not crazily challenging, right?

Hmm.

For this first design, I used the strategies of interlocking, mutual tension, and abutting. I think that I went through three or four revisions of this design before I actually glued it down (even if it is rubber cement, you can't be too careful). Fortunately, it fulfills all of the requirements, because I would have been rather cranky if I had to cut out all those little swirls ONE MORE TIME.
On a related subject, I have recently promoted the Exact-O Knife from 'Horrible Monstrous Tool of Gouging and Doom' to 'Good Thing #44'. But please note, it is only there with stipulations.

Ahem.

In this next design, I used continuation, abutting and mutual tension. Completely non-objective designs [without the involvement of a significant amount of color] go against my nature, and this is perhaps the only truly non-objective design that you will see on this blog for a Very Long Time. Behold:

The diamond-esque shapes on the bottom ARE abutting, but you can't see it for the contrast.

I thought that all the black in the bottom right corner would slice through the Scanning Pattern of the viewer. But when the image is turned--

It's a bit more effective. Though I would still make some changes.

This last piece uses all four strategies: continuation, mutual tension, abutting and interlocking.

I really had a good time getting all those triangles and a bunch of curves out of a square, while not leaving anything out.

For a while, I was thinking about the picture very non-objectively; as I got closer and closer to the due date, I began to think a little more abstractly. I believe that the picture and I are both better for it.

Meet Mark.

2009-10-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Mark is the first exercise for Design, the challenge being to create 15 separate 'marks'--lines, blobs, squiggles, et cetera...you know, marks. As inspiration, we were to use our names, but were not to make them look like our names, which was kind of freeing and rather constricting at the same time. Our tools were limited to white 18"X24" paper and black water-based paint (and brushes, of course).
Instead, we focused on
1. Using the entire body, not just the arm or wrist, to make an expressive, emotional mark.
2. Exploring the range of possible marks that we could make.
3. Exploring the figure-ground relationships that were possible (figure is the bit that goes on the ground, ground is the bit that supports the figure).

The above image makes me picture a smoky basement and card-playing utility men. I like to romanticize those things.

I'm still not entirely sure whether or not this next image strictly fulfills all the requirements of the exercise. I mean, I can see my name there...Well, at least an initial: But I do know that the figure-ground relationship of this mark is unlike that of most of my other 14. I have a tendency to either A) place my figure in the middle of my ground, or B) to make my figure very large in relation to my ground. Here, I stopped at the first mark-and recognized that the design is better for it.

This last mark that I have assembled for your pleasure could almost mirror the second (if this one was turned around--I didn't realize the 'puzzling' factor until I had already decided on the top).
Now, I try not to pick favorites among my "children", but if I had to...

...I don't think that this would be in my Top Ten list. HOWEVER, that being said, it did help me to explore my figure-ground relationship and try out some figure-ground reversal. So at least it was useful...

I hope that you have enjoyed this edition of Pretty Things [of Design]. Tune in on Friday for our next installment--"Composition and Line"!

I have a confession to make.

2009-10-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

I did not begin this blog for completely altruistic reasons. I have a Purpose for Posting, and it is in no way selfless. At all.

It is time to Unveil The Truth at last. I've been putting this off far too long, it's time that you know. Sorry, guys: I'm a Design Major, and this is my Creative Process.

To begin with, we (myself and the Other People in my Design class) were set the task of creating sixteen 3X3 sketches of whatever we had around us. The stipulations were: We couldn't use color or value, and the items we chose must exit the picture's frame on all four sides.

(Just a note here: I had already cut the individual pictures apart for arranging when I took this photograph, as I hope you have already assumed. My sense of angles may be a little off, but it isn't that wonky.)

Next, we narrowed down our 16 drawings to the 9 "best", or most visually interesting. I did lots of playing around with the exact arrangement, and added some elements to that arrangement, but this is roughly my best 9:

You may be able to see the erased edges, where some items exit the frame. The new spaces allow the brain to interact with the drawings more, by sliding in one way, turning around, and creating edges where edges are only hinted at.

Our next challenge was to make these 3X3s into 4X4s. For that, a graph had to be drawn on a vellum sheet that was placed over the 3X3. Then, the contents of each of these little graph squares had to be put onto a piece of paper with the 4X4 squares on it. And each of the 4X4 squares had to be grided in the same way as the 3X3s.
Could I make this seem any more complicated? Don't wory. It's really not:

Finally, with all nine 3X3s carefully transformed to 4X4s, we proceed to the last step: Inking.
Inking is The Scariest Thing, because whatever you do there is permanent. Unless you have a very steady hand and a BIG bottle of white-out, you will probably die just from the expectation that you will make a mistake. Like 14th century Monks making illuminated manuscripts, we were similarly bound to perfection by this fact: if you don't do it right, God will not like it. And you will have to start all over again.

But wait! What thence do I see on yonder ledge? Is it truly? Can it be? Oh! Oh!

It is! A lightbox in shining armor! And upon a great white stalion, too. Don't you just love it when that happens?

Yes, we were allowed to trace the previous pencil enlargements with pen. On a lightbox.

Sooo...

This is my solution to the original problem. It still needs finessing here and there (if it looks good, that's because my camera is unreliable), but overall it could be a lot worse. At least I won't need a lot of white-out...

Technology that doesn't work can be slightly annoying.

2009-09-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

As witnessed here, where there is a noticeable Lack of Picture. For they loadeth not.

On Friday evening, I went to SPARKcon with my friend Michelle and we saw many strange and wonderful things. Among them were:
Maille bikinis (probably vastly uncomfortable, but you get serious kudos for making them)
Artfully transformed P.O.D.S. (Portable On Demand Storage)
Sidewalk drawings with pastels not chalk, because we are not 5 years old anymore (more's the pity)
Street corner Saxophone players with accompanying rap artists
Hoodie-Dresses
Male Models in Boater hats (I thought the boater fad had gone out around 1900)

We were there for the SPARKcon fashion show, which did not disappoint, even though the models resembled unfed wild animals with pouts.
The designers were rather awesome, and most (MOST!) of the clothes were things that one would conceivably wear "out". My favorites were a 40's inspired wedding dress (fishtail hem, yards of tulle, picture frame neck in a Beige-y liquid foundation shade) and a designer who's collection entailed a LOT of very small 1920s-style hats with very large 1940s-style ornamentation.

Only one year to go until the next one!
Hopefully I'll have my pictures loaded by then...

The Exhaustion of Mental Debates

2009-09-01T16:40:00.001-07:00

...I was going to post something slightly controversial and negative and expressing frustration.

But then I remembered that this is not the place for that. So lucky you, you shall not be subjected to a three-page rant (recalling days of yore, to the many Life and Times readers out there).

Instead, you will hear the many positive things that I accomplished today:

1. Had lunch with my dad.

2. Did not forget anything for my classes this morning.

3. Made people smile.

I consider this day seized.

Well Begun is Half Done, or, Let's Tidy Up the Blog

2009-08-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

In the future, I will set aside time to be interesting.
I will probably even be interesting sometimes.

Now is not one of those times.

But check back later! You might get lucky.