You can't miss: interior decorations

With thinking about decorating my own place this week I've been getting distracted again by all the blogs I read. On designsponge I found some really pretty linens for the table. I would definitely not mind having one of these awesome designs done by Kathy Mellor.

Critique: Prototype

Better Brunch had to be ready for press by last Friday and the wonderful publishing team and designers got everything done and on time to send to the printer. Unfortunately, most of the groups didn't have their proofs on Tuesday because of a mishap and I still don't have mine. I'm sure we'll have them tomorrow and then I'll be more excited to put everything up to show, so images will be coming soon. I did learn a lot about the printing process through this though and am sure it will help with everything I have coming up.

Response: Mini Portfolios

So this week in class we discussed the mini portfolios and all the different, and very interesting, ways they can look. I've decided on the size and most of the clips I want in them so now I just have to figure out my opening design, which will probably reflect my website but I'm thinking of redesigning that so I'm not sure what it's going to look like. I just need to finish getting everything written up about them and finalize my website design so that I can finish. This is what I plan on doing this weekend on top of my website.

You can't miss: awesome coasters

I am an avid reader of designsponge but lately haven't been able to read it due to our massive amounts of work. Looking to distract myself recently I came across these amazing letterpressed coasters. I love food and I love well-designed food so I think these are just awesome. I would love a set and maybe I'll get them once I get my own grown up apartment.

Their prints can be purchased in poster form here or in coaster form here, definitely check out their etsy shop for more awesome things here. 

Critique: Meredith

This week has been crazy busy and I must say, everyone's Meredith prototypes are looking really good. I've been struggling with some issues with my publisher's and it was good to hear I was not the only one with these problems. We are still working through these things and I think once we work through them things will work a lot better and come together in the end. I think our product will look much better than it did in the beginning.

Websites, oh websites. I am nowhere near far enough on this. My weekend project will be to get the layout of my website done and start coding. I hope I can do this while I'm away and that I have something up to par with what everyone else was showing on Tuesday. I think everyone had some pretty awesome designs and it really made me think about how I want my stuff laid out.

Critique: Vox Feature

This week I had the cover and healthcare feature for Vox. This was a challenge in itself because having a cover and feature at the same time is enough work, but having such a difficult feature along with it and Meredith made this super stressful. I am so glad that I had such amazing people to help me out and that none of y'all yelled at me for all my snappy comments this week. I think the feature turned out pretty good and I'm glad I eventually worked through everything. Photos to come once everything comes out tomorrow.

You can't miss: sketching

Okay, so based on our creativity discussion I decided to post something I came along a little while ago. There was a discussion about whether or not we still sketched out ideas on paper or went straight to the computer. I don't think there is a right or wrong way since every one of us is so different in our design styles. I still like using sketchbooks every now and then so I decided to post some examples of people who seem to as well.

This was a sketchnote done by Mike Rohde during the SXSW conference. You can check out more of these awesome notes here.

Response: Paper

This past class we got to see some of the awesome logos people created on their spring break and I must say, I was impressed. I was also kind of jealous that a lot of people got to go on some pretty awesome trips, I pretty much laid on my couch and slept. I will say I'm not jealous of Lyndsey, Laura and Stef, I hope y'all are all feeling better(and I hope I got everyone who had their teeth out).
I was pretty excited on Tuesday when we got all those paper samples though because not only does it mean I get to buy another bookshelf to put awesome design stuff on. I was also really excited about new writing utensils because I love journals and having things to sketch in. I cannot wait to put them to use.

Critique: Multimedia

Hey y'all. This week I had my chance to take a stab at multimedia for Vox. It was definitely a learning experience for me. I am still trying to master this whole flash thing and although I knew what I wanted my design to look like, it took me a while to figure out how to execute it. After figuring it all out, with some help from Kristin of course, it was pretty simple. There were some snags in the process of course, like with any publication, changes were made and I think ended up re-making my buttons three or four times, but in the end I think it turned out okay. Hope y'all enjoy it. Here's half a screen shot(because it's so long) and you can check it out here.

Spring Break

I went home to Texas over spring break and didn't do very much besides hang out with my family and spend a little time on my computer. I came back to Columbia early to get some much needed rest so here are the photos, and logo, I collected over break. 

You can't miss: April Fools!!!

From Smashing Magazine, comes an awesome list of gadgets(a lot of which are geeky) and ideas for pranking your friends on April Fools Day. Since we will all be gone next week and away from our blogs, I think this is the perfect moment to fill your minds with some sneaky ideas to prank the people you'll be spending the day with, for me it's my family and the random strangers at the airport, I hope y'all have some better choices. Smashing tweeted this post earlier and it caught my attention so I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I did. Here is a preview of some of the items:

Response: Meredith

Yesterday in class we had to present what we had to our class, our publishers, Jan and John. I was so nervous about this. I'm not a good public speaker, something I need to practice before we head to Iowa in May, and I was in the midst of re-designing my department head, which had me going crazy. I was so anxious for our presentation I managed to chew a sore on the inside of my lip waiting. After I got up there I showed what little I had, because I was not aware of the cover story yet and because I was changing the department head. I wanted to bring a lot of different options to the class yesterday because I really wanted everyone's input since I seemed to be hitting a road block. After listening to everyone and taking in all their advice, I've worked out a department head that I think will please my designers and the publishers, although I haven't presented it to them yet, that will happen tonight. It's still being tweaked so I want to wait until that's done. We have a long way to go on our design but I think once we get all our items set we'll be good to go. Since we've gotten all our text now and have begun getting photos, we should be set to start over break. So relaxing. I actually don't mind working on this, and I'd rather be doing it over so many other things. I think having break to work on it will be helpful since we won't be getting work thrown at us all the time and won't have to go to class and have other things occupying us, but this could just be me since all I'm doing is going home. I hope everyone who is going somewhere besides home gets to have fun.

Critique: Department page, round three

This weekend I designed my department page and this is the first one in a while, possibly ever, that I've had that doesn't include an ad on it. I'm grateful for this because it probably would have been difficult for me to fit everything on there with an ad this time around. I had my anchor story with a sidebar to fit, which went pretty well and was pretty standard, but I had a large DIY recurring section that was a bit of a squeeze. I also did the illustration for the section, and considering this is only my second go at illustrating something I think it turned out okay. I made the editors cut quite a bit of text to make everything fit but I think it all turned out alright. I'll post pictures once it runs tomorrow.

You can't miss: dreamworld cabinets

I was surfing many of my design sites one day in class and came across some beautiful furniture designs. When I grow up and get my own adult apartment I want some really fun and funky furniture and these reminded me of something out of Alice in Wonderland or Dr. Seuss and are completely something I would love to own one day. I found them on dornbob.com and am still not sure if I can buy them somewhere but I hope I can when I get my own place one day.

I did a little more searching and found the awesome person who made these and they were done by Vincent Thomas Leman and can be found at dustfurniture.com. 

Response: Design Mags

In class today we went over and got introduced to a few design magazines. I read a few of these in my, now rare, spare time and when I have a few extra dollars to spend on them but I'm not subscribed yet. I'm asking for a few subscriptions for my birthday. I really enjoyed seeing how different design magazines structured themselves and designed their layouts, especially since they have to showcase such beautiful designs.

Critique: Cover Concepts and forgotten designs

This past week I was on the design group for the rap battle cover. It was a tricky little number this time around since we didn't have any text, photos or information for our first time around. I did three concepts, which I'm not completely satisfied with, and will be working on revising two and hopefully I'll be able to pull off what I want. I'm also working on an illustration for my department page this weekend and hoping my practice in Illustrator pays off.

I'm also including a few forgotten designs that I didn't realize I had missed putting up over the weeks or I didn't have the jpgs yet. So here are some of the designs I've missed: 

You can't miss: Eating Utensils

When I think of well-designed objects the first things that come to my mind are not forks, knives, spoons, etc., but these designs are definitely original and gorgeous. I wanted to step away from what we think of in class and put something out here that is design related but out of our normal realm of thought. These pieces I found at toxel.com  via webdesignerdepot.com are so fun and nicely designed.

 

The last one is my favorite because it's so useful and allows you to set your silverware down without accidentally flipping food off the plate and spilling. 

Response: The September Issue

In class today we watched The September Issue and I was so excited about it. I had seen the movie before but still enjoy watching it every time. Last year when this movie came out I could not wait to see it. I had left the idea of working for a magazine completely behind me and switched directions and was thinking more about other ways I could go with design. After seeing the movie I remembered why I wanted to work in this industry for so long. I changed back to my aspirations of working for a magazine and hope to achieve that someday. Unlike some of the people on the video and I'm sure in class I would love to work for a fashion magazine and even Vogue. I would love the opportunity to work alongside Grace Coddington and even Anna Wintour. Grace's work is so amazing and beautiful and watching her fight for her designs and not give up even when her stuff is criticized or cut out is definitely a lesson I can learn from this film.

Critique: Logos

So this week we turned in our final five logo choices for LBB. Through this entire process I learned how difficult it is to design a good logo. It was such a challenge for me to come up with five different concepts that I thought fit her personality and encompassed everything she wanted in her design. Here are the final five I came up with, I can't wait to hear what she has to say about them.

You can't miss: Type on bottles

This week on typegoodness.com  I found a great post with some beautiful examples of how type is displayed on bottles. It reminded me of LBB and her bourbon and how one of our logos could be placed on a bottle of hers if she wanted it. It wouldn't be as dominant as these of course but these are a few of the beautiful and well done examples of using type on bottles, I just love well-designed packaging. 

This last one is what really reminded me of our assignment with LBB.

Response: Logos galore

This week our first round of LBB logos were due and I am less than pleased with my work. Logos are way far out from anything I've designed before and definitely are taking some getting use to for me but I'm enjoying the learning process. The ones everyone liked kind of surprised me because they were the most simple but that also didn't surprise me because the ones where I tried to combine all the elements she wanted just didn't turn out well for me. There were a lot of good logos yesterday and I hope she picks someone from our group because that would be a great experience for them. I've already started re-working the logos from yesterday and coming up with some new ways to approach them so I've taken apart a lot of what I had yesterday but as soon as some new designs develop come up I'll post them here.

Critique: Prototype Design

         

Last week we had to propose designs for prototype magazines for a publisher that cannot be revealed. We once again were in a competition with each other, although in smaller groups. Here are the designs I came up with, a couple cover ideas, a TOC, a department page and feature. I think once we start laying out some copy with the publishers and getting an idea of what they really want we'll be able to get down to a more solid and cohesive design.

                          

You can't miss: High Heel Type

I am a shoes person. I love shoes, all shoes and I love everything about them, especially really fun shoes. While I was perusing typegoodness.com, which is full of amazingness, I stumbled upon something that combined two things I love, type and shoes.

Although I would not use this type in anything( I cannot think of anything it could be used for off the top of my head) I think it is awesome that someone found such a great use for a high heel(besides looking good and causing pain). I really enjoy it when people find such random inspiration and creation in such everyday things.

Response: Portfolio

Portfolios, portfolios, portfolios. There were so many portfolios presented yesterday and there are going to be even more tomorrow. Our class has so many awesome designers and after seeing everyone's portfolios I realized what a wide variety of designers we have. It also made me realize I'd really taken infographics, it seems like such an awesome class. After viewing the variety in the portfolios it also made me realize I need to re-work some of my designs, quite a few actually, before they go anywhere near a portfolio, and that I should probably add a bit more variety to it, especially online. I was always planning on having a diverse portfolio with pieces from all the different types of design classes I've taken and I didn't show all that yesterday but now I want to work on stuff out of class to expand my diversity, if I ever find the time.

Critique: Department Page, round two

This week I got to design another department page. I don't have the final pdf yet, but when I do I will post it up here for all to see, along with my other design work that I have recently gotten pdfs of. The biggest problem I had this week with my department page was working with my new best friend, Illustrator. I'm slowly getting the hang of things but I had to create a 'How to Crochet' illustration to go along with my DIY for this week and that was definitely a new and time consuming experience, but I think it turned out pretty decent and I learned a lot. It doesn't look fishy, which it did in the beginning, so I am overall happy with the final product. I also had a lot of trouble filling my page this week because I had a super awkward set up to work with, negotiating multiple boxes around an ad was tricky but Aimee definitely helped out with some tips.
I have also been spending an obscene amount of time, although not as much as I probably should, designing my Meredith prototype. There will obviously not be any pictures of it up until after presentations tomorrow. I am in the Food/Lifestyle group that gets the lucky chance to go at 7:30 a.m. I guess it's good we're going to get it over with and now I'll be able to put in a power nap tomorrow afternoon. I have my concept all worked for what I, and I think my publishers, have pictured for the magazine, I am just taking my time designing and changing until the last minute to try and get it looking the best it can for tomorrow. Hopefully after those presentations we'll have a little time to breathe and relax for T/F, which I have a pass for and cannot wait to enjoy some films, before getting back to the busy schedule of design next week and LBB.

You can't miss: MORE kinetic type

Okay, so lately I've been obsessed with kinetic type. I don't know why but I LOVE it. I really want to figure out how to do amazing videos like these. I don't know if it's the amazing layouts that they present or all the different angles you can make type take on, but I am officially obsessed. So in order to move on to another 'you can't miss' subject I'm putting up a long list of amazing videos on kinetic type. Be prepared for what follows, but trust me, they are definitely worth watching.

#1


KA+A : Kinetic Typography from Clay Reinken on Vimeo.

#2


Helvetica-Kinetic Typography from Jon DeBoer on Vimeo.

#3


The Hush Sound — Lions Roar from Mig Reyes on Vimeo.

#4


The Big Lebowski Typography from Koos Dekker on Vimeo.

#5


78RPM - MP3 | 70 Years of Revolutionary Protest Music from Dan Flynn on Vimeo.

#6


DON'T MOVE from RGBNERD on Vimeo.

This las one was a very different type of kinetic type video. I would definitely give something like this a shot because I think it would help us stand out from employers. It is definitely an awesome new idea.

#7


Personal Profile from Jordi Pages on Vimeo.

Response: Historical Vogue

This week we had to do a presentation on a historical magazine of our choice. I chose Vogue, a longtime magazine favorite of mine, from the 1950s. Vogue was being done a lot so I was worried about how it would differ from everyone else's other decades, but there were quite a few differences. I found the visible changing in the covers and spreads through the work of Alex Liberman very interesting to see and liked learning about his influence on the direction the magazine took. I think the 1950s showed a move from the past to the future with the move from modernist covers to the use of up-close models on the covers, which is where the magazine was directed from the late 1950s on.

You can't miss: wall designs and moving type

On typegoodness.com this week I found another awesome video integrating type into it. This one is a music video and I really enjoyed watching it. I hope after our flash tutorials I can make something like this:

Kinetic Type: You Could Be Happy by Snow Patrol from Kuan Luo on Vimeo.

I also found something I just had to share on designspongeonline.com. Looking through all their posts always gives me such inspiration and fills me with some sort weird design happiness. This week I saw a post about some amazing wall designs and after looking through them I cannot wait to get my own place. Check it out:

I found this on designsponge's website but more of these awesome designs can be found at http://www.domestic.fr/ and it is definitely worth checking out.

Response: Helvetica

Yesterday in class we got to watch Helvetica, the movie. I had never gotten to see the movie the whole way through so I was really excited to watch it in class and I really enjoyed it. I loved getting to see all the type designers talk about their perspectives and even though I knew Helvetica was all over the place, I did not realize quite how far its expanse reached. Even though I think Helvetica is sometimes overused, it is a beautiful typeface and perfect for so many different expressions.

In class we also talked about how magazines from past decades still influence magazines today. I chose Vogue in the 50s for my historical design paper and keynote presentation so I think I'll have a good bit to show.

Critique: Department page, round one

This weekend was my first time to design my department page and it is definitely something I think I will get better at. I had one page to design the arts section on and I didn't have enough text to fill the page. This is definitely not a problem I've ever encountered before, at least not where I didn't have extra copy I could stick in. Even though I had an ad on my page, I felt I was struggling to make things fit well. I'm hoping this is my weakest department page this semester because looking back on it there are probably some changes I could have made to it but just didn't think about at the time.  Next time I would like to make a somewhat more dynamic or interesting design even though I'm working within a limited amount of space, which is also new to me.
I'm also working on my final cover pitch for the 2/18 issue and my feature design. I'm feeling newly inspired with a sudden kick of energy this week and hopefully will be able to pull off the design I have in mind. I don't want to give anything away incase it doesn't happen the way I want it to, especially since I'm still working on my Illustrator skills.

You can't miss: Type Video

So I switched my blog to typegoodness.com because I read it regularly anyways and love it and they usually have some pretty awesome stuff on there, like this awesome intro to the Danish Music Awards.

Danish Music Awards 2009 - DMA09 from Stupid Studio on Vimeo.

This was an opening animation created by Stupid Studio for the award show and I just think it is so awesome to watch as well as a great inspiration for a side project. If I was more practiced at the program I would be doing stuff like this on the side(when not in school of course) just to show off my skills. I bet there would even be a way to put them into portfolios, although I'd have to brainstorm on that one. If you have suggestions, I'm open to those.

Response: getting going

We finished week two and are going strong into week three. This class is giving me way more experience than I ever expected and is a lot more work than I thought, but that's okay because at least we'll have some packed portfolios.
Today in class we got to talk to an up and coming country singer about a logo we could possibly be designing for her. I am so excited about this opportunity. If our logo gets picked it will be used nationally for her items. I've never designed a logo so this will be a new experience for me, but an exciting one. I can't wait to start working on 20 new ideas, which we then have to narrow down to 10 and make into really great ones. I'm going to try and start noticing logos all around me when I am out and hopefully this will give me some inspiration.
The cover that Cassie made was different than all the others and definitely popped against the others. I like that included a couple different elements but in a way that the other covers didn't. I think Lauren's calendar design was very well put together and organized and separated the months by colors like Vox wanted and left enough space for the event briefs.

Critique: Spring Preview

The second week's competition I think was a bit more enjoyable because we were allowed to some up with the images on our own and got the opportunity to design a calendar with an interesting design. I had fun with this and actually really liked my design, my calendar much more than my cover though. Even though I went wit the traditional 'springy', floral cover, I tried to do it in a way that made it a little different by making the months look like they were flowers springing out of the ground. I think I definitely could have worked a lot with the color scheme and agree that I needed to bolden the words on the bottom portion of my cover. The plan with the calendar was the separate each month by color and then have opacities of that color separating the section. I definitely think yellow was the wrong color to pick all around since you can't really see the difference and it's difficult to read on the page. I did make my calendar to be organized by date and section though, which I though was handy. I plan on re-doing both of these things for my portfolio, making the changes that were suggested in class.

Can't Miss: Banksy

Here is something you absolutely cannot miss this week. I love, love, love Banksy so when I saw this I was super excited. If y'all don't know his work, which I highly doubt, check it out ASAP. He is set to premiere a documentary at Sundance Film Festival, where there are rumors he might reveal his identity (this I have a hard time believing). Check it out:



Banksy to Premiere Documentary at Sundance Film Fest

Response: Week ONE

Today in class we got to help with the contest and that was a pretty awesome experience. Not only did I enjoy getting to help with something like that but I enjoyed seeing the variety in design between the publications and how much freedom they have with their designs. I was unaware of some of the city magazines and how much you could do for them. The typography on some of the designs absolutely blew me away. 

I am satisfied with the choice that won but not thrilled. I think it was a nice design and got the idea across but I thought there were others, such as the second-place choices, that were more thought out in their design ideas and how they executed them. 

As far as class discussion goes, I agree with Jan about the car covers in that the resources that were provided combined with a short amount of time made it difficult to put together a clean, well-executed cover design that was comprehensive. I really enjoyed the doll cover and think that if there had been maybe one more element it would have stood out as complete and worked really well. I also like the evolution of man cover but agree with Jan that caution might need to be taken to make sure that it applies to all men, not just straight men. I think the briefcase one was okay to leave in because that's how they ended the story but I think it would have worked better without the girl being proposed to. 

This was our first assignment and I think a lot of people, myself included will be working at a different level or within a different time frame for the second assignment because I heard a lot of people say things about what a short time this was done in. 

I'm just going to throw in my critique of the first two days in here too. We got a lot of assignments(for the future) thrown at us. I am very excited and nervous for the next few months. I think a lot of juggling and scheduling will be involved but I'm going to enjoy designing stuff besides feature and department layouts for Vox, which I think is an awesome opportunity. Just more stuff to pack our resumes with. 

Critique: boys to MEN

The beginning of the semester started off quick and I have to say, I was not as prepared as I thought. As packed as this class is I know I'm going to enjoy getting to work on designs all the time because it's what I love to do. Our first assignment for designing the cover and feature for one of the two stories. I did not have a great time with this spread. One weekend was a short deadline for all of us to work under and I know I did not execute it to the best of my ability, design or idea-wise. I know I could have developed my idea more and pushed my spread a little farther but I felt pressed for time and played it safe so that I could make the deadline. Next time I'm definitely allotting a lot more time for them. One thing I really did not like about this assignment was the photo illustrations. I felt like I should use them since the pictures weren't strong but, as you can see, I had trouble using them well.

                                      

I am usually more of a traditionalist in design and like clean lines, lots of white space, etc. Lately, obviously not with this design, but with others, I've been trying to push myself farther. I plan on doing that in my next submission for Thursday and hopefully I've given myself enough time to execute it well since I've already started.

I'm not sure if I'm going to redesign this spread yet, probably not though given the time restraints my schedule seems to have this semester. I might work on it for my portfolio but not for a re-grade.