Critical Review

Snooze or Schmooze

Preparing for the trip to Meredith I created a business card to carry with me just in case the opportunity arose. I cannot deny that they are lacking much creativity, but in such a situation is professionalism outweighed by innovation, or vice versa?


I chose to use elements that reflected my personality and my design style. I appreciate white space and subtle color. I place great importance on typography and layout. By pairing the vibrant turpuoise with a subtle yellow stripe and a type similar to my own handwriting I played up my simplistic design style and my own personal introvert and calm personality.

I played aroung with other fonts and other photographs that would create the same balance between simplicity and attention to details. I hope to create multiple business cards by the end of the semester and while I think this first concept could use some redesign I will definitely keep it as an option.

Designs in the Making

Just java?

I am designing the second feature for the February 15th Vox. The story is about a couple who movied to Columbia and opened a coffeeshop Downtown, but due to rowdy late night college students have recently relocated to a quieter location on Chapel Hill Road. I haven't set down and started designing yet, but I've been searching for images and found a few inspiring illustrations.













My idea is to have a mocha toned background with an illustrated coffee cup in the corner and steam from the coffee cup rising in to create the title and at the very top a cross, tying in the religious elements of the story. I'll have a better idea once I can get in and start putting things together. I'm not very familiar with Illustrator so I might need a little help with this one, but I'm excited to get started.

Check It Out

Thinking Outside the Box
I've been keeping up with Fwis and in the process, realizing that design truly is so much more than typography and color.

Fwis designers create innovative, functional art that pushes the envelope. They have fun with their designing jobs. The cover design created for Cheap Ways to Tie The Knot is pure genius. Not only is the cut-out cake topper functional it is content-driven and something simple that really makes the design unique.

TreeHugger
Searching around for interesting design sites, I came across TreeHugger. I web-based magazine dedicated to modern environmental consciousness, TreeHugger is a good example of the future of magazines.


The website offers a variety of media. You can view videos, listen to radio, search and read articles on tons of topics, link to stores that sell environmentally beneficial products and more. More and more magazines are moving to the web and as designers, the importance of web designing knowledge and experience is a necessity.

Control Freak

Response to Meredith Trip
My recent trip to the Meredith headquarters, though incredibly interesting and fun, further confirmed my lack of interest in working for a “seven sisters publication.” The trip gave great insight into the reality of mainstream magazines. The cover meeting and group discussions, revealed a side of the magazine industry that we often forget about in the Journalism School at MU; money is everything. Meredith editors are very passionate about the publications, whether monthly titles or special interest media, they put on the shelves and for good reason. From my observation, every staff member was juggling publication after publication. When there is so much going on at once and your name is attached to a new magazine it’s safer to go with things, images, layouts and editorials, that you already know will sell.
I know I could work for a Meredith publication. I honestly enjoy consistency, however, the reason I was drawn to design in the first place was its opportunity for new, creative and innovative abilities. Without the freedom to test the creative limits and try new ideas, design would not be the adrenaline rush that it is now.
I would rather design for a regional magazine, where I’m forced to be my own editor, designer and photographer, making barely enough to scrap by, then work somewhere that I had to look at the same pictures, the same fonts, the same content every day.

you can't miss

complicated coverage

After struggling to complete the cover for the design contest, http://covers.fwis.com/ has opened my eyes to the truly complicated task of designing covers for books. Developing ideas and creating content-driven designs for a two page spread is enough to make me want to pull my hair out. I can only imagine the painful work that goes into designing a book.
The comments that people leave give great insight as to how certain techniques and visions work while others get lost in the mix. The reviews give a greater insight to the ways that different pairs of eyes see and interpret a designers concept and execution.
In addition to great reviews, the site has some excellent interviews with designers. Check out the interview with designer Jon Gray. Even if you just take a look at all of the amazing covers he has designed you'll be inspired.

Check it out at http://covers.fwis.com/

reading response

who knew typology was so thought-provoking?

This week I've been reading our Typology book and tapping into my love for lettering. I always spend the majority of my design-time focused on the typeface and size of my assignment. The way the words appear are just as important as the words themselves. Typology took me on a journey through the history of typology (imagine that) and gave me great perspective on the ways that typography has changed at different times and places throughout history.
My mother, a history professor, will love talking about this some day, dare I ever bring up the topic. A background of history and a perfectionist obsession with typography was in heaven.
To read how designers like Hector Guimard and F.T. Marinetti used typography to change the face of the art and reflect on the artistic and social environments surrounding them impacts the way I view my role as designer. What changes could I make to the designer world? How does our society effect our designing choices? And how will this change over time?
We shall see.

designs to come

up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's the Incredible Shanghai Acrobats

I am designing the Arts department page for the 2.08 issue. The article will be a preview to the acrobats' show
and include a related online article about gymnastic groups in Columbia.

Critique

silencing self-doubt

I've always heard that you are your own worst critic. I realize the truth to this statement whenever I design.
Facing time and weather constraints, I tried to gather ideas early, preparing thumbnails, scanning the internet for images and working with Illustrator to develop ideas. As I gathered design ideas, I continually asked myself whether the concept was original and true to the text. The concept I decided to follow through with incorporates the many layers of the text.
Inspired by a circus poster I found at http://www.deviantart.com/ I blended the elements of her clown garb and her breast cancer together in the cover illustration.


I went back and forth for hours, changing colors and fonts, varying the gradient and although I decided in the previous illustration for the cover, the illustration on the right was in a close second.
Overall, I'm pleased with how the cover turned out. I intend to redesign this cover in the future, but after months of not working with the programs and designing, I surprised myself with the final product.
As for the feature, I used illustrations to show the way that all areas of Heather Carver's life, the play, cancer, teaching and her humor are wound together. Continuing a magic/circus inspiration I used Illustrator to develop a subtle frame around the spreads. The stars represent the play and the stage-lighting, the red balls represent her humor, the black laced ribbon represents the inner-twined nature of her family and teaching that were her strength during her recovery and the pink ribbon represents breast cancer. This frame holds the piece together and supports the text, just as all of these factors do for Carver.


I'm pleased with the overall concept of the feature but given the opportunity to redesign, I would consider using more color throughout the spreads and tying the text in with the photos better.