Week 9

CRITIQUE:


Continuing on Plaid Dad design, here is my revised feature spread. It is still very much a draft, and I am having a lot of difficulty with it. I think my problem is that I am attached to my headline design, but I need to find a way to make it fit and flow with the eight gadgets. My other issue is organizing the eight gadgets. We have determined that dad's (and men in general) would rather view a grid or chart of some sort than read a lot of copy. With so many different shapes of objects it has been a challenge to lay out this page. My publishers are working on getting the permanent pictures. I was thinking I might cut out each object and work with them in some way like that. SUGGESTIONS would be greatly appreciated!

RESPONSE:


We also had the pleasure of viewing each others' magazine in class today. I was only able to see two - Nosh and mine - because I had to leave early. Nosh is off to a great start though! I was very impressed with their progress and the overall flow of the pages; there is no divide between spreads that different designers have done. I noticed that the they paid a lot of attention to detail, which always takes a magazine to the next level. I thought it was a bit overwhelming that there were arrows on every spread. It's a great element and I definitely think it adds a lot to the personality of the magazine, but when it's overdone it loses that punch. Maybe only using it on department pages would help cut back. I would have also liked to see more color used throughout the spreads. I absolutely loved the detailed photographs of small portions; it completely gets the point across and I think it's a unique way to display food.


YOU CAN'T MISS...


Tuesday was the 200th birthday of Manhattan's street grid, and The Wall Street Journal blog featured creative maps made over the years of the grid system. Definitely check out the post, because there is an array of typographic, illustrative and info graphic designs. Here are a few I found to be the most interesting:

Week 8

CRITIQUE:


My second cover competition is currently underway. We are designing for the food feature, which covers all of the local food challenges in Columbia. There are giant burgers, loaded breakfast plates, spicy wings etc. Coming up with a studio shoot, an illustration and a photo cover is very difficult but it was a really fun challenge for this particular topic. I had more than 3 ideas but this is what I decided to present. (Please keep in mind these are rough first drafts just showing my vision!)

This last one is the cover I will be revising for Thursday's critique. It will be a studio shoot of leftovers/half-eaten food on a plate. Then I will do some editing in Photoshop with text underneath. It should be really fun and eye-catching if it all works out correctly. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

RESPONSE:


The greatest thing that has seemed to go on in the last week is the tragedy that is still continuing in Japan. I was up that night on my computer and saw the early tweets about the earthquake and tsunami. I watched the live streaming of the tsunami just rolling across the land. It was the most surreal and tragic thing I have ever seen, and I can't even imagine what it is like there right now. My mom has a good friend who lives in Tokyo and he was stuck at his office for almost two days not knowing if his wife and kids were alive or safe (which they are!). It just puts everything into perspective and it's sad that major tragedies like this have to remind us that bad days are really not that bad. Stress is not fun, but it's not the end of the world. Pulling an all-nighter is rough but you will survive. My life seems to be all design right now in this moment, but design is not life. It's a fun part of my life.

I did stumble on this campaign called Font Aid V: A Call to Action. The Society of Typographic Aficionados is accepting submissions and will compile them into a typeface to benefit the earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan. The typeface would be used on all fundraising materials and would help unite the world as it unites to help Japan.

The Font Aid project began in 1999 with the first project benefiting UNICEF. It has since campaigned for the victims of September 11th, victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis and the earthquake in Haiti. Hundreds of designers have made submissions and joined the cause.

So cool.


YOU CAN'T MISS...


On a lighter typeface note, we watched this fun video in my news design class this week. It is amazing what you can do with words. Some of you might have seen it before, but it was my first time!

Week 7

CRITIQUE:

This past week we embarked on our "20/5" challenge: logos. Our assignment was to create 20 logos for the Sports Journalism Institute. It is a national sports journalism organization that helps women and minorities in the newsroom. Obviously the main goal of a logo is to visually stimulate a viewer and convey the whole entity of what the organization stands for. WAY easier said than done. Finding an image that reflects sports and is easily integrated with an image that reflects journalism is very challenging. I found the best solution was to focus on typography.

After receiving critiques from my fellow designers and brilliant teacher and TA, I have narrowed the logos from 20 to five. The biggest concern is incorporating diversity into our logos. That is the main point of the organization so the next challenge is figuring out either a visual or stimulating colors that portray this message. The logo in the first row, second from the left, with the baseball flying through it was favored the most. It is my favorite as well. I was told that it shows action really well, which is great for the sports image. Suggestions I received for improvement include trying different typefaces, making the baseball just a colored ball and working with the colors (diversity, diversity, diversity). I would love suggestions!

RESPONSE:

On Monday I had the amazing opportunity to sit in the MU iPad conference all day and hear from editors, art directors and social media gurus from Wired, National Geographic, Men's Health, ESPN, Better Homes and Gardens and Popular Science. It was inspiring and exhilarating to hear about the opportunities and developments between magazines and the tablet world. Every group told us what they know, how they've attempted applications, what they think about the future and how in reality it is still a complete guessing game for each and every one of them. 

I also have the opportunity to develop an iPhone app and formulate an iPad app prototype for a magazine supplement this semester. Learning more and more about this field is fascinating and I am starting to expand my search for application development opportunities. I have always been a gadget guru, wanting the newest and greatest. Jumping into this tablet application development world would be such a great experience and I want to be in the center of these changes and discoveries. I am so fortunate to attend the MU journalism school and be able to participate and attend events such as this iPad conference.

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A scrabble redesign found on GOOD!

 

Andrew Capener created this redesign last year while studying at BYU. His version allows you to use all one typeface or mix-and-match. He eliminated the clutter on the board and went with these sleek colors. If I was a design junkie AND scrabble nerd I would definitely be hunting for this (unfortunately I find the game fairly boring). The design is beautiful though!

Week 6

CRITIQUE:


Not a whole lot of magazine design going on in the last week! It's kind of a weird feeling, but this next week-and-a-half will be a handful. I will be doing Music department designs, logos for the Sports Journalism Institute and getting started on creating our Plaid Dad publication.

So this week I thought I would critique some other designing I have been working on this semester, which is for an iPhone application. (Yes, I am actually on a team developing an app this semester - so exciting!) Here are some basic screenshots of the first pages of the app:

Designing an iPhone app is very similar and different from designing a magazine. The biggest challenge is working on a small layout due to screen size. The concept "less is more" plays a very significant role in this project. The main challenge is figuring out how to get a lot of information into a small space, and the most minimal amount of screens/navigation for the user. Also, trying to design a completely unique app for a phone that uses such a distinguished template is very difficult. I am learning to really think about icons and deciphering what information is absolutely necessary or just in the way. Thoughts on improving icons, color or layout?

RESPONSE:

Since we are in the midst of logo designing this week, a word to the wise - designers need dirty and offensive minds just like editors.

Yesterday The Guardian reported that Iran has threatened to boycott the 2012 Olympics if the logo is not changed. The Iranian government has said that the letters could be rearranged to form the word "Zion." It was designed and introduced in 2007, and there have been comments that it could also be mistaken as a swastika or a sexual position. The International Olympic Committee has said it represents nothing but the numbers"2012". I personally see nothing wrong with the logo, but I am not a huge fan. It resembles graffiti to me, which is not always a positive thing with its vandalism associations. Also, I think the neon pink and yellow will be hard to work with on merchandise that is marketable to every gender, race and religion on the planet. Do you see it and think "Zion" though?

YOU CAN'T MISS...

HOLY COW this is the coolest cookbook ever!! Check out IKEA's "Homemade is best" cookbook created by Forsman and Bodenfors. They wanted something to go with their kitchen appliances, but that wasn't the same old cookbook full of the same old pictures...well they nailed it. (In the actual book there is a list of ingredients and instructions written in the top right corner - click on the link to see.)