04.28.2010

critique…prototypes to press!

I just landed in New York City, and as soon as I turned my phone back on (“ladies and gentlemen, you may now power up all battery-operated and cellular devices…”), I received an email from John reminding us to prepare for our upcoming presentations. So, I used that as my inspiration for this week’s critique.

This week was spent bringing our Meredith project to a close, as we shipped it off to the printer and are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of the proof. My publishing group has been very driven and invested in the project since day one, and as designers, we have been lucky to work closely with such a talented group of individuals. At the end of last week, I was really pleased when the publishers stayed with us in the design lab the night before the package was sent to press, as we worked out each and every until it was perfect as a team.

As I talk to the publishers this week, they are anxious to meet and discuss our plans for presenting the prototype to Meredith! As designers, we are excited to do the same. It’s great that we are all on the same page, since my biggest learning experience from this project has been communication. I am also really excited for the presentation because Jan has had us stand up and explain/defend our work for two semesters now, and I’m thankful for all of he times she’s had us do that! This is another unique element that we (as designers) can bring to our publishing group, and it’s very rewarding when we can learn from each other.

One more thing – I can’t forget about Vox! This week I designed a department page, the Unemployment feature with Kathryn (who is an amazing design partner), as well as the accompanying Flash interactive multimedia component for the Unemployment story. The editors seemed to be pleased with the result, and I can’t wait to see it all in print and online this week.

response…"leave-behinds"

This week, we devoted a large portion of our class time to looking at mini portfolios. As the semester comes to a close, it is incredible to think about how much work we have done! I was fascinated by the different levels of creativity and professionalism in the collection of portfolios booklets from previous semesters.

Jan explained the importance of the mini portfolio in a way that made perfect sense – when going to a job interview, wouldn’t you want to leave behind samples of your work? Of course, all of us in design would love to do that. But how do we make that happen without it costing us hundreds of dollars in printing? Not to mention we would need to leave behind an oversized binder with the whole collection! The perfect solution: mini portfolios, or otherwise known as “leave-behinds.”

I was so amazed by the variety of the portfolios from previous semesters, and the message that each portfolio gave off. I could see that some portfolios were created with specific magazine companies in mind, while other portfolios were geared towards graphic design or marketing organizations. I took detailed notes about the options that I had – what kind of binding should I use? The professional binding was clean and crisp, but I know how to make paper and bind books from a previous fibers class – so why don’t I do it myself? Should the top page be laminated? Or have a velum overlay, perhaps? Another thing I must think about is cost. I know that I can go overboard really quickly when selecting beautiful papers and colors, so how do I also make sure that I am using a cost-effective method?

I have some ideas in mind, and I can’t wait to get started making a small portfolio that displays my personality in a creative and professional manner.

you can’t miss…

This week, I found inspiration at my favorite blog, veer.com. It led me to a link that has a video project called 'phonovideo', a new and interesting way to look at moving design elements. Here is a description from the Motionographer website about what phonovideo is, who it was created by, and how it can be used in the visual world:

Austrian student Clemens Kogler just released a new film called Phonovideo which is an intriguing mix of cel-animation that was shot and edited in a really unique process he devised. Clemens has made other short films on his own like Le Grand Content and the award-winning music video Herr Barr. We spoke with him more about the project and the impetus behind the work.

What is this video for? Is Phonovideo a real product?

Phonovideo is a homemade visual tool that allows to display and mix short animations in an analog way without computers etc. It’s a mixture of the phenakistoscope technique from 1832 and turntablism. The basic setup is two turntables, two cameras, a videomixer, some output or recording device and pile of “records” with printed-on animations. You can think of it as an video equivalent to a classic dj-setup. “Stuck in a Groove” is the first film I made with this technique. It serves also as a demonstration video. In the future the main application is to use it for live performances: Visuals etc… It’s more fun to put physical records on records player than to operate a laptop with VJ-software in my opinion. And no it’s not a product you can buy. It’s just an idea to combine some techniques which everybody is free to try out himself.

-courtesy of Motionographer

Here is a link to the video. It's worth taking a look!

Stuck in a Groove / Phonovideo from Clemens Kogler on Vimeo.

04.21.2010

response...personal websites

As I mentioned in earlier posts, my major personal project this semester has been www.stefaniekienstra.com. I spent countless hours on it over spring break, and the class really seemed to notice the effort put in.

Likes: The way the photos popped out in the 'fine art' page, the home page, the fonts used, the simplicity of the site.

Dislikes: The 'design' page where I spent many days working to create a downloadable PDF for each and every one of my design clips, the home page, the fonts used, the simplicity of the website.

I think this once again goes to show just how varied all of our tastes and preferences are in design, and it was fun to see the splash of creativity and uniqueness on each person's site. I can't wait to see more next week!

What do you think?

you can't miss...

This week in "you can't miss", I am returning to my weekly blog critique. Back at Veer this week, they have some brand new iPad backgrounds! I thought this would be appropriate to include in the blog this week since we are spending every spare moment working on our Meredith prototypes for iPad. Check out some great designs, all courtesy of the Veer blog.

In case you can't tell, the following images is raining little mouse arrows...I thought it was appropriate.

critique...Vox/Meredith

This week, I am working on completing the Meredith project (will we ever get it finished in time to get to the printer?!) as well as a feature for Vox.

I am really enjoying working on the 8-page Unemployment feature with Kathryn. As she explained in her blog, our biggest struggle is collecting all of the photos that belong to each individual that the story profiles. We came up with a strategic way to organize the story, though. For each of the first 3 spreads, we are dedicating one spread to each of the 3 individuals that are profiled. For the 4th spread, we are laying photos next to text for the series of 'mini-profiles' and also including charts, tables, and info boxes that go along with the story. It looks really nice and I am excited to present it to the class tomorrow afternoon.

As for Meredith, my group and I are working on completing the project right now - I am taking a break between designing Vox feature and Meredith to get my thoughts down on the blog, but I am about to embark on a journey (with Cara and Cassie) of completing this project that hopefully will not last too late into the evening! We are working much more cohesively as a design team, and no matter how many changes our publishers request, Cara and Cassie and I are working togather to find a solution that they like. Needless to say, we are VERY excited for Friday (to the printer!!!) to come.

04.14.2010

you can't miss...marathon race bibs

This weekend, I went home to run the St. Louis GO! Half Marathon. As I was running, I was looking at the race bibs on the runners that were flying past me on the marathon course. I immediately knew that race bib typography had to be this week's 'you can't miss' blog post! Here is what mine looked like:

So, of course, I had to search around for other cool race bibs. The bold color schemes, block type, and sponsor logos on the bibs are both intimidating and powerful, and was surprised at the what I found. Take a look:

This one is for a Disney Marathon - what other marathon would have an image of Donald Duck on the race bib?! Courtesy of this running blog.

Now this is my kind of race bib! I need to find a race where I can run with a pink bib that have floral decorative elements around the edges. From Flickr.

Dogs need race bibs too, right? I'd love to meet the designer who was assigned with the task of creating a dog race bib. Also found on Flickr.

Whoa. Props to this guy, whose photo below I found on Flickr. Now that's impressive.

critique...unemployment

This week in Vox, Kathryn and I are creating thumbnails for the upcoming Unemployment feature. It's kind of scary and surreal, since we are all about to be thrown out into the real world that these people are a part of, so we are trying to kind an appropriate and effective way to tell the story visually. We have great conceptual ideas of a 'day in the life' photo essay type of feature at this point.

While I'm talking about jobs - CONGRATS to the most recently hired members of our class! You girls totally deserve it.

response...LBB part II

As I listen to my Laura Bell Bundy station on Pandora...yep, I'm that dedicated!...(just kidding, I love country music), I think about how much I enjoyed getting feedback from her in class yesterday. It was incredible that she took the time out of her day to speak with us. She seems so genuine and dedicated to her career and is very particular about her image, which I really respect. I am glad that we are all able to understand what she is asking of us, and that she is seeing things that she likes. That is really encouraging, and of course, I can't wait to see her on the ACMs on Sunday night.

I can't wait for the next 'round' of LBB logos to come out. Our class is really latching on to her ideas and requests in a creative way, and I love seeing what everyone produces.

04.07.2010

...you can't miss..shutter graffiti

Welcome to my hometown. These letters, which spell out my full name, are slices of life from my perspective and surroundings over spring break. Can you tell where each letter came from?

For a larger version of this photo collage (and the 'online booklet' component of this assignment), check out the fine arts tab of my website and click on the image for a surprise!

...critique...my website

This week has been filled with LOTS of work on my website. Like some of my peers, I have spent countless hours working to create my dream website. I had a website created before spring break, but after some tips from Aimee in lab, I decided to completely overhaul the site, and begin again from scratch.

I would love for you to check it out! Click here.

Oh - and one more piece of exciting news- over break, I also designed and printed 250 business cards. Talk about ramping up for graduation! I am anxiously awaiting their arrival in the mail...and I can't wait to post photos when they come.

...response...spring break

Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to document our spring break one day - and one photo - at a time. One week of relaxation and recovery after getting my wisdom teeth pulled, here are some gems that I found at home...

03.24.10

you can't miss...SXSW

This week, I was inspired by the awards and discussions about South by Southwest 2010 Conference. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the conference, it is a major conference (this year held in Austin, TX) about new and upcoming 'music', 'film', and 'interactive' people and resources that are quickly changing the way we look at our culture and how we interact. I know that m a few of our j-school professors went to the conference (held from March 12-21) specifically for the interactive portion, and learned about social media, networking, and other new media forms that are being developed and used.

As I explored the 'Interactive' division of the site, I was drawn to the awards section. I just had to see what the newest developments are that will soon be affecting my affecting me as a journalist! In the spirit of our most recent class discussions about building websites, I was eager to see what SXSW conference awarded as the best. I linked to a page with the Web Award Winners, and those were broken down into categories of their own. At the top of the list, I found that there was a category for an 'Art' site...how perfect!

And that is how I fell upon this week's inspiration. A website...which the main focus on art...and it won a SXSW interactive award! Here are some screen shots. Maybe you can use them for inspiration in your own website? Enjoy!

critique...department page, round five/vox cover

This weekend, I went into the Vox office to design my fifth department page. I am forming a pretty big portfolio of department pages already! This is both exciting and rewarding, because it is a tangible reminder of the time spent working on the publication. I am also having a good time finding new solutions to the 'puzzle' of the department page each week. The most recent design will appear in the Spring Break issue, which will run on 04/01. It feels great to have this done a few weeks early!

Here is the department (my fourth department) that ran in the 03/18 issue, which was last week.

I also had revisions due this week for my "Dialogues" story cover pitch, which is slated to run 04/08. Cassie won the competition this week, which was great. I like how fearless she is in her ability to scrap her original ideas when something doesn't work and start from scratch. I have such a hard time letting go! Here is what I presented.

response...meredith

Yesterday in class, we presented a more developed version of our Meredith designs. It was hard to know how much to present to the class as well as to our publishing group, since they seem to have new ideas each time we meet with them. I am really enjoying working with Cassie and Cara, and we are discovering that we are allowed to either embrace or veto the publishing group's ideas. At the beginning, I was feeling overwhelmed with the publishing group's expectations, but it has been much less daunting since we have been determining our own set of rules. Group projects are always a challenging, but it is very rewarding presenting designs that make our group smile. It is almost as if our group is our 'client' and we are creating work for them, much like our logo project for LBB.

I really loved seeing the other group's presentations. It is amazing to see the different tastes within each of the different groups, and I really like the original creations that were presented. Over break, I will develop my own feature designs and publish them here. Jan keeps encouraging my group to work together more closely so that each of our styles come through, and I think that will be my main focus for the remainder of the project. I can't wait to get together again once we all return from break to compare and converge styles throughout a more completed version of the project, and I am really looking forward to that stage.

03.17.2010

response...design mags

Yesterday in class, we had a group discussion about design magazines. We were able to talk about the typography, story selections, and even paper choice and art decisions made within the pages of the magazines. We all had different magazines, and I read STEP inside design. Here is an example of what STEP looks like.

My issue was a typography issue, and I had fun thinking about potential reasons for the letters and fonts that were chosen throughout the magazine. The beautiful designs were showcased in many different ways in the different magazines, and it really made me think about what innovative design. How do you create innovative design? So much of what I create comes from inspirations or ideas that I have seen in other places, and I love thinking about where the designs in the design magazines came from.

We discussed elements Lupton's Thinking with Type book, and created connections between the letters, text, and grids that we saw in the magazines to the examples in the book, and how each magazine used these items in their own ways. I loved opening the text and the magazine side by side, and identifying specific examples of the fundamental elements of design. It was a great discussion!

critique...department number four

This week, I designed my fourth ARTS department page for Vox. It's awesome to see how the process get quicker and easier each week. The biggest struggle I had when designing this Sunday was trying to fit all of the text onto my single department page. I had an anchor story, a lengthy sidebar, and a recurring section - all with photographs - to fit on the page. I have never had a sidebar on my page, so that was a new challenge. Luckily, my editor happened to be in the Vox office, and she was able to see firsthand how tight everything was. It was great that she was able to see it then, rather than days later with an attached page of overflow text. We are starting to see the struggles that each role within Vox has, and it is enabling us to work together more closely.

you can't miss...typography in adverting

There are some awesome new things going on in Veer, the blog that I follow weekly. The newest post is about typography in advertising, and the creativity behind these designs are incredible.

Once I clicked on this image on the Veer site, I was linked to a page with hundreds of typography designs! Here are a few of my favorite, all of which I pulled from this amazing blog. See if you can identify what the design is advertising. Some use food, some use paint, and others just remind me of incredible installation fibers art projects that I spent a semester learning about last year.

Have a great week!

03.10.2010

response…the september issue

I have been obsessed with this movie ever since it came to Columbia a few months ago! I was so glad we watched it in class. It is hard to believe that the inside offices of Vogue are actually similar to what I remember from The Devil Wears Prada. Although it looks intimidating, it makes me that much more excited about entering the Magazine world as soon as possible! Here is the trailer.

Stepping inside the world of Anna Wintour took me to another time and place...a time and place that exists, but also one that I have never been exposed to. It gave me a sneak peek into the couture, makeup, photography, and direction of the magazine. I was amazed to see how intertwined the fashion industry and magazine industry are - at least in terms of Vogue magazine.

critique…LBB

This week, we introduced our final designs for LBB to the class. We talked about our designs, and it was fun to compare ideas and look at the functionality of the designs. Here is what I presented, with my favorite design on top.

I loved the details that many of the logos had in their design. There were some great color palates, interesting use of texture, and great use of typography. My favorites were the logos that combined a country-western color scheme with more feminine fonts or images (like the horseshoe). THe class did an awesome job and I can't wait to see which logo LLB chooses.

...you can't miss...Grammy artwork

In spirit of the recent award shows, I came across some interesting artwork that gives a creative spin on celebrity images. In each of these, the celebrity is made up almost completely of typography. These are from last year's Grammy awards. The below image of Rihanna is courtesy of this site. These images are an amazing mix of color and type, and the attention to detail is incredible.

The blog that I pulled the above image from also gave this link, which is the blog that originally hosted the images. Check out this site if you want to see more. Below is Stevie Wonder, followed by Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Enjoy!