This week, I spent some time looking at the blog Veer. The most interesting recent postings are about a "Take a Picture" contest they held, where applicants sent in their own personal designs of the word "veer". Here is a short clip of how the winning photo was made. These are some other runner-up photos.
What I love about these how each contestant used their surroundings to create on original piece of art work. You will see throughout this blog entry that this has been a major theme of my discoveries made in this course over the past week, and these photos are visual representations of how I am reminding myself to think: outside of the box. The site is a very contemporary but also playful forum where images and ideas are posted and commented on, voted on, and developed. The accompanying blog site, known as "The Skinny," is a place where bloggers from the site give a more behind-the scenes look at the world they live in: photos of favorite graphics, book printing and binding links, tips for photographers, and videos from relevant conferences and leaders in the field. However, my favorite part of exploring these sites this week were the photos from the contest.These photographs are designs because they show that any design cam be made out of simple resources. They also show that the designers/creators/inventors behind the work were able to be innovative and creative at the same time, by creating something new from an idea or platform that already existed. This week, the individuals in our class with the best designs were able to do the same thing.
...response...
In class on Thursday, each of us had the privilege of acting as a City & Regional Magazine Association 2010 Preliminary Judge. This was an incredible opportunity, and I learned about what it takes to critique a design from an entirely different angle.
Each of us had our own favorite designs, and it was hard to choose a winner because each 'top' layout was very distinct and remarkable in its own way. Some had intricate typography; others had beautiful combinations of color. The favorites in the class were the layouts that took us to a different place by using elements of design that were out of the ordinary. We also held an interesting discussion about photography, and whether the use of photos made a design great or if the designer was the one who manipulated the idea of the photo to give us the pictures we saw in the printed publication. This was very interesting, because I haven't given too much thought to how the designer and photographer work together...previously, I had the idea that the designer made a photo request and the photographer shot the image they needed. By considering the limitations of this method of design, I realized that great design sometimes is a result of great collaboration.
As soon as we were finished the judging, we did another round on our own work. I really like the cover that was chosen for this week;s competition because it gave me a different perspective of how to think. For example, the cover is a series of the male restroom sign figures, and each of them are performing different actions that lead a boy to 'manhood'. I never even thought about using a figure that was already created (and is recognizable) and altering it to become my own! This was a very smart approach, and I am beginning to realize that I actually have many fewer limits in this class than I originally thought.
I also want to add that I liked the second place design just as much as the first place. After hearing Jan's reasoning (the cliche 'evolution' perspective had some social questions), I understood that I always need to keep in mind the audience and how to interact with that audience in a way that is not offensive. However, I really liked this design because it also took a different take on the development of a boy to a man - an evolution perspective - and was changed tweaked to be something that is recognizable yet unique. I am now seeing the ways that my classmates are approaching their designs, and it helps me to think about different techniques and ideas that I have never considered before.
...critiques...
The first assignment for Advanced Design was to create a cover and feature layout for VOX magazine's upcoming issue. It was a competition among all members of the class, and it was very exciting to see everyone's work. We were able to discuss and critique our final designs in class, where we went around the room in a forum-style discussion. Our deadline was a week from when the assignment given, Here is my feature for a story titles "Boys to Men".
When creating this layout, I selected photos that outlined the main idea of the story...which was how boys in college are realizing what it takes to be grown up. I opened with a spread that shows a young man hard at work, and I thought that was an appropriate visual representation of the story. The hardest thing for me in this project was to distinguish the design as a traditional one while still making it it interesting and visually pleasing. I was able to create clean spaces and lines, but I feel that sometimes 'clean' can act as a synonym for 'boring'. I plan to tweak this design for my portfolio by adding some more interesting visual elements, such as a sidebar with colors, different type treatment, and/or creating an illustration.
My second part of this assignment was the VOX cover. We had a choice of stories to base the cover design from, and the story I chose was one about personalizing cars. I decided to take inspiration from the car personalization TV show "Pimp My Ride" and make a graphic that readers would both recognize but also see in a new and different way than before. Here is what I created.
Although I spent a lot of time working on this, my final product is not what I envisioned at the beginning. It was fun to try to create 'a new meaning to an old favorite' once I thought about the "Pimp My Ride" idea, but the execution of the cover did not turn out as I had originally planned. I will definitely chose to re-work this piece for my portfolio, but I want to use the "Boys to Men" article instead. I feel exhausted of graphic ideas from this story, but I feel that there are many more visual possibilities that a different and new story brings.
