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.
