Blog Update (AceJet) and You Can't Miss!

This week AceJet has compiled some more book designs, typography examples from signs around the world, and a blog that compares arial and helvetica. The most interesting item he pointed to was a collection of photos/scans of the New York Transit Authority style manual from 1970. It's fun to see all the detail that goes into designing the type, placement and organization. To visit the blog, go to http://acejet170.typepad.com/. For the flickr site with the style manual photos, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/triborough/sets/72157594441672864/detail/.



YOU CAN'T MISS: I think Sweden is great for many reasons, but I think you should think Sweden is great because several organizations in the country named 2005 the Year of Design (and it looks like they're working on the next year of design for 2010). In their words: The Year of Design is focused on design that can benefit society through development of culture and the arts, economic growth, enhancement of democracy and environmental protection. Go to this site to see some of the products that were created during this Year of Design: http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/Article____11233.aspx.

Response - Meredith Trip

We talked a lot about our impressions of Meredith today in class, and it was fun to hear from everyone. A lot of people seemed to feel like creativity is stifled and that risks are avoided in favor of assured financial gain. I agree that their core publications are very formatted, and I think it is OK for them to be consistent. With all the success of these publications, I think they could stand to be a little more adventurous with other publications just to test the waters.

It was neat to meet with Jill Waage, who is part of the team that came up with Balance. I agree with my group members that it seems like they're trying to recreate Real Simple. I think it is fine and dandy to have the same sort of goals as Real Simple, but the protype layouts they created were a little too close in feel and style (I realize they had to put these together quickly and probably worked on them in addition to many other work responsibilities, so I can't be too hard on them!) Real Simple is very clean, very organized, which is aesthetically pleasing but I never feel like I could attain that level of clarity and order. Jill talked about how these busy women need to find balance by picking and choosing what they need to invest the most time in and what can be lower on the to do-list. I think this acceptance of imperfection (the idea that no one has time to be the perfect everything) should be reflected in the design. In other words, having the clean, pristine feel might not be what balance readers need. To reflect their lives, perhaps give them a little bit of the Real Simple style as something to attain to, but also give them a a more honest depiction of the busy, varied, and eventful lives they have.

Subway Feature Drafts - Commentary

Below are my first two drafts of the feature design for the Subway story. The top two images comprise my very rough draft - just enough to get the concept across. The bottom two images are my reworked rough draft. I created an illustration of what a Subway system map of Columbia might look like and placed the "subway stop" symbols in the relative location where they would be. Since making this design, I have updated the illustration to include the addresses of the Subway locations so it is more evident (rather than in the abstract/make believe map I created) as to where the Subway locations are. One problem I am having is finding the exact locations of the 15 subways. As of now, the Subway website still lists the locations that are now moved (it still lists one as being in the walmart on stadium, which has moved to Broadway). I need to do some sleuth work on this to determine where the 15 locations actually are.

The second page of the spread still needs help - it's too plain, or maybe just needs an element to pull it all together. If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE send them my way. I would greatly appreciate your help.

Subway Feature Drafts - Images

Can't Miss - Brainstorming Technique

Since I had trouble with the brainstorming process with the breast cancer story, I decided to look for some good brainstorming techniques. There are so pretty extensive sites out there (I found one with at least 100 techniques), but surprisingly a lot of them are aimed at business people. Perhaps aritsts, writers and designers are assumed to have well-developed brainstorming abilities already and therefore don't need additional resources?

I did find one technique by a marketing and branding blogger. His SCAMPER theory sounds like it is worth a try. The mnemonic stands for: Substitute, Combine/Create, Add, Modify/Magnify, Put to other uses, Eliminate/Elaborate, and Reverse/Rearrange. For an example of this technique, visit the blog: http://nickrice.blogspot.com/2006/08/brainstorming-tips-tricks.html.

Ace Jet 170 Blog Report

This semester I will be following the blog at: http://acejet170.typepad.com. The author is an English graphic designer who works in Belfast implementing brands and corporate IDs. The blog focuses on found design: objects found in every-day life that have unique designs. Discussion of typography is prominent; every week there is a post called Found Type Friday. Images of typography found in various locations (old books, packaging, or even toilet paper roles) are discussed.

One recent post has some fun visuals. The author examines the book covers of the Penguin Poets books, all of which are mainly comprised of a colorful pattern. Perhaps some of them can serve as inspiration for future design projects. The designs are from the first half of the 20th century, so if you're looking for some patterns/trends from these decades these images will be fun for you to explore. Check them out at: http://acejet170.typepad.com/foundthings/penguin_poets/index.html.

Response - written critiques

I like the idea of the written peer reviews we did in class today; I'm looking forward to getting the critique sheets back and hearing everybody's ideas. As I was reviewing other's work, I found myself wanting to ask questions about their decisions (as we could do in during the oral presentations/critique sessions in our lab of the first mag. design course). Instead, we were forced to evaluate the design as readers would, with no verbal explanation as to the intentions (which was hard!). Another important element was balancing positive remarks and areas for improvement. I know that I sometimes have a hard time taking criticism, so I think this class will be great at helping me get over that. Everyone in the class seems to have great ideas, so I think we will all benefit from learning from each other and helping eachother with brainstorming and design revisions.

Critique

I agree with Maggie that brainstorming a strong concept for the breast cancer assignment was a challenge. It was hard to incorporate all aspects of the story: Heather's life, her battle with breast cancer, the theatrical performance and using humor to help get you through the cancer. Kristin's cover (the winner!) did an excellent job at incorporating the ideas of breast cancer and humor/clowning around in a very classy way. My cover didn't have any references to breast cancer, which I believe is its major downfall.

I thought the most important message was the use of humor as a coping strategy (for breast cancer or any other illness) and took a cue from the well-known aphorism "Laughter is the best medicine" (note: I really like how Maggie transformed this to "breast medicine"). To create the cover image, I took a photo of a pill bottle. In photoshop, I discovered the bevel and emboss tool in order to write "laughter" on each of the pills.

For the spread, I wanted to continue the "laughter is the best medicine" theme and, thus, used a clown image as the U in laughter. (see www.flickr.com/photos/mmmappingdesign to view the images) The clown's laughter fills a medication bottle. The background color was chosen to imitate skin tone, and the arc within the second spread intends to mimic the shape of a breast. The main aspect I would change about my cover and feature design would be to better incorporate the idea of breast cancer. This idea is absent in my design but, due to the focus of the story, should have more prominance. Limited brainstorming time was definitely a factor. If the perfect idea didn't come to you in time, you have to just roll with what you've got.

Next up in my designing efforts is the feature spread for the VOX article about the large quantity of Subway restaurants in Columbia. I'm currently in the brainstorming process and will prepare my rough ideas for thursday's lab. I'm also looking forward to the Meredith trip. It will be fun to listen to everyone's ideas and then implement them into a prototype.