Not necessarily design oriented,

BUT it does have to do with inspiration in general, and I think a lot of this TED talk could be used when thinking about design, too. This little girl's name is Adora Svitak. Sure, she's cute, so she makes you want to listen, but I didn't expect her to be so smart, so charming, and so freaking inspiring! This girl's 12 years old and is already a seasoned author, blogger, and speaker.

Watch her TED talk, "What adults can learn from kids," HERE, and prepare to be awed.

typography definitions for project 02

_ What are the advantages of a multiple column grid? 
A more balanced composition, easier for the eye to read, can use different widths for text. More flexible, more room for experimenting.
_ How many characters is optimal for a line length?
40 to 50 characters (each letter, space, and punctuation)
_ Why is the baseline grid used in design?
Designs weighted to the bottom are more pleasing to look at. Helps the inner structure. Allows things to share the same baseline.
 _ What is a typographic river?
gaps appearing to run down a paragraph of text, due to a coincidental alignment of spaces, formed when justified.
_ From the readings what does clothesline or flow line mean?
a horizontal measure that divides the page into spatial divisions and creates additional alignment points for the placement of the visual elements.
_ How can you incorporate white space into your designs?
Connect your text and title together. Keep white space to the outside. Try ragging some columns.
_ What does type color/texture mean?
the weight or boldness of a character. Size, leading, and tracking also affect this.
_ What is x-height, how does it effect type color?

x-height is the height of the lowercase letters without ascenders and descenders. It effects type color by making it much visually thicker.

_ In justification or H&J terms what do the numbers: minimum, optimum, maximum mean?
 minimum amount of awkwardness, the optimum amount of readability, and the maximum amount of words on a line.
_ What are some ways to indicate a new paragraph. Are there any rules?

Some ways to indicate a new paragraph is by having a gap or space with no text, or an indent.

 RULES: 

The first paragraph is never indented, even if you are using indents in the rest of the text. Size of indent should not be the set amount, rather based on the leading. If you indent, do not add a space between paragraphs, must be either/or.

_ What are some things to look out for when hyphenating text.
Using the correct hyphen length in the correct situation. 

Never hyphenate a word in a headline, it must be at the right spot of a word for justifications, longer ones are for pauses in sentences. Avoid words 4 characters or less. Don't hyphenate proper nouns. When using multiple lines, "the", "of", "at", etc. should be on the next line, not left by themselves.

_ What is a ligature?
Mostly in serif fonts, the joining of "f" and "i", "f" "f" and "i", "f" "f" and "l", etc. The letters combine to form one character. Won't use if your type is tracked out.
_ What does CMYK and RGB mean?
cmyk: cyan, magenta, yellow, black. rgb: red, green, blue. CMYK is for print work, RGB is for screen work.
_ What does hanging punctuation mean?
it is a way of typesetting punctuation marks and bullet points, most commonly quotation marks and hyphens, so that they do not disrupt the 'flow' of a body of text.
_ What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe?
Apostrophes are curved and footmarks are straight.
_ What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?
Quotation marks are curved  and inch marks are straight.
_ What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used.
A hyphen is strictly for hyphenating words, en dash indicates a duration, such as hourly time, and an em dash often used in a manner similar to a colon or parentheses. You should never have three hyphens in a row in your text. Avoid hyphens in call-outs, if possible.

typography journal 05

Jonathan Harris AIGA Gain Conference

Summary:
Jonathan Harris is an artist and a computer scientist, meaning he creates his own art on the computer. Harris used to work by hand, sketching in sketchbooks that he carried around with him, but he was mugged and his sketchbook housing 8 months of drawings was stolen, prompting him to change the way he archived and worked. His work involves the exploration and understanding of humans, based on what they leave behind on the web. In this video, Jonathan talks about his recent projects as well as poses interesting questions about the web world and how it's shaping us.


Reflection:
After watching Jonathan Harris speak, I decided to explore some of his past works. One of my favorite of his is I Want You To Want Me, which was installed at the MOMA on Valentine's Day 2008. This interactive work explores the search for love and self in the world of online dating. It gathers new information from dating sites all over the world every few hours, adding to the already large compilation of data. According to the website, here is a small summary of how the work was displayed in the MOMA, "The data is presented as an interactive installation, displayed on a 56” high-resolution touch screen, hung vertically on a wall in a dark room.  On screen is an interactive sky, whose weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, etc.) can be controlled by the viewer.  Through the sky float hundreds of blue (male) and pink (female) balloons, each representing a single dating profile.  The brighter balloons are younger people; the darker balloons older.  Trapped inside each balloon is one of over 500 video silhouettes, showing a solitary person, engaged in any number of activities (yoga, jumping jacks, nose-picking, air guitar, etc.).  The viewer can touch any balloon to select it, causing its photo to dangle from a string and its sentence to appear in a thought bubble overhead.  Touching any balloon a second time pops it.  The balloons move through the sky along different paths and at different speeds, bumping up against each other, sometimes traveling together for a time, but only ever getting so close, as each silhouette is ultimately confined to its own balloon." Not only did I love the concept of this project, but I loved the overall look and feel of the project, too. I think Jonathan Harris is a very bright individual with very interesting and fresh takes on how technology shapes us and how we shape technology.

Article Choice: "Open Letter to Design Students Everywhere"

Author: Jessica Helfand

Who is Jessica Helfand?
   Jessica Helfand is an author, columnist, and lecturer on graphic design. In addition, she is the partner of William Drenttel of Winterhouse Studios. Helfand is also a critic of graphic design at Yale. Helfand is important to graphic design because she is a well-respected and knowledgeable critic who offers interesting and strong viewpoints in terms of graphic design.

Article Summary:
  Helfand gives advice to design students at all phases, those beginning their education, those amidst their education, and those who are done with school and looking for their place in the design world. Her article confronts the questions that face design students throughout their education, and she offers advice to become a more successful designer, and to get the most out of your education.

Six Main Points:

1. Keep a journal with you at all times for any thoughts you have throughout the day.
2. Draw at least one thing every day, it will make your pencil a better brainstorming tool.
3. Less is more.
4. Never stop thinking, asking questions, or experimenting; even after school is finished.
5. Have as many conversations as you can with as many people as you can.
6. Optimize the web for getting your name out there during school, and after.

Irina Werning: Back to the Future

I love these photographs by Irina Werning where she takes the photo's of people from the past, and stages them in the present. The result is a beautiful depiction of time travel and really sparks some interesting conversation about the past versus the present.

typography journal 04

MANTRA FOR THE WEEK:
Think with your mind. Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
I chose this mantra because I have found that when it becomes time to do some initial sketching, I reach for the computer. I do my sketches by hand because I prefer the control of the pen in my hand on the paper, but I look for inspiration on the web rather than in my own head. I need to step away from the computer, and start being inspired by what's existing around me, what's tangible.

Who is Bruce Mau?
Bruce Mau is an award winning designer, author, and publisher, known for his ability to originate, innovate, and renovate businesses, brands, products, and experiences. He is the Chief Creative Officer for Bruce Mau design, and founded the Institute Without Boundaries, a studio-based postgraduate program.

Why is he interesting to us?
Mau is interesting to us because his views on creativity are so obvious they're forgotten until reminded. His "Incomplete Manifesto" is something designers should live by, in my opinion. He is an incredible thinker and an incredible designer, paving the way for different-thinking and young designers.

audience personas: the lovely bones

Breanna, 16yrs old:

 Breanna is a 16 year old high school student, ending her sophomore year at high school in colorado. She has to do a lot of reading for school, so when she has free time, she likes to read books of her own choosing, often picked by how interesting the cover is or suggestions from friends. Her favorite types of books are those she can relate to the main character, usually a girl her own age. Breanna prefers books with action and more mature subject matter, as she finds most teen novels to be redundant and uninteresting. Though she likes to read more adult books, Breanna has friends that are more interested in the teen novels. Breanna is just a typical sixteen year old girl, though she likes to read more than the normal teenager.

Janet, 47yrs old:

 Janet is a 47 year old mother of three, two sons and one daughter, her youngest at 13 years old. Janet loves to read in her spare time, which she has a decent amount of since her daughter is her only child still living at home. Janet chooses her books by picking off of the best seller’s list, and she is also in a local book club of stay at home moms. Janet is also active in her local church and enjoys books with religious undertones or uplifting messages. Because she has a young daughter, Janet also likes to read books that she thinks her daughter may like, or bring up things she could talk to her daughter about, including serious issues.

Shirley, 62yrs old:

 Shirley is a retired school teacher and grandmother. She is especially concerned about her grandchildrens’ well-being, as the world is very different for them than it was when she was growing up. Because of this, Shirley likes to stay up-to-date on the latest news and finds novels based on true accounts to be very interesting. Despite her interest in true accounts, Shirley tries to avoid memoirs that lack happy or hopeful endings. She also likes to use these novels as lessons for her children and grandchildren. Shirley is a very family-oriented woman and tries to do everything she can to be a helpful and happy grandmother, mother, and wife.

typography journal 03

TED conference videos:
Stefan Sagmeister:

• I liked how Stefan Sagmeister viewed design from both a consumer aspect and a designer aspect. Design can make consumers happy solely because the consumers are experiencing the design, maybe what the design does or how the design looks. He mentions that from a designer aspect, you can measure happiness by how happy they are during the design process. I would ask him if he thinks the consumer is able to tell how "happy" a designer was during their design process, and if this makes a different in the final outcome of the product. Another important point I think Sagmeiter made was that with the movie industry today, a designer must portray happiness with a more cynical twist to it in order to appear authentic. I think Sagmeister is so popular because he has original and realistic views on design and is able to think from both a designer's standpoint and a consumer's standpoint.

JJ Abrams:

• I loved listening to JJ Abrams speak. His views were kind of childlike, which I found refreshing because it inspired me to see the beauty in everything, even a Kleenex box. I think his ideas and the way he comes upon them are so revolutionary, and I would love to be able to borrow from his creative process and his stream of thinking. I also love his views on creation; if you want to do it, do it. If I could ask him any question, I would ask him him how his creative thinking process beigns.

Ken Robinson:

• After recently reading a study that said that healthy sleep habits leads to a wider range of creative thinking, I couldn't help but laugh at the lack of sleep school gives me, and the creativity it requires. This sparked quite a bit of interest in me, and I found it interesting that Ken Robinson's "schools kill creativity" speech was able to tie in to this in a couple broad ways. I love his reminder that children are the most fearless of us all. If they don't know something, they take a chance, they take a stab at it because they're not afraid of being wrong. I love how he challenges the public school system and questions who actually learns from the education process and what the purpose of it is. I found it interesting that he said the goal of public education is to produce University professors, which are often viewed as the highest of human success. I like that he challenges the ideas of what is successful and what is meant to be learned from schooling.

How Good is Good Article:

• Sagmeister points out that bad design can make the world tougher to live in, whether it be because of unnecessary junk mail or overproduced packaging, or typography and design that make understanding material difficult. He also questions what the designer should strive for to be considered "good"; design for the masses, or design for designers. Sagmeister encourages us as designers to remember that design can do more than promote and sell, it can unify, help us remember, simplify our lives, make someone feel better, make the world a safer place, help people rally behind a cause, inform and teach, make us more tolerant, and raise money, just to name a few areas.

simply beautiful.

hands down some of the most beautiful typography I have ever seen.
check out this Estonia-based design company.
sure they're expensive, but they sure are fun to look at.

typography journal 02

Dieter rams: ten principles for good design
What makes good design, you ask?: good design is innovative, makes a product useful, makes a product understandable, aesthetic, unobtrusive, honest, long-lasting, thorough, environmentally friendly, and as little design as possible. I completely agree with Dieter rams and agree that successful design does follow these guidelines. To me, the most important of these guidelines is "Good design is as little design as possible". I think it's important to realize that the most successful and memorable designs are simple, and not weighed down and burdened with non-essentials. It is important that the design be simple and easy for a general audience to use and understand easily. Another important point is that "Good design is long-lasting." Successful designs are memorable and able to be used over a period of time without seeming dated. This is especially important when considering today's throwaway society.

Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy
According to Don Norman, good design makes the consumer happy by hitting three emotional cues caused by the object hitting three emotional cues, by being beautiful, functional, and reflective. He also references a study which proves that a boost of happiness can make people more creative thinkers, and can cause people to focus better than nerves and anxiety. Good design causes this kind of happiness by giving the consumer a sense of control while also evoking sensuality and beauty. Overall, emotion is a huge part of design, and good design in particular.

If I was able to ask Don Norman a question, I would probably ask him: If good design evokes emotion and causes the consumer happiness, is all design that evokes emotion and causes the consumer to be happy considered good design?


Twenty Rules for Making Good Design
The twenty rules for making good design are as follows:

1. Have a concept.
2. Communicate - don't decorate.
3. Speak with one visual voice.
4. Use two typeface families maximum. Sometimes three.
5. Use the one-two punch.
6. Pick colors on purpose.
7. If you can do it with less, then do it.
8. Negative space is magical - create it, don't just fill it up.
9. Treat the type as image, as though it's just as important.
10. Type is only type when it's friendly.
11. Be universal; remember that it's not about you.
12. Squish and separate.
13. Distribute light and dark like firecrackers and the rising sun.
14. Be decisive. Do it on purpose - or don't do it at all.
15. Measure with your eyes: design is visual.
16. Create images - don't scavenge.
17. Ignore fashion.
18. Static equals dull.
19. Look to history, but don't repeat it.
20. Symmetry is the ultimate evil.

The three rules I think are the most important are: if you can do it with less, then do it, be universal; remember that it's not about you, and look to history, but don't repeat it. I think many successful designs are minimalist and so I agree that it can be better to design with less. As a designer, I also think it's important to remember that you're designing for a client and an audience, not yourself. What you think may be the best design may not be the best design for the client. Finally, I think it's important to be familiar with and inspired by famous and successful designers of the past, but it's important to be original. You don't want to be remembered as a designer whose work looks like a new version of someone else's. Be original.

The three rules I think I could practice more are: negative space is magical, symmetry is the ultimate evil, and pick colors on purpose. Very rarely are my final designs heavy in negative space. I definitely want to experiment more with the way that negative space leads the viewer's eye around the page. I also struggle with asymmetry. Sometimes I find it to be too awkward looking if something is not symmetrical, and I would like to experiment more with placing things off balance. Finally, I need to focus more on picking colors on purpose. Though I do pick colors because they work well together, I think sometimes I pick an aesthetic palette, but forget how these colors should relate to the project. Other times I think I use the wrong combination of colors, or am too color heavy.

If I could ignore three of these rules, I would choose: have a concept, communicate - don't decorate, and ignore fashion. Sometimes, I think it can be beneficial to just start designing without any particular goals or concepts in mind and then work on forming a concept. I also wish I could ignore the communicate - don't decorate rule. Though it's important to communicate clearly to the consumer and the client, I don't think it's necessary to put decoration on the back burner. Something can be decorative and easy to understand. Finally, what's wrong with acknowledging fashion?! While I agree, sometimes following the trends can lead to boring, expected, trite, and tacky designs, I also think that if you're looking to grab a certain audience, following what's in fashion can lead to success.

random personal tidbit , typical .

Well, here I am designing some Summerfest logos for Tad's class tomorrow, and I think I may be on to something.

I THINK I'VE DECIDED I REALLY LOVE BRANDING AND WOULD LOVE TO DO THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

In conclusion, after a few weeks of being worried I wasn't sure what I was doing, and didn't quite know if I would find a place for myself in the design world, I feel.. alright.

typography journal: 01

After reading the Writer's Toolbox section of Writing for Visual Thinkers, I learned quite a few different ways to brainstorm for a project that I had never tried before. As the book says, it can be difficult for designers to brainstorm with writing because we are more visual than verbal. It is especially important to become a verbal thinker because it is more likely to lead to lateral thinking, which reveals less obvious, and often more successful, ideas. The writing exercises done during and before a project can also serve as reference to look back to once the project is done. Finally, writing exercises can also prove to a client that you can think in several different ways and can provide several types of research for the client to look over in regards to a project.

While reading this section of the book, I completed a few of the exercises in terms of the book I am re-designing, The Lovely Bones. Here are my results.

MIND MAP [click to enlarge]
Begin with a general concept word in the middle and branch out with words that relate to the concept word. Repeat, layer by layer.

FREE WRITE
Write for a period of time about your topic. Write anything and everything that comes to mind without erasing or taking then pen off of the paper, think about questions you have about your topic and your thought process.
The Lovely Bones is one of the most dreamy and lovely, delicate pieces of literature I have ever written. The sheer beauty and tragedy intertwined into the story line make this novel one that pulls at the reader's heart and causes them to cry out for a solution to the injustice done to Susie. When I began researching this novel I started to wonder what is the book's message? As I think further about this question during my free write, I realize it may have several messages, though none of them are too clear. My first message was that evil does not go unpunished. Upon thinking about this more, I realized that isn't true in this novel. Though Mr. Harvey does not kill another girl after Susie and dies, himself, Susie's family never finds out who Susie's killer is, nor do they ever find her body. Although Mr. Harvey is killed, he isn't necessarily punished, and justice was not served to Susie's family. I also have thought that the message may be one of hope or relationships. Hope because Susie's family continues to look for her, regardless of the lack of leads the police have. Relationships because once a tragedy.. actually, I think a better message than relationships might be the effects of tragedy on individuals. I guess that's not a message, rather a theme or concept. But, I think once Susie dies, her family changes drastically, as do their relationships with one another and the world. I also have thought about how the reader feels when they read this book for the first, second, or hundredth time. Every time, it seems to mimic the feelings of Susie's family, perhaps. The longing for a solution, the hope that Susie returns, or maybe the hope that Susie's message will get through to her family. Regardless, the story moves you, pulls you, and makes you believe in Susie and her story.


WORD LISTS [click to enlarge]
Begin with a general concept word, beneath it make a list of descriptive words, metaphoric words, or oppositional words, all relating back to the general concept word.

Life Lesson: branding by agencies every student should know.

1. CSA DESIGN

I love the way these business cards for French Paper Co. were resolved. The bright colors, and shape of the card are unusual, but not obnoxious. The icons and visual elements on the front of the card are fun and create a poppy, vintage feel. Finally, the way the type is treated on the back of the card is beautiful. The logo works well on the card, and the client not only receives the contact info of the company, but also a little backstory. Lovely, functional design.

2. HATCH SF

Hatch designed the corporate brochure for EMAW, and I think the end result is contemporary, sleek, and visually interesting. I love the limited color palette with natural colors. The typography is also well-treated and works well with the overall design of the brochure.

3. 160 OVER 90

The packaging designed for BOT drinks is so cute and so appealing. The characters for each flavor look friendly and can appeal to all ages. The ad campaign that went along with the drinks also had a feel-good attitude along with the bright colors and young consumers.

4. PENTAGRAM

This product line for Mothercare is contemporary and well-designed, though the overall tone of the products is soft and delicate, fitting since the products are for mothers to be and their infants. In addition the products look clean, again, fitting as many of the products include body washes and lotions.

5. WERNER WERKS

With this design for Integra Bank, both the simple and more typical bank brochure and a more contemporary, poppy design are featured. The design featuring icons represents "Bank Anytime" well, while also including a bright pop of blue-green to brighten up the space. Overall, a design that is appealing to younger bankers as well as older customers.

6. WILLOUGHBY DESIGN

These are gift certificates to SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza, located in Kansas City. I love the layering of this design. The patterns, vintage looking photos, and simple type work well with the restaurant's label logo. Overall, a well-designed and original concept for their "dough".

Life Lesson: designers every student should know.

People:

Saul Bass's cut and paste style is something that is memorable, but also successful.
This poster has a very vintage feel to it, and I love how the text is of a gold
color rather than the arm itself.

1. SAUL BASS

I love that Paul Rand can be the master of logos, icons, and marks, yet still
create whimsical and lovely designs and illustrations that appeal to children.

2. PAUL RAND

Alexander Girard is so free-spirited with the way he incorporates type and images into his
designs. I love in this design how the type is continuous and interacts with one another.

3. ALEXANDER GIRARD

I love the hand-textured strips of paper and the organic
type and shapes of Alvin Lustig's designs.

4. ALVIN LUSTIG

I love the way Fletcher incorporated both hand drawn and cut-out
text. The overlapping gives the design dimension, and it's very clean.

5. ALAN FLETCHER

I love the way Steinweiss treated type in this design. The way the
hat and the face of the man make up the words is ingenious. It works
so well with the diamond pattern in the background. Not to mention,
the color scheme is perfect and bright.

6. ALEX STEINWEISS

The Eames were all about clean, simple, and functional design. The Eames
chair is not only well-recognized and widely reproduced, but also sleek
and comfortable.

7. THE EAMES

This book illustrated by Marla Kalman is lovely. The
illustrations are fun, colorful, and have a unique
style to them that is loved by adults and children alike.

8. MARLA KALMAN

As a young designer who still hasn't refined her handwritten typography
skills, I am in awe of Steven Heller's talent. His work is legible, unique,
and beautifully crafted.

9. STEVEN HELLER