Re: Open Mic & Save the Fonts

Open Mic

My favorite part of this class and UB as a whole, is learning from my peers/instructors throughout the entire design process. Before grad school, I never had this – aside from one close friend who also designed on the side without a real design background. And let’s get real – your husband, parents and one of your best friend’s aren’t going to give you the real truth feedback you need to get, ha ha. My work superiors have no design background other than your design gag-reel of, “Ew, white space, make it pop, and I’d really like to see that logo bigger” feedback. People who I respect but would tell me that I’m the expert, when really I just felt like a fake. I was one of “those” people that really wanted to be a designer, but had no formal training.

I really wanted to come to design school to make a solid step in that direction. I ultimately came to this conclusion when interviewing for jobs that would make me lose all creative elements of my current role, and realized that strict corporate communication/PR wasn’t where I wanted to continue my career. The program has been awesome at helping me integrate my comm background with design and I really hope it gives me better direction when I make my next career move. Going to art school is something I have always wanted, but made excuses for not doing – and one day, after one interview, I said to myself – if not now, then when? (Cliché, but so true). And that is how I got here and I’m so glad I did it. I’ve grown more confident and I’ve learned much more about the art and design field in general just through class talks, which has been awesome.  I would have never called myself a designer before this, but now I am getting more comfortable saying so and even (gulp) added it to my LinkedIn recently. 

It’s been awesome getting to know all of you throughout the semester!  I share Don’s sentiments!  As for me, I don’t have a master plan for myself and I hate hate, hate,  “where do you want to be in 5 years, 10 years, etc.” question because I never know and my path is constantly changing and never moves (ever) where I think it will, ha ha. The small class dynamic has been unique and I am grateful for our roundtables and laid-back discussions…and hope to stay in contact with all of you.  :)

Save the Fonts: Small Town Signage

I come from a small town, so Mo’s post got me looking at some icnonic places in my hometown, Camden-Wyoming (yes that’s two names, they are so small they must share a post office…sigh), Delaware. (Cue Wayne's World reference)

I think it is interesting to look at type throughout history and how it serves your communities. I'm not sure I feel strongly about her charging for use one way or another (Regarding Mo's example). But I can say my town's typography isn't as cool as what she dug up --although, I'm sure these have been reworked and I couldn't find older versions via google. Here’s a glimpse at some businesses that have been around since at least the 20's, below. Not that these are shining examples, but I definitely see a resurgence of "old" typefaces - especially in hipster culture, as discussed in class. 

Burton Posters

Hey all!

I know this is late, but if you get chance to take a look at these and have any feedback before Wednesday, that would be great!

Thanks!

Open Mic Night at the 650 Blog Pub

Hello all,

I feel like I should do something really deep for the last blog, but I don't think that's a good frame of mind in which to begin. My next thought is to simply open a forum in which we could all reflect on our experience in this class and in this program. I'll go first.

This class has introduced me to all of you, and for that I am grateful. Every week we go about our lives and try to make progress on our projects, then we bring in what we have and share it. It's a great small group and I've learned a lot from all of you. The discussion topics, the blogs, the critiques, the various approaches you all take in finding a solution, and the "we're all in this together" vibe has helped me to endure the tough schedule of school, work, and a tiny bit of personal life. So thank you, all of you. I consider you all friends and colleagues, personally and professionally.

The program has taught me a lot about myself. I didn't identify as a designer at all before this. I still don't 100% identify as a designer, but I think that's ok (My pipe dream is to construct the great American novel, a Bildungsroman tale where my own experience is ascribed to the characters, and the people who have shared this life with me will know when they read the part they inspired). I have a job where I learn about publishing and textbook development, and in grad school I've learned all about the world of graphic design, but at the end of the day I am neither; I'm just another human being like all of you. What I do doesn't define me, and this is just what I'm doing right now. These are skills I'm learning and I believe that they will allow me to progress in my career and make enough money to live a comfortable life, rich in experiences and conviviality.

Will I be a graphic designer? Maybe not. Will my design skills help me in whatever I do? Absolutely! Will I continue to develop textbooks? Sure, until the next thing comes along. This program was a window of opportunity for me, so I jumped through it. I've met some dear friends, learned lots, I'll be able to say that I have a Master's Degree, when 3 years ago, at 29, I didn't yet have a Bachelor's Degree. It's all happening so fast, and I'm so busy that I forget how far my arrested development has brought me, but I think it's a good exercise, and not selfish or braggadocious at all to reflect on victories and accomplishments, and smile to myself. I did it.

So what about you all? How have you grown in your experience at UB? What have you learned about yourself?

Happy Wednesday! Eastwood Poster Progress -

I went back with the last few comments and made and re-introduced a new lifeless hand that I was originally thinking to use. I am still going to play with the lighter/the new hand a little bit (shading/color). The lighter is positioned more believably now than the last time.

All the hands are still being placed and coming into the posters around the same area, the bottom right corner. Check. I was originally thinking to have them all coming into the same exact spot but it was hard to find examples with similar perspectives to base them off.


I hope everyone had a outstanding Thanksgiving!

        

Baz Lurhmann Progress

Here is where I have gotten with my posters.

• Pumped up the brightness to reflect the movie color schemes better (saturated blue, gold & red)
• Moved the gold type to the movie titles (The Creative Market gods blessed me with a free psd gold styles set in last week's freebies if anyone wants it -- it's pretty awesome)
• Worked with the water motifs. *Fish tank - R&J moving toward eachother (?) gave the "+" air bubbles to try to nod to fish tank without adding new elements.  *More organic lake. *made the confetti same color to reflect "pool" of confetti rain covering the movie title...if that makes sense. 
• Logic was to try to make all type interact with the water in some way since that is how Luhrmann used it with his characters to express important themes/emotions.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! 

Thanks!!