Response: Portfolio Process

So we've all been working on compiling all of our design work for our portfolio. I talked a little last week about the feedback I received from my fellow design classmates, which was really helpful getting fresh eyes to look at my designs. I find I look at my work so much that I never notice the things that other people notice right off the bat. I've been into looking at other designers (not from our class)'s blogs lately that showcase their design work. One thing I've picked up on is that nobody else that I've come across has iPad work. How awesome is that! It definitely makes us stand out from other designers and puts us ahead of other contestants for jobs, internships, etc. Magazines are transforming into different types of platforms that it's very important as a designer to stay on top of the newest technology, especially when trying to find a job!

Critique: DGB!

So I officially have my favorite clip. Although it's not quite your typical department page, it ran as a Scene page in Vox on Thursday. I talked a little bit about it last week on my blog, but now I have the published version!

I'm really excited about it, not only because I now have an awesome clip for my portfolio but it brought a little uniqueness and variety to Vox's usual scene department page.

I also have photos of my feature that came out in print Thursday. I was really happy with how it turned out. I ended up having to change the font just a little bit, but it wasn't too drastic so it didn't change the overall look I had for it originally.

It's kind of difficult to see since it's a photo of the magazine and now the actual file, but I played around with adding color to the spreads, keeping them cohesive but giving each of them originality. I didn't use a pull color, but I picked a color palette that I thought would go with all of the spreads, which I think turned out nicely. I'm definitely glad I chose to add color instead of my original idea of keeping it all black and white.

Can't Miss: If Fonts Were Dogs

Going off of last week's discussion about Helvetica and other types, I came across this and had to post it to my blog. I found it hilarious, and actually really accurate. And it sums up every designer's hatred for Comic Sans! Obviously my favorite is the Comic Sans dog, but my other favorite is the Kunstler dog. The dog fits the look of the typeface perfectly, especially that it's scripty. This just show how types can tell a story and give off a certain vibe, just by looking at the type.

Can't Miss: The Gentlewoman Magazine

While browsing through magCulture blog, I came across The Gentlewoman Magazine. It is a magazine from London and I went to its website and looked at some of their spreads and they're beautiful!


What first caught my eye was the logo:

And the cover:

So simple. So beautiful.


The content is a lot of features on different types of women. Such as...

I just think it's so pretty, especially the script font of the names.

Check the rest of it out here! 

http://www.thegentlewoman.com/

Critique: Vignettes feature!

Last night I had a nightmare about my feature design. I dreamt that when I picked up the final copy of Vox on Thursday that my feature that I've been putting so many hours into was completely blue. Does this mean I've been spending too much time in Vox lately?! Perhaps.

I spent six long hours at Vox on Sunday to finish up my feature, but mainly to design my department page. For this week's scene page is a "feature" on DGB, Mizzou's biggest and baddest new football recruit. It wasn't treated as a normal department page; we were going for an "Esquire cover" look. I'm really excited about how it turned out, not only because it'll be a great clip but it ads something new and different to this issue of Vox! I don't have a PDF of it yet since it hasn't come out yet, but I'll be sure to add it to next week's blog post.

Now for the feature presentation... :)

I don't have the final version of what will be going to print tomorrow, so you'll just have to pick one up tomorrow! But I do have the most current version. My first and second draft were just black and white, and I wanted to have some kind of color to it to make it more eye-catching and have the stories stand out from each other but still have some sort of cohesiveness to them.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and I think all my hard work paid off. Very excited to see the final draft tomorrow!

Response: Helvetica/Just My Type

I am writing this blog post in Helvetica... in honor of watching the documentary Helvetica yesterday! I've always heard it was a great documentary, even from my non-designer friends! I knew that Helvetica was everywhere, but I didn't realize it is literally everywhere. The documentary showed us a bazillion examples of where we see it every day, and it truly is on everything! Even right now, I'm sitting on my back porch writing this blog post and it is on my trashcan, grill, warning label on the grill and my roommates jeep. I can't escape!

Something that stood out to me while reading Just My Type was when it talked about how when people say they like fonts and think they are the most legible, such as Times New Roman, they only think that because they are so familiar with it. "We like to think of our cultural tastes improving and maturing with age, but in the case of type design something else also happens: we are simply worn down by over-exposure... Preferences for typefaces such as Times Roman exist by habit, because those typefaces have been around longest. When those typefaces first came out, they were not what people were used to either. But because they got used, they have become extremely legible." (53-54, Just My Type). Comparing that to Helvetica, it has been around for such a long time and people see it everywhere that they are so familiar with it.

Another part of the book I found kinda fun was in chapter 2, talking about how types have genders. 

"The understanding is that heavy bold jagged fonts are mostly male (try Colossalis), and whimsical, lighter curly fonts are mostly female" (25, Just My Type). I think our minds subconsciously realize this when we design. When we design for magazines, we think of a type that fits the overall theme/idea of the story. Just like colors -- girls are associated with pink and boys are associated with blue!

Something that stood out to me when reading chapter 4 was the Futura vs. Verdana debate. "In August of 2009, an usual thing happened in the world: IKEA changed its typeface. This wasn't so strange in itself - big companies like to stay looking fresh, and this is often the easiest way to do it - but the odd thing was that people noticed." (73, Just My Type). After reading that, it surprised me that people noticed the change. I always notice those types of things but I just think it's because I'm a designer and have a weird thing for typefaces. But when people other than designers notice those things it makes me realize how important typefaces really are! This world would not exist without them! They have the power of creating moods and can trigger emotions, just with a type!

Response: Portfolio critique

I found our portfolio critique yesterday in class really helpful. First of all, I didn't realize I had so many designs to put in my portfolio, which makes me feel a lot better. I've always been scared of the word "portfolio" because I never knew I had enough stuff to put in it. But I received a lot of compliments as well as  constructive criticism. The feedback I received from my fellow designers helped me rule out what I don't want to include in my final portfolio and also helped me decide what I should revise so I can include better pieces in my portfolio. It's always good getting other peoples' opinion on my work because they notice things that I never notice.


Everyone wrote general comments on my portfolio, and after reading them I realize I need to try some new things with my designs and be a little more edgy with my work. I need to face my fear of Illustrator and Photoshop and try more things with those programs and push more elements. I think I have a certain style and it's very obvious in my work. I want to try new things that I haven't done design-wise before but still keep my style of design.

Critique: Vignette feature

These past 2 weeks, I've been working on designing the feature for Vox. This feature was a little more difficult because it wasn't one long story, so I couldn't do running text throughout all 8 pages. The topic of the stories is "Vignettes" but it was difficult for the editors, writers and me to think of a catchy title. There are 7 different stories, so I struggled a little bit with making them all cohesive, yet different enough that it wouldn't bore the reader. Below is my 2nd draft that I'm presenting tomorrow, still changes to be made.

Something else that's been somewhat difficult was the overall theme of the package. Right now it's "Social Circles" but we had a brainstorming session in the Vox meeting to think of a different theme. We've thrown out the words: hobbies, communities, friendships, sharing interest, just to name a few.

This will be running next Thursday, I'll be sure to post the final version then!

Can't Miss: Logo designs

Like many other designers, I love logo designs. I came across this logo on Pinterest that I loved, so I went to the website it's from and of course had to take a look around. This one is my favorite:

And I also love this one...

There are a bunch of other fun logos, so definitely check them out. The website is http://designspiration.net/. A lot of the logos work with some really cool typography, and just like the website's name, I am definitely inspired by these designs!