hi all. great work this week!
please post your 2 most successful posters here on the blog as JPGs.
your assignment this week:
1. watch the film do the right thing, by spike lee. choose a scene that's minimum 5 minutes in length and transcribe it. look for conversation between interesting characters, dramatic tension, comedy, as it will inform your work better.
2. create a 20 page (front & back + 9 spreads) type-only book using the dialogue from that scene. it may be any size, in color or black & white, should not have any imagery, and does not need to have a specially treated cover. the cover should have only 1 piece of information: the name of each character in the scene you chose.
consider the following when beginning this project:
- what are the many different visual systems for representing dialogue and how do they each work? examine plays, interviews, comic books, chat room windows, text messages, etc. for reference.
- using color, typeface, composition, sequence, etc. create a system of your own for representing your characters' & dialogue.
- once you've created the system and made initial designs, think about how playing with and/or interrupting that system can better express the dynamics in the scene.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
5 Posters
Hi everyone.
Here are my five posters. For some strange reason the colors are completely wrong when they upload on to here. I will turn in the real hard copy ones next class but for now here are these cheap ones. I am so sorry I couldn't go to class I was feeling really sick and could not get out of bed this morning. I'll see you next week.
Alexandra
Friday, February 20, 2009
Notes & Assignments 2/19/09
your homework for this coming week is simple:
1. revise your 5 date posters, adding color and a 2 to 5 sentence paragraph about the actual date's significance. you may compose the paragraph however you like on the poster, i.e. contained in a single text block or spread throughout the composition.
2. bring something for show & tell to class. i urge you to not pick up a random magazine or postcard on the way to class, but instead think to find something that inspires, annoys or speaks specifically to you as a designer.
1. revise your 5 date posters, adding color and a 2 to 5 sentence paragraph about the actual date's significance. you may compose the paragraph however you like on the poster, i.e. contained in a single text block or spread throughout the composition.
2. bring something for show & tell to class. i urge you to not pick up a random magazine or postcard on the way to class, but instead think to find something that inspires, annoys or speaks specifically to you as a designer.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Advertising
Hey guys,
Here is an AD from who needs designers' web site. It is not like the best typographical piece of art ever and probably does not relate directly to our class. But it might help, if you experience design problems; like for instance, I am definitely getting some of that "whitespace eliminator" for next week! ;)
And in the end, to justify and make my posting less ridiculous; this is just showing a clever way to advertise an actual design studio: Agency Fusion.
Enjoy...!
Elena
P.S. The title should lead you there but just in case: http://www.whoneedsdesigners.com/
Here is an AD from who needs designers' web site. It is not like the best typographical piece of art ever and probably does not relate directly to our class. But it might help, if you experience design problems; like for instance, I am definitely getting some of that "whitespace eliminator" for next week! ;)
And in the end, to justify and make my posting less ridiculous; this is just showing a clever way to advertise an actual design studio: Agency Fusion.
Enjoy...!
Elena
P.S. The title should lead you there but just in case: http://www.whoneedsdesigners.com/
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Martin O'Neill
Hey everyone. This is a link to my favorite graphic designer. He works with collages and found images. He does it all by hand and uses no computers, it's all old-school style, which is something I loooove. Enjoy it because it is worth it.
Alexandra
Alexandra
Monday, February 16, 2009
fun stop motion! (with type, of course)
This is just a fun video, with many examples of typography made from real world materials.
Enjoy!
Daniel Eatock
daniel eatock is an artist/designer who just has a lot of good ideas.
this is one of them:
postcard-back-compositions
such a simple concept- rearranging the few elements on the back of a postcard. an elegant form of play.
nearly every one of the items in the left nav of his site is worth looking at. not to mention the site itself, which is built using something eatock helped create called indexhibit, an "archetypal, invisible website format". talk about content over form...
this is one of them:
postcard-back-compositions
such a simple concept- rearranging the few elements on the back of a postcard. an elegant form of play.
nearly every one of the items in the left nav of his site is worth looking at. not to mention the site itself, which is built using something eatock helped create called indexhibit, an "archetypal, invisible website format". talk about content over form...
Notes & Assignments 2/12/09
this thursday you have the following assignment due:
choose 5 dates that have emotional significance for you. choose among birthdays, deaths, first kisses, family events, achievements, disappointments, etc., or dates that are important to you and many others (such as inaugurations).
create one 10" x 16" black & white typographic composition poster for each date- i.e. a total of five posters. each poster should have only one piece of information on it: the date itself. you can express the date however you like, using any combination of words and numbers*, but the letters and numbers of the date must be the only visual elements on the poster. no images.
keep in mind two goals:
content- express the emotional significance of this date using the elements of typography (letterform, typeface, space, composition, etc.)
form- make a beautiful piece of typography
(* e.g. the date "january 21, 1978" could be expressed as:
1/21/78
1.21.78
one 21 nineteen seventy-eight
january twenty-first nineteen seventy-eight
etc.)
choose 5 dates that have emotional significance for you. choose among birthdays, deaths, first kisses, family events, achievements, disappointments, etc., or dates that are important to you and many others (such as inaugurations).
create one 10" x 16" black & white typographic composition poster for each date- i.e. a total of five posters. each poster should have only one piece of information on it: the date itself. you can express the date however you like, using any combination of words and numbers*, but the letters and numbers of the date must be the only visual elements on the poster. no images.
keep in mind two goals:
content- express the emotional significance of this date using the elements of typography (letterform, typeface, space, composition, etc.)
form- make a beautiful piece of typography
(* e.g. the date "january 21, 1978" could be expressed as:
1/21/78
1.21.78
one 21 nineteen seventy-eight
january twenty-first nineteen seventy-eight
etc.)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Hey guys, it's Gelsey and I wanted to leave a little bit of inspiration for everyone and who knows maybe we can get this blog going! Marian Bantjes is one of my favorite artists/type designers. She does a lot of hand illustrations incorporating text and they are absolutely stunning. The assignment that is due this coming week made me think of her stuff because it is so expressive, check out her site I hope you like it and have a great weekend! (also some of her work is very appropriate for the hallmark occasion as well)
http://www.bantjes.com/
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Notes & Assignments 2/6/09
hi guys
your two assignments this week:
1. read pp. 34-60 in thinking with type, i.e. the rest of the 'letter' chapter.
2. do the assignment on pp. 58-59. with the following specific adjustments to lupton's exercise description... do characters A-Z (one case only) and numerals 0-9... make each letterform anywhere between 4 and 16 blocks high (keep the height constant, but width can vary)... lupton says to avoid making "detailed staircases" out of the pixels- i don't. staircase away. i want interesting forms here, not just legibility or regularity. given these strict constraints, can you make your typeface unique?
also, please don't hesitate to post cool stuff you've found here, and please bring in neat things for show and tell.
see you next week.
your two assignments this week:
1. read pp. 34-60 in thinking with type, i.e. the rest of the 'letter' chapter.
2. do the assignment on pp. 58-59. with the following specific adjustments to lupton's exercise description... do characters A-Z (one case only) and numerals 0-9... make each letterform anywhere between 4 and 16 blocks high (keep the height constant, but width can vary)... lupton says to avoid making "detailed staircases" out of the pixels- i don't. staircase away. i want interesting forms here, not just legibility or regularity. given these strict constraints, can you make your typeface unique?
also, please don't hesitate to post cool stuff you've found here, and please bring in neat things for show and tell.
see you next week.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Fall in love with these websites
Here's a list of a few websites that I follow. I suggest that you bookmark them and subscribe to their RSS feed. Why? Because they have interesting articles, useful tutorials and some amazing resources.
- http://www.viget.com/inspire/
- http://www.webdesignerwall.com/
- http://freelanceswitch.com/
- http://veerle.duoh.com/
- http://digitalabstracts.com/
- http://wefunction.com/
- http://www.3point7designs.com/blog/
- http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/
- http://www.wearejustcreative.com/
- http://www.tutorial9.net/
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Steven Heller and Ugliness
i recommended eye magazine to you all, partially because of its wonderful writing on design. the following is the conclusion of an article called 'the cult of the ugly', by steven heller. originally published in eye #9, vol. 3, 1993. heller quotes a number of writers himself, which i've used to preface his own conclusion.
----------------
“Ask a toad what is beauty… He will answer that it is a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back.”
(Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary, 1794).
“The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life, 1860)
“Where does beauty begin and where does it end?... Where it ends is where the artist begins.”
(John Cage, Silence, 1961).
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
(John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn, 1819)
“Rarely has beauty been an end in itself,”
(Paul Rand, Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art)
“Ugliness is valid, even refreshing, when it is key to an indigenous language representing alternative ideas and cultures. The problem with the cult of ugly graphic design emanating from the major design academies and their alumni is that it has so quickly become a style that appeals to anyone without the intelligence, discipline or good sense to make something more interesting out of it. While the proponents are following their various muses, their followers are misusing their signature designs and typography as style without substance. Ugliness as a tool, a weapon, even as a code is not a problem when it is a result of form following function. But ugliness as its own virtue – or as a knee-jerk reaction to the status quo – diminishes all design.”
(Steven Heller, The Cult of the Ugly, 1993)
----------------
“Ask a toad what is beauty… He will answer that it is a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back.”
(Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary, 1794).
“The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life, 1860)
“Where does beauty begin and where does it end?... Where it ends is where the artist begins.”
(John Cage, Silence, 1961).
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
(John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn, 1819)
“Rarely has beauty been an end in itself,”
(Paul Rand, Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art)
“Ugliness is valid, even refreshing, when it is key to an indigenous language representing alternative ideas and cultures. The problem with the cult of ugly graphic design emanating from the major design academies and their alumni is that it has so quickly become a style that appeals to anyone without the intelligence, discipline or good sense to make something more interesting out of it. While the proponents are following their various muses, their followers are misusing their signature designs and typography as style without substance. Ugliness as a tool, a weapon, even as a code is not a problem when it is a result of form following function. But ugliness as its own virtue – or as a knee-jerk reaction to the status quo – diminishes all design.”
(Steven Heller, The Cult of the Ugly, 1993)
A Philosophy of Teaching/Learning Design
the following is from Cranbrook Academy of Art's 'Departmental Philosophy: 2D Design (Graphic Design)'...
"We support old-school formal design fundamentals. In music there is the notion of "chops"; one develops one's chops through diligence and application. The issue of formal mastery is critical, because that old form/content dichotomy is so oversimplified. Form is content. Content is form. They are inextricably linked. Conversations or methodologies that deal with one then the other are counterproductive. A certain technical and formal mastery is essential. However, there are far more important issues than external discipline-based awareness that should guide the designer. Cranbrook actively cultivates a disdain for work that adheres to Names and Forms. Graphic Design Proper doesn't exist and never did. The real work – the work that will stand the test of time within any discipline – is so much harder to classify. It doesn't conform, it doesn't follow or fit. The real issues for the designer are so much deeper than that, and so far below current cultural radar. Central to our agenda is an attempt to get the students to begin to discuss work in relationship to an interpersonal value system. That is, one's work should be a natural extension of one's core values. And those core values should be examined. The goal is not to advocate a specific value system, but to begin to understand how ideology is related to "form." [bolded text is mine] With this in mind, the first and most important step is to be true to one's self. To allow one's work to be "true," to be "honest," to be "real" even in deceit. Within the studio and within the critique, discussion about these issues and how they affect both generation and reception is cultivated. It is equally important to establish an environment that encourages and rewards risk taking. There is no gain without risk. There is no contribution without risk. To steal a quote from Frank Herbert's Dune, "Fear is the mind killer." Students must realize the importance of risk within work. They must realize that approval seeking is a vicious cycle that never leads to truly powerful work. The studio environment gives them an opportunity to deal with these issues from within the work.
Graduate education can be very vital, but only if undertaken for the right reasons. There are two types of students: those who feel that the responsibility for their education lies with the school, and then those who realize that the responsibility for their education lies within themselves. This correlates with those who attend a school for the "degree," and those who attend for the "experience." A real education transforms the individual at the core, and is priceless. That you have two years in a supportive environment, with a group of equally committed peers, to explore any subject, theme or media, is powerful. Is that enough? No, of course not. But it certainly begins with the cart behind the horse. There is a pronounced attitude of entitlement that permeates most educational institutions that is extremely counterproductive at best. Freedom is a double-edged sword. We welcome those who are self-motivated, unafraid and possess a great deal of energy and flourish. We adhere to the advice of Joseph Campbell: "Follow your bliss.""
(article's original source)
"We support old-school formal design fundamentals. In music there is the notion of "chops"; one develops one's chops through diligence and application. The issue of formal mastery is critical, because that old form/content dichotomy is so oversimplified. Form is content. Content is form. They are inextricably linked. Conversations or methodologies that deal with one then the other are counterproductive. A certain technical and formal mastery is essential. However, there are far more important issues than external discipline-based awareness that should guide the designer. Cranbrook actively cultivates a disdain for work that adheres to Names and Forms. Graphic Design Proper doesn't exist and never did. The real work – the work that will stand the test of time within any discipline – is so much harder to classify. It doesn't conform, it doesn't follow or fit. The real issues for the designer are so much deeper than that, and so far below current cultural radar. Central to our agenda is an attempt to get the students to begin to discuss work in relationship to an interpersonal value system. That is, one's work should be a natural extension of one's core values. And those core values should be examined. The goal is not to advocate a specific value system, but to begin to understand how ideology is related to "form." [bolded text is mine] With this in mind, the first and most important step is to be true to one's self. To allow one's work to be "true," to be "honest," to be "real" even in deceit. Within the studio and within the critique, discussion about these issues and how they affect both generation and reception is cultivated. It is equally important to establish an environment that encourages and rewards risk taking. There is no gain without risk. There is no contribution without risk. To steal a quote from Frank Herbert's Dune, "Fear is the mind killer." Students must realize the importance of risk within work. They must realize that approval seeking is a vicious cycle that never leads to truly powerful work. The studio environment gives them an opportunity to deal with these issues from within the work.
Graduate education can be very vital, but only if undertaken for the right reasons. There are two types of students: those who feel that the responsibility for their education lies with the school, and then those who realize that the responsibility for their education lies within themselves. This correlates with those who attend a school for the "degree," and those who attend for the "experience." A real education transforms the individual at the core, and is priceless. That you have two years in a supportive environment, with a group of equally committed peers, to explore any subject, theme or media, is powerful. Is that enough? No, of course not. But it certainly begins with the cart behind the horse. There is a pronounced attitude of entitlement that permeates most educational institutions that is extremely counterproductive at best. Freedom is a double-edged sword. We welcome those who are self-motivated, unafraid and possess a great deal of energy and flourish. We adhere to the advice of Joseph Campbell: "Follow your bliss.""
(article's original source)
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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