...are really, really hard to do well. We're currently in the middle of a branding project for one of my classes. I've been working on a logo design due Thursday and...Oh. My. God. So many decisions to make! Logos may look deceptively simple, but I can't think of anything more difficult to accomplish than the appearance of simplicity. Wish me luck!
Showing posts with label graphic design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graphic design. Show all posts
October 21, 2008
Logos...
...are really, really hard to do well. We're currently in the middle of a branding project for one of my classes. I've been working on a logo design due Thursday and...Oh. My. God. So many decisions to make! Logos may look deceptively simple, but I can't think of anything more difficult to accomplish than the appearance of simplicity. Wish me luck!
September 17, 2008
A blog about not blogging
My brain is mush right now, which is why I'm posting so much later in the day than usual. I try really hard to avoid complaining and negativity on this blog, but since this rant is sort of art and design related....
I have my evening classes tonight and tomorrow, and am not feeling so confident in the homework projects I'm about to present. Worse yet, I don't feel like I've been getting any helpful feedback or direction so far in my classes. I'm pretty disappointed. Which might have led to the aforementioned lack of confidence.
Maybe the upcoming weeks will prove me wrong - maybe it'll be great,...maybe I'll get a lot out of it. But I'm feeling like this is going to be a lOOoooOoong semester.
Last night, I had to wrestle with giant printing fiasco (why does 11x17 seem like a reasonable presentation size to teachers??? I do not live anywhere near my school, so I can't "pop into" the computer lab.) I've tried copy stores, and that is a hot mess and a waste of money. The only other people I know who can print that large are my parents. My dad is a self-taught photographer and has a great big printer for his photos. So, last night I was up with my poor mother at my parents' house until 12:30-12:45 trying to figure out why red on the computer screen was printing up as brown on the printer. Sigh.
Eventually, my mother figured it out. Everything is all set now...except my mood. Wish me luck tonight. I'll need it (that, and a bucket of coffee!).
I have my evening classes tonight and tomorrow, and am not feeling so confident in the homework projects I'm about to present. Worse yet, I don't feel like I've been getting any helpful feedback or direction so far in my classes. I'm pretty disappointed. Which might have led to the aforementioned lack of confidence.
Maybe the upcoming weeks will prove me wrong - maybe it'll be great,...maybe I'll get a lot out of it. But I'm feeling like this is going to be a lOOoooOoong semester.
Last night, I had to wrestle with giant printing fiasco (why does 11x17 seem like a reasonable presentation size to teachers??? I do not live anywhere near my school, so I can't "pop into" the computer lab.) I've tried copy stores, and that is a hot mess and a waste of money. The only other people I know who can print that large are my parents. My dad is a self-taught photographer and has a great big printer for his photos. So, last night I was up with my poor mother at my parents' house until 12:30-12:45 trying to figure out why red on the computer screen was printing up as brown on the printer. Sigh.
Eventually, my mother figured it out. Everything is all set now...except my mood. Wish me luck tonight. I'll need it (that, and a bucket of coffee!).
September 05, 2008
Year 2, Semester 1, Day 1
I had my first class of the fall semester last night. It's Graphic Design 1. So far, so good.
Hahaha! Oh well. Happy Friday, everyone!
For some reason, I'm not as afraid of a graphic design class as I was of typography last semester. Maybe it's because my teacher for this class is exactly my age. He graduated from Mass Art the same year I graduated from RISD...which is a little weird. But since I clearly haven't made a name for myself in my own field after all these years, maybe he can help me break into his. /o:
In any case, he seemed to be speaking about design on a level I can understand. It seems like all of the principles I learned from being an illustration major can be applied in a different format to graphic design. Good design is good design, right? I'm still nervous about Intermediate Typeography next week. Something about type still makes me vaguely nervous. Guess I'm going to have to get over that, huh?
In a little aside - we all had to get new IDs last night since the college changed its logo and ID format. I got a new photo too since the last one was wretched. I have to say, the new one isn't much better. I'm pretty sure that even supermodels look like crap in their school IDs and licences, but is it really necessary for me to look like Popeye in mine?
Hahaha! Oh well. Happy Friday, everyone!
August 29, 2008
Labor Day Blues
Labor Day weekend.
Having a 3 days off is normally a great thing, but this year's Labor Day weekend sort of filled me with dread. For me (and many other people, I'm sure) this weekend was the demarcation line between summer and the start of the school year.
I work in the office at a school. Technically I've been "back" to work at my normal job for the last two weeks (admin staff has to be back two weeks before the teachers return). Teachers come back this week and start meeting with parents and kids. That means my office will be thrown into utter noise and chaos all over again. And for me, this also means that the evening classes that I've been taking to work towards my graphic design degree also start again this week.
Gulp.
I'll be working full time plus taking two classes (and starting the long commute to school again). I took one class during spring semester, but I took two last fall semester and haven't forgotten what it was like. I had no life to speak of at all and the stress levels were enormous. Be prepared to hear about it a lot on this blog, since it consumes my life once I'm in the middle of it.
Speaking of school - my teacher from last semester never returned our projects this summer...in spite of me showing up in person to the school and then e-mailing him. Can you believe it??? I had something like 300-plus artist business cards that I collected for my final project and several other good pieces. I hope I run into him in the halls this semester. )o:<
Anyway, I have two days before the hammer falls and I start classes again. My goal is to be entirely organized by then. Since I started earlier this summer, I'm already well on my way there. I even accomplished my goal of painting the living room and dining room this weekend. Woo-hoo!
Anyone else have a crazy year that's about to start up post-Labor Day?
Having a 3 days off is normally a great thing, but this year's Labor Day weekend sort of filled me with dread. For me (and many other people, I'm sure) this weekend was the demarcation line between summer and the start of the school year.
I work in the office at a school. Technically I've been "back" to work at my normal job for the last two weeks (admin staff has to be back two weeks before the teachers return). Teachers come back this week and start meeting with parents and kids. That means my office will be thrown into utter noise and chaos all over again. And for me, this also means that the evening classes that I've been taking to work towards my graphic design degree also start again this week.
Gulp.
I'll be working full time plus taking two classes (and starting the long commute to school again). I took one class during spring semester, but I took two last fall semester and haven't forgotten what it was like. I had no life to speak of at all and the stress levels were enormous. Be prepared to hear about it a lot on this blog, since it consumes my life once I'm in the middle of it.
Speaking of school - my teacher from last semester never returned our projects this summer...in spite of me showing up in person to the school and then e-mailing him. Can you believe it??? I had something like 300-plus artist business cards that I collected for my final project and several other good pieces. I hope I run into him in the halls this semester. )o:<
Anyway, I have two days before the hammer falls and I start classes again. My goal is to be entirely organized by then. Since I started earlier this summer, I'm already well on my way there. I even accomplished my goal of painting the living room and dining room this weekend. Woo-hoo!
Anyone else have a crazy year that's about to start up post-Labor Day?
May 07, 2008
Small World
Last night was my second to last typography class of the semester. By next week, that journal of artist business cards will be done, and I will post pics of it on here for your viewing pleasure. (Or displeasure, depending on how it goes...lol.)
Aside from presenting our final 3 page magainze layout/spread, we had a guest speaker -- the talented graphic designer, Wing Ngan, of Ink Design. He's done graphic design for MIT, Harvard, and Houghton Mifflin to name a few. He's also been featured in loads of graphic design magazines. But what caught me by surprise was that he's an Etsy seller. Really. Go look. He sells adorable little gocco prints. I didn't say anything about my own shop (even though he was sitting right next to me). I just stashed the knowledge away and hearted him when I got home. Haha!
I have done both printmaking and silkscreening in the past, but had no idea gocco existed. They're teeny little silkscreening machines from Japan. Now that I know they exist, I MUST have one. Alas, they're a bit expensive and I don't have the funds at the moment. But it is the newest item on my wish list. Maybe I'll make a bunch of sales at once, and then have some spare cash to spurge on printmaking supplies. Hey - I can dream, right? (o;
Aside from presenting our final 3 page magainze layout/spread, we had a guest speaker -- the talented graphic designer, Wing Ngan, of Ink Design. He's done graphic design for MIT, Harvard, and Houghton Mifflin to name a few. He's also been featured in loads of graphic design magazines. But what caught me by surprise was that he's an Etsy seller. Really. Go look. He sells adorable little gocco prints. I didn't say anything about my own shop (even though he was sitting right next to me). I just stashed the knowledge away and hearted him when I got home. Haha!
I have done both printmaking and silkscreening in the past, but had no idea gocco existed. They're teeny little silkscreening machines from Japan. Now that I know they exist, I MUST have one. Alas, they're a bit expensive and I don't have the funds at the moment. But it is the newest item on my wish list. Maybe I'll make a bunch of sales at once, and then have some spare cash to spurge on printmaking supplies. Hey - I can dream, right? (o;
April 14, 2008
Paul Rand
In class a couple weeks ago, our teacher made us each pull a name from an envelope. Those slips of paper had the names of various graphic designers on them. Our newest ongoing assignment is to create a magazine spread for whichever designer we got.
I pulled Paul Rand. He's the one who designed the logos for UPS, IBM, ABC, and Enron (to name a few). It was a lucky draw, because I feel like I "get" Rand's work. It's modernist, simple, and witty.
Paul Rand passed away in 1996, but remains one of America's biggest names in graphic design. What I didn't know about him until my research this week, was that he designed a few children's books with his wife, Ann Rand. As an illustrator (who has been focused largely on the children's market in the past few years) this interested me. Take a look at some of his book covers:
The above cover is the french translation for Rand's book, I Know a Lot of Things. I mean, how adorable! That book (in any language) seems to be a collector's item now. The starting prices that I saw online were $40 and up.
The top two images are covers, and the lower images is a spread from one of the books. I think it's just gorgeous.
You know, it's funny...until this Typography class I didn't think about the people behind the designs we see every day. I guess in my mind, there were big corporations collaborating together and churning out logos and type like factories. I never thought of individual designers sitting behind their desks, brainstorming over letterforms and what way would best brand a company. Now I not only understand that many logos can be attributed to specific designers, like Rand, but I am starting to recognize and appreciate individuals and their work. It's sort of like a door opened up and I've discovered there's a whole other wing in this house that I haven't explored.
I still don't know if I'll ever be a good designer, myself (I still very much have an illustrator's brain). But I do feel like I'm learning and progressing by leaps and bounds. We'll see how I feel after the crit on my brochure layout tonight. I honestly have NO IDEA if it's good or bad. Usually I have some sort of inkling before class. Today? Nothing. I'm sure you'll hear about it either way. In the meantime, go look up Paul Rand online. You'd be surprised how many well-known easily recognizable logos are attributed to him.
I pulled Paul Rand. He's the one who designed the logos for UPS, IBM, ABC, and Enron (to name a few). It was a lucky draw, because I feel like I "get" Rand's work. It's modernist, simple, and witty.
Paul Rand passed away in 1996, but remains one of America's biggest names in graphic design. What I didn't know about him until my research this week, was that he designed a few children's books with his wife, Ann Rand. As an illustrator (who has been focused largely on the children's market in the past few years) this interested me. Take a look at some of his book covers:
The above cover is the french translation for Rand's book, I Know a Lot of Things. I mean, how adorable! That book (in any language) seems to be a collector's item now. The starting prices that I saw online were $40 and up.
The top two images are covers, and the lower images is a spread from one of the books. I think it's just gorgeous.
You know, it's funny...until this Typography class I didn't think about the people behind the designs we see every day. I guess in my mind, there were big corporations collaborating together and churning out logos and type like factories. I never thought of individual designers sitting behind their desks, brainstorming over letterforms and what way would best brand a company. Now I not only understand that many logos can be attributed to specific designers, like Rand, but I am starting to recognize and appreciate individuals and their work. It's sort of like a door opened up and I've discovered there's a whole other wing in this house that I haven't explored.
I still don't know if I'll ever be a good designer, myself (I still very much have an illustrator's brain). But I do feel like I'm learning and progressing by leaps and bounds. We'll see how I feel after the crit on my brochure layout tonight. I honestly have NO IDEA if it's good or bad. Usually I have some sort of inkling before class. Today? Nothing. I'm sure you'll hear about it either way. In the meantime, go look up Paul Rand online. You'd be surprised how many well-known easily recognizable logos are attributed to him.
April 09, 2008
The Grid is a system, Neo.
It seems I wasn't the only one in Typography class last night who didn't "get" the whole grid layout concept. After a 5 minute explanation from the teacher, I felt like I had an inkling of understanding. Even though I don't feel completely secure in my knowledge, going from having NO clue to at least SOME clue was huge. I felt like I could suddenly see the Matrix.
For those of you (like me) who are coming from a non-graphic design background, I'll try to explain. Imagine blueprints for a house you're going to build. You've got the square footage, the rooms are all drawn out, and that's the plan. Once the house is built, you are free to renovate and knock down walls if you want. A grid is sort of like a blueprint in the world of page layout. You set your margins, number of columns and their width etc -- then you build your design on top of those standards. That's how I understood it, anyway.
Our prof. said the explanation of grid layout was all in our book. Okaaaay. Granted, I'm not yet 100% done with the reading. However, I read the stuff about grids and to me, it was jibberish. That Typography book is as dry as toast. I fell asleep on top of it at 5 o'clock in the afternoon the other day! I'm a firm believer in going back over the reading material in class - even if it's just a quick overview to see if anyone has questions. Which, clearly, we all did. I learn much better by seeing and doing. Looking over a magazine with the teacher and having him point out the underlying grid patterns helped my brain immensely. I have a starting point now. Now maybe I can make heads or tails of the next two layout assignments. At least I know I'm learning something, right?
Five more weeks of class before summer va-k. (o:
For those of you (like me) who are coming from a non-graphic design background, I'll try to explain. Imagine blueprints for a house you're going to build. You've got the square footage, the rooms are all drawn out, and that's the plan. Once the house is built, you are free to renovate and knock down walls if you want. A grid is sort of like a blueprint in the world of page layout. You set your margins, number of columns and their width etc -- then you build your design on top of those standards. That's how I understood it, anyway.
Our prof. said the explanation of grid layout was all in our book. Okaaaay. Granted, I'm not yet 100% done with the reading. However, I read the stuff about grids and to me, it was jibberish. That Typography book is as dry as toast. I fell asleep on top of it at 5 o'clock in the afternoon the other day! I'm a firm believer in going back over the reading material in class - even if it's just a quick overview to see if anyone has questions. Which, clearly, we all did. I learn much better by seeing and doing. Looking over a magazine with the teacher and having him point out the underlying grid patterns helped my brain immensely. I have a starting point now. Now maybe I can make heads or tails of the next two layout assignments. At least I know I'm learning something, right?
Five more weeks of class before summer va-k. (o:
April 08, 2008
You know what day it is
It's typography Tuesday! I have my class tonight. That means I usually have nothing to talk about except school this time of the week. (Sorry!)
But, on a positive note -- I sort of feel like Super Woman today.
But, on a positive note -- I sort of feel like Super Woman today.
I finished my logotype project and am pretty proud of how it turned out. I illustrated the honeydew shaped "O" for an image on the letterhead and the back of the business card. I kind of love it. (I'll post newer pics soon).
I also finished up the first portion of my brochure layout assignment. I'm not so proud of that one, but at least it's done. I'll be honest in saying I had ZERO idea what I was doing last night. Brochure layout...whaaa? You might as well have told me to write a paper in Russian. I just can't seem to get the concept of a grid down in my brain. I know what hierarchy is, but ugh. It's just not working out. Even if my samples are abysmal (which I'm pretty sure they are) I'm not super worried. I seem to be learning really fast and I'm sure the crit will set me on the right path.
Other than that, we have a quiz tonight and I have no idea what we're expected to know. The only thing he told us for sure we'd be quizzed on are hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes. Well, I know what those are. Let's cross our fingers that's the only thing on this quiz. Especially since I didn't finish some of the reading I was supposed to do (gulp!).
After all of that, I somehow found the time to make a semi-complicated stew at the last minute and throw it into the slow-cooker overnight. Usually my poor hubby can forget about a home- cooked meal until Wednesday. Granted, I was still cooking at midnight last night, but at least we have dinner for the first half of the week.
Full time work, plus homework, plus commuting, plus school, and I still manage to be one mean cook? Seriously, where's my cape? (o;
April 02, 2008
Honey-do homework
I thought I'd finally show you guys one of the projects I've been working on for class. This is my *brand new* Honeydew Studio logo. Last week in class, my logo samples went down like the Titanic. This week, I ditched everything and started from scratch. After busting my butt, e-mailing back and forth with my teacher, and discussing it at length with my brother-in-law (who is a professional graphic designer) I came up with this resolution:
That pic is kind of a crappy copy. Sorry. I don't know how well you can see it, but there are little seeds inside the "O" to represent a honeydew melon. I'm thinking about saturating my greens a little more since they don't show up real well on white paper. Especially the "o"s. I want them to be a bit closer to lime green. The other half of the project for this week was to design two samples each of letterhead, a business card, and an envelope. Since I spent so much time on the logo itself, I had to crank the rest of the project out last minute. After seeing everyone's professional-looking work hanging up on the wall during class last night, I was completely ashamed to show my cobbled and glued together mess. I could barely hear all the nice things people had to say about my logo, because I was so appalled at my stationery set. Thankfully, some of my ideas were at least shining through my horrid craftsmanship, and I was able to come away with a plan for next week. I'm eager to get to work on it.
I feel a lot better today. I suppose this cycle of stress and anxiety will continue every week until I'm done the program. (Ugh.) I only have one class this semester, and am starting to wonder how I survived two classes last semester. In the fall, I'll be back to taking 2 courses again. I am not looking forward to it. At least my blog readers will get a whole summer reprieve from me whining about school before I turn spastic again. Haha!
Anyway I'm motivated enough to start working on this week's assignments immediately. I hope I can get it done, get a head start on project #2, and have time enough to enjoy myself this weekend. (I am attending a Margret Cho show with the fabulous Ms. Sarah of The Pink Shoe Diaries.) And maybe...just maybe...I can start sketching cover art idea for Ryan's Life in Orbit album. (I hear you cheering, Ryan. But don't get your hopes up too much! Lol.)
That pic is kind of a crappy copy. Sorry. I don't know how well you can see it, but there are little seeds inside the "O" to represent a honeydew melon. I'm thinking about saturating my greens a little more since they don't show up real well on white paper. Especially the "o"s. I want them to be a bit closer to lime green. The other half of the project for this week was to design two samples each of letterhead, a business card, and an envelope. Since I spent so much time on the logo itself, I had to crank the rest of the project out last minute. After seeing everyone's professional-looking work hanging up on the wall during class last night, I was completely ashamed to show my cobbled and glued together mess. I could barely hear all the nice things people had to say about my logo, because I was so appalled at my stationery set. Thankfully, some of my ideas were at least shining through my horrid craftsmanship, and I was able to come away with a plan for next week. I'm eager to get to work on it.
I feel a lot better today. I suppose this cycle of stress and anxiety will continue every week until I'm done the program. (Ugh.) I only have one class this semester, and am starting to wonder how I survived two classes last semester. In the fall, I'll be back to taking 2 courses again. I am not looking forward to it. At least my blog readers will get a whole summer reprieve from me whining about school before I turn spastic again. Haha!
Anyway I'm motivated enough to start working on this week's assignments immediately. I hope I can get it done, get a head start on project #2, and have time enough to enjoy myself this weekend. (I am attending a Margret Cho show with the fabulous Ms. Sarah of The Pink Shoe Diaries.) And maybe...just maybe...I can start sketching cover art idea for Ryan's Life in Orbit album. (I hear you cheering, Ryan. But don't get your hopes up too much! Lol.)
March 25, 2008
Typography Tuesdays
Oh you know what time it is! Time for another heartwarming typography discussion. Lol.
I have my class tonight, so that means last night was homework-cram time.
I was working on my logotype assignment for today. We had to invent a "company" and services (which isn't difficult for me since I have a real, still as of yet unbranded, online shop). Then we had to pick a color scheme and design the logotype for business cards, stationery, envelopes, etc. Six different versions were due today.
It's been over a year now that I've been trying to do this logotype thing for myself for real with no success. Of course, up until this year, I also had ZERO graphic design training. So, I thought maybe tackling the whole "identity" thing would be easier since I've been in school. Now that it's an assignment and I have to do it, it'll just come rolling out, right? Wrong. The only thing that was easier for me was deciding which fonts stink. Other than that? Same level of difficulty. How do I sum myself up when I'm not even sure what I want to say about myself?
Right now, the things I have for sale are children's illustrations, funny bumble bee ornaments, and stuffed animals. But I don't want to pigeon-hole myself into some goofy logo, because I plan on eventually expanding into more "grownup" artwork as well as (we all hope) graphic design. My favorite logo is probably the most boring one in the pack. I have 7 logos, but I sort of feel like not one of them are that great...so don't ask me to post them! I'm worried it's going to look like I didn't do a ton of work on this, when in fact, I've been wrestling this beast for too long. What a mess. My best hope is for a productive critique tonight to get me back on the right path. I guess we'll see what my teacher and class have to say. Sigh. Wish me luck!
I have my class tonight, so that means last night was homework-cram time.
I was working on my logotype assignment for today. We had to invent a "company" and services (which isn't difficult for me since I have a real, still as of yet unbranded, online shop). Then we had to pick a color scheme and design the logotype for business cards, stationery, envelopes, etc. Six different versions were due today.
It's been over a year now that I've been trying to do this logotype thing for myself for real with no success. Of course, up until this year, I also had ZERO graphic design training. So, I thought maybe tackling the whole "identity" thing would be easier since I've been in school. Now that it's an assignment and I have to do it, it'll just come rolling out, right? Wrong. The only thing that was easier for me was deciding which fonts stink. Other than that? Same level of difficulty. How do I sum myself up when I'm not even sure what I want to say about myself?
Right now, the things I have for sale are children's illustrations, funny bumble bee ornaments, and stuffed animals. But I don't want to pigeon-hole myself into some goofy logo, because I plan on eventually expanding into more "grownup" artwork as well as (we all hope) graphic design. My favorite logo is probably the most boring one in the pack. I have 7 logos, but I sort of feel like not one of them are that great...so don't ask me to post them! I'm worried it's going to look like I didn't do a ton of work on this, when in fact, I've been wrestling this beast for too long. What a mess. My best hope is for a productive critique tonight to get me back on the right path. I guess we'll see what my teacher and class have to say. Sigh. Wish me luck!
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