You Can't Miss This

http://designorati.com/graphic-design/2007/24-hours-of-cs3-my-first-thoughts-after-using-the-suite/

I have been keeping track of the website designorati.com. This article is about using the new C3 software. The article is about this guy's first 24 hours of using C3 and the differences he encountered while making the shift. So often, we become comfortable and accustomed to certain programs that we use, that even thinking about trying something different makes us uncomfortable-even if its an advancement! I think that this is an interesting article because at some point, we are all going to be using new systems and programs that we aren't comfortable with, and then once we become comfortable with those, they will probably come out with new ones...so I guess we should just get used to it:)

anyways, check it out!

Response

My response is in regards to our websites. As we went through everyone's designs and the way that the websites reflect each of our personalities and work, I became really critical of my design. I don't think I went about mine in a way that really portrays my personality, and I feel as though my design is quite elementary. I think that the formal galleries look much more professional and they are much easier to navigate. I am going to redesign my website(once again) in hopes of three goals- 1. to be professional 2. to be easy to navigate and 3. to show my personality/design style

I hope that these three main goals will help me focus better on what I want people to see when looking at my website. I also hope these goals will help me create a more complete design that I will be satisfied with.

Designs

This week I have been evaluating my designs and the way I go about designing in general. I have currently been working on my website, the feature for Stallion Stud, and the music department. While doing these three designs, I have been trying to go about them in a different way than I usually do, so I have been making smaller thumbnails and have tried to actually create a layout before I get in InDesign. This has proven to be both beneficial and detrimental to me. It is beneficial in that I am thinking about how to put everything together, as well as how to balance, and emphasize different aspects of my design. However, this also creates problems because instead of just switching things around in a computer program when I am not satisfied, I have been redrawing, erasing, and making really messy interpretations....which just makes me start all over again-ha! So, whether or not this is the way I should go about my design is not something I really have decided thus far, but it does make me think about how I could possibly be more effective through design or how else I can go about forming my design before actually going to the computer.

You Can't Miss This

http://designorati.com/graphic-design/2007/pantone-introduces-peel-and-place-chips/

I am keeping up with the website designorati.com. The link above goes to an article about how Pantone has introduced peel and stick "chips." I personally think this is a great idea, especially for those who sketch thumbnails or do smaller layouts before executing their design. The peel and place chips allow you to see exactly what color will print out, because colors never look the same in our programs as they do printed, so I think it will help in terms of knowing exactly what your design will look like before production, which is always nice! Anyways, the article is pretty good so check it out!!!

Response

I thought class today and the selection of the Convergence Logo was a really interesting process, but the more we watch judging and the overall rankings of design I am reminded at how subjective our work is. Overall, it is apparent which designs have better execution, but I think it is really interesting to see each person's vision and then the opinions of outsiders simply looking at the designs without, perhaps, going through the actual thought process of trying to create a design that correctly conveys the tone or message we are hoping to express. I really like to watch the judging process and think that it helps me learn what others want to see in design and what aspects of design seem to be most important to them.
Also, the presentations today were nice because I feel like they were all on such different types of design and art direction that it allowed us to gain a better understanding of several aspects of design and what a variety of mediums and work are all design driven-especially with the differences in the designs of the married couple that Kate LaRue spoke with, their creations from pillows at a hotel to nike ads and everything between show how multi-faceted one designer can be in their own projects.

Designs

This week I have been working on the 5/3 feature on the Stallion Stud...the most sought after horse sperm for breeding. Needless to say it's a very interesting story that I would never consider doing an illustration for, so it will be very photo-driven. The photographer is going tomorrow, so I should have a better idea of my design direction after I see what shots we were able to get- apparently the horse owner was, understandably, not wanting any shots of the "process," so I am interested to see what we get.
I have also been working on illustrations for the 4/26 music department for the reproductive health issue. I will post my roughs after a little more work, but they are for the music story of "Mood Music." The illustration uses music notes with hearts, I know, how romantic, as the bottom with the typical music note look. I want it to obviously relay the concept of love and music and figured this would be a great way to interact the two. I am also working on a large stereo image with some sort of heart design too-its a work in progress though:)

Can't Miss This

http://designorati.com/photoshop/2007/photoshop-world-day-1-cool-keynote-great-sessions/

This article on designorati.com talks about the annual Photoshop World Event held in Boston. At the event there are several days of tutorial and explanations of all things photoshop. It's really interesting to me because everytime I try to do something in photoshop, I always end up messing around with different tools and effects because I want to experiment with all of the options-unfortunately this takes up so much time though. So, even though most of the people that go to the conventions are already designers at publications, I think it's interesting that there is an entire convention and annual event devoted to Photoshop and learning all the ins and outs of the program.
CHECK IT OUT....AND LEARN SOMETHING

Response

Today in class we went over all of our past designs in Vox, and I realized how everyone, myself included, always wishes that they would have done something at least a "little different" to their designs. It is really interesting because everytime I take on a new design, I always try to put together something I will really be proud of, but after designing and redesigning and redesigning something, I find myself slowly becoming frustrated and eventually settling for something, either due to deadlines or lack of energy, that I am not completely satisfied with. So, my new goal:) is to try to start designing as soon as I receive story info so that I have an opportunity to design and leave the design alone to think about before going back to it again. Maybe I will be more pleased with my work months after if I take a new approach to the way I begin and plan...at least I hope!!!

Designs

This week I have been designing the feature on photographer Bea Wallace. I really wanted to show off her photography and keep the design relatively simple, yet I dealt with which photos to choose, emphasize, and positioning. Also, some of the photos were in color and others were black and white, which made it a little more difficult because I wanted to create balance but struggled with placing the black and white photos side by side with the colorful ones. The colorful ones did not have the same overall feel or similar subject matter, so I wanted to make sure that I display her award winning black and white photos, while still showing her personal colorful and insightful images as well. I tried about five different designs and finally came up with my final this afternoon. I don't have a pdf of the final, as it's going through production, but will post it asap!

Also, here is my department design from the 4/5 issue-music dept.

Designs

This week I have been designing the feature on photographer Bea Wallace. I really wanted to show off her photography and keep the design relatively simple, yet I dealt with which photos to choose, emphasize, and positioning. Also, some of the photos were in color and others were black and white, which made it a little more difficult because I wanted to create balance but struggled with placing the black and white photos side by side with the colorful ones. The colorful ones did not have the same overall feel or similar subject matter, so I wanted to make sure that I display her award winning black and white photos, while still showing her personal colorful and insightful images as well. I tried about five different designs and finally came up with my final this afternoon. I don't have a pdf of the final, as it's going through production, but will post it asap!

Also, here is my department design from the 4/5 issue-music dept.

You Can't Miss This

This article is about the newest Dreamweaver and Flash software. I figure that with all of the work we've been doing on our websites lately, we should learn about the new advances the systems will have in making future website design better...hopefully and maybe they could make it easier too:)


http://designorati.com/graphic-design/2007/which-adobe-cs3-package-is-right-for-you/

Response

While trying to figure out the trends project and exactly what questions I wanted to ask after researching Health magazine, I realized that many magazines and their online versions are actually really different and, often times, have nothing to do with each other. I think this is really interesting because most of the time, both versions are completed with the same content, yet look nothing alike. The websites that I have looked at are all very easy to navigate, user-friendly, and visually enticing, yet it is just odd to me that these versions are not aimed to have a similar "look" to their print counter parts. As I started looking at the designs though, and the most basic differences, I think that mostly the differences have to do with the concept of page space and column use. It makes more sense when looking at it from this perspective because the designs are not going to follow the same basic formations when there is always simply one column on websites versus many varieties in magazines. Also, the column differences can account for many other differences, such as pull quotes and photograph placement. I had always noticed that the online versions of magazines didn't quite have the same feel as the magazines, yet now I think that it is almost impossible to create the same feel in completely different mediums that just don't allow for the same capabilities.

Designs

This design is in the current issue of Vox and is the music department anchor on Neko Case. I really like this design, even though it is quite basic, because of the photograph. The colors are really vibrant, and this was the first page I designed after we got our new department color palettes...which was extremely exciting for me!!!

I also designed for the 4/5 issue of Vox, but that design has not been exported yet, so I will have to update this blog.

As for other designs I am working on right now, my website has been taking over. I really like messing around with the colors and shapes and the overall image of my website, which is great but also unfortunate in that it is taking me so long to complete because I keep redesigning everything. Hopefully, I will figure it out and complete it sometime this week. Lastly, I am working on the feature on Bea Wallace, but the design is primarily based around her award-winning photography.