Frankenblog

What I want to do after school...

2009-09-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

After school I want to move to Seattle or New York to further my education in design in the real world. Here's an illustration I did for school.

LOGOS

2009-03-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

Which is best? 1st, 2nd, 3rd?

DESIGN OF TODAY

2009-02-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

Here is the graphic design firm where I work, Design of Today. You guys should peep out the website created by Matt Moyle. It's pretty awesome. designoftoday.com

If you like what you see you should do your internship there.

Intimidation Invitations

2009-01-29T05:48:00.001-08:00

Website

2009-01-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

Here are some of some of my recent/favorite pieces. You can see my student site with different styles here. If you like what you see email me henry@designoftoday.com

Newsletters

2008-11-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am supposed to discuss and compare different newsletters.

I think that of the examples provided to me the first comparison I can make is that they are all easy to navigate through. They serve the purposes that they were intended for.

In your face and Creative Characters both are targeted towards a young, design oriented audience. They go above and beyond the single column newsletter creating a look that the audience may like more and respect. These (especially In your Face) are different because of the clean double column layouts. In your face staggers it's articles back and forth between the two columns. The pictures stay within the columns that the articles are in. Creative Characters uses the second column for captions and illustrations.

Fontshop Newsletter Archive not only shows newsletter but efficiently archives them month to month. The home page divides the page into a two column layout. When you click the month it will take you to the newsletters. The newsletters switch over to a single column grid. This newsletter is notable because of it's ability to organize months of newsletter into an easy to navigate site. This site based off past issues of Font Magazine. They have the newsletter because of the issues selling out and the desire to share past information with people seeking it.

Emigre News is another magazine newsletter. It's a simple single column newsletter that is designed to share magazine articles with people who didn't get a chance to purchase the mag. due to it selling out.

Rising Stars is another type site. It feels less professional/hip than say In your Face. The single column grid is functional and suitable for the audience that will be reading. It is different in that it seems much less forced than the others.

The newsletter for the window maker is complex but still easy to follow. The type hierarchy, color, size and placement is what makes this successful. With all the information given it could have been very easy to make a mess of things. This particular newsletter is designed to last longer than say Rising Stars so the layout is much more structured and a lot more put together.

Of the PDW newsletters I'd have to say that the science museums would be the most successful for a transfer to the web. It doesn't have any headers that would run across the screen, which could be problematic for different size monitors. The photos have been placed in locations that would make more sense for a web based newsletter. The type could stay in three columns or easily be modified to a single column layout.

Model for the Modern Magazine

2008-11-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

I have chosen to do my biography on Alexey Brodovitch.

Brodovitch was born in 1898 in Russia. His childhood goal was to attend the Imperial Art Academy. He eventually abandoned this goal and opted to fight the Czarist army. At the end of his service Brodovitch moved to Paris with his family. In Paris he began demonstrating his dominate artist style. He won many awards, making him stand out from the crowd. In 1930 Brodovitch began teaching at the Philadelphia College of Art. It would be shortly after his move to America that Brodovitch would begin his journey on becoming one of the most influential art directors in the Golden Age of Magazines.

In 1934 a man named Carmel Snow saw Brodovitch's work. He was instantly drawn to the work and offered him the job of Art Director at Harper's Bizaar. Brodovitch excepted the offer creating one of the most influential teams in design and magazine history.

Brodovitch remained Art Director for 24 years.

He used the works of many famous artists, photographers and designers. Some of these included A.M. Cassandre, Salvador Dali and Man Ray. He is remembered for his love and style of photography. He was quite successful at creating very clean and elegant photos and layouts.

He continued to art direct the magazine Portfolio that was unsuccessful financially but hugely successful in the design world. He also continued teaching students at what he called his "design laboratory." Eventually he moved back to France where he died in 1971.

Brodovitch's was influentialy to the design world for two main reasons. The first was helping to introduce a european design style to US magazines. He did this by simplifying the layouts drastically. The second was by utilizing all forms of art in his layouts. Paintings, illustrations, photos were all included; and by many different artists.

Sweet!

2008-11-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

Sarah!

2008-10-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

Tom Brokaw. Personal hero.

2008-09-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

The book I have selected is The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. It was published in 1998 by Dell Publishing. The ISBN is 0-385-33462-1. The format is a standard portrait, it runs 6 inches wide by 9 inches tall.

The typeface is 12 pt. Fairfield and was designed by Rudolph Ruzicka. (I learned this from the Colophon in the back, thanks Prof. Wolske!) The type choice is an expected move because it is a longer read and the serif type is easier on the eyes. The line lengths average to about 10 to 12 words a sentence.

Text blocks are designed with Villard's diagram. Paragraphs are articulated through indents. They appear to be an em length. Images are separated from text and are centered.

My book is set in Villard's diagram... so there is a similarity. Other than that it is not very similar. However, as my book evolves it will look more like Brokaw's. The direction I took was experimental and not practical for a long read.

WTF Underlines!

2008-09-18T00:19:00.001-07:00

Does anyone have any ideas as to why my last post has underlines for no reason? I can't seem to get them off and definitely did not put them on.

__________________?

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

2008-09-18T00:19:00.000-07:00

In case you have not heard, Mad Men is the must watch TV show for our humble class of future designers. I can't get enough of this show. The writing is smart and has engrossing storylines. The characters are completely unlikeable. They lie, cheat, have screwdrivers for breakfast (before work). I was even saw a full grown man slap a child in the face and it wasn't even his own kid! I love it.

But Mad Men isn't all child abuse and alcoholism. It has a lot of great design references from the early 60s. The kind that give you that "aha!" feeling that is so great when you connect something that you have learned in school with real life.

Here are some of the references that I picked up so far, anyone else have any others?

Exodus Movie Poster by Saul Bass

"Think Small" Volkswagon Campain by Doyle Dane Bernbach

I thought there might of been a shout out to the Andy Warhol lifesavers campaign. Someone at Sterling Cooper (the ad firm) mentions that maybe now they could get lifesavers. However, upon further research Warhol did the ads for lifesavers in the 80s not the 60s.

Grids. They're Grrreat!

2008-09-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

The first and most obvious grid system in my mind is the multi-column grid. This system could use any number of grids per layout. If photos are used they are typically implemented into the grids, either fitted into the size of one, or spread out between several. (check out below to see how pictures may be distributed.) One consideration a designer should have is the readability of the text. If there are too many columns the line length may be too short making it difficult and confusing to read.

Modular grids are another great example of a different layout than the manuscript. They contain not only columns (running on the y-axis) but they have rows (x-axis) to help aid in the layout process. With the addition of the rows the different layouts that you could make are greatly increased. Along with the increased possibilities of layouts comes the increased chance of having a confusing or overbearing layout, so use with caution. Modular grids are popular on the web for the better use of getting imagery involved.

PART III - Playing the Game of Scouting

2008-09-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I am a sucker for 1950's design. I draw a lot of inspiration from 50's illustrations and photos. There is something about that era's innocence that is so creepy. I love it.

This is 1950's Boy Scouts of America Handbook. It belonged to

my Grandmother's brother throughout scouts. We can learn a lot from the quality of this book. The binding feels like it is brand new (maybe he was not a very dedicated scout) and is holding together great for it's age. I can't be sure, but I think that about 80 percent of the books illustrations are woodcuts. I can't even comprehend doing all that work for one project. Looking through this book reminds me of the work that went into publication before the computer age and helps raise my bar for future design.

The book has a standard portrait format. The dimensions are 4 inches wide, 6 inches tall. It is ideal for reading because of the occasionally lengthy instructions and any illustrations that may apply. Some of the layout feels out dated or strange, especially if it involves a map (they end up being sideways.) Despite it's quirks, there is a certain charm that keeps me coming back for more.

If you want this book you'll need to get a used one on ebay.com. Just search for Handbook for Boys 1950. You can also get a reprint of the very first edition of the Handbook for Boys at amazon.com .

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

2008-09-07T12:45:00.001-07:00

THIS BLOG IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION! (so if you need to do your critique you can totally dog on it.)

Publication: the Devil's Design

2008-09-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

I am on my way to becoming a graphic designer. A big part of being a designer involves publication design. I have been asked to define what publication design is. It can be summed up in many different ways. An easy definition would be something like, designing an item that is to be published; whether it a book, magazine, myspace page and so on.

So i got to thinking and I think that there is more to publication design than simply designing. I think that a lot of what makes publication design successful is creating clever lies and illusions. It is trying to take something that is so ordinary and make it somehow appealing through skillful truth bending.

Magazines promise easy new ways to lose weight. An ad on TV could show you the latest iPod, in this commercial the iPod only plays 10 more songs, but look how much fun those silhouettes are having dancing around the screen!

The truth is, when you open that magazine you are going to see different exercises or a healthy meal to eat. Eating right and exercise is not a new concept, and yet with clever writing and the right pictures somehow it is. Just check out www.menshealth.com. This site is full of clever titles and promising pictures. Of course, I know that if I bench press two hours a day I could get a bigger chest, I know that if I am not a complete ass and take showers (with the right products of course) I could get the woman of my dreams! Point is this magazine (website) is so nicely put together, and easy to use that it makes me want to get it even though the articles are pretty much interchangeable.

IPod is still just an MP3. MP3s were around before the iPod. The design that goes into the look of the brand is so beautiful that iPod has managed to dominate the entire market. I should know, I work at Best Buy and plenty of people have no idea that an iPod is the same thing as a regular old MP3 (not really though, iPods are kickass).

Publication design seems like it is going to be a blast just because you need to find ways to make the old feel new, the boring seem interesting. In my humble opinion if you can design the perfect lie you can design the perfect publication.