poster campaign

this is part of a poster campaign created by Wing for the 2011 new york international latino film festival. the campaign is designed to bring awareness to the stereotyping as well as shortage of latinos in mainstream hollywood films. this particular poster shows the occupations of latinas in movies, indicating that the majority are cast as maids. source: gd usa, september 2011.

mojo editorial design #3

rounding out this semester's worth of mojo magazines (december 2011), this collection of editorial design once again impresses. it must be a lot of fun to design editorial layouts based on bands!

logo design

designed by tom kirsch at GSD&M for king pin bowling in austin, tx, this logo is deceptively simple—and absolutely perfect. source: print design annual, november/december 2004.

poster design

i can't seem to go a semester without posting design by one of the two garys—baseman & taxali. here are a couple poster designs from the former, for Yee-Haw Industries in knoxville, tn. Source: print design annual, november/december 2004.

book cover design

as someone who's worked as a copyeditor and proofreader, i can appreciate this. designed by Louise Fili, Ltd., in nyc. source: print design annual, november/december 2004.

more awesome typography

from the june/july 2011 issue of bust. this is the headline of an article about florence welch (of florence + the machine). i'm continually amazed at designers' creativity when it comes to lettering and typography.

cool, lo-fi package design

i saw this in the june/july 2011 issue of Bust. it's a picnic set by boxsal, and includes large & small bowls, utensils, cups, napkins, a trash bag and trays. i love the box!

mojo editorial design #2

from the november 2011 issue

black and white

as a less-experienced designer, sometimes i feel odd just using black and white in a design. it's necessary, especially when a client's budget is low, but i often think, "am i slacking off for using just black and white? will the design look incomplete?" i've come to realize, however, that black and white can present constraints that force you to be more creative, than simply relying on color to make the design look good. it also implies a certain sophistication, as evidenced in this stationery/id set for EightHourDay, a two-person firm based in minneapolis. (source: HOW, may 2010)

same concept, different interpretations

this is an advertisement for gerald & cullen rapp, a firm representing illustrators, that appeared in the communication arts design annual in 2010. it's a really cool example of how different people can interpret the same idea, in this case two men staring at one another (i'm assuming they represent the rapp brothers).

mojo editorial design #1

i'm always excited to see a new issue of mojo in mailbox every month. it's the most informative rock magazine out there. my only complaint is they have the same bands—pink floyd, the beatles, and the who—on the cover every single month. seriously. how much more can we know about them? but i digress. the mag's layouts are fun, and the editorial design is top-notch. here are a few type treatment examples from the october 2011 issue.

(whoa. that amy winehouse layout uses a free font, bifur.)

project 2 research

our next project is creating an outdoor (billboard) campaign for a local business. developing a billboard can be challenging, because you have, like, 2-3 seconds to get your audience's attention. it makes no sense to bombard them with information. you want to design a piece with bold, simple imagery and brief copy. looking through some of my old communication arts and print mags, i found a few designs that inspire me.

to me, this billboard promoting children's literacy for the greater albuquerque chamber of commerce exemplifies what a good billboard should be. the message is simple. it's clever. it contains a call to action. 
(print, regional design annual 2004)

this example demonstrates how a series of billboards works together to communicate one message: that the milwaukee county zoo is near (and you should go). again, the primary copy is short (5 words). the imagery is clever. instead of animal portraits, the design implies animals' actions (the bites, the claw marks, the--um--defecation). it's humorous without being too complicated.
(print, regional design annual 2004)

these two designs aren't billboards; however, i wanted to include them because i think the bold imagery could work for billboard design. in the first example (which is actually a postcard series for the american center for design conference), the imagery is meant to convey "everyday 'living surfaces' and show them in micro-detail," in these cases, meat and grass. i think the simple imagery, coupled with a bold message, would work really well in billboard format. the second example is a poster for mtv, to commemorate the MTV2 seattle launch. the airplane illustration, which is composed of simple lines and 3-4 colors, would also work well in a billboard format.
(communication arts, design annual 2001)

sketches.

i'm going to start with this: designing a logo is HARD. you have to consider so many things. it should look good in black-and-white, it should take advantage of negative space, it should be able to be separated from the wordmark and still be instantly recognizable...i could go on forever. the thing i have the most trouble with is the cleverness aspect. here are a few rough sketches for project 1, a logo for an area nonprofit called Hands 4 Paws. they all seem to be lacking in one element or another, which is frustrating.

project 1 — research

wow. my first blog post for graphic design II (122). we're designing a logo/identity package for Hands4Paws, a relatively local non-profit organization that helps find loving homes for dogs + cats. i'm a tad intimidated when it comes to designing a logo. they seem so simple, yet you need to say SO much. the logo needs to embody the organization and its values while communicating a message and capturing the audience's attention. successful logos are minimal, look good in both color and black-and-white, work for an array of media, and are instantly recognizable. here are a few of my faves:

 did you know that this girl scouts logo was designed by saul bass? me neither, until now!

i love the use of negative/white space in the major league baseball logo. the player is getting ready to make a connection with the ball, which seems like its floating in space, but is actually directly in the player's line of vision. the white elements—ball, player, and bat—are beautifully unified.

an english graphic designer, john pasche, developed this logo for the rolling stones in 1970. here's some trivia: it was commissioned for 50 pounds, but the stones liked it so much they gave pasche 200 pounds. this is likely the most recognizable logo for a rock band. you'd be hard-pressed to find one as iconic as this.

these 2 logos are newer, and i think they're good examples of impeccably designed, simple logos. do the designs break new ground? no, but they don't necessarily have to. both use clean, minimal shapes and classy, easy-to-read sans serif type. viewers don't have to think too hard to figure out what each logo is trying to communicate.

when i create the Hands4Paws logo, i want to keep these important elements in mind. i also want to make sure i'm capturing the essence of the organization.

2-column grid exercise

brochure revisions

here's the proof!

brochure design research

okay, so these aren't trifolds like we were assigned to design (one's actually a poster), but the way these pieces communicate to their audiences is inspiring. take a look. all have a cohesive feel throughout; the panels aren't separated into different looks. information flows seamlessly. a few highlights: the calendar. simple, colorful, clever and useful. the slanted design of the canadian water poster. (would that work with a trifold? hmmmm...) and the distressed look of the book event brochure (cleverly crafted to look handmade, which is the theme of the event). that's the challenge of the trifold brochure assignment: how to inform the audience of champaign surplus's offerings by presenting information in a clear, concise manner, yet crafting an engaging, cohesive design.

Silver Joe's Coffee Company brochure
C3 Brandworks






















Palm Beach Community College Graphic Design Program brochure
Entropia Design Studio

Architecture Week picnic event brochure/poster
RGB Design Studio

2008 calendar brochure (self promotion)
Jonathan Davies

Water Footprint of Nations Study poster
Timm Kekeritz

Bristol Artists Book Event brochure
Ginger Monkey

storyshop table of contents draft

storyshop inside page revision

storyshop cover revision

storyshop title, chapter intro, and inside pages