You Can't Miss: Royal Wedding Art

In preparation for the royal wedding, artist Scott Wade came up with his own unique way to pay tribute to the ceremony - using dirt. Check it out!

I am so impressed with how detailed the artist is just by manipulating the dirt on this car. Haha I had no idea it was possible to be so talented with dirt! Whether or not you decide to get up at 3 a.m. to witness the royal nuptials, I think we can fairly assume that this artist won't miss it. Check out more of the photos of Wade's innovative artwork here.

Response: Summer Internship at KC Parent

Over the weekend, I went to Kansas City for a scheduled interview with the editor of KC Parent. The job seemed to be mutually beneficial for her and I - I need more clips and she liked my experience working with the software and with reporting. I'm really excited about the position because I was planning on returning to my home town anyway to make a little money before I set off on my job hunt. I am still planning on applying for jobs throughout the summer, but if nothing comes my way before the fall, I think I'll just move to a city where I can continue to look for jobs in person. This internship will allow me to continue coming up with new clips for my portfolio and keep me involved in journalism while I take some down time to make my checking account a little prettier.

During the interview, I basically convinced the editor she should definitely come up with an app for the publication. She was impressed that I will have had experience working with iPad app software and knowing how to develop a concept for an app. I am tentatively in charge of coming up with the content and design for the app, if the plan follows through. I would be ecstatic to have this opportunity because I think it will be so beneficial to my job hunt! The small staff is receptive to my input and willing to let me dabble in multiple areas, although the internship is mostly editorial. I think it will be a great start and provide me with a lot of real-life experience for my future. Can't wait to get started!

Critique: Final Cover Design

Last week I submitted my final cover designs for the semester for the New Pornographers feature appearing in the next issue of Vox. Much of the critique from my first round of submissions was that I didn't play with the type treatment enough. I tried to do something totally different from what I normally do for the second round of drafts. Theresa gave me some tips on tools in Illustrator that might be helpful to me, but in the end, Chen won for her brilliant idea to clash colors on the photo to represent that band's difficulty finding time to get together.

You Can't Miss: New Beauty Magazine

Okay, for those of you I have already harassed about my latest discovery, you already know how obsessed I am with a high-end beauty magazine that addresses expensive beauty remedies such as botox, liposuction, and a broad range of expensive creams and serums that solve anti-aging, scarring, etc. It's a futuristic fashion magazine that assumes readers who are willing to spend $10 on their magazine, are also willing to spend a large amount on surgical beauty procedures. Interesting idea... and their design is outrageously unique and fabulous! Check out these covers:

The sell lines caught my eye first. I remember Jan talking about odd placement of sell lines in beginning design as being a risky move, but I love that this publication attempted it. I respect their courage and I think the end result matches the overall tone the magazine is looking for.

These types of sell lines are much different than the above photo, but I liked that the publication was not only daring enough to mess with the positioning of sell lines, but also switch up the cover design from issue to issue. I really love the type they're using for these sell lines, too. The slant of the type gives the whole photo a movement. 

Response: Modern Midwest Prototype - FINISHED!

Our creative director, Michelle, is making the final edits with the publishers tonight and our prototype will be hitting the printing press tomorrow! Proofs will be reader to go over by Friday and I believe the final printed copy of the full magazine will be finished by the following Monday.

This whole process was extremely educational for me. I learned so much about the process of actually creating a magazine and I think it makes the reality of doing it even more exciting. I think our prototype ended up looking great. All the group members really came together at the end, but things were a little stressful. I think the class as a whole worked together to try and making the printing process as easy as possible for the whole class. We were all in the same boat and working together made all the difference.

I can't wait to see how beautiful all the prototypes are and I'm especially looking forward to the upcoming 4 a.m. bus departure to Des Moines!

Critique: Hot Box Menu Boards

With all the free time I've had lately (that may be a tone of sarcasm you detect), I have been working diligently to finish up the big design projects I have taken on during my internship this semester at Hot Box Cookies. I found new fonts for the basically finalized boards only a week ago and the design has changed drastically as a result. I'm really happing with how the changes look and I think they really do make the boards much more legible and better looking overall. I'm so close to having most of the major store elements formatted and ready for print! Take a look at how the designs have changed since I replaced some of the fonts:

You Can't Miss: Wedding Designs

I'm not usually one to get into those wedding/bridal reality shows, but I got sucked into the new Tori Spelling series where she is a wedding planner for all sorts of couples who appear on the show. I was really touched by the most recent episode in which one couple had fantastic wedding design ideas. The bride owns multiple rats, so Tori Spelling took on the task of incorporating rats into the wedding design. I never knew rats could be so beautiful! Haha, okay so they weren't exactly beautiful, but I thought the whole concept was so original and unique. The colors were also fabulous. The bride and groom opted for a very glitzy ceremony, but I respected how all the elements came together. Here are some photos I pulled of of the series' site:

The chandelier the couple were married under. The colors were fuchsia, white, and platinum 

The bride and her father walk down the aisle. That bouquet was beyond impressive. There were some crystals thrown into the flowers making the whole thing shimmer. 

There's a cage with the bride's rats sitting right next to the groom in this photo. I love how they incorporated the pets because rats are definitely not usually associated with beautiful things, but the bride and groom were determined to make it work and they succeeded.

The cake toppers are two rats dressed up as bride and groom. 

Response: Mini Portfolios

I really enjoyed looking through some old examples of mini portfolios in class the other day. It's so interesting to see all the different ways one can put their portfolio together. Not only do the contents matter, but the design of the portfolio itself is essential.

For my mini portfolio, I think I'm leaning towards the larger square size that we discussed the other day. I think seeing the designs as large as possible is the best plan. Like Jan said, making it bigger also means the flaws are bigger, but I think that is something I'm willing to deal with because past flaws can be altered before I put them into the final portfolio. I want the overall look to be clean, crisp, and as simple as possible. I liked how some of the designs we looked at had the description of the pages on the left and the designs on the right so as not to clutter the pages. I don't have as many examples as some people, either, so this plan may help me to fill up the page minimum. Can't wait to see how everyone's mini portfolios turn out!

Critique: Modern Midwest Round 2

So, we are presenting our next round of drafts for the magazine prototypes tomorrow and I feel much more prepared this time. Last time, I think all the groups were scrambling to put something together on a few spreads for the presentation, but I feel like the groups have all had enough time to work together and modify their style palettes. It was so helpful for our group in particular to be able to use images from Google because the creative library we have access to is limited to beautiful photos of mostly food and home decor. We needed more people in our photos and action, and although we did have to supplement the pages with a few photo shoots, knowing that we had more freedom with the photos was really helpful. I'm excited for the presentations tomorrow! As of now, I just have to finish a few more cutouts for my bachelor(ette) party feature, then I'm done and ready to polish up some of those final details. So, here they are:

You Can't Miss: Back in the USSR

This week on the blog I follow, I uncovered a post about Lithuanian movie posters from the Soviet years. They have some oppositional propaganda influences, but I'm not sure exactly what the message is in all of these posters because I don't know enough of the background. Regardless of lack of historical knowledge, the images are still beautiful. Can anyone else tell what the embedded message is? If not, maybe you all can just admire the originality of design like I do.

Response: Typography and Photo Assignment

I had a great spring break this year. It was pretty epic, which was exactly what I intended since this is the last spring break I'll have, EVER! So weird that I'm about to be finished with school in general... I can't believe this time has actually arrived. During my break, I made a solo road trip through the midwest. I visited some old friends from when I used to live in Chicago and also my grandparents in Iowa.

The photos I gathered have assorted meanings... Some of them are really just more inspirational to me, personally, but I enjoyed the assignment overall. I think I would have taken the photos regardless, but I definitely ended up snapping some shots I wouldn't have, otherwise. Some of my favorites ended up being of random scenery I viewed from my car window while driving through Iowa. I don't really want to end up there, and I definitely don't envy my grandparents' small farm towns, but there is a definite beauty about the desolate portions of Iowa (of which there are many). Here are the photos I gathered:

This is Frank. Frank owns Hole in the Wall: the best Italian restaurant of all times.

The Aragon theater in Uptown Chicago. It was about 3 blocks from my friend's place, who I was staying with. I saw a concert in this venue exactly a year ago, so it was fun to be back in the same exact place a year later.

The bathroom wall at the Kinetic Playground, a bar across the street from the Aragon. This place didn't even card, it was ridiculous. There were all sorts of high school girls hanging out in the bathroom and I guess that's why the writing on the wall seems a little more hilarious. It's so neon!

I stopped in downtown Chicago on my way out of town and roamed around, taking pictures of signs and whatnot. Had to include a photo of the downtown area.

This is my grandma Heisdorffer. Everyone always says I'm most like her.... It was so nice to spend some alone time with my grandparents - something I haven't done in years. 

The new water tower in my grandparent's small town in Iowa. It's the first thing I see as I come over the hill on my way into town. I thought the clouds and blue sky was so beautiful this day.

I made a pit stop at the Mark Twain State Park/Lake on my way back into Columbia. My shoes were kind of ruined for the rest of trip...

The other part of the assignment over break was typography. Since my break was made up of an epic road trip, I decided to make the word "Odyssey." I used letters from all the photos of signs I took. Some of the letters are a little blurry because the photos were taken from far away. The letters are a little disjointed and don't exactly flow, but I still like it because I know where the letters came from and I had fun taking the photos for the project. 

Critique: 30 Under 30

It's the week after spring break and I've seen my design class in the lab with me night after night since the moment we all got back to Columbia, or just rolled out of bed... We all have a lot to finish in these last few weeks we have in this semester, but I've been focusing primarily on the 30 Under 30 spreads that are due in lab tomorrow. It would be nice to have another clip from Vox before this class is up, but I'm competing with some pretty impressive talent! Here is my splash page and the first 30 of the 30 Under 30 features.... It's not quite finished yet, but I will be taking care of that over the next few hours!

I started with my idea for a retro style gas station, made the sign in Illustrator, then moved on from there to start working in the profiles. I still need to do the cutouts, but I'm just going to see how much time I end up having at the end of the night... Good luck to everyone in the competition tomorrow!

You Can't Miss: Designs For a Good Cause

This week, on the blog I'm following for the class, I came across a very interesting post addressing an issue I hadn't considered before - are designers using their talent for a worthy purpose? In response to the recent tragedies impacting Japan, many designers have created posters (like the ones below) to "raise awareness" for donations to Japan, but this issue has had no problem doing that on its own. So, one must ask if this is really the best use of time and energy for skillful artists to promote?

Daniel Freytag - "Japan" 

All profits made from poster sales are donated to relief funds for Japan. 

Signalnoise: "Help Japan" 

The events that have impacted Japan and its people are devastating, but I think designers could find a better use of their time supporting a cause that lacks definitive support. This is not to say that designing for Japan is a waste of time, but other issues could benefit so much more from having someone pay more attention to it. 

Designers really should consider how their art can make a difference in the world, so why waste time drawing attention to a tragedy that is already being addressed when there are so many other catastrophes that occur daily. Art can be so powerful and we designers have a responsibility to invoke sensitivity in the light of misfortune and injustice. 

Response: Everyone's Prototypes

Nosh: I think this group's strong suit is their photography. Not only had they already set up their first photo shoot prior to this first round being due, but it seems that they have had luck with the creative library and have many exquisite photos at their disposal. Great job to all involved for having such a developed example for your prototype to turn in for this first round!

Cupboard: I was happy to see that the color bar behind this magazine's logo remained... and still at a tilt! I like the snacker feel they have created with their designs, which are snappy and clear. I think this prototype could really benefit from some simple infographics that pull apart some of the recipes and short stories to avoid making their prototype look like a cook book.

Shindig: I love the typefaces this group is using in their prototype. I think the fonts really help the overall tone of the magazine, which is fun, fresh, and light. I felt like this group had really stepped out of the box with their design concept, using certain elements as background features (like the wood). It was a completely different idea from the rest and stood out (in a good way) for it.

Plaid Dad: This group seemed to have some of the same issues with the copy they were working with my group did (Modern Midwest). I think that once some of their story drafts are updated, resolving many of their current design problems will be easier. I loved that all of the group members had put in so much working creating their logo together! I think you girls have a lot of excellent logo ideas to choose from. The one you all are using now could stand some manipulation... I'm not sure if the "super hero" feeling you were going for is completely clear and hopefully you can convince the publishing team to be more flexible about that.

Critique: Magazine Prototype

This week we presented our first drafts for the Modern Midwest prototype I'm taking part in designing, along with Erica Hunt, Joe Bradley, and Michelle Pais (our creative director). I think one of our biggest obstacles was just getting on the same page with a cohesive design and template for our department pages. With all of the other projects we've had going on simultaneously, working to improve our designs as a team has taken a backseat. Turning in those first pages helped us to see where we needed improvement, which was great because now our pages will look much better for the formal presentation tomorrow. Everyone has been working really hard to get ready for tomorrow and things are looking great! I can't wait to see everyone's prototypes tomorrow. Here are the pages I designed for our prototype:

Calendar/Events department page - the copy really needs to be worked with for this page. We also need to replace most of the photos with studio shots. Photography will be a huge obstacle for our group because our topic is not exactly stereotypical of the style our publishers usually work with. The creative library had few options for all of my pages, if any. 

Here is the Music department page. This page is also desperately needing some photography and perhaps illustrations, depending on how many photos we end up needing in the end. 

Both spreads above are examples from the Bachelor(ette) Companion Feature. I tried to use color boxes to separate the text and make the pages appear less text-heavy, but I think it may need a little more color and vibrancy. The gray boxes seem a little dull now that I look at it again. The sidebars on pg. 4 are not completed because the text needs to be completely changed. These will be filled next time you see the spreads!

You Can't Miss: The Black Keys

Have you all heard the new album yet? If not, you're seriously missing out! I love The Black Keys. They are one of the few bands that I think have proven their true talent by continually coming out with epic albums, even after becoming quite famous more recently. I just can't stop listening, but it's a great soundtrack to combine with these beautiful spring days we're finally getting our way.

Although The Black Keys are obviously amazing musicians, they also had a wildly creative album cover for their latest release: "Brothers." Check it out....

Not only is the design clever, but so is the copy. This is an impressive package overall. In addition to having an intriguing and unique album cover, the disc itself also has special properties - put it in the player, enjoy the experience, and when you take it out, the disc, which was all black at the start, suddenly has white emblazoned across it. The type is heat activated! How cool. Need I say more?

Also, check out this interesting site called Musicovery. Thanks to Stumble, I came across this fun page, which plays music according to your mood. It's not exactly 100% accurate, but still a fun site to mess around with when you take a break from all your hard work designing! 

Response: Portfolio Critiques and the Final 5 Logos

This week, we have devoted a lot of time to critiquing our peers' portfolios during our class time. I think it has been a really beneficial opportunity to see the talent of others as well as to get us motivated to start actively preparing for our futures. I haven't presented my designs yet, but I was surprised to find out just how many examples I actually had. I know I haven't had all the experiences some of the other people in class have, but I don't think I'm going to have a problem filling a portfolio for potential employers and job interviews. It's kind of exciting to see the culmination of everyone's hard work! It's a little scary to hear others' criticism, but in the end, it will only improve our chances for success.

While awaiting my chance to present my portfolio designs, I had also been altering my final five Sports Journalism Institute logos, which ended up getting cut down to three. I really have no idea what the outcome of the judging will be for this project. Everyone had such great logo concepts and I think most of us were in unfamiliar territory here. Logos may be one of the most painstaking design tasks so far. You have to say so much with so little, and the design ends up making even more of an impact than the words themselves, so the design construct becomes even more tedious. After some slow-moving revisions, here are the final three I ended up submitting:

I felt that color was the best tool to reflect diversity for these logos, so I tried to choose strong colors that didn't distract, but grabbed the viewer's attention. I think I like the bottom one best. Erica and Jan suggested I fill in the circle outline I was using previously, which ended up being a great idea that I was kicking myself I hadn't thought of before! The circle has no identifying marks, so I thought it could symbolize many sports by just supplying the "ball" image. To incorporate diversity, I used spot color for "Journalism," and I also made that word a bit larger than the other two. The Institute's tagline is that they help women and minorities into newsrooms, so I thought this sandwiching of words could represent their efforts to interpolate minority journalists into sports journalism. I thought the orange circle helped provide that retro look Greg Bowers had mentioned to us from the start. I'm very interested to see what the outcome will be and which logo ends up being used for the foundation's branding. 

Critique: Web Design Attempt

Almost two weeks ago I went to a meeting held by a capstone group that was searching for a designer to help them out with a cohesive design concept for the site they're trying to renovate. They are convergence students, so they admitted that when it came to the design process, they all just kind of got stuck. Fortunately, the organization they're working with, the Daniel Pearl Foundation, has provided them with a small sum to compensate for a designer to help out.

When I sat down to start this project, I thought it would be a little easier, but it was strange designing a sample home page on InDesign. My first attempt was disastrous, you don't even want to see it, but here is the draft I ended up sending to the capstone group to meet today's deadline:

Sorry if it's difficult to see... The text isn't really important, most of it is just filler copy. One of their main requests were to find a place for links to Facebook, Twitter, and an RSS feed. I formatted the home page with the bar that ran across the top, which provides a cohesive design element that can appear on any page and it also gives the name of the foundation and creates a space for those links.

It was also one of my main tasks to create a new logo for the organization. I had a couple more options, which I ended up sending to the group, but I believe that the one I used for this mock up page was my strongest. Some complaints they had received about the old page was that the colors were too boring and it was too text heavy, so I wanted to clear up the home page and use photos as the dominant design element instead. My color palette isn't exactly an extreme opposite, but I don't think using too bright of colors would best suit the site's topics.

So, I'm just waiting to hear back from the group! It would be great to make a little income, but more importantly, it would be an excellent example to include in a portfolio... and maybe it would be a nice little self-esteem booster! Even if they don't select my designs, this is still another element I can include in my portfolio.

You Can't Miss: Queen Elizabeth Images

According to the blog I follow, I guess that Great Britain was considering removing the Queen's image from postage stamps, but fortunately Her Majesty's image will continue to grace the British post. I like the sense of tradition the British have in so many aspects of their culture. The British monarchy and its history is so fascinating to me. Anyway, here are some of the images that were included on the blog of the Queen.

Here is a famous portrait entitled 'Queen Elizabeth II,' done by Dorothy Wilding in 1952 and hand colored by Beatrice Johnson. How beautiful are these colors? The red is fabulous. 

This might be my favorite. This photograph is also called 'Queen Elizabeth II' and was shot by Eve Arnold

in 1968. I love how youthful and happy she looks here. 

I wonder if the Queen was a little irritated by this disembodiment? This was done by Justin Mortimer in 1998. I'm not sure if I really understand the reason for the vibrant yellow background, but I like how this artist combined the tradition and class embodied by royalty with such a modern edginess of the time.

This is such an excellent use of photoshop. Here, artist Chris Levine has taken a photo and alerted it to create an ethereal perception fitting for his title: 'Lightness of Being.' (2007)

Response: Mag+ Conferences

The start of this week was so interesting. I was actually really excited to hear the speakers and to learn more about this Mag+ software we so fortunately have access to. It was refreshing to feel so good about my major because I have a lot of friends that aren't as excited about school. I feel like this is such an incredible time to be a designer because they're so essential in this transition to the iPad and the formation of a totally new side to the magazine industry.

The speaker from Wired was probably most impressive to me. I don't know if it was necessarily his presentation that was the most impressive or informative, but I was more impressed with the amount of work Wired has put into the creation of their app and the planning that they put into its design. It was amazing how on top of the project they were from the start. They had it all laid out even before the iPad came out last year!

Photo Credit: The Tech Journal

Photo Credit: Definition Magazine

I think it was comforting to know that even professional designers are in the same place as students or people about to come out of college right now. Everything about the iPad, apps, and all of that technology is so new and our generation will be the one that gets to transform it all. We get to be the first ones to direct how those apps look, feel, their success, and we get to develop the process for other designers and for the audiences we end up reaching.

The presentations were all so fascinating, but I think our greatest asset in this experience is that we have access to Mag+ and we also get the chance to develop the Vox iPad app. I would like to pat the backs of the Webbies in the design class! I ended up dropping the Magazines Across Platforms course because I knew the workload would be too much for me in this capstone, but those who ended up sticking it out are really impressive. Good job you guys! It's really going to be exciting to work with the Webbies to start designing our own apps and possibly using some of those awesome iPad app ideas that some of the presenters pointed out to us during the conference.

Critique: SJI Logos

As a part of our 20/10 assignment, the Sports Journalism Institute is allowing our class to come up with some possibilities for their logo redesign. Greg Bowers, the Sports Editor for the Missourian, has been working the SJI spokesperson and liaison for their transition to the MU campus. He visited our class to present the assignment and came in yesterday when we critiqued our first 20 logo concepts in class. He had some pretty good advice for us to start moving forward and touch up some of our best ideas for the last critique.

One of Greg's biggest concerns was that he didn't see the diversity concept in most of the designs. The whole point of SJI is to tackle the issue of diversity and put more minorities into the newsroom to have the opportunity to succeed at sports journalism, so obviously diversity needs to appear in the logo designs.

I tried to portray diversity through color, but I the feedback I got was that this wasn't as obvious as I had perceived it to be. I didn't want to be so obvious about including it (like, literally a black person and a woman), but it seems to me that Greg maybe wanted to actually see people in the logo. I'm going to try to put a human aspect into it, but I think this is going to be really tough. I would much rather work with color, but I think it will be good for me to try and give a more difficult design idea a shot.

So, here are all the logo ideas I came up with! I don't really know which is my favorite at the moment; I have a few. I wanted to stick with black and white and red as my colors. I tried to use the red as a spot color rather than the dominant color. I thought the black and white represented diversity and the red stuck out to me as reflecting journalism, sports, and the sense of immediacy reporting gives you. I also thought these colors looked classy, but using just a basic red kind of gave the logos that "throwback" feel that Greg described to us in the beginning. What do you all think?