Patrick Coyne at The University of Tennessee

Tonight,  in an event put on by the AIGA Knoxville Chapter, Patrick Coyne, the owner/editor of Communication Arts, gave a lecture on the history of the publication, and shared an overview of their how their competitions work and how works are selected to be published in their magazine.

He also shared about their process of how the magazine is created, laid out, printed, and how such a large undertaking is developed by a relatively small team.

Tomorrow, Mr. Coyne will be a guest in one of our design classes, joining in on a critique from a branding project that we worked on with type designer, Mark Jamra, of  TypeCulture.

Filed under: Design, school

Typography and the Web.

Something I’ve never really thought about until recently is the combination of Typography and the web. Honestly, I’m still really learning about Typography so I am by no means an expert (is anyone really?), but the incorporation of type and the web creates an interesting dilemma. 

Moveable type, as originally created, was intended for print-based use. The standards, guidelines, and structure of typography were also created with the intention of having the result of a printed article. The birth of the television and computer forced the use of type into a format that it was not originally intended for. Do these same standards and guidelines of typography apply for television and the web?

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what the answer is. I do know that Bringhurst’s, Elements of Typographic Style have been “applied” for the web, seen here; although, I’m not entirely sure that this can be held to the same de-facto standard as the book. 

I do think this presents an interesting argument though. Should new standards and guidelines be created for typography on the web?

Filed under: Design

Can the government handle new and social media?

As everyone saw in the recent presidential election, new and social media played an integral part in President Obama’s campaign. Not only did Obama’s website and print material create a stunning visual presence never before seen in an election, but the embrace of new and social media propelled President Obama’s campaign to the digital forefront. 

The campaign website itself incorporated a dazzling and well designed web 2.o styled website with YouTube videos, a blog, mobile capabilities, and text messaging updates. Not to mention Obama’s presence can be found on practically every social and new media website: Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, actually you know what, there are way to many for me to actually take the time to post on here. Visit his site for links to the rest.

His campaign members utilized these platforms to make connections with a wide range of people, and I believe this played a key role in Obama’s election.

Even now, Obama is still hard-wired with technology. He even had to put up a struggle to keep his Blackberry and email access seen here.

Now, the question is, how will Obama’s media-laced campaign make the transition into the White House.

The White House website and blog were updated promptly at the time of Obama’s Inauguration; although, both the website and the blog seem to be limping along without the same dazzle and appeal of the campaign website.

That said, the site and blog are representative of our country, not just our president, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. As for now though, its a nice try, but I don’t think its quite up to what it has the potential to be. I for one, am not particularly engaged by either the site or the blog, and chances are pretty good that I’m still not going to be interested in visiting either on a regular basis.

Filed under: Design, Technology, politics , blog, Design, new media, politics, social media

Return from Exodus.

This post marks my return from Exodus and my return to blogging. At first, I felt a little uncomfortable and unfamiliar with blogging. I admit, I still am. Although, over my break I have really focused on incorporating both new and social media into my daily routine. 

I’ve actually found that micro-blogging (twitter primarily) is a really great entry into actual blogging. Twitter is something I can really get into. Its relatively easier, in my opinion, to find interesting, like-minded people to follow and for those people to follow you. The character limit forces you to cut to the chase, eliminate most useless information, and get right into what you’re trying to say or show with others. It also makes it a lot easier to get involved and engaged in conversations with people that might normally be inaccessible to you.

If you’re interested, here’s a link to my twitter account.

Filed under: Technology, life

Different type of Websites

As the web continues to grow and expand, the range and variety of websites also begin to expound. There are many different kinds of websites, but for the most part, sites can been grouped into three or four simple categories.

Reference Sites- A reference site is basically just a portal to many different links, generally specific to a certain topic or genre.  One such site is Slashdot. Slashdot offers “News for Nerds” in an easily navigable, categorized menu that allows users to find what they want quick and easy.

 

Informational Sites: An informational site is generally used to tell you about something, or share information that you’ve requested or are interested in. Informational sites are commonly used for different products, topics, and organizations. One example of an informational site is NothingButNets, a non-profit organization that is trying to raise money to buy mosquito nets for African children. They make use of a website to share their cause with others around the world, and to help make others more aware about their goals and what they’re doing.

Experiential Sites: An experiential site is a little different than the sites previously mentioned. Upon entering an experiential site, the user is generally unaware of what’s going on, until they click through and experience the site as it unfolds before them. Experiential sites are meant to be interactive and engage the user, Often, these sites are created in flash. A good example of an experiential site can be found at BloodSaves, a website that at first seems like a game, but uses interaction to teach the viewer about their cause.

 

Hybrid/Crossover Sites – These types of websites are generally used in viral marketing campaigns. They may or may not actually something to do with the brand, but are used as a means to promote it. The most popular of which is probably SubservientChicken, a site used by Burger King to promote their chicken sandwich. Another good example is Why So Serious? A site created for Warner Brothers to help promote the movie, The Dark Knight. Before the movie was released, various forms of the website allowed users to engage and interact with the site to reveal hidden messages about the upcoming movie.

Filed under: Design, Uncategorized , Design, Web design

my personal commentary on the economic crisis

Actually, I don’t think I even have to say anything. The data presented represents my play-money portfolio.

 

The good thing is, this isn’t real money. The bad thing is, someone’s real money looks just like this.

Filed under: other , economy

Making Books in 1947

After visiting a Graphic Arts, an area printing company, today for class, I was really in awe at the technology that goes into materializing books and other print media. Actually, I was really impressed that this company is as advanced as it is, with state-of-the art printing presses that honestly blew my mind.

In stark contrast, I just now saw a post on boingboing that shows the creation of books in 1947. It is amazing how far the field has come.

more about ““Making Books” video from 1947 – Boin…“, posted with vodpod

Filed under: Design , books, Design, printing

More thoughts on color

Being a designer in a global economy, it has become more and more important to understand the value and implications of the use of color. Culturally, we assign meaning to color.  Here in America, we see  red as blood, violence, anger, love, or passion, while in the east, it can be symbolic of mourning, success, triumph,  good luck, and celebration. 

These values can be critically important in getting your message across internationally, if the wrong color is used, you could be implying a completely different message. It is important to realize this and take it into consideration in design.

Here are a few links on the use of color and cultural implications:

Symbolism

Color & Culture

Color Psychology 

Filed under: Design , color, Design

Oh the colors – which one to choose

 

The addition of color to a design piece generally livens up the work and provides a sense of energy. Although working with color can help  bring your concept to life,  the addition of color presents a design problem. Which colors do I use? To any non-designer, this probably wouldn’t seem so bad, but as a classmate said, “There’s just so many colors to choose from.”  A lot of research should go into developing a color scheme, but more often than not, the designer is left trying to discern which colors best complement a chosen color without taking away from its meaning.

Here are a few useful programs that take some of the trouble out of picking a color scheme:

The Art Director’s Toolkit has a variety of tools that are useful for both web and print production. The color picker has many different options that allow you to pick multiple colors, blend, and adjust them. The toolkit also provides a swatch catalog full of pantone colors. Along with this, there is a numerical conversion utility that allows for easy resizing of images and conversions into pixels, picas, etc. There are many other features that I’m leaving out, but this program is definitely worth a try.

Shades is a simple add-on to Apple’s color picker utility. It is extremely easy to use and provides a quick and easy display of different shades and tints for each color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adobe Kuler is a great utility for choosing tried and true color palettes. Many different user submitted schemes are available to use and rate. The program is easy and simple to use as it provides countless possibilities  for color selection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ColourLovers is essentially a more basic version of Kuler. Arguably, Adobe ripped ColourLovers off, but if you’re interested in a simple, less-corporate version of Kuler, this is the way to go.

Filed under: Design , color, Design

Information Design

As the information age continues to grow, expand, and diversify, it becomes more and more difficult to understand, grasp, and realize how much information is readily available. Even more-so, it becomes increasingly difficult to comprehend and visualize the complexity of this data in a form that we can all value and understand. This being the case, information design and data visualization are rapidly becoming an integral factor in the way we understand and assign value and meaning to mounds of information and data.

Edward Tufte, a forerunner, expert, and author has written several books on information design. His website, edwardtufte.com presents an array of his studies and works on information design and data visualization. 

Another site, visualcomplexity, also hosts an abundant amount of information on data visualization in a variety of fields and applications.

Filed under: Design , data visualization, Design, information design