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