GD Humor

Hilarious video about Comic Sans. http://vimeo.com/17450666

Decisions, it can only get better from here.

The other day I was stuck with the decision of whether or not I was going to re-do on of the projects, that I had done weeks before the due date, and is now due after this weekend. I was terribly unhappy with it but the feeling of redoing it and time management ate at my insides. Therefore, I got others opinions and no matter what they said to me I still hated it. So I asked a few teacher what they thought I should do and the one said "well it can only get better from here." Which was my ticket to suck it up and redo it. I was determined, and once I started it again I already like it WAY more then my first attempt and that feeling on my insides faded away.

We were given a project to make a Alphabet poster for a certain target audience. The Target audience for my first poster was children. That could be put up in kids play rooms or school rooms. The objective of the poster was to help kids learn the alphabet in a fun and creative manner. While being able to compare the letter to a animal that’s spelling begins with that letter. Such as E is for Elephant. The Elephant is formed into the shape of an E, yet for reference a small hierarchy to the right of the illustration is the letter in type. Since some of the illustrations forming letters aren’t so clear as others. Such as the Z for zebra, the Z form isn’t as prominent. 

     The illustrations are clean and simple making it easy for mass production since they only use one or two colours. While the background has an upbeat light blue background the help the illustrations pop. Overall, a realistic poster that would have a realistic demand in the real worls and meets the target audience. 

This is what it looked like...

So I took my teaches advice and took my idea and pushed it further to create a fresh view on an animal poster. For my second poster the target audience was again for children, and could be put up in a kids play rooms or school rooms. The objective of this poster is to help kids learn the alphabet in a fun and creative manner. Which is why I picked a bubbly kid friendly type face and transformed them into animals most recognized with each letter. However, keeping the illustrations simple enough to be able to read the letter but detailed enough to understand what letter the animal was representing. Therefore, I coloured the inside of the letter with a texture suitable for the animal and then placed one or two elements from the animal. For example, F for Flamingo was given a feather texture with a wing and head.  I chose to colour the illustrations by hand because I thought the tactile component of the poster would attract children and help them relate. 

This is what it looked like... 

Better right?

As Graphic designers or anyone with creative instincts we are often hard on ourselves and are faced with the decisions on just throwing it out and starting over. I am a strong believer in not giving up on a design but sometimes when your finished and your just not happy with it, its better to just start over. Since, it is a horrible feeling handing in or sending out something you created that your not happy with and will have to deal with for the rest of your career. Always be happy with your work because it's yours and you should be proud. Remember, it can only get better from here. 

It's amazing what you notice, once you look.

Check it out -> http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/graphic-design-trends-2012-612327

I was researching Graphic design trends in 2012 and I was amazed how I could relate the trends to certain designs that I've seen in my everyday life. I was shocked that I hadn't put the connections between design and trends before. Once, I was aware of the trends and they were in front of me my mind was racing, tying all these designs I've seen to the current trends. Such as the "Back to Bauhaus" section. I noticed this trend in the current conestoga branding. The simplicity with the one colour background and the bold letters filled in and the bright colours.

                                              It's amazing what you notice, once you look.

If it's out there, it's out there.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/10/peter_berg_mitt_romney_plagiarism_can_you_plagiarize_friday_night_lights.html

My Teacher sent me a link about copyright issues. I find it interesting how serious copyright laws are. Considering, this man used a catch phrase in a facebook post and was nailed for plagiarism. Especially since it was only in a facebook message and not a essay or such that requires sourcing. You, could have no intentions of plagiarism, and have a law suite on your hands. In the end it just shows how important it is to give people credit no matter what the situation is. Therefore, I predict that social network sites will soon have a sourcing options where you can source your findings. To help avoid and remind people to source research. Even if you're just posting it to your moms wall on facebook. If it's out there, it's out there.

Maybe a Creative director?

Being in my Second year of Graphic design I am beginning to think about where I would like graphic design to take me. Such as what spectrum I would like to aim for. Since, as most jobs you need to work your way from the bottom to the top. Therefore, today I am looking at job title Creative director.

     The responsibilities of a creative director include leading the communication design, interactive design, and concept forward in any work assigned. For example, this responsibility is often seen in industries related to advertisement. The creative director is known to guide a team of employees with skills and experience related to graphic design, fine arts, motion graphics, and other creative industry fields. Some example works can include visual layout, brainstorming, and copy writing. Before one assumes the role of a creative director, one must have a preset of experience beforehand. Like anyone else, these types of artists start up from the very beginning in fields that can relate to motion graphics, advertisement in television, and/or book (or magazine) publishing. It takes years of experience and professionalism for an artist to grow and eventually take the job as a creative director. If one shows exceptional skills in visual and team leading projects, they may be considered to be promoted to the role. 

     I do like to work with people and I tend to take the lead in situations that involving planning. Considering, my experience with working with school during school. Therefore, I do think this would be a good position for myself to one day sit in. It would also be interesting to work with people in related fields on a particular project. Yet, its only the second month of my second year.. Tones of other opportunities to consider.

Are we going backwards?

During this recent Thanks giving dinner a heated decision was brought up among the family. It was based on the evolution of communication such as phones, internet etc. Which relates to my area of study because as graphic designers it is our job to communicate ideas through communication devices discussed. As well as, brand ourselves through social networking and constantly being in contact with clients. 
     The debate over dinner was whether or not we are going backwards when it comes to communication, and is it hurting our society. Considering, at one point in time to send a message it was through morse code or through sending doves etc. Where now a days you don't have to have social interaction with anyone and have no physical contact. Or even in public with people we are still attached to the people we aren't physically with. Even with the ability to have a face to face or ear to ear conversation with people we now chose to go back to reading a message delivered to us. Whats your opinion? 

Design Awards and Competitions

For an assignment for client and relationships I studied with a group the top Design Awards and competitions. The slant that we took on the topic was whether or not winning a design award would benefit us or hurt us in getting a job. The results of this question was very interesting. We interviewed two employers. One employer said that they wouldn’t care if we won or applied for design awards since they would only be looking at your portfolio of work. While, the other employer said yes they would look at the awards as a positive note and we should defiantly put in our resume. However, it wouldn’t be a make it or break decision when comparing two people for a job, it would always be souly on your portfolio of work. Yet, when we asked the students what they thought they all said yes it would be an important thing on your resume and would defiantly set you apart from the rest and help you get the job. Then, we asked a teacher in our program and he did say it would be a good thing to have on your resume but when it came down to it no matter how many awards you won if they didn’t like your work your wouldn’t be hired.

In conclusion, don’t focus to much on winning competitions thinking it will help your get a job but focus on getting experience and building a killer portfolio.