The Creative Spark: Title Case, Typographic Artisans

Check this link out as you might find yourself working through the tutorials for fun:

http://www.lynda.com/Design-Print-Design-tutorials/Creative-Spark-Title-Case-Typographic-Artisans/101929-2.html

Meet two type nerds. From the studio they share in San Francisco, typographic artisans Jessica Hische and Erik Marinovich formed Title Case, a business and workshop dedicated to the love of the letterform. Here the two artists seek to perpetuate and spread their love of type both in their own work and by sharing it with others through the workshops they offer. While they obsess on their freelance projects, they're equally gratified by spending countless hours drawing letters on their own for the sole purpose of furthering their art. Jessica and Erik talk about the importance of just looking at type—to learn and to practice each day. Follow Title Case as they put pencil to paper and ink to brush in pursuit of the letter that's uniquely their own.

Aerial typography "Y"

Infographics

See the entire infographic at http://www.pinterest.com/d3pod/infographics/

http://www.pinterest.com/d3pod/infographics/

Specs for Illustrative Alphabet Promo

With the deadline coming up quickly for your completed Illustrative Alphabet (Critique is Tuesday October 1st) I think it's best we spend some time in class on Thursday September 26th discussing the specs for the second part of the assignment. As of right now, the advertisement will be due Thursday October 3rd.

The Advertisement/Promotional Ad for your Illustrative Alphabet should have the following:

1. Format:

The format can be landscape or portrait depending on how you want to portray the advertisement. The landscape format might be used as a double-page spread for a magazine whereas the portrait format might be used as a single page magazine ad.

2. Headline: 

Depending on the concept for your Illustrative Alphabet you need to use some of the alphabet design someplace in your advertisement. It might be used in your headline or it can be used purely as an example. The promo needs to demonstrate what the alphabet looks like or how it might be used in order for others to purchase the alphabet you created.

Create a headline that attracts your attention.

3. Text/Body Copy:

You should write some clever copy (a paragraph or a few sentences) that promotes the new original illustrative alphabet that you have created. Have fun with this if you want. It can be tongue/cheek or totally serious..again depends on the personality of your concept.

You can promote yourself as the designer as well or indicate ways in which the concept might work.

4. Sponsor Logo:

You can use either of the two House Industries logos. It will depend on your design composition. You can also tie your ad into Facebook icon/Twitter icon/Instagram icon.

Any kind of social media you think might work best. You might also want to use their website address for more information (you can make up one where your alphabet resides.)

In the end your Advertisement needs to look professional and your intent needs to be clear in order to sell your original alphabet as a product to the public. How you choose to do that is up to you. Creativity in selling and promoting your alphabet is where the creative magic happens.  Be clever.

OPEN ALL NIGHT 24/7 : ROOM 468

Great News!
You should have open access to the 468 studio to work on assignments for all your design classes by this friday. fingers crossed.

Phillip Webb will be in class briefly tomorrow (Thursday) to just go over some basic requirements for the use of this lab that he is in charge of as part of his duties with the School of Art & Design. Security issues and taking care of the studio and equipment is of foremost importance to your use of the studio.

Paige, Jeff, Liz and myself all supported this option for your class. Use it wisely.

Please check to make sure your ID works on the card reader out front while you are here this week in classes.  If there any problems then we can hopefully work those out before the weekend when you might want to use the facility.

"She sells seashell typeface down by the seashore"

Great Visit! Great Assignment from MODA!

Thanks to everyone who showed up on time and got the chance to tour MODA and meet Laura Flusche.

Meet at MODA on Thursday at 2:30pm

Don't forget that we are meeting at The Museum of Design Atlanta on Thursday September 18th at 2:30 to discuss your next assignment. You'll meet Executive Director Laura Flusche and get a tour of the museum. Please be prompt. Do not be late as these folks are taking time out of their busy schedules to meet with you. See you there!

1315 Peachtree St NE  Atlanta, GA 30309

(404) 979-6455

Teamwork: Lessons Learned

Teamwork.

Senior Designer Matthew Conway put this beautiful little gem of a video on his advertising blog and it inspired me to think about how each of you are part of a larger team. 
You are the Junior Class Team.
You are the Welch School of Art & Design Team.
You are the Graphic Designers Team.
Each of you is part of a larger community that needs the support from one another.
There is strength in numbers. 
There is great creativity in knowing each of you can work in a creative environment, among your peers, that is free from feeling you are being discriminated against.

Each of you will eventually find yourself on creative teams during your time here at GSU.
Being a part of team is like a melody. A harmony. A Flash mob gathering.
Each depending on the other for a more symphonic interpretation of a message.
That's what critiques are meant to do. 
To encourage one another while also giving honest criticism about how to possibly make something more deliberate. Help others realize their potential.
Take time out to assist those who might be a little behind in their work or thinking or perhaps they are not living up to their own talents.
Instead of rolling your eyes or even giggling at them, learn to assist them.
We've all been in this situation. Remember the empathy you were given along the way and return it.
Pay it forward.

When you watch this video, understand that the music (designs) you make are important to the group..to the team. Your voice will be heard amongst the others and your investment in the group is part of your own success and history.

I hope your group of designers doesn't break up into cliques.
Instead of sitting with the same group of friends every day during class move around the studio classroom and get to know others. Break your routine. I promise it will make your design work better. I've already mentioned to you that the best classes, the best graduates, the best designers to graduate from our program are the classes that have worked together as one.  Don't exclude or discriminate anyone who might not fulfill or meet your own personal expectations. There is no hierarchy in this class. No one is better or worse than the other. 

Teamwork doesn't undermine your individual artistic voice...instead it weaves itself into the fabric that will eventually be your world.

                                 Donut type found for Georgia State University.

Grading Rubric and Semester Assignments Calendar

Semester Calendar: May change at the discretion of the Instructor- Designers will be notified of changes.

AUGUST

Tues 27                          Welcome! What’s ahead/Syllabi/Blogs/New Design Majors - Assign Project

Thur 29                         Self Portrait Assignment Assigned with Examples and Discussion

SEPTEMBER               

Tues 03                          Self Portrait Due Critique: Part I- Printed/Boarded/Blogged/Displayed

Thur 05                         Timeline Due Part II: Mini-Critique/Printed/Boarded/Blogged/Displayed

Tues 10                          Work in Class on Illustrative Alphabet - Identify at least 3 concepts

Thur 12                         9/11 Anniversary Design: Posted on Blog - Discussion to Follow/ Blogged

Tues 17                          Illustrative Alphabet: Should have examples created of selected alphabet

Thur 19                         Museum of Design Atlanta - Meet at MODA with Laura Flusche, Ex. Director

                                     MODA will assign Informational Graphic for Museum based on document

           

Tues 24                          Illustrative Alphabet - Work in Class

Thur 26                         Ilustrative Alphabet -  Looking at your Advertisements  in class

OCTOBER

Tues 01                          Illustrative Alphabet Advertisement Critique: Part I- Printed/Boarded/Blogged

Thur 03                          Illustrative Alphabet Advertisement Critique: Part II- Printed/Boarded/Blogged

Tues 08                         MODA Assignment - Work in Class - Assign Wine/Olive Oil Redesign Project/Examples     
Thur 10                        MODA Assignment - Work in Class

           

Tues 15                         Pin-up Examples MODA Assignment                                      

Thur 17                        MODA Assignment - Work in Class          

                                                                       

Tues 22                          MODA Critique- Printed/Boarded/Blogged/pdf  (Possible critique at MODA)    

Thur 24                         Wine/Olive Oi l- Work in Class            

Tues 29                          Wine/Olive Oil - Work in Class         

Thur 31                         Wine/Olive Oil - Work in Class                                           

NOVEMBER

Tues 05                          Wine/Olive Oil- Work in Class                     

Thur 07                         Wine/Olive Oil -Check in with Bottle and Box Design              

Tues 12                          Wine/Olive Oil - Work in Class               

Thur 14                         Wine/Olive Oil  Redesign Bottle and Box - Critique

                       

Tues 19                          Final Project Assignment – Work in Class

Thur 21                         Final Project - Work in Class

Tues 26-Thur 28              NO CLASSES IN THIS CLASS- THANKSGIVING

                                   

DECEMBER

Tues 03                         Final Project -  Work in Class                             

Thur 05                         FINAL CRITIQUE :  Printed/Boarded/ Blogged

                                    All Blog Assignments completed/Turn in all Assignments on DVD/CD

Projects Projects and Points

1. In-Class Assignments - 5pts

2. Class Participation/Critiques/Attendance - 5pts

3. Blog and Blog Assignments - 10pts

4. Self Portrait Assignment -5pts

   Timeline Assignment - 5pts

5. Self Portrait Assignment - 5pts

   Timeline Assignment - 5pts

6. Illustrative Alphabet Assignment - 10pts

    Illustrative Alphabet Ad Assignment - 5pts

7. MODA Assignment - 10pts

8. Wine/Olive Oil Redesign Bottle Assignment - 10pts

    Wine/Olive Oil Redesign Box Assignment - 5pts

9. Final Project Assignment TBA - 10pts

10. Design Book Assignment -10pts

Welch School of Art & Design Grade Rubric

A +       98-100                           4.30

A          93-97                            4.00

A-         90-92                            3.70

B+        87-89                            3.30

B          83-86                            3.00

B-         80-82                            2.70

C+        77-79                            2.30 * Note there is no longer C-

C          70-76                            2.00

D         60-69                            1.00

F          60 below                       0.00

WF                                           0.00

IP                                             0.00

                 Barron Biros Advertisement with Illustrative Alphabet: Blue Jean

Big Announcement: Museum of Design Atlanta Assignment and Visit

Looking ahead:  Too soon? I don't think so. I think you're ready to make the plunge.

Great news for you as Junior Designers!  I hope you are ready to participate what your next assignment will be after the Illustrative Alphabet project.

As of today, it was confirmed that you will be working with The Museum of Design Atlanta on an upcoming assignment. It will be in the area of creating an Informational Graphic or Infographic for the Museum. Your use of typography, illustration, organizational skills and your ability to assess how text will become the visual elements for their project.

"Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic, computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information. Today information graphics surround us in the media, in published works both pedestrian and scientific, in road signs and manuals. They illustrate information that would be unwieldy in text form, and act as a visual shorthand for everyday concepts such as stop and go. It is wayfinding and signage in many ways."

We will all meet as a class at MODA on Thursday September 19th at 2:30 so you can meet Laura Flusche who the Executive Director and her staff. This prestigious design museum is located across from the High Museum of Art. Our visit will also give you a chance to see the installation of their newest exhibition entitled "Barrique: Wine, Design and Social Change" that opens on Sunday, September 15, 2013.

This exhibition spotlights an innovative design project that grew out of an effort to recycle old wine barrels in San Patrignano, Italy, Europe’s largest residential treatment center for young men and women recovering from drug addiction and social exclusion.

The residents at San Patrignano reached out to thirty well-known designers and architects -- including Marc Sadler, Karim Rashid, Angela Missoni, and Alessandro Mendini -- asking each of them to design a piece of furniture using wood reclaimed from wine barrels.

Upon receiving the designs, they crafted the pieces of furniture out of old barrels, effectively demonstrating how design innovation can be used to achieve social good. 

Make sure you start looking at the current trends in information graphics. There are plenty of new periodicals and books available.  This is going to be exciting!  I easily could have given this to the senior advertising class but I wanted to get you started with working with real clients. Yeehaw!

http://www.coolinfographics.com

http://mashable.com/category/infographics

Due Dates for Illustrative Alphabet and Alphabet Advertisements

Remember that as you begin to create your own unique Illustrative Alphabet that you should be aware that each of the 26 letter forms should be interesting in their own right. Visually. Perhaps each letter form should have it's own identity (be a little different from the others yet  it should be also be in the same with regards to the family and identifiable as such._
For instance, if you were going to do a Hardware Alphabet then it could be objects found in a hardware store that are relevant to it's context and intention.  They are related simply because they are found in the Hardware store and perhaps focuses on tools or implements that people use to construct something.


Thursday September 5th-
Start date on Illustrative Alphabet (discussion/examples)

Tuesday September 10th-
Work in class on concepts (should at least identify 3 concepts)

Thursday September 12th-
Work in class on concepts- look at 9/11 designs

Tuesday September 17th-
Should have at least 5-10 alphabets in the works. These can be rough sketches/photos/illustrations/collages....but these should be visualized in color or b/w. Post to Blogs.
Discussion of New Illustrative Typeface Advertisements
 
Thursday September 19th- 
Meeting as a class at Museum of Design Atlanta on Peachtree across from the High Museum of Art at 2:30.
Tuesday September 24th- 
Critique on Illustrative Alphabet
These need to be printed/boarded and also put on your blogs

Thursday September 26-
Work in class on Illustrative Alphabet Advertisements

Tuesday October 1st-
Critique on Illustrative Advertisements
 Needs to be printed/boarded and put on blogs
*If I see you need more time then we can rearrange the dates to fit success of assignment.
Any dates that are moved only means that the next project will have less time to complete.
 

Check out these sites:
http://pinterest.com/erinohara1/creative-alphabets/http://www.sharesomecandy.com/41-creative-and-unique-alphabe-charts.html

9/11 Anniversary Type Assignment

Commemorating The 12th Anniversary of September 11, 2001.

In this quick turnaround typographical assignment I want each of you create a commemorative design for 9/11 using nothing but type. You can use anything found in your choice of typefaces (or family of typefaces.)  It can be quotes or statistics or illustration using type to showcase how you feel about this 12th anniversary.

This assignment should be completed by the time you get into class on Thursday and posted to your blogs/websites. We'll look through them online. You do not need to print and mount this assignment.

Again, do some investigation on the event. 
Some suggestions:  
-the passage of time (number of years, days, minutes, seconds, etc.)
-the number of persons who lost their lives 
-the names of the states, cities, ages, number of families of those who lost their lives.
-the number of floors in the twin towers
-the number of nationalities of people who were killed 
-the number of days it took to rescue, rebuild that area of new york city.
-zipcodes, street numbers, firemen, EMT, rescue involved
-the number of people on the plane or the flight numbers of the planes involved.

The use of statistics and facts might just build a beautiful design that is rich in concept and imagery.  You can use color or b/w and you are not limited to anything except your imagination and only the use of typography. (this includes dingbats, punctuation, etc.)

This is our way of remembering those who lost their lives on this very day 12 years ago.

New Van Gogh Painting Discovered in Attic

By NINA SIEGAL
Published: September 9, 2013
AMSTERDAM — For roughly a century, the painting “Sunset at Montmajour” was considered a fake. It was stored in an attic and then held in a private collection, unknown to the public and dismissed by art historians. But on Monday, the Van Gogh Museum declared the work a genuine product of the master, calling it a major discovery.

 “Sunset at Montmajour,” painted in Arles in 1888, “is a work from the most important period of his life, when he created his substantial masterpieces, like ‘Sunflowers,’ ‘The Yellow House’ and ‘The Bedroom,’ ” said the museum’s director, Axel Rüger, in an interview. The painting depicts dusk in the hilly, forested landscape of Montmajour, in Provence, with wheat fields and the ruins of a Benedictine abbey in the distance. The area around Montmajour was a subject that van Gogh revisited often during his time in Arles.

“One or two early van Goghs do sometimes come out of the woodwork now and again, but from the mature period, it’s very rare,” said James Roundell, an art dealer and the director of modern pictures for the Dickinson galleries in London and New York, which deals in Impressionist and modern art.

Mr. Roundell said it would be hard to predict precisely how much “Sunset at Montmajour” would fetch on the market, but expected it would be “in the tens of millions and quite a few of them.”

He added, “It’s not the iconic status of something like the ‘Sunflowers,’ or the ‘Portrait of Dr. Gachet,’ ” which sold at auction for $82.5 million in 1990.

Fred Leeman, a former chief curator of the museum and now an independent art historian and van Gogh scholar based here, said the work, which he called “100 percent genuine,” contributes to an alternative understanding of the artist. “We have the impression of van Gogh as a very modern painter, but here he’s working in the tradition of 19th-century landscape painting,” he said.

The painting has been in the collection of a family for several years, and Mr. Rüger said that because of privacy concerns, he couldn’t release any more information about the owners.

Until 1901, the painting was in the collection once owned by van Gogh’s brother, Theo, said Marije Vellekoop, the head of collections, research and presentation for the museum. His widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, sold it to a Paris art dealer. In 1908, the art dealer sold it to a Norwegian collector, Ms. Vellekoop said. Shortly after that, she added, “it was declared a fake, or not an original,” and the Norwegian collector banished it to his attic, where it stayed until he died in 1970. The current owners purchased it thereafter.

They took it to the Van Gogh Museum in 1991, Mr. Rüger said, but at the time, experts there said they did not think it was authentic. Two years ago, the owners took it back to the museum, and researchers from the museum have been examining it ever since, Mr. Rüger said. Louis van Tilborgh, the museum’s senior researcher, said that since 1991, the museum has developed several new techniques for identifying and authenticating works of art. He said that all those methods were put to use when researchers had the chance to look at this painting again.

According to Mr. van Tilborgh, it was painted on the same type of canvas with the same type of underpainting van Gogh used for at least one other painting of the same area, “The Rocks.” The work was also listed as part of Theo van Gogh’s collection in 1890. It has “180” painted on the back, which corresponds to the number in the collection inventory. “That was the clincher,” he said.

Mr. Rüger added: “This time, we have topographical information, plus a number of other factors that have helped us to establish authenticity. Research is so much more advanced now, so we could come to a very different conclusion.” The last major van Gogh brought to light, the museum said, was the 1888 painting “Tarascon Stage Coach,” in the 1930s. The date of “Sunset at Montmajour” has been identified as July 4, 1888. In a letter van Gogh wrote to his brother the next day, he seemed to have described the scene:

“Yesterday, at sunset, I was on a stony heath, where very small, twisted oaks grow, in the background a ruin on the hill, and wheat fields in the valley. It was romantic, it couldn’t be more so, à la Monticelli, the sun was pouring its very yellow rays over the bushes and the ground, absolutely a shower of gold. And all the lines were beautiful; the whole scene had charming nobility.” (He was referring to the works of Adolphe Monticelli, one of the first painters van Gogh admired when he moved to Paris in 1886, and who played a role in van Gogh’s decision to move to Provence.)

“Sunset at Montmajour” is comparable in size to “Sunflowers,” which was painted the same year and sold for $39.9 million in 1987 at an auction at Christie’s in London.

Van Gogh moved to Arles in February 1888 and spent time exploring the landscapes in Provence, and doing work “en plein air,” or in nature. He was particularly fascinated by the flat landscape around the hill of Montmajour, with its rocky outcroppings and hay-colored fields.

In a letter dated July 1888, he said that he had been to Montmajour at least 50 times “to see the view over the plain.”

Mr. Leeman, the historian, said that “in hindsight, many pointers in his letters and entries in catalogs of the 1900s have been linked to other paintings or misidentified,” adding, “Here, we see a painting that fits those descriptions exactly.”

The painting will be on view at the museum for one year, starting on Sept. 24, as part of the current exhibition, “Van Gogh at Work,” which focuses on other new discoveries about the painter’s artistic development. Mr. Rüger said the current owners have not indicated what they intend to do with it after that.

Timeline Assignment

 

Recent Senior Designers Websites

I thought you might want to peruse the websites and work by the most recent group of senior designers who just graduated from our program. I think it will give you insight into what is ahead of you in the next few years.

There is a wide range of design work in these websites that I feel depict the individual strengths and talents of each designer. Each are very design-centric.  We talked briefly about developing a personal "style" and what that might mean to each of you. It can be suffocating or it can be freedom. It depends. Hopefully each of you who already feel you have a "design voice or style" will grow and experiment with that even more so that becomes even more solid. 

I know each of you are trying to adjust to my method of teaching. It's different from the other Instructors as it should be. I think it's unique in that I have always put focus on allowing my designers to work with real clients while still in school. It's been called a "Signature experience" and it's rare that this happens while you are still in school.

This "signature professional experience" with real clients allows each of you to not only build a more professional portfolio of work but it also allows you to build a more professional resume.  It's a win win situation for you. Great Portfolio + Great Resume = Great Job.

When I ask outside clients to work with my design students, it is always built on the fact that the clients can have access to  a wide range of concepts and work from you (the designers) for their use (if they so choose); what the you (the designers) get is the chance to have work presented and critiqued by the pros. Anytime you can get your work in front of professional people it means you are one step closer to the life you have chosen for yourself once you graduate. These clients also must agree to let designers use their signature experience in their resumes as "Client-related work" or "Academic Experience."

The end result for you as a designer is a portfolio, resume and the working knowledge of working with some of the biggest names in the design world.

Think about it. Would you rather have a bunch of "class exercises" in your senior graduating  portfolio or would you rather have work that was  created for real clients like CNN, HLN, Oxygen Network, Lifetime Network, MODA, The Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Nickolodeon, MTV, NBCUniversal, The Game Show Network, Disney Channel, HBO, Style Network, Miracle House Organization, E! Network, The N Network, Haggar, Inc., Sonoma Winery, Noble DJ, Twentieth Century Fox Films...just to name a few from the past.There is credibility in both but working with real clients I believe gives you an edge that other graduating designers don't have in their academic experience.

Before any of this can begin to happen we both have to develop trust in each other.
You need to trust that I would never put you in a situation that I don't feel you couldn't take on without success. I will also be your mediator and guide when working with clients and would never let anyone take advantage of your creativity, time or work. 

I feel a great teacher is someone who simply holds the light up and allows their students to move ahead at their own pace. You can bet that I'll be the one that says "we're going this way" and then it will be up to you on what path you take to get there. I see the "fork in the road" as an opportunity and not a dilemma.

I have to learn to trust you as well so that whenever you work with real clients that you can handle the timelines, the expectations of these clients and deliver a product that is professional. Every time I bring a client into the classroom for you my reputation is also on the line. This working relationship keeps all of us honest and working towards the same goal. Your success is a shared success.

Remember that every assignment, every working relationship and every bit of hard work you put towards your own work  is all done for you.  No one else. You truly have to be vested in your own work. You might put your work up on a social network site to gain feedback from your peers or you might ask instructors for their feedback as well, but ultimately it will be your own intuitive decision that makes the final call.
You have to take some risks along the way in order to make your work stronger, deliberate and ultimately, authentic.

Everything you do is for you.

Be open to new ways of thinking, new ways of experimenting, and learn to listen as much as speak.

 

Enjoy these websites: Some of the best examples of design from graduating seniors I've ever seen.
 

Sean Jones
www.seanisgreat.com

Lauren Harvill
www.laurenharvill.com

Jerad Hill
www.jeradhilldesigns.com

Matthew Rinehart
mr-rinehart.com

Shu Chen
 www.shuchendesign.com

William Kweon
www.willkweon.com

David Bardis
www.bardisdesign.com

Alexandria Hepburn
www.alexandriacreative.com

Nevena Peeva
www.nevenapeeva.com

Eric Davis
 www.ericlanedavis.com

Simmeyon Strickland
www.simcreative.com

Macy Hilliard
www.macyhilliard.com

Nusrat Alam
www.letloosenus.com

Laura Sharp
www.sharpdesigns.co

Morgan Sjoblom
www.morgansjoblom.com

Amy Dinsmore
www.amythedesigner.com

Deborah Bush
www.deborahbush.com

Anna Masuzawa
www.annamasuzawa.com

Kwame Amuleru
www.amuleru.com

Weekly Blog Assignments: Week Two

Week Two: Good, Bad and the Ugly
Good and Bad Design. Show your favorite and least favorite Designs. It might be print, film, web, or mixed media. Give credit to the work.
Entry by: Tuesday September 10 

*You should also have up the work you've already created for the past two weeks.

Art and Design Interlude

This just seemed timely with all the news of Syria as of late.

Every Week You Should Check-In with These Two Websites

www.atissuejournal.com

www.pentagram.com

Neville Brody: A Blank Sheet of Paper