Chelsey Roger’s Post

I am a Cinema and Photography major.  I hate graphic design.  I thought it was a brutal punishment when I learned to earn my degree I needed to take not one, but two classes.  I did not understand why.  So I have been thinking about all the cool things I have learned to do, and now realize, I could probably make some money just doing some freelance work (yeah, who am I kidding, no way!).  But I also thought, “This is going to be helpful with title sequences!”  So I further researched the topic, and also have this incredible site from Sned’s class last semester:  

http://www.artofthetitle.com/

This site is solely dedicated to title sequences in film.  Just another job that a graphic designer might consider, especially if they enjoy films.  For me, this is a helpful class because now when I am just starting out making films, I can use the skills I have learned from my seemingly daunting graphic design class to save a few bucks.  Title Sequences are a lost art form, and people will pay big bucks to have a good one.  Just think James Bond!  Perhaps they are not as important since most of society's focus last for about two seconds before they get bored, but I think they can be an integral part of a movie's story.  Particularly I want to share this video of Saul Bass’ work with title design.  Enjoy!

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2011/11/12/the-title-design-of-saul-bass/

Jarod Hamm’s Post

Branding 10,000 Lakes is a website where one professional designer has set out to design one logo a day for one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. According to her math, it will take her about 27 years to finish. She said her inspiration came from the lack of inspiration that she saw in many of the lakes' logos. I really like her use of simple type and shapes to convey her ideas. I also like how literally she takes some of the logos that sometimes contain a little humor. Another thing she does really well is texture. Almost all of her logos have some texture in the colors and a lot of them have actual photographs in the backdrop that add a lot to the feel. I've used this site for inspiration this year especially on the Canadian Waters project. My only complaint with the designs is they sometimes get repetitive, but I suppose that comes with the territory of designing 10,000 similar projects.


http://www.branding10000lakes.com/

Kacia Young’s Post

This poster is awesome because it uses quilling to create awesome texture and great colors. The three dimensional aspect of the quilling draws you in. Quilling is thin lines of paper on end used to created different shapes. I love the way the artist placed different instruments in the tree. Also, the colors are very fun and inviting.

http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/archives/2010/05/stern-grove-festival-poster.php

This poster is not only great visually, but also typographically. The typographic syntax is really awesome. My favorite typographic syntax represented in this poster is probably the "yp" connection at the top serif. Also the typographic sins that it talks about are really funny and so true. They are things that we all need to be aware of and avoid as designers. The designer made the explanation of the sins funny and enjoyable rather than a list of what not to do. Furthermore, I love the symbols used as decoration around the heading.

http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/archives/2010/08/typographic-sins-poster-need-images-and-intro.php

Sergio Arguello’s Post

Why Design Matters

Here's something to think about, Design is everywhere.

Evident - perhaps - for those of us who have chosen to go into this field. But, what about the rest of the world? Well, to them I say also "Design is everywhere." Design is not only in the movie poster you glanced at while entering the movie theater this weekend; it is not only in the white, glamorous box your new Macbook Air came in; and it is certainly present in more than just the Walt Disney Pictures logo. Design is all around us. It's in the mug we use to drink our coffee in every morning; it's in the CD Booklet of Adele's 21; and it's in the Metro UI of your Windows Phone 7 smartphone.

"Design is about making things work better. It's all around us and affects us all." That's what the Kauko pop-up café campaign says. Said campaign focuses on raising awareness among non-designers of the importance and presence of design in our lives. The project, which was made for World Design Capital 2012 Helsinki (Finland), provides with a small taste of what would happen in our lives if design was poorly implemented.

The video below illustrates this concept better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B9x12p0udug

The campaign, needless to say is brilliantly effective at conveying the message. Design is everywhere.

Luke Morris’ Post

This piece really does catch my eye. I adore the simplicity of it. I always manage to miss the headphones every time I see it. The headphones are just so cleverly integrated, that I do not notice them at first. The colors are also an excellent choice. I especially like the grunge effect around the borders. It gives the piece a less than perfect look, which I believe really adds interest to the design. I also admire that nearly all the shapes used for the ad is associated with the iPod nano. It reinforces the project.

Stephanie Willis’ Post

The post about social concern posters caused me think about the way that children are portrayed in all of those ad campaigns designed to get people to sponsor children or donate money towards feeding them. In the future I would like to work for a missions organization or an organization like Compassion International. Looking into several of these types of organization's approaches to advertising raises some interesting questions. The goal of their ad campaigns is to provoke people to feel an emotional response and in turn, donate money, so it is in their best interest to make people as sad as possible. They often exploit children in a sense to get the best response. They show naked children with distended bellies and flies in their eyes in order to get you to do something. This may be more effective than showing a smiling child, but at what cost? Compassion's blog on poverty asks the question, "So where's the line? How should we express the urgent needs of the children in our programs while maintaining their dignity?". The same question can be applied to many other controversial themes such as human trafficking or animal abuse. What do you think?

Social Concern Poster

Social Concern

Social concern posters intend to invoke a response, to bring about action and change. Sometimes social concern posters can be offensive, rude, shocking, emotional, touching - there is a wide spectrum. It is important to remember who your target audience is/what change you want to bring about/what emotional response do you want to invoke to bring this about. I have included some examples of social concern posters - which invoke different emotions to bring about change. Think about your response to these posters - what makes them effective or ineffective

Stephen Borengasser’s Post

Here are some descriptive logos that I think are really good. What I like about the Apple Bee’s logo is that it is an apple bee. It almost looks like someone took an apple and drew the stripes on with a sharpie. Such a simple idea but I think it is perfect.

The Grape Cloud Winery uses the same kind of literal imagery. The idea is even better though because the grape cloud is producing wine and the Grape Cloud Winery does to. The mark shows exactly what the company is about while at the same time representing the name. I feel like it would be wrong for this company to use a different design.

JC Electric Co. has made use of a very recognizable symbol of electricity. Anyone who sees an outlet knows what it is and the fact that the initials happen to fit is a nice coincidence. This really works well in light of their slogan “Connecting you with the things you love”. I think the outlet is the perfect visual for the idea of connecting the consumers with their electronics and with the company.

Stationery

Stationery;

When designing stationery you can go a more simple route keeping your design clean or you can add some new factors in. One thing that is important to remember is that you must keep your design consistent through out. Your letterhead must match the business card and the logo. It is a set and therefore it must all flow together nicely. Below I have included a variety of stationery sets which I believe are well designed and remain consistent.With all of these you quickly get the feel of the company/person and you can easily tell that all the pieces belong together.