My first week as Art Director has been quite a traumatic experience. I think nothing I've done prior to this have prepared me for the work at Vox as an AD and what it takes to be one. The learning curve is steep but the rest of the TA team have made it much better. I felt strongly about what Kristin said today in class about working as a team, as Vox Staff and not as separate group of editors, designers and so on. I think its an attitude we should have in every working environment but I think sometimes I find myself not doing that too, unfortunately - it's a comfort zone issue. I think we all have to get out of that zone at some point to stay on top of the game and feel like part of the team. Working with the designers this week has been a great experience and I think while people have been very patient with my nitty gritty requests for changes, I have learnt to be patient with them. It's unfortunate that there are so many changes and uncertainties this first week but I think we all made it!; the end result might not be the best work we have ever done but it was the best we could have done in the time/resources that we have. We all have a role in giving Vox the "voice." I hope the rest of the semester will go much smoother as it is also a great opportunity for us to help one another learn and grow in this process.
Kudos to Kate, Hannah, Libby, Rob, Maggie and Meera for their great work this week!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Critique: The President Wears Pucci
See Image Here
I worked on the books department page this week and it was quite fun I must say. Firstly, the story is hilarious - it is about books spin-offs and the writer really had a lot of fun coming up with spin-off titles. I made an illustration to go with the story based on the spin-off title - The President Wears Pucci (go to link above). I didn't spend a whole lot of time on it but I thought it turned out well. I think now that I have learnt more about the different style (modernist, bauhaus and etc.) I want to try out different graphic designs for stories I design for in the future. Putting the rest of the department page together was a breeze but I think the challenge still lies in making the page interesting and content-driven. It is not boring but I'm not sure it is as interesting as it can be. I think I am experiencing design fatigue (so early in the semester!), I think I need to reflect on the designs I have done so far, find motivation and be rejuvenated.
I worked on the books department page this week and it was quite fun I must say. Firstly, the story is hilarious - it is about books spin-offs and the writer really had a lot of fun coming up with spin-off titles. I made an illustration to go with the story based on the spin-off title - The President Wears Pucci (go to link above). I didn't spend a whole lot of time on it but I thought it turned out well. I think now that I have learnt more about the different style (modernist, bauhaus and etc.) I want to try out different graphic designs for stories I design for in the future. Putting the rest of the department page together was a breeze but I think the challenge still lies in making the page interesting and content-driven. It is not boring but I'm not sure it is as interesting as it can be. I think I am experiencing design fatigue (so early in the semester!), I think I need to reflect on the designs I have done so far, find motivation and be rejuvenated.
Stock photography and more
The Typographi site which I'm following haven't had any new posts since my last blog entry so I decided to check out some other sites. I visit iStockphoto.com a lot and actually make use of their services quite a bit too. Their stock photography/illustration is really quite comprehensive and I must add, very professional. If you haven't been there, do check out. It's not free unfortunately but I like to look at their images for conceptual ideas. They also feature print/web designers, graphic designers and good photography quite a bit and have a great community of photographers and designers that exchange ideas and talk about design trends. I was looking at one of their design spotlights (above) this week and it looks pretty cool. It's an interesting spin on the Valentine's Day concept, although I'm not sure I like the faces of the people in there. Do check out the website for more designs (done by designers like you and me).
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wandering Thoughts: Body Parts
It dawned upon me yesterday in the shower that for the past 3 weeks (including this week), the covers constitute a variety of human body parts - 1/11 was the bright orange hair of a playwright, 1/18 was the legs of the drummer of the "dead"-but-still-alive band and this week we will present a upper body of a woman. "We didn't realize it!" and the tight production schedules have contributed one way or another to the outcome. However, it is not to say they were bad, in fact all the designs are wonderful especially this week's work - Kristin really put a lot of effort into it and it looks AWESOME! - but I just couldn't help it but wonder about the thought processes that go into cover design. In the magazine world outside of Vox, I am sure there is more forethought into what goes into the cover every week since covers more or less determine the sale of the magazine but here, we fortunately (or unfortunately) have the luxury to detrack from the mainstream.
Well, 2/1 will be water and I'm sure aren't any body parts involved! :D
Well, 2/1 will be water and I'm sure aren't any body parts involved! :D
Typographi - What's new in the industry
Please pardon my lack of knowledge on writing about type - it is in fact, incredibly challenging for me since I have no clue what the right words to use are (something like wine-tasting). I will try my best nonetheless.
Typographi, in its latest post, introduced us to a new font that was released recently - Gotham Rounded. They equated the birth of this new font to Apple's release of the iPhone and as quoted in from the blog - "this release represents the merging of two white-hot trends in design: Gotham (hugely popular since its 2002 release) and rounded type (an unwritten requirement of Web 2.0 design)". Note about the original Gotham font(above): "
Check out the new font (left)! I must say that I like it quite a bit, it's very modern but still preserves a certain "down-to-earth"yness (obviously not a word!) to it. Most of the time, rounded fonts (at least those that I know of) tend to convey a casual feel - Century Gothic? And this font, makes me feel the same way to a certain extent too - it kept reminding me of the salty fish-shaped biscuit (the name escapes me). It certainly evokes a different feel from its parent - the original Gotham.
Typographi, in its latest post, introduced us to a new font that was released recently - Gotham Rounded. They equated the birth of this new font to Apple's release of the iPhone and as quoted in from the blog - "this release represents the merging of two white-hot trends in design: Gotham (hugely popular since its 2002 release) and rounded type (an unwritten requirement of Web 2.0 design)". Note about the original Gotham font(above): "Gotham, the typeface chosen for the Freedom Tower cornerstone at the World Trade Center site, is distinguished by the uniformity in the width of its strokes and the absence of embellishments like serifs...
The typeface, Gotham, deliberately evokes the blocky, no-nonsense, unselfconscious architectural lettering that dominated the streetscape from the 1930's through the 1960's in building names, neon signs, hand-lettered advertisements and lithographed posters."
- NYTimes, 07/08/2004
- Read the article about the creation and use of the font!
Check out the new font (left)! I must say that I like it quite a bit, it's very modern but still preserves a certain "down-to-earth"yness (obviously not a word!) to it. Most of the time, rounded fonts (at least those that I know of) tend to convey a casual feel - Century Gothic? And this font, makes me feel the same way to a certain extent too - it kept reminding me of the salty fish-shaped biscuit (the name escapes me). It certainly evokes a different feel from its parent - the original Gotham.
Crisis Management: Breast Cancer & Race
Why crisis management? Because designing something is like managing a small disaster, putting unorganized thoughts and all sorts of stuff together and make it look good, understandable and fabulous.
I found the breast cancer story thought-provoking and had a hard time trying to think of a design that worked with the story. I worked on the cover first and it took me a really long time because I was striving to make it look like her. Tracing her facial features was challenging as there weren't any proper portraits of her so in the end it turned out to be part her and part imagination (I also had to look around and see how other people illustrated people - shadows, eyes - I learnt a lot but wished I knew more). I somehow couldn't quite capture that laughter part in her face - I think I just couldn't draw a proper laughing mouth so it ended bring somewhat a half-smile. I was semi-pleased with how the cover turned out in the end and I felt that the general feel of it (the color) was inline with the tone of the story. But the illustration certainly needs work!
The feature part of it, I wasn't too pleased with the outcome. I somehow was obsessed about making everything fit (when we didn't really have to) so in the end it looked very organized but there's definitely a significant lack of creativity and thought-process in the final design. I think I could have put in more effort into making sure the design reflects the content than pushing the envelope on making all the text fits.
Below are other two designs that I made in my other job/life outside of Vox: one for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday celebration and the other for a white privilege workshop. Race is always a touchy issue and I tried my best to be sensitive but bold here. I hope I succeeded and I am quite pleased with the outcome of both designs. I felt they said something important of what the content/issue was. Comments welcome.
I found the breast cancer story thought-provoking and had a hard time trying to think of a design that worked with the story. I worked on the cover first and it took me a really long time because I was striving to make it look like her. Tracing her facial features was challenging as there weren't any proper portraits of her so in the end it turned out to be part her and part imagination (I also had to look around and see how other people illustrated people - shadows, eyes - I learnt a lot but wished I knew more). I somehow couldn't quite capture that laughter part in her face - I think I just couldn't draw a proper laughing mouth so it ended bring somewhat a half-smile. I was semi-pleased with how the cover turned out in the end and I felt that the general feel of it (the color) was inline with the tone of the story. But the illustration certainly needs work!The feature part of it, I wasn't too pleased with the outcome. I somehow was obsessed about making everything fit (when we didn't really have to) so in the end it looked very organized but there's definitely a significant lack of creativity and thought-process in the final design. I think I could have put in more effort into making sure the design reflects the content than pushing the envelope on making all the text fits.
Below are other two designs that I made in my other job/life outside of Vox: one for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday celebration and the other for a white privilege workshop. Race is always a touchy issue and I tried my best to be sensitive but bold here. I hope I succeeded and I am quite pleased with the outcome of both designs. I felt they said something important of what the content/issue was. Comments welcome.
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