MEET MY CREATIVE SIDE

Hallmark - Which one is the funniest?

2010-02-18T17:52:00.007-06:00

I am entering a Hallmark contest and need help deciding which one of my cards is the funniest. The contest is called, "A Girl's Gotta Laugh." The concept is to make a funny card for a woman that helps her get though a stressful time. Emphasis on the funny. I can only submit one (contest ends on Feb. 22), so please tell me your opinion!

Option 1: Front

Option 1: Inside

No...not the job.
No...not the guy.
No...not the million-dollar idea.

I just meant my hair.

Option 2: Front

Option 2: Inside

And that's just to ride cement sheep.

Keep at it!

Option 3: Front

Option 3: Inside

A drunk guy told me that once.

Keep it up, 10!

Option 4: Front

Option 4: Inside

How else will the groceries, medical bills,
house payments, car payments, and kids' schooling ever get paid for?

Keep at it!

Comment, please!
Have a great day!
~Christy

Recent Photos: Animals and Snow

2010-02-15T23:32:00.007-06:00

Oh Photography...how I have missed you. In the following photos, you will find either animals and/or snow. Enjoy!

Blurred effect in Photoshop

And finally...we love her

Have a great day!
~Christy

NYLON Magazine Contest

2010-01-29T23:55:00.006-06:00

Thanks to Twitter and my hilarious and lovely sorority sister, Nora Silver, (plug for her band, We The Living) Cover Girl is teaming up with Nylon Magazine for their latest advertising promotion.

The challenge is to conjure up a package design for Cover Girl's "Lash Blast Length Mascara." Apparently it has a fancy Elasta-Nylon formula, hence the mash-up between the two companies.

Everything is explained HERE on Nylon's site. Well, everything except for how many designs you are allowed to submit (a question I must find out before February 3rd rolls around).

After some Friday night mind-mapping and sketching, here was the first design I came up with. I am contemplating whether or not it would be too busy for something as small as a mascara tube.

Next, I went for something simplier.

I have a few days before I have to submit something, but I am liking where the last 2 designs are going. Comments, please!
To be continued....

Have a great day! ~Christy

iSubmitted to 99Designs

2010-01-27T20:44:00.005-06:00

In honor of Apple releasing their newest ridiculously named product, the "iPad," iWill be speaking in iTerms for this entire post. iEnjoy and iHope you do too.

99designs.com is a website where just about anyone can post a design request and consequently just about anyone can submit a design. New requests are posted constantly and all of them offer cash to the "winner."

Sounds pretty good if A) you don't spend too much time on a design and B) you win.

So, iFigured that iWould give it a shot. iSaw a posting today that had about 3 hours left until the submissions had to be uploaded. The headline read, "National TV Show hosted by famous anchors needs new logo." Here is a brief description of the show:

"We are a nationally televised show that profiles successful entrepreneurs. We are presently launching a new program that will focus on entrepreneurs who have the courage and vision to drive new products, new technology and new development that will help move America forward."

iSolution: a pig.

That's right, a pig. Why? Well because pigs are like Switzerland. They aren't elephants and they aren't donkeys...they're simply neutral. Rumor has it that pigs can also tackle the Alps with their eyes closed. Anyway, in order for America to "move forward," we have to bridge the gap between the right and left. iPropose we use a pig as our bridge.

Also, iThink that pigs represent entrepreneurs. These are the people who try to defy [gravity. no.] the phrase "Sure....That'll happen when pigs can fly..." Well, here's your pig...make him fly.

First iDesigned a pig:

Then, iTransformed my pig (and yes, there are 50 stars):

And finally, iAdded text:

iWon't find out the results of this contest for a few days, but iWill be happy if iWin!
Also, iWould love to know what you think.

iHope you have a great day!
~ChriSty

Fun with Envelope Distortions in Illustrator

2010-01-23T19:44:00.004-06:00

How did I not ever learn to use the envelope distortion tool? It might be my new favorite. Don't worry mom, this isn't an actual outfit that I own ;) [laugh]

Have a great day!
~Christy

UCP of Texas logo

2010-01-22T21:18:00.008-06:00

A good friend and former roommate of mine called me a few weeks ago to see if I would be interested in doing some freelance for the organization she works for, United Cerebral Palsy of Texas. UCP's main event is going to be held this August and is called the "Life Without Limits," Run, Walk and Roll. Up until now, UCP has not had a consistent logo for this event. They wanted something that would work well for both a T-shirt, as well as letterhead, etc.
So of course I took on the project! Here are some of my initial concepts...

I came up with one more concept, which was the most liked. I am still waiting to hear the final verdict, but here are the three versions of this concept that UCP is deciding on:

Maybe they will use one of the last two for the T-shirt and the first one for their letterhead? I should find out soon! Font may change as well.

End Art:
Have a great day!
~Christy

Round 1 for RIDE

2010-01-11T22:07:00.005-06:00

So, here's the scenario:

It's Thanksgiving. At the beach. The turkey and stuffing have been engulfed by sources of mass destruction (aka our stomachs.)[Insert food coma here]

My ears perk up when I hear my Uncle talk about how he needs an abstract design for RIDE Extreme Sports. [Hmm I can design abstractly....]

Dialogue happens. (shortened from the actual conversation):
Uncle: "I just want an abstract motorcycle. Can you do that?"
Me: "Ummm letmethinkabout..YES."
Uncle: "I'll pay you."
Me: "Sweet."

So, here are my initial designs:

Feedback would be awesome!

Have a great day!
~Christy

Photoshop Fun

2010-01-09T23:22:00.003-06:00

Call me crazy. Just trying to get a different angle!

(The process - First used pen tool to cut out the shape, aka me. Then, created several layers and used the shear tool to create the curved "me's." After that, used some lens flares, added a pink brush stroke to the background, put intense drop shadows behind all of the figures and used the "curves" tool to add contrast after flattening the image.)

Voila! INSTANT 80's!

My attempt at making the Columns 3D:
(Used lens correction, the pen tool, drop shadows (of course) and a fun brush))

Have a great day!
~Christy

A Wintry Mizzou

2010-01-04T20:32:00.004-06:00

While in Columbia this past weekend I snapped a few of the columns in the snow. Isn't Mizzou just gorgeous? (Please say in the raspy voice of a British woman.)

Have a Great Day!
~Christy

Missouri Botanical Garden

2010-01-04T17:34:00.022-06:00

I'd say two months is a decent hiatus from updating this blog, yes? I recently wrapped up a four-month long internship at the Missouri Botanical Gardens and was able to pump out several designs for them. I also decided to become a horticulturist (jokes...)

The biggest project I was able to work on was for the Garden's annual Holiday Flower and Train Show, titled Gardenland Express. My job was to come up with the overall look of the show and design any and all promotional material for it. Check out some of my work:

General "look" of all Gardenland Express promotional material

Banner on Ridway's exterior (at the Gardens)

Bus advertisement

E-Blast, sent to all members

Billboard, seen here at Highway 44 and Kingshighway

Button

I Spy game, handed out at the event

A CHANGE OF PACE....

For the brochure (to be handed out at the event) I was asked to design a 1-color piece and save some money. Obviously 1-color meant that everything else I had designed for the show was not going to fly for this brochure. The next two designs show the inside of a tri-fold brochure. The blue one was my initial design, but look-wise had absolutely nothing to do with the show (I still think it is pretty, however). The black and white version is the one that was printed for the show. I made the black urns and columns, etc in illustrator. There was also a matching poster, which was very boring. But, alas, I must do as I am told.

Version 1, blue (not used)

Gardenland Express brochure (inside)

I also got to design this web header for the website:

"Holidays at the Garden" web header

Now, I know what you're thinking...."Man, this girl has done so much work! Did she ever have any fun?" The other interns and I made sure to squeeze some playtime into the work day. When you work with all creatives, how could work not be fun?

Cara and I set up camp at a Starbucks to make a birthday card. We put this sign on the table and only one woman came to talk to us!

One of several "formal invitations" for lunch

We sent this into Little Debbie and they sent us 40 free muffins!

Happy Holidays from some of the interns!

Cara on the left. Me on the right. And yes, this WAS taken at work.

Some of the interns riding the sheep at the Gardens. (photo taken by "little sheep," AKA Christy Siebert, thanks to her tripod)

The Fall 2009 interns, illustrated by me!

And finally, we made this lovely video. Please ignore the highly awkward face that I am making in the still frame, blogger must think it is soooo funny. The full quality version can be found HERE.

Thanks for checking out my work! Now that my unpaid internship is over, I'd really like a job! Please keep me in mind if you hear of any graphic design opportunities :)

END PHOTO:
Merry Christmas!

(photo taken by me)

Have a Great Day!

~Christy

A tale written in third Person

2009-10-29T23:56:00.008-05:00

I don't know if this constitutes as a bedtime story, but here is a design tale:

There once was a tall, skinny (no offense) boy named Chase.
Chase was a really good musician, even though he would never admit it.
Chase was in a band and when the band's era came to an end, he decided that he couldn't give up his passion for music.
One day Chase decided to record some of his piano songs (which, you can download here).
Chase's potentially royal friends provided positive feedback to his efforts.
Chase got a boost of self esteem and arranged to play his first solo show in Columbia on November 7th, 2009 at Top Ten Wines (you should go).
Chase needed someone to design a promo flyer so that the people will come.

Christy is a designer.
She has a website.
She likes music.
Christy would like some piano music for her website.

Chase struck a deal with his equally talented designer friend, Christy.
Christy made Chase a flyer in exchange for a "website" song.
Christy has yet to hear any such song, but is sure it is just because Chase is busy preparing for his first solo show.

Below is Christy's series of designs, eventually leading up to the finished product:

Chase liked the 3rd one the best.
Christy make a few variations:

Christy made one more, which ended up being the winner:

Christy is satisfied with the end result.
She believes Chase is as well.
At least he better be.
The End.

Have A Great Day!
~Christy

More Website Updates

2009-10-15T23:26:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to edit my website for a few weeks and finally got around to checking it off my list. Major changes were not my intention; I just wanted to reorganize and categorize my designs, as well as add more of them.
Check it out!

www.solbergdesigns.com

Have a great day!
~Christy

Light Collage

2009-09-25T22:45:00.004-05:00

Photoshop was my car companion today.

I decided to blend a few more photos from my travels and make something that focused around lights.

When I was in Europe, I made it a point to photograph as many lampposts as I could find (at least, lampposts that I thought looked cooler than the average lamppost). Some of my favorites were taken in Paris, so for a background image (the criss-crosses that you see) I used a photo of the Louvre that I took.

I hope you are enjoying my obsession with Photoshop as much as I am. :)

Have a great day!
~Christy

Side Project: Collage

2009-09-24T21:41:00.003-05:00

The idea of a collage is not original. The idea of taking pictures from Europe and blending them together along with pieces of your journal is not original. But, I did it anyway.

The text that I have flowed in the background is from my London blog (Christy's London Tales). At the end of every entry, I had a "recap" section, so I took all of my "recaps" and blocked them together for my little project.

The phrase, "Today it rained. All day. I loved it." was how I began my very last entry from London (I believe it was the day before I flew home).

This took approximately 1 hour. And, is purely for my own enjoyment.

Have a great day!
~Christy

Updates!

2009-09-16T22:18:00.012-05:00

It's been exactly 1 month since I have posted.
It's been exactly 2 months since my 23rd birthday.
It's time for some updates.

WEBSITE
www.solbergdesigns.com has had over 900 visitors! I am always looking for comments and suggestions for the site, so if you have one please pass it along to me. I am hoping to put some new designs up within the next few weeks.

WORK
I am currently working as a graphic design intern at the Missouri Botanical Gardens until mid-December. While I have been working for 3 weeks, this is technically my first full, 5 day week. All of the design work for the Gardens is done in house. Therefore, there are always things to be done! So far I have done a few ads, some table tents, etc. We went on a tour of Mulligan Printing Company in downtown St. Louis, and will be getting a "behind-the-scenes" tour of the gardens soon as well. You could also say that I am getting into horticulture. Having to frequently look up plant names has made me more interested in the subject. Today on my lunch break I strolled around and snapped some pictures:

Rose Garden

Rose Garden

Fountain in Rose Gardens

Taking a break.

Tram Ride

The Climatron

Dale Chihuly

Chihuly close-up

More Roses

Rose Garden

Water Lily

Needless to say, the work environment is, well, pleasant.

OTHER
My brother asked me to come up with a promo poster for a show he is playing in Nashville with some other performers. It is an Elliot Smith Tribute Show that is going to be at Mercy Lounge on Sunday, October 18th. He wanted me to go for the look that Elliot Smith used on his "Figure 8" album, seen below:

After a few drafts, I decided that the best way to go about this "look" was to make all of my own letters. I only used a font for the Event Info section. So, here is what I came up with:

SOCIAL MEDIA
Not embarrassed to say that I use text, BBM, Gchat, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, sometimes simultaneously, to communicate with my friends. It is also a part of my job at the Gardens to keep up a blog of Henry Shaw's travels from the late 1800s. I advise you all to check it out; Mr. Shaw was quite the character. Click Here to view it!

CUBICLE FRIEND
I was able to buy this cactus/succulent (I'm still not sure which one she is) with the help of my 20% employee discount. :)

END QUOTE

Have a Great Day!
~Christy

Final Redesign

2009-08-16T21:40:00.003-05:00

Third time's a charm, right? Maybe it's because of my unemployment status that I feel it necessary to use my time towards changing my website as many times as possible, and maybe not. Either way, I have redesigned the site for a third and final (at least for a now) time. The name is still the same: www.solbergdesigns.com, but the LOOK is NEW!

I decided to add some more elements to the site; showing more diversity in my work. I added a few paintings that I have done over the last few months, as well as some photos that I have shot and edited over the past year.

While I am looking for a job, I figure it can't hurt to let employers know that I am a fan of all things creative, and not just graphic and print design.

I'd love to hear feedback on the new look!

What shall I do next with my spare time (besides the tedious job hunt?) I am hoping to get some more designs posted soon (redesigns and new designs that I have conjured up). Must.Keep.Designing.

And maybe hitting the gym too. I hear activity helps creativity.

Have a great day!
~Christy

www.solbergdesigns.com

2009-07-19T14:14:00.003-05:00

I have a new domain name!!! :

www.solbergdesigns.com

I decided to change a few things with the site, and am hoping to add more designs/photos soon! But, I'd love some feedback. Thank you!

Have a great day!
~Christy

MY NEW WEBSITE!

2009-07-02T21:49:00.003-05:00

Ever heard of Moonfruit? Me either...well, not until a few days ago at least. Let me give you a hint....it has NOTHING to do with outer space and nothing to do with apples either (but, what a fun combo THAT would be..)
Moonfruit is a company that allows you to make a website for FREE! It haa several different templates and is very easy to figure out. I spent a good 7 hours today working on a site, and finally finished it! I was ecstatic to come across Moonfruit because of my current lack of enthusiasm about Dreamweaver (maybe I shouldn't admit that since I will be applying for jobs soon?). I know how to use Dreamweaver, I am just not a fan. Also, Moonfruit allows you to keep your website for free as long as you update it at least every 6 months! What a wonderful thing.
So, that being said, check out my brand new website!

http://christysolberg.moonfruit.com/

Have a great day!
~Christy

Visitor Guide covers take 2

2009-07-02T13:02:00.004-05:00

I went back and made some adjustments. I added the Mizzou student recruitment header in order to keep the branding consistent. And again, anything that looks grey, should be black. I'm not sure why the color is not coming through! Thoughts/comments encouraged!

Have a great day!
~Christy

MU Visitor Guide beginnings

2009-06-30T14:10:00.006-05:00

Inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x3PQ5QhMJs (joke, but I really do like this song. RIP MJ)

Mizzou Publications, in conjunction with the Office of Visitor Relations (aka the best job on campus), is in the beginning stages of creating a Visitor's Guide for Mizzou. The entire project will not be completed until April of 2010, but there is a lot that needs to happen in that time. First, a media kit has to be put together to send to potential advertisers. Today I created some mock covers to be used in the media kit. I may be making some more on Thursday, but here are 4 that I have completed (anything that looks grey should be black):

Which treatment do you like best?

Have a great day!
~Christy

Senior Year

2009-05-30T13:45:00.010-05:00

I have acquired an insane amount of photos from my senior year of college. Here are my winners:

Photo Journal

Faurot Field from the press box

Homecoming skit 2008 with Mike Hall

Surprise

Lila at Thanksgiving

My roommate is a communication addict

MU Basketball in the Mizzou Arena

Nashville

New Years Eve

DeAnne at her wedding reception

Nashville

Caroline and I probably laughing about London

Columbia

Photo Journal

Valentine's Day ; the cookies are fresh

Back in London

The London Eye

Lila at Easter

Washington University on graduation day

Friends hold hands in big moments

Senior Sendoff

The Design Soldiers on our last day of class

Trust me, this is going to be a cute one

2627

Creative Business Cards

2009-05-21T17:46:00.002-05:00

Looking for a new way to hand out your card? Check out this site:

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards/

Have a great day!
Recent events from life to come soon.

-Christy

Website!

2009-05-14T23:42:00.002-05:00

My website is finally finished! I will have a "real" address for it soon, but for now bengal/mizzou is my host. Check it out! Warning: It may take a little bit to load.

http://web.missouri.edu/~casfg4/solbergdesigns

The Homestretch!

2009-05-06T22:03:00.016-05:00

CRITIQUE:
I can hardly believe that tomorrow is my last day of going to class....(ever). I am actually going to try and not think about it, and just write this post as if it is any other week. And man, have those weeks been busy! At least this time around I have gotten some sleep, so my sentences should be more comprehensible than last week. What song has been stuck in my head recently? This one.
Oh, AND to celebrate the last day of school at Mizzou...how about some black and gold.
And finally, there is a movie (Postgrad) coming out that could be me in 2 months. yikes. Check it out!

What have I been working on the past week? STORAGE STORAGE STORAGE! We had our Meredith presentations yesterday (which, I will talk about later). But, all of my design power has been going into the Storage website. I was in charge of designing all the content for the Digital, Living, and Working sections of the site. My biggest challenge was the technology barrier and just flat out having to learn as I went along. I am very pleased with how everything turned out though and it is such a weight off to have it completed! Check out the site!
Here are some of my final designs for www.bhgstor.com

Last week I also laid out the art and lyrics for my brother's album, "I Am a Fool." Interested? click here! (album cover art by Dan Solberg). Yeah, keeping it in the fam....
Click here for a review of the album

RESPONSE (Meredith Presentations)
Can I just say, "Phew!" I feel like the entire semester has been building up to Tuesday's presentations and it is such a huge item to check off of my list! The whole day was a pretty incredible experience. My group, Storage, was able to start the day off at 9am as the first to present. Getting to this day has been at times pretty rough. But, I always knew we would be able to pull it off. I think that everyone did a wonderful job presenting our material in an organized and entertaining fashion. We got some great feedback from the Meredith reps as well! I wouldn't be surprised if I see the words, "Fix my mess" on their site in the future (they loved our community page). It was nerve-racking in the beginning because we had so many technical difficulties and had to switch rooms, projectors, etc. But, THANKFULLY, the alumni center pulled through for us. By the way, I also thought it was really cool to be able to present in the alumni center and have lunch there. It was such a professional atmosphere and a very nice place to house the presentations!
I was able to sit in on the presentations for "Spoon" and "Country Home" as well. I thought that all of the groups presented slightly differently, but all effectively. To the groups the brought food or drinks - props to you. That was a great idea and a great addition to your presentations. Especially for the food-oriented projects; what better way to interact with the audience!

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
If you had a T-Shirt with your name on it, what type of design would be used to represent your work? Professor Paul Nini used the site, "Skreened," to sell 24 of his designs which represent different artists. The artists that he chose are supposed to represent the top graphic designers of the 20th Century. Not all of these designers are necessarily famous, but all are influential.
For example....

What a cool idea! I wish our design class would have come up with something like this for t-shirts. I think we all have unique styles that could be fun to try and encapsulate into one shirt.

Well, that's that. :)
Tomorrow is going to be a packed "senior" day that I am very excited about. I still have around 30 emails that I need to answer to....which is a step up from what I had at the beginning of the day --------> (oh, yeah that says 66 messages...wonderful)

Here's two last pieces of "End Art."
The first is just funny and slightly embarrassing, but it is my wristband from the pub crawl (which, the money raised went to support a charitable function through LCMS)

and finally,

"Journeys end. Friends depart. Every phase of life comes to an end. But every end is also a new beginning. It is a new chapter waiting to open. It's up to you what you want to think about! The end or the new beginning"

Not going to lie.....I am probably going to dwell on the end of this chapter, seeing as though I will be living in Columbia and applying for jobs, but I suppose I will only be looking for the new beginning as well (while lying by the pool, of course) ;)

Have a great day!
~Christy

Week "rounding the bases"

2009-04-30T12:51:00.005-05:00

(my font is messed up this week, I apologize)
CRITIQUE:
This past week my life has been consumed with one thing and one thing only: STORAGE. Alot of designing has been taking place in the various computer labs around campus, all with one goal in mind, which is to finish up Storage.com in full stride. Thankfully, after one more long night, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are sending the site to Meredith Corp. in about 3 hours and are just tweaking a few last minute things. Overall, I couldn't be more proud of our team. It has been an exhausting road, full of trial-and-error, but at the end of the day I think we have a top-notch product to present to Meredith on Tuesday (9am, by the way). Please check out the site at : web.missouri.edu/~mmst2d Here is a screen shot of the new and improved home page for the digital section, but stay tuned for more OR just check out the site!
I have also been working on my own website, although it is not yet complete due to my necessary work on Storage.com to meet the deadlines. BUT, I decided to completely redesign my website, so you can check out at least my new logo and opening animation at web.missouri.edu/~casfg4/solbergdesigns Here is my new logo:

And here is a screen shot of what my opening page and slide show look like:
Now that Storage is complete I will be able to focus on getting my website in shape!

RESPONSE:
Eh, let's go non-conventional here...I am going to talk about sleep. Why? Well, it is the main thing on my mind. I'll start with some quotes:
-Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

-No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap. ~Carrie Snow
-Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep. ~Fran Lebowitz

-A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb
-There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast. ~Author Unknown (HUH??)

-AND my personal favorite.....Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds. ~JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom

And there it is. I am officially walking around as a tall two-year-old this week.

Here are some quick and fun facts from the National Sleep Research Foundation:
-Anything less than 5 minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day (Check)

-17 hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%. (According to this, I am drunk right now).

-After 5 nights of partial sleep deprivation, 3 drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough (must catch up on sleep before cinco de mayo).

If you want to check out the entire list, head to http://www.abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm

I also found a site that explains 10 ways for to avoid designer's block. (http://www.gomediazine.com/design-tip/10-tips-avoid-designers-block/)
Notice number 9......"Get your sleep."
So, what is the general consensus here?? I think it is obvious. ---->

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
Check out the film, "Objectified, " by the same director as "Helvetica," Gary Hutswit. In the documentary film, several designers give insight into their work. Click here to check out the trailer!

End Art: (it's the light at the end of the tunnel)

Have a great day!
~Christy

I don't know what week it is. But the sun is out!

2009-04-22T13:23:00.010-05:00

A heat wave as finally hit Columbia! Timing couldn't have been more perfect either. I think all of us need a little sunshine right now, especially my capstone! We have all been working meticulously on final projects; hours and hours into the night. Last week was a long and stressful one, but this week is turning out to be much better. I am officially considering myself in the homestretch to graduation! Only 3 more weeks!

CRITIQUE:
I couldn't be more excited to share with you what I am about to share. Last week and beyond I have been working with Jena and Abbey on the criminal justice feature, which will be on newsstands tomorrow. This was a 9-page feature story profiling three of Columbia's "justice" workers; the chief of forensics, an entomologist (aka "bug guy"), and a police officer. It was a great collaborative effort and extremely exciting to see our initial ideas make it to the end. Our main inspiration came from Shepard Fairey's soviet posters with his sharp lines and bold colors. We incorporated representational icons with each profile in order to signify what each person is involved with. Here's the VIP view at tomorrow's feature:

Ah, I'm in love.

Next, the Storage.com team has been working extremely hard to get our web site up and going! I have not posted any of my designs for the site yet....until now. Here is a page I designed for the "digital" homepage. Basically, when getting to this page you can click on either, "Buyer's Guide," or "Move Your Tunes." The buyers guide will take you to a scrolling list of external hard drives available and tells you which one best suits your needs. In "Move Your Tunes," you will be able to click through a slideshow that shows you, step-by-step, how to move your iTunes music files onto your brand new external hard drive. It has been a lot of trial and error, and there is still much to tweak and design, but I am happy with the progress. Anyway, first I will show you my "Digital" homepage for Storage.com (by the way, if you want to check out what we have done so far as a group, the website is http://web.missouri.edu/~mmst2d/index.html):

And here is what you would see if you clicked on "Buyer's Guide" (keep in mind that this would be continuous however.....I could not figure out how to get a screen shot of the whole page continuous)
I'll post more as I update and finish more pages!

RESPONSE:
Yesterday, instead of having our usual class, we watched judging for SSND college design contest (in which all of us entered at least 1 piece). It was interesting to see how quickly the three judges were able to make a decision on who was the "clear winner," who should be tied for an honorable mention (or, as I said as a child, "Mom, they gave me a horrible mention....").
I submitted the photo essay I designed for Global Journalist, but I think it was disqualified because the date it was published was unclear. It simply says, "Spring 2009," and I was unsure of the exact date :( so that was a bummer.
It was exciting to see some of my classmate's work being judged however, as well as see Meredith's win (good job!!).
The atmosphere as a whole was a neat thing to be a part of. I was pleased to find that many of the things that the judges were critiquing, I thought many of the same things. Certain pieces had wonderful opening spreads, but then lost it in the other pages of the story - this got the judges attention at first, but then ultimately were cut from the pile. I think I was able to pick up a few tips and learn a few things about how designs are judged for when I enter contests in the future. And, of course, I will make sure to get the date right.

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
I checked out some of the archives and found this article about the tense times in the magazine publishing industry. That's depressing. But I promise the whole article isn't a downer. Even though some say magzines are a dying industry because of the internet, pring pagazines are still a specialized product and eye magazine doesn't see them going anywhere because of that specialization. The article also does a case study of different magazines such as "New York," "The Arthitect's Journal," Make," etc. The atricle says, "At the heart of the magazine is the relationship between words and pictures and the way they are used to tell a story. That can be anything, from the New Yorker with its small headlines, long texts and cartoons to the English celebrity weekly Heat where the photographs and shouting type are the story. And it’s these kinds of editing and design choices – why something looks the way it does – that the following case studies explore."
The article continues to go in depth into each of these magazines and tell us about the art direction and other influences to that publication. With "New York Magazine," it talks about the different techniques used to tell a story - from infographics, photos, boxes, illustrations, etc. Covers are usually the result of a group of people woring together. It also "has the editorial energy of a weekly combined with the art direction standards of a monthly."
The article goes on with the case study in many other magazines, so I urge you to check out this cool article from the archives of eye magazine!

END PIC:
I was bored...so I painted this and hung it in our kitchen :)

Have a great (sunny) day!
~Christy

WEEK 10ish

2009-04-15T20:55:00.014-05:00

I'm not sure what week we are in.....all I know is that after this one we have 3 more and then finals week! I think this week has actually been my busiest one yet (I say this as I am sitting in the library with 2 tumblers full of coffee to my left). The end is in sight however, so I suppose that is why everything is piling up! P.S. This is the exact shirt that I am wearing right now: isn't it awesome? and oh so true. CRITIQUE:
Last Thursday in lab I presented a redesign for my school safety cover. I decided that it would be fun and different to try and draw the cover using only ink. It was difficult to find a balance between keeping the tone serious, but also playing into the fact that it dealt with schools. This is what I came up with, and as you look at it I want you to reminisce about all of those times when you were in school and a teacher came in and yelled, "Hey! What's going on in here!" (I am not implying that this happened frequently, but it does on TV shows at least). I absolutely loved making this cover - I was able to have fun with the VOX logo and the dek. I just felt as though it would be a unique look that VOX hasn't seen yet. Although this will not get published, I still love it for my portfolio.

In other design news.....I am designing a 10 page feature along with Abbey and Jena that is titled, "The Justice League of Columbia." Basically, the feature profiles three people in the field of criminal justice. One is a police officer, another is the chief of forensics, and the third is who we call, "the bug guy." I've been told that his job is a mix of forensics and determining evidence based on the bugs present on the scene. We had a photo shoot with all 3 of them on Tuesday, which Jena and I got to direct a bit. I have not seen any of the photos yet but I am confident that we have some good ones! Here was my initial design for a splash page (with a filler photo):

We got our inspiration originally from Shepard Fairey, whose work can be seen at www.obeygiant.com. Fairey's is also the genius behind the new look of Saks Fifth Avenue:

Lastly, I have been working on getting my pages designed for Storage.com! We have a site that is clickable and it is very exciting to see the progress!

RESPONSE:
This week in lab we continued to have presentations for our Trends assignment. We again had some very hopeful people out there who have us great advice, and others who more or less said, "Hey, good luck kids." Maybe since this week has been so hectic, I will do a "reflection" moreso than a response on a particular subject. I got to reflect back on my childhood a bit this week because of a few things my mom sent to Columbia. It is tradition in my sorority for our parents to write us a letter when we are seniors and then this letter is read to us during one of our chapter meetings. Some parents send in old pictures, write funny stories, etc, etc, etc....MY parents sent these two posters that I had made (one from grade school and one from high school). It is pretty entertaining to read some of the things that I thought were really important, or that I thought I would be doing by the time I am nearing 23 years old (yikes...23....don't want to talk about it). Anyway, here is the "life poster" I made when I was in grade school:
And, let's zoom in on a few pieces of this poster......

What a perfect day..... In high school I had to make my "life timeline," which was to continue all the day until death. I remember hating doing this because I didn't want to write down my death...I think I said, "dies peacefully at age 100," or something like that. Anyway, here is my life timeline:
And again...a closer look at some important dates.

Man, I sure can not WAIT to make my first million and then hit up Florida all in the same year. My mom also pulled something I had written on my blog from when I lived in London last summer. To make a long story short, I had traveled to Wales to jump off of some cliffs for this excursion. Getting there was an awful experience....and then once we got there we were so late that we missed the train back to London and therefore had to spend the night in a lodge in the middle of nowhere where this "excursion" place was. The woman who ran the lodge gave us vague directions on how to get to the "beach" to see the sunset. It took a good hour or wading through thick mud to find it, but when we did it was beautiful. There was also a man dressed in a full chicken suit by the beach in Wales...it was so weird. But anyway, she had this made for me with a picture that I had taken in Wales as well:
I had no idea I was so inspirational.

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
It's Type Week at eye magazine!
The magazine featured custom type this week with hand-drawn letters. Ryan Hughes takes a look at some creative type-artists. He says that back in the "pre-digital dark ages" custom type was the norm. Can you imagine?? That would take so many additional hours of work to complete. In order to create expressive layouts, hand-drawn types were used and especially common for headlines and advertisements. Here is the direct link to the story: http://blog.eyemagazine.com/?p=188 It is a short story, but here are some of the images:

END QUOTE:
maybe I should put this on my walls until graduation?
Have a great day!
~Christy

WEEK 9

2009-04-08T13:44:00.016-05:00

CRITIQUE
Let me just begin by saying: 4 WEEKS LEFT! + a finals week (but that doesn't really count).

Phew, Ok..now I feel better. By the way, for the entirety of this blog post I am listening to "The Format." Don't ask why - it is just on my itunes and I am going to be throughly enjoying it for the next hour. Feel free to listen along with me: http://www.myspace.com/theformat

Last week I presented my ideas for the April 16th cover of VOX. As of last week, the story had not been chosen yet. Therefore, I designed two covers based on School Safety and one based on Earth Day. The final decision fell on School Safety, which is what I am redesigning to present tomorrow. Here were my initial ideas:

Look! The trees want to be hugged....some things in life actually ARE free....The execution needs work, but I do like the concept of this design. I created the tree in illustrator and then came up with the head and dek.

I really enjoyed playing with the "VOX" logo on two of these. I have never been entirely positive if this is allowed, but I figure it is better to try it out, think outside of the box, and have some fun.

The concept that I have been working on for tomorrow is the one with the scribbles on paper. What I am working on doing, however, is making it look more "high school" and less "small child first learning to write and color." I initially designed this without having acess to the story. After reading the text, it is actually a pretty serious story and topic (dealing with issues of violence and touching on the 10 year "anniversary" of the Columbine shootings). I feel weird using the word "anniversary" for such a horrific event, but other words are slipping my mind momentarily.
Stay tuned for my redesign! I'll give you a hint: I am drawing the entire cover with pen.

Oh yeah, one more thing - I also designed a little logo for a Cinco De Mayo pub crawl that some students on campus are organizing to raise money for a mission trip. I like to think of it as a good clean mix of a party font and sunburst color, which always equal a good time. You can now see it on Facebook (woop woop!)

RESPONSE
This week and next week in lab are dedicated to presenting our Trends assignment. Basically, the assignment consists of speaking with an art director or graphic designer (or wonderful art teacher) and gain insight into the industry. I spoke with Karla King, a freelance graphic designer from Kansas City, MO. She said that when she began designing she drew everything out with markers! It is hard for me to imagine doing the type of work I have been doing without my computer. She also had some great insight into what it is like working with editors and some pros and cons to working at home as opposed to the office. Here is an excerpt from my transcript:

"One reason I like magazine design is because there is the editorial design part of it and the ad design part of it, so you do have that difference. And I have discovered that I really like working with editors as well. And with the printing company where I was just doing design, specifically design, it was extremely fast-paced and demanding. To me it was overwhelming, but that was just with my personality – it was overwhelming. It was fine in that I was able to do well – it is just that it was really demanding, because of the market."

Do you have a specific process that you go through whenever you get an assignment?

"Everything I do is on the computer now. I don’t sketch ahead. I gather all of the elements and place them on the page, and then arrange them from there. I usually look at advertisers websites, or whoever I am designing for to see if they use a dominant color. If the elements just aren’t working, or something like that, I’ll put it aside and come back to it. I’ll go work on something else for a bit and them come back to it. Many times too you have to listen to an editor or the company and listen to what they would like to see and try to fit it in as much as you can, while obviously also giving several suggestions. Sometimes there is a lot of going back and forth, and sometimes there isn’t – they will say, “I love it, change that one word and we are good to go.'"

What are some of the pros and cons to doing freelance work and being in an office setting everyday?

"Pros of being in an office is the camaraderie and the interaction of learning. That is one thing I really miss – I don’t have somebody who gets the new InDesign program to say, Hey, they changed this, look how you work this part of it now.
Another benefit would be a constant paycheck, hopefully. And insurance, things like that."

Do you have any tips for college graduates trying to find jobs?

"I would say to put together a great portfolio that shows varied examples and a lot of versatility. A little goes a long way. You want to show that you are really versatile. I have never had the opportunity to learn anything with web design, I would love to learn it, but I would say to definitely include web design examples. Many times designers now are designing not only for print, but for the web as well."

It was wonderful to be able to speak with someone who has been in the design field for years and could give me a glimpse into what here experiences have been. Some of my classmates who presented on Tuesday spoke with people who had some truly inspiring and uplifting things to say. Abbey spoke with an art teacher from her high school that said (and yes, I am copying this from your blog), "...more than anything, believe people are good and only want the best for everyone so that if or when something happens that makes you question motives, you can forgive, learn and move on."
I am thinking about plastering that on my wall later tonight.

YOU CAN'T MISS! www.blog.eyemagazine.com
Jan - you stole my blog! (just kidding).
Jan did send us an awesome link to eye magazine's blog that talks about the typefaces of the moment.
Here is the link: http://blog.eyemagazine.com/?p=181
Good news for VOX: One of the art directors on the panel nominated Frutiger!

My favorite font nominated, SOLELY because of it's name however, was "Sweepy." Hilarious.

Eye Magazine wants to hear more suggestions. If you are like me, you probably have an attachment to certain typefaces and would like to see them on the list. I may just have to send them an email about adding Comic Sans to the list.... (thats a joke, it's ok to laugh).
I was also struck my the massive amount of "tweets" that have been made about this post. Am I the only person who is not signed up for Twitter? I kind of want to tweet.

Finally, how cool is this?:
I would highly encourage you to go to http://endosymbiotic.tumblr.com/
Click on "Archive" and you can see a different picture, quote, drawing, etc for alomost every day of the year. Many of them actually have multiple entries for each day. I'm a "quote mixed with picture" lover...so this site has the potential to keep me occupied for days. I am going to keep this one in mind until graduation:
Have a great day!
~Christy

WEEK 8.5

2009-03-31T21:24:00.018-05:00

Disclaimer: Before I begin, let me just say that this post will be very "London-y" and photo-heavy. Over spring break last week I had the opportunity to travel to one of my favorite cities with one of my best friends and I just don't think it is possible to get it out of my head, or my blog. So, with that being said, I would like you to read this entire blog with a British accent. Cheers!

CRITIQUE
This past week I worked on.......(not much). I sketched a few things while on one of my plane rides for Storage.com, but nothing too wonderful. I spent the week in glorious Londontown, took roughly 300 pictures (something to look forward to later in the blog), and enjoyed my week away from having a class schedule and assignments.
While I was on break however, my cover for the Nicotine issue was published! I am very happy to share that with you! Overall I am extremely happy with how it turned out. I love that it ended up being a full bleed as well instead of having a border. I also love the typography (thank you Meredith for your help with this!) I really wanted this cover to be all about the power of the image. It is dramatic, bold and gives a different view of the smoking ban. Here it is!

The only other thing I have been working immensely on since I have been back from my trip is my website. It still needs very very much work, but I am happy to at least feel like I am learning the programs. Stay tuned!
This week I will be designing covers for the 4/16 issue of VOX (either an Earth Day issue or a School Safety issue). Again, stay tuned!

RESPONSE (are you still reading this in a British accent? If not, please resume using one).
London is....
A) Alluring
B) Inspiring
C) Full of life and surprises
D) Utterly Amazingly Wonderfultabulous (I had to make up a word just to describe it)
E) All of the above

I hope you chose E! Here are some of my favorite pictures from my spring break trip:

The London Eye (with London birdies)

Big Ben

Tower Bridge through a window in the Tower of London (click on to look...they are much better without being placed on a black background)

Left: Tower of London playtime. Right: Nelson's Column

I hope to be these people one day

The Tate Modern museum. 1st two images are of an exhibit taking up half of the first level of the museum and the last is a giant timeline of artists and designers according to era.

The Prime Meridian (being in 2 hemispheres at once!)

Looking through windows again (can you tell I like doing this?) Here's China Town!

Abbey Road (Left: Katie signing the wall. Middle: my contribution. Right: self-explanatory)

Rose gardens in Hyde Park (not quite blossomed unfortunately)

Can I go back? Pretty please?
Even though I was not actually designing last week, the wheels in my head were still turning design-wise (I don't think that function can ever be turned off). It was the perfect refresher before I finish up my last semester. (rhyme?)

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
There was a design auction in London....and I missed it!!
I thought this was a pretty clever piece:

Also, Jan Van Toorn spoke about making a design declaration.
Who is Jan Van Toorn?

(Jan van Toorn has been a graphic and exhibition designer since 1957. The emotional charge of van Toorn's designs stems from his interest in investigating visual meaning and the social role of the profession as opposed to purely practical requirements. His radical teaching and practice were highly influential on the younger generation of Dutch designers. He taught graphic design and visual communication for many years at various academies and universities in The Netherlands and abroad. From 1991 until 1998 he was director of the Jan van Eyck Akademie in Maastricht, transforming it into an international postgraduate center for fine art, design and theory. Since 1989 he has taught in the MA program of Rhode Island School of Design, Providence USA.) -http://design.concordia.ca/declaration/participants.htm#Toorn

Some of his statements referred to designers needing to make sure there is content behind their designs; that their designs go beyond just "looking good" (DUH). He calls this a very "journalistic way of thinking." He also thinks that design should "contribute to a better world."

"For Van Toorn the way a project communicates is critical: ‘How democratic is it? The more commercial the world . . . the more designers accommodated it and design became stereotyped and abstract. In Holland today the form is wonderful . . . but when we come to the content and meaning then we have a lot of questions."

Did I mention that this took place in London's Mermaid Theatre? Ironic, yes?

END LETTER:

Cheers!
Have a great day
~Christy

WEEK 8

2009-03-18T21:59:00.010-05:00

CRITIQUE:
This past week I finalized my cover design for the Nicotine feature, as well as designed an Arts department page. My cover originally was going to run tomorrow, but has been changed to next week. I have decided to not post the design until after it is published in order to keep you all in suspense :) But it will be up on my next post! Overall I am very very happy with how it turned out. It took a bit of playing with fonts, sizes and colors but in the end I think turned out just how I had hoped.
What I can show you, however, is my Arts department page. I got to play with the pen tool and do some fun cuts. Pay no attention to the wonderful ads at the bottom.

In other work, I have been cleaning up my logo designs for a group called Eat For Life. Here are two of the three I am working with (and just for kicks I played with them both in color and black and white)

Upcoming work:
I have a website! It is not fully functioning yet with buttons....but you can check out my beginnings of it at http://web.missouri.edu/~casfg4/solbergdesigns/
I am excited to keep working on it and get my designs posted as soon as I can.
Otherwise, next week is SPRING BREAK (finally)!! So I will be taking a bit of a hiatus from ACTUALLY designing....I will, however, be thinking up ideas for the Criminal Justice feature that I will be designing with Abbey and Jena when we return from break!

RESPONSE:
This week in lab we continued to talk about our logo designs for either "Eat For Life" or "Show Me Dharma". We had our class rate each person's top 3 logos and will turn in final designs for those 3 on Friday. It is really cool to see how many ideas all of us are capable of coming up with for one group. Design is interesting because none of the ideas are wrong; some just work better than others. As the semester continues I have been getting a sense of everyone's own style and am able to point out certain people's work according to that style.
In other news, I completed and sent in my application for the art internship through National Graphic Magazine (dream job, anyone?) and have been researching other potential summer employers. For those interested, Esquire has a position open for a graphic arts intern! I found out about it here: http://www.spd.org/job-board/2009/02/esquire-magazine--graphic-desi.php
I apologize for the short post, but basically I can not stop thinking about London since I will be there within a matter of days! Talk about an inspiring city.....I will make a giant promise to you all that plenty of pictures will be taken and posted upon my return :)

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
Are Music Covers Graphic Design? Not according to Peter Saville.
Saville is most known for his punk graphics, such as this one:
Peter Saville's guitar cut-out giveaway for the UK PSP launch; detail of guitar from Arena magazine August 2005

He also created this poster for a 1978 music festival called The Factory:
The Factory eventually transformed into a record label, in which Saville became the art director. He became the main designer for album covers; one of which he even convinced the band to leave off their name and any sort of title. This was for Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures album, which can be seen below:
The most shocking thing that Saville said in reference to album covers was, "‘No one should be designing record covers after the age of 30’, and ‘Music covers are not graphic design, they do not communicate anything, they have no purpose in that respect." And, mind you, he said this to a room full of designers.
For more information/graphics of Saville check out http://www.designmuseum.org/design/peter-saville

END ART:

Have a great day!
~Christy

Learning FINAL CUT PRO....in 12 hours....instead of having a weekend....

2009-03-15T17:49:00.003-05:00

Here is my final result from the class I took this weekend on learning Final Cut Pro. It is not as great of quality after posting it here...but just IMAGINE how great the original is. Oh, and of course it is a compilation of London videos and photos set to some great tunes.

WEEK 7 (can you believe it already?)

2009-03-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

CRITIQUE
This past week my main design focus has been on the VOX cover for March 19th. The cover story is basically a revisit on the smoking ban that was implemented in Columbia a little over two years ago. Trying to stray away from a stereotypical cover, here are the three ideas I came up with and presented to the class last Thursday:

Supposed to say, "Can Cigarettes Survive in a Town Where They aren't Wanted?" I am not sure why I could not get the "Can" to convert.

The design that I have been working with to present on Thursday is the top one. My idea for the main headline, "Want to take this outside?" is supposed to be a take on whenever people get into a quarrel at a place such as a bar and say, "Hey, you wanna take this outside?!"I just liked the concept of it because it is a double pun of sorts; people have to go outside to smoke in Columbia and there has been a lot of controversy between those who are for the smoking ban and those who are against it. As soon as I get the redesign prepared I will post it! Even though I will not be presenting a redesign for the second design, I still very much like it, mostly because I think it is funny. The photo and the headline work well together as well. For the third spread I played on the fact that cigarettes are indefinitely missing from Columbia's bars and restaurants, leaving the poor ashtrays empty...I like this concept, but not as much as I like the first one. Thoughts/Comments? Stay tuned for the redesign!

RESPONSE
In class this week we have been discussing each person's own creative thinking style. Obviously in a class of 17 people we are bound so have 17 different styles, so it is interesting and inspiring to hear how everyone else works. The majority of people who spoke yesterday defined their first stage of designing as a sketching stage. My style is a bit different from this; the first thing I like to do is mindmap. I make a list of words stemming from the original thought or idea that I have to work with. I can usually do a fairly good job of coming up with a list that holds both the stereotypical answers as well as plenty of non-stereotypical answers. After I have this list I can better picture some of my options. My next step, usually, is to do an image search for some of these words on the internet (stock xchge, corbis, istock, and getty are typical sites I use). This again, helps me to possibly get some different ideas and images in my head that I can incorporate in my design. Sometimes the next stage is sketching, and sometimes it is not. Usually if I have an idea and a plan for execution clear in my head I will just begin to work on the screen. If my ideas are still very scattered than I will sketch out some options. Often I find myself sketching after I have begun designing on the screen. For example, I will piece a few elements together on the computer and then to tweak my design, I will sketch out rough options for other ways to execute the same general idea. Ideally, I would begin this process at least a week in advance from the due date, but this semester that seems to be impossible. If designing were the only thing I had on my plate this semester I know I would be able to do many things differently, and more ideally. But such is life.
My classmates also shared what the environment has to be like or what they would prefer it to be like when they design. Some said it did not matter, some said it has to be silent, and some said they need noise in order to design. While I would prefer to not have much going on around me, that is usually not the case. I am almost always listening to music when I design, however, and attempting to block out other noise or activity.
I found it difficult to explain how my brain works when it comes to my design process, but I think it helped me to realize elements of that thought process that work and elements that don't work.

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM

Just like last week, I did not find anything too interesting on eye magazine's blog within the past few days. I have decided to update you all on a site that eye magazine notes, however. It is called Lovely As A TREE and it basically tells us how to be environmentally-frieldly designers. The site says, "We list the steps you can take to reduce your design footprint, we take you through the process of choosing a recycled or more sustainably sourced paper, and we show you what to look for when choosing a greener printer."
The site also clears up common rumors such as, "Recycled paper is usually poor quality," or, "By replanting trees the paper industry is helping ensure sustainability of natural forests." The first sentence is a myth. It is now almost impossible to tell the difference between recycled paper and virgin paper. The second sentence is true to an extent. The site says that there is a huge difference between a "commercially managed monoculture that is treated with pesticides, weeded, and barren of wildlife, and a natural forest with its biodiversity intact." However, natural woodlands are supposedly respected and biodiversity is encouraged.
Lovely As A Tree also informs users of the impacts of paper-making, gives tips for choosing paper and printers, offers case studies, gives tips on how to have a more environmentally-friendly office, and more. I think the design of the site is cute as well:

END QUOTE
(something to keep in mind?)

Have a great day!
~Christy

The Code of the Techie

2009-03-05T23:07:00.002-06:00

My feature was published today! I love how it turned out, what do you think?

WEEK 6

2009-03-04T20:45:00.008-06:00

CRITIQUE: This past week I finished up my photo essay for Global Journalist, as well as my feature about The Code of the Techie (set to be published tomorrow!) To see my final design for Global Journalist, please scroll down to my most recent post before this one. I am extremely happy with how it turned out and gained positive feedback from the GJ people as well. The issue will not be published for about a week, so I will keep you posted (and definitely grab a copy or 12). The main changes I made were fairly minor. I basically wanted to make sure I was using all of the space that I had in order to showcase just how magnificent these photos are. I can't imagine being the photographer and opening up the magazine to find my pictures tiny and swarmed by white space. I am also pleased with the color scheme of the spreads. I chose the dulled blue-gray tones in order to supplement the photos instead of distract from them. Alright, now onto the Tech Feature! I feel like I have been talking about this for weeks. I will not have a PDF of the spread until tomorrow, so I will make sure to post it the second I am able to! If you scroll down a few posts you will be able to see my original design. Prepare yourself - the final version is COMPLETELY different. It is less cluttered and less literal. The only element that remained the same was the buttons as subheads for each section. I changed all of the fonts, took out the "motherboard" background, and several other things that you will see once I post the new version! I am also very excited about a demonstration video that I coordinated to be shot to go along with the story for the online site. It will be a short demonstration video on how to upgrade your RAM by yourself (which, I did, might I add). Overall, this spread was a great challenge to me. It is meant to be extremely service-y, but difficult to design because it is broken up into four chunks of a story, a side-bar, and a large chart. It took alot of opinions from others and trial-and-error, but I am overall happy with the outcome and excited to see it in print tomorrow.

FUTURE PLANS: I have three covers due tomorrow by 11 for the Nicotine feature that will be running in two weeks. Stay tuned for these designs!

RESPONSE: Making logos! Yesterday we became more informed of an assignment that will be due next week. The kist of the assignment is to work fast in creating 20 sketches of a logo and then decide on 10 to execute. We have two options for the logo; the first is called "Eat For Life" and the second is called "Show Me Dharma." I have been brainstorming how I want to go about creating a logo. Sarah made a good point when she said that we should make sure to remember the this logo needs to work both big and small, as well as in color and black and white (thanks Sarah!). I have never designed a logo before so those are little things that will be beneficial to keep in mind. I found some helpful advice from a website for The Logo Factory. Check it out here!

I found this particular tip very helpful: "A logo doesn't have to convey what your company does. Think the McDonald's Golden Arches. No hamburgers. Think the FedEx logo. No trucks or planes (though a cool 'hidden' arrow). Think the Nike swoosh. No sneakers or golf shirts. etc. While sometimes having a logo that portrays an element of the company is appropriate, it's often better to have a logo that's graphically void of detail - a logo that can be adapted to whatever direction the company takes. Think the Apple logo. True, it is an apple. But there's no indication that it belongs to a computer company. That's a pretty cool thing - the Apple logo looks just as cool on an iPod as it does on the top of a Powerbook." The list also mentions to remember that color is secondary to your design, strive to be different, disconnect the icons and the text, etc. I highly encourage you to check it out before beginning to create a logo!

Another website that I found is called Logo Design Love (http://logodesignlove.com) Here are some of their favorite simple logos (all very recognizable too!)

(my favorite.....LONDON!)

This site also provides many resources for not only examples of great logos, but tips as well on creating! Don't you just want to go create your very own logo right now? GO!

YOU CAN'T MISS! (BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM)
Ever thought you would see your work on a beer bottle?
Not much was new at the Eye Magazine blog this week so I decided to dig into the archives. Back in July 2008, a story ran about four recent grads of the Royal College of Art in London who designed labels for Beck's beer bottles.
"From August 1 to the end of September, 27 million bottles will be on sale, with labels by four recent RCA graduates – Tom Price, Riitta Ikonen, Simon Cunningham and Charlotte Bracegirdle"
Check these out!
Beck’s Canvas labels, 2008: from left, Head 6 by Tom Price; Duckrabbit by Simon Cunningham (RCA photography graduate, 2007); Let’s Stick Together by Riitta Ikonen (CA+D graduate, 2008); Pintora by Charlotte Bracegirdle (painting graduate, 2006)

This is just a reminder that in the design world, the different types of mediums available for use are endless! If you could design a label for an alcoholic beverage, what would you do?

END QUOTE:


Encore!
(just because I like this one....)


Have a great day!
~Christy

Global Journalist Redesign

2009-02-28T16:02:00.003-06:00

Here is my final design for the Global Journalist feature I have been working on that will be published next week. The changes I made initially include making the photos larger on the second spread, in order to take full advantage of the space given. To keep the spread more streamlined I was asked by GJ to take out my chaotic lines around the headline (sad times...but it makes sense to take out my design element for this particular magazine). Let me know what you think! If you scroll down my last post you can see the design that I originally submitted.

WEEK 5

2009-02-25T23:45:00.010-06:00

CRITIQUE:
One of the main projects that I have been working on throughout the past week (completed on Sunday in order to present on Monday) has been the prototype for Meredith Corp's online version of Storage Magazine. This posed as a giant challenge, mainly because I had never designed a website before. Overall I felt like my presentation went very well and I was confident in my designs. I posted 5 pages below...all of which were used in my presentation. #1 is the home page. Each of the icons is an interactive door that, when clicked on, opens to a preview of the next site and then zooms through the door to view the whole page. #2 shows you what this door looks like when opened. #3 pictures what a typical department page would look like for Storage's online site. #4 shows what a general feature story would look like (when clicked on from the department page, for example). Finally, my last picture I posted is what the "community" page would look like. I really like the idea of having a place on the site that caters to all users; a place where they can both share their ideas and gain new insights about storage. Even though my design was not chosen I am beyond excited and ready to get started on this project. We have a great design team and a wonderful creative director (*wink wink Maggie).

After I presented my prototype for Storage on Monday, I immediately got to work on my spreads for the magazine Global Journalist. I was assigned to do the photo essay, which will run as the main feature in the upcoming issue. My first draft of the design was due by 10am on Wednesday. At 11am I sat in on the staff meeting for Global Journalist and gained feedback about my design. Overall I got very good feedback. I was just asked to paybe take a few photos out and play up a few of them a little more to create more impact. There was also come discussion about my headline treatment and whether or not to downplay the "chaotic lines" a bit. This is a part I am still working on, but I suppose I will give you a sneak peak into the issue.....This design is not finalized yet, keep in mind.

Tomorrow I will presenting all of my design work (ever?) and getting valuable feedback from my classmates about what pieces should go in my portfolio. I came across some oldies that I designed back in strategic design and visuals 1 (taken over a year ago). It is gratifying to see my progression from one of my first design classes until now. Here are some ads that I came up with as assignments for that class...

Future Plans: The next piece that I have to finish up tomorrow is my redesign for the Techie feature. I posted my initial rough draft of the design last week, so be on the lookout for (most likely major) changes to be posted soon!

RESPONSE:
As I mentioned above, this week in lab we have been going through everyone's design work (EVER) and made critiques based on our favorites. The goal of this is so that each person can get multiple perspectives about what he or she should include in his or her design portfolio (sidenote: can you tell magazine editing is kicking in? You will not find any sexist language in this blog...). That was meant to be humorous. I finished compiling all of my work earlier today and am excited to get feedback tomorrow. It is awesome to see everything that all 17 of us have done and it is apparent that we have progressed. Plus, when else are we going to get the chance to have almost 20 other designers look at our work as a whole and critique it?
Compiling all of my work has really made me think about what I would like my portfolio and miniportfolio to look like (which, will most likely be what I blog about next week! As well as my website).

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
GIANT Steps by Michal Levy
This article offers a short Q&A with artist and designer Michal Levy. She says that designers have always been "on the same quest." Here is an abstract that sums up her arguments, "Back then and now, we try to deliver a message and hope to be as clear as possible. Using type, colours and composition – our basic tools were and remain the same. Colour has an effect on people today, the same way it had when we were ‘cavemen’. The sky is blue, so blue will always be a calming colour and project reliability. Red is the colour of our blood and / or mouth, so it will always deliver passion and a call for action."
She continues to say that just like some musicians, designers have to understand all that came before them in order to procede in designing and inventing.
Levy has a website worth checking out as well -->
http://michalevy.com/

END QUOTEs:

Have a great day!
~Christy

Thank you british literature.....

2009-02-19T21:13:00.000-06:00

Preliminary "Techie" feature

2009-02-18T23:40:00.002-06:00

As promised in my previous post, here is my preliminary design for "The Code of the Techie" feature that will run on March 5th. I'm sure this spread will change alot.....but here is what I have so far! Comment, please!

WEEK 4

2009-02-18T15:35:00.021-06:00

CRITIQUE
This week has been a whirlwind of designing; or at least coming up with ideas for designs. I met with Jan this week to present my ideas for the project we are working on for Meredith. This has been a bit of a challenge for me because I have never designed a web site before. I had to keep in mind everything that the representatives from Meredith told us when we met with them a few weeks ago, while also being innovative with my designs. It is difficult trying to figure out how to stay within a certain boundary, while also bringing the project to a new level of design. The initial designs that I executed to show Jan were EXTREMELY rough and I am actually too embarrassed to post them up here. I have to have my final ideas ready to present on Monday so as soon as I have them completed I will post them.
In other designing updates......I have been working on one of the features for the March 5th issue of VOX entitled, "The Code of the Techie." The feature is all about how you can still be a "techie" even in poor economic times. It highlights how you can save money by doing things yourself, buying things used, etc. This is also currently in progress...although I am extremely happy with how it is coming so far. As with before, as soon as I complete my design I will post it.

Last Thursday I presented my final idea for the Bed and Breakfast cover that will be published this week. My design was not chosen as the cover....but here is what I came up with:

This design is very different from any of the 3 initial designs, except for it being solely an illustration. I was trying to portray the idea of a very old idea/tradition with the font choices and the back "wallpaper," while giving it a fresh, new look by illustrating a very modern looking plate and choosing a very modern font that I thought worked well.

Finally, I will be designing a 3-page photo essay spread for the magazine, "Global Journalist," which is due on Wednesday of next week. I have not even picked up the components for this assignment yet, but I am extremely excited to be designing a photo essay!

Whew - busy, busy, busy....

RESPONSE

In lab yesterday we continued our history presentations that began last Tuesday. I presented on Mademoiselle magazine, which was published from 1935-2001. I focused mainly on the years from 1950-1961 in which the art direction changed between three different people. I am not going to write about my entire presentation, but rather some of the most interesting things I cam across while doing my research. One of the most entertaining elements to me were some of the ads that I came across. It completely baffles me that at one point in time people thought it would be OK to publish such things. Check these out:
I ended up learning a lot from this assignment; it was interesting to compare how a fashion magazine designed in the '50s in comparison to today. All in all they really are not too different. Even in the '50s, fashions magazines were packed with advertisements and, at least for Mademoiselle, contained over 250 pages per issue. I enjoyed comparing and contrasting the different art directors' designs and critiquing them myself, as well as reading about how others critiqued them.

YOU CAN'T MISS! BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
Valentine cards by Marian Bantjes are booming! (At least in the world of design magazines). Marian Bantjes is an illustrator/designer from Canada who has become extremely creative with greeting cards. Eye magazine discovered Bantjes back in 2005 and had tracked his work through the last few years. This year for Valentines Day, Bantjes sent out personalized, handwritten notes and put them in a transparent envelope. (see image below)

Here are some examples of Bantjes' previous Valentines:
Go check out more of Bantjes' designs at his website! http://www.bantjes.com/index.php?s=Projects

END QUOTE:
Have A Great Day!
~Christy

Photo of the Day

2009-02-16T22:37:00.003-06:00

Talk about lucky.....my parking meter was dubbing as a holster for all that is America. I couldn't help but take a picture of this rare event. The strange thing is I walk by here every day and have never noticed it before.

WEEK 3

2009-02-11T20:17:00.013-06:00

CRITIQUE
Over the past week I have been working on the cover designs for a bed and breakfast feature that will run in next week's issue of VOX. Last thursday I presented these three ideas (not fully executed)

Through the course of the last week I have been working on finalizing one design for the cover. My goal has been to combine the first and last design as to create something that is surrealistic-looking, but also incorporate the "B" beds that I illustrated in my first design.
Since we were required to submit three designs last Thursday, I worked to make sure mine were all diverse. This ended up posing as a huge challenge to me. Since VOX is known as being a more alternative magazine geared towards a demographic such as myself, I also had trouble coming up with a solution on how to make a story about bed and breakfasts look like something people would want to pick up and read. No offense to bed and breakfasts, but they do not exactly always make for the most visually appealing story.
For the first spread, I thought that going with a "night" theme would work well because it seems fitting when trying to illustrate a bed and breakfast. I do not think that this is the best way to showcase the story however, although I do like my "B" beds. Also, when this printed, the background was extremely too dark to even see anything I had designed - now that's a problem. I hope to mess with this one the most in order to make it work better.
My second spread is very generic. I did not realize it until I was told in my class critique, but this headline could run for most stories. Therefore, I will hang onto it for when I am in a design crisis and need something to fall back on. Bottom line - not good for this feature.
For my third spread I decided to open up illustrator. The story is all about going and seeing these quirky, different things in quirky, different places. I attempted to make the scene as different as possible; blue grass, green sky, pink clouds....etc. I like this concept and the surrealist look of it, but it definitely needs alot of work and tweaking.
I will post my next round of redesigns for this story as soon as I get them (or it) finished! Other than that, next up on my list is a feature story that will run on March 5th.

RESPONSE
It has been a common theme in our editing lecture lately to talk about magazines that have been folding recently. Before last week it was unknown to me that there are web sites dedicated to the death of magazines. Twitter has an ongoing forum entitled, "The media is dying." Updates on everything and everyone are posted here, including job cuts and magazine deaths (R.I.P. Domino....we still miss you).
So should we be scared;? all of us who have dedicated at least the last four years of our lives to bettering our journalism and design skills in order to prosper when we finally make it out in the real world? Is the magazine industry really dying? Even though the economy is not the greatest at the moment, I am choosing to be optimistic about the situation at hand. The economy is bound to rebound at some point in time. All of us are bound to get jobs at some point in time (I have been told that Mizzou grads who are actively searching for employment will find it within 6 months to a year after graduation - something to look forward to!).
While it is interesting to track the death toll on the magazine industry, maybe it is not something we should be looking at every day. To me, that seems like watching a countdown to something inevitably awful. It may be naive, but I will continue to be optimistic about my future in the magazine industry.

"YOU CAN'T MISS!" BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM

This week features an article entitled, "Advertisers in the dock. Again," and deals with the issue of advertising to children. Should it be banned? If it was banned than what would be left? After all, isn't all advertising aiming at our "childish" side at least a bit?
The reasoning behind a ban for ads geared towards children is that according to studies, young children do not know the difference between advertisements and television programs and can learn brand loyalty from the age of two. It is no discovery that ads get stuck in our heads; children are no exception.
The article suggests, however, that this type of ban would be impractical for two reasons:

1) Kids are going to have to be exposed to the world at some point in their lives, so banning them from Ads is not really saving them from much.

"you can’t ever hope to shield your children from them – not without withdrawing into Amish seclusion"

2) Ads are directed at our inner-child.

"Abolish ads that appeal to children, and the only weapons left in the advertisers’ arsenal will be bald price comparison and barefaced sex."

This made me start thinking about ads that I was exposed to as a child and have never really forgotten. For some reason "Skip-It" is sticking out in my mind. (this is not me)

I would be curious to know what advertisements everyone else remembers seeing or hearing from their childhood.

END QUOTE:

Have a great day!
~Christy

Final Redesign of Economy Story

2009-02-11T19:34:00.005-06:00

One more time...

ECONOMY FEATURE REDESIGN

2009-02-10T10:40:00.003-06:00

Here is my redesign solution for the economy feature. I decided to change the headline to, "The Men Behind the Money" because I felt that it represented the backstage view that these two economists have. I got the idea from the Wizard of Oz, "Man behind the curtain." Please do not ask me how the Wizard of Oz made me think of the economy, but the idea of the behind-the-scenes-Wizard-character correlates with these behind-the-scenes economists. For the side bar at the end of the second spread I decided to make the definitions pop out on coin-like ellipses. Let me know what you think! If you want to check out my original design I have put it smaller at the bottom of this post.

REDESIGN:

ORIGINAL

My Funny Valentine

2009-02-09T18:03:00.004-06:00

In lab last Friday we worked a bit with Illustrator. The assignment: make a Valentine. Mine is a little unconventional, but its all in fun. Happy Valentines Day!

Week 2

2009-02-04T21:23:00.012-06:00

CRITIQUE
Besides brainstorming ideas to redesign the "Faces of the Economy" feature and cover, as well as sketching out ideas for the 2/19 cover of VOX, I have been working on a side project this past week. One of my friends, who is graduating in May with a broadcast journalism degree, asked me if I would design a DVD cover for her. On this DVD she has compiled all of her broadcast clips and will be sending it out to hopeful future employers. This project was different from anything I have ever designed before, so in that way, I highly enjoyed thinking it through. I ended up putting together about five different versions for both the front cover and the back cover. One of my friend's main concerns was that this needed to not be flashy and look as if she was applying for a graphic designer position. It needed to look professional, not too "girly," but yet still be bold and clearly stand out. She also told me that it is to her knowledge that it is uncommon for this type of DVD "resume-tape" to have a cover design. It made it more exciting for me to be able to design without any preconception of what this is "supposed" to look like.
Side note: please don't stalk her.
Here is the final result! (Keep in mind that this is a DVD...therefore the front cover image is on the right and the back cover image is on the left:

Coming up this week: My redesign of the "Economy" story, which ran last Thursday (Jan. 29) will be posted by the end of this week! Also, I have 3 cover designs that I am working on to be presented tomorrow. I will have my designs for those posted when they are finished as well! I have been brainstorming since Monday about this cover (which is for the Feb. 19 issue), including sketches and preliminary layouts so I am excited to see some of the final products and get a chance to present them in class tomorrow.

RESPONSE
I had the opportunity to watch the film, "Helvetica," on Tuesday, which has ultimately succeeded in making me pay attention to every storefront, billboard ad, menu; basically anything and everything that uses some form of typography. I have also been driving my roommates crazy by pointing out to them all of the "Helveticas" that are seen on a daily basis. The film was a great documentary on a topic that has not been investigated to any great extent; the untold story of a font type that had grown to be the default type in many societies. It is accepted by some as "the ULTIMATE font." These people do not see any reason why any other font would every be used when they have access to a perfect font, such as Helvetica. Others completely disagree and say that Helvetica has outstayed its welcome and is boring, blah, ordinary, without emotion, etc. In between the interviewees, the film showed images of not only the United States, but also various places in Europe that have been completely submersed with Helvetica. It was an interesting look into the ways in which design and typography make it into everyday life and unknowingly to us, affect our society.

Image courtesy of flickr.com

"YOU CAN'T MISS!" BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM
A must-read blog entry entitled, "Teach them to network or be damned," focuses on how design education is changing for future generations.
Image courtesy of blog.eyemagazine.com

The article argues that, while design students today are well educated in the history of design, technology, typography, web design, etc, curriculums are,"ignoring the complex skills necessary for their creation and production and the situated contexts in which they reside." The author argues that design students are currently taught to work in isolation, lone at a computer, without any team efforts whatsoever. The idea is introduced that students need to become active participants in collaborating with their peers, thus reducing learning in isolation (hmm..I never would have thought this would be a good idea?).
"From this perspective, students are not just individualized learners, the computer is not just another production tool, and the classroom studio is not a self-contained entity where students acquire knowledge to be applied later outside in the ‘real world’"

I encourage everyone to read this entire article because it is basically written about design students. Maybe it is just because I go to "the best journalism school in the world" (I put that in " " not because I do not believe it...but I don't want to be arrogant), but our design curriculum has already incorporated collaborative efforts and real-world experience. We are fortunate enough to be able to work at actual publications before we graduate, which is more experience than the majority of other design students get at other Universities. This article made me realize that just because I am having a certain experience at Mizzou does not mean that the curriculum is taught in the same way other places. It made me feel like I will be more qualified for jobs after graduation than a student who attended a different journalism institution.

END ART
Courtesy of http://www.raquelissima.com/

Have a great day!
~Christy

Quote

2009-02-02T22:58:00.001-06:00

Image courtesy of: www.weheartit.com

Jan. 29 Issue of VOX: Arts Department

2009-02-02T20:57:00.006-06:00

I designed the Arts Department for this week and am very excited to have something published! I did not run into too many problems while designing. The only decisions I had to make had to do with photo selection and placement/color of the info box. I chose the main photo because it complimented the story best. It is a great photo in that it captures the actresses' emotions and is vibrant in color. All of these elements combined make the photo eye-catching and I believe the correct choice for this department piece.
Side note: I did NOT design the OSCAR ad...
Here is my design:

PHOTO JOURNAL (7)

2009-02-02T20:34:00.003-06:00

DAY 7: I can't think of a non-cliche caption.

TYPOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT: wordplay in a parking garage

2009-02-02T00:47:00.003-06:00

PHOTO JOURNAL (6)

2009-02-02T00:28:00.002-06:00

DAY 6: What a ruff life...

PHOTO JOURNAL (5)

2009-01-31T23:37:00.003-06:00

DAY 5: Bird's eye view of Mizzou beating Baylor

PHOTO JOURNAL (4)

2009-01-31T23:17:00.005-06:00

DAY 4: Nothing like a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call for a field trip

PHOTO JOURNAL (3)

2009-01-29T19:07:00.009-06:00

DAY 3: (I spy...something in the sky...)

PHOTO JOURNAL (2)

2009-01-29T00:48:00.008-06:00

DAY 2:(Again, I can't choose just one...These are from Scouts at Mojos)

Obsessed with Stumbleupon

2009-01-28T15:10:00.007-06:00

I have this great application called StumbleUpon through firefox. All I had to do was select my top interests and each time I click "Stumble!" it brings me to a new website. This is a fabulous way to find new artists, satirical stories, designers, etc. Here have been my favorite sites to stumple upon:

-Aled Lewis, Illustrator

Jail Birds

American Werewolf in London

-PicassoHead (make your own Picasso painting)
http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=f1d6f8d&skin=original

-BOOK (A sketchbook was sent between 4 artists. None of them had contact with each other, but over the course of nearly a year, they sent it back and forth each week. The website explains it more, but it is cool to see how each artist interpreted the previous artists' work.
http://www.lookatbook.com/

PHOTO JOURNAL (1)

2009-01-27T23:36:00.004-06:00

DAY 1: (I couldn't choose just one...)

Week 1 Critique: THE COMPETITION

2009-01-26T20:47:00.007-06:00

WEEK 1 OF VOX:
My first week working at VOX was a little hectic, but only because everything is obviously new and I do not quite have all of my responsibilities and deadlines memorized yet. I am confident that the coming weeks will be less of a stress factor and more normal. The assignment for this week was a competition. Initially it sort of felt like Project Runway or some other reality show where the contestants have minimal time to accomplish their best work.

This is my solution to the cover story. The story's main point is that many lesser-known, indie bands have been getting bigger gigs and music licenses because they are cheaper than the big-name bands. I went through several ideas for headlines before settling on "Picking A New Crop." Some of my earlier ideas were, "Putting the Notes Back on Track," "The Cheap Route," or, "Picking a Different Tune." I was working with a photo of a tree full of music notes and an illustration of a person picking the notes as if they were apples or some other fruit. When the execution of this failed miserably, I decided to change my cover concept. The illustration on my cover began as a picture. I manipulated it in photoshop using the cutout filter and am happy with the result. I think that this cover not only represents the story, but is an eye-catching design that is bold and will make readers curious.

We were also assigned to design a feature story that focused on two men, their involvement in economics, and their opinions/advice for what is really happening with our economy. Using photoshop, I edited a $50 bill in several formats for these spreads. I used the suggested headline for this story and made up my own deck. I also edited the faces of the two men in the story, Cook and Haslag, and put them each on a bill. For the sidebar, I changed from having a solid, green box so just placing the "$" graphic. I felt that this made more of an impact and provided more visual contrast than simply having a solid box behind text.

P.S. I did not win the competition, but I will be re-designing both the cover and the feature spreads! They will be posted as soon as they are completed.

FUTURE PLANS:
This week, I will have my first design published for the Arts department. I will post is as soon as it is finalized. Otherwise, I will be working on two assignments that are due on Tuesday - the first involves creating a logo found from photographic typography. Essentially, I will shoot pictures of either different letters or objects that look like letters and arranging them into a word (This word is yet to be determined....but I hope to make it witty). The second assignment involves creating a photo journal for one week starting today. I will be taking at least one picture every day for this coming week and using what I shoot as design inspiration.

RESPONSE:
In class, we have been introduced to the history of Graphic Design and all of the different eras that have collided to make what WE know as design. Past eras definitely influence our present design techniques from typography to amount of content to color to images, etc. Knowing where certain styles originated and in what historical context is a great way to expand my knowledge of design. It simultaneously will also increase my capability to think outside of the box and be innovative. Styles have been evolving through the eras forever and I do not see that coming to a sudden halt anytime soon. If we know what has come before us, there is no doubt that we will be better designers.
Knowing this history could also aid when it comes to critiquing. What better way to explain your design that to be prepared to speak about its historical context? That is, as long as it is relevant to the comprehension of the story of course.
I enjoy different aspects of several eras, but I most enjoy the expressionist era. To me, it is the "anything-goes" era and it reflects a time of radical experimentation with art and mediums. Picasso is a major artist during this time, mostly representing the cubist style.
To sum things up, I am enjoying learning about past styles and why certain typefaces and layout styles have been prominent. Why not aspire to be in the books one day for creating a style that defines an era? It's a long shot, but hey, you never know.

YOU CAN'T MISS!Click Here!
TIME has prepared some wonderful photo essays following Obama to his inauguration. If there is anyone to envy on this, it would be photographer Callie Shell - talk about access! My favorites are, "Behind the scenes on Obama's Big Day," "Pictures of the Week from Jan 16-22, and "The World Watches Obama's Inauguration." All of these photo essays provide an incredible account of the inauguration of Barack Obama. I think it is imperative that we recognize the historical significance of this year's inauguration day and realize how wonderful it is that we are able to view photos that document behind-the-scenes events.

Photos courtesy of Callie Shells, http://www.time.com/time/photoessays

Another website that I stumbled upon was that of Mark Jenkins' Street Installations.
Click here for his website
Jenkins basically traveled to different cities worldwide and installed random things in random places. These range from what appear to be people doing abnormal things on the street, to making a Stop sign look like a flower, to a giant, blow-up giraffe "eating" from a tree, etc. I thought this was an innovative idea and would definitely be a conversation piece for morning commutes. Here are some examples of his work, all courtesy of his website:

WEEKLY BLOG REPORT: BLOG.EYEMAGAZINE.COM

What's the buzz about at Eye Magazine today? The site discusses the possible thinking behind this poster of Barack Obama:
FYI to see the original picture of this poster, visit http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/sceneonroad/2009/01/found_again_the_poster_source.html

The article compares this iconic image to that of several prominent African American jazz artists of the past.
Take these album covers, for example:

Quote from the article:
"...some of the most resonant and powerful images of musicians show them looking up, and / or into the middle distance, as if they know something we don’t. As if they see a better future, and they’re going to take us there."

END QUOTE:
http://i42.tinypic.com/2mhhtap.jpg

Have a great day!
-Christy

Inspiration

2009-01-26T02:01:00.000-06:00

Upon the return of my three-month experience in London, I have found myself continuously inspired and motivated by the visual memories I am blessed to call my own. I have a difficult time defining the city with words. I would much prefer someone to just say, "London-GO!" and witness my facial expression. It would most likely resemble that of a little girl on her birthday, or, finding out you are going to become an aunt, or, making a discovery that everyone else claims to have already known (I get excited over the little things). Regardless, it would be the look of ecstaticity (warning to those obsessed with proper grammar - this is not a real word).

I only have a few more days left of college (and by days, I mean about 4 months.....but I know it will fly by faster than any other semester). My top priority is my capstone course: advanced magazine design. Hopefully it will prepare me even more to get a...oh what are those things called....oh yeah, JOB. I love what I am doing in school right now and am excited to see where this semester takes me! As always, I look for inspiration everywhere and when able, try to take a picture of it. Here are some of my favorites from...London (insert ecstatic facial expression here).

Trafalgar Square

Hyde Park Climb

Abbey Road: Let it be

Hyde Park Run

Thames and Big Ben with my brother

Warwick Castle rose garden

London Eye