WEEK 3

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

One more time...

ECONOMY FEATURE REDESIGN

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

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

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