Saturday Afternoon Musings

Hello, friends!

Saturdays are the best days. Stress free and relaxed. After a long week, I've waiting to kick back and relax this weekend.
I know what you're thinking, YOU'RE BLOGGING FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS WEEK WOAH. I know, I know. I'm on top of it. Maybe I'm blogging because I feel like it.... but maybe I'm blogging because I have to have 32 posts completed by December 13th? I mean, those are both good reasons.

Anyways, I've been looking at designspiration.net this afternoon, and I've come across two really awesome posters. It's crazy to me that I can look at these posters, knowing absolutely nothing about what they are advertising, and immediately feel drawn to them. That's what good design is about. The viewer wanting to look at the poster because it is well executed. I still don't know what these posters are about, but I can't stop looking at them.

The texture on this is really appealing. The lines inside the letters give the poster
movement and intensity.

I love the feeling of this poster. There is something to be said for how well 

the colors work together. It's calming and soothing to the eye. 

The two posters are almost contrasting in their connotations. I think it's nice to see two designs on separate ends of the spectrum because it just proves that the design world is endless. What was communicated through these two posters is what the designer pictured in their head. It's like we're stepping into the designer's head for a second and visualizing things from their point of view. How cool is that? 

On another note, earlier this week I was just gazing out the window of my dorm and I somehow managed to capture the sky at the perfect time:

How pretty is the sky? And how pretty is this campus?! The tenth floor of Ellsworth isn't too shabby. It's simple things like this that remind me how lucky I am to be here. I never want to leave. Ever.

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"We lose ourselves in the things we love, but we also find ourselves there, too."

Dribblin'

Greetings!

Guess what? I'M DONE WITH MY THIRD PROJECT! Woooooooooo! I haven't posted an update on this project in a long time, so this is about to be one lengthy post (BUT SO WORTH IT DON'T LEAVE ME BECAUSE IT'S LONG).

When I last left you fellas, I was constructing my cardboard letters with my group. They turned out looking really cool. Here are some of the final pictures:

How cool are they?! Taking pictures and installing them was a lot of fun. Obviously, we felt that Allen Fieldhouse (KU's basketball arena) was the most appropriate place for our letters. My group even got lucky enough to take a few pictures during the basketball team's practice. YEAH, WE DID THAT. AND I TALKED TO BILL SELF. IT WAS AWESOME. The last picture is one of the shots taken during their practice, and if you look closely, you can see Wiggins!!


Sooooooooooooooooo after constructing these letters we had one last portion for the project. Individually, we made a book that documented the definition of our group word (dribble). We did this by making sure the site photos, working photos, book structure, and page layout all contributed to the meaning of the word. Constructing this book was a lot harder than I had intended it to be. I was really stressed out about it for awhile, but things came through eventually.
Here are my three preliminary ideas for the book:

One-

 


Two-

Three-

I ended up going with my second idea. I thought it was the most interesting out of the three. One of my classmates had the idea of attaching a 3d ball on the ends of the accordion. So immediately I was like, "OMG YEAH I HAVE TO DO THAT."
So I cut a tennis ball in half, painted it orange, and then drew black basketball lines on it. I know it sounds so easy, BUT THAT'S FUNNY BECAUSE IT'S NOT AT ALL. The basketball didn't turn out the way I really wanted it to, and I had a little bit of a breakdown. To overcome the frustrations with the book, I came to terms with the fact that not everything can be perfect at all times.

This is how the first attempt of my book looked like:

 

It didn't close up right, the circles were flimsy/falling apart, and it was hard to cut the circles out perfectly. I went and talked to my professor, and he gave me some great ideas on how to improve the book.

So here is my final attempt:

(front)

 (back)

Annnnnnnnnnnd...

BOOM! It closes correctly!

Also, I think we should all take a moment to appreciate this page in my process book:

Here's a zoomed in shot of the paragraph:

So much truth in that paragraph. Amiright?

This project was definitely a learning experience. The easiest portion, for me, was the cardboard letters. I had a fun group, and I was really happy with how well we worked together. The most difficult part of the project was creating the book. Brainstorming the idea of the book came naturally to me; however, constructing the book was not as easy as I had hoped. As an individual, I learned my strengths and weaknesses throughout this experience. Overall, the project has opened my eyes to many things. I have learned several things about who I am and where I stand as a designer. I’m looking forward to applying this new knowledge to projects in the future. 

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"Worry is a misuse of your imagination."

Project 3: In Progress

I've been working on my third project for a couple of weeks now, and it's been a fun project. I've definitely enjoyed this project more than the last one.

Throughout the course of this project, we have been exploring how to express the meaning of a word through type. At first, we were individually assigned one word. We made 20 compositions of how we pictured the word. Eventually, we refined and narrowed down the 20 compositions to 5 compositions. After this, we were placed into groups and our groups were assigned one specific word. We constructed the word out of cardboard, making sure the structure helped define the word. From there, we placed the cardboard letters on a particular site where the word fit in with the setting around it. 

For the individual compositions, my word was contrast. These were the five compositions I ended up with:

There is a striking exhibition of unlikeness in each of these. These 5 compositions define the word contrast in unique and different ways. 

The group portion of this project has been really fun. The word my group was assigned to was dribble. Once again, I got lucky with my group. They are all so hardworking and fun. Here's some photos of us building the cardboard words:

COOLEST GROUP EVER. I'm just throwin it out there.

Anywho, want to know why we constructed our letters the way we did? Of course you do. I know you do. Don't lie. Don't you worry, I'll explain.

We made them a triangular shape because when you dribble a basketball, the ball bounces down, and then it bounces back up. We thought that a triangle was the perfect way to mimic that movement. We also colored the letters blue and red because they are KU colors. There isn’t a better way to represent basketball other than with KU colors. The entire KU campus lives for basketball season. We also decided to paint the dot of the ‘i’ orange. This orange dot is there to symbolize a basketball.

Be on the lookout for final pictures of our cardboard word. IS GUN BEE GOOOOOD.

Also here's this cause I know you all lovvvvvvvvve mah face:

You're welcome.

PEACE AN BLESSINS <3

Reflections on Reflections on Reflections

Parts of the Letter:

When it comes to typography, there are many terms that give complexity to the alphabet. Deep thought went into each and every letter. It's crazy to think that every single part of a letter has a specific name. I had no idea how much thought went into the creation of fonts. Learning the vocabulary will help me become more comfortable with typography and develop a better understanding of it as well. I never knew typography was so complex. I actually thought that typography was just the art of type; however, now I know that there is much more behind the concept. I plan to use this knowledge of typography to my advantage as I continue to learn and engage in graphic design. I'm sure that I will have many uses for this knowledge in my future. 

Photo OPS:

In my opinion, photographers are people who truly appreciate the life happening around them. In order to be a successful photographer, you must really be able to see. After looking over the reading, I have much more appreciation for photographers. Photographers must have the patience to stop what they're doing and photograph whenever the opportunity is available.

The photography techniques discussed were very interesting to me. Observers react differently to each of the techniques. My personal favorite, from the reading, is continuous mode. These usually turn out to be a very unique series of shots. My eye went directly to these photographs. Continuous Mode is following a moving subject as it circles you and snapping several pictures while it moves around.  Although the Continuous Mode technique stood out to me the most, all of the techniques were interesting to learn about. 

Photography-Steve Edwards:

Edwards discusses photography and its role in our everyday lives. Not only is photography part of our lives, but it is also part of our culture today. Whether we know it or not, photographs have the power to move people. Although photography has the power to move people, sometimes people can really misinterpret what is happening within a photograph. There are times when photography is not a truthful representation of what's happening around the photographer. 

Edwards also talks about the ongoing debate on whether or not photography is considered an art. In my opinion, photography is an art.  Photographers have the ability to capture emotion and passion in one simple photograph. Just like a painting or a drawing, creative thought goes into photography.
Photography has quite the history, and it is a great skill to have. Edwards did an awesome job of talking about the history of photography to photography today. 

Just Another Thursday

Hello, strangers.

Tonight was Hallmark Symposium night. Hallmark Symposium is basically a class where succesful designers from around the world come and talk to current KU students. They show us their work and discuss their journey into the design industry. 

I went tonight in a pretty terrible mood. Lately, I've been feeling super uninspired, and I wasn't happy with my work from class earlier today. I am SO happy that I ended up going because I heard exactly what I needed to hear. 

I always find myself wondering, "Am I supposed to be a designer? Am I actually doing what I do best? Is this where I really belong?" These questions were flooding my head ESPECIALLY today, or at least until I went to Hallmark. 

The designers there tonight called themselves Public Library. Public Library is a group consisting of two young guys who produce collections of work across all forms for their clients: branding, interactive, packaging, book design, print systems, and many more.

Here's a few of my favorite quotes that they said:

"Opportunities come and go. Take them when you can. Even if you already have a lot on your plate, this opportunity may not ever be presented to you again."

"Sometimes, you can't. You need to understand when separation needs to be made between you and your client. Sometimes you may not be capable of producing the type of design that they are desiring."

"You are making things. Think about how much worse it could be.. you could be sitting in the hallway doing math problems. But you're not, you're creating something new everyday! I am happy sitting in front of my computer playing with fonts and producing cool things for a living."

"There's something so rewarding about sitting in a room and being able to say 'I think that this will work best for you.' Clients come to you because you can do something that they can't. They look to you to create something precious and unique."

Also,  I creeped on their website (check it out, so cool) and these designs are my favorites:

I left Budig Hall feeling like I am able to accomplish something huge. 

A year ago at this time, I honestly would have told you that I didn't believe I could get into the KU design department. I thought I wasn't good enough. Now I am here, and I'm improving every day in my studios. I'm doing better than I imagined I would be doing, and I'm really enjoying my classes. I worked hard to get here. There were many people who didn't believe I could make it here. But I know I have the capability to design great things, and I plan to. 

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"When you feel like quitting, remember why you started."

Project Two: Complete

Another project finished! 2 down, 2 to go.

For this project, I was paired up with three other classmates. In this group, we studied how to improve poorly designed objects. We all brought five poorly designed objects to class and narrowed our choices down to one object. From there, we came up with a new and improved design. We made a prototype, a poster, and a Prezi presentation explaining our redesigned object. 

This is my group, and they are the best fo realz.

(from left to right) Kirsten, Anna, Kevin, and ME

Since the first letters in our names spelled out KAKA, we decided to brand ourselves as the KAKA team! 

So anywayssssss we decided to redesign this nifty foundation compact:

We found several problems with the compact:

-You are supposed to remove oil from your face before applying foundation, and the compact does not include anything to remove oil with.

-There is only one small mirror

-Your hands can get messy from the applicator because there is nothing to hold it with

I now introduce you to the TOTALLY AWESOME KAKA Compact:

      

You're probably thinking "WHAT? Is this really a foundation compact?" Oh, it is. 

Our redesign includes the following:

-Several mirrors (the inner triangles of the pyramid are mirrors)

-Oil Wipes (look at the last picture, the blue oil wipes are shown in the first drawer)

-Ring slots for your fingers on the sponge to avoid getting messy

Here's our mission statement so that you can better understand our redesign:

"KAKA promises an aesthetic and unobtrusive product for our insanely cool customers. We have included oil-removing-wipes, several mirrors, and an easier-to-hold applicator to keep our customers happy and looking be-yoo-ti-ful. Not only is this product useful, but it is also triangular. How many triangular foundation compacts have you seen before? Thas right, NONE. Nothing competes with the KAKA compact.

Don’t agree?

Let us know, we have a money back guarantee!"

If you would like to see the process of how we got to our final redesign, here is a link to our Prezi presentation:

http://prezi.com/9yp9bjbsghf-/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

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Designspiration

Hello, friends!

So it's been awhile, my apologies. College is busy guys. People aren't lying when they say that. BUT HEY I'd rather have lots to do than nothing at all!

I've been feeling really inspired by this TOTALLY AWESOME SUPER COOL website: http://designspiration.net

I've known about the site for a few years now. My graphic design teacher in high school told me about it my junior year, and I've been hooked ever since. Whenever I'm brainstorming for design, I always go to this website first. There's millions of ideas and millions of great designs. Maybe one day I'll post some work on there, but I've got a long way to go! Someday though, someday.
Here's some of my latest favorite works from the website:

This poster. Wow.

This branding is beautiful. Calligraphy is my favorite.

I love this product packaging for tea. This design really
emphasizes type. I think it's super interesting how well
the letters and colors create a visually appealing design.

Aside from that though....
Today is the day that I'm turning in my SECOND PROJECT. 
Woah. How is it already mid October? How? My mind is blown.

I will be posting about my project hopefully (fingers crossed) within the next couple of days. I'm really happy with how this project turned out, and I was so lucky to get placed into a group with such talented, hardworking people. It was a fun project, and my group was thebomb.com (maybe I'm biased).

// Happy Thursday!