Journal Entry: Jonathon Harris

While watching Jonathon Harris, it was felt easy for me to sit here and listen. Usually, watching some of these videos begins to bore me after awhile, but not this one. What pulled me in so much about Jonathon Harris was his honesty. He seemed to be upfront about everything, and he didn't stand on stage giving the same spiel that every other designer does. He talked about things that matter to him, and he covered topics that a lot of designers are probably scared to cover. For instance, he talked about how he often felt lost in technology. How sometimes technology seems to be controlling him and how he disliked that.

What resonated with me the most, though, is when he talked about completely starting over and redoing a project. Whenever I'm in the midst of a project, or worse, towards the end of a project, I cannot stand knowing that in order to succeed I must start over. Starting over is scary for me. The beginning of projects are always so daunting. So why would I ever want to go back to the beginning? I've learned, though, that starting over usually ends up working out in my favor. This is exactly what Jonathon Harris discussed about his online dating project. He completely changed his ideas, and it ended up benefitting him greatly.

Journal Entry: Jakob Trollback

After watching Jakob Trollback's series of videos, I'm feeling inspired. He made a lot of interesting, valid points, and quite a few really stuck out to me as I was listening. Trollback started off as a DJ, and he was self taught. Once someone handed him a Mac, he began to design. He's done all kinds of things, but today, he's best known for motion design. 

An interesting point that Trollback discussed was when he referenced design as a "language." He talked about how It's good to learn a new language, and design is a great language to learn. It's good to find a different, more unique way to communicate with other people, and design is a medium in which people can do that through.  When it comes to this new language, eventually, you want to make sense of what you're saying. There's two ways in which you can make an impact:

1. Emotional messages can work, but better yet....

2. Participation is key

After letting those thoughts sink in, I can't help but agree with Trollback. Design is a special language, but it's necessarily good unless the designer knows how to communicate with it. The best way to get through to people is through emotion and participation. This way, viewers are actively engaging in your designs, that is something powerful. 

Journal Entry: Found Things #3

Lately,  I've been feeling inspired by the simple overlays of magenta, cyan, and yellow. I feel like I've seen examples of this in many different places. From Bradbury Thompson to today, a lot of people still use this technique. I think the overlay of those colors creates a beautiful and interesting image for viewers.

What I love the most about all of these combinations is that within the three colors: magenta, cyan and blue, other colors begin to appear (such as green and orange). It's such a simple thing, yet it's so intriguing and visually appealing. 

Journal Entry: Design Observer

After reading "Type Means Never Having to Say you're Sorry," I definitely understand the importance of being educated on typefaces and choosing a typeface beyond the reason of "liking it." Sure, Futura is great, but without being educated on the typeface, someone might use it in a terribly wrong way. So I must always ask myself "Why Futura?" I hope I can always answer someone's question when they ask why I chose a particular typeface. 

After thinking about it and researching, I think I found a good alternative to Futura. Avenir, designed by Adrian Frutiger, who proclaimed that “Avenir is the better Futura.” This, in my opinion, is true because it maintains Futura’s geometric construction, normalizes its quirks and expands its width offering. For instance, the pointed ‘A’ and single-story ‘a’ that is the hallmark of Futura are gone, but its single story ‘g’ and higher ascender/descender are retained. Use Avenir when your job calls for a more versatile, toned-down geometric sans.

I also read the article "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Typeface" because I want to see and be informed about a few particular reasons regarding why to choose a particular typeface. The article offers plenty of great reasons such as a few of the following: "because you like it's history, because it works, because of who designed it,  because it reminds you of something, etc." My favorite reason was "because you believe in it." Some designers commit to one or two typefaces and only use those typefaces for awhile. Truly believing in that typeface to where you use it all the time of quite the commitment. There must be something that firmly believe in about the font, and you want everyone else to see that. I love the thought of that. 

Journal: The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

Bruce Mau (born October 25, 1959) is a Canadian designer. From 1985-2010, Mau was the creative director of Bruce Mau Design (BMD), and the founder of the Institute without Boundaries. In 2010 Mau went on to establish The Massive Change Network in Chicago. He started as a graphic designer but later veered his career towards the worlds of architecture, art, museums, film, eco-environmental design, and conceptual philosophy. 

I thought it was only fitting for me to choose this mantra:

"Stay up late. Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world."

Considering the fact that it's about 2 AM and I'm working on design, this mantra spoke to me. I definitely agree with this mantra. There's been many times where I'm pretty out of it, yet somehow, I create some great work when I'm running on fumes. It's almost like I'm in a completely different world, and I just zone right out of everything else happening around me. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of times when I design something awful when it's late, but there have also been times when I've done some great work. Plus, are you really a designer if you don't stay up late?

Journal: Jessica Hische and Louise Fili

When it comes to Jessica Hische and Louise Fili, I actually thought some of their work was similar. Of course all of their pieces were completely different and were done for different things, but I couldn't help but notice that some of their letterforms felt really similar. They both seemed to use bold, eye catching colors, and there were a few similar letterforms between the two of them as well. Between the two of them however, I really responded to Jessica Hische. After watching her video, I felt inspired. She is quite young, yet she's already so successful in what she does. When I was listening to her talk, it almost felt like we were friends because of our closeness in age, and that made me feel like I'm just as capable of creating things that are as beautiful as her pieces. It's comforting to see someone so young succeed so well.

I've always loved lettering. Am I good at it? Absolutely not, but it doesn't stop me from trying. Jessica Hische and Louise Fili are both great inspirations when it comes to the lettering field, and I'm glad I've been shown their work.

Journal Entry: 30 Conversations

When watching and listening to Little and Co interviewing 30 designers, I was actually quite interested. Each designer had something unique to say. It truly showed that we all see the world differently, and to be a designer, you must understand the world in a unique and special way. Every designer sees the world differently, and that's what makes the design field so intriguing. 

If I were to answer these questions, my answers would definitely be a little different (of course). So here we go, I'm going to ask myself the same two questions:

1) What single example of design inspires you most?

I don't think I necessarily have a single PIECE that inspires me, but I do have a single DESIGNER that inspires me most. I've always found Bradbury Thompson and his work to be very inspiring. His bold colors mixed with his beautiful usage of typography are hard to forget. I feel inspired by his work because he seems to push the limits. His work screams at you as you walk by, and I find that both inspiring and encouraging as a young designer.

2) What problem should design solve next?

There's a lot of problems surrounding our every day lives, so this is quite hard to answer. If I had to choose one problem, I would say that design should make people smile more. I know what you're thinking, that's such a broad statement. I completely agree. I think it's best to keep it broad because once again, every designer is going to have a different take and a different way of solving this problem.

For me, I think design needs to focus more on one thing: people's happiness. Create something that is going to make someone smile. Don't just design something that will get the job done. Yes, that's important, but it would be a lot more effective if it could somehow crack a smile in the user. Design doesn't have to be so serious all the time. 

Journal Entry: Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd seemed to be a very interesting person in his Ted Talk. The way he presented himself really drew me in and made me want to know more about him as a designer.  He went into great detail about how he comes up with his ideas for book covers. He seems to try to communicate the power of the story through the cover so that the power of the book can translate through the cover and to the viewer. When it comes to the book he discussed in the video, he thought his cover idea was brilliant and perfect for the story. Unfortunately though, the publishers did not feel the same way, and Chip Kidd ended up having to start over completely. Once Kidd began to start fresh, he found that he liked his new idea even better; however, the publishers still didn't like his design. The publishers even asked Kidd if he wanted to quit the project. Of course, Kidd was not going to settle for being a quitter so he took his determined attitude and continued on. His cover didn't end up being picked as the final design, he felt accomplished in the sense that he did not give up like many other people probably would have. It's comforting to know that someone as famous and successful as Chip Kidd doesn't always succeed in everything he does. All famous designers are human, we all can't create amazing stuff every time we sit down and create something. I have a lot of respect for Kidd knowing that he came out and shared this story openly with the public. You don't have to be the best to  be good at something. As long as you work hard in whatever it is that you do, you're doing just fine. 

Beyond the Social Poster: Final Deliverables

Project Statement:

When it comes to this particular issue, not many people know about it, especially here in America. I have deepened my audience's understanding by giving them information about what the poster is actually entailing. The poster is hard to understand without any background, so my prototypes give the audience appropriate information to understand what the issue is. 

When it comes to logos and pathos, I used a heavy amount of logos within the magazine prototype. There are plenty of spreads within the magazine that share information about the Green Movement. I used pathos in both the magazine as well as the Instagram account. The magazine contains intriguing and raw  pictures of the revolution. Most of these pictures are pretty intense, and I did that to tug at the audience's emotions. I also used pathos in the Instagram account. I used pathos throughout the Instagram account by guilting my audience because that will definitely pull at their emotions.

I generated empathy by including those intense pictures within the magazine. That way individuals will flip through it, see the pictures, and think "Wow these poor people voted and they ended up being ruled by someone they dislike. I would be so upset if that happened to me. I want to join in with these people who are so passionate about voting."

When it comes to the context of the work, I didn't want anything to compete with the poster. To accomplish this, I made sure the magazine was big enough to be seen, but not big enough to be overwhelming. With the poster being 20 x 30 and the magazine being 4.5 x 7, I think I achieved that. The Instagram account is not shown within the museum because it is referenced several times throughout the magazine, and people can access it from their own phones/tablets within the museum.  With the Instagram not being displayed and the magazine being small, it is obvious that they are extensions of the poster. When it comes to the audience, I made sure to choose things that are audience will be glad to take interest in. So the magazine is something the audience will want to look at to understand the poster, and I know that the vast majority of the audience will have a phone on them to access the Instagram.

To make everything work together in a unified fashion, I have taken the themes (specifically the theme of green) within the original poster and am using that theme to connect my prototypes and the poster together. I connected my two prototypes together by, once again, using the same shade of green as well as using the same fonts and the repeated peace sign icon. 

Mockup of Musuem: