Teenage Machine Age

I ran across some work from Ryan Heshka and thought it was very interesting the way he designed in the vintage look with the whole sci-fi appeal of the future. I was drawn to his art because it feels so similar yet so different, with it's old feeling. It almost makes me feel like the images could have at one point been photographs, they almost have an eerie feeling.




His images make me feel like I'm in a time warp, I really enjoy the playfulness they convey.



I found him in juxtapoz magaine.

Infographic Galore!

I thought this would be quite a relevant post for all of John's classes - Infographics!

This website, Visual.ly helps people (NOT DESIGNERS) create infographics from their easy to use infographic via website builder. Not only can you make your infographics on there (we are too good to do that easy peasy stuff cause we're legitttt) but you can make an account as a viewer, designer and creator. I made a designer one and uploaded my infographic from class and its been a hit!

I recommend you all do the same with yours to get your name and work out there for people to enjoy and see! If you do post yours, insert the link into the comments of this post for our other classmates to see!

Cheese! infographic

Design You Trust

This blog, Design You Trust is one of my favorite design blogs that I follow. They have a mobile version on the Pulse app for Android (and iOS) that I read on the go along with my other favorite design blogs all in one place.

Anyways, Design You Trust is a great way to view many different aspects of graphic design that is uploaded/posted by users from around the world all in one place. Clicking through the +10,000 pages of content, you can find practically anything of graphic design inspiration out there instead of going to a specialty site. I like this blog because users can upload great links they find but also their own work (I have!) for others to see. The nice thing about this is its similarity to our own class blog because links are posted within a post that bring you to other blogs or sites which can lead you to more as well. It's an inception of great design content that can get you lost for hours with mounds of inspiration and ideas for any project for class or clients.

Check it out and get acquainted with it to view lots of posts per day that could spark an idea for your next design!

Comic Sans: Misunderstood or Just Plain Tacky?

      If you were to name one font that you absolutely detest and makes you cringe when you see it used in a public space, what would it be? If you are like most of the designers (or just people with taste in general) I know, your answer would be Comic Sans. I know that personally, Comic Sans is on my definitely-never-ever-use-this-typeface list. But how many people have actually stopped and thought about why we hate this typeface so much? Sure - it's poorly kerned, unprofessional and looks tacky. But why did anyone ever design it in the first place? Did it ever have a purpose? I stumbled upon this video a few weeks ago and thought that I would share: 

   
     Now if you're like me, this video still did not change my opinion on the tackiness of Comic Sans at all. I did however, gain a little bit of respect for it than before. Now that I know where it came for and what it's original purpose was, I'm feeling a little less disdain towards it than before. Plus what this guy said was true, people who know absolutely nothing about design using creative fonts like Comic Sans is a step in the right direction towards design literacy. It's a small step, but a step none the less. 

The Infamous Third Dimension

 Can a graphic designer be a sculptor?

  This is a bit more of something I'd like to open up to debate rather than a commentary on a particular style. Everybody loves good design and everybody loves good typography but something that I feel is somehow inherently implied with both of these is that there are only two dimensions to them. Typography is almost always done on simply an x and y axis much in the same way a graphic image is. I've seen examples of people like Stefan Sagmeister do astounding things with three dimensional design but other than him I'm afraid I don't have many popular examples. The images I provided are ones I had to go and find but I'm afraid I don't know the artists.
  I suppose what I'd like to know is, at what point is a sculpture a design? At what level does the classical "art" of paintings, statues, and the like become simply design? Does the old Italian argument of "Colorito vs. Designo" come into play? Is Graphic Design exclusively limited to graphics? I'd like to think not and I'd also like to think that they can be concurrent on a great many levels. I'm not the most skilled artist nor the most talented with computers but sculpting and working with a z axis is something I truly love doing. I can't seem to find many places that find that kind of design anything other than experimental though. I would love to be proved wrong on that.
  You could say I have a bit of an old fashioned mind on this subject thinking that sculpture lasts longer than painting but to be honest, they add a sort of flair and intrigue that out cities and citizens need more of. Can a graphic designer work exclusively in 3d and still be called so? Let's start and argument in the comments–all technicalities are considered.

Lithography

 
Lithography is a method for printing using a lithographic limestone or a metal plate that is completely smooth. Lithography was invented by German author and actor Alois Senefelder in 1796. Is was a cheap method of publishing theatrical works, lithography can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or other suitable material. Originally an image was etched into a coating of wax or an oily substance applied to a plate of the lithographic stone as the medium to transfer ink to a blank paper sheet. In modern lithography, the image is made of a polymer coating applied to a flexible aluminum plate.

It is a really interesting way to print. It seems really long and difficult to make a print but
today most all mass-produced texts are made using lithography, like books, newspaper, maps, magazines and posters. Lithography is the cheapest way to produce large-scale commerical print runs. The plates are able to be reused over and over.



Lithography was use by  Alphonse Mucha, a Czech artist in who inspired the Art Nouveau movement.

Visual Design: Not Just By Sight

            I read an article in Communication Arts Advertising Annual and Wendy Richmond explains how we see with our brains, not our eyes. It was really interesting as a designer to think about the question she brings up of, “how do our brains process the visual world around us?” With this understanding that our brains working in crazy different ways we are able to be aware of and understand the details and things that influence our beliefs and actions.

            She goes on to give examples of how when we feel or sense things we see and imagine them. We see the objects shape, size, contour, etc. We are able to subjectively perceive the layout.

            Simple observation is important as the brain processes an object. Richmond explains her exploration into the effect of using different senses such as touch, sight, sound, etc. to really see, imagine, and create designs. “The brain is not so single-minded…our senses work together processing incoming information.” We take all this information and interpret it in many ways in our minds.

            She emphasizes the use of sense and its importance in design. These factors greatly affect the overall effectiveness of your design. Things are not just marked by their appearances, but rather by the way people interpret and perceive them. So we must ask what makes this design resonate with us? Through observation, with an awareness of your senses, how does it make you feel? Instead of just designing by sight we need to consider how the design will spark imagination and what people might picture and feel. We must understand how to effectively design for our target audience by learning what senses will trigger visual perception of a design that will resonate with them.