SUPPORT POLAROID!
February 11, 2010Concepts-Activity #1
November 29, 2009Mike and Nina of Monigle and Associates
10-7-09
Mike and Nina are from Monigle and associates (they worked with Scott Serine for a number of years). They came to give a brown bag lecture on their design process. They started off by talking about collaboration and the five essentials of their design process, which are respect, lower your guard, be open-minded, your thought process, and appreciation requiring at least two people.
They moved on to passion, with a statement of “You must feel it in your bones. You have to inspire the client, have conviction for your work; if you don’t believe in it the client won’t either. Lastly, be a storyteller, romance sells. Get inspired. Expose yourself to new places, foods, ideas, concepts, and theories. You have to push beyond your comfort zone to experience new things.”
When they take on a new project they go through a process each time. They first have to discover the platform they are working with. They have to get as much info as possible form the client which begins with a series of interviews. They then move on to their creative session which starts with organizing their team, moves on to warm up drills, encouraging wild ideas (all the while knowing that they have a judge-not policy), and then they let the ideas percolate for while.
The next step is to come up with words and put images to them. The words are the ideas that tell the story and the images set the tone. They move on to designing, refining, client presentation, more refinement, and implementation.
Their speech was a look at a real world firm and how they do their word, day to day, and how they achieve the final product. I’ve heard them speak before and I am quite impressed with how much information they have that is going to be useful in my very near future.
concepts- week 13
November 9, 2009http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/30/50-fresh-portfolio-websites-for-your-inspiration/
As I get closer and closer to my portfolio class, I keep thinking of new and exciting ways to showcase myself. Obviously web is where it’s at. That is why I was so stoked when I found this webpage with inspirational portfolio sites. Nothing more then a showcase but it offers 50 different websites to look at. A great resource to find inspiration
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/07/50-beautiful-flash-websites/
I don’t think it’s a secret, I love to look at inspirational websites. I love to see what other designers and photographers are doing, and if those techniques will be useful to incorporate into my work. This website showcases 50 flash websites. What a better time to blog about them then in a flash class that I’m making a website in.
Concepts-week 12
November 5, 2009http://www.revolutionartmagazine.com/
A self-described “revolutionary magazine” that embraces art to “communicate a massive propaganda global message and make people think”. A unique perspective on the subject of art, and how it can be used in our society today. I would say that it’s a manifesto of sorts. Bravo to the creators for trying to create a new art movement. (I uploaded a current pdf version of their magazine onto my blog).
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/03/50-beautiful-and-creative-blog-designs/
Smashing magazine is my favorite magazine/web site out there. This particular page showcases 50 creative blog designs. How nice it is to finally have some inspiration for that area of design.
Concepts-Week 11
November 1, 2009An online magazine that showcases artwork, including photography and writing. It has some great links to other inspirational sites, such as a clothing design company that does nature/organic inspired designs.
An online photography magazine showcasing some amazing treatments to the medium. They have an entire section dedicated to the lensbabie; An underrated lens in the industry. The also include a link to jpg magazine http://jpgmag.com/themes/100 (a collaboration project that the two magazines did together) that includes an image gallery dedicated to unfortunate death of the Polaroid image (a coveted medium in the photography world). All photographers who have had the joy of working with Polaroids (especially SX-70(time zero) film) were very saddened to see it go). It has been an uphill battle to keep the medium alive, but alas Polaroid has sold its stock is out of the instant film business forever. I have hoped (since I found out in 2005) that another company (such as Fuji) would pick up the SX-70 line, but there has been no news as of late.
Week 10 posts
October 21, 2009
Proteus Magazine is an online magazine that you can download into as a pdf. While the website administer has taken a break from publication to work on their blog, I still found this website inspiring. I love the artwork that they showcase, as I feel that this is very similar to my style of work (in the grunge aspect). Some of the most brilliant pieces of art I’ve ever seen are in this magazine. It’s a must see!
Its an online magazine that artists/designers can submit their work to; an online gallery of sorts. There isn’t much depth to this site, and it really is only for inspiration. I do, however, find that the design of the layout is something that I am attracted to. I appreciate the flash element as well.
Multisensory reading response
October 21, 2009The article was quite interesting in that it outlined some major components that are wrong with our current user interfaces. The limitations set upon us make us extremely disconnected from the actual experience. However, the fact that taste and smell have not yet been incorporated into our user interfaces does not surprise me, as the issues surrounding those seem endless. Sound, sight, and touch have made an appearance in our everyday devices, though, and the products (whether it is the architectural interface used by the graduate students or the cell phone used by everyday people) we all interact with some sort of user interface. I liked how they changed the name from graphical user interface to tangible user interface, as that is exactly what it is. Being able to interact with our devices is becoming a widely used phenomenon. With the invention of touch screen computers that were implemented into restaurants (10-15 years ago) to the Iphone, it’s a sought after experience.
My hat goes off to Nintendo for creating the Wii. It really is an amazing, interactive gaming system. As Mr. Hiroshi Ishii points out about the ping-pong paddle, if it can be held and interacted with it can become an extension of the person, and extend our senses of sight, sound, and touch. The Wii offers the user just this by making their controller have sound and vibrations as you play the game seen from a seemingly 3 dimensional view (a major upgrade from the original Mario Brothers). The user can become part of the experience. Nintendo offers a line of basic products to go along with the Wii that enhance the user experience such as a tennis racket, a wheel (for racing games), a pad for the Wii fit, etc. The virtual reality that my generation grew up with has become an adult. My first experience with the Wii was mind blowing to say the least. I didn’t know that an interactive gaming experience would ever become so involved, as with the previous interfaces you were very disconnected from the activity. Now, your character on the screen moves along with you. Could this be the part of the Z-dimension or something taken a little further? As the article has talked about blurring the lines of reality, I fell that the Wii interface has done just that.
Concepts-Week 8
October 5, 2009I love this website. It’s a great resource for inspiration, but it also includes freebies (such as high resolution brush sets), and tutorials specifically for designers. My favorite tutorial is the photo effects one (http://www.designshard.com/video-tutorials/11-great-photoshop-photo-effects-tutorials/), however they also have one that showcases music poster design. (http://www.designshard.com/inspiration/awesome-artistic-inspiration-from-music-magazine-adverts/).
This website offers some very dynamic information in all areas of graphic design (including web, print, illustration, and photography). They offer a tutorial on how too create inset typography so it appears as if it was done on a letterpress (http://sixrevisions.com/tutorials/photoshop-tutorials/how-to-create-inset-typography-in-photoshop/). They boast that their website is “useful information for web developers and designer”. You can sort by topic, or keyword, and it will come up numerous options.
concepts-week 7
September 30, 2009A collection of websites, and artist interviews. The site is mostly for inspiration. I find these kind of sites to be useful to me because if I see a technique I want to go look up how to do it. Not only do I get visual inspiration but I learn something as well. They showcase a particularly nice flash website on their front page. It was the first thing that caught my eye, because of the unusual layout, and bold color choices (http://www.theseen.biz/).
This web design inspiration site also features news and other resources for designers (such as tips and tutorials). I think that the site’s homepage has too much going on, but I find myself drawn to many of the designs. I think if it were easier to navigate then it would be more widely used. That being said I still find it to be a great resource for inspiration!
