Journal 8

Type Means Never Having to say You're Sorry

"— but the bottom line was: why Futura?"

"Futura was important for a number of reasons: arguably the first sans-serif font to be widely distributed, it has since its inception influenced countless other typefaces and remains, to some, the epitome of modern design."

"Clearly, designers make choices about the appropriateness of type based on any number of criteria, and "liking it" is indeed one of them. There are an infinite number of considerations to be taken into account, from readability to copyfitting to concerns over what works on a screen to what translates into other languages."

I'm pretty sure I have used Futura in a project before. It takes reading an article like this to learn that Futura is over used by designers especially students. Now that I know this I will probably try to use an alternative front to futura for future projects. An alternative to Futura that is geometric is Gill Sans. Other alternatives could be Univers, Syntax, Akzidenz Grotesk and Franklin Gothic.

Designing Under the Influence

“We've arrived at a moment where all that has preceded us provides an enormous mother load of graphic reference points, endlessly tempting, endlessly confusing”.

The article was pretty interesting about ripping off other peoples ideas. This can be done intentionally or unintentionally. The article asked a great question: "How much design history does one have to know before he or she dares put pencil to paper?". I think this makes a good point that designers today can be aware about things done in the past, but they probably won't know everything. It is possible to unintentionally design something that looks like a style done in the past.

"We've debated imitation, influence, plagiarism, homage and coincidence before, and every time, the question eventually comes up: is it possible for someone to "own" a graphic style? Legally, the answer is (mostly) no."

Journal 7

Most of the pictures are were taken in Nederland Colorado. Pictured above is my sister and her ginger friend Lindsey. The rest of the pictures were taken at the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory.

My sister is a freak.

Timeline Process

Initial Ideas

Original radar color scheme

Switched to a different color scheme with a grey background.

Pulled in some icons to give a clearer idea that the timeline is about flight

Used a different background color and started using red. Some color scheme inspiration from the game battleship.

Final :

Went back to a more normal grey but decided to keep some icons red and some blue. Cleaned up the type and now its ready to turn in.

PROJECT BRIEF:

Establishing order: Graphic design often relies on typography to commuicate order, information, and systems. The goal of this project is to make things easy to read, navigate and understand. As you learned in typography one, the foundation for creating an clear informational structure is a a strong typographic hiearchy. Type size, wieght, and color are the the first steps. Graphic elements (lines, arrows, grids) and page structure are often used to aid in establishing a clear hierarchy.

You will need to choose from one of the folllowing timeline choices...

TIMELINE CHOICES:
_ History of the Bathing Suit
_ History of Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions
_ History of Photography
_ Prehistoric Timeline
_ 100 years of Flight

CONTENT
_ timeline must have a range of dates
_ intro text
_ each point in time must have a date
_ and each point of time must have at least one sentance
_ images, icons, graphic elements are optional

CHALLENGE
How can you visualize the content? How can the audience get a quick understading about the topic? How are the pulled into the content to find out more?

TECHNICAL RESTRICTIONS
Format: poster or accordian folded book
Size: You determine the final size, poster min. size is 13 x 19 tall or wide
Color: Unlimited color palette
Typography: 2 typefaces, 3 type styles, and no more than 4 sizes of type.
Grid: proportional or ratio modular grid

OVERVIEW: This project was pretty boring but it went well. Once again I learned that if you create a strong concept in the beginning its pretty easy to carry the idea out. I came up with the idea for my project when I did brainstorming with a group of people who were all designing flight timelines. I thought the radar would be an excellent way to show information with both image and text in an organized way. Although timelines can be tedious and boring they are important to provide vast amounts of information to the viewer.

Thirty Conversations on Design

Little and Co asked 30 designers the same two questions... “What single example of design inspires you most?” and “What problem should design solve next?” Their answers might surprise you.

Greg Hoffman

What inspired him was the mission one motorcycle because it is an amazing innovation. It has little impact on the planet. It does that without sacrificing performance or aesthetics. Not only is the bike visually striking but it also is a great sustainability story.

When asked what problem should design solve next, his answers were very youth focused. I found this intruiging because designers tend not to focus on kids. He wants design to increase youth participation in sport and attack obesity in youth. He said this should be done by focusing on environmental design, equipment design, and communication design.

Sean Adams

Inspired by the Declaration of Independence, because it is put into words that the public can understand. The document is an excellent design of government that has held strong for hundreds of years.

He said the next problem to be solved is the next project you get. As a designer you should do a good job for each client you have so that the clients company does better and the client can keep their job.

Debbie Millman

The pencil is the most inspiring thing to her. She loves every aspect of the pencil especially color pencils.

The Large Hadron Collider along the border of Switzerland and France. Searching for the God Particle. Finding out how we got here and where we're going. I didn't really understand this part, but oh well.

Eddie Nunns

All the efforts going into inclusive design. Architects who are lending their time and talent into low-income housing. Designers who are designing products for every day life. Fashion designers who are designing for different levels. Designing should be available to everyone.

The world of ecology and sustainable energy. There are hybrid cars and solar energy. He said he was inspired by the beautiful white wind turbines in the wide open fields. Designing a better world.

Brian Deputy

The Eames lounge chair and ottoman released to the public in 1956. The design is innovative and transcends time. There is no setting or environment it doesn't enhance. Its got an element of magic because it can make a long day at work disappear.

Design doesn't solve problems, people do...ideas do. Its up to the designer to make the design work. One thing that design doesn't need to create is the perfect chair...because that has already been done.

I am inspired by a couple things but without fail I am always inspired by the technology Apple designs. Its beautiful and it works well. Also every two years I am inspired by the Olympics. I love watching the opening ceremonies. I also love seeing the athletes training pay off when they win.