Published March 31, 2008 by

Starred Posts: Late Jan – July (Design)

Crikey, it’s been a long time since I’ve done this, and I’m going to pay because there are 60+ well worth going-to posts sitting in Google Reader waiting to be shared. I think I’ll should make this a monthly/bi-monthy effort. But hey, I’m on this beautiful new machine so I might as well hit the list.

To change it up a bit this time I’m going to somewhat categorise the links. As you might have guessed I do read particular types of blogs, design features up there oddly often in the shape of interiors (rather than graphics) I think it is my secret lust of pretty yet functional things. I’d love to have a house I could do anything to and the money to match. Alas I shall for the moment content myself with saliva inducing photographs. Anyway as I was saying, design isn’t probably the highlight of everyone’s day – regardless you should at least venture in to just ONE of these posts if only to expand your mind even if it constricts and flees with horror.

Design/Art/Interiors/Creativity

And that’s all for the design line up this time around, more ‘other’ coming later.

Blogging Create Design

Art Blogs blogs worth visiting Design good reading Links starred posts

Published March 13, 2008 by

Duplicate layout

Burkie asked “Any chance of getting a peak at your assignment?”

NB. This is not my original layout, this is a duplication of an existing layout from a Notebook Magazine, this is me spending lots of time with a ruler both in hand and on the computer. Aside from the headings, there is placeholder text where actual text should be and due to my lack of cash, I did not buy the fonts they used and so have used ‘similar’ ones in substitution.

Click to enlarge >>

smalllayout.jpg

Oh, and I did a little ad for something related to my work the other day.

Design General Uni Work

advertisment Design duplication layout margins rulers Uni

Published March 12, 2008 by

Bigger than Helvetica

So I have this assignment (which I’ve just completed) where we have to replicate with precision a double spread layout from a magazine.

It took me hours just to find one that wasn’t using a commercial font (ie. Go and pay for it) in the end the one I used DID use something commercial, but I found a free ‘similar’ substitute ie. 6+ tiny things different.

I really would’ve enjoyed the exercise if not for that… okay I did enjoy it. Mostly.

The world of typefaces is much much bigger than you can imagine.

I also had the immense privilege the other day of watching the movie Helvetica. It’s a full length documentary on the typeface Helvetica, and it’s fascinating. I’d been hanging out to one-day see it. It was worth it. It did help me understand designers like Erik Spiekermann a little more in that my view was slightly tarnished by being dumped early in the deep end at uni one day and having to re-design an article about him after just discovering he’s some ‘great’. I felt small.

None of this moody lot of brooding black-wearing, art-fantasizing, genius, individual-clones. Designers are quite a down-to-earth, friendly lot.

Chums. I’m pleased to be chasing the dream… even if I still am not 100% sure it is mine yet.

Create Design Life Movies

Design indesign layout spiekermann typeface

Published February 29, 2008 by

Back down to earth

charles_calixto_book_front.gifI am meant to own the book, but I’m currently leaning on the website. It’s a good little thing. Saved my bum for some straight forward definitions. If you can find me the book online for less than $38 all up, I’d be grateful if you’d let me know.

Today has been filled with the painstaking task of drawing grids on tracing paper over A3 pages, labeling EVERYTHING and then going online to identify all the typefaces present. Oh Joy. Then I found Identifont. Needless to say, it helped enormously. There are too many millions of fonts/typefaces out there and when you’re looking for minor differences between 100’s of sans-serif options it gets painful.

I’m not doing this for fun specifically… I’m doing it for my class: Typography for Publication.

I never used to understand grids. I still half think they are stupid because people consistently break the boundaries and then simply give it a new name like a ‘muli-layered grid’. Why not stick to your margins or don’t call it a grid at all? However, I am slowly developing some kind of appreciation.

Despite the annoyance of filling my day, I half didn’t mind the hands on, focused aspect of it all. It keeps my brain flexible. I could happily spend (most of) my life online or in my head – sometimes they are one and the same.

Have another typography resource.

image source

Design Uni

Design grids structure typography

Published February 28, 2008 by

Thursdays at Uni

concept_enviro_web.JPGYou should read Tuesdays with Morrie. Which has nothing to do with anything but I thought I’d just say so anyway….

It’s been an interesting day. I amazingly have classes all day with my friend Kellie – of which I am very pleased about.

Currently Thursdays mean Package Design, a lecture then a tute. It’s totally different to anything I’ve done before. Our brief is based on a fair dinkum real package design competition, we are still looking at last years brief as the new one hasn’t quite made it out. Bizarre. I’m a little strapped for ideas. Basically we have to create packaging for an existing product that is: economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. So… know any products that are packaged badly then eh?

The lecturer is quite unusual… in that he doesn’t really endear himself in the usual way (if there is one?). Slagging off other uni’s??? I frankly wasn’t that impressed. I believe that you can have perfectly healthy competition without being rude and elbow-like. He clearly doesn’t. I also don’t care if I’m not mean enough for the corporate design world, that’s not who I want to be.

The afternoon bought Interactive Design for Web Technologies. Quite the contrast. It’s being tandem-taught by two guys and seriously, it was the best and clearest (as well as slightly entertaining) taught tech-related class that I’ve ever come across. And I’ve had a few now. Today did bring very basic html but I’m sure forcing me to go over the basics can’t do too much harm.

As it so happens, our first assignment is to create a html/css based portfolio of our work. Damn. Check what I’ve been doing lately (unofficial launch). Here we go again. No happy little blog platform to lean on now. Gosh I love WordPress.

I am slightly dreading the second half of the semester as all prior interactions with Flash have never been pretty… I’d love to be able to use it, I seriously would, but oh to get my head around the thing. Animation and I aren’t the best of friends.

Or perhaps it is just my lack of patience?

image from here… yes I’m getting better at this!

Design Uni

Design folio package design thursdays university