FINALS FINALS

I want:
To suggest there is beauty in nature
To suggest simplicity is beautiful
To suggest perspective is always key
To suggest that art is valuable
To suggest good design
To suggest getting lost in nature
To suggest looking at things anew.


Concept Statement:

The vast spread
Of darkness
That speaks of mystery
The darkness that reveals
The beauty that lies beneath
In the form of glittering
Stars, a countless beauty
That seemed to conceal
A million stories
That can make the mankind
Take a new look at life
And the majestic moon
That silently looks at mankind
Wondering how its serenity
Was disturbed by the little steps
Of a man from the beautiful earth
Yet softly smiling back
And let the world sleep
In its magical glow
A glow that soothes
The world’s senses
And forget the pain of reality"

last attempts.

Last attempts, ill finalize later today. Test prints galore.

BRUCE MAU!! GEE WOW…

Bruce Mau is Canadian designer from 1996-99 he was the associate cullinan professor at Rice University School of Architecture in Houston. He has also been a thesis advisor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design; artist in residence at California Institute of the Arts; and a visiting scholar at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. He has lectured widely across North America and Europe, and currently serves on the International Advisory Committee of the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio. He is highly noted in AIGA and overall is a wicked cool designer. OVERALL, his work really is super creative and totally reflects his mantras that he made. so cool stuff.

MANTRA OF MY WEEK:

#18- Stay Up Late.- Staying up late is crazy, and sadly apart of everyday life at KU. Mau suggests it, KU enforces it. So I find it oddly appropriate to choose it as not only my mantra of the week, but my mantra of the semester.

journal 3 TWENTY QUESTIONS

Well we read through Twenty Rules. A very nice design rule book that gives the top 20 basic rules to follow when your doing designs. So I will mention all of them, then tell you the 3 most important, the 3 i need to practice, and the three i will probably ignore.

1.Have a Concept
2.Communicate, Don't Decorate
3.Speak with One Visual Voice
4.Use Two Typeface Families Maximum, OK, Maybe Three
5.Use the One-Two Punch!
6.Pick Colors On Purpose
7.If You Can Do It With Less, Then Do It
8.Negative Space is Magical, Create it don't just Fill It Up
9.Treat The Type As Image, As Though it's just as important
10.Type is Only Type When Its Friendly
11.Be Universal, Remember That Its Not About You
12.Squish and Separate
13.Distribute Light and Dark Like Firecrackers And The Rising Sun
14.Be Descisive, Do it on Purpose, Or Dont Do It at All
15.Measure with Your Eyes, Design Is Visual
16.Create Images-Dont Scavenge
17.Ignore Fashion. Seriously.
18.Move It! Static Equals Dull
19.Look at History but dont Repeat It
20.Symmetry is The Ultimate Evil

ALRIGHTY THEN!
My Top 3 will have to be
#8 Negative Space is Magical- Very true, some of the best compositions Ive seen really use negative space well
#15 Measure With Your Eyes- I think thats the true sign of designer if you can just know in your head because of what you see
#7 If You Can Do Less With It, Then Do It- Anyone can throw crap on paper, or the screen. So Less Is More

My Top 3 I need to work on
#1 Have A Concept- I usually have an idea I want to portray but I cant really get it into words....
#11 Be Universal, Remeber its Not About You- I tend to dwell on my first idea and I love my own stuff. I need to expand
#14 Be Descisive, Do it ON Purpose Or dont Do it All- I tend to get a little figdity and put stuff in when i dont need to.

My 3 That I Will Ignore
#19 Look at History.... yeah its boring and i dont do it anyway.
#17 I really dont Even KNOW fashion, so following it wont be a problem
#12 Squish and Separte- well honestly I would follow this one, but its the lowest on the list that I wouldnt.

journal 2.

CHIP KIDD and JOHN GALL

Chip Kidd is a graphic designer based in new york. He has designed over 1000 book covers and is one the best in the industry. He works for Knopf which is associated with Random House Publishing. He is known for his creative, sly and intriguing. To some he is considered the closest thing to a rock star in graphic design. Some even claim he is the best book cover designer of all time. His style is impecable and writers even make contracts demanding that he designs their book when it is published. He also just happens to be a Batman fanatic, which just makes him the coolest book cover designer of all time.





He is important because he is a great example of thinking outside the box, and the fact that he actually got famous in a section of design that usually goes unrecognized.

John Gall was a would be architect before he fell into the graphic design field. Stumbled is more appropriate of a word, because it came into the field by taking extra drawing classes and this all would segway into design courses and a switch to graphics.
He is also a master book cover designer. His style is more about cut and paste, collage, and using clever photography. He has a wide range of looks he incorporates into his designs which really gives each of his books something special.