You Can't Miss: blog

Noisy Decent Graphics didn't have anything too interesting posted this week, so I decided to look through their archives and I found an article they posted from another blog, Design Observer, that had a great list! I know someone in class covers this blog, but I had to discuss the article since it is so relevant to our class.

Design Observer article

This article is from 2004 and titled "Top Ten Things They Never Taught Me In Design School." Let me just say that A LOT of them I feel are so true! Like #2: 95 percent of any creative profession is shit work. I can't imagine going into the real world not knowing that not all of design is about the creative process, but to have someone put it as they #2 on the top ten list just cracks me up. I too know what it's like to look into freelancing and find out that taxes and all that get way more complicated than I had wanted it all to be. With creativity we also get the crappy paperwork, the office duties and not to mention (if you're at a major magazine with little say in any matters) the following orders when it comes to a new design approach. I know even with my internship that it was hard to get a design approved if the ed-in-chief was skeptical about it. In fact, that Lemonade Stand page I did almost didn't get approved because the colored text boxes were slightly transparent so you could see the image behind it a little! It's so funny to me how the design world works sometimes. We have so many job positions that you'd think not everyone would interfere with another's job, but it happens all the time. Even editors will make you change a design because most of the time they want to you fit in the text AT ALL COSTS. The real world isn't always nice to designers like Vox is with letting us make the editors revise their work.

Anyway, the article is pretty intriguing. Obviously I thought number 2 was important enough to write a long rant, so I'm sure at least one of the top 10 will strike you in some way!

Critique

This week I am critiquing my initial ideas for my mini portfolio. I know, I know, it sounds a bit weird. However, I feel like my ideas are all in my head and I need to critique them in order to move forward on the project.

I initially was going to design a mini portfolio much like a professionally binded presentation, but that's just not really me. After much thought and the grateful return of my latest book I made in my last fibers class, I began to ponder the idea of binding my own book for my mini portfolio. I would create a surface design for the front and back cover and then decide what style of binding to execute using waxed linen. It's probably hard for you to imagine what the heck I'm talking about, but just imagine a book with hard front and back covers and a thick string binding all the elements together.

Would this look professional enough to you? I thought it would just to really incorporate my art minor into my portfolio, since it is about me! However, I don't want to come off too "artsy" and not enough about design.

Also, would anyone be opposed to having a different approach to page elements with text on transparency and a colored vellum behind it with the image of the piece in the background on a larger-sized page? I don't know if it will look the way I'd like it to, but I thought I'd play around.

I guess now all I really have to do is come up with a way to bind this thing! I know I'd like it to be horizontal, I just don't know if I want it to be an abnormal binding or a standard book-like binding.

This is my worst problem with these types of projects! I never seem to make up my mind until I'm actually sitting down and doing it.

I'm open to any suggestions, obviously!

Response

This week I am responding to my design experience with the Fusion group. I am still working with them on coming up with a cohesive design for their magazine, however I've kind of taken a back seat to the design process lately and maybe I shouldn't have! Overall, I like the concept they are going with, however, I don't really like some of the fonts they've chosen and some of the layouts that some of the kiddos have designed themselves. I guess I just don't really feel like I have a say or any type of authority to ask them to change it! I do like how they're still keeping with my original concept, only altered.

As soon as I get a decent version going, I'll post a jpeg of the first cover. Once I do, let me know what you think about this latest cover design from the group. Does the sell-line font work for you? It took us two hours to find a logo font (suede) so I don't even know if I have the energy to ask if we should change the sell lines!