You can't miss: SmArtHistory

Ever regret not going to art school? Here's a great little resource that might fill that void. SmartHistory is being developed as an alternative to a art history book. Not just that, it also has a great design and user interface. You can quickly see a sample of images from a certain time period. Below is an excerpt from the Industrial Revolution period. You can also search by artist and medium.

So take a look if you want to beef up your art knowledge: SmArtHistory

This week in Veer: Best type video ever

Guys, I really found a jewel this week. Veer put out the ABC's of typography in this awesome video.
It's similar to bembozoo, if you've seen that. But way cooler. You'll just have to see for yourself.

F is for Fail

Response: Meredith visitors and advice

Like everyone else has already posted, I can't believe it's actually over. (The Meredith project, that is.) Probably the single biggest project of my college career, so far anyway.

It had its ups and downs, but as I look back and reflect on it, overall it was a success. It's always great to hear professional critique; everyone from Meredith was so gracious and constructive with their feedback for everyone. There was a good diversity of staff represented: visual, editor, web, etc..

I had to miss one of the presentations, but the ones I saw were wonderful! Each group had creative ways to present themselves. (and lots had treats! always a good idea.)

Hope everyone got a chance to relax a bit and enjoy it!

The Weekly Critique

The last part of design work for Spoon was to produce a few other cover prototypes. Most of the sell line typography is consistent with the original cover. I tried to always make the logo really contrast with the background. I particularly like the bright yellow on the fall cover.

Mostly, I'm just happy to be finished. But, as always, I'd love some critique as well.

Response: Website

As we looked at everyone's site's on Tuesday, I took a second to think back about where we all were at the beginning of the semester. Not only did we all accomplish the massive amount of design work and special projects, but we're all able to build a functioning, attractive web site.

It's also amazing how well we all learn from each other, and each other's mistakes. One person would learn some cool new flash trick or how to circumvent a common problem in dreamweaver, and share it with the class. It's been a really great learning environment for me, and I assume you all as well. It just hit me at we look at all the great sites: we've come so far..

You can't miss: FFFFound

Yes, I did actually spell it right: 4 f's and an ound. ffffound. It's similar to ImageSpark (a great find from Sarah.) Basically, it's just a bunch of images meant to spark your creativity. I love it because it's not just magazine design or product design. It's all art-based, whether photographic, computer-generated or wet-brush. Have a look; here's one I like.

This week in Veer: Photochromic Ink!

A week or so ago, I got this neat little cardboard postcard from Veer. (You should sign up to be on their mailing list for lots of cool stuff.) Anyway, it was a great, type-based beautiful postcard, that I didn't think much of at the time. Here's what it looks like



I was looking at it again today and actually read it (smart, I know) and discovered that if you take it outside, you'll get a special message. Really? Sure enough, there was one. Specific letters turned green and spelled out 'photosynthesis.' How cool, right? I always love learning about printing materials, so I really enjoyed the novelty here. I took this on my phone, so the quality isn't best, but you get the idea.

The Weekly Critique

We finished Spoon this week. Finally. Handed off the CD yesterday and now it's out of my hands. Great feeling.

All of my time was spent with that this week, though mostly doing copyediting fixes and not designing. But I'll post a few of my favorite pages now that they're all complete.


[On the web/Next Issue FOB Page]


[Splash page for the Throw Department]


[Q&A Dept. page]

Response: Congrats SSND winners

Yesterday was the Student Society of News(formerly newspaper) Designers contest. Missouri took a lot of awards home. Congrats to Phil, Meredith, Taryn, Kristin, Alex and Lauren for all getting a win!

For those of you there, I hope you had a chance to listen to some of the judges' advice. Here's some of the most helpful or recurring things they mentioned:

If you have a good idea, get out of the way and let it speak for itself.

Pay attention to detail. Design elements should be consistent and seem thoughtful.

No outlined type! Period!

Know when to stop. A mature designer knows when to stop adding stuff to the page and not overwhelm the user.

Want more? Check out the SSND blog to hear more of the judges' advice. More audio will be coming soon about their thoughts on daily categories and designer of the year.

You can't miss: In defense of eye candy

If you're not reading A List Apart, you should. They have tons of web tips, tutorials and great articles. I came across this one about so-called 'eye candy.' We've all been there: thinking more about beauty than content or usability sometimes (print and web). This is a great article by Stephen Anderson about how there is a place for beauty on the web. He even quotes a study about appearance and credibility:

According to a 2002 study, the “appeal of the overall visual design of a site, including layout, typography, font size, and color schemes,” is the number one factor we use to evaluate a website’s credibility.

This is sort of like judging a book by its cover, (how can you not?) I couldn't agree more with these findings. Whenever looking for somewhere to eat, shop, etc.. I always evaluate the place on their cleanliness and design sophistication. I assume if they're willing to put enough effort into their presentation, that they're willing to put effort into their product. Usually, I'm right.

This week in Veer: Creativity never sleeps

Lately I've been finding myself really interested in motion graphics and video. (Not that I love learning Flash or AfterEffects..) But they're definitely fun to watch in awe. Veer did a nice one all about Creativity. Attention to detail is key here; there are many little things to pay attention to and each one is a fun little treat for the viewer. Enjoy.

The Weekly Critique

A diversity of projects this week:

First, a wine label. This was done for someone that was making their signature wine, and needed a label to represent them (and the wine.) The guy is very much into aviation and has a plane. So I recreated the cockpit of his, and we thought of a clever name: straight and level, which could be interpreted a few different ways.



I've also been doing LOTS of Spoon work this week. Here's a sample for you:

Response: The future of print magazines

After doing my interview this week, and hearing some of the others, it seems like the industry is somewhat optimistic about the future of print magazines. I've always thought there is a benefit to the print product that the web will never be able to replace.

For me, the tactile sense of being able to hold a magazine, throw it in my purse, pull it out at the doctors office, etc.. is something that the web can't replace. Yes, the web is portable, but it doesn't deliver content in the same manner. A magazine reads like a book and guides you through different topics in a specially designed order and format, encouraging the reader to spend more time with it. On a web site, it's too easy to read just the story you were interested in and then jump to another site completely. Plus, it's nice to have an activity that doesn't involve hours at the computer. And I think(hope) many people would agree.

You can't miss: 60 years of color

I was going through the list of nominations for the webby awards (fascinating, check it out.) and came across a neat page from MoMA.

It has a very practical and gorgeous design. You can look at works through medium, artist, etc.. I



It's an interesting take on how color has become an everyday commodity of the masses (just like type), with the availability of computers, etc.. Take a look through the exhibit. Might be a good source of inspiration down the road.

This week in Veer: Anyone have a spare $200?

If you do, you can buy me this for my portfolio:


I know this isn't a hefty informative post, but I thought it was a neat product and an interesting look at how some people present themselves. This is the sort of product that would be great if you're looking at a magazine that's very environmentally friendly, etc... These last few weeks we've been talking about the little things that can set you apart, anything from a handwritten note, to possibly a fashionable portfolio case (though maybe one a little cheaper..)

Response: Industry advice

Everyone came back with some juicy details Tuesday after their designer interviews. I loved the tidbit about handwriting a card to a potential employer, such a simple touch that can really go a long way.

One thing that stuck out at me was the repetition of having a diverse portfolio. It's always a benefit to be able to show that you have multiple skills, but with every job market so tight it's especially important now. I remember in our original critiques of portfolios, some people had t-shirts, cd jackets, paintings, etc.. That's the kind of stuff that will really put us over the top. I've been doing some freelance work, emphasis on the free, to try and beef up my portfolio. Right now, a wine label. We'll see what comes of it, and I'll post it for critique later.

I think it's fun to change it up anyway, keeps it interesting.

You can't miss: creative logos

I think this logo says it all: concept. Yes, they could have just used a novelty typeface and and swoosh, or any other bland logo design. But this one really goes beyond that. (As do the numerous other logos on the story by Smashing Magazine.

The simplicity is one of the first things I noticed. This logo is only black and white, has very clean type and the only graphics are a few strategically placed circles. I think this is a great example of a success that doesn't involve intensive photoshop or illustrator skills, just some good ol' brainstorming.

This week in Veer: A new meaning of environmental portrait

Veer has a knack for doing funky, hip and smart slideshows. This is a fascinating one, that plays off of where environment and photography meet. Sometimes it seems like an optical illusion. There's a cool soundtrack to boot.

When being green has become so common, not that there's anything wrong with that, Veer takes this to a different level.

See it now.

The Weekly Critique

Here's a screenshot of a page on my site. This is probably what I've spent the most time designing in the past week or so. I like the color palette I'm working with and the general simplicity of it. But I know there's a lot of ways to improve it. I'll be working on that, as well as spending a lot of time with the Meredith project this week.

Response: Website building

What I hate about websites: they're NEVER complete. They never have a deadline, met with a sigh of relief. They're just sitting there on the server, waiting to be updated and revamped.

Well, just as I think I'm winding down with the big chunks of my website production, I read all the critiques from Tuesday which reinforced all the doubts I already had. So back to work for me. I like having the critique; it's a good motivator to get everyone headed in the right direction.

At the same time, it's just as helpful to be the critiquer and really put thought into what does/doesn't work and why. So different from a print product. There's a lot more levels to critique on aside from design stuff, ie: tech issues, usability, accessibility.

You can't miss: 10 versions of a web portfolio

As if you aren't already tired of working on your web porfolio, here's a contest where you can design a web portfolio for the fictional Steve Stevenson.

There are about 10 displayed on the site, and all completely different. None are terribly complex. They're beauty comes because of the thought process and structure, not because of any crazy coding. Here's one of my favorite:

This week in Veer: Get canned!

I think I've mentioned "Lightboxing" before. If not, it's a competition over at Veer that's a lot like what it sounds: a duel with a few stock photos and a typeface in your lightbox. Two designers compete to make an illustration with only those tools.

What's amazing is how different they are. Take a look.

BTW, I love the skyline in the background. It's made from cans of paint. Clever.

The Weekly Critique

Business card, anyone?

Along with all the other materials to send out, I think I had the most fun with my business card. I went through about 5 completely different designs. This is the one currently at the printer. Hopefully I won't change my mind. Again.

Here's the front and back designs.

Response: Bringhurst

I started with the Elements of Typography a month or so ago and the first thing I remember was that it felt like reading the dictionary. It was fascinating but ever so hard to get through.

Once I'd read a chapter or two, I'd take a break and think about how little of the information I actually retained. Definitely frustrating. I want a smarter brain, but that's beside the point. I liked our class discussion because it put all that information into perspective and I realized I wasn't the only who thought it was a slow read.

Typography is so fascinating. I'm always trying to understand it more and more. I think the toughest part is that it's just as much of a science as it is art. (Though so is design in general.)

So in the spirit of great type, check out one of my new favorites. Called antenna. Here's the description:

While definitely American, Antenna projects something of the subtleties that we have come to expect from Swiss classics. By concentrating on design of enclosing white shapes over linear black letters, the Swiss school of design has altered our business typography forever.

This week in Veer: Another great slideshow

In an effort to sell photos and type, Veer often posts different theme slideshows. I've posted a couple on my blog. Here's a new one I really like. It's about homes all over the world. Take a look.

You can't miss: Print and patterns

I happened across this great blog a few days ago. It's very crafty and graphic all at the same time. She talks about a lot of graphic designers, but also showcases interesting things such as greeting cards and drinkware. It's just fun and happy, and also is a good source of inspiration.

The Weekly Critique

In the last few weeks, I've been designing like crazy, but have a bit of a break for the next week or two. I worked on the feature for the Best Time issue last week. I don't have a pdf yet, but you can take a look at the online version. I was able to pull all the icons from the print version I did, so it made part of the execution easier. But there was still a lot of learning to be done on the flash aspect of the project. It was a great learning experience though.

Also, I've been working more on the Spoon designs for the Meredith Project. We are working well as a team and I think we're making good progress. Here's one of the department pages we've done:

Response: The thinking process

I had a fun time hearing how everyone else's brain works and processes creativity. It was hard for me to even put my creative process into words, because often it changes. If I'm swamped with schoolwork, I might do it one way, or if I have the whole day to myself (which is happening less and less) I would work a different way.

I have an arsenal of books, and a Delicious account, that I reference to get inspired. I hate nothing more than looking at a blank page, so at least if I'm looking at other people's work, I feel like I'm making progress. At some point, in 5 minutes or 5 hours, it'll hit me. I thought this video was appropriate for that moment of inspiration: Hello, new.

You can't miss: Sad times for the newspaper business

As most of you already know, the Rocky Mountain News folded a couple weeks ago. It hit a little close to home, as I was at the Denver Post this summer. (Both papers are in a JOA). Looks like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will be closing shop here in a couple weeks as well.

Even as they were shutting down operations, the reporters at the Rocky Mountain News wanted to tell their final story. If you go to their homepage, Rocky Mountain News, you'll see a video at the top. Watch it. It will enlighten you to what all the newspaper employees are going through right now.

They've done some amazing things in their 149.8 years (so close to 150!). Here's one of my favorites, a pulitzer winner from 2006. Photo essay by Todd Heisler.

This week in Veer: Type City, type type city.

Want to get away? Come visit Veer's Type City. It's a magical place with Lupton Beach and an old Miedinger fire station. (get it?)

Basically they want you to buy their fonts, but it's a really fun interactive animation. Creative in a dark, surreal sort of way. I assume it was done in Flash, and for those of you also working on your Flash chops, it's a good example of the possibilities.

Here's a sample of Lupton Beach:

This week in Veer: Pretend you're a member of the NYC Art Director's Club

The elite NYC Art Director's Club was privy to a special presentation by Rian Hughes, a fabulous designer from the UK. Well, the decided to let us into their private little world by posting the video on Veer. It's long; it's the whole presentation. But when you have some time, you should seriously watch it. He's designed some famous/interesting typefaces.

Response: Portfolio-making

Over the last couple weeks, I have realized narrowing and building a portfolio is so much harder than I though it would be. Shouldn't it be enough that we do all the hard work to make the clips? It's just as tough to make the decisions about what to put in/take out.

Mostly, it's hard to keep in mind all the things to think about: balance of serious/playful; traditional/edgy; broadsheet/tab; cover/feature/department. ahhhh..

I do think it was helpful to get everyone's feedback on what my top pieces are. It was also really fun to get to see everyone else's. Lots of people have gone and done interesting things all over the world; that was fun to see.

You can't miss: Free creativity magazine.

Yep, here's a magazine all about creativity and how artists/designers sketch, think and execute. (Interesting to relate to our Fear & Creativity assignment) I actually came across this on Veer as one of their links. What's wonderful is it's free. Here's the link to the pdf.
Type, photography, illustration. Seriously. You will get inspired.

The Weekly Critique

Here's a couple covers I did for last Thursday. There are so many images and visuals to use when talking about grocery stores; it was hard to narrow it down and pick the most effective concepts. I LOVED the photo I found of the bell peppers (yum!) but I was having trouble making the type work on it. The ChaChing one: I'm less-enthused with the images, but I think the concept is better. I'll be revising that one sometime between now and tomorrow morning. Let me know if you have any thoughts, not really sure where to go with it. Thanks!

You can't miss: video tutorials! YES!

I'm always looking for good tutorials, either to just sharpen my skills or to frantically learn something on deadline. This one site could help you with both. Layers is as Adobe How-To magazine with lots of video segments on different techniques.

Don't know about ya'll, but I think it's a lot easier to learn from a video than from a list of steps. Check it out.

Here's an example of a lesson that teaches some neat illustrator stuff, such as gradient meshes and 3D rendering:

The Weekly Critique

Nothing publishing for Vox during this timeframe, but I had some other extraneous work to do. Spoon was the main thing going on. I posted one cover previously. Here's some other examples:


The publishers really wanted something super-edgy, bright and funky. I think I sort of (?) delivered.. I didn't give them neon. But I did try to incorporate their concepts and goals into something slightly more toned back. At least that's what I aimed for.

Response: Meredith presentations

As I'm sure was the case with everyone, I had no idea what to expect going into those meetings. My team (Spoon) has met briefly with the publishers, but mostly have communicated through email. It's interesting to see the publishing students' responses to our designs. At least with my group, we had all these concepts that 'theoretically' could be done. But the publishers were much more concerned with execution. We touched on this in class Tuesday; it was this dichotomy of 'we the designers have all these creative ideas' and 'we the publishers just want to know if you know how to do the tasks.'

It's should be a fun, but stressful project. Here's a sample of my work I presented:

This week in Veer: Wallpaper inspiration

Meet 'Full Bleed'. (A mythical design superhero)
I've never been a fan of default wallpaper, and I'm sure most of you, the designers that you are, are not either. Veer has a wonderful collection at your disposal here. They're even all resized for the iPhone as well.
Just thought this would be a fun resource for everyone to make sure their laptops are in full creative mode. Here's another one of my favorites:

This week in Veer: Rethinking Photography

Veer often does a photo slideshow with a specific topic, such as Spring or Money. This one is PDA. Yes, public displays of affection. Take a look through the slideshow, found here. They found a lot of clever, but appropriate, ways to show the concept. It's fun and cute, but it's also good inspiration for out-of-the-box photo opportunities.

Response: Henry Wolf

As I worked on the written part of the presentation, I really understood more about why Esquire changed dramatically between 1945-1955. Not only did technology give them more freedom, but also the introduction on a new art director that saw things very differently: Henry Wolf. He was an Austrian emigre and brought European modernism to the magazine.

He approached covers with a concept, not just saying, "Well, let's just do a cute painting." (Which is what the previous standard was.) Wolf brought wit and cleverness to his design and enforced more typographic style.

This is a really great site to look at all the covers of Esquire. The ones between 1952 and 1958 are Wolf's work.

He moved on to Harper's in 1958, so the work there is similar to these Esquire covers. It just fascinates me how much one person can revolutionize a magazine. He worked as a lowly junior promotions designer, and one day promoted to art director by the editor. (So there's hope for all of us.)

You can't miss: 40 great one-page sites

Lately, my design interest has steered toward online, mostly because I'm looking for inspiration for my portfolio. I came across this site that has 40 well-designed, creative portfolios/sites. The best part is that they're not some huge undertaking; they're just one page. The site owners, as you'll see, are creatives. The cool WeBleedDesign site I posted last week is included in this top 40. Take a look and find some inspiration.

The Weekly Critique

This week I didn't have any work for Vox, but I did design the contest brochure for SSND. I went through a bunch of ideas, and ended up with this poster-style cover. All the type is inside a, yes, helvetica, 'a'. But I thought that was sort of appropriate for a design contest. I'd love to hear critiques/comments on this! It was sort of a last minute thing.

This week in Veer: Lightboxing

Maybe you have heard of this before, I think it's gotten some coverage on VisualEditors and some other design blogs. If you haven't though, it's this design battle of sorts. Here's how they describe it:

"The rules are simple. Using only the images and type provided in a Veer lightbox, make something great. Crop. Cut. Paste. Fight dirty. Write copy. Make a knockout design. The voting public decides the winner. The prize? Bragging rights, and some sweet Veer swag."

This is a really interesting concept applicable to magazine and news design. Often, there is this confined set of tools, typefaces, images, etc... at our disposal and limitless ways to use them. This is a site for some inspiration and curiosity. Take a look.

Response: Esquire through the decades

One thing that really struck me this week, while doing the historical research, was the significant effect technology has on design, both good and bad. I looked at Esquire from 1945 to 1955 and was amazed by how much changed with the ability to have 4-color printing. Photography became much more common. Color, now that there could be more than one, became a navigational tool. All these things that were previously not possible were options for publishers. 

On the other side of things, in today's techno-savvy world, technology has almost become a crutch for some designers. Good design doesn't come from a computer, it comes from a brain, and the computer is a catalyst. This idea often gets lost, but I think it's a really important concept. And of course Milton Glaser puts it best:

"Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking." -Milton Glaser

Here's a video of my slideshow from Tuesday:

The Weekly Critique

Here are the three covers I submitted for the Chocolate issue. Yum. As with most that were submitted, mine mostly revolved around the obvious use of chocolate imagery. I tried to make it interesting as well as tasty looking. The top image is the one I am reworking a bit to resubmit tomorrow. We'll see.

Response: Helvetica, a little like tofu.

History is important. Really important. To know where we've come from is a lesson I've been absorbing over the last couple weeks. The book we've been reading, Graphic Style, explains a great deal about the cultural influences that affect design and style. It's interesting to read about the cyclical nature of design and understand why it is the way it is. One thing I found particularly interesting was the simplicity that followed chaos. Again, the cyclical nature.

Helvetica is a great history lesson too. It is an example an idea born from the corporate culture of the 50s. Helvetica's longevity is due partly to its lack of a personality. One of the typographers interviewed stated that a novelty font says one emotion or idea really well, but only one. Whereas Helvetica takes on the emotion and feel of what it is being used for. American Airlines and American Apparel are two very different companies, but Helvetica works for both. 

So, yea, it's sort of like tofu, right? Has no taste on its own, but picks up the flavor of the dish.