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.