Writing for Designers

EmDash

jandos — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:58:44 +0000

The second issue of George Mason’s student design magazine is now available. It can be purchased as a hard copy at MagCloud or downloaded as a pdf for free.

Congratulations to editors/designers Carey Jordan and Kelsey Hunter for doing a spectacular job, and all students who contributed writing or designed work.

design design everywhere

msorens2 — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:39:14 +0000

I came across this site where you can completely design a face, for fun i suppose. It made me think about how design keeps growing and stretching into different areas, for example, the ability to design Mii’s on the Wii system, or avatars on yahoo.com for our email accounts. It started a while ago, I’m guessing when the Sims games came out where you can totally design an entire world, from people, to houses, to the whole towns. It’s funny how we all have the accessibility to use our sense of creativity and design in various common ways. Design is available to anybody and it’s fun to work with. These kinds of desinging are different than the stuff we are learning to come up with in school on an advertising level, but it’s still interesting to me to see how everybody has the ability to unleash their design sense and how much more involved it is involved in our everyday lives.

the website:

http://flashface.ctapt.de/

Improve. as a graphic designer.

msorens2 — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:09:53 +0000

After my first semester taking classes as an art and visual technology student, I’ve learned that graphic design is a field that requires a lot more dedication and devotion than I thought it would. It’s not that I thought it would be easy, I just didn’t realize how much I still have to learn. I have always been more interested in the fine arts, as a hobby, and never really ran into any obstacles with it. Drawing and painting were just fun ways to relax for me. However, I’ve had a completely opposite experience with graphic design. I’ve spent hours and hours on the computer, frustrated, angry, and exhausted trying to come up with the ultimate design. While we are in school, we have the opportunity to be surrounded with inspiration and share ideas with our professors and peers to better our design learning process. I am still in the beginning stages of creating design and as intimidating as it can be sometimes, I am really enjoying the experience. As, designers, we are encouraged to continue practicing our designs and playing around with different programs in our free time; it’s the best way to feed our creativity and strengthen our designs. I read an article that shared tips on how to create better designs and felt that they were helpful little reminders that we may all need from time to time to keep the inspiration going.

here’s the link for anyone who wants to take a look:

http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2008/11/16-tips-to-improve-as-a-graphic-designer/

rpettewa — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:37:55 +0000

What are the most important things an animator should do? Well their are three main things I can really think of that have been stressed to me over the past 4 years about animation. Draw, Draw, and Draw some more! Oh, and a lot of research and observation are very important as well. But then again research is important in almost everything we do.

I’m not sure if drawing is as important to graphic designers as it is to animators and illustrators. Design is important in animation, but for those who really love to animate characters we have to have an understanding of the body, movement, and weight. Observation is key to understanding how these things work, so the more references and sketches that are collected the better. I go through dozens of sketch books and most of them are filled with gesture drawings and concept sketches. Sketchbooks serve as a good resource and its also a nice way for me to see how much I’ve improved over time, but I can’t say its to eco friendly. But the number on key thing in animation is knowing how to draw.

rpettewa — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:21:50 +0000

I asked my sister, what was one of her biggest issues about graphic design? She told me the fact that anyone with photoshop thinks that are or can be a designer. I think I might have to actually agree with her on that. I have seen this among my own family members as well. I guess people don’t realize that it takes more than a fancy computer program to make a really nice piece of art.

But then again some people find it cheaper to do it themselves, instead of hiring someone who will change their ideas completely. In my Dad’s case, he hired an artist to help with his book designs, but the problem is that artist dosen’t listen too well. Its kind of the same problem with my sister. She’s good at what she does, but she is a stickler for the rules, so I find her ideas and designs to be a bit tooo mechanical. She doesn’t like anything that doesn’t follow what she was taught, so the ideas my Dad has in mind for his book never work for her and she changes them completely. So I guess I can understand why some people choose to do it themselves, but in anycase they can always go to the book store and try to learn a little more about what it is they are trying to do. Besides everyone has the potential to be an artist if they really want to and they practice hard. Well, thats my opinion at least.

rpettewa — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:09:31 +0000

I was working on my final animation for my animation class the other day and my sister happened to be looking ove rmy shoulder. She happens to be studying art and communications at an other school, but she took particular interest in the fonts that I used in my animation reel. To be honest I just grabbed a font that looked like it matched my art style to keep it looking consistant, but she didn’t feel that it wasn’t quite right. Then she introduced me to a new word, “kerning.” Wow did that blow my mind. I had no idea what she was talking about, and I felt rather dumb, but it just proves my point that some animators have no clue what they are doing when it comes to fonts.

My main focus was the consitency and the placement, and everything had to support my story. In fact I really wanted the words just to settle in the background (I was gonna replace it with sound anyway) , they didn’t mean as much visually, as my animation did, but I guess some people beg to differ.

rpettewa — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:48:48 +0000

I was at the book store oneday and stop to look in the art section. Unfortunatley there wasn’t too much for me to look at, at that particular book store, but I did notice how much the Graffiti art seems to be taking over their book collection. Thats when I got caught in a discussion between my father and sister about whether Graffiti is art or just plain vandalism.

In my opinion, and I’m sure its a lot of other young peoples opinion as well, graffiti is art. I feel that maybe the older generation, like my Dad or grandparents, could only see it as vandalism. But Grafiti is unique kind of art form that has had a particularly great influence on many artists. Not all grafiti is art though, but it is a art form that should be recognized by everyone, at least in my opinion.

rpettewa — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:40:45 +0000

Animated feature films are not just geared to children anymore, but now they are being made to entertain the parents as well as the kids. But are these animations losing the kid factor and geared just for adults now.
You can find more adult cartoons on the air than you can find kid cartoons. In fact kid shows are being cut off as early as 7 or 8 pm now a days, and replaced by cartoons geared for the more mature audience. Its also very noticable that those more mature cartoons are watched by majority of the youth more so. Now its all about family guy and southpark, or animes.

All cartoons are fun to watch and should be made entertaining to everyone. Some parents overreact at the slightest attempt at adult humor in cartoons, but I think most animation industries realize that they need to think about a wider audience other than those that there shows are geared too.

Seasons

Jung — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:56:16 +0000

A Japanese designer, Nao Tamura designed serving containers made of silica sand. She won the salone satellite award at the Milan salone internazionale del mobile 2010.

‘In the land where I grew up, spring is a time when japanese sweets come wrapped
in cherry leaves. in summer, a fiery ripe tomato is carved out for use as a seving container. In autumn, fallen foliage from maple trees decorates the dinner table. And, the aroma of bamboo helps create the setting for winter. Just as winter is followed by spring, there are things that wither and are those born anew. Both truisms run deep and are able to move us from our core. Is this the cycle that dictates life on earth?’
–Nao Tamura

They look like real leaves but they are flexible and multi-purpose; these can be used in an oven or microware, and dishwasher safe. The process of making silicone uses lesser energy than glasses. The dishes are lightweight and can be compressed or rolled up for small space. Those plates remind me of banana leaf used for serving meals in India but I like her beautiful concept and presentation.
http://nownao.com/#/what/milansalone/01_milansalone03/

Ten Principles for good design

Jung — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:18:36 +0000

Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer who is famous for many innovative products. He is one of the greatest designers in the late 20th century by defining an elegant and clean. He worked as a head of design at German consumer electronics manufacturer, Braun until 1995. He designed coffee makers, calculators, radios, and many other consumer appliance products. His designs were enduring that he concerned about minimalism, honesty, and environment. He came up with the following 10 principles for good design.

These ten principles defined Dieter Rams’ approach to “good design”.

• Good design is innovative
• Good design makes a product useful
• Good design is aesthetic
• Good design makes a product understandable
• Good design is unobtrusive
• Good design is honest
• Good design is long-lasting
• Good design is thorough down to the last detail
• Good design is environmentally friendly
• Good design is as little design as possible
Copyright Dieter Rams, amended March 2003 and October 2009
His objective was to design useful products that are easy to operate. Young designers like Jonathan Ive and Jasper Morrison who worked at Apple and Rowenta were inspired by him.