Filed under: Thesis
Portrait “frames.” Looks like im’ma build you a log cabin.
Check out my stubby pencil! It’s going to be a sad day when I’m going to have to let the nubbin’ go.
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Sorry. Pictures are crap – more of to get an idea anyway, I suppose. Now to figure out a way to put this in my car.
Yay! Now finishing up tags and books to go along with map.
Filed under: Thesis
Couple of stumbles this weekend; nothing I can’t handle with enough coffee and Yo La Tengo:
+Pins fell off my map — too thin. Got some manly nails and have to re-hammer and re-wire most of my threads.
+Magazine layout took WAY longer than I thought — weird formatting issues with Word. Wasn’t able to finish my illustrations/photos enough to put them in mock-up, but will work on completing those and getting sweet feedback from Flickr. Weeee.
Where my spreads are at currently. I played around with the body copy to give it some oopmh (columns, staggering, blah, blah). Make it seem more spontaneous and conversational. Not sure if it works, but we’ll see.
Printing covers with the portraits on different 65lb paper to see what colors n’ textures come across best. Shall be seeking advice soon…
Filed under: Reading Responses
I attempted to answer Bruce Mau’s 40 Questions. Well…just the part that Shaughnessy excerpted.
What is the difference between nigri and sashimi?
Nigri is how-we-do, sashimi is what-we-do-it-with. Quite scrumptious when the forces combine.
Who designed the CNN logo?
I have no idea! Who?
I found a picture of their first broadcast that’s pretty awesome, though.
Now they have holograms. Holograms!
What artist founded the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas?
Donald Judd. I only knew that because Rita Ackermann was part of the artist-in-residency program there in ’08 and I hart her and her work verily.
What text by Guy Debord was central to the events of May 1968?
The Society of the Spectacle, 1967. Yay for writing about Situationism earlier in the term!
Can I have a job now? Part-time?
Filed under: Reading Responses
I forgot how many times Shaughnessy mentions the fact that the reader shouldn’t take his words and experiences to heart, verbatim, follow like disciples, and so forth. It’s kind of amusing. Maybe he’s trying to protect himself from being sued, like ingredient labels saying that something “may contain peanuts.”
Everything I see and touch makes me a better designer.
Oh, yes. Sweetest advice/remark from these chapters. I think it can easily be applied to everything that Shaughnessy touched on concerning getting a job, networking, freelancing, and starting up your own studio. Regardless of what avenue we young designers decide to take in the beginning, it seems highly unlikely that we’ll be sticking with that path for the rest of our careers. Graphic design is such non-static, almost volatile nature to it (at least with good design). There’s no way you can settle — everything you experience contributes and adds to your aesthetic.
I’d probably like to open up my own small studio in the future, but at this point I am definitely unsure of how to really even get there despite Shaughnessy’s advice. All I am sure of is walking into an artist’s space or design studio and being able to say underneath my breath,
“I’d like to work here.”
I like the people.
There’s challenging work to be done. I can grow.
Let’s see what comes from that.
I could make hot shit while also helping these lovely guys in Minneapolis.
I could live in their closet-0f-amazingness until I found my own place.…
….which would be this.
And I’d maintain a sense of optimism, humor, adventure and curiosity like,
and Mark Horowitz.
It could happen.
Filed under: Thesis
Headway this week. Good weather = get my shit together so I can enjoy it.
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MAP
Originally, the map was going to have all these Venn diagrams, pins with tags, etc. I saw a really awesome personal map, though, that had NO keys, none of that jazz. It looked great. Kind of left the viewer up to them selves to figure it out….or better yet…create their own scenarios. I also figured that if I let several parts of the conversation act as “way points” for switches in topic, it might be visually more interesting (?).
Writing out map way points for each person.
This is one for the conversation I had with my mother.
6 peeps surrounding the map. The line below represents the thread.
What it’s looking like now.
Wood palette! Nailed a “frame” in its midsection for the map. Slightly bigger than 24″ x 36″
Printed B&W, for now, to see how it looks. Circles need to be smaller, I think, and hand-drawn.
Mapped my Dad’s path, for starters.
Going to wrap the thread multiple times.
Hard to discern from a distance (crappy photo, notwithstanding).
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BOOKLETS
Printed and mocked up a simple b&w version to get a feel for size and layout. Final version will be on nicer paper stock and stitched binding.
Still working on the layout of how I want to present the transcripts of the conversation.
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TAGS – PARTICIPATE!
“Leave & Take It With You“ (Sub-tagline. Clever, huh?)
Working on layout and type still. Rough, rough.
::”Leave” Part::
Worked on the tags that will be hung up next to the map on another wooden board. People can fill them out, if they so please, which would make this person a happy camper. 12ish for starters, more for senior show. Will try book cover style binding these over Formica samples I got at SCRAP so it’ll make a pretty clanking sound when hung {crosses fingers it works}.
::”Take” Part::
Cards that will be in 2″ x 5 envelopes, hung using clothespins and more thread. Boo-ya. Each will contain the questions I (sort of) used in my project related to certain relationships. Don’t know if anyone will actually use it, but it would be a nice if they did. Got some good stuff from it on my end!
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LOGO
Final. I’m getting 2 stamps made, 0.5″ and an 1.5″
Will show results in 3-5 working days.
Filed under: Reading Responses
+After reading many articles, books, journals, blogs, one-liners about design so far (including this particular book), it’s still one of my faves. Probably because it’s written like I’m having an actual conversation with a designer who’s been through all of it and yet, isn’t a condescending a-hole about it.
+Each chapter is the A to my Q.
+This book is pretty.
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The world is shrinking. In this day and age where it’s just as easy to call your mother as it is to video conference with someone in Cambodia, the field of graphic design is no longer a microcosm. It’s exceedingly multi-disciplinary on a technical level, with video, construction, illustration, sculpture, and mixed-media being pretty standards methods. While this is really exciting, I find the most interesting part about this multi-disciplinary, cultural immediacy is the range and eclecticism of graphic designers themselves. How does designers’ backgrounds, including academics and where they grew up, shape their styles/POVs?
Just thinking about our own little graphic design group here at PSU, I’m still widely fascinated by the backgrounds of my peers and professors. Former science majors, immigrants, fine artists, writers, history buffs, happenstances, etc., etc.
Where are we from, where are we going?
“..a book designed to help those who believe that graphic design has a cultural and aesthetic value beyond the mere trumpeting of commercial messages.”
Can I get a holla’?
“less you means more you.”
I’ve got to work on this. I’m so bloody opinionated that I think that if I expound on them, people will automatically identity. Maybe. Not always. Sometimes the genuine rationale and explanation is enough.
Reading Shaughnessy’s ponderings and experiences concerning cultural awareness, communication, and integrity in graphic design was another welcome reminder that even the best in the biz go through some of the same professional and existential questions that fresh, nubile graduates have. I couldn’t help but think about the Advice to Sink in Slowly series while reading the first chapter.
I interpret the following as don’t invest TOO much into your work. Be open to criticisms and people challenging you!
Filed under: Uncategorized
This goes out to all my peeps who expressed their burnt-out-ness in class today.
I have found the solution to all our problems. Gif dance parties.
<—how I dance.
See y’all soon.
Filed under: Thesis
YOU ARE HERE.
{Objectives}
We’ve all had those conversations where you can’t remember what you first started talking about – the sign of an awesome connection between two people! Really good conversations are journeys, hovering in the air and in our memories. I plan to map out 6 conversations with 6 folks in my life, ranging from close family to friends. Some of these people have never met. However, through the transcription and mapping process, I hope to demonstrate that we share more similarities than differences. Are there certain topics that come up frequently besides the obvious ones (weather, all things one might consider small talk, etc.)? What are the slight differences that come up that represent our own unique experiences and identity even when the general topics are the same?
My project is creating a visual representation and model for an abstract concept, but which contain very tangible and real subjects/imagery. Hopefully it will provoke the audience to:
+share a quick laugh or two with each other.
+double-take.
+lean in closer.
+point.
+share stories of similar experiences, both verbally and interactively with the map.
{Audience}
The very basis of my project is around audience participation. They will be directly developing my content. To keep some semblance of structure (and also save me a lot of search time when transcribing the conversations), I will have some basic questions outlined for my six participants. The questions will slightly vary depending on my relationship with the person, however, there will be two questions that I will ask everyone towards the end of the conversation:
Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?
Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know bt have never asked?
At the end of the project, people will also be invited to share and add to the map their own thoughts/opinions/musings/ramblings/experiences. There will be additional pins or tags for them to fill out and attach, helping the map grow and continue to develop.
{Deliverables}
::YOU ARE HERE MAP::
Three-D. Tangible. Installation. The big one. The mother that will spawn and nourish the rest of my deliverables.
+6 portraits on the left side. 50″-60″ long canvas/wood/paper directly following to them to the right.
+Topographical-like circles on canvas delineating general topics, i.e. family, love, friendships, the future, etc.
+Color-coded thread to each person will be strung from the portraits through the canvas (from left to right). The thread will traverse these general topics and everytime the subject changes, the thread will change direction as needed using pins/nails.
+The pins/nails will have a small flag attached to the head. On the flag will be written a single sentence/phrase that was said during the conversation which represent each subject. Basically making things more personal and specific to each person I had a conversation with besides the general topics.
+Threads will weave and interconnect at various points.
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::PERSONAL MAGA/ZINES::
+6 total. Around 5″x6″. One for person I had a conversation with.
+Mixture of line illustrations, halftone & duotone color photos which will represent subjects/images brought up in conversation.
+Transcriptions of conversation, juxtaposed all nice and perrty with the illustrations/photos.
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::CD PACKAGING::
+My presentation for audience research at the end of the term.
+6 CDs total. Each containing the full, uncut, uncensored conversation per person for listening (pleasure?).
+Individual sleeves inside larger container/box.
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::PROMOTIONAL POSTERS::
+Teaser campaign of sorts. Will also be hung around the map installation as a complement.
+Typography — contain short excerpts of conversations. Background image supplementary.
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::INTERACTIVE TAGS, PINS, OR CARDS::
+Used after all previous deliverables are set-up.
+Audience participation — fill out and add to the map next to the 6 people’s conversation snippets or create own path.
Filed under: Reading Responses
Is it possible to touch somebody’s heart with design?
A resounding “yes!” from this end.
The personal examples that Sagmeister outlined demonstrate the myriad of ways design can touch us, move us, haunt us, regardless of the immediacy of our particular field. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Sagmeister, years as a graphic design student, and studying artists and designers alike who I respect a great deal, it’s to be::
SINCERE & HONEST.
Feed curiosity. Rexamine and re-explore.
Noteboek by Evelien Lohbeck
“If I have nothing to say, the best design won’t help me.”
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I read Personas: Practice and Theory.
I did.
The notes I took during the process of perusal are indicative of my response/reaction.
Notice the rapid degeneration.
twentyfourseventy 