BLURB books

I already posted about Blurb but I'm going to mention it again because we all have another week to get mini portfolios together. Check it out if you're interested. I chose to do the 7x7 book, soft cover 0-40 is only $12.95. It's reasonable in price and great quality. Now it might not be ideal for printing 100 copies but if you want to do this to start with and to just have a nice quality book of a small portion of your portfolio it's great. Plus it only took about a week for printing and shipping, but I did pay for second day shipping. Anyway, thought I'd throw it out there if you are wanting to do something other than Kinkos. You can check out a quick preview of mine, the site allows for a quick preview of your book so if others want to purchase a book they can get a sneak peek.

The Art of the Encore

This week in VOX is an awesome feature about the art of the Encore and the fad that is so common in the arena of concerts. Sarah and I worked together to create something that visually complemented the voice of the story. The text itself has a lot of visual cues and really sets the ambiance of being at a concert and experiencing the thrill of an encore. We wanted to use repetition in photos to allude to the second helping of music you receive with an encore and also play up texture and color. Enjoy.

You can't miss Jen Stark!

OK, as designers we love paper, right? Well check out Jen Stark's amazing paper sculptures. They are unreal. They look like paintings or illustrations but are actually formed out of cardstock. It's creatively awesome, not to mention beautiful!

Speaking of amazing things to do with paper. I hope you all have seen the Post It note experiment. It's also amazing! check it out too.

You can't miss Jolby and Friends!

On netdiver a dynamic duo of creative artists was featured. Jolby and Friends is a design and illustration team created by Colby Nichols and Josh Kenyon (hence the name 'Jolby'). They recently finished their first solo exhibition Home is Where You Make It. It's work that portrays this narrative of fantasy and whimsy. I encourage to check out the exhibit online and scroll through all of the images. When seen together, they tell a little story that's fun and quirky. Check Joby and Friends out!

A whole new VOX

Recently Meredith showed us her redesign for VOX. I think it will be refreshing for the mag to get a facelift. It's starting to feel a little drab and heavy. The bold new color palette mixed with new layout ideas will really add some spice. My hope for it next year is that the new look will attract more readers. It has the potential to read like a city/regional mag, which is something people are more accustomed to and keep going back to for more. I'm only sad to see it come at the end of our design semester. It would've been nice designing with some new elements.

ILKKA HALSO and the museum of nature

In photo the other day we viewed a slideshow on some amazing artists from the Helsinki school in the Netherlands. They are an amazing group who are proactively trying to get their work out there. Ilkka Halso is one photographer that has created a project called the Museum of Nature. It is a representation of how we can "save" nature from it disappearing completely. It's a comment on social concerns in a very ironic way. 

The super powers of the JLC

This past week Christy, Jena and I spent some time trying to create a comic book, dark graphic novel-esque feature for the Justice League of Columbia. We ran into some complications (naturally) with certain things, such as photos, too many pages with not enough text (that never happens) and also trying to find that perfect design aesthetic to fit the content. After quite a bit of playing around, we decided to include arrows as our graphic element with a lot of white space and bold colors. All-in-all I think it turned out nicely. Very dark and edgy to fit Julia's awesome cover.

You can't miss Google Maps Typography

On netdiver artist Rhett Dashwood is featured. He has compiled the alphabet out of letters found in aerial shots on Google maps. I thought this was witty. It comments on our modern technologies and ammenities, such as Google in general, and combines that with a traditional artistic aesthetic. It is reminiscent of Earth art that became popular in the latter half of the 20th century. Some really interesting stuff.

You can't miss Yeondoo Jung

So a few semesters ago I stumbled upon this photographer during my beginning photo class, Yeondoo Jung. He has this awesome series called "Wonderland" that I've recently revisited for an artist presentation. It's crazy creative and cool. He traveled around to different elementary schools and collected color drawings from children. Through photography, plus amazing costumes and props, he recreated the scenes depicted in the works. They are inspiring to me. I think because I enjoy working with elements from childhood in my own photos. Check him out!

mini portfolios from blurb

In my photography class we are making blurb books for part of our final projects and I thought this could be an option for making our mini portfolios. It's this great website that allows you to place images and text as you want (kind of like InDesign) and when you're done, simply order it and the print and bind it for you. There are a few sizes and number of pages to choose from, as well as type of cover. I'm planning on doing mine through the program because they have a 7x7 format, paper back 0-40 pages for about $13. Anyway, thought I'd share and the program downloads to your computer for free. Check out blurb. 

You can't miss Shinichi Maruyama

Check out this awesome liquid art I found on Netdiver. It's by photographer Shinichi Maruyama. He takes these awesome photos of liquid dispensed in midair. They have a lot of rhythm and movement creating this awesome aesthetic. Very beautifully done. 

Words of inspiration for our homestretch

Here are those quotes of inspiration and encouragement for our very near future endeavors from my high school art teacher Sandy Ballantyne:

"Work with people as much as you can. Watch how people problem-solve and what their needs are as they work through a process. Think about what excites you when you do your own work and how you can relate that to others. And, more than anything, believe people are good and only want the best for everyone so that if or when something happens that makes you question motives, you can forgive, learn and move on."

"You are a bright, positive-thinking, young person. Find a way to celebrate your strengths everyday, because when you can, you will celebrate other's strengths and they will respond in kind. Believe in yourself, recognize you will make mistakes, learn from them and build on them --welcome them-- it is how we grow as teachers and human beings."

Designs, designs, designs

So this week I'm working on quite a few projects at once. I have both the Justice League of Columbia Feature and cover rough drafts as well as a photography project. I'll be posting these next week once they get some revisions and such. 

I do have my revision for the Bed and Breakfast feature for Renovate/Style as well as my first draft of my department New/Hues. Let me know what you think.

You can't miss the fantastical world of Dmitry Maksimov

On shape+colour there was a post about artist Dmitry Maksimov. I ran across him while I was searching for inspiration for my own photography work. He is unbelievably talented at perfectly mixing photography and illustration. His images you know are fantasy but they are so seamlessly done that you want to believe his world exists. He's a must-see in my book.

You can't miss the chance of rain with The Loud Cloud

On netdiver, there was a post about artist Joshua Gorchov. One thing they highlighted was his launch of The Loud Cloud, a group of awesomely talented illustrators. One featured in the group is Jordon Domont. He has really amazing celebrity portraits such as Tina Fey, Andy Samburg, Obama, and Michael Cera.

Web design illiterate... but working on it

Working on our portfolio websites was an experience for sure. I'm not sure why Dreamweaver and Flash are harder for me to grasp than the rest of the Creative Suite, but it was rough for sure. I think, after the late night adventure of designing and publishing it (thank you Philip), it is coming along. I have some definite tweaking to do,  but all in all I think it'll look really nice when I'm finished. One thing that I received from my feedback was that it fit the field I'm going into (art education). It's hard to judge how things will be perceived in certain fields of work, but hopefully this site displays my creativity and bubbly, artsy personality. Check it out but it is only a rough draft. 

Designs on the brain...

Right now, in terms of designs, I'm working on getting some Renovate/Style designs worked out. I have the feature pretty close to complete and I think it's shaping up nicely. I'll also be working on our Justice League feature as well as covers (but that'll come next week). Also my mini-portfolio is on my list of design-oriented projects to be working on.

As far as non-magazine designs, I'll be working on a new photo project that'll be set up in a similar manner as my last with illustration and photography. I'll keep you all posted as those get finished.