on the ball... this one really makes no sense

Here is my first round of designs for Global Journalist this issue. I was happy to hear during our meeting with the editors that they liked my design and I don't have too much tweaking to do. Just one thing I can cross off my crazy "To Do" list. 

Ballin' presentations

Ok so I had to find another way to use ball to complete my theme this week. I thought the Meredith presentations were unbelievable. I didn't get a chance to thoroughly see everyone's but it appears that we have some fascinating and innovative designers among us. I was very impressed and honestly intimidated. I know that my group (shout out to Renovate/Style) had some excellent ideas and was very happy to see that we are on a very similar wave link. I'm looking forward to working with them and creating something awesomely amazing (that's right, I said it) for Meredith. I hope everyone else's groups are also doing well. Y'all rock! (I had to throw in a y'all for our Meredith). 

Oh, Balls! - Short Talk designs

So this week I had my very first experience with short talk. I think it went pretty well. I decided to change up "It Figures" by doing some inverted numbers and really playing with the layout. That section can be so boring and repetitive (much like most of short talk). I'm happy with how it turned out. I was excited because I came up with "Twictionary" and the blurb for that sidebar, which I thought was clever so hopefully they decided to keep that. 

Speaking of balls... You can't miss this commercial

Now some of you may have already seen this because it's an older commercial, but it is one of my favorites. How innovative and fun. I wish that I could go to a major city and just drown it in bouncy balls. It visually speaks their message of color in a really creative way. I love it.

You can't miss animated balls

I found this animation on netdiver. It's by Maxim Zhestkov that he did for the NokiaE71 launch. His use of geometry, movement, flow and color is really well done. It kind of reminds me of bouncy balls, and who doesn't love bouncy balls? Watch it here.

update: cover redesign

I finished the cover redesign earlier than expected so here it is. I decided to stick with the hot air balloon idea. I really liked the graphic that True/False used on their own website with the idea of rising above this year. In keeping with that theme, I took a real photo of balloons and made one to look like the logo. I think it is much stronger than my first round, but that's what redesigning is for right? 

Rosie Magazine

I just have to take a moment to giggle at the downfall of McCall's Magazine. I'm so glad that Rosie was mentioned in Chelsea's presentation yesterday. Celebrities make me laugh how they feel if they feel the need to put their branding on everything. How many actors-turned-singers, or vice versa, have their own perfume or clothing line? Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton are just a few that come to mind. Now Rosie tries to have her own publication but knows nothing about how to make a magazine successful. Success in the industry is definitely not defined by Rosie posing with a celebrity on every cover -- no good. So the real question is what did she do wrong? O magazine and Everyday With Rachel Ray seem to be doing just fine. Perhaps it's the name branded to the publication. How many people love Rosie O'Donnell? I don't think she's as admired as Oprah and Rachel Ray.

Design, Design, Design

This week I'm working on redesigning my cover for True/False, which I think I'm going to stick with the hot air balloon, surrealist idea except make it a little more identifiable with True/False. I like this idea of doing something a little out of the box, because the designers at True/False think out of the box in  their own work. Why not mimic that? I'll post this later because it's still in the works.

In other work, I'm designing short talk this weekend and in my photography class I'm working on a project incorporating the children's book Where the Wild Things Are. Anyone remember that classic? I'm loosely basing it on this project done by photographer Abelardo Morell where he used an older edition of Alice in Wonderland. I might post my work later when it's complete along with Short Talk for 02/26.

You can't miss photographer Marc Paeps

I found this photographer, Marc Paeps, on netdiver. He has some awesomely bizarre photography. He's done quite a few commercial projects. The ones pictured are for Eurostar promoting day trips to London. If you get a chance, check out some of his other work. It's all really interesting and unique.

You can't miss Annie Leibovitz: LIfe Through a Lense

Recently in my Advanced Photography class we watched a PBS American Masters special on photographer Annie Leibovitz. The biography was great and captured her life story and voyage to where she is today. If you aren't familiar with her work you must check it out. She's shot some of the most famous celebrity portraits, including a pregnant Demi Moore, and John Lennon with Yoko Ono the night before his death. Recently my favorite photos from her have been what she worked on for Disney's Year of a Million Dreams campaign. She photographed celebrities as some of the most lovable Disney characters, such as Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella and Julianne Moore as Ariel the little mermaid. 

True/False cover designs

This week I'm coming up with cover designs for the True/False feature of Vox. I started with a few ideas that obviously reference film so I decided to do the popcorn and soda changing the names to "true" and "false." I think it turned out pretty well; it has that pop art kind of feel, which  I think is youthful and fun. For my second idea I used theatre chairs and had the head "sitting" in the chairs. I thought this was a interesting idea instead of a simple picture with the head slapped on the top. My third idea was inspired by the True/False website. They have this really cool graphic with a rowboat and balloons. It's this very surrealist, escapist feel and I wanted to emulate that. So I used hot air balloons to create the same kind of feeling as escape and fantasy. I like these because they're different than stereotypical movie themes, but I'm afraid it might be to vague for people to get right away. However, after six years of True/False you've got to try new things. I know all of them probably need some work so feedback will be nice on these.

Esky, Esquire's mascot

Before learning the history of Esquire, I had never hear of their famed little mascot Esky. What an interesting concept for a magazine to have. In the earlier decades of the publication I assume Esky helped to build some brand recognition. Who doesn't love a mascot? A loyal sidekick of the home team. It was to learn about Esky, because it reminded me of my high school newspaper. For some reason my senior year we decided to include our own mascot -- a yard gnome, Jonah. He would show up randomly on a page every month. Tragically he died though in a dancing mishap during Mr. Jaguar, the male beauty pageant the newspaper puts on to raise money. The story of Esky brought me back to my own yesteryears.

You can't miss Loworks

Loworks creates amazing illustration for advertising and just for art's sake. The designs are colorful and imaginative; they bring you to an urban fantasy world all their own. The characters and visual spaces created are psychedelic, retro and just plain fun. It takes that feeling of nostalgia from watching cartoons as kids and brings it to a new level of meaning and representation. 

You can't miss innovation in furniture design

   

On netdiver there was a blurb about the Stockholm Furniture Fair that just took place. Their website Under Construction features the pieces that were displayed at the show. The innovation in design is amazing. One design called Softscape "challenges people's perception of furniture in a room." The site has several interesting designs including chairs, stools and tables. 

feature redesign

So for the feature redesign I decided to move away from "Faces of the Economy" and try "Economic Experts," which I felt the two men are. I found this cartoon illustration of a doctor examining money and thought it fit the head and the idea. I'm still not 100% happy with this. I had a hard time with this feature in general, but I do think the redesign is better than my original. The pull quote and more colorful sidebar helps to liven the page, which used to be swimming in gray.

Helvetica

Helvetica, the new documentary by Gary Hustwit, is all about the life of a particular typeface we are all very familiar with. The documentary provides some interesting history on the font and how it found its way to our commercial and material lifestyles, how it became the type that surrounds us everyday. The views of different designers is very interesting. Some uphold Helvetica to be a great invention and a revolution in commercial design and brand recognition. On the other hand, some designers find it to be the death of all other typefaces. Helvetica pushes them to the shadows and it's up to these type designers to bring back to life some variety of type in our lives. It is a very fine line Helvetica walks. It's cool and intriguing to have one universal font that translates through cultures and generations. But at the same time it diminishes the unique qualities of those same cultures. So is being culturally ambiguous a bad thing?

Finding your name around town

A: Batteries Plus

B: America's Best contacts and glasses

B: Go Bonkers

E: Dollar Tree

Y: Subway

shutter field journal

           

                                   

  

      

    

         

              

     

                    

  

 

                                                            

cover redesign

With my redesign I decided to use my same head and deck because I thought it was clever and explained enough about the story without being overly literal. I kept the idea of musicians being heard in movies and TV and showing that visually, but this time I changed it to emulate a DVD menu. The little option box pops up on the side for the viewer to select, and in this instance one of the features is "newest small-name band." I think that this visually is more attractive; however, I know there is always room for improvement. It does look a little more Vox though.

You can't miss "Love Story" and some Marie Antoinette, too.

        
     
                                                                                         

Ok, I know this might be old news, but I can't help but mention how much I love Taylor Swift's video "Love Story." Every time I see it, I fall in love with it all over again. The video just brings to life this perfectly charming and whimsical place. The setting is gorgeous and the costumes are beautiful, not to mention the song is so sweet. Let's be honest, I'm a sucker for fairy tales and romance. Besides, who doesn't love Romeo and Juliet?

Part of the reason I love it is because it reminds me of the photo shoot Kirsten Dunst did with Vogue in September 2009. It was when she was coming out with her film Marie Antoinette. The photos, like the movie, are also very enchanted. It was a fantastic shoot, but you can't expect less than amazing from Annie Leibovitz. Want to see more? Check out the behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot.