August 17th, 2010
When I started graduate school back in 2007, I moved out to Hays, Kansas to attend a stellar program. My fellow graduate colleagues were already hard at work on their own projects, while I began my own. Towards the end of my first semester, my friend Dominic Flask came up with a project that he wanted to work on. He loved typography (and who could blame him). He wanted to venture out on his own and start exploring! I have no doubt in my mind he could of completed this entire project on his own (he’s that talented), but instead, he approached our other friend Jennifer Higerd and me. I couldn’t have been more gracious at this opportunity, because I enjoyed typography as much as he did and looked at this as a chance to teach myself everything I could about type since I was deprived of a good type education during my undergraduate years. What developed after this initial conversation was excitement, exhaustion, blood, sweat and tears.
Not only were the three of us preparing for our Thesis shows and fulfilling all the requirements for our MFA degree, we were working on this monumental project. Dom kept us motivated to finish, and after two years of research and designing, we finished the book Typographeee. It is separated into three concise sections: Execution, Exploration, and Experimentation. We each took a 30 page section and crammed in as much as we could. Our goal was to create an abridged history of type without all of that extra information that weighs down what you really need to know. I could go on and on about this wonderful book, or you can click on this link Typographeee.com and check out the entire thing! Thanks to Dom for building the website. If you ‘d like a copy of the book, contact me and I’d be happy to send one your way.
August 4th, 2010
These are some great posters from Olly Moss for the 2010 Rolling Roadhouse tour brought to you by the Alamo Drafthouse. To commemorate this years tour, they printed a limited number of posters to sell on the tour. I must say this is some great eye candy! I wish the roadshow was coming to my neck of the woods so I could see one of these classics in a theater, and try to get my hands on a set of these posters. Here are some of my favorites, and there’s more after the jump. Enjoy!
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by schmance | Posted in
Inspiration,
Posters |
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July 29th, 2010
I recently came across this new poster for the upcoming movie Buried and couldn’t help but think that this was a Saul Bass recreation. As as graphic designer, I am a huge fan of Saul Bass and am aware of his accomplishments and influence he has had on the world of graphic design. During his life Bass had a masterful talent for creating visual references for film campaigns and title sequences. Take his poster for the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo. Most have seen the movie, and if you have not, I won’t spoil it, but the poster reflects what the movie is about. James Stewart’s character develops acrophobia, and throughout the movie he deals with this dilemma of not being able to break free of it all the while dealing with death, love and loss, and insanity. He’s essentially fighting an inner battle. Bass illustrated the poster to reflect the emotion and confusion that Stewart feels, and he did it to perfection.
I don’t have an idea what Buried is about, except that Ryan Reynolds character is buried alive. It’s probably his struggle to stay sane while six feet under and running out of air. It looks to be a man struggling with himself while in his horrendous environment. I researched to see who did this poster, but couldn’t find anything. I absolutely love it, and think it fits the film well (from what I’ve read about Buried so far). I am glad to see that Saul Bass’ influence on graphic design is alive and well. I am glad that designers still recognize our history. I am glad that designers are using a Pioneer’s ideas and visual imagery as influence for their own projects.
by schmance | Posted in
Inspiration,
Posters |
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July 28th, 2010
Les éditions volumiques is a publishing house located in Paris, France. They are exploring the paper book as a new computer platform. Their e-books are not trying to replace the paper book, they are enriching the intimacy of the paper book connecting it with the digital world. Take their project “Pirates” for instance. Your phone acts as an interactive pawn transforming into a sailing vessel when placed on their map. As it sails through the ocean on the map it keeps memory of its recent feats. I’ve attached some pictures above, but you can find a video of how it works here along with other videos showcasing their innovative work. It’s a great website to check out for inspiration, and it gives an idea of what talented people are doing with ingenious and creative collaborations.
July 15th, 2010
I was referred to this new book by a friend, and I just HAD to have it! I finally received it in the mail and haven’t put it down yet. The author’s, Jeanette Abbink and Emily CM Anderson, compiled this book with contributions from all sorts of designers. The experimental type photos in this book are unreal! Having worked on a project with two other graduate students about experimental 3D Typography, I know first-hand how hard it is to create good letter forms that are legible. It’s fun to undertake, and after reading through this book I think everyone will want to delve into their soul and create their own experimental type. Check out there book 3D Typography, or become a subscriber of their blog!
July 14th, 2010
When I created my Color Theory tutorial last summer, I spent countless hours researching books, magazines and websites to find valuable information that I could use to make an organized, educational online tool. I came to the conclusion (after receiving feedback from current and past students) that all they wanted was a basic foundation for color. What is the difference between complimentary and split-complimentary color groups, when should I use CMYK vs. RGB, and what in the heck are tertiary colors? Making a tutorial where they can find the answers quickly to these basic questions is what motivated me to create my Color Theory tutorial. My tutorial is basic, but once you have this foundation, you are able to understand color better, and create better color relationships for projects.
This is what lead me to COLOURlovers. I came across this site last year when I started The Design Shadow, and I made sure to include a link from my homepage to theirs. COLOURlovers is an international community of designers and artists that visit frequently for inspiration, ideas and feedback. They also keep up-to-date on the latest color trends and news. I have used their blog many times for projects because it is easy to navigate and just so freakin’ cool to use. Members can even create their own colors, palettes and patterns for others to see, comment on, and even download. So check them out at www.colourlovers.com, you’ll thank me later!
by schmance | Posted in
Color,
Inspiration |
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July 8th, 2010
by schmance | Posted in
Multimedia |
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