AAS Graphic Design

In his article posted here: www.smashingmagazine.com, faculty member Mushon Zer-Aviv takes a close look at the collaborative strengths of the open-source paradigm as it pertains to coders–juxtaposed with the, proprietary based, design practices implemented by most graphic interface designers today. How will the authorship role be played by future designers; how can we ascribe value to our creative work in an open-source model?

In his TED talk, The Beauty of Data Visualization, David McCandless raises some interesting perspectives on how we interface with data. Shaping these perspectives through design can contextualize and shed light on dimensions that might have previously eluded us. As design continues to become more interrogative and cross disciplinary, I find it interesting hearing how people like David, who might not have thought of themselves as designers in the past, have arrived in the field.

1. We are selling T-shirts! Order yours today! All proceeds fund future Color Wheelz events. To see the shirts and place an order visit ColoriumLaboratorium

2. We were recently featured in Encore Magazine! Check out the article HERE

3. The next event will take place on September 25 and 26 at Makers Faire NYC. Buy your tickets now! Students get in for half price!

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Week In Review, August 29, 2010

Since graduating Ed Nacional has shown that it doesn’t take long to crank out some amazing work in the professional world. This past Sunday his illustration was featured on the opening page of the Week in Review section of the New York Times.

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Aside from his consistent work at the Times Ed’s personal projects are also making a splash. His Tie-Pography can be found within the pages of 3D-Typography, a recently published (Mark Batty) book by Jeanette Abbink and Emily CM Anderson.

Tiepography

And he has more work forthcoming in the Live Now book. Here is a short excerpt about the project:

The Live Now book will be a collection of inspirational quotes and illustrations pursuing the notion of living a happy and engaged life.
The book will roughly consist of 200, perforated pages that can be easily torn out and hung up or given away to spread smiles. Estimated arrival
is December 2010.

Live Now

Live Now

Question: Is it wrong of me to both love and hate a great piece of design? I mean, I’m a good person (I call my Mom regularly) and a pretty damn good designer (trained by Parsons finest, AAS ‘07 ), but I gotta say when I see some design work that rocks, I hate it.

And I love it. I do, really…

…but really I kinda hate it.

Not surprisingly, I kinda hate this short film, the opening titles to The Typophile Film Festival 5, created by BYU design students and faculty. Mormons are some kick-ass designers, who knew?

Apparently, this was done solely with stop motion photography, and its not often that I come across a design effort that so successfully pulls together type, image and meaning. Thoughtfully conceived, with a solid, playful tune to back it up, its the ultimate in DIY for the supremely talented. Each quote is an homage to one of the 5 senses. Watching it, you feel the time, effort and skill behind it all. The colors, typefaces, textures, movement… it’s just friggin’ gorgeous.

Blech.

So take a few minutes out of your day and feel the hate, you’ll be glad you did.

Leaving for the real world activities in design with a polished portfolio is the dream of every student, but even with the time put in on a portfolio class may not provide enough time to organize or answer every question a graduating student may have on getting their portfolio together for viewing. Well, here is a pretty good to getting your portfolio together, how many pieces to show, and what mix of projects to include. Next to your creatively designed resume, your portfolio is an extension of your design philosophy and style as you emerge out on the scene, take every effort possible to show your best!
CLICK TO VIEW GUIDE

I feel like Kathy Giffin on the D-List, but my list is the small “d”  as designer up against the big “D” conglomerate well-known design factories. In my past I have been known to buck trends, call out copy cats and provide creative inspiration to other designers. In recent years I have seen the creative solutions, and I use that term loosely, of some of the major identity manufacturers re-sell their style or concept solutions to several of their clients. I find myself wondering the circumstances that came along with the project and in fact did the client request this solution to be that “like” another company, or are the solutions just copied by the same designer because they lack the thinking for anything other than the trend at the time?

To be honest, I had this happen to myself, you may have had this also happen, where a client requests a design solution that is very similar to another project you have done. In my story, a prospective client asked for the exact same design just in a different color. When I turned them down stating that I do not “copy” myself and that my client purchased a unique solution for them, they replied that they could contact my client and see if it would be OK for them to use the design as is. What balls!! I tried my best to share with this prospect that we could use similar techniques, but provide a unique solution for them, but the cost was prohibitive.

Back to the transparent company. A noted designer has designed the Truvia logo and the Bausch + Lomb logo. Both have a translucent effect to the typography. Is this a concept for both companies to say they are both transparent and we can see who they are outright in this new economy? Or is is just a simple way to solve a type problem? I would see this as selling the same idea to two clients. Collins Harper publishers has in the past released a book on logos and logotypes that are a collection of logo styles throughout time. It catalogues the logos as to their use of technique in the solution, but these are done b y different designers. Although with the internet, it is easy for a designer on the East coast to know what a designer on the West coast has done and use it for “inspiration”, my quest is to know wether or not the use of the same type of solution is self-plagarising or is in fact two differing ideas?

Last fall I was given the opportunity of a lifetime. Angela Hederman the Editor
at The Little Bookroom trusted me with the design of her upcoming guidebook Markets of New York City. I accepted graciously but was scared out of my mind. Just one year prior I was sitting at orientation at Parsons not sure what the difference was between Illustrator and Indesign and confused why everyone kept saying typeface and not font.

But as I started meeting with Angela and Karen Seiger (the wonderfully talented author and markets enthusiast) I realized that somehow in just one year at Parson’s I had picked up enough knowledge of design to talk the talk and walk the walk of designing a book.

And that is why I am writing you all today. I wanted to thank all of my teachers for the support and time they put into my education. It feels so good to have worked so hard and to see a very solid example of that work paying off for me.

I would be honored if you would all take the time to have a look at the book. It is currently available on Amazon.com. It is also for sale at New York City Barnes and Noble stores. I also recently got word that it will be sold at Anthropologie stores nation wide.

It was mentioned in the New York Times, and it was written about on Manhattan User’s Guide where they went as far as saying

“The book has a snappy design and takes an appealingly comprehensive approach…”

I am just pleased and punch that somebody other than a teacher, friend or family member would recognize my design.

I really can never repay any of you, but I wanted to at least thank you.

And better yet, Angela has asked me to design the upcoming Markets of New England.

Thank you a million times!

Lauren Ruggeri

P.S. While working on the post I came across another quote (by Karen Seiger) about Lauren’s work on the Markets of New York City website, and I just had to include it:

The guidebook uses little icons as a key to tell the reader what kind of market each one is – artisan, farmer, food, or flea. The icons were originally designed by Lauren Ruggeri, the brilliant graphic designer who created the entire book, including the cover that makes me so happy.

Dennis Masback’s painting reveals a record of his working process that is both random and meticulous. Each piece begins with the casual placement of forms and develops as these forms are precisely painted. Working from back to front, layers of translucent acrylic paint reveal the underlying structure of the work. The work itself is inspired by the syncopated sounds of jazz. Shapes and lines form rhythmic compositions that mimic the improvisations of bebop, scat and the blues. These works, like jazz, are complex, evoking more than their elegant surfaces suggest. The work suggests an architectural landscape, a city grid. Hard lines and edges delineate spaces and forms – squares and rectangles become windows, bricks and blocks. The interlocking lines can also suggest a handmade or loomed cloth, as each work is “woven” from hundreds of lines and forms that are individually painted in luminous colors.

Dennis Masback received B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees from Washington University School of Art in St. Louis and was awarded a Visual Arts Fellowship in painting from The National Endowment for the Arts. He teaches at Pratt Institute and Parsons The New School for Design.

The works are on view:
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc.
11 East 70th Street
New York, NY 10021
May 2010
Hours: Monday though Friday from 10:00am to 5:30pm

March, 25x30, Acrylic On Wood, 2003

April, 30x36, Acrylic On Wood, 2003

November, 30x36, Acrylic On Wood, 2003

In 2005, the AIGA Task Force on Professional Diversity developed a list of recommendations for increasing diversity within the profession. Among the stated goals were to create awareness of outstanding designers from culturally and racially diverse backgrounds and create traveling shows of the work of diverse designers.

The “Design Journeys” project seeks to achieve both—by not only celebrating the lives and achievements of 25 selected practitioners, but also encouraging aspiring designers from all backgrounds to consider design as a viable and rewarding career. The resulting show, an interactive exhibition open to the public, will be on display at the AIGA National Design Center May 20 through July 23.

There is a cool article about Pablo Medina published on AIGA website. Below are some images of Pablo’s work included in the exhibition.

Design Directions Spring of 2004 poster

Mailer poster for PM's typeface (with William Morrisey)

Zoo York commissioned skateboard