Oh! June

Whoever thought that branding myself would be so fun?

I've never "branded" myself as a graphic designer, but because this project had everything do with myself and my image, it caused me to focus that much more on visual communication. 

 

happy. bold. fresh.

These were the characteristics I wanted to convey those who saw my graphic design group.

As I was designing a business card, letterhead, and envelope, I had to constantly keep in mind these three adjectives in order to create my visual communication. 

Is it bold enough? 

Is it happy enough? 

Do I need to adjust the color or the typography to make it look fresh?

These are the questions I had to ask myself, whether unconsciously or not, during the whole design process. But once it felt right, I was able to apply it to letterheads, envelopes and all kinds of other tangible stuff - and it would still look like a family, a company.

I was very happy with the result and was glad that I had fun in the process.

(Maybe I should start a frozen yogurt or stationary company with this ^0^)

Tastes of LA

The concept for this series of posters was to show the communities of Los Angeles aimed towards the citizens of Los Angeles. The three communities I chose were Little Tokyo, Korea Town, and Thai Town. Then I thought, what better way to communicate community and culture than by food? The result was the poster series: The Tastes of LA.

The layout is broken down to a famous dish from each culture as the main image, the name of the community (i.e. "Little Tokyo"), the tagline ("The Tastes of LA"), a list of great restaurants there, and a travel stamp.

I chose to have the text running down since most Asian cultures have a top to bottom writing system. And the travel stamp was a nice touch, as if to illustrate your visit there.

All in all, I truly enjoyed this project and was happy to make people hungry everytime I showed it.

Poster Inspiration

When my brain starts lagging and I can't think of an idea for a project, I start looking for some inspiration. I collect images that catch my eye and save them in a folder. I realized that I can't just come up with a design out of the blue, but that I should mentally store up ideas and inspirations so that I can pull it out of the ol' noggin whenever I need it.

So enough of my ramblings and on to some inspiring posters:











Aren't they cool? I personally like the Coca-Cola poster :)

Cal State LA's Fall Student Fest

Anybody reading this actually had a vacation during the summer?
For myself, although I didn't have a "relaxing" summer vacation, I did do a lot of legwork in graphic design.

Last June, I was lucky enough to be hired as a graphic designer on campus at the University-Student Union Graffix department. Since then, I've been able to do hands-on graphic design work from research to computer to print, and immerse myself in a network of designers/students such as myself. Not only is it fun, but it's a great way to build up my portfolio.

One of the projects I took on was a campaign for the upcoming Fall Student Fest on campus. By campaign, it meant designing everything from posters and t-shirts, down to buttons and dog tags. I had to create a design that would tie in the theme "I love CSULA," which would be used throughout the whole design campaign. It was challenging, but that was where all the fun was.
For those of you who are CSULA students, I hope you will enjoy the Fall Student Fest this coming Tuesday on the Student Union Walkway (11am - 2pm). I know I will!

"Fall in Love with CSULA"
11x17 poster. Fall, 2008
Jennifer Oh

Logo creations

Creating a logo doesn't just require design know-how and creativity, but also discovery. When I was trying my hand out on my own logo, I realized how much trial-and-error it takes to create a working logo.

A logo must be easily recognizable but at the same time eye-catching. There really is a thin line between these two aspects; and if you get it just right, you got yourself a good logo.

Agustin Garza

Earlier this month I attended a lecture given by the President of AIGA (LA chapter), Agustin Garza. He and the lecture he gave was not only inspirational but admirable.

My first impression of Agustin Garza was a tall, lanky man with a rolling accent. He started off by talking about the power of communication. The first slides he showed, which didn't really have to do with graphic design, were Christian iconography. He was showing how these images communicated to the public, and how they also inspired him artistically.

Symbols like the wedding ring, are powerful ways of communicating. How could we apply this same effect into our design? This is what I thought as Garza took us along his adventure. He brought us his trek through the Sahara desert and showed photos of the beautiful and exotic people who live there. This is where he brang up the subject of PASSION.

He said something that perked my ear:
"Seek the things you love and DO something with it."

Doing something you love means you should explore, take risks, and go as far as possible with it. As a graphic designer, there were many times I didn't do the above. But after looking at Garza's life, it inspired me to apply those things to my artwork and design process.

COMMITMENT was also an important aspect to design. My commitment on design effects the craft and the integrity of all the work I produce. There are many times when I feel like giving up when I meet a challenge on a certain project. But looking at this, I saw how important it is to be committed to what I do.

Lastly, Garza gave us encourging words. We're all in school, so take advantage of it. Take advantage of everything we're learning in class.
"Go for it!" he said. "Incorporate what you love and your identity into your work."

Design Process

I just finished getting a critique on one of my works in class today.

For about 2 weeks, we designed an exhibition schedule poster for the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State LA. I launched into my project (not initial comps though. bad girl.) thinking that I would really explore type this time. I was determined to really get into my work and spend a lot of time.

Initially I wanted to do something that was a bit inspired by David Carson's work. I ended up picking something else. I noticed that I have a real tendency of not going outside of my limits and really exploring type. I don't know, but I must be constraining myself. It's strange because I have no problems when it comes to drawing or painting.

Now I wonder if I chose the right comp? Or was it the process I went through that was where I went wrong? Maybe you're wondering what the heck I'm saying.

After receiving the critique from class, I thought seriously over my design process.

I asked myself a couple questions:

1. Am I exploring all the aspects of design, visual communication, color, typography?

I think I still consider type as simply text and not an element of design. Ah-ha. So this is why I feel like I'm so constrained when I deal with type. I should be able to apply all the design and art elements I've learned until now to my work. The fact that it's turning out so rehashed and boring probably means I'm not doing that.

2. Do I even start my work with a purpose, an idea, a message to communicate?

I find myself relying on the guidance of my instructors, directors, etc to pick a direction or idea to start off my design work. This is generally good because as a designer, I should know what the client wants. But as an artist, a creator of art, it's pbhtttt... In other words, I really need to work on getting out into the world and gathering lots of ideas and building up my creativity.

After answering my own questions, I felt a new sense of determination as a designer. I hope everyone else in class felt that the critique was helpful. Even though it's hard to accept sometimes, I think it helps develop my design skills tremendously.

Prospective Typography project?

Can you tell the stripes are actually letters? Check out the rest of the Twenty-Six Types of Animals at http://www.jeremypettis.com/

Note: Click on image. Scroll right to see images

I was looking for inspiration on typography and I ran into a site called "Drawn!" which is a multi-author blog devoted to illustration, art, cartooning and drawing.

"Its purpose is to inspire creativity by sharing links and resources. Albert Einstein said, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources,” but what the hell did he know anyway?"

It's a really great source of professional designers, illustrators, and cartoonists. They have a large archive of typographic work. The image above was done by Jeremy Pettis and it's called Twenty-six Types of Animals. Maybe we should do something like this for our typography class (*ahem*jimmy).

Drawn! http://drawn.ca/category/typography/

Simple Organization

[A Type Primer: pgs. 116-149]

Golden Section and Fibonacci Sequence

Isn't it amazing that the Fibonacci sequence can be seen everywhere? After reading about its mathematical beauty (I sound like my old math teacher), I checked online for more information. Take the sunflower for example. There are two spirals, one going clockwise and the other going coutner clockwise. The number of spirals for one is 21 and the other is 34, which are the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence. It's not only the case for flowers, but pine cones, plants, and even bees and rabbits.

So how does this relate to graphic design? When a designer first considers the space that must be worked with, proportions, organization, and layout must be taken into account. Because the paper we work with has limitations, understanding the kinds of proportions like the "golden section" or the "Fibonnacci sequence" should be a basis for all designers (at least that's what I inferred from the book, A Type Primer).

The way text is placed on a spread is important for sustained reading. The golden section was the ideal layout especially used in the old days. Now we can use columns of 2 to even 8 with different variations. This helps in organizing a mass amount of text.

Paper

In the U.S., the standard paper size is 8.5 x 11 inches (letter). The rest of the world however use the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) system. Doesn't this remind you of the Metric System? And by the way, there are only 3 countries in the world not using the metric system (aka: International System of Units): the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar.

The beauty of the ISO system (below), is that this related ratio allows you to cut a paper in half to get the exact smaller ratio. For example cut an A0 in half and you get an A1, and so on. I think this is very logical and convenient, especially for printing facilities and designers.

Hierarchy

In the first project with Jimmy, I found myself having a bit of trouble organizing the information in to a good hierarchy. What is the most important information? What is the least? "A designer's first goal is to make the material comprehensible to the reader." This should be instinctive when we first approach a project, especially one with a lot of information.

No matter how much text or information there is, they can be divided into their own groups. By establishing a format, establishing a hierarchy, and using different styles of a typeface, the distinctions between different types of information are made clear.

43 seconds of Graphic Design

Ask yourself these questions before you watch this video:
1. Do or did I use the typeface Comic Sans excessively?
2. Who is Paul Rand?
3. Do I like John Stossel?



As for myself, I wondered if this really did air on 20/20.

Legibility & Texture

This is something I stumbled upon on the internet. It's a great example of text being used as texture and at the same time effectively communicating an idea: Just because something is "legible" doesn't mean it communicates an idea.

This poster was done by David Carson who is known for his experiments with typography and magazine designs.

Find out more at: http://www.toddroeth.com/class/grph_210/38/06-type-as-meaning-compositon#

The above site is maintained by Professor Todd Roeth, a graphic design assistant at Marietta College. It's interesting to see all the different works of typography and the various lessons you can learn from it.... And see how other colleges teach their typography class! (No offense to Jimmy ^^)

The above image is a copyright of David Carson and was borrowed from http://www.toddroeth.com/class/

Communicating Directions

How would I draw a viewer's attention and at the same time clearly communicate a lot of text? This was the challenge I had to face when creating a poster on how to get from my house to the computer lab at school.

Although I've done posters before, I've never had to work with so much text in one poster. But thinking back in the "old days" of typography when everything was done by hand, I can't help but appreciate how much easier it is to create something. On the other hand, while technology today has made the creating process of graphic design easier and faster, artists still face the same problems of communicating and creativity. In a way, many graphic designers today seem to be tied down to the computer programs, instead of using it to make what they envision. Many times I find myself adhering to the limits of the computer, instead of challenging myself to overcome those limits.

That's why I hope to gain as much as possible from my education and work to overcome these limits and become a true artist who can express creativity and communicate to the world.

Idea Compositions Art 413:

Flute Beatboxing

I'm sure almost everyone is familiar with people beatboxing with their mouths. Well here's something I found on Youtube that I thought was pretty amazing. The combination of two very different forms of music, classical and hip-hop, struck me as very interesting.
This was inspiring in a design aspect because contrasting themes in combination can actually be interesting and unique.

A Type Primer

Reading assignment pg. 76 - 113

As I read A Type Primer, unconsciously I was comparing it to the previous book Designing with Type. I liked that the previous book was like a stepping stone, a foundation for typography to A Type Primer's more detailed information.

Tracking
Although I learned about tracking, kerning, and letterspacing before, there were a few details that were covered in the reading that were useful to know. Examples of tracking were shown and the point was that the larger the point sizes, the more adjustments are needed to be made. The author says that normal tracking for small type feels too open as the type gets larger. So he suggested that adjusting letterspacing should begin at the small type and then enlarge the result. I thought that these sorts of suggestions scattered throughout the reading were very thoughtful.

Texture
I loved how the author described how text is like texture. A good typeographer has to understand how to convey the content with the feel of the type. Many examples to a type face were shown to illustrate this point.

A type specimen book
Throughout the reading and especially in this section, it mentions that although we have the computer and everything is just a click away, there is still nothing better than seeing the printed version on hand. It's really true because seeing something on the moniter and then seeing it printed is somehow different. Although technology has come a long way, it doesn't quite match the look and feel of ink on paper.

Quotation marks
In last week's class, Jimmy briefly explained the misusage of quotes and apostrophes for primes. "Dumb quotes" are when primes are used as quotes. I didn't know, but we commit this crime all the time without knowing it.

Headlines within text
This section not only illustrated how text can be subdivided with heads, but showed a hiearchy as well. I thought this subject was familiar when I remembered the first assignment of writing directions. This also had to have a hierarchy indicated by different type sizes or styles (small caps, bold, italics). Whatever the hierarchy was, it has to be consistent throughout. Otherwise, it would interrupt the flow of reading.

Let's see....

So this is where we post our readings for ART 413?