CRITIQUE #2

This week I designed the Screen department page. The story was about late night comedians having to forge ahead w/out writers. The biggest trouble I had was probably finding images that were large enough. Other than that, I really enjoyed the challenge of designing a department page. I know it might seem like a department page would be way easier than coming up with a whole spread, but trying to make the text fit in a creative and aesthetically pleasing way while still working within a given framework wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. (But of course it was still fun!) That said, the final design ended up being a bit different than what I turned in b/c I wasn't there to help make changes, BUT, I really LOVED what was done. I really hope my in-class commentary reflected that. I didn't want to make it seem as though I was upset w/ the changes, because in reality it is much better than what I had. (Thanks Meredith!) It was much more elegant in its simplicity. Basically, I had a lot of extra crap on the page that didn't need to be there. Also, the way the titles of the TV shows are done now is something that I just wouldn't have thought of. Mine were kind of clunky and boring, one little line of white text in a colorful little box - woohoo. I loved seeing the changes, and I think it taught me a lot to see what I did compared to what could have been. I guess I'm still feeling my way through the whole elegant-white space-simplicity thing I admire so much, and this was a great eye-opener to see it carried through on one of my designs. It was like I got see exactly how it could be pared down into something better, something less obvious and obtrusive. Last semester I took the Art Context and Culture class and we read the article "Ornament and Crime" by Adolf Loos, which is also referenced in the intro to our graphic design book. Basically it is a passionate manifesto denouncing those obsessed with superfluous decoration as criminals and degenerates. Haha, so I guess I've come to realize that, after a long stint as a criminal/degenerate, I'm working my way back into design society! (But since I'm not, nor ever have been, an expert, maybe I'm just a first-timer working my way toward getting a foot into the door of design society, period. But I'm glad to get the chance to do so.)
*side note: the black line at the top of the page is actually behind the comedians' heads now

We also had an assignment this week called Shutter Graffiti, which I loved. I feel like everything we've done in class so far has just been incredibly eye-opening, and this assignment did not disappoint. Anyway, the purpose of this assignment was to open our eyes to the prevalence of design in our daily environments. We had to create or compose a word using our own photographs of letters. The word I chose was Columbia. My concept was to use typography from storefronts that are a huge part of Columbia's identity. To me, Columbia's personality is ecclectic, quirky and fun, which is most evident in the downtown area, or "The District," which I feel is the heart of the city. Some of the included hot spots are: Slackers, The Alpine Shop, The Field House, The Blue Note, Sparky's, The Penguin(!), etc. Honestly, I feel as though they could probably be a lot more cohesive design-wise, but I like that they are a bit ecclectic for what they are supposed to represent. I wanted there to be a little bit of a sense of motion, a bounce or playfulness, to the word, too. Also, I tried to pay attention to using all san-serif letters except for the i, which is from Wren's Birkenstocks. I just felt like the quirkiness of it would fit more with the feel of the word than something too staid.