This was part of my final editorial layout which was focused on short documentary film director, Hillman Curtis. I am really proud of this layout . I was inspired by film reels, hence the black borders. My second inspiration was the letter H for his name. Can you spot the H layout?
Take some time to look up Hillman Curtis and perhaps you will be as inspired as I was. Musician, Graphic Designer and now film maker.
You can check out all his short films at: www.hillmancurtis.com
"Design is easy. All you do is stare at the screen until drops of blood form on your forehead." - Marty Neumeir *Wipes blood from forehead, and falls asleep for 48 hours.*
This is what I really wanted to do today, but I woke up at my normal time and ate breakfast, then I sat around and thought, "Well, this is weird."
It was weird because I am officially done with my first semester as a design student! HORRAY!! After 5 months and 5 design classes and so many all-nighters that I lost count of, I had crossed the finish line and submitted my final project Monday morning at 12AM.
What a semester, what a year.
This semester my classes were:
Drawing 1
Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
InDesign/Typography Layout
Webpage Design/DreamWeaver
Many people thought I was crazy for diving in with 5 classes, let along design classes that demand so much time to work on projects and homework. I thought I was crazy, but I really wanted to fully immerse myself and I'm so glad I did.
I will post some of my final projects soon. :)
At the beginning of the semester, our first assignment for typography/InDesign class was to research Paula Scher and do an article layout about her. I was so inspired by what I had researched and she is someone I know I will be continuously studying. What makes Paula Scher unique was she took used typography as her art. Instead of words being second to image in design, they became the focus.
Her use of typography throughout the years has changed the world of design and how we use it in our designs.
Below is my layout and I have attached a video from a talk she had done. I hope you find her as inspirational as I had.
It's been a while since I've posted and that's because I've been swamped with a fun load of projects to tackle in preparation for the end of the semester. I have about two to three big projects to tackle per class for the final, on top of the ongoing assignments. It's been a challenge, but great exercise on multitasking and stretching my brain creatively. My days have consisted of waking up extremely early to go to work around 5AM or 6AM and then class and homework afterwards. Some days, my days end around 11PM after spending more than 12 hours on the computer or drawing.
However, as I'm doing all this I am SO happy. I am grateful that I get to go to school to do all this. I can't believe it at times.
There are days where I do feel like I am in a rut creatively, but I take a step back and allow myself to just relax. I do find myself feeling a bit guilty if I feel as though I am sitting idly by, but I remind myself that rest is just as important as working.
I haven't posted any work for a while, but here is a layout I had done a few weeks ago on Paul Rand. I chose not to use any of his photos in the layout because so many people had done that in previous classes. Not only was he iconic for his work, but his black glasses, which I thought were synonymous to who he was.
This is my final layout after working with my professor to go over some changes such as the leading, font size, alignment and placement. This professor has engraved GUIDES into my head, and I am actively trying to always use them. Guides are not there to be restrictive, rather it gives order to layout, even ones that look random.
After the tweaks, I was very happy with the layout. I chose to enlarge the glasses even more to have them fall off the page, which made it feel less constrained.
I enjoyed doing my research on Paul Rand. He was a brilliant man who made a huge impact on the design world with all his work. Another fun fact I stumbled upon was that he had worked with Steve Jobs. Very cool. Anyhow, take a read at the article I had put together and maybe you'll discover something new.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5QgT3vgIOA] This speech always moves me. I was starting to feel the pressures of all the final projects piling up, but I took a breath and watched this video. Not only does it always motivate and inspire me, coupled with the typography and layout I'm even more determined to push through and excel.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen."
When I first started designing, I would go right to designing, then play with layout and color and font as I go along. However, I noticed this always seem to take me way too long. Along the way, I've been starting a sketch on paper then choosing three colors, my font then I do a grid and begin a layout. Through my online class, I was informed of a great site to get inspired for your color themes:
http://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/rating?time=30
This is a great alternative for all those color books. I have quite a few!
Let me know how it works for you. I'm excited to integrate this into my design process.
Here it is! Over 40 hours of drawing time later, this is my 20"x30" drawing. It started as this and here it is now!
This was a long, but meditative process. I spent class time and alone time on it and it was wonderful. I seriously doubted myself a few times, but I pushed forward and kept drawing what I saw. I measured, remeasured, drew, erased, drew and erased, then drew and kept.
I am very proud of this piece of art because I don't think I ever spent this much time on a drawing. It was this assignment that has made me look forward to Drawing 2, and it was this assignment did I start to really think about the process of drawing and creating. It has always come natural to me, but now, I respect the process so much more. I respect the time and effort that goes into something, and I respect that quality things do take time.
I can see myself doing a couple more pieces like this and really sharpening my drawing skills. I've borrowed some books from the library and want to get better at it. The process of a dimensional figure come off a piece of paper always intimidated me, but now, I know I can do it and I'm hooked!
Technical Stuff:
For the drawing I used graphite pencils ranging from B to 9B. I did not use stumps for the faces (I don't like how stumps tend to soften a drawing, kind of like adding a soft filter to photos). I did use it for the cloud portion to differentiate it from the faces.
After I turned it in and stepped away from it for a few days, I still want to go back and refine it some more! It's always really hard for me to say this piece of art is done, so I'm going to say it's an almost finished piece of work in progress.
Also, I listened to a LOT of hip-hop on my Jay-Z Pandora list in the process to keep me going during those late nights and even an all-nighter. So this one is for you, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Tupac and The Fugees.
In this typography exercise (using InDesign), we used modern art pieces as grid for our text layout. The space between letters and sentences can create shades of black and grey, depending on how tight or far apart they are.I enjoyed this exercise because it allowed me to step away from the familiarity of letters and see them as unique shapes and forms.
Furthermore, grids are a CRUCIAL part to the design process. Before laying down any images or type, the designer should create a grid with consistent spacing. With the grid as the guideline it allow the designer to visualize the finish piece and be able to manipulate images and copy to fit into it. This cuts out time wasted in conceptualizing as they are laying out.
I know I used to free hand a lot of designs, but once I started using grids in all the design programs, it made it a lot easier to align all my text and images. I could see a major difference in my design work.
In the majority of design work you see out there, a grid was used. Everything aligns with one another and that is what makes it so appealing to the eye.
Tell me, do you use grids with your design work, or do you free hand as you go along?
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death. - Leonardo daVinci
For more photos, check out www.lannysphotos.blogspot.com
In our typography class we had to illustrate expressive words with the layout of letters. This was a really fun assignment, and I'm posting some I've done. I still have a few more words in mind and can't wait to get started on those. I recommend designers doing this exercise if they're ever in a design rut. It gets the wheels turning.
[gallery]
It's been a few days and I wanted to share my progress so far with the grid drawing. Before diving right into adding value, I spent a few hours meticulously drawing outlines of all my images. This required me to measure where lines began and ended on the small grid and then convert it to the size on the larger grid. Instead of measuring twice and drawing once, I probably measured about 4 times just to ensure it was the right distance away from each grid mark. Square by square, I worked my way around the image, until finally I was ready for adding value.
I was nervous about starting the value because it seemed so daunting, but I told myself to do it one square at a time, and focus on that instead of worrying too much about the other 29 squares. So one, by one, I worked. And despite measuring 4 times, I was still slightly off in some areas!
What has really helped me progress with this project is, I've been drawing the whole thing upside down. My high school teacher used to have us do this exercise all the time. I looked up the reason and this site explained the reasoning behind this very well:
"It is because the left side of our brain is very good at what it does and is in charge most of the time. One of the things the left side is good at is assigning symbols to common objects which makes them quick and easy to reference. For example, a wheel is always round, an eye is almond shaped, etc. The left side is also very good at being abstract--taking a small bit of information and using it to represent the whole. Both are very powerful and useful skills for quickly dealing with most obstacles we face. Here is an example. The following letters in the following paragraph are all mixed up but I doubt you have any problem understanding it:
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and youcan sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed erveylteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
Let's hear it for the left side of the brain! It quickly solves thousands of puzzles a day without us even thinking about it. So why do we need the right side?
The very things that make the left side of the brain such a powerful problem solver, limit our ability to see creative solutions. Because it is quick to make assumptions and jump to conclusions, we are not even aware of the assumptions that are limiting us. In addition, symbols and names that it assigns have meanings attached that we don’t question.
Back to the upside down drawing exercise. When most of us draw, the left side of our brain uses its common symbols to help speed the process. If we're drawing an eye, it is almond shaped with a little circle in the middle. If we're drawing a wheel it is always round. Two arms are always the same length etc. Trouble is, once perspective gets involved (which it always does), rarely is a wheel in a picture round nor are eyes almond shaped. I know, I know--your left brain is telling you that is a lie. But it's not. Look at these pictures."
Pretty interesting stuff!
So far, the most challenging parts of the drawing were the eyes and the hands as they were in the photo. I kept wanting them to look perfect by drawing what my brain thought they should look like, rather than what they actually DO look like. Once I broke it all down and saw everything as it's own shapes and value, it all started to come together. Also, I was seriously doubting the nose for a while, but I kept at it with looking at every value change and after about an hour, a nose was finally developed.
I plan on dedicating about 20 hours to this drawing this week and next. Hopefully I'll be able to be finished with it by next Thursday.
In addition to this, I am doing a portfolio review for my this drawing class and midterms are next week. That means a load of assignments from all of my classes. Wish me luck!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc] On Wednesday, around 4:30PM, I was in my Adobe Illustrator class and checked my Twitter. And it was through there that I found out Steve Jobs had passed away.
In that moment I could feel the tears welling up and I was blinking them back. I started mourning for a man I never met. I've been thinking about why I felt so overwhelmed by a loss of someone I've never been met. I then realized it was because his vision and creations have been so heavily integrated in my life. From the green screen Apple computers in which I played Number Munchers and Oregon Trail, to my iPod, iPhone, Nano, Powerbook and iMac, his products have been there.
The first time I used Photoshop was in 1997, and I learned it on an iMac. From that class in high school, idea that I could do art and design one day was forever implanted in my mind.
And later, when I was in college, it was on my PowerBook that I've done countless designs for invitations and logos, typed up papers and reports, researched and kept in touch with friends. I still have my Powerbook today, 7 years later and it still running as strong as it could.
I've created playlists for running, driving, thinking, sleeping and so on with iTunes and uploaded it to my iPod, Nano and now my iPhone. My iPhone has been there for me to bid on my beloved Hasselblad, text with friends, email family and friends, share photos and videos with people far away. It has kept track of all my text messages, from my heartaches to happy news, it has documented it all for me. I've tweeted, blogged, emailed, called, photograph, journaled in my iPhone. And now, with my iMac, I'm able to do all my design projects. I have been able to do so much more with all the products this amazing man had envisioned and designed.
My respect for Steve Jobs goes beyond all his products, I admire him for his philosophy and work ethics. He was living proof of what it meant to live out your dreams. And what was even more inspiring was he had experienced failures and setbacks, but used he never gave up. He learned and grew from them. He threw all of himself into his work and demanded only perfection, a trait I greatly admire.
The man was not perfect. He had many faults, but he learned from them and this just shows we can do the same. We will all inevitably make terrible mistakes, but it's how we handle and move forward from them that will build our character. He was philosophical and understood that life was a gift. He understood that the time we have is extremely limited and we cannot waste it living a life we don't believe in. Watching the commencement video, you can see this. This video continues fuel me to keep going on my personal quest.
Although he has passed, his work and life will live on and continue to impact for generations to come. Thank you for all you have done for the world. I will continue to stay hungry, and foolish.
I leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the speech:
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
For my next drawing assignment, we were directed to find 3 black and white images in magazines which a good range of tone to lay out. From there, we are using a grid of 5" x 6" to draw the complete layout on a 20" x 30" illustration board.
This is my final layout that I created. I chose the cloud image because I really liked how it looked as though it was coming out of his mouth, as though he were whispering something to the female model.
I've also been researching more of Chuck Close for inspiration and his method is so meticulous, it's amazing the works he's produced. Here's some information about him and you can see his work there as well : http://www.chuckclose.coe.uh.edu/life/index.html
It's already going to be challenging to transfer this to a 20" x 30", but for Chuck he produces works that are well over 6' tall. So very impressive.
I'm looking forward to using the grid system for this project and moving away from seeing the whole image and just concentrating on all the lines and shadows for each one inch square.
I will show you the progress as I work on this for the next three weeks.
Happy Drawing!
October is always bittersweet for me. It marks the true beginning of fall, but also marks the last three months of the year. This brings on excitement and sadness. Excitement that the holiday season is coming and that means hot chocolate or apple cider, warm dinners with family and friends and wearing layers upon layers (fall/winter clothes are so much cuter). However, this also means that the year is quickly ending and it just never feels like there was enough time to get everything done. Instead of looking at the last 9 months too critically and being too down on myself for all the things I didn't get to do, I'm going to look to October as an opportunity to tackle some challenges.
I've moved a few times in the past 3 years that I've been living here in Orange County and each time I've moved, the heaviest and most precious things to me have been my books and cameras. I have collected a variety of design books like it was my job (one day!) and although I pour over those pages diligently, I haven't pushed myself to try projects from these. So as I was taking my morning walk, I decided I needed to do those projects to push myself in designing and learn more.
The book I am choosing to work from is a packaging design book that my friend Erin had given me when I told her I was serious about doing graphic design and focusing on packaging design. In it there are photos of the finish package and then a template to work from to design your own package. For this month, I will take a pattern and put my own design in to create a finished product. As soon as I can photograph the book, I will post it right away for you to see what book I am working from.
My second challenge to myself this month is to begin creating my 2012 calendar. Four years ago I bought clear CD cases with ambitions of creating calendars for all my family and friends. Sadly, they have sat on my bookshelf at home in San Jose collecting dust. So, this month, I will start working on concept and layout everyday and hopefully by the end of November I will have a calendar to print and give as gifts.
Posting these two challenges online will help me stay accountable. I'm looking forward to doing other work besides school projects which can help with my portfolio in the long run.
Here's to a great fall with brown riding boots, hot chocolate, dark orange and early mornings at the computer and drafting table.
Happy Fall!
Nothing like a new blog to start filling. It's almost as satisfying as opening a brand new Moleskine. The idea for this blog has been building over time and last night, while working on some drawings, I decided I was done thinking about it and wanted to just make it happen.
MY BACKGROUND:
I am at the beginning of a career change. My background is in Marketing/Advertising and after working for 5 years, I decided to follow my passion, Graphic Design.
So, this year, I made the decision not to wait any longer. I quit my job as a Marketing Communications manager and became a full time student at a local community college to study design and build my portfolio to apply for schools.
My goal is to obtain a BFA in Graphic Design. I have dreamt of this since my days in college studying Advertising, but my own fears and doubts held me back.
Although I loved the world of advertising, I ended up in marketing. It was all a great experience and I learned a ton! I enjoyed what I did, but I always felt like something was missing. I longed to be the one who conceptualized packaging and designing.
I came to a crossroads earlier this year. I wasn't satisfied with where I was at. I realized it didn't matter if I got a new job at another company because if I was going to be doing the same thing, it was only a matter of time before I became unsatisfied again.
As I was weighing through the pros and cons, toying with the idea of going back to school, I found some old journals. In them I had wrote about how I was determined to go to school and go for the BFA in Graphic Design. I had been dreaming about this for a long time, but was always too scared.
After seeing those entries, dating back to almost 7 years, I knew I couldn't wait any longer. I could fret about what may or may not come in the future, worrying about how I was going to take a huge step back with my finances and how it could potentially affect me, OR I could focus on this here and now. I knew that if I didn't do it, I could look back in 7 years and regret it just like I had when I opened those journals. What's 3 odd years of school vs. a lifetime of regret.
So I did it, I quit my job and went back to school. I signed up for 5 classes, a full -full load. Photoshop, Typography (In-Design), Illustrator, Dream Weaver and Drawing. I love every minute of it.
And all this brings me to why this blog is started...
MY INTENTION:
To document this journey that I am taking towards a BFA in Graphic Design. This has become my life now, and I need a place to share ideas, archive my projects and get feedback for my work. I am learning so much everyday, about the industry, the art world and about myself.
There's so much to learn out there and I want to share it with others.
So here is where I will display projects I've worked on, research I'm doing, interesting sites I've found that are educational and my thoughts as I design. (Spending a lot of time by yourself designing and drawing results in a lot of thoughts getting sorted.)
I'm really excited about where I'm going. There are going to be a ton of challenges, but I'm ready to take them on for what I want.
So, welcome. :)
