Sunday, March 22, 2009

Graphic Design Inspiration

Really amazing work.

Graphic ExchanGE

Final Project: DVD and Poster Design

DUE: Monday, 04.27.09

Create a poster and DVD box set for a documentary on a Non-Profit organization or campaign. The poster should raise awareness of the organization's goals, and encourage readers to join the campaign or donate to the cause. Use type and imagery to convey the organization's message and spread awareness about the work they do. This will be your final project!

>> 20% of final grade

Here are some ideas for your organization/campaign:
International Rescue Committee
Doctors Without Borders
VH1's Save the Music
Peace Corps
UNICEF

Of course, there are so many others to choose from, so find an organization that you feel does work close to your heart, and research them. Find a project to which they commit their time and resources, and think up a documentary about it. Come up with a name, and start thinking about your concept!

Your poster will focus more on the cause or issue highlighted in your invented documentary film, but it will also mention the DVD as well. The DVD should be packaged in a creative manner, as if it were a special edition DVD that could be purchased (or be given as a donation/membership gift).

This is a project where you need to explore typography in a beautiful, expressive way while having it clearly communicate the message that is intended. Take all of the lessons that you've learned so far this semester and apply them to this project, where you are finally using typography in a real-world application. Before you begin your designs, look at some annuals and online for good not-for-profit design and creative DVD/CD packaging. Be open and experimental; in your project, typography should be the main design component. Craftsmanship will also play a prominent role in your grade for this project, so think about ways for your packaging to be super clean and professional looking.

We will talk about this more tomorrow, after the critique. Also, remember tomorrow, after the critique and discussion of the next project, we will go down to Clarissa's reception to show her our support. Have a great evening!

(Below are some poster examples I found online during a short search...)














Sunday, March 8, 2009

Project 03: Typographic Self Protrait

DUE: 03/23/2009

Design type specimens through the use of type as an image.

Take your name and a short signature phrase and explore one typeface “family” to create a self portrait made only with type (no lines at all). Layouts need to demonstrate the range of a type family in a variety of sizes. Remember, a typeface family is a font (such as Adobe Garamond) that has a variety of weights (light, book, semibold, bold, etc.) and styles (italics, small caps, etc.). Several are listed in the TWT book.

Steps:
1. Pick what typeface family you are going to use for this project.
2. Decide upon your "signature phrase". It can be a quote that is meaningful to you or something that you say a lot. It should be relatively short (no long poems or song lyrics).
3. Find the picture of yourself that you will form the base of this typographic self-portrait.
4. Start "drawing" with type! Be sure to use a wide range of sizes, weights, and styles to make your self-portrait.

Here are some examples (not from GSU):







Friday, March 6, 2009

Monday, February 9, 2009

Interesting calendars

So these are just some calendars that I pulled off the web that showed a variety of structures, fonts, and concepts. Yours will just be for two weeks, but you can see how creative making a calendar can be! These are just a few that I found in a short period of time, but you can definitely find more where these came from. :)















Monday, February 2, 2009

Project 02: Typographic Calendar

You will design a desktop calendar. 8x8 inches is the trim size. Create a cover design and one double-page spread, highlighting a two week period. This spread will consist of (two) facing pages. Each page, the left page and the right page, must include the month, seven days, the days of the week, and space for a user to record notes. Create a typographic hierarchy and grid for the page that uses graphic elements and spatial divisions in a beautiful and functional way.

Limit your fonts to one single face. Limit your graphics to: solid areas of color; and/or simple, basic shapes as a design. NO photographic images.

Limit the number of colors to: 4. Use only Spot colors. You may use tints of the spot color.

The theme for the calendar will be structure and repetition. You can relate this concept of structure or the lack of structure to our daily lives, routines and schedules. Repetition creates structure for many people routines month to month and some people cannot manage their lives without simple routines that they do every single day. Think about this concept as you create your cover designs and inside pages.

Keep in mind the structure of a 3 x 3 grid system and how your design can be based off the very simple elements or repetition and structure.

You will mount the finished designs on 2 boards. Size of calendar will be 8” x 8” square. Spread layout 8” x 16”.

1) Calendar sketches: Be prepared to present rough sketches of layouts and IDEAS for your desk calendar. Make notations on your ideas relating to the theme of Structure and Repetition in our daily lives (or even the lack of structure). You can focus on the idea of busy schedules that never seem to get anything done, or you can think about the people who seem to manage every minute of every day. Do you have a routine that you stick to every day of your week? Is your day to day schedule always unpredictable? Think about how the minutes in the day go by so differently for each and every one of us. Begin conceptualizing about the cover design and how you will communicate the calendar’s overall message. After you develop a strong cover concept your can begin to think about how the spread will represent your message. Use a 3 x 3 (9 grid layout) format to create your inside spread layouts. Think of the grid as a back bone to your design and use it to enhance the overall design composition. Don’t let a grid constrain your design. Even layouts that might look random often have a grid structure supporting the overall composition. Think of type as pictures. Create a mood with type.

Examples of possible themes are below. You may use one of these, or choose your own:

Calendar for the Chronically Late
Calendar for the Sun and the Moon
Calendar for the Extremely Overbooked Adrenalin Junkie
Calendar for the Absent Minded
Calendar for the Control Freak
Calendar for the Music Lover (rhythm?)

Some examples: