Goodbye

Well, all good things must come to an end. It has been a fun semester and I have learned a lot. I hope that everyone enjoys the holidays and I hope to see everyone next semester.

Cheesy ad

Here's another one of those "Above the Influence" ads. This on is just extra cheesy though, besides the fact that it's about burrito testing. The ad reminds me of some of those old-styled ads in the back of magazines. The ad is very busy but I think that was their intent. It helps you to focus your eyes on the non-busy parts of the page; the one-liner and the website.

More Type

Earlier this week, I came across one of the coolest sites I've ever been to. Well it's more so the actual pieces than the site. Anyway, it's called typographicposters.com. I've always loved how the actual typography conveys a message to the audience.

It's not that hard

I had to find an unnecessary process. Well I was surfing around on ehow.com and someone had post the steps for choosing the right difficulty level for sudoku. It seems pretty simple to me. All you have to do is play until the game gets to hard and thats where your difficult level is at. Here's the page:http://www.ehow.com/how_2041654_choose-right-difficulty-sudoku.html

Project 5 revision

Here is the final version of my project five. I changed the logo so that it stands out more on the packaging. On the back label, I increased the size of the type and and added more hierarchy to the type. Overall I think it's an improvement.

Process

For this week's show and tell, I had to bring in an example of a process. The sidebar in the spread above show the process of waxing a snowboard.

Project 5 so far...

Here's my leaflet. Not really feelin' it at all right now. I think I'm just going to start over. Plus I'm missing some things.

Cool Packaging

I thought these bottles of cologne were cool. Especially the one shaped like a fist. It's just fitting for Diesel.

Illustrations

While killing time on the internet, I came across some interesting illustrations from Evgeny Kiselev's portfolio. He has some really cool pieces. Take a look:http://www.ekiselev.com/

Show & Tell

I had to bring in a package that had a story to tell. I'm bring in a collectible jar of Mr. Peanut. "Who better to serve America's favorite peanuts than Mr' Peanut himself?"

Cooooool

Exploded: Bullfrog, Etch-A-Sketch, Phone, Gun

These images are by photographer Adam Voorhes. They were included in his Exploded Object Series. I just thought they were cool. Here's his photoblog:http://www.voorhes.com/wordpress/

More type

Here's a logo by Sam Soulek. He's a designer in Minneapolis, MN. He has some cool logos and logotypes. Check out his portfolio: http://www.behance.net/soulseven

Concept

Here's the cover of the latest issue of AFSCME Magazine. I thought it was a cool concept. It works.

Counters

This is an article I came across in Beyond Race Magazine. It's about the band Cubic Zirconia. I felt that just by filling in the counters of the typeface made the page more interesting.

Narrative

Im up to my usual Friday night routine; blogging before class in the morning. For this week's show and tell, we had to bring in something narrative. So I'm go to bring in a comic strip of Garfield. I'm not even too sure if this has anything to do with narrative.

More Typography

I was flicking through the AARP Magazine, since I'm preparing for retirement soon, and I came across some cool typography. I forgot what this particular type of typography is called but it is awesome.

Project three post card

For project three, I pretty much decided to start over. I wanted a more organic feel overall to the ad campaign. This is just the front of my postcard.

Interesting type

For this week's show and tell, I had to find some interesting typography.

Logo Design Competition

Classroom 34 - Logo Design Competition

Welcome to the Classroom 34 logo design competition!

Student designers are invited to take their best shot at crafting a new logo for our organization. We are looking for a simple and energetic design to prominently represent Classroom 34 to the community. The logo will potentially be used in all future organizational materials (brochures, website, t-shirts, etc.) This is a great opportunity for you to show off your creative talents!

Who is eligible to participate?

The contest is open to all University of Baltimore, Morgan State University, Johns Hopkins University, Towson University and Maryland Institute College of Art students. Entrants may choose to submit a logo individually or collaborate with peers to submit a team-inspired design. Only 1 submission per person or team.

Rules

1. The entry must be on 8 ½ x 11 paper. Please include your name(s), school & academic classification (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student), phone number, and email address.

2. Logos should include the phrase “Classroom 34”, and contain no more than 3 colors.

3. Contestants must understand that entries must be their original work and that if accepted, the logo may be published on Classroom 34 website and used on organizational promotional marketing pieces, including but not limited to, flyers, brochures, t-shirts, etc. The design must be 100% your own work; adapting an existing picture or artwork is not acceptable. Submissions cannot be returned.

4. All submissions must be received by November 15, 2009. Late entries will not be considered. Artwork may be emailed toinfo@classroom34.com Please include your name and contact information (phone and email) on all submissions.

5. The winning design will be unveiled on December 1, 2009.

6. All submissions will be screened and judged by a panel appointed by Classroom 34. Logos will be judged based on creativity, originality, aesthetics, use of space and color. All submissions become the property of Classroom 34 and will not be returned.

7. The decision of the judges is final.

Awards: One winner will be chosen to receive a $150 cash prize.

Disclaimer: Classroom 34 reserves the right to use or not to use the winning design as a school logo. We also reserve the right to make modifications to the artwork based on design needs.

We look forward to seeing your work!

Design type

Earlier this week in my hypermedia class, we began working with CSS. While looking for pointers on the net, I came across this list of ways to improve typography within design. Though the list was referring to CSS, the tips are useful for other mediums too. Take a look: http://www.aisleone.net/2009/design/8-ways-to-improve-your-typography/

Tees again

Well I wasn't able to make it out to the stores this week, but Surgical Savagery told me about this neat clothing line called Cardboard Robot. Here's the link to their page http://www.merchco-online.com/cardboardrobot/

More than likely, I will be ordering something in the near future.

Favorite Words

For this weeks show and tell, I had compile a list of some of my favorite word. Some of the words are ones I remember from SAT prep classes, others are ones I had trouble spelling or pronouncing when I was younger, and some are random. Here they go:

Aunt

Police

Antediluvian

Mezzanine

Nostalgia

Applicable

Grotesque

Damned

Farfetched

Encyclopedia

Mississippi

Bluetooth

Cranium

Kicks

Expeditious

Frank

Conciliatory

Molasses

Google

Collection

Here's another. Fame is a drug. Well that's what they say. I unno.

Huge Impact

Ok, here's a better example of call to action. I hope. This is an ad by the American Legacy Foundation. The ad is calling for people to not smoke while pregnant.

Got Swag?

Here's my show and tell for this week. This is an Old Spice Swagger ad from last year. This is call to action, right? Use Old Spice so you won't be that guy.

What I Collect...

I buy 'em, knowing I don't need anymore of 'em. I guess that's what makes me a collector. I have no idea how many t-shirts I have since I don't like counting past twenty. I like all kinds, especially ones with some creative typography. Here's one of my latest cops. It's called "The Drowner."

1st Revision

Well it just wouldn't be right if I didn't wait to the last minute to make a post. Here's my revision to project one. I really didn't change much. I mainly just messed around with the color of the folio. The dessert photo is no longer bleed to stay consistent with the other rounded rectangles and that's just about it.

Expressive Type

I guess people don't like turning the big four O. This is an illustration from the Redbook's act your age section.

Favorite Ads

Here's one of my favorite ads for New York. It's just a great illustration.

Show and Tell # 2

Here's my second show and tell item. It's a pretty simple piece, with a description from a first-person pov. I thought it was interesting.

Project One

In this spread, I was inspired by MensHealth grid structure. Not quite finished yet. Any thoughts?

Show and Tell # 1

A half hour later and I'm back. For the class' first Show and Tell, we were asked to find a good example of good food writing. I found an example in Metropolitan Home of a celery root. I was really expecting this writing to be boring. Like, how interesting could a celery root be? The design of the layout is pretty nice and clean with good use of white space.

Here I Go

I'm finally fulfilling my weekly obligation of blogging. As you can see, I've waited to the last minute to finally post something. I have some other work to do for this class tonight, so it's best that I keep this short and go get busy. Hopefully my next entry will be more interesting. That's about it until I have to do this again.