MariaH

Enger Tower Completion

2006-05-11T02:31:35Z

We decided to stay with our original idea of a 12 foot tall charcoal drawing of Enger Tower. We have each window filled with a picture of what you would actually see if you looked out a window at that height. To document spring we printed out pictures of flowers and new buds on the same paper the tower is drawn on.
Maria, Kabao and I worked very well as a team together. I did the typography and printing of the flowers while Maria did the photographs of the windows. Kabao did the initial charcoal drawing of the tower and took the pictures of the flowers. In the end we all helped each other finish the project and worked on each area to speed up the process.
The main problem we had to overcome was finding a glue that worked with the paper we used. We finally ended up using crazy glue but if we had to do it over again we may have glued everything on before using any charcoal.
To create unity we carried the charcoal throughout the piece by circling the flowers and the pictures as well as using it for the text. We carried the color of the sky in the photographs through to the color of the charcoal sky. We aslo printed the flowers on the same paper as the background paper for the tower.
Our main element of surprise was the visual interest we created by the perspective of the tower from the outside and the views you see from the inside. The texture we created on the tower also gave a strong 3-D feel and added a lot of texture to the piece.
The incorporation of type, photography and illustration using the unifying elements of the charcoal outlines shows attention to detail. The charcoal has also been sprayed several times to prevent any smudging and the pictures have been fastened securely to the piece. Overall the piece is coherent and well crafted.

Enger Tower

2006-04-27T22:49:38Z

Maria, Kabao and I are documenting Enger Tower. We have decided to design a 12 foot tall piece of paper that we may roll into a scroll. It will have a charcoal drawing of the tower with photographs in each window of the views. We are also going to incorporate large cut outs of pictures we took of the spring buds and flowers. For text we are going to each write some descriptive words of how visiting the tower makes us feel. We will each hand write the words we came up with in charcoal pencil. Hopefully it will turn out as cool as it is in our heads right now!

Gaming Symposium

2006-04-27T22:36:06Z

I attended the gaming symposium last friday for a walk around and one speaker. I got a chance to see the set up (I liked the games on wach table) and the interactive stations by companies like Best Buy. I also stayed for Sandra Voelker's lecture. It was interesting to hear about how many people are involved in each game and how much detail goes into it. I thought it was neat that she went out and lived in San Francisco for two years to get to know the team and then was able to work from her home here in Minnesota. It gave me the idea to do that with a design firm so you know the people you are contacting each day yet you are able to work remotely. Overall a great show!

Green Man Client Project

2006-04-18T22:16:50Z

Although this project began as an assignment to deal with a client, it became in the end a chance to design a logo ourselves for the Green Man festival that will be taking place this summer in Duluth. When I began to design a logo on my own I kept in mind some words that Shannon had said about the green man going urban this year. This provoked me to stray away from the familiar leafy images of the green man in the past and focus on a more organic and abstract design. I of course decided to keep the green color to set the mood, but instead of leaves for hair I incorporated large swirls that i thought could refrence the wind, dreadlocks, or sound waves of music. I wanted to keep the facial features simple so they could be used at any size and recognizable from a distance. I got the idea for the large knobby nose and chin from some "green men" I took pictures of while I was on vacation in Idaho this spring break. Overall I am very pleased with how my logo turned out and how easy it was to work with when I put it in posters, t-shirts and buttons.

Green Man Festival Website

Green Man Images

2006-04-18T22:15:01Z

Healing With Design

2006-04-18T21:25:54Z

I chose to read a second article abour healing with design because it is an area I am really interested about. This article by Chase Rogers gives a summary about the healing effects light, electromagnetism and color have on the body. He feels that if a designer can successfully harness these areas in their design it could be the most responsible things a designer can do. He introduces energy as the link between mind, body and soul and says this relationship between our body and it's environment can have dramatic effects on our overall health. Bioentrainment is a term that is given to designers who can effect these vibrations to help the body coexist and thrive in it's environment. This concept is used in music as well. Music entrainment has been shown to improve the listener's mood by promoting livliness or serenity. Light is also a huge factor in mood. Rogers brought up a study that proved changing the light in classrooms from flourescent to broad spectrum decreased ADD, and increased learning, memory retention, and optimism. Color, of course, is another factor in mood and health. Many studies have shown how mood can alter mental health and reasoning so it is important as a designer to be able to harness this knowledge to improve the health of those we design for. One interesting statistic Rogers gave was that when England changed the color of thier bridges from black to blue, suicide attempts decreased by 50 percent! Rogers concluded the article by reminding us that illness is not only caused by bacteria and germs but also by unhealthy ways of relating ourselves to the environment.
Personally I do agree with a lot of what Rogers is saying here but some does seem a bit far out. I think his facts about changing the light in the classroom and such were helpful ways to relate this area to the reader but he could have used a bit more. What I think has been concretely proven is that color can have a great efffect on the consumer and therefore it is important as a designer to be able to address those effects in our design.

ByDesign, Mankato

2006-04-18T21:01:46Z

I attended the first day of ByDesign in Mankato, but unfortunately I got sick that evening and had to go home. The first lecture, however, was interesting. I can no longer remember the name of the speaker but he gave a very informative and interactive speech. He put up a grid on the screen with several pictures and let the audience chose which picture we wanted him to talk about. Each picture represented a story of something he had learned as a designer. These stories of advice ranged from allowing yourself plenty of time to get to a meeting to watching your use of words around clients.
I enjoyed the lecture very much and I wish I could have made it to more, I heard it was very helpful.

The Designer as Producer

2006-04-18T20:46:17Z

The article I read by Victor Margolin touched on the ways the world of production is shifting towards entrepreneurs. He says this is shown by the rising ease of development of products with use of the internet and lower cost machinery. One main example of this he gives is the possibilities new typographers have to make their own fonts and sell them worldwide on the internet. He feels if more designers get involved in the production end of things, we could change the global market just as typographers have in their field. Through this, he feels we can focus more on social responsibility since it is easier for a small business to make these decisions rather than a large company where there are so many other variables such as shareholders and large competitors. Another point he makes is that we as designers can do more than challenge the system - we can create our own niches in the market. This allows product that otherwise may never have been produced and may fill a need in many lives. He ends by saying that design schools should take the initiative to have degrees in design entrepreneurship. This would enclude design classes as well as business classes to teach business plans, emerging niches in the market and monetary concerns.
Personally I felt this article was encouraging for someone like myself who hopes to be self-employed in the near future. It did, however, state many things I felt we quite obvious such as how the internet has helped support everyday people in starting their own businesses. His recommendation at the end for design schools to help students gain business knowledge is huge and I feel it would be a great success at any college.

Green Box Photo

2006-03-06T21:44:01Z

Paper Source

2006-02-27T21:16:06Z

Paper Source in Minneapolis was a great source for eco-friendly paper. Lots to choose from with helpful and creative staff. They're located at 3048 Hennepin Avenue S, 612-377-0700.

Paper Source Website

Question Game Design Brief

2006-02-27T21:04:17Z

The challenge of this project was to take a wooden box and design the contents using eco-friendly materials. The contents did not have to promote green design themselves but had to be made using eco-friendly design and materials.
My creative process for this piece began with the brainstorming of several ideas for the contents of the box. After I decided to make the box into a question game for couples, I began sketching out ideas for how the game would play out and the design of the cards. I also took the time here to research the eco-friendly paper and paint I would be using for the final project. One main challenge for me was deciding how to use the least amount of printer ink as possible, since it was not eco-friendly.
My solution to this assignment was to use multiple colors of eco-friendly paper and labels to create visual interest rather than full color bleeds using harmful inks. I placed these labels with the questions on chocolate colored cards and used chalkboard paint on the inside of the cover for score keeping. I wanted to use the chalkboard instead of including a notepad for score keeping to limit the amount of waste the game would create during play.
The box includes three decks of question cards arranged by point value. Each deck is wrapped with paper that lists the point value and keeps the cards together. For score keeping there are two pieces of chalk to be used with the painted chalkboard on the inside of the cover. The outside of the box is painted using a salmon color that relates to the color of the highest scoring question cards. This is also repeated in the label on the outside of the box that includes the title of the game on the top and the directions on the bottom.
The green design features include the paper, labels, chalkboard and paint. The paper and labels are 30% pre-consumer waste and eliminate the need for colored ink and full colored bleeds. The chalkboard is used to prevent the use of paper for score keeping and the paint is eco-friendly milk paint in Salmon. The outside of the box is painted one solid color with the name of the game and directions on a removable sleeve. This is to allow the consumer to re-use the box for a wide range of items if they should ever want to use it for something other than the game.

Box – Wooden Pencil Box LG, UMD bookstore $7.51
Paper – Chocolate coverstock, Paper Source $3.50 / 10 sheets
Labels – White, Salmon, Butter, 2.5�? round, Paper Source $5.20 / 60 labels
Paint – Milk Paint, Salmon, Green Merchantile $8.95 / 6oz

Poster by MariaH

2006-01-30T20:45:03Z

First Things First

2006-01-30T20:26:19Z

I think the manifesto addressed a lot of the issues I have worried about as I go into graphic design. I have struggled with how to explain to people what graphic design is without bringing up advertising or fashion magazines. I guess how I have gotten away from this is to focus more on identity packages for businesses, stationary, business cards, etc. To me this seems a bit more meaningful than advertising or package design. I guess what gets confusing though is that those things are fun to design too but I just don't get greater meaning from them. Is that necessary though?
I created my poster in three sections to break up the text into readable sections. I wanted the trees to bring out the idea of getting back to nature and environmental causes. I chose very bold, bright colors to add punch and grab the attention of viewers as well as to show the manifesto has strong feelings behind it.