RockBlog

I was talking in class about the "LED Throwies" and I looked into the topic and found a group called the Graffiti Research Lab. They did another awesome electronic graffiti project where they assembled a mobile unit that can project messages (”graffiti”) onto the sides of any large structure using a computer, laser projector, and a bicycle-powered generator.

Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU6mVgDAod4

Something I’ve noticed in visual culture lately is on T-shirts. They are stylized with a seasoned worn look. Also there is this motif of skulls and swashy botanicals emerging ever more prevalently in our mainstream departments. This aesthetic has existed for a year or two, but never quite like now. This could be because its on it’s way out. Or it could be that it’s just so popular that it succumbed to mass culture.

You can flip through a few pages of Pac Sun's site and see how they have just ate up this look.

Something I’ve noticed in visual cultural recently is that there’s more good design than previously. Like I said in class I usually notice bad or mediocre design before good design, but my taste has really changed lately and I’m starting to like things that are so ugly they’re cool, so that could be why. When I go into a bookstore I notice all these horribly designed book covers and posters. I really don’t think design is getting better, I think my taste has just changed. Most designers, to me, aren’t great. They’re ok, and maybe not even that. It could be because I have really high expectations but I think as graphic design majors we all should. These are links to some of what I think are horribly designed book covers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/Bibliophiliac/Gallery%20of%20bad%20cover%20art/girlsguide2.jpg
http://www.superpouvoir.com/Team/Marv/FCCv1b.jpg
http://www.freewebs.com/tcollins/badjudgment-cover.jpg

I’ve also noticed how ‘green’ design is getting so overused that it’s not making it’s mark anymore, people are getting tired of it. I think it’s definitely a great idea to be eco-friendly and I think every designer and company and person in general should strive to be more earth friendly but we definitely need to revamp.

http://www.metropolismag.com/webimages/146/Turning_Green01_t346.jpg
http://trendthink.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/13/greenwebsite.jpg
http://www.worth1000.com/entries/171000/171071HMol_w.jpg

One more thing. I think we’re getting too digital. I want to be able to read a magazine in 5 years and read a book outside and not have to have my computer with me at all times. It’s getting depressing. Everything is getting less and less personal with each passing year that it’s just ridiculous. I hope not everyone starts to rely on instant messaging and texting and internet to read the news, look at photos, communicate, etc. Maybe I’m just old fashioned.

I know someone else has mentioned something about politics and graphic design, but I have been noticing the art community as a whole moving to support candidates, more specifically Barack Obama , through their artwork.

Check out Manifest Hope:

http://pol.moveon.org/mh/gallery/

When I was talking in class i spoke about the way political signs, banners, and posters have been getting more and more visual and colorful as time passes. I have also noticed that the typography has also changed in the fact that the type you'll see on signs today is more personal and hits harder rather than the usual "vote for so and so." These big changes in design and type are definately something I've taken notice of.

Those laser graffiti things are crazy!! I want one.

So... I was able to go to Portland (Oregon) recently and while I was there I noticed a lot of impressive unconventional, or off-the-wall design. They automatically expect their viewers to think outside the box, which I like a lot. For example, the billboard you can't ignore when cruising into downtown of flying cupid-babies in the sky holding gigantic car keys. I think it's for a used car lot. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2314080300_431049f56b.jpg?v=1204779982

I also noticed that it's almost passe for designers not to practice or consider sustainable design there. Like this free weekly/monthly reader I picked up while I was there, called Bear Deluxe. Here's their myspace address: http://www.myspace.com/thebeardeluxemagazine Very cool, sustainable design.

Go Portland!

Something that I have noticed is the unique way of reaching out to graphic designers. One way is a t-shirt company named Threadless. What they do is have contest for t-shirt designs. The winner gets a percentage of the profit but also gets there designs out there on a t-shirt. They also will screen print your shirt I believe for a trial run to see how it will do. Check it out, submit some designs.

http://www.threadless.com/

I had talked about my experience working at Subway Sandwiches and explained that there came a day when I noticed subway's new attempts at marketing. The most specific personal evidence of this undertaking occurred when I noticed those crappy little cards on the front desk looked a little different. Turns out they finally redesigned the gift cards! Other marketing material vastly changed over the the years as well. Once they started their eat smarter program and then recently started adding healthier choices like apples, yogert, and raisins, the visual material that went along with it became more trendy. Ads on Television have been getting more 'hip' as well, with the whole 5 dollar footlong dealy. Here is a link of a picture I assembled with the old gift card and the new ones.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/vengefulgnome/Subwaycards.jpg?t=1220837041

I went to a movie at the Walker Art center in Minneapolis called Beautiful Losers. The movie was about 14 friends who were artists and designers and their path to success and the begining of a new movement. The film told the individual stories of the artists and how they got their start in a gallery that one member put together as a place to get hang ouit. This is a great movie for artists and designers to see for perseverance and inspiration in our field.

A goal for the semester is to take what I have learned in design and get better. Also to come out with some professional looking pieces.

When it comes to visual culture, sometimes you don't really realize that you are noticing a trend. I recently realized that all of the covers of my textbooks are very visually appealing. When I think back to high school, and even my first couple of years in college, I don't remember ever looking at my books and thinking the covers were neat.
I know that you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but my books for this semester had exceptionally nice images on the front!

I didn't have much luck finding good music while shopping for some vinyl, but some great design managed to catch my attention. I'm in love with helvetica, so naturally it jumped out at me when I came to this album. I couldn't believe this was a product of the late 60s, simply because I thought it would fit in so well with current design trends.

I concluded that it was either a very forward-thinking design for its time, or some design practices haven't changed much.

I have noticed a lot of design has been geared towards a sleek and simple feel. While abroad I noticed that many places were designed around steel/metal. There was also a large use of primary colors. Red was the main one. It's different to see them used in such a way.

There were a couple things that caught my attention over the summer. The first thing was at target. I was shopping for back to school things with the kids I nanny and noticed that the tattoo-like graphics, that have been around for a while, are now on kids school supplies. I thought this was interesting because I keep seeing these type of graphics but I didn't realize it was becoming so mainstream. I couldn't find a picture of what I'm talking about, but if you go to target you'll see what I mean.

The second thing that caught my eye was a bumper sticker against Obama. I thought it was an interesting design. It reads NOBAMA with the 'no' in red and the 'bama' in white with a black background.

Check it out

http://www.stickershoppe.com/sticker-shop/stickers-magnets/republican.html

I noticed simplified design has really become popular among designers. Three colors, and the "cut out" layered look is everywhere.

I also noticed something when I attended the American Pottery Festival at Northern Clay Center, in Minneapolis this weekend. Many of the featured artists brochures were very clean and had a lot of solid shades of gray and neutral colors. This idea makes the pieces really pop. I hope to use this idea when making the invitations for my senior show (which consists of all ceramic works) in the spring.

the Northern Clay Center website also uses this concept!
http://www.northernclaycenter.org/

I posted the last comment... oops :)

This past year handwriting fonts have become very popular and is a way to keep something a bit more personal. Recently I have started to notice something similar to this. In recent magazine ads there are hand drawn doodles on the corners and edges of the page. Just like the handwriting font this adds a personal feel to the ad. A magazine I have seen a lot of these ads in are Cosmopolitan for shoe adds. Sketchers is a brand that uses the doodle images in their ads.

I have noticed the increasing trend of reverting back to styles from the 80's. From blocky type to neon colors, I feel like just as with fashion, design tends to run in cycles and revert back to old trends. There are plenty of examples of this trend, including the London 2012 olympic logo which I've included, and the entire theme of the AIGA 2008 Conference in Chicago.

I noticed the recent trend in architectural styles and lighting. Everyone is focusing on green construction, re-usability and long term forecasting. what its doing is uniting materials suppliers and architects and engineers so that the whole process starts green, constructs green and still looks cool, and in some cases actually contributes to the energy grid. The strongest application for green technology is in energy consumption. a big part of that consumption is in lighting, which we are countering with advances in LED technologies which use far less power, are more flexible, last longer and now are capable of producing similar amounts of light.

I've noticed in the fashion world, the graphics and style of clothing are either becoming more organic/art neaveau or have a more of a psychedelic feel with bright colors and psychedelic lettering. I recently went to a Sheryl Crow concert and noticed the concert tee's weren't just the basic, photo and name on the front, tour dates on the back, but were either very simple with a lyric from a song or another with her face in a organic/psychedelic feel, filling up the entire front of the tee shirt.

If you want to check out what specific shirt I'm talking about, you can visit...

http://bandmerch.seenon.com/detail.php?p=60208&v=sherylcrow

:)

With the upcoming election I've noticed there are lots of 'dirty' tactics being used in political campaign advertisements. Subtle, almost subliminal techniques to convey an emotion in the viewer towards a particular person or idea. Whether it be print or television advertising from both "parties" use very keen persuasive tactics.. that... I would like to be able to utilize to create more subtle emotion in my work.

As I stated in class, I've noticed the tone of the political posters and how they reflect the sophistication of the candidates and the current advertising techniques. Obama's poster, with his personal logo, caught my eye. It has a presidential quality, very simple and professional. The fact that he uses the internet and he has created his personal logo is pretty new for a presidential candidate. The poster I saw was dark blue. I found a lighter color version which looks nearly as nice, but maybe not quite as presidential.

Like some others I've been watching design in the political realm. Candidates have become a brand of their own, with logos, catch phrases, and color palettes that set them apart from the opponent. On a national level politicians invest huge money in this stuff but on a more local level where budgets or tighter, its funny how a poorly designed sign or poster will make me question a candidate's integrity even though I know nothing about their plans or policies.

Well going along with what i said last semester, i'd like to continue with what I see with billboards. Last semester i mentioned that more and more advertising agencies are focusing on adding 3-Dimensional attention getters. More recently, i have noticed that they have now turned to the element of surprise and curiosity. For example, I was able to work on a billboard this summer with a company and instead of having something 3-D, the CCO mentioned that we should just put one word on the billboard and leave a provocative mid-rift of a woman on it for a couple weeks. Then after the time passes, add the logo and the place in which it applies. He is then banking on grabbing the viewers attention the first views throughtout the first weeks. Then when they finally get used to it and have a certain curiosity for it, we give them the finale. A new type of billboard that leaves the viewer hanging. Pretty cool.

In downtown Minneapolis over the summer I noticed an Army poster on a bus stop that read something like, "never say 'I wish I had'". It didn't strike me until later how a seemingly trivial phrase can make you think about how it applies to your own life.

I noticed that more and more magazine ads come in "series" with the first couple of pages with images and one liners that don't match the images or hint at what the ad is for. They lead you through the magazine and then the last ad page ties all the previous ones together. It's a good way to spark interest and see the product from a different point of view.

almost forgot..here's the link to the water meter ad i discussed in class
http://www.makepretend.net/

This is just a URL post to confirm my statement up top. Let me know if this 2nd URL down here doesn't work.

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:2N-mIfJOTQzAvM:http://www.veeps2008.com/images/blog-pics/slogan_mitt-romney_large.jpg

Recently I have noticed the changing ads at best buy. Instead of the focus this year on being back to school it was a campaign called "you, happier." It's more focused on customer service versus getting your school supplies and such. I thought the pastel color scheme that was used seemed to remind me a little bit more of easter rather than eye catching colors. The other thing I noticed more recently was the Reese's commercial stating stop global warming or all the Reese's will melt. Here's the link its a bit amusing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvA8N_NiuZ4

I worked pretty much all summer (at Pier 1) so something I noticed was in their catalog they send out their approach to the ads have gotten kind of sloppy. There's one page in particular that makes it look very garage sale-ish. I don't have the picture right now, but it's just a mish mosh of dining chairs, some at awkward angles in the looks like a carnival scene... I don't know what they were thinking but that wasn't at all appealing to me. And also, with the Pier 1 signage that we've gotten at the store, they've gone back to bright, bold colors with sort of '60's-'70's designs such as the paisley floral design.

I noticed more logos that are hand drawn and sketch-like. More specifically the Hurricane Katrina relief logo. It is a hand drawn logo of a red cross with the word relief hand written. The way it is drawn gives a feeling of immediacy. There is no time to put it into a computer and perfect it. They need help now and that message is conveyed through the style of the logo.