I Am Not an Artist

I just got my most recent issue of Eye Magazine and it happens that this is the Typography Special so I'll be posting some images from the magazine. This is actually an ad for Elisava which is (I think) a design school in Barcelona. If you go to imnotanartist.org you can see some funny little looping animations by designers. I like the dynamic, creative way they've used typography. 

Project 2 Research

For my project 2 brochure, I'm redesigning the brochures I use in my private practice. The two main forms are the Privacy Notice (which I'm required to provide by federal law) and the Psychological Services Agreement. The latter is not required by law but outlines information about my services so the client has clear, written information about what to expect (e.g., if they cancel an appointment, if they have a mental health emergency, etc.). 
     For my research, I edited the text down because it was pretty wordy and I tried to find examples of similar brochures. It's hard to make this stuff interesting so I'd like to at least try to make it easier to read!
     Most of them are in tri-fold format. Many have images that seem a little hokey to me (a stack of papers with a padlock on them, one person whispering to another, etc.). I don't want to use human images because it's too difficult to be inclusive. We have some posters in our office that have the Doors of ... (can't remember where the doors are from but I'm sure you've seen these). I thought it would be interesting to have images of locks or locked doors to represent security and privacy. 


Here are some relevant examples I found:

 

 

How About This One?

Here's another font I found here that's difficult to read -- even harder that the previous one I posted! Can you tell what it says? Don't get me wrong...I love it when people push the envelope. I like working to figure out a visual concept. 

Can You Read This?

Found this poster here and found it really hard to read. Can you tell what it says? It seems like there's a very fine line between being interesting and new and going over the top. I think this one crosses the line because it takes too much work to figure out.The site where it's located is called behance.net and it's a place for "creative portfolios, projects and collaborations." Fun to look through. 

Android Fonts

I recently got an Android phone -- Motorolla/Verizon's answer to the I-Phone. Given that I haven't been able to get an internet connection to my computer through the phone yet, I've been having to do lots of internet interactions through this little bitty screen. I've noticed more than ever that special considerations in typography have to be taken into account with hand held devices. Apparently, Ascender Corporation provides "advanced font products" (not sure what that means, exactly) and developed a type specifically for Android phones. Here are samples:

 

I was disappointed because I really like the numbers that appear on the front of the phone. It doesn't look like they match any of these fonts...I'm going to look at more info about typography for hand held devices. I'll let you know if I find anything interesting.

Story Shop Brief

To:           Story Project Committee

From:       Lori Davis

Date:        February 3, 2010

Project:    Story Project Book

Overview

Story Shop is a program sponsored by Parkland College. Seventh and eigth grade students submit 1500 word/5 page stories for review. Every author receives written comments and 20 stories are chosen based on quality of creativity, uniqueness, voice, character development, and consistency to be featured in a published book.

This is the third year the Story Shop Committee has enlisted the help of Graphic Design students to design the cover and body of the final compilation of stories. This year, the Typography II class has been invited to submit book design options.

The overall message of the design will be an energetic invitation to look inside to see the unique voices of young storytellers.

Target Audience

There are several target audiences in this project:

Authors of the stories

Teachers

Parents

Librarians

Book store shoppers

School administrators

Parkland administrators (as funding body)

Design Objectives

We will enlist principles of unity, emphasis, balance, rhythm, depth and color to convey energy, creativity, and movement.  We want the design to be warm, playful, timeless and fresh. The color pallette will be bold and we will consider including the green used in the two previous designs in order to create an element of unity across publication years. Our designs will be unique in their

Parts of the design already determined are:

Logo design (color can vary)

ISBN number

Content

Order of stories

Book dimensions

Year and Story Shop logo on spine

Goal

The intended response depends on the audience. For kids, we'd like them to feel that their work has been taken seriously and that they're treated with respect. For parents, we want a more sophisticated, mature design. For librarians and book store shoppers we want the book to tempt them to take the book off the shelf and see what's inside. Once they look inside, we want them to stay engaged by the subtle interest of the design. Overall, the intent of the design is to feature the stories and not to distract from them.

Format

The committee will choose cover design and body design separately. The book will be 5.5” high X 4.25” wide. Number of pages will depend on number of stories and body design. The cover can use a 4-color printing process. Internal pages will use one color only. The logo will remain the same although the color may vary.

Schedule

February 5, 2010              Stories are due to Committee by authors

March 1, 2010                  Electronic copies of stories will be provided by Committee

                                        Present design ideas to the Committee on or before this date

March 19, 2010                Provide print-ready file to the Committee

Phipps Font

 

I recently visited my sister in Pittsburgh, PA and we went to Phipps Conservatory. Really beautiful place. I took a picture of the logo and type on the entry doors. The image and type are really cohesive. The curves of the type mimic the curves of plants. I just used What the Font for the first time -- that is cool! The font is Aperto Semi-Bold. Very nice font and reasonably priced too!