ART 574: BOOKFORMS Welcome to my Bookforms class!
Throughout this book you will see
my process in each of the projects
we created this semester. From toys to folios, we made quite a diverse amount of work during this class. I sincerely hope you enjoy and letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get started! <3
Table of
Contents Ch 1 5 Dollar Toy Project Part I) Toy Part II) Packaging Part III) Design Part IV) Photographs Ch 2 Dutch Portfolio Project Part I) Research Spreads Part II) Emails Part III) Creation Part IV) Photographs Ch 3 Design Matters Responses Ch 4 99% Invisible Responses
Photo by Meena Khalili
Chapter 1
5 Dollar Toy The 5 Dollar Toy project was a trip. The objective of this assignment was to create a toy out of 5 dollars worth of hardware store equipment. After creating our toy, we were told to create a logo, slogan, packaging, poster and booklet for the toy. This chapter of the book outlines the toy making process, the package, design of the poster/booklet, and the final photographs of the assignment. Enjoy!
Photo by Meena Khalili
The Toy PA RT 1 As stated previously, in order to make
our toy, we were instructed to purchase 5
dollars worth of hardware equipment and make a toy out of it. Seeing as I have an
extreme love of cats, I knew that I wanted to create something un-traditional and
make a toy suitable for my furry friends. I ended up purchasing rubber door tips, a piece of string, and some sharpies to decorate with. Thankfully though our
professor let us have a little more creative liberty and I ended up purchasing some carpet and fabric to make it more cat and owner friendly.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 1
P R O CE SS Creating this little guy was a pain in the butt. After cutting through very thick
rubber, using lots of hot glue, and making sure everything fit together and worked properly, I was pretty exhausted.
But this project had just begun, and I
was in for even greater and more fun challenges ahead of me.
Photo by Meena Khalili
Packaging PART 2 Not only did we have to design and create a toy for this project, we also had to create the fictional packaging in which this toy would be placed.
The packaging included creating a logo, slogan and the actual package itself.
Although most of us used a previously bought package base for our toy, we
were allowed to have creative liberty to
create a label or further additions to the package face and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contents.
The image you see below is the finished package and toy together.
Photo by Meena Khalili
5 Dollar Toy | Page 3
PROCESS SKETCHES
Design PART 3 After the logo, slogan, packaging and toy
creation processes, it was finally time to begin
designing the booklet and the other side of it, the poster.
One of the really amazing things about this
project is that our professor designed a way for us to make our poster transform into the booklet. Not only did we have to tackle the
digital layout of this complicated project, but
we also had to make sure everything inside the booklet fit within the guidelines of the poster that was on the other side.
I ended up using a 16 column grid (8 columns per page) and not surprisingly, it helped me find ways to make my text and images all fit together like a puzzle.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 5
SAMPLE SPREAD OF BOOK
Photos PART 4 Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be honest - this is my favorite part of
completing projects in this class. I am definitely
not used to having my work photographed and seeing it in the ďŹ&#x201A;esh. All of the troubles that I usually go through during my projects are
usually resolved seeing their beautiful pictures. Seeing as the art building has recently gotten a new light table to take pictures with, I feel
much more confident in presenting my work
now that I have access to something I can take great pictures with.
Photo by Meena Khalili
5 Dollar Toy | Page 7
FINISHED POSTER MOCKUP
Chapter 2
Dutch Portfolio I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever had this much
trouble with a project before in my life. The objective of this assignment was to
reach out to a Dutch designer (furniture, architecture, etc) and ask them any
questions we have regarding design. After they (hopefully) responded, we would go on to make a folio about them and their work.
This portfolio had to have a dicut, a
metaphorical image, and a 3rd spread
placed somewhere within the booklet. Even though I struggled a lot with this project, I am happy with how the final product came out.
Photo by Meena Khalili
2
mo man tai design
Ulrike Jurklies
ABOUT
ULRIKE’S LIFE
• Question: Where do you find inspiration?
Founded by Ulrike Jurklies in 2001, mo man tai design is a design studio located in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Ulrike and her fellow designers strive to achieve a “DIY” feeling in their work. Ulrike describes her work as a combination of traditional design and contemporary production techniques. She believes in sustainable concepts and creating minimal packaging so her products can be easily sent through mail. Many of her products are meant to be bought and given as presents with their cute, small and beautiful designs. From keychains to candles, mo man tai and Ulrike have very creative outputs. she is probably a very busy person and could not respond in time.
Ulrike first finished an apprenticeship in furniture design before studying industrial design in Munich from 19972001. After graduation, she worked in Hong Kong which is where she decided to start this brand. In 2004, she moved to the Netherlands where mo man tai studio is now located. Along with running her studio, she also runs her blog “zo wie so” where she talks about her events, DIY projects, trends, and much more.
• Answer: Everywhere and all the time, that can be in nature, by using something, or a good conversation with somebody.
INTERVIEW
I found most of Urlike’s responses to be incredibly relatable and hilarious. Even though she might seem high and mighty compared to us, design students, she is actually much like us in several ways funny and randomly creative.usy person and could not respond in time.
Thankfully, Ulrike was the first and only designer that responded to my email. Her answers to my questions are the following:
• Question: What does the beginning of your creative process look like? • Answer: Often lying in bed knowing that I have to get up and get started to get the ideas out of my head.
MO MAN TAI SPREAD
Matej Chabera
3 ABOUT
WORK/PROJECTS
Matej Chabera is a Dutch designer that has his own studio located in the Czech Republic. His design includes image, objects, identity, creative direction and consulting. He describes his products as the perfect blend of “theoretical knowledge and broad overview in made material objects that carry thinking forward”. Matej has a very broad and diverse portfolio which ranges furniture to the tool you see on the left. Unfortunately, I did not receive a response from Matej either.
Along with his many exhibitions and college careers, Matej has a variety of products that put his bountiful education to work. His pieces “Sit” and “Tool” are among some of my favorites. a very busy person and could not respond in time.
“Sit” Stackable Glasses
MATEJ’S LIFE Matej was born in 1982 and during the beginning of his college career, he studied anthropology, art history and illustration. He also went on to study graphic design and graduated in 2008. The next year, 2009, Matej launched his independent studio and began a collaboration with LUGI. During 2014-2015, Matej became a regularly visiting professor and since 2009, he’s had more than 50 exhibitions. bably a very busy person and could not respond in time.
MATEJ CHABERA SPREAD
Tool 01
Matej Chabera
Research PA RT 1
Of course, when you are deciding on
which designer you want to make your project on, lots of research is required.
The beginning step of this project was to
create 3 research spreads on 3 designers of our choice. From here, we could get
feedback and have our classmates help
us choose which designer we should go with. These spreads include work, email
responses and a timeline of each designer.
1 ABOUT Lenneke Wispelwey is a Dutch designer that focuses on the importance of happiness. Her work revolves largely around mathematic and geometric designs and she creates most of her work with porcelain. Her ceramics always involve a sense of pastel calmness yet also carry a complex and intricate design within them. Although many of her products are vases, she does have a wide variety of designs she sells in her studio located in Arnhem, Netherlands. Unfortunately, I did not receive any response from Lenneke but I can imagine she is probably a very busy person and could not respond in time.
PRODUCTS I immediately fell in love with many of Lenneke’s products. From her many vases to even a birdhouse named “Who Needs A Wooden House Anyways?”, Lenneke’s geometric designs pulled me in at first sight.
LENNEKE’S LIFE
Lenneke Wispelwey
Lenneke was born in 1979 in the Netherlands. After studying design for a while during college, she decided to open up her own studio in 2001. This studio, located in Arnhem, Netherlands, contains most of her beautiful geometric work which is for sale to the public. Her products range from €90 to €200.
Lenneke Wispelwey and her pet dog
LE NNEKE WISPELWEY SPREAD
Dutch Portfolio | Page 12
Emails PART 2 After creating our research spreads, it was
time to pick the designer we wanted to do our project on. Seeing as I only got one response
from all the emails I sent out, I decided Mo Man
Tai design was the designer I wanted to go with. Although she was the only one to reply, that
wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only reason I decided to pick her. Her responses made me laugh. They were
personable, relatable and kind in general. I felt
like I could relate with every response she gave me and that made me feel more confident in continuing the project. Her design, which is
simple, quaint and beautiful fits her personality as well. It feels good knowing that there are designers out there who have the same problems and excitement as I do.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 14
THE FAILURES
BEGIN NING DESIGN
Creation PART 3 Finally, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to switch to the computer!
After receiving the hilarious responses from Mo Man Tai, I was feeling pretty motivated to make something regarding her work
that would make her smile as much as her responses made me. I wanted it to be pretty yet quaint - just like her work.
Even though I had to create her folio
4 times in total, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to make this many
dummies. I hated it at first, but thankfully it led me to create a great final project.
Through several hours of back-breaking pain and switching out several x-acto blades, I finally had something I was proud to take pictures of.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 16
Photos by Meena Khalili
Photos PART 4 Yet again, my favorite part of every project we do in this class comes running back to
me! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve said this before, but having my work photographed really makes all the effort and stress I put into the work itself all feel like it was well deserved.
In the beginning of this assignment, I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t
feeling too great. Everyone else had insanely intricate cuts, folds and interactive elements
where I just had some fancy transparent paper and a slide out. I was feeling disappointed in myself until I saw these beautiful pictures. I never really expected my professor to do
this for us, but it truly made me feel better regarding not only this project, but as a designer in general.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 18
Chapter 3
DM Podcasts This part of the book and beyond will be a little different than what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen so far.
Throughout the semester, we were instructed to listen and respond to several design-centered podcasts.
Hopefully, by the end of the podcast, we could take something away from it that related to our process in a project or design in general.
I found myself much more interested
in these podcasts than I had originally
thought. Although some of the Design Matters podcasts reference our first
project and some of them reference our second, they all had a general theme and follow along with what Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done in this class thus far.
Chris Ware DESIGN MAT T ERS 1 This podcast follows along with the first
she can also relate to the stress and
The podcast we listened to was Design
been through the same thing as well.
of the quotes that stuck out to me most
My photo represents my process in the $5 Toy
safely above the things happening in the
our expectations are high, you can see a little
Ware’s work, he attempted to break this
and heavier workflow. I’m taking more notes,
actually experience and sympathize with
generally becoming more organized and
were talking buildings or other mythical
to do after listening to the two podcasts.
Matters with a cartoonist, Chris Ware. One
workflow of our class because she has
was by Ware himself: “As the reader, we are
Project we are working on currently. Considering
(my) comics.” I noticed that in a lot of Mr.
bit of my process slightly adjusting to this new
virtual barrier by making his readers
illustrating whenever an idea pops up, and
his human-like characters, even if they
professional – all of which I felt more inspired
creatures and creations.
Just like he wants his comic characters to awaken feelings in us that we might not have previously thought we had
before, Professor Khalili is trying to do the same for us. While she wants us to
5 Dollar Toy | Page 21
take ourselves seriously as professionals,
project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
MOUSE AROUND SKETCHES
V ignelli DESIGN MAT T ERS 2 This podcast follows along with the first
made with $5 dollars of hardware supplies and
The Design Matters podcast also related to
am incredibly surprised by how well this turned
talks about how “the discipline of design
design elements must always be in harmony”, I
sure I wasn’t the only one at the beginning of
this project in a much calmer and successful way.
some extra creative tools to make it look better. I
our design process right now as well. Vignelli
out and with Vignelli’s advice on “the balance in
allows you to design anything”. I’m pretty
believe I will be able to accomplish the rest of
this assignment that was terrified of having
to make a toy by hand while simultaneously
designing the packaging, a poster, and booklet along with it. I listened to Vignelli talk and he
actually helped me work out some of this stress and I realized that if I just apply the design laws I’ve been using for everything I’m familiar with,
I’ll be able to accomplish my once feared goals.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 23
The picture I’ve included is a picture of the toy I
project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
MOUSE AROUND TOY PROTOTYPE
Jessica Hische D ESIGN MAT T ERS 3 This podcast follows along with the first
project”. Jessica’s was to design a letter a day while
Out of all the Design Matters podcasts
structured new hour of our days can allow us to
has been my favorite. I mean, she opened
Don’t worry about who you please or how your
Benson”. How could I not be immediately
whatever you want to do.
Meena’s was to create a drawing a day. This kind of
we’ve listened to so far, I’d say that Jessica’s
“take back time” and do something purely for us.
up her podcast talking about her cat “Olivia
illustration turns out. Just focus on doing
excited and interested?
I actually thoroughly enjoyed both the podcast and
Jessica briefly spoke about her different projects,
Meena’s speech today. It got me thinking about my
in class. I usually just calmly enjoyed the podcasts
but as a person. It was very motivating and I think I’ll
One of Jessica’s silly projects was named
love illustration but GOD it’s been so long since I’ve
some of which actually made me laugh out loud
design process and who I am not only as a designer,
but this one had me giggling like a school girl.
take some time out of my day tonight to just draw. I
“ifeelawful.com” where this company would
had the time or motivation to draw. So, thanks.
mail you aspirin or a Mountain Dew whenever you would feel down or sick. This came right back into play with Meena’s speech. It is so
important for me (and all of my design friends) to break away from the stress we have and do something ridiculous or something we think is fun, quirky or just plain weird.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 25
Another point Hische made is the idea of a “daily
project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
DESIGN PROCESS OF MOUSE AROUND BOOK
Maria Popova D ESIGN MAT T ERS 4 This podcast follows along with the first project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
Maria says “anyone who does anything
remotely related to this (design)” cringes
at the word curation. I feel a deep connection to this phrase because every time someone calls me “creative”, I sometimes have a hard time believing exactly what I’m doing that
counts as “creative”. Most of the time I don’t really feel like I’m coming up with 100%
original ideas and that is something that
continues to bother me. Out of everything
Maria talked about, this one particular point
stood with me the most and led me to focus this week’s blog post about just that.
After finishing up the first project for this
semester, I was overall satisfied with my work. I’m always somewhat satisfied with how my
design turns out, but of course there’s always that nagging little thing in the back of my
brain that tells me it’s “not all that great” or something that’s not 100% my own idea.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 27
Maria says she and her design colleagues cringe at the title curator and I feel like I do sometimes as well. Unfortunately, it always seems as if I will
feel like a “faker”, but I hope that as I go through
my design courses this semester that one nagging feeling will slowly start to fade away.
The picture I included for this week’s blog post
is a picture of my grid from the last assignment.
It really shows the “behind the scenes” that every designer goes through and pretty much what I’ll
be seeing for the next assignment. I’m very excited to learn more of the technical skills needed to
become a designer, and I feel like grids will not only be important in these classes but in my current internship as well.
GRID LAYOUT OF MOUSE AROUND BOOK
Marian Bantjes D ESIGN MAT T ERS 5 This podcast follows along with the second assignment, the Dutch Portfolio Project. From the very beginning of this week’s
podcast I was interested – Marian seems
kind of like a rule breaker. Seeing as I usually have lots of trouble breaking away from a
very rigid structure, I figured Marian’s words might help me break from those tight guidelines I carry with me daily.
She wants to make people think and wants her work to be unique and rule breaking. I find this very inspiring seeing as, stated previously, I have had lots of problems
with this. I feel like I am always going to
be a perfectionist and that I will never be
able to break away from this. After looking at some of Marian’s work, I can see the
ideas that she’s trying to carry across very easily. Some of her typography is legible, some of it isn’t, and she seems very fearless to me.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 29
Marian’s words kind of flowed through me in a way that relates directly to the new project we are working on. Just like Marian isn’t afraid to
make things a little wild, I am trying to achieve
that feeling of unique-ness in this next project. Originally, I was planning on doing a simple
3-page fold out brochure that has a fancy little dicut on the cover that says “mo man tai” and
that’s about it. I thought to myself “Amber, this is what you always do. You go the easy route and nothing is ever truly unique.”
That’s why I decided to branch out of my
comfort zone a little bit more than usual with the next step of our Dutch designer project.
I tried to think outside of the box and actually ended up with a mini-prototype that I’m actually very pleased with. Although it’s not too “unique”, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
DUMMY BOOK OF DUTCH PORTFOLIO
Stagmeister D E SIG N MAT T ERS 6 This podcast follows along with the second
Another thing I found interesting was when a
assignment, the Dutch Portfolio Project.
caller asked Stefan how he could possibly
Besides the awful sound quality of this
what he loves to do while still managing to eat,
not one of the greater ones we’ve listened
been a major concern of mine, I was excited
art and life was a pleasant start to my morning
was a little underwhelming seeing as he pretty
helped me through the little rut I was in
well” but it was still reassuring to me that
“survive” in New York City as an artist doing
week’s podcast, I did find it interesting (but
sleep and pay rent. Seeing as this has always
to). Listening to Stefan’s words on design,
to see what Stefan had to say. Sadly, his response
and yet again, the Layout Essentials book
much said “work for places that will pay you
with my project.
someone else had the same concerns as I do.
One of the things that Stefan said during the
My image for this week’s blog post is of another
object. Try to look at it as an experience.”
where it’s heading and I’m excited to see it
podcast was, “Try not to look at art as an
“progress” shot of my project. I’m pleased with
I think this quote is at first very cliché but I
printed on the actual paper I ordered.
believe all of us have felt this way once we
see our work completely finished and in the flesh. Sometimes while I’m working it feels
like every pixel on the screen is useless and what I’m doing doesn’t matter at all. I truly
do see my work, my laptop and my creations as objects from time to time because of the labor and stress I put into them. Thankfully though, that feeling does go away when I see my work produced and recognized.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 31
INDESIGN W-I-P OF DUTCH PORTFOLIO
Tina Eisenberg D E SIG N MAT T ERS 7 This podcast follows along with the second assignment, the Dutch Portfolio Project.
I have never been more stressed with an
assignment in my entire life. From the design, creativity, craft and printing, I believe I have put the most stress I could fathom into this
project. At the beginning of the project I was
feeling pretty great – the designer I chose was
I was so happy to use my fancy paper all to
end up messing up my craft COMPLETELY and feeling worthless. It was the worst craft I had
done in my life and I would have been embarrassed to turn my work in. Feeling less and less confident, I ended up creating 2 more “dummy” versions of my booklet (3 in total) to see if I could perform somewhat better than before.
adorable and actually responded. By the end
And I did.
and say that it was really rough. I had a hard
After 3 dummy booklets and an incredibly sore
of the assignment, I am going to be honest
time with myself and how I felt about myself
as a designer by the end of this project. Was I doing enough? Was it going to be good
among with all of the other insanely creative
projects in my class? I wasn’t sure how I could answer those questions (and still not). I was
having an extreme lack of confidence in myself
as a person and a designer. Thankfully, the end of this project and it’s “dummy creation” part helped me feel a little bit better about this.
After having printed my project for the first
time, I realized what needed to be fixed and
what needed to stay. Feeling confident I moved on to the next step – editing and assembling.
5 Dollar Toy | Page 33
back and shoulders, I finally made something I
was proud of. The feeling of relief and satisfaction
was almost numbing – I couldn’t believe that I finally did something that made me feel like I deserved to be in this program. Hopefully the rest of the class
(and you) will be able to see the immense amount of time I dedicated to this assignment during our critique this Thursday.
The image I have included is of my 3 failure dummies (which I believe was an insanely
important part of this assignment – I wouldn’t
have been able to create my final good version
if I hadn’t tested out my ideas and theories first).
THE FAILURES OF MY DUTCH PORTFOLIO
Chapter 4
99% Invisible This chapter is a continuation of the podcasts we were instructed to listen to throughout the semester. While I enjoyed the Design
Matters podcasts, I think the 99% Invisible
ones were much more interesting and easy to follow.
Even though the other podcasts related directly to design most of the time, the
99% Invisible podcasts made us think a
little bit beyond just “design”. It made me
think about process, why I’m doing this in
the first place, and how I became a designer. I enjoyed learning not only about the
stories these podcasts told, but learning about myself as well.
Also, considering some of these podcasts
were listened to together, you may see some of the images I have already used but with a different story.
MOUSE AROUND SKETCHES
Holdout 9 9% INVISIB LE 1 This podcast follows along with the first project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
In the 99% Invisible podcast, I listened to a
story of Edith Macefield and her struggles with keeping her property and not giving into the corporation pressures with their increasing
monetary offers to tear down her house and
use the space for a mall. After what she called
the “Ballardization” of her home town Ballard, Seattle, Edith became more and more used to the bickering of government officials
trying to convince her to agree to their deal. Once Edith became close with a building
advisor, she spoke with him about how “things
These new expectations and heightened projects have already started to grow on
me as I realize that I am no longer an intro
student and therefore must be considered a flowering professional.
This podcast also specifically related to
my 5 Dollar Toy project because of the new
expectations I started to tackle. I have never been much of a sketching person and it’s always been a struggle for me to start on
paper when I could just go straight to my
computer. This podcast helped me with my patience and thus made it easier for me to sketch my ideas out first.
are always changing, that’s just how life is”.
She was becoming adjusted to her new life
and the buildings that literally surrounded her
house within arm’s reach. As Edith spoke about
herself becoming used to these massive changes, I felt a little bit of empathy as I also was getting used to some pretty large changes within the first day of our Bookforms class.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 38
BEGINNING IDEAS OF MOUSE AROUND
Integrity 9 9% INVISIB LE 2 This podcast follows along with the first project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
The first podcast I listened to was 99%
Invisible – Structural Integrity. It began by telling the story of this massive building
located in New York City. It belonged to the company City Corps, and they had
some very interesting and large plans for
their building. It definitely started to catch people’s attention as they walked by and thought they saw a floating 59-story
building. Yes, the building actually stands on columns and gives city-goers the
illusion of a massive, floating building. Now, of course this building looks cool
This could and would have killed thousands of people, destroying nearby buildings and ruining City Corps forever.
This story relates to our design process
right now because we are in the middle
of the critiquing process. We are presenting
our work to our colleagues and having them review and give feedback on our design.
This is exactly what City Corps should have done with their building. Everyone in our
class could think a certain design is amazing, but without looking into its detail, nobody would ever notice that the design has
horrible usability or not a clear audience (random examples).
and amazing to anyone who walks by and pays no more than 1-minute gazing at its
beauty. But fortunately there was one person who did. A graduate student began looking further into the building’s architecture and suddenly noticed a massive, deadly flaw.
The graduate student noticed that the building was not all what City Corps made it out to be. If winds hit the building on the corners, it
could cause the building to literally collapse.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 40
DUMMY MOUSE AROUND BOOK
The Clock 9 9 % INVISIB LE 3 This podcast follows along with the first project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
Before I gazed into the beauty that is our required text for this semester, I listened to the 99% Invisible podcast titled The
Broadcast Clock. The host talks about how he is really interested in giving “driveway
moments” which are times where you simply
can’t exit your car because you have to finish listening to the show. You’re so intrigued by
what the radio talk show host has to say that you lose track of time and the McDonald’s food in the passenger’s seat is starting to get cold.
Even though radio hosts always aspire to have these moments, of course, their very strict and
rigid schedule sometimes flops. One quote that stood out to me in particular was: “Nothing can go wrong, but of course things go wrong.” This quote resonated with my soul as a designer. Absolutely nothing can go wrong with my
project…but we all know that we have to face those hurdles sometimes and deal with them
appropriately because they will come up and
Another thing that caught my attention
during the podcast was listening to the
incredibly tight and fixed schedules that
radio workers have to follow. If something
goes over or under just a few seconds, the entire broadcast could be ruined. This
reminded me how Meena also has quite the strict schedule for this class, but I honestly kind of like it.
I feel like I’m being pressed into some
zones where I’m not entirely comfortable. I feel like the clock ticking down every
second while I work on this project just
motivates me further. I feel like I am being treated as a professional – something
I’ve been wanting to feel for a while now. The image I’ve attached relates to that exact
process. I’m beginning to lay out the content of my booklet and thinking of what kind of
grid I would like to use. I definitely know it’ll be multi-column…but as for the finished product, I’m sure I’ll have made several changes to these original drafts.
they will also be unavoidable.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 42
IN PROGRESS DIGITAL SHOT (AND ME BEING A DORK)
Revolving Door 9 9 % INVISIB LE 4 This podcast follows along with the first
He thought that something that changed
project, the 5 Dollar Toy assignment.
the social world around him through the
Theophilus Van Kennel absolutely hated social
other introverts of the world and make
someone as they entered a building behind
have a clean building.
the person through. He couldn’t stand it even
Unfortunately, many people began to be
Because he hated this social interaction so
that be a fear of them getting caught inside
brand new door entirely that would get rid
noticed that less than 28% of people
interaction (same, buddy). When approaching him, he would prop the door open and let
means of a door would enlighten all the business owners happy because they
more when someone else would do it for him.
afraid to use his revolving door. Whether
much, he eventually decided to design a
or fear of the weight of the door itself, he
of this problem forever.
entering a building would use the revolving
Kennel designed the first revolving door.
which have been my entire life lately around
door. This prompted him to say these words,
This allowed people, including his introvert
the project we are working on: design it better!
without ever having to worry about the
Design it better. I’m pretty sure this could
new doors also kept wind, dust, snow and
we are working on coming to a close, it’s
because, as he liked to call it, they were
tune after fine tune after fine tune, it seems
self, to enter buildings on their own whim
person in front of you or behind you. These
be my motto at this point. With the project
rain outside of the building at all times
all been in the editing stage right now. Fine
“always open, always closed”.
as if the changes never stop coming. Even
There was only one issue with Kennel’s
frustrating, it is COMPLETELY necessary.
though this step of our process is wildly
door when it came into production and started showing up on buildings. NOBODY USED IT.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 44
INKTOBER ENTRY
Design Crime 9 9 % INVISIB LE 5 This podcast follows along with end of
the first project, but also talks about my art and design in general.
In this week’s 99% Invisible podcast, an artist named Richard Ankrom noticed something that bothered him after he got lost on the
highway. The thing that bothered him was
an exit sign- one that was hideously misdirecting and therefore had caused him to be lost. Seeing as this man seems very stubborn and poignant,
he took it upon himself to fix the sign by himself whether it be a crime or put his life in danger. He didn’t care. So that’s exactly what he did
and it actually got approved by the California
Department of Transportation even if what he completed counted as a federal crime!
This reminds me when we come across a problem in our design work where
I wish it was possible to have the courage that Ankrom had and just remove it and hope the sponsors either wouldn’t notice or would
approve of it. Sadly, that is not the type of world we live in.
Now then…there’s something that’s been on
my mind for the past few weeks that’s related
to the talk our professor Meena gave us as her introductory statement to our design classes.
She motivated me to start participating in this
year’s “Inktober” (I’m sure you know what that is) and I honestly couldn’t be more grateful. I haven’t had this much fun with art in a while and all I needed was that extra little push. So thanks.
My image for this week is my first drawing I did for this year’s Inktober. Thanks again!
something is ABSOLUTELY necessary
but we just can’t stand it. Example: when a sponsor requires us to include their
logo on a publication even if it’s the most disgusting piece of design you’ve ever
seen. It has to be there – even if you hate it.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 46
INDESIGN W-I-P OF DUTCH PORTFOLIO
Awareness 9 9 % INVISIB LE 6 This podcast follows along with the
second project, the Dutch Portfolio project. At first, I was very shocked at the deep conversation that this podcast started
talking about. I know it’s a very strong
topic but I was surprised to see that one of our podcasts was going to talk about something as serious as AIDS. But as I
listened to more of the podcast, I realized
it wasn’t going to be talking about something depressing and sad to listen to. It was going to speak about hope, clarity and most importantly, awareness among the community and others.
The collective “Visual AIDS” was a response
to the public in accordance with the uprising of AIDS. People were dying, suffering and grieving yet nobody in the world seemed
to care about this. Families were being torn
apart and the general public just didn’t seem
to mind at all. This, of course, became an issue because the people needed to know more
about this epidemic and hopefully from their awareness, help or a cure would be created.
So Visual AIDS was created and they designed
At first, they were worried nobody would wear the ribbon and just respond to this issue like
they always had. They were pleasantly surprised
when famous actors starting showing awareness
with the little red ribbon tied to their suits and dresses. This, of course, ended up in a general and
larger understanding of this terrible illness.
AIDS help has come a long way and probably
a lot of that progress should be devoted to this ribbon project. Just like breast cancer and
autism awareness, a ribbon is a simple way to get across an idea and show other’s what you believe in. Although what we are currently
working on in class is not even close to being this serious, I believe we are also working on getting ideas across in a simple manner.
The image I have chosen for this week is of
my current layout of what I have designed so
far. I am very pleased with how it looks visually, but I am having a little bit of trouble deciding
where my macro images and text should belong. I do believe I will find a way to make it work, it just needs time (the weekend to be specific) in order to get it to where I want it to be.
a red ribbon that anyone could wear to
represent and spread their awareness of AIDS.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 48
DUTCH PORTFOLIO DUMMY FEEDBACK
Ten Thousand Years 9 9 % INVISIB LE 7 This podcast follows along with the
second project, the Dutch Portfolio project. This podcast was all about a project on
where and how to store nuclear products and materials. How can you safely keep
thousands of chemicals and objects in one
contained area? This problem, of course, had no deadline as in how long it would last.
Hopefully there will never be a time in our
lives where we will need to use these nuclear materials, but as the title of the podcast
suggests, these things will likely be locked
away for ten thousand years or even eternity. How can we communicate to people ten thousand years ahead of us what this is
meant for and how dangerous it could be? The answer to that, from what I gathered,
was symbols. Everyone would think it would be obvious that a skull and crossbones or a radioactive emblem would get the idea across fairly quickly, but those symbols
and their meanings have changed throughout
our time. The skull and crossbones, for example, actually used to be a symbol for rebirth (used commonly in Renaissance paintings of Jesus and his resurrection).
How can we know that people ten thousand years will know that “skull and crossbones” mean death? Although this doesn’t really
relate to the project we’re working on right
now, I think it relates to design. It’s important to somehow make something that talks well
to all people, whether they live in our time or
they live ten thousand years in the future. Our
designs should be clear and concise, no matter what project we are working on or what time period we exist in. Sure, abstract work exists
and you may not get the idea immediately, but the general feelings that you get from the piece should be immediate.
As for my image this week, I’ve shown what my
dummy looks like after our 100% scale critique. Knowing that I needed lots of feedback, I was
still surprised at how much I received from Meena and my classmates (not a bad thing). It helped
me through my problems, and in the end, made
my project clearer to that “gift unwrapping” feeling I was trying so hard to achieve. I am excited to use more of the themes the Layout Essentials book gave me this week so I can incorporate them into my finalized piece. Although it’s a little difficult, I can easily say that this project is becoming one of my favorites.
Dutch Portfolio | Page 50
The End
Congratulations on finishing my book! I am incredibly happy with how everything has gone this semester even though it
didn’t feel like it while I was working. Every challenge, every printing issue and every
problem I came across during this course was 100% worth it.
I’ve learned so much through this course and
I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I feel much more confident as a designer and my ability to love myself and the work that I create.
Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed the work! <3
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the end of the book. Why are you still here? Just kidding. You can stay as long as you like, you silly goose.