K E R N May 2021
Zine-Folio
WELCOME
TO THE ISSUE KERN magazine is a portfolio--magazine hybrid. Each
issue looks through the lens of a designer by presenting process work and finished work alongside articles to celebrate the interconnectivity that the world has on designers and that designers have on the world.
KERN Zine-Folio Printed in Chicago, IL 3
Contents IN EVERY ISSUE 4 Contents
4 Contributors 6 Letter from the Designer 46 Contact Information
ARTICLES 14 Circular Design
24 Deconstructing the Barbie Doll 34 Feature: About the Artist 44 The Creator of Shapes Lyrics
PORTFOLIO PIECES 8 La Didot Poster
12 Typography T-shirt 16 Tidetabs Packaging 22 Recording Engineer Icons 30 Didot Bag 39 Coffee Pots Logo 40 Savon Du Monde Packaging
Contributors Designer Elsa Mae Brydalski Portrait Photographer Milan Kulic Overseeing Educator Dave Pabellon
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Letter from the Designer
Old and New My mother has a knack for taking the same piece of furniture, fabric, or decorations and rearranging it in a way that makes it feel brand new again. In that same fashion, creating this portfolio-magazine has been an incredible venture that allowed me to both find new ways to present my projects and to breathe life into photos and illustrations that I’ve filed away over the years. I hope you, the reader, are reminded of your own ways of reinventing, rediscovering, and reimagining different combinations of what’s already in front of you. British philosopher Alan Watts said, “We didn’t come into this world, we came out of it.” We ourselves are rearrangements of what already was, and we are part of the circular motion that bridges the old to the new. Design is circular too. We look at the past for advice on how to create new designs. We look to nature and history to enrich our designs with context and milieu. And now more than ever, we are thinking of ways to reuse materials and break away from the throw-away culture that we’ve become accustomed to. KERN was created one year into the Coronavirus Pandemic, and although it’s been a time of isolation and uncertainty, it’s also been a moment to reflect on where we are, and how we can revive and reinvigorate what we already have with what we will create in the future.
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g La Didot, typography poster. See animation at elsamaeb.com/design/la-didot-type-poster
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LA DID OT
Didone, Modern, 1784-1811 Neoclassical serif typeface, high stroke contrast, flat, unbracketed, hairline serifs, condenced armature, vertical stress. The body text is set in Didot Regular with Small Caps. It is 11/13.2 pt, Flush Left, Ragged Right.
of up gro ned sa ot i s desig mily d i D face a is ot f type e Did nce. It g h a n by t ris, Fr as bei rn a d P e d in goriz r Mo e t o cate done o e Did l l i h a D face. T me we ous m a e c p e ty ir fa d the ily b n fam n for ting a ough w n h i o r T n . p de k cing ltitu nch Fre produ a mu d t type create ir mos faces e y the pe, the ot typ g y n d of t us Di d duri le o l e fam creat skervi ith a w e r B e pe, nd w -1811. a e ty 1784 ired th ntrast o p c at. s , e n m i rok d for iration t s se insp its den of con g with ment per e n Alo dvanc and pa se a e the nology wed th aces f tech ity allo n type h l r a e u wit d q Mo ted d new execu acy an e g r to b e accu llowin s as c a r , o m ision teristi ’s c t c pre chara Dido n h i c ne l i i u l s a det hair e. the edible so fin e incr e to b , k ical o r s t s la s eoc s N e of i t o g . Did the A ent sign with ghtenm n its de t i i cien Enl essed n a o r exp ludes t Roman licity p l It a k and th sim its i e Gre ition w eating and r c d ed a z r r i t . rigo deal and eous, i al form be c o g gor emati nues t day, h i t t t a n o d o ine’s m rde z ot c Did ly rega e Maga e c h hig g Vogu ce sin d a f n i e be r typ lasic an e cov . This c face is of e e 1955 ant typ erpiec t eleg a mas . y trul graphy typo
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Regular
“Typography is two-dimensional architecture based on experience and imagination, and guided by rules and readability.” -Hermann Zapf
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ABOUT La Didot tells the history of the French Typeface, Didot. Through motion graphics, the letters come to life in a retromodern fashion, while the poster and booklet display its type families, classifications, poster specs, and a quote by Hermann Zapf. ROLES Layout, typography, motion graphics TOOLS Adobe Indesign, Adobe After Effects DURATION 4 weeks: Poster & Booklet 3 weeks: Animation TARGET AUDIENCE Designers and artists, people in publication, and typography lovers.
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Typography T-shirt
A type-enthusiast’s t-shirt for sale online and in store at ShopColumbia as a part of the Buy Columbia, By Columbia initiative to expand representation of artists. By showing type anatomy on the t-shirt in a scientific way, the design gives the customer a glimpse into the rich world of typography.
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Shopcolum.edu
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Circlular Design
How reincarnating the lifespan of a product through design thinking will pave the way for future designers
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hether you’re a designer or any other type of member of society, we can all agree that we’d feel better using products that are not harmful to the planet, and better yet if it was beneficial to it. Circular Design proposes the idea that what we make can actually restore life after it is used, which is an ingenious concept given that so much of what we make and use today does not. Rather, most of the items we purchase leak toxic chemicals into the water, ground, and air, and end up as a piece of waste for hundreds to thousands of years. This unethical mind-set has become embedded in our manufacturing process and in how we consume and dispose of products. It would take a lot of effort to change the way things are in order to think more sustainably, but we are stepping into a new generation of designers that are paving the way for future designers to build upon.
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e’re always hearing about what the next big trend in design will be. I’ll tell you something exciting, the next big trend is a breakthrough. When it comes to Circular Design, it isn’t just a trend that will come and go. Circular design and sustainable design are about longevity, and it’s becoming the new mind-set that designers are leading their work with. When thinking about products in a straight line you get a pattern that looks like this: you buy things, you use things, and you throw things out. Yet, in nature, when something is done serving its purpose, it decomposes or rots, becoming a source of new energy for life. Nature is cyclical and interconnected. If we can integrate our industrialized society with the natural cycle of life, we could create products that break the mold of “use me today and throw me away tomorrow.” It connects us to a bigger reality by finding ways to create something new when a product reaches its end of life. There’s a diagram called the Butterfly Diagram. It has two main focuses, a biological cycle and a technical cycle. It's a feedback-rich system which makes it circular. The technical side thinks of ways to be restorative, using recycling as the loop of last resort. It’s the more inner feedback loops within the Butterfly Diagram that provides better options for the product before getting to the recycling stage. This includes remanufacturing, reusing, and maintenance. On the biological side of the diagram, it includes the materials used, and thinks of ways of creating flows of
energy, materials and information that can return positively and safely into the system, rebuilding and restoring its environment naturally. By thinking resourcefully, we can find ways of using biological materials to do things like generate energy, become fertilizers, be used for the extraction of chemicals, and cascades. Cascades is an under explored area that takes a high quality piece of material and finds many different ways to reuse it. A suit made of cotton, for instance, is made of a material that can be reused for insulation, cleaning products, wipes, or stuffing in a car seat before positively and safely returning it into the natural system. It’s important to remember, the economy is designed by us to work in a ceratin way. When designers see the systemic context of this man made economy, we realize that it can be redesigned and improved, playing an important role in innovating the circular economy. Design activists and networks of organizations create spaces for this free thinking to take place, resulting in a diversity of thinking that combines inclusive and collaborative values that enhance the input and working conditions to strengthen the design thinking process. The power of design is being able to shape the future that we want, and it all starts with a space to see and think differently. By stepping back and zooming in closer from different levels of complexity can help us think about the system that the object or experience is part of in order to see how they might influence the system through the idea of circularity. As humans have done throughout the history, learning from nature is one of the best ways to generate new ideas for circular design. Just as nature evolves and finds ways to improve, products and innovations that come from circular design will too.
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THE PROJECT A fresh spin on Tide Laundry Detergent, these tablets could eliminate the need for plastic laundry detergent jugs and harmful synthetic detergents. By targeting the world’s #1 laundry detergent brand and extensively researching existing innovations of sustainable laundry detergents, Tidetabs Refill Packs and the Tidetabs ECOjar would be a 100% recyclable, biodegradable, plant based detergent.
ROLES Packaging designer, art director, creative-writer TOOLS Adobe Dimensions, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Unsplash.com (photo sourcing) DURATION 5 weeks
WHAT I LEARNED A fresh spin on Tide Laundry Detergent, these tablets could eliminate the need for plastic laundry detergent jugs and harmful synthetic detergents. By targeting the world’s #1 laundry detergent brand
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THE COMPETITORS What would happen if the #1 laundry detergent brand in the world came out with a fully recyclable, plastic free, plant based detergent? It’d create a huge contrast to what we are used to seeing: thick, hefty, bright plastic jugs. Since 1946, Tide has been the highest selling laundry detergent in the world. They were the first synthetic detergent on the market, the first detergent to advertise on TV, first to be formulated with enzymes to help break down stains, the first to have a scent-free option, and the first detergent with color-safe bleach. With such influence, they have the power to change the laundry detergent market again, but this time, for the environment. In recent years, they’ve come out with a plant based detergent called Tide Purclean as well as an ECO-box made of 100% recyclable material. I’m pleased to hear the innovations they’re making, but I wanted to push the envelope much further. By taking the concepts they already have and combining them with outside competition like Blueland’s laundry detergent tablets and reusable container, this new line of Tide products would not only look great on the shelf, but also be great for the environment.
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Tide ECOjar THE PROCESS Here are some of the steps it took to get to the finished product, including creating concept boards, sketches, creative writing, sourcing iconography for the back of the Tidetabs Refill Packs, sourcing photography from Unsplash. com, and creating orthographic views of the packaging design.
10.2 oz
Front
All other angles
Front View
Tidetabs
Tidetabs
Tidetabs
REFILLS
REFILLS
REFILLS
COTTON SKIES
LOTUS FLOWER
Front of Tidetabs Refill Pack: Cotton Skies
Front of Tidetabs Refill Pack: Lotus Flower
C O S TA L B R E E Z E
Front of Tidetabs Refill Pack: Coastal Breeze
Back View
Directions: Place 1 Tidetab into medium wash. Use 2 Tidetabs for heavier washes.
Produced with 100% Wind Energy
75% Plant Based Detergent
100% Recycled Cardboard Packaging
Directions: Place 1 Tidetab into medium wash. Use 2 Tidetabs for heavier washes.
Produced with 100% Wind Energy
75% Plant Based Detergent
100% Recycled Cardboard Packaging
Directions: Place 1 Tidetab into medium wash. Use 2 Tidetabs for heavier washes.
Produced with 100% Wind Energy
75% Plant Based Detergent
100% Recycled Cardboard Packaging
Refill your ECOjar with Tidetabs Refill Pack. Tidetabs are made with Tide purclean, the worlds first plant based detergent consisting of 75% plant based ingredients. One tablet will provide the same powerful clean as any Tide product.
Refill your ECOjar with Tidetabs Refill Pack. Tidetabs are made with Tide purclean, the worlds first plant based detergent consisting of 75% plant based ingredients. One tablet will provide the same powerful clean as any Tide product.
Refill your ECOjar with Tidetabs Refill Pack. Tidetabs are made with Tide purclean, the worlds first plant based detergent consisting of 75% plant based ingredients. One tablet will provide the same powerful clean as any Tide product.
Tidetabs Refill Pack’s are packaged in 100% recyclable cardboard material. The tablets are not individually wrapped with plastic and safe for the enviornment. Tide strives for a cleaner future with Tidetabs.
Tidetabs Refill Pack’s are packaged in 100% recyclable cardboard material. The tablets are not individually wrapped with plastic and safe for the enviornment. Tide strives for a cleaner future with Tidetabs.
Tidetabs Refill Pack’s are packaged in 100% recyclable cardboard material. The tablets are not individually wrapped with plastic and safe for the enviornment. Tide strives for a cleaner future with Tidetabs.
Back of Tidetabs Refill Pack: Cotton Skies
Back of Tidetabs Refill Pack: Lotus Flower
Back of Tidetabs Refill Pack: Coastal Breeze
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Recording Engineer Icons
On sale at thenounproject.com
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thenounproject.com/elsamaeb24/collection/music-podcast-and-radio-broadcasting
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R B A I Deconstructing the Barbie Doll
A plastic sculpture that finds new ways to fit the mold of the times.
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n 1959, the Barbie doll was created. Fourty years later, six-year-old me was playing with my Generation Girl Gotta Groove Barbie doll, jumping on the bed to the Work it out Barbie cassete tape in my boom box, and playing the Gotta Groove PC game on my dads Windows ‘98. Those were great times! Now, I find myself going back to the doll for artistic purposes, using it in photography and posters (right), creating art such as the Exquisite Corpse collage inspired by the 1925 Paris surrealist style (page 29), and painting her in watercolor to mimic the iconic Barbie Doll illustrator and painter Robert Best (left). I’ve also read the book Forever Barbie that exposes the significant role it’s played in our culture, and the many debates it’s created over the decades between parents and their children. What
TELE VISION & MICRO PHONE FROM STATIC NIGHTS TO LUKEWARM DAYS A PLACE WHERE YOU LOVE YOURSELF A PLACE WHERE YOU DOUBT YOURSELF
BELIEVING IN THE WORDS OF PEOPLE BELIEVING IN ME
I’ve learned is that the origin of Barbie is quite interesting, and even a bit scandalous. She was made almost identically after the German, 1955 Bild Lilli doll. Bild Lilli was designed after a comic strip where she was portrayed as a high-end German call girl. Once Lilli was made into a doll, adult men were known to carry her around and keep her in their car as a gag-gift.
GEORGE JETSONʼS HOUSE ON A STARRY NIGHT
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uth Handler, the founder of Mattel, bought a few Bild Lilli dolls while traveling in Europe. Inspired, she redesigned it into a childrens toy, debuting the first ever Barbie Doll at the New York toy fair in 1959. The Barbie seen in most of my work is a 1993
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rep r Bla oducti ck on a o Bar bie nd W f the h use vin ite tha ta d Ithi toy s t I fo Swim ge hop ca, s u uit nd N ver sion ew Yo somew at a from her wa rk. T e the 1959 s man he orig in eye i to 1 u fa nal l ove r th ids are 961. T ctured e ey lips he mol , w e swi and th s, the ded he ay red e bo msu avy arti pain ld s it a s t r tha tic. As e so u rips on ted t’ a de nde the nos s why I am signer niably talg as ic b dra , I th it in m helps eauty wn to ink i Gro y own spark n the the d w bar ing u work creati oll v bie a p i ty n ,I s fr incl m d sty o u bug dedin m the ainly le. g h , l Jelo an inf a red ate 199 ad lata V 0 B W ’s, a b Bar bie, rbie, f le plas punch tic p pre and light g o Pre nant M the co attend ol, g na a n i d nt t r g o th a t ca nt Mid e Barb versia l tum i me ge w eD m tum y. Ins with a as a oll. d m i so y y was de the magn oll e ou r a e from cou tiny p mov tic a l pre bein d have lastic b ble gp g na a t h by e reg bein nt. nan doll g I g s o in t mo he till r t to n m and as sh toy is emem ot e b l by how w was g e with er e e m a t que noth were ting m y e s c she tioned r mo onfron e it t he thou my ted to g r m ive ght it w om as who chi ld t this ty as app to why rop op the pe Maybe I could have passed them down to my future ri r o l that e were ay wi f toy ate daughter. But also, in all honestly, I just really want th t a ri the Mi stories . I th o a all those neat, tiny, highly detailed accessories that dge ng o i c nk irc min d nh they made so I could take micro-photography with er f oll did ulating e d i con n i n it! Well, wherever my old toys ended up, I hope they cer d, wh ger, a ’t have n l i hav e ch of sa ch rai though are somewhere good—who am I kidding they are y s whi i ch, ldren o ing it’s ed the probably in a landfill underneath tons of garbage, all is O for t u he r t of w OK to K the little plastic food and plastic shoes sitting there for e ma ny to do ecord, d lock the next thousand years. It’s interesting to see how the p it to , it c tally oul arents that, toy continues to evolve. Over the past few years, they d b , on the be a they t ut for came out with a line of dolls that are more inclusive in ent bad ho ir ir c infl ught frie e coll hild. body sizes, weights, skin tones, and heights. I’ve seen u e n I g e ave nce I sa d’s dau ction a ken doll with makeup, and another Ken doll that has id O ghte to a my rea K f r super long blond beach-hair! I think it’s cool that the a s . m b lly w A u ish t think t the ti ily brand changes with us and, in a sense, is a reflection I he m i ld o ng bac e of our society, filling the ever-changing molding of k nto the I the times. Who know’s maybe someday they’ll have m. a biodegradable barbie made from bio-plastics.
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Didot Bag THE BAG THAT’S YOUR TYPE.
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A play on words, this design personafies the type anatomy of the letters OK it in a literal and cheeky sense. The “leg and “foot” of the K became the leg and foot in a powder blue kitten heel.
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TH
E
BA G
TH
AT ’S
YO UR
TY PE .
THE PROJECT I created this illustration by making and uploading the letters OK onto my iPad and drew over it using Procreate. This two-layered design works well on merchandise that show a front and back. For instance, the front of a bag could show the illustration, and the reverse side of the bag could show it’s anatomy.
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Artist About the
Self-discovery as a Graphic Designer Interviewed and edited by Daisy Franco
Elsa Mae Brydalski was two years into a Philosophy degree when she discovered graphic design in 2017. For that reason, she refers to graphic design as a pot of gold at the end of the self-discovery rainbow. Looking back at her experience at Columbia College Chicago, she tells us about her involvement with the American Institute of Graphic Design and some of her favorite projects. “I wanted to go back to school for something that was structured, yet versatile, had the power to persuade, and could allow me to be creative with a purpose,” says Brydalski. “Graphic Design has been that for me as it’s challenged me to think critically and logically in visual and communicative ways while sharpening my creativity.” A Buffalo, New York native, Brydalski was looking to move to a new city for school. She felt that her intuition led her to Chicago. “Columbia’s values convinced me that it could give me a great education in a dynamic, diverse, and inclusive environment. I was so sure of this school that my dog and I moved into an apartment with a stranger a few days before I was even officially accepted into the college! My experiences here have been priceless,” she says. Elsa credits Columbia faculty members as the backbone of her educational journey recognizing their passion for design as well as the fact that they stay immersed in the field. In addition to greatly enjoying her classes and faculty guidance, Brydalski also notes her involvement with the American Institute of Graphic Design (AIGA) Columbia as having positively influenced her time at the school. “I am the Vice President of the AIGA Columbia. Being involved in AIGA Columbia has allowed me to connect with incredible students, teachers, and designers both within and outside of the school,” she says. “AIGA Columbia has been a consistently positive part of my time at Columbia, and I encourage anyone who is interested to join if they are looking for design feedback, extra activities to take part in, or just want to network or meet fellow designers.”
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Photography by Milan Kulic
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”it was one of those projects that made me say to myself, ‘yes, you are in the right field, and you can do this.’”
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hen asked about some of her favorite design projects, she mentions a project in her Packaging Design class where she researched the concept for a sustainable laundry detergent and then created a 3D rendering of the product. “It was great to produce a solution that allowed Tide to still look great on the shelf while reducing waste. It was one of those projects that made me say to myself, ‘Yes, you are in the right field, and you can do this,’” says Brydalski. She also mentions having worked on a t-shirt design for her Typography class, which was accepted into Columbia’s gift shop. “This project was great because it taught me about type-anatomy and about working with clients. They are still for sale if you would like to purchase one at shop.colum.edu.”
Currently, Brydalski is working on an installation project at Columbia’s C33 Gallery called “Artists & Models”—a Tribute to the South Side Community Art Center, a printed portfolio fashioned after the look and feel of a Vogue magazine, and an awareness campaign about the chemical BPA that is found in most paper receipts. “For this project, I hope to persuade more people to opt-in to digital receipts whenever offered at the store which will not only save paper and ink but also reduce BPA from getting into the environment and into our skin,” she says. All in all, Elsa is making the most of her Columbia experience and hopes other students will do the same. “Find what inspires you and incorporate it!”
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ABOUT Coffee Pots is Buffalo, NY brand that takes coffee pots and up-cycles them into plant potters. For this project, I created a logo and promotional branding material to help launch this beautiful brand into the hands of its customers! ROLES Graphic designer, illustrator TOOLS Procreate, InDesign DURATION 2 weeks TARGET AUDIENCE Gardening communities, hip teens and adults, eco-conscious people.
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ABOUT Savon Du Monde (French for Soap of the World) is a line of soaps designed in the spirit of creating a product that looks chic, minimalistic, and timeless. ROLES Packaging Designer TOOLS Adobe Dimensions, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop. DURATION 3 1/2 weeks TARGET AUDIENCE For those who want to add a pop of color to the bathroom sink; each hand wash an experience that pleases the senses.
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Lyrics from the Designer The Creator of Shapes A heart looks nothing like a real heart. A star looks nothing like a real star. The creators of shapes were way off. A square is also a rectangle. A diamond is also a square, just turned a little An octagon is also a circle It has some rough edges but its lines are so subtle.
A line and a triangle fell in love and made an arrow A line and a triangle fell in love and made an arrow A line and a triangle fell in love and made an arrow Freckles are polkadots on my skin When I breathe out, My lungs go in My eyes used to be the color of ice, Now I see they’re just the color of tin, oh. A line and a triangle fell in love and made an arrow A line and a triangle fell in love and made an arrow A line and a triangle fell in love and made an arrow Everything seems to be nothing more Than little circles, Put together in a hurry If you look too closely It becomes blurry It becomes blurry It becomes blurry
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A line and a triangle fell in love and made an arrow. -The Creator of Shapes
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CONTACT INFORMATION Website www.ElsaMaeB.com Phone 717.322.8830 Email elsamaeb24@gmail.com Social @elsamaeb
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This first edition magazine was printed by Blurb, 2021, designed in Chicago, IL on premium paper.