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Portfolio Kayla Szczepanik
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Artist Statement
Artist Statement This is a portfolio filled with all of what I have produced this semester in my graphic design class. Not only have I learned a numerous amount of information from both my professor and classmates, but I have learned a lot about myself. I have found with much research comes great designs that contain both meaning and process behind them. It takes time to get a design looking fantastic and they are almost never completely finished, alwaus needing constant editing and changes made to them. I hope that you enjoy my body of work and learn a little bit about who I am as a designer.
Table of Contents
Alexey Brodovitch // Scale 1898-1971 Scale is a American very important factor when it comes to graphic deRoots of Modern Design
1925-1950
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Project 05
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JAVASCRIPT
Exercise 04
Alexey Brodovitch may have had a very succesful career, however his family life was opposite. Many said he was very unhappy. In the 1950’s he also had a string of house fires that destroyed much of his work including his paitings, archives, and expansive library. He continued to teach his knowledge of design, however left Bazaar in 1958 and retreated back to France where he later died just over a decade later. 01
saving bandwidth + strain
Exercise 03
Project 04
Exercise 02
Project 03
Project 02
Exercise 01
Project 01
sign. During the critique in our last class, I noticed that my design was lacking this. I learned by exploring other students’ designs and reading “GraphicisDesign: The New howcontribute successful as designs be Alexey Brodovitch best known for Basics”, his 25 year an artcan director for when they utilize this sense of scale. It allows for a broader variety Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. Originally from Russia, Brodovitch moved to Paris and22. also creates strong sense of manipulation the original logo when he was There hethat designed for restaurants and of created poster adthat we are looking for. I am planning on incorporating the cropping to vertisements. When he came to the United States in 1930 he decided to bring implyofscale technique This is when ontrained the page his knowledge modern style into that my he work. had learned with objects him. He many bleed off, creating an illusion of the object being very large. students the art of design that was going on in Europe. I found that the reading allowed to explore this technique A huge part of Brodovitch’s designs dealt me heavily with photography. and learn how to be successful in myincluded own workLeslie when Gill, utilizing it. Some of hismore favorite photographers to work with Richard One partHis thatmain I found easily to making identify with was when it talkedboringness. about Avedon, and Hiro. focus was designs that lacked first printing usually being unpleasantly surprising. If someonethe presented something that did not interest him, heSeeing hated things it. Howevon a computer screen usually never look exactly as they would er, when something engaged him, even if it was not the best craft, hewhen enjoyed printed. It gave an example of using a small point font that would easit. Not only did he work for Bazaar, Brodovitch also worked on a magazine ily be seenThe on amagazine computer screen, however when it wouldartists look and known as Portfolio. contained articles onprinted outstanding rather small and menacing. I have definitely learned in this graphic deBrodovitch was in charge of the design and finding the content for it. Although sign course that it takes many drafts printsimpression. to find the best design only 3 issues were distributed, Portfolio left aand lasting and layout for a final piece.
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“We learn by making mistakes. We must be critical of ourselves and 36have the 46 courage 50 to start 54 all over again after each failure. Only then do we really absorb, really start to know.” 02
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Project 01
Form as a Typology / What is Graphic Design? With the addition of lights and graphic design into the Railyard this past year, the block of construction was transformed into a hip and lively atmosphere that so many enjoy today. By using Google maps, I was able to locate the block of area that I desired to study, allowing me to closely observe the area like I had never done before. I have always thought of myself as a person who is observant to her surroundings, however this project challenged me to be more observant than ever. During my study, I identified many unique pieces of graphic design and began to understand the different aspects and history that belonged to the specific block. This got me thinking, not only about the block I was studying, but also all the other blocks in the city and how the graphic design in those were specific to that block. Since the block that I chose to study was so recently constructed, a perfect idea was created behind it, this idea of “Lighting up the Railyard”. To express this theme, I decided to focus on light up signs, print signs, and light poles to prove how much graphic design plays on populating a certain area and it is because of these designs that the Railyard is as lively as it is today. By showcasing this theme of “Lighting up the Railyard” by showcasing the lights, the theme is easily identified, creating a great solution to the above stated problem. Because the problem was identified, lots of time went into observation, and an overall solution was found, this project was successful.
Project 01
Location - The Railyard in Lincoln, NE
Subheading 26pt
sign
Light Up Signs
index
Project 01
Final Matrices
subjective
objective
micro
macro
denotative
mataphor
core
connotative
sign
connotative
denotative
core
macro
metaphor
index
Light Up Signs
sign
objective
subjective
macro
denotative
core
connotative
micro
micro
subjective
Light Up Signs
objective
index
metaphor
Project 01 Final Typologies- Street Lights
Final Typologies- Print Signs
Exercise 01
Outlining of Chapters in “Graphic Design: The New Basics”
// S // Scale Scale is a very important factor when it comes to graphic design. During the critique in our last class, I noticed that my design was lacking this. I learned by exploring other students’ designs and reading “Graphic Design: The New Basics”, how successful designs can be when they utilize this sense of scale. It allows for a broader variety and also creates that strong sense of manipulation of the original logo that we are looking for. I am planning on incorporating the cropping to imply scale technique into my work. This is when objects on the page bleed off, creating an illusion of the object being large. I found that the reading allowed me to explore this technique more and learn how to be successful in my own work when utilizing it. One part that I found easily to identify with was when it talked about the first printing usually being unpleasantly surprising. Seeing things on a computer screen usually never look exactly as they would when printed. It gave an example of using a small point font that would easily be seen on a computer screen, however when printed it would look rather small and menacing. I have definitely learned in this graphic design course that it takes many drafts and prints to find the best design and layout for a final piece.
Sca sign. During lacking this. “Graphic De when they u and also cre that we are l imply scale t bleed off, cre I fou more and lea One part tha the first print
// Time and Motion
Time and Motion are two principles that are important to the project that we are currently working on in class. It is one thing to create an interesting new logo, however to make an evolution from the original to the new logo is definitely challenging. In the reading, I found it very helpful when it was discussing about the importance of storyboarding. They also talked about spending just as much time on the middle frames as the ones in the beginning and end.This is one problem that I definitely need to address and work on in order to make the frames in between as visually interesting as the beginning and end frames. To make my motion graphic interesting, I have been working with the changes in position, rotation, and scale. Utilizing the three of these changes will allow for my evolution to be more visually interesting and contain a strong amount of variety. I do not plan on using the change in shape effect because I want to stick with the similar style of the original logo. I believe that using these techniques to create time and motion will allow my evolution to be very successful.
Exercise 01
Outlining of Chapters in “Graphic Design: The New Basics�
// Figure Ground Figure Ground relationship is the technique of utilizing both the positive and negative space in a design. Designs that keep a balance between the positive and negative space are most of the time very successful because they help stimulate the eyes of the viewer. They keep them wondering and interested in what they are looking at. Viewers become very attracted to the design when they can put together patterns and compose with forms that are created in the negative space. Utilizing both the positive and negative space is one technique that I try to work with in many of my designs. I love the idea of creating interest in the negative space because it feels almost rewarding. In project three, I utilized more negative space to balance out my logo by separating the one square from the original into four smaller squares, leaving negative space in between to create that implied line. Overall I believe that the new logo that I created still reflects that of the original however I was able to rebalance it in a new and exciting way.
Project 02
Form as Language/ Designing Visual Communications Presented with this assignment, there was a vast amount of variety. The first call to action was finding interesting materials that would come together to make a unique and eye catching piece. With little restrictions, I first sought off to find print materials at the University Library. The most luck came with looking through books of photographers, especially older imagery. This really interested me. My idea came about after I found a great photograph of a vacant park with vibrant greens and a hillside in the background. When sketching, I also became fascinated by the designs I was creating using sharpie as my material. By adding the two elements together of the park and a sharpie drawn cityscape, a theme was created, this idea of buildings and cities taking over the parks and land of the world. To make the point more intense, protestors were added into the foreground, creating a high contrast between the color of the landscape and the black and white photos of the people. This created a strong tension between themes of this idea of moving forward with buildings being constructed and the idea of keeping nature’s land simplistic and beautiful. The audience this book is targeting is that of those who are environmentally cautious and love the beauty of nature that is less civilized. This project was a success because not only do the layering of elements create a beautiful composition, but there is also a strong theme to go alongside it that tells a story and keeps the viewer interested.
Project 02
Elements of the Design (Scanned, found, and drawn)
Landscape Design
Taking Over
Taking Over
“From the heart, Calvin Whitfield has written an honest, straight-forward memoir about growing up during a transformative era in the history of New Rochelle, NY - and America. His reminiscences of his childhood years provide a unique glimpse into the post World War II culture that was fostered by the people and the setting of the MacLeay (“City Park”) Municipal Housing Projects, while also relating a personal perspective that is filled with engaging details and keen perspectives. Taking Over serves as a genuine testament to the power of a strong community, and the life-altering influence of sagacious, caring mentors.” -Barbara Davis; City of New Rochelle Historian
Project 02 Final Book Design
Whitfield
“What a great story of a time in our lives when we lived in a place that seemed isolated from the rest of the world. City Park for me was straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting and that’s the image and memory that’s etched in my mind, and that’s what this book reminds me of.” -Derryck Bailey; Childhood friend
Calvin Whitfield, born and raised on the outskirts of NYC in New Rochelle, has written a raw and inspirational story about a suburban paradise, and the social influences that perpetrated its destruction. Whitfield gives a unique and compelling perspective into the life of his childhood while growing up in an environment that reflects the values of a utopian community. By contrast, he gives powerful insight into the issues of drug use, domestic violence, building construction, and the system of welfare, that would eventually transform his life, those of his community, and forever change their way of living.
Mockup
Project 03
Form as Identity / Logo Transformation Project 3 took a whole lot of trial and error. In the reading, this concept of seeing things on a computer screen and them differing when printed was crucial. Many prints were needed to ensure that the evolution was successful and utilizing the forces acting on the symbol to ultimately form a brand new logo. In the first attempts, I focused mostly on movement, however noticed that to keep viewers interested, it was necessary for me to add change in scale and utilize the frame. These techniques added more movement throughout the evolution and interest. Many trials took place to find the final evolution because of the large amount of variety that could be created within those seven frames. One thing that I kept in mind was keeping similar characteristics to the original symbol. Something that I really wanted to utilize into the new symbol was the use of more positive and negative space. By seperating the one square from the original into four seperate segments, the new symol was able to form many implied lines, creating visual interest. According to the reading, when people are able to make use of negative space, they find enjoyment and liking towards the design. It also added depth and variety to the final symbol which made it very successful. Keeping both logos the same weight was also important to show their consistency. Overall, I think that the final logo and evolution were successful. They show lots of trial and error and also a strong composition that many will find interesting and will keep them looking.
Project 03 Original Logo
Sketches
Project 03 Redesigned Logo
wing it using Illusew symbol
wing it using Illusew symbol
wing it using Illusew symbol
ew symbol
Evolution Process
ymbol
Project 03 Final Design of Evolution
Exercise 02 Color Theory
template 01 monochromatic
template 01 analogous
template 01 contrasting pairs of conditions
Exercise 02 Color Theory
template 01 triad
template 01 complimentary
template 01 custom
Project 04
Type + Image / Page Layout and the Grid In this project, much research and exploring took place, focusing constantly on the grid system.The most important step in the beginning was finding a great variety of typefaces in found objects such as magazines and library books. It was important to find body text, headings both big and small, and text that was also unique and eye catching. By putting a lot of research and effort into finding these, the ultimate design became more and more successful. I found balance to also be very important because in page design the eye finds a liking in the entire page being balanced throughout it. In the first stage of pinning it up, I found it to also be important to have clean edges throughout the text and also clean up the background so that it was pure white, not creating any distractions. Also, elminating the reading of actual words on the pages was a way to keep the viewer from getting distracted and want to start reading as they were looking at the design. Another large factor that I did not think about early on was sequencing. The order of the 8x8 designs was crucial to creating a large body of work that flowed through one another and looked cohesive. By thinking about this later on I knew I was going to need more mockups to add into some of the ones I already had in order to create this sense of flow. Overall, I believe that the final pieces were very successful with much research and the amount of process that took place to produce them.
Project 04 The Grid
Sketches
Project 04 Found Type
Project 04 Mock-Ups Using the Grid
Project 04 Final Design
Exercise 03 Language of Inter-Activity
Javascript For a class exercise, we were paired up and given a topic from a list of inter-activity language. We had a little less than one hour to research our topic and make a power point that was visually appealing.We had slides of information as a resource, however they were compiled with too much information on each page and lacked any sort of image or graphic. My partner and I decided to keep the same organization that the resource information was in, however we made sure to spread the points out onto several different slides.We also knew we needed to add fun graphics to get the point across and grab the audiences attention. We chose a simple sans serif typeface and kept all of our textual information aligned left. The last part of the assignment was to find a couple examples that used Javascrit successfully. One of our favorite sites was that of a portfolio website that used creative scrolling effects and allowed the viewer to play around and be entertained. The assignment was very useful in learning how to put a small amount of information together in a strong visually compelling way with little time. It also was beneficial getting to work with a partner and learning the best ways to split up the work load and present it all together successfully.
saving bandwidth + strain
JAVA
Advanta
JavaScript [JS], is a computer programming language. common in server-side programming, game development and the creation of desktop apps useful with on screen visual effects
Close to English DOM Model
saving bandwidth + strain
JAVASCRIPT
What is it?
Exercise 03 Language of Inter-Activity
Easy to learn
Code is executed on the user’s processor instead of the web server, thus saving bandwidth and strain on the web server
JAVASCRIPT
Advantages
Prewritten functionality to the various objectives on pages, it’s a breeze to develop a script to solve a custom purpose
http://www.narrowdesign.com/
Updates are seen almost instantly on the web
http://highrise.nfb.ca/
Doesn’t hog up memory
https://www.pinterest.com/ http://www.drawastickman.com/
JAVASCRIPT
Advantages
JAVASCRIPT
Advantages
JAVASCRIPT
Awesome Examples
Exercise 04
Graphic Design History / Authorship
xey Brodovitch 8-1971
Modern American Design
1925-1950
Alexey Brodovitch ch is best known for his 25 year contribute as an art director for
Alexey Brodovitch is best known for his 25 year contribute as Magazine. Originally an from Russia, Brodovitch moved to Paris art director for Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. Originally from Russia, . There he designed Brodovitch for restaurants and created moved to Paris when he was 22.poster There he addesigned for restaurantsStates and created advertisements. When to he came to the hen he came to the United inposter 1930 he decided bring United States in 1930 he decided to bring his knowledge of modern f modern style that he had learned him. He trained many style that he had learnedwith with him. He trained many students the art of design that was going on in Europe. of design that was going on in Europe. A huge part of Brodovitch’s designs dealt heavily with photogrt of Brodovitch’s designs dealt heavily with photography. raphy. Some of his favorite photographers to work with included Lesorite photographers to with included Richard lie work Gill, Richard Avedon, and Hiro.Leslie His main Gill, focus was making designs that lacked boringness. If someone presented something that did not o. His main focus was making designs that lacked boringness. interest him, he hated it. However, when something engaged him, even ented something thatif itdid interest he hated it. did Howevwasnot not the best craft,him, he enjoyed it. Not only he work for Bazaar,ifBrodovitch also worked on a magazine as Portfolio. The hing engaged him, even it was not the best craft,known he enjoyed magazine contained articles on outstanding artists and Brodovitch was e work for Bazaar, Brodovitch also worked on a magazine in charge of the design and finding the content for it. Although only 3 lio. The magazine contained articlesPortfolio on outstanding artists and issues were distributed, left a lasting impression. Alexey Brodovitch maycontent have had a for very it. succesful career, hown charge of the design and finding the Although ever his family life was opposite. Many said he was very unhappy. In the ere distributed, Portfolio a lasting impression. 1950’sleft he also had a string of house fires that destroyed much of his work a including paitings, archives, and expansive library. He odovitch may have had very his succesful career, however hiscontinued to teach his knowledge of design, however left Bazaar in 1958 and pposite. Many said he was very unhappy. In the 1950’s he also retreated back to France where he later died just over a decade later. ouse fires that destroyed much of his work including his paitnd expansive library. He continued to teach his knowledge of left Bazaar in 1958 and retreated back to France where he er a decade later. 01
Exercise 04
Graphic Design History / Authorship
Alexey Brodovitch 1898-1971 Roots of Modern American Design
1925-1950
Alexey Brodovitch is best known for his 25 year contribute as an art director for Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. Originally from Russia, Brodovitch moved to Paris when he was 22. There he designed for restaurants and created poster advertisements. When he came to the United States in 1930 he decided to bring his knowledge of modern style that he had learned with him. He trained many students the art of design that was going on in Europe. A huge part of Brodovitch’s designs dealt heavily with photography. Some of his favorite photographers to work with included Leslie Gill, Richard Avedon, and Hiro. His main focus was making designs that lacked boringness. If someone presented something that did not interest him, he hated it. However, when something engaged him, even if it was not the best craft, he enjoyed it. Not only did he work for Bazaar, Brodovitch also worked on a magazine known as Portfolio. The magazine contained articles on outstanding artists and Brodovitch was in charge of the design and finding the content for it. Although only 3 issues were distributed, Portfolio left a lasting impression. Alexey Brodovitch may have had a very succesful career, however his family life was opposite. Many said he was very unhappy. In the 1950’s he also had a string of house fires that destroyed much of his work including his paitings, archives, and expansive library. He continued to teach his knowledge of design, however left Bazaar in 1958 and retreated back to France where he later died just over a decade later. 01
“We learn by making mistakes. We must be critical of ourselves and have the courage to start all over again after each failure. Only then do we really absorb, really start to know.” -Alexey Brodovitch 02
Work
01 Alexey Brodovitch. (n.d.). AIGA. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.aiga.org/medalist-alexeybrodovitch/ 02 Saturday’ s quote! | marilou. (n.d.). marilou. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.lillyspapillon.com/2012/04/saturday-s-quote.html
Hiro
RIchard Avedon
Leslie Gill
Influential Photographers
Project 05
When brainstorming how to design this portfolio, I looked at many examples on both Issuu and Pinterest to get my mind working. One strong common factor that I found in portfolios that worked very well was their simplicity. By incorporating very little elements and keeping all fonts and placement similar, the viewer is not distracted away from the work and is much more engaged. For my design I decided to use the typeface Gill Sans from the list. Right away I liked the look and feel of it and thought that it would match my design very well. It has a modern look to it. When I researched more about the typeface I found out some even greater reasons as to why it would work well in my portfolio. Gill Sans was created in 1928 by a designer who went by the name of Eric Gill. He was a very creative individual, like myself. The roots of the typeface are traced back to a teacher of his that created an advertisement for an underground railroad 1918. After reading up on the history I knew it would be great for my portfolio because I am currently persuing a career in advertising. For the layout aspect of the portfolio I decided to try and spread out my work onto numerous pages. Having all white pages with a simple header at the beginning of each section of work allows for the viewer to not get lost in the design of the portfolio but instead look at the work. The grid that worked best for this was that of four columns split horizontally in the middle. Overall I believe that this portfolio was very successful. I believe that I allowed for the viewer to have an enjoyable experience and put their main focus on my work.
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Form + Content = Designed Portfolio
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The End Thank you for your time