Working Magic: the MFA Portfolio of Rebecca Wright by Rebecca Wright

workingmagic

T h e M FA P o r t f o l i o o f REBECCA WRIGHT

All Rights Reser ved. No par t of this book may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, i n c l u d i n g e l e c t r o n i c o r m e c h a n i c a l p h o t o c o p y i n g , w i t h o u t p r i o r w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n o f t h e o w n e r.

REBECCA WRIGHT

PUBLISHER

( 76 0 ) 6 1 3 -1 3 4 5

Blurb

rebeccawrights@gmail.com w w w. r e b e c c a - w r i g h t . c o m

PA PER

Mohawk Super fine Eggshell Ultrawhite M FA P r o g r a m 2 0 10 – 2 0 14

T Y PEFACES

Galaxie Polaris Graphic Design Department

Fette Frak tur

Academy of Ar t Universit y 79 New Montgom er y

PHOTOGRAPHY

S a n F r a n c i s c o C A , 9 41 14

Shawn Clark Rebecca Wright Andrew Pariser

To t h o s e w h o s u p p o r t e d m e , no matter what shape my dreams took . Thank you.

CO N T EN T S

Introduction

page

Angel Island and Its Ghosts page

GeoCities: A New Kind of Neighborhood page

Around the Table

page

Exploring Stories

page

Inuktitut

page

Designing Sacred Spaces page

Grinning Under Murky Skies page

What You Make of It

page

Drumlin Farm

page

10. 11.

Typographic Murmuration page

109

Same Moon (Thesis Project) page

125

Introduction

what

an astonishing thing a book is.

It’s a flat object made from a tree, with flexible parts on which are printed lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. — CA R L SAG A N

WORKING MAGIC

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M FA P O RT FO L IO

Introduction

introduction Good design, both print and digital, does

DESIGN INNOVATES Design requires

several things. Design works to accom-

approaching problems in new ways in

plish a purpose; it connects people and

order to find a solution. Designers have a

things in new and useful ways; and it

responsibility to dream big. They cannot

innovates to find new solutions that make

be afraid to do something just because it

peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives better. At its best, design

has never been done before.

does all this while also providing a delightful experience for the user or viewer.

DESIGN DELIGHTS Both visual and interaction design can create delightful

D ES IG N WO R KS Design is not just a

experiences. With gorgeous visuals,

pretty faceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;like any other tool, it works

design presents things in new or unex-

to accomplish a specific task. Using the

pected ways that surprise and excite.

science of human visual comprehension,

Design has the power to make even the

visual design and user experience design

most tedious experience easy and fun.

communicate effectively and provide an intuitive experience.

D ES IG N CO N N EC T S Design is a form of communication that conveys nuanced messages and connects people. Design makes new things possible by enabling the spread of ideas.

WORKING MAGIC

REBECCA WRIGHT

PORTFOLIO

www.rebecca-wright.com BLOG

www.pixelandpilcrow.com TWITTER

@rebecca_wrights L I N K E D I N .com

/in/rebeccaawright

<SEC TION > < H 1 > R E B EC C A< / H 1 > < A R T I C L E I D = " S K I L L S E T " > < L I > CSS< / L I > < L I > HTML5< / L I > < L I > Basic Javascript and jQuery< / L I > < /A R T I C L E > < A R T I C L E I D = " E X P E R I E N C E " > < L I > Freelance Clients< / L I > < L I >Academic Projects< / L I > < L I > Personal Design Portfolio< / L I > < /A R T I C L E > < A R T I C L E > I love being able to code, because it gives me the power to bring my designs to life. It takes my work out of my computer and puts it on screens around the world. It lets me design, tweak, experiment, and perfect in the real world, rather than in hypothetical mockups. And creating delightful, beautiful interactions is so much fun. < /A R T I C L E > < /SEC TION >

M FA P O RT FO L IO

Introduction

rebecca This book in your hands is my Graphic

I love designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s combination of creativity

Design MFA Portfolio, the culmination of

and analytical thinking, of problem solv-

four years of work at the Academy of Art

ing and making something beautiful. I

University in San Francisco.

love making something that people can

I have gotten to this point in my life by a fairly circuitous path. I spent my undergraduate years at Stanford University studying Comparative Literature and Creative Writing. I have worked as an SAT Math tutor, and I taught myself to code

use and enjoy, something that makes their lives better or happier in some way. And I love using design to show people something from a new perspective, to open their eyes and help them rediscover something they thought they knew.

HTML at age 13 in order to make my own

My goal as a designer is to bring together

(horribly designed) GeoCities website.

well-thought-out experiences with well-

Along with all of that, I have always been interested in art. Growing up, I had classes in a wide variety of artistic pursuits such as watercolors, stained glass, ceramics, book binding, basket weaving and photography. These were all just hobbies to me,

crafted visuals to create products that are delightful and easy to use and that make peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives better. I care strongly about designing products that do not just look great, but that also work well to achieve their intended goal.

though, until I got sucked into a couple of

To me, being a designer feels like having

design projects in college. As I became

the power to work magic.

more and more engrossed in the projects, I realized that I had found my calling.

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Introduction

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VIII

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P R O J E C T Exploring Stories

P RO J EC T 1

exploringstories O B J EC T I V E Propose an original app

V IS UA L S The app has an old-fashioned

concept. Develop a feature list and user

travel aesthetic, using a classic safari

AUDIENCE

flows, create moodboards, conduct user

color scheme of olive and khaki. It uses

Adventerous, tech-

interviews and design wireframes to

the sans-serif Brandon Grotesque and

develop the app. The deliverable is a set

which recalls vintage typography. Clean

of pixel-perfect final screenshots that

vector graphics and simple geometric

illustrate all major app functions.

shapes give the vintage visuals a modern

DELIVERABLE

iPhone 5 App

sav v y travelers at Angkor Wat. T Y PEFACES

Chaparral Pro Brandon Grotesque

CO N C EP T The Exploring Stories app

KEY WORDS

makes planning a trip and learning about

Exploration

Angkor Wat quick, easy and fun.

Adventure Education

The functionality is divided into two cat-

Stor y telling

egoriesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;before and during the tripâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to

TEACHERS

allow easy access to the most relevant

Amir Bahadori

tasks. The app includes a map, packing

Br yan Pieratt

list and stories about Angkor Wat. It also

CLASS

features fun bonus content including a

App Design

daily bulletin of interesting facts about

SEMESTER

Angkor Wat and the ability to create and

Fall 2012

share digital postcards. Navigation is accessed by tapping the bottom left corner. A circle of icons pop up in a layout that is vaguely reminiscent of the dashboard of a vehicle, enhancing the idea that the user is on an adventure.

update. A slight dimensionality to buttons, text and icons invites the user to interact with the Exploring Stories app.

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P R O J E C T Exploring Stories

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“My ideal form of travel

“When I was in Tibet I brought a fictional

would be picking an

book that was based in a nearby Tibetan

area, a city, a country,

town, and I loved that. I felt like it gave me

and having the time to

more to talk about with people, especially

really get lost in it, and

Tibetans. I’d say “I’m reading this book, do

stumble into a lot of

you know where this lake is?” And they’d

experiences. Have some

respond “Oh yeah, my grandmother’s from

itinerary in mind, but

there.” It gave me a new perspective.”

have it vary a lot, and just let things happen.”

P R O J E C T Exploring Stories

E S — A n g ko r Wa t —

95 Days Until My Trip!

ITINERARY

Learn About Angkor

DAY

9/12/12

Itinerary

T EMPL E xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

T EMPL E

Packing

xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx DAY

T EMPL E xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

9/13 /12

Itine rary adds a lot of complic ated inte raction. Replace with a " favorites" list to simplify UX

Move to top, in a slideshow

TEMPLE

Info

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

L abel isn' t needed

Map is good, but c an icons be incorporated into the pins?

E S — A n g ko r Wa t —

Day 2 of My Trip!

I am...

I ’m ing et ne Me meo So

Getting Ready Exploring Taking a Break Meeting Someone

Ma etrk Wh e re We

This is an uninspiring layout! No sense of adventure.

I ’mxing T EM PL E la xxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxx

DAY

9/12/12

rd co re Re S h a &

Pro mpt:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

POSTCARD

T EM PL E xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

Record & Share Read More

Make Postcard

ADD GRAPHIC A D D M E S SAG E S HA R E!

Graphic is not necessary... Focus on photo and message

P R O J EC T Exploring Stories

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P R O J E C T Exploring Stories

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P R O J EC T Grinning Under Murky Skies

P RO J EC T 2

grinningunder murkyskies O B J EC T I V E Create a film festival that

V IS UA L S To capture Jeunet’s quirky,

centers around the work of a specific

somewhat macabre sense of humor and

Ticket Book

director. Identify a thematic connection

his old-fashioned, European aesthetic,

DVD Packaging

for the films, and design a system of

the festival uses dark, rich, saturated

materials that expresses the theme and

colors. Four distinctive typefaces work

Festival Program

reflects the visual style of the director.

well together—Clearface as a main font

AUDIENCE

CO N C EP T Grinning Under Murky Skies

Movie goers who

is a film festival that features five films

DELIVERABLES

Movie Poster Catalogue Book

Billboards Stationer y

want to know more about foreign films. T Y PEFACES

LHF Hensler

directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet—Amélie, Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, A Ver y Long Engagement and Micmacs.

with unusual angles and peculiar details in a serif and sans serif, Carrosserie as an accent font that feels vintage French, and LHF Hensler as another accent font that is somewhat reminiscent of a circus.

A theme in all of the films is that despite

Inspired by a scene in Amélie, photographs

ITC Clear face

depressing circumstances, the protago-

feature antique toys, tin boxes and little

Clearface Gothic

nists manage to find happiness through

knickknacks that represent the treasured

their relationships with other characters.

objects collected by a child. The images

Carrosserie

KEY WORDS

Vintage Quirky

Along with the film screenings, each day

Dark

of the festival hosts an additional event

Imaginative

for festival attendees. The first is a “Meat

TEACHERS

and Greet” with Jeunet, then a scavenger

Hunter Wimmer

hunt, which is an allusion to the festival

Christopher Morlan

theme of searching for happiness. The

CLASS

festival wraps up with a happy hour at a

Integrated

French restaurant in honor of Jeunet’s

Communications

home country.

SEMESTER

Spring 2012

have vignettes, simple compositions and richly colored and patterned backgrounds, inspired by the Polaroid photography of Elizabeth Soule. Quirky, angled, geometric shapes and corner embellishments are used throughout the design system, and layouts reference scrapbooks with newspaper clippings and black photo corners.

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P RO J EC T Grinning Under Murky Skies

Désillusion et Illusion The

Heart The Harshness

Dreaming

Despite the Night

Grinning under Murky Skies

Searchin g for Delight In Spite of Disillusionmen t

Illusion Désillusion Good Dreams

are Hard

to Come

Of Lullabies & Nightmares

Searching for delight in spite of disillusionment

Illusion et Désillusion * *

Good Dreams*are * Hard to Come By*

[ullabiesand Nightmares Searching for Delight Despite Disillusionment in the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet

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P R O J EC T Grinning Under Murky Skies

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P R O J EC T Grinning Under Murky Skies

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Interview

How do you develop your ideas? JEUNET: I work closely with my partner, Guillaume L aurant. We collect small ideas all the time; whe n we hear something f unny, beautiful or touching in real life, we take notes in a kind of book. This “book” is now inside a computer and when I start to make a f ilm, we ope n the book and choose the best details for our story. Then we c reate a ne w bo ok for the ne w f ilm , and we start to write the story only when that book is packed with ideas. Guillaume is very good with dialogue, so he writes the dialogue scenes and I write the visual scenes; it’s like a game of ping-pong.

P R O J EC T Grinning Under Murky Skies

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P R O J EC T Angel Island and Its Ghosts

P RO J EC T 3

angelisland O B J EC T I V E Design an ebook for the

V IS UA L S The visual approach conveys

iPad that presents a place of your choice.

a sense of oppressive bureaucracy, wispy

AUDIENCE

The ebook should tell a story in several

ghostliness and the natural world, which

People who are not

chapters, rather than be a sales brochure.

reflects the island’s history as well as its

Use typography in experimental, unusual

current state.

DELIVERABLE

iPad ebook

familiar with Angel I s l a n d o r i t s h i s t o r y. T Y PEFACES

ways throughout the ebook.

The ebook uses the old-fashioned sans

Stempel Schneidler

CO N C EP T Angel Island and Its Ghosts

serif Trade Gothic for its strict, bureau-

Mrs . Eaves

tells the history of Angel Island. It starts

cratic feel. For a body font, the ebook

with the first European explorers in the

uses the historical-looking characters of

KEY WORDS

Bay Area, who dropped anchor at Angel

the serif Stempel Schneidler, and Mrs.

Historical

Island, and then the tragic fate of Native

Eaves italic as an accent. There are two

American tribes who used to hunt on the

styles of typographic embellishment—

island. The ebook moves to the twentieth

censored blocks of text in Trade Gothic,

century and the struggles of Asian immi-

and excessively tracked out phrases in

grants who were detained at the island’s

tiny Mrs. Eaves italic.

Tr a d e G o t h i c

Natural Bureaucratic Ghostly TEACHER

Kathrin Blat ter CLASS

Experimental Ty p o g r a p h y SEMESTER

Spring 2012

Immigration Station. The final chapter is on the island’s current role as a California State Park. First-hand accounts are presented throughout, with the intention of making voices from the past come alive.

The color scheme alludes to the natural world and somber history of Angel Island using gray and a dark olive green, with accents of mustard, dark blue, burgundy and pale blue. Photography of Angel Island is used for imagery. Each photograph has a blurred version layered semi-transparently over the original, which creates a haloed, somewhat surreal look for the ebook.

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P R O J EC T Angel Island and Its Ghosts

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P R O J EC T Angel Island and Its Ghosts

深夜偶感夜靜微聞風嘯聲

Random Thoughts Deep at Night

形影傷情見景詠雲霧潺潺也暗天蟲聲唧唧月微明

In the quiet of the night, I heard, faintly, the whistling of wind,

悲苦相連天相遣

The forms and shadows saddened me; upon seeing the landscape, I composed a poem. The f loating clouds, the fog, darken the sky. 愁人獨坐倚窗邊 The moon shines faintly as the insects chirp. 台山余題 Grief and bitterness entwined are heaven sent.

LISTEN [0:25]

The sad person sits alone, leaning by a window. Written by Yee of Taishan

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i n

n g k i n g i t

h e

i n n D

t h e t h s

e o f

u s

o f u s t

t h

t h e o f a s

P a s h e t

s t

P R O J EC T Angel Island and Its Ghosts

n g e

n g

s l

e l

a n d

s l a

n d

a n

s A

h o s

i t s

n g e

t s

h o

s t

s l

a n d

P R O J EC T Angel Island and Its Ghosts

“” Hopefully, this Immigration Station sheds some light or gives some insipration about those issues today. People want immigration to be regulated—how should it be regulated?

That’s up to us, and the kids that are going through here, who are t welve or thirteen years old, in a few years are going to be in a voting booth deciding on it.

THE VOICE OF

Larisa Proulx,

California State Park Ranger

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P R O J EC T Inuktitut

P RO J EC T 4

inuktitut DELIVERABLES

Card Set Card Packaging AUDIENCE

People unfamiliar w i t h t y p o g r a p h y, a n d

O B J EC T I V E Design a series of ten or

V IS UA L S The twelve cards use a limited

more cards that presents a typeface of

color pallete of several pale blues, grays,

your choice and explains the principles

and a bright orange to reflect the colors

of typography using vector illustrations.

found in the icy Arctic landscape.

Choose a conceptual theme to unify the

Huronia is the only typeface, and variation

interested in culture

card set, and design appropriate packag-

o r a n t h r o p o l o g y.

ing to hold the card set.

T Y PEFACE

CO N C EP T Inuktitut is a series of twelve

tion to set text, large letterforms are used

cards on the typeface Huronia and the

as part of several of the illustrations.

Huronia KEY WORDS

language Inuktitut, which is used by the

Inuit

Inuit. Huronia, designed by Ross Mills, is

Heritage Linguistics Arctic TEACHER

David Hake CLASS

Ty p e 2 SEMESTER

Fall 2012

one of the few typefaces that provides glyph support for many Native American languages like Inuktitut. In addition to explaining the principles of typography, the card set discusses how a written language is created and why it is important for type designers to support minority languages such as Inuktitut. The cards also share Inuit culture, and some thoughts from Ross Mills about his inspiration for the design of the typeface.

is provided by different colors and fonts, including regular, bold and italic. In addi-

Many cards have repeating triangular or snowflake-shaped geometric patterns. The cards also feature simple vector illustrations of objects or animals from the world of the Inuit, including caribou, polar bears and bark canoes. The geometric form of the cards mimics the geometric shapes of the illustrations. The card set is held in a hand-made birch plywood box with a laser-cut title. A small burlap bag contains wooden letters in the Huronia typeface to accompany the cards.

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P R O J EC T Inuktitut

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a A

ᔄ

P R O J EC T Inuktitut

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P R O J EC T Inuktitut

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P R O J EC T Inuktitut

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P R O J EC T Inuktitut

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P R O J E C T W h a t Yo u M a k e o f I t

P RO J EC T 5

whatyoumake ofit O B J EC T I V E Design a book about the

V IS UA L S The book has a limited color

future of an assigned topic. Present your

scheme that reflects colors found in

AUDIENCE

vision of how the topic will change and

furniture—grays, browns, yellows, and

Designers learning

what it will be like in roughly ten years.

a bright red. Photographs are duotone

DELIVERABLE

Book

more about industrial design and furniture. T Y PEFACES

CO N C EP T What You Make of It is a 65 page book on the future of furniture. It

Conqueror Sans

discusses the topic from the perspective

Chaparral Pro

of the materials used to make furniture,

Eames Centur y Modern Stencil KEY WORDS

Material Sustainable Philosophy Furniture TEACHER

David Hake CLASS

Ty p e S y s t e m s SEMESTER

Fall 2011

to make them a more cohesive set and to focus attention on form. The images include close-ups of furniture materials and chairs in different design styles.

and how the design of furniture reflects

Typography consists of three typefaces

the philosophical beliefs of the society or

all of which were chosen for their clean

designers who created them.

yet interesting shapes, with the intention

The first chapter presents a history of furniture, with design movements such as Bauhaus and Mid Century Modern. Each movement features an iconic material—steel for Bauhaus, plywood for Mid Century Modern, et cetera.

of using typography to concentrate on form and design. Conqueror Sans is used for pull quotes, and has simple geometric shapes with unusual ligatures. Eames Century Modern Stencil is used for drop caps and chapter openers, partially as an homage to Charles and Ray Eames, but

Using arguments and examples from

also for its distinctive shapes. The main

Cradle to Cradle and Objectified, the

body text is in Chaparral, which is a serif

second and third chapters of the book

with large counters and a high x-height.

discuss how today’s furniture designers are more aware of their environmental impact. The book concludes that future furniture will be made of sustainable or biodegradeable materials.

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“The value and the legitimization of design will be, in the future, measured more in terms of how it can enable us to survive—and I don't think this is an exageration—to survive on this planet.” —Dieter Rams

P R O J E C T W h a t Yo u M a k e o f I t

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P R O J E C T GeoCities: A New Kind of Neighborhood

P RO J EC T 6

geocities O B J EC T I V E Pick a brand that is dead,

V IS UA L S The new logo is based on a

dying or defunct, and create a new vision

rounded hexagon shape, as a reference to

for it. Identify a core brand promise and

organic networks and patterns such as

extrapolate a new business direction,

beehives. The negative space inside the

then rebrand it with a logo and a full visual

hexagon forms the shape of a house, ref-

and designers at

identity system. Present the brand story,

erencing GeoCities’ new role in physical

Ya h o o ! G e o C i t i e s .

new direction, logo and brand guidelines

communities. The lowercase wordmark is

in a book and a website.

a combination of Sentinel and a custom

DELIVERABLES

Logo Brand Guideline Book Brand Website AUDIENCE

Internal employees

T Y PEFACES

Galaxie Polaris Serifa KEY WORDS

Community Te c h n o l o g y Connections TEACHER

Hunter Wimmer CLASS

Nature of Identity SEMESTER

Fall 2012

CO N C EP T The original GeoCities was a website that created virtual communities and could be called a precursor to today’s

adaptation of Berthold Akzidenz-Grotesk which has been altered to complement the Sentinel letterforms.

giant social media networks. It was shut

A color scheme of blue, yellow, green, red

down in 2009, and my brand story is that

and navy, in a collection of vivid and pastel

Yahoo! re-launched GeoCities in 2012 to

shades, create a cheery, friendly palette.

reconnect physical neighborhoods using

The rounded hexagon from the logo is the

innovative technology.

main graphic element, along with rules

The new GeoCities mission statement is “to enable communities and reconnect neighbors.” The organization will encourage community activity, develop the local economy, enable greater communication and develop relationships. It achieves its goals with innovative technological solutions and unique services.

and colored typography. Photographs are tiled inside rounded hexagonal shapes, or framed within a single large hexagon. Photographs feature everyday moments within a community, and are juxtaposed with natural patterns such as tree leaves, clouds or ripples. The typefaces are the modern, clean sans serif Galaxie Polaris, paired with the friendly slab serif Serifa in bold for titles and quotes.

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P R O J E C T GeoCities: A New Kind of Neighborhood

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P R O J EC T GeoCities: A New Kind of Neighborhood

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P R O J E C T GeoCities: A New Kind of Neighborhood

JUNE: GeoCities is relaunched after two years spent establishing a new purpose and finding a nichĂŠ in the over-saturated realm of social networks.

GeoCities is attracting 177 million visitors annually, with 15.1 million unique U.S. visitors.

MARCH: With a 11.5 million unique U.S. visitors, GeoCities had experienced a 24% decline from March 2008. A PRIL: Yahoo! announces the imminent closing of GeoCities, and stops activating any new accounts. Internet Archive announces their project to archive every GeoCities page. OC TO B ER: Yahoo! closes all GeoCities services, except in Japan.

2008

2009

2010

2012

OC TO B ER: On the one year anniversary of the temporary closing of GeoCities, Archive Team releases a 641 GB file of archived GeoCities pages.

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P R O J E C T GeoCities: A New Kind of Neighborhood

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P R O J EC T Designing Sacred Spaces

P RO J EC T 7

designingsacred

spaces

O B J EC T I V E Design a series of posters

V I S UA L S Deep, saturated colors and

that advertise a three-part lecture on a

highly detailed imagery evoke traditional

AUDIENCE

specific architectural topic of your choice.

religious architecture. Each of the posters

Architecture and

Create hand-made letterforms to use for

features a photograph of the associated

the main imagery of the posters.

word of prayer. A column on the left of

DELIVERABLES

Poster Series

anthropology students and afficionados.

CO N C EP T The three Designing Sacred

T Y PEFACES

Spaces posters advertise a lecture series

Univers

on the architecture of religious buildings.

Pullman

Each of the lectures presents a different

each poster presents a vector illustration of the design that seamlessly connects with the photograph. The juxtaposition of photograph and design brings focus to the ideas of blueprints and construction.

KEY WORDS

style of religious architecture: cathedrals,

Intricate

mosques and Buddhist or Hindu temples.

Most of the text is set in Univers, using

The lectures take place on the Stanford

its clean, well-constructed sans serif

University campus at Memorial Church.

letterforms and extensive collection of

Structural Perspective TEACHER

Kathrin Blat ter CLASS

Experimental Ty p o g r a p h y SEMESTER

Spring 2012

Three words used in the prayer or meditation rituals in each religion are used to represent the different styles of religious architecture. Each word is made out of an appropriate material—“Amen” is formed in stained glass, “Om” is cut from wood, and “Allahu Akbar” is part of a tile mosaic.

alternate weights. The poster title is set in the geometric and distinctive typeface Pullman. The text is arranged together in a structured group, with strict columns and extreme variations in leading that provide visual contrast and give a sense of building blocks.

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S TA N F O R D U N I V E R S I T Y MEMORIAL CHURCH

9.13.2012 DOOR S OP E N AT 4 P M

designing

sacred spaces

Come to the firs t of three ARCHITEC TURE LEC TURES on religious buildings that use dif ferent methods to d e s ign s p a c e s f or p r aye r and worship : CATHEDRALS, MOSQUES, and TEMPLES.

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P R O J EC T Designing Sacred Spaces

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P R O J EC T Designing Sacred Spaces

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c at h edr a ls

WEEK 1

mo s qu e s

WEEK 2

t em p l e s

WEEK 3

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REBECCA WRIGHT

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P R O J E C T Drumlin Farm

P RO J EC T 8

drumlinfarm O B J EC T I V E Choose an educational

V IS UA L S The website design evokes

or artistic nonprofit organization with a

a family-friendly farm atmosphere. The

AUDIENCE

poorly designed website. Redesign their

color scheme is filled with earth tones

Drumlin Farm visitors ,

website, reorganizing it if necessary, and

including moss green, mustard, dusky

build a working version of the new site.

blue, rust orange, and brown.

DELIVERABLE

Website

customers and farm program attendees.

CO N C EP T Drumlin Farm is a working

The typeface Meta, hosted by Typekit and

Meta

principles. The illustrations convey the

humanist shapes. The combination of the

sense of graceful movement and fluidity

modern sans serif Meta and classically

that is seen in murmurations.

old-fashioned serif Centaur demonstrate

Centaur KEY WORDS

Abstract

the range of different letterforms.

Fluid

The content starts with the design devel-

Movement

opment of letterforms, then discusses

Graceful, arching lines flow across the

the different categories of typefaces,

page, and patterns of parallel solid and

the design of font families, and the art of

dotted lines convey a sense of forward

setting type. It aims not only to explain

movement. Flocks of Meta letterforms,

the rules of typography, but also to give a

created using a flocking simulator in

sense of the hard work and skill involved

Processing, gather along the lines and

in designing typefaces and setting type,

cover the endpapers. Large, black let-

and the tradition behind the nuances in

terforms bleed into one another in bold

the written form of our language.

illustrations of typographic principles.

TEACHER

David Hake CLASS

Ty p e 2 SEMESTER

Fall 2012

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REBECCA WRIGHT

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P R O J E C T Ty p o g r a p h i c M u r m u r a t i o n

murmuration [mur-muh-rey-shuhn] noun

1. an act or instance of murmuring 2. a flock of starlings

REBECCA WRIGHT

A g Az

M FA P O RT FO L IO

P R O J E C T Ty p o g r a p h i c M u r m u r a t i o n

FLOCK FLOCK; PFONT F;

S T R I N G L E T T E R S = " abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"; INT NUMLET TERS = LET TERS.LENGTH ( );

VOID SETUP ( ) { S I Z E ( 1 6 0 0, 1 0 0 0 ) ; FLOCK = NEW FLOCK( ); F = C R E AT E F O N T ( " MetaOT-Light",1 2 ,T R U E ) ; T E X T F O N T ( F,1 2 ) ; FILL(0);

// ADD AN INITIAL SET OF BOIDS INTO THE SYSTEM

FOR (INT I = 0; I < 5000; I+ +) { F L O C K . A D D B O I D ( N E W B O I D ( R A N D O M ( 0,width) , R A N D O M ( 0, height) ) ) ; } }

INT FR AME = 0; V O I D D R AW ( ) { IF (FR AME > 10) { FR AME = 0; } IF (FR AME == 0) { B A C KG R O U N D ( 2 5 5 ) ; } FLOCK.RUN ( ); FR AME+ +; }

// ADD A NEW BOID INTO THE SYSTEM

V O I D mousePressed( ) { F L O C K . A D D B O I D ( N E W B O I D ( mouseX, mouseY) ) ; }

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P R O J E C T Ty p o g r a p h i c M u r m u r a t i o n

Playing golf on Cape Ann in October I saw something to remember. Ripe apples were caught like red fish in the nets of their branches. The maples were colored like apples, part orange and red, part green. The elms, already transparent trees, seemed swaying vases full of sky. The sky was dramatic with great straggling V’s of geese streaming south, mare’s-tails above them. Their trumpeting made us look up and around. The course sloped into salt marshes, and this seemed to cause the abundance of birds. As if out of the Bible or science fiction, a cloud appeared, a cloud of dots like iron filings which a magnet underneath the paper undulates. It dartingly darkened in spots, paled, pulsed compressed, distended, yet held an identity firm: a flock of starlings, as much one thing as a rock One will moved above the trees the liquid and hesitant drift. Come nearer, it became less marvelous, more legible, and merely huge. “I never saw so many birds!” my friend exclaimed.

7/6 P T

7/8 P T

7/10 P T

7/16 P T

We returned our eyes to the game. Later, as Lot’s wife must have done, in a pause of walking, not thinking of calling down a consequence, I lazily looked around. The rise of the fairway above us was tinted, so evenly tinted I might not have noticed but that at the rim of the delicate shadow the starlings were thicker and outlined the flock as an inkstain in drying pronounces its edges. The gradual rise of green was vastly covered; I had thought nothing in nature could be so broad but grass. And as I watched, one bird, prompted by accident or will to lead, ceased resting; and, lifting in a casual billow, the flock ascended as a lady’s scarf, transparent, of gray, might be twitched by one corner, drawn upward and then, decided against, negligently tossed toward a chair: the southward cloud withdrew into the air. Long had it been since my heart

7/10 P T

7/6 P T

7/14 P T

had been lifted as it was by the lifting of that great scarf.

THE GREAT SCARF OF BIRDS BY JOHN UPDIKE

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P R O J E C T Ty p o g r a p h i c M u r m u r a t i o n

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P R O J EC T Same Moon ( Thesis Project)

T H ES IS P RO J EC T

samemoon O B J EC T I V E Make travel more meaning-

V IS UA L S Same Moon is a global brand

ful by creating cross cultural connections

that creates connections between differ-

Demo Videos

between travelers and locals at popular

ent cultures. A simple, elegant logo with

Guest Packets

tourist destinations.

different quote marks communicates the

DELIVERABLES

Website Ebook App

Ta b l e S i g n s Stationer y Host Booklet Pamphlet Social Media AUDIENCE

Tr a v e l e r s f r o m

Travel has the potential to be a meaningful, eye-opening, and even educational experience. And yet so often it ends up being a series of superficial photo-ops, with tourists focused on taking “bragging

18 to 28 who are

rights” photos to post online. Even if trav-

establishing their

elers are interested in getting to know

travel habits and open to new ideas. T Y PEFACES

Ideal Sans Nexus Mix Skitch Strangelove KEY WORDS

Discover y Communication

the local culture and local people, it can

bright color scheme of blues, green, yellow, orange and gray is open and friendly without being overly bold or intense. The main typeface is the humanist sans serif Ideal Sans, and typographic accents are in the serif Nexus Mix and the rougher sans serifs Skitch and Strangelove.

be difficult to find a way to connect with

Visually, Same Moon uses patterns from

them in the limited time travelers have.

textiles and cultural handicrafts, portraits

CO N C EP T Same Moon fosters greater global understanding and mutual respect by making it easier for travelers to learn about the culture they are visiting and connect with locals. Two main initiatives

Perspective

do this—World Chats, a series of casual

Diversity

meet ups that provide a fun, structured

Global

idea of different voices in conversation. A

of diverse people from around the world, and landscapes or buildings featuring rich, detailed patterns. The main graphic elements are circles, a 13-degree angle used to layer patterns and other images next to one another, and the word “hello” written in many different languages.

evening of conversation for travelers

The digital aesthetic is flat, with simple

ADVISORS

and locals to get to know each other, and

icons. A few subtle details increase the

Phil Hamlett

Exploring Stories, a series of interactive

visual appeal of the flat design including

cultural guidebooks that share different

very slight embossing on map pins, and

perspectives on famous landmarks.

gradients on buttons.

David Hake Ariel Gray

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P R O J EC T Same Moon ( Thesis Project)

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“Travel can be extremely meaningful as a tool for real global understanding.”

“There was no emphasis at all on local culture. It was only “take them out to see the ruins” or “get them drunk”. There was a huge buffer between the resorts and the local people, and it was very hard to meet people who weren’t working for you or trying to sell you something.”

P R O J EC T Same Moon ( Thesis Project)

“The key is to create real, shared experiences and to get as close as you can to the people and to their culture.”

“I did, however, enjoy it when locals came up to me and started chatting as a way to practice

“I agree wholeheartedly with you that most people who travel are not really engaging fully with the

their English—that led to some interesting conversations.”

people and with the place that they are in.”

“Sadly, interaction with the locals tends to be “I find the pursuit of places virtually

limited in my previous expeditions abroad.”

pointless, not that interesting to me. It’s people and experiences that I look for.”

“...It led me to realize how much of the tourist experience is constructed, a purposfully created thing. ... What is the purpose of travel? What are you trying to get at when you travel?”

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P R O J EC T Same Moon ( Thesis Project)

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P R O J EC T Same Moon ( Thesis Project)

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136

“Wheresoever yo u

go, go

with

all your heart.” k

Confucius

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P R O J EC T Same Moon ( Thesis Project)

P RO J EC T Same Moon (Thesis Project)

“

It is a lway s our own self that we

find journey.” at t h e e n d

of the

�� l

Ella Maillart

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REBECCA WRIGHT

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Finis

gratitude I could not have gotten to where I am

My teachers, Hunter, Phil, David, Kathrin,

today without a lot of help and support.

Christopher, Bob, Michelle, Ariel, Bryan

My eternal gratitude to:

and Amir, for sharing their time and their

My parents, Chris and Sarah, for encour-

design expertise.

aging me to follow my dreams, providing

Chris, Trip, Jimmy, Izzy, Vanda, Richard,

never-ending moral support and making

Andrew, Grace, Jared, Potch, Jared and

this possible in the first place.

Cat, for letting me pick their brains and

Andrew, for being everything. Ruth and Jerry, Howard and Mary, for believing in me and constantly making new connections for me. Grace, Jared, Potch, Justin and Andrew, for putting up with my madness, my mess and my odd hours throughout the years, and giving me the encouragement to get through it all. Potch, Andrew and Justin for being my technical support team. Alex, for help with lasers. Potch, for coming through in a pinch and being an excellent public speaker.

serve them dinner. Lavinia, Lynn, Potch, Jared and Scott, for talking to me about travel. Brett, Jason, Andrew, Stephanie, Grace, Rob, Chris, Aubrey, Vansuka, Demah, Kim, Nathalie, Kenny, Becca and everyone who came to the inaugural World Chats event to talk, eat, drink and have a good time. Shawn Clark for photography and Elliott Sidey for videography. For all the support from everyone, thank you, thank you, thank you!

it’s

not what you look at that

matters, it’s what you see. — H EN RY DAV ID T H O R E AU

what

an astonishing thing a book is.

It’s a flat object made from a tree, with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. —CARL SAGAN

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