c i h p a r G s y e n r u o J Meghan Lamb
ART 130 - Fall 2017 St. Norbert College
“Don’t be governed by the grid, govern the grid.” - Massimo Vignelli
Table of Contents D*School ............ Dot/Line ............ Hand Lettering ..... Object Iterations ..... Dataviz ............... Presentation ........... Other Sketches ........ Q&A ................ Colophon ...............
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 16
D*School
Why this project? The reason for completing a “D-school crash course�
was so that we as young designers could learn to manage and use our time in a structured, fast-paced manner. By following this process, we were forced to come up with things on the spot and then move forward with these ideas to make our ideas a three-dimensional reality for our partners. Engaging with a real person allowed me to move past certain points that I was stuck on. Even if neither of us were generating a huge amount of ideas, we still were able to feed off each other so that we could keep moving forward with the design process. I believe that Final iteration on paper showing unfinished work helped because it allowed me to brainstorm on how it could be even better, rather than dwelling on just what it was already. I enjoyed the fast pace because it took away any time that would otherwise have been used for stalling or dull thinking. By moving quickly, I felt the pressure to keep Feedback from model pushing myself on to bigger and better ideas. This also allowed me to think outside the box and just focus on whatever came to mind and run with it from there. What I would have done next would be apply the suggestions my partner gave me for my prototype. If I could go back and do something over, I would go back to the beginning and forget what I know about normal processes and just think as absurdly as possible.
01
For the final step of my D-School project, I used found materials in the classroom to make a model of my idea for my partner, which was to take his girlfriend on a romantic picnic out in nature. This was because of his want for meaningful yet low cost gifts.
02
Dot/Line
Why this project? The objective of this project was to learn how to think abstractly and represent certain words using only a limited amount of dots and lines from black and white cut paper and Gestalt Principles. The final iterations were done on 4x4 inch squares of white paper and then glued onto black foamcore.
Chaos
Stability
03
Rejection
To me, Gestalt is a well thought out combination of the basic elements of art broken down into terms that allows us to rebuild many different variations of pieces and therefore form something entirely new and unique with a heavy psychological impact. One of my biggest downfalls as an artist is being overly perfectionistic; I am definitely someone who loves spending time obsessing over small details. I like things to be exactly how I want them, but not necessarily how I originally envisioned them. I like to make it up as I go and add onto my original plans to get to where I feel successful about what I have created. I have always loved abstract art, but have never really had the opportunity to make it in a classroom setting. Because of this, I found this project very fun and challenging. I now see a process and the thought behind the making of abstract art, no matter how crazy/out there it is, it is not just random messes put together (in this case anyway, sometimes that works). I do not think it was overly difficult because like I said, I love abstract art and have always been fascinated by it. This was a great opportunity for me to really push myself to find ways to let my art and the shapes do the speaking. Now that I have done this exercise, I feel that I could go even further in finding ways that represent words or general ideas without actual illustration. A way I could do this and challenge myself further would be to expand the size of my piece and add the amount of dots/ lines that I could use. Also now that we have studied Gestalt, I feel that whenever I make or look at art, I will find a deeper meaning in what I am looking at because of all the factors that add to how the piece works as a whole.
04
Brainstorming Sketches
Hand Lettering
Why this project? To learn the
ins and outs of letters and fonts and how they can be used to communicate ideas by the appearance of the word itself, rather than just what it is spelling.
By doing hand lettering, I learned about the various intricate parts of letters that I never knew made such an impact (or even had a name, for that matter) on the overall appearance of the letter and word as a whole. The techniques I would like to spend more time exploring and continuing would be getting a very clean and consistent flow in my letters instead of the more rough and sporadic form I had in my pieces and idea sketches. What I would do next would be to pick a new word and do the same process to better get the feel of using form and content. My favorite iterations in order were: ink, photography, optional, cut paper.
05
Ink
Optional
Cut Paper
Photography
Revisions
06
Original copies
Object Iterations
Why this project? The point of doing this project was so that we could
learn how to think creativley to find many different ways to display one object, in my case, a fox. This project was also an introduction to photoshop. These iterations included: 2 master artists (I chose Elizabeth Peyton and Roy Lichtenstein), continous lines drawings, collage, type collage, and geometric. It was printed on 12x18 inch white cardstock. By doing a number of iterations of foxes, I learned that they are very reliant on several main characteristics they have, such as being red and relatively small. This made me focus heavier on other defining details because we could only work in black and white and there was a lack of sense of scale. Two main things I figured out that I could rely on were the pointy nose and ears. For me, the media that was most challenging was by far the collage iterations. This was because I struggled to find objects in magazines that specifically make a fox, not looking more like a wolf, dog, or cat. The most enjoyable was the line iteration because I love doing quick blind and modified contour drawings. I had never had the opportunity to work with photoshop before, so this introductory project was really fun for. I would love to be a professional designer after college, so learning these basic fundamental skills now will help and stay with me for many years to come. If I were to continue making more iterations, I think I would create more master artists iterations from all different backgrounds.
07
08
Final Poster
Dataviz I created visual hierarchy in my poster by creating a variation of a bar graph, with the largest festivals having the biggest “bar” and the smallest festivals having the smallest “bar”. There is also visual hierarchy in how the color backing both the main title and the “bar graph” is pink. The most important skills I gained from this project I believe were the ability to select, place, and arrange text in a visually pleasing way while getting the information across as successful as possible. As a graphic designer, this will be essential. I loved using color because I believe it can really add to the overall feel and identity you as a designer are trying to create and convey.
09
Why this project? The objective of creating these infographics was to learn to find ways to successfully communicate information while still giving the poster and display of info an aesthetically pleasing appearance. It was printed on 12x18 inch cardstock.
Most Attended Music Festivals in the U.S. AND GENERAL ADMISSION TICKET PRICES $
$$$
$$
$$
$$$
$$$ = $350 - $375 $$ = $320 - $340 $ = $280 - $310 $
$$$
Austin City Limits Firefly Lollapalooza Outside Lands Coachella Governor’s Ball Sasquatch! 450K 360K 300K 210K 198K 150K 110K SOURCES: Forbes, Billboard, Festival Representatives
First Sketches
First iteration
Most Attended Music Festivals in the U.S. AND GENERAL ADMISSION TICKET PRICES
$
$$$
$$
$$
$$$
$$$ = $350 - $375 $$ = $320 - $340 $ = $280 - $310
$
$$$
Austin City Limits Firefly Lollapalooza Outside Lands Coachella Governor’s Ball Sasquatch! 450K 360K 300K 210K 198K 150K 110K PEOPLE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
SOURCES: Forbes, Billboard, Festival Representatives
10
Final iteration
Designer Presentation What drew me towards Massimo Vignelli was his influence on 20th century modern American design. He was beyond successful in his field and did it all with his wife at his side, helping and pushing him along the way. Together, they have been highly versatile in design, extending their work beyond just graphic design to encompass consumer products, furniture, clothing, architecture and even the interior of a church. I was fairly nervous to present in front of class in Pecha Kucha style (20 seconds for each slide), but once I got going after a few slides, I started to enjoy myself. If I were to do further research on another designer, I would probably choose Paula Scher because of how much I love the energy and vibrance in her work.
11
Why this project? The
reason we took a break from designing in class to do presentations on famous modern designers was because of the way that these individuals have changed the game of design. Without them and their influence, the design world would not be the way it is today. This is why it is vital that we study these famous designers.
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Other Sketches From the Semester
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Q&A
Q: Are you called to creative work? If so, how do you recognize that calling? A: Yes, I believe I am. I’ve always loved art and creative work, but never knew how to make it work in my life. I came into college as a Biology major with plans to be a doctor, but I was never really that into it. Second semester of freshman year, I switched to a major in Graphic Design, and my life literally has not been the same since. I am so much happier in this field creating things and having the opportunity to not have to follow strict boarders. It is truly so wonderful! I have since been creating even more work, both inside and outside of classes, searching for, looking for, and learning more about art and graphic design, and have even taken on the job of student curator in the Clubhouse Gallery here at St. Norbert. I could not be happier with my decision to follow my call and cannot wait to see where it takes me! Q: If you were guaranteed it would support you financially, what would you want to design or make for a living? A: I would absolutely love to create graphics for the music industry. Whether that be posters, flyers, album covers, logos, etc., I think it would be so exciting and rewarding to listen to someone’s music and create graphics that back up their sound and musical identity. Either that or interior design/ decorating!
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This book was made as part of Introduction to Design at St. Norbert College in the fall of 2017. Th fonts include Myriad Pro, Myriad Pro Bold Italic, Khmer MN, and Savoye LET. It was digitally printed and saddle stapled at the college’s print center. The footprint images used throughout are from Adobe Stock. All images of Massimo Vignelli from my presentation were found on Google Images. The images used to create my cover photo were found on Google Images then assembled and edited by me in Photoshop.
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But I’m not finished yet...