Bones in Flash CS4

This is one of the better videos I came across while researching how to use bones. He shows you how to add bones to an image drawn in Flash and he also shows you how to use the bind tool to make sure certain areas of said drawing don't warp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE_rGHVAjOI

paper puppets

Some of them are a little creepy...

visiting artist Crystal Wagner

A week or so ago we had Crystal Wagner as a visiting artist. It was pretty great. She installed some art in the upstairs glass cabinets by the snack area.






I am really, really glad I went to the artist presentation. Her work is amazing! I vaguely knew that screen printing and paper could become three-dimensional, but I didn't really understand quite what you could do with it. The biomorphic structures that she creates are truly impressive. I wish that I could see all of them in person, as I am sure they are even more awesome than they are in a photograph—this is definitely art that you can experience and not just look at. She mentioned an idea for an installation specifically aimed at that concept. She wants to build up from the floor and down from the ceiling in a kind of stalactite/stalagmite-esque way. Hopefully, she gets the chance to do this.
I also liked at lot of her philosophy behind her art. She believes that as individuals our perception of the world around us is never the same. Our personal rationals that we form based on our past experiences are a fabrication. However, instead of thinking of this phenomena as a disappointing lack of one ultimate truth like many others have in the past, she wants to celebrate the anomaly. She is also intrigued buy the tension between the artificial and organic, humans and machine. In some of her past imagery she does this in a more concrete way by using forms and objects that are actual representations of these ideas—human and other organic forms as well as gears and mechanical line work. As she started exploring the third dimension she continued to use these forms in an abstracted version, but the materials used to make the artwork also function to explore her ideas. She uses foamcore, Mylar, paper, metal gromits, and, strangely enough, paper lollypop sticks to build structures that are almost cellular in form and burst with life. These materials also allow her to work in a studio without any special equipment. She mentioned that while light plays a huge role in any 3D form, she wants to explore the deliberate manipulation of it in the future.

Her website is www.crystalwagner.com if you are interested in looking at some more stuff.

Final Video

Tea packaging

Barcode design

For more barcode designs check out http://www.barcoderevolution.com/home/

Stop motion animation

A group member of mine for a presentation in History and Philosophy of Design actually found this, but I thought I'd share... The type of movie might not be very related to what we're doing now, but it is still a pretty impressive bit of motion design.

Any comments are welcome. I still think the butterflies move a little awkwardly... any suggestions to improve that? Should they fly faster/slower or flap more/less? Do you think the timing with the music is OK? The ending isn't quite finished...

Thanks!

The real reason I eat vegetables

http://picturesforsadchildren.com/index.php?comicID=170

Dr. Seuss

My Type III has Dr Seuss like imagery. I was surfing the web, trying to find images to help me imitate his drawing style. I found this.

Yes.

Final website click-through

http://people.ku.edu/~mstenzel/north_cascades/home.html

Disastrous photos on PsD

http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/
My brother sent me a link to this site. He made me promise to never do this when I "become a big famous graphic design artist." So that's my new goal in life. I don't care if my designs are well known; I just want to make sure that none of them show up on this site.

The Font Bureau, Inc.

So while I was wasting time on the Internet, not working on Type homework like I was supposed to, I stumbled across the website The Font Bureau, Inc. You can choose a font from their drop down menu on the left side and and it will show you a brief history of the font, what type of media they recommend using that font for (magazine, etc.), the different styles, the characters, and a few real-life examples of how the font has been used. Some of the examples are rather horrendous... They focus mainly on fonts that are popular for magazines and newspapers. They also have a decent blog.




Why, AARP, why? Your type looks so... uncomfortable... especially the L's on "Belly Bulge." Hurk.

PostSecret

Here's a nifty site I found:

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Apparently people mail in a secret on a homemade postcard. Some of them show a pretty good relationship between type and image.

Book

So here is a book I made with some pictures I took while on my study abroad trip. Comments? See anything that I could have done to make it better? It is an accordion-style book so there are like twenty pages glued together to make a band. It can be looked at like a book or displayed fully extended so the viewer can see all the pictures at once.

I was able to print an almost seamless texture on the back. Yay for printers that feed and print accurately. Unfortunately, I got some glue where it wasn't supposed to be and while I was prying apart some pages I tore a small hole. Does anyone know any nifty trick for repairing holes in paper with out adding a patch?

Type 2 (due May 5)

Last type 2 post! OH YEAH!!

I found it interesting how often writing came into play in 100 Ideas - I think I sometimes get stuck in a rut when it comes to thinking about new ideas. I'm so worried about coming up with a visual that I forget that writing is a great way to explore and "sketch" my thoughts.

I have done a few of the 100 ideas, but there are tons that I want to try out. I have never actually written about my relationship with my washing machine. Thought of, yes. For anyone who wants to know, I happen to get along much better with our new washer - I swear the old one had a grudge against me... breaking and leaking water all over the basement (twice)... eating my socks... shrinking my new t-shirts... grumble grumble...

I guess my usual way to come up with new ideas is to day dream. I'll see or read something and it makes me think of something else. I used keep a sketch book with me (and actually use it) but I've kinda gotten lazy.

Type 2 (due April 28)

It's pretty crazy to think of how quickly things change. I think it's wonderful that so many new ideas are being produced, but it's also a little scary. We can't even imagine some of the things that our future kids will think of as normal. I guess a similar transition in technology has been happening for a while (I don't think my 91 year-old grandma was anticipating Facebook) but the time it takes for this to happen keeps on getting shorter. I think this probably happens because some of the technology we invent now helps us create new technology or allows for greater global communication.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nteiqLgZFOU

Type 2 (due April 21)

This was a pretty though provoking video. I agree with Lessig about how the two sides (strict copyright laws vs. none) need to realize that they have to come to some type of compromise. Once designers, artists, or inventors come up with something to market, no one should be able to steal their idea and make a profit. But when someone is re-appropriating that same material for entertainment value alone and gives credit to the originator, it seems kind of silly to pursue copyright issues. I guess I think that some companies/people/etc. need to look into relaxing their right of use laws. But I also think that the general public needs to be a bit more educated on the reasons behind copyright laws and when they should apply and should respect certain limitations.

Link:http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html

final movie

So... I didn't change much from the last post, but here ya go.

video

So here is my lovely After Effects video. I had to save it half size, so the quality might not be all that super... I also have a few more motion/lighting effects on the background that aren't on this video. But the timing and the sound should be good. Hopefully. Any suggestions that you have would be appreciated!

Type 2 (due April 14)

It is pretty nifty what kinds of typography you can find when you actually pay attention. The stuff I found isn't nearly as cool as this website's, but here are a few pictures I took while I was on my walk:

Cool blog

http://calyxdesign.com/blog/

Informative and well written. Yay.

Not yay for posting on the wrong blog the first time...

Type 2 (due April 7)

Debbie Millman has been a designer for 25 years and currently hosts a talk show named Design Matters. Design Matters is a weekly Internet talk show in which she interviews influential or upcoming designers. She is also a Partner and President of the design division of Sterling Brands, she teaches at the School of Visual Arts and Fashion Institute of Technology,is a board member of AIGA, writes for her design blog Speak Up, and writes articles for Print. She has two books published at the moment with a third on the way.

I listened to the March 20th show with Gael Towey. I really liked how laid back the interview was - it seemed more like they were having a conversation than an interview. What I found most interesting about the interview was Gael Towey's view on the role of design in our everyday world. He said that "design derives its value from something else." This is so true, but I have never though of it that way. I think it's this fact that separates design from art - design is used to solve a problem. It was also interesting to hear the background of a designer that makes such an effort to be more than a just designer. Towey has studied multiple fields including business and finance. His experience in other fields helps his designs and his business be more successful.

links:
http://www.modavox.com/VoiceAmerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=37183
http://debbiemillman.blogspot.com/

Type 2 (due March 31)

John Maeda is a graphic designer, artist, and computer scientist who's work is known internationally. He is responsible for the development of many innovative, interactive motion graphics seen on the Internet. He has received high honors for his graphic design work in the US, Japan, and Germany. He is currently the president of the Rhode Island School of Design.

In Maeda's book The Laws of Simplicity, he explores the relationship between simplicity and complexity. He lays down ten "laws" to obey when deciding how simple/complex something should be. Some of his explanations were a little confusing to me, but the laws themselves seem very helpful. I found that these laws were the most interesting and insightful:

1. Reduce: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction
5. Differences: Simplicity and complexity need each other
10. The One: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful

Links:
Laws of Simplicity
Brief biography on Maeda
TED Talks: John Maeda

videos with animated type

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMCdmoJ8Ab4
Great - it has yodleing and sheep. What's not to love? Oh, and the type animation's not half bad, either.

http://vimeo.com/1191402
The transitions and the music really fit the tone of the type.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7086966652454413943&ei=T2HMSemGMJiyqAOnvJGaBQ&q=typographic+animation&hl=en
Really interesting combination of type and film. My favorite parts are when the type is incorporated into the actual environments instead of being off on the side. This video also has a mood that fits what the speaker is saying.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1203729/typography/
The music, the typefaces used, and the narration all fit together. And you get a quick introduction to typography!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8jayw_portal-still-alive-typography_creation
Now, I've never played Portal, but this is still pretty hilarious. The images are funny and the plain type treatment fits the song. The only part that doesn't go with the rest is the fiery part. The entire song is in type and simple graphics, why would you stick a realistic image in there?

Type Homework due March 26

The speech I chose to animate is "Address to the Nation on the Berlin Wall" by President Ronald Reagan. I am planning on doing the last section of the speech (approx. -50 seconds) where he focuses on what he saw when visiting Berlin. The speech is important because the destruction of the Berlin Wall symbolized the end of the threat of communism in the Western world in the minds of many Americans. Overall, Reagan sounds fairly calm and collected during the speech. He does put more emphasis on his words toward the end of the speech when he is asking Gorbachev to tear down the Wall. The speech does a good job of persuading his audience to his point of view - he is calm enough to sound rational, but passionate enough to still sound emotionally invested in his topic.

Reagan was born in Illinois in 1911. He got a job as a radio announcer, which latter lead to his career as a movie star. He made appearances in over 50 movies before he retired and became involved in politics. He was drafted into the arm during WWII where he worked on making propaganda films. He was elected governor of California in 1966 and served for two terms. In the 1980 presidential election Ronald Reagan successfully ran against Pres. Jimmy Carter. He was president for two terms. After retiring Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He died in 2004.

To see a short biography of President Reagan check out http://history1900s.about.com/od/ronaldreagan/p/reagan.htm

For more information on the Berlin Wall, and its fall, check out http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/

Type 2 (due March 24)

On the Good.is website I mainly focused on watching the videos (what can I say - I'm lazy). My favorites were the "Transparency" series which is " A video exploration of the data that surrounds us." I especialy loved the "State of the Planet." Since all of the videos are just conveying a bunch of statistics, you would expect them to be pretty boring, but they are actually interesting. I liked how each video is stylistically different from the others.

Stop Stealing Sheep & figure out how type works chapter sumeries:

1: Type is everywhere
We all use type to communicate whether it is for street signs, advertizements, forms, or books. Since type is absolutely everywhere, it must be important. And since it is everywhere and important, we should do our best to make sure it is "good" type. Everyone has a chance to use type to improve their communication skils.

2: What is type?
The forms of type have changed in style since it was invented, but fundamentally it reamians the same: a way to communicate. Type has often been influenced by cultural aesthetic choices as well as by technology (hammer and chisel, brush, pen, typewriter, printers, deisplay screens, etc.).

3: Looking at type
Type is obviously not all the same. The ways the letterforms look and are formed has an impact on the way the viewer understands the message.

4: Type with a purpose
Some typefaces are more appropriate in conveying certain messages than others.

5: Type builds character
It's important for the designer to know the ins and outs of his/her concept so an appropriate tone can be created within the design.

6: Types of type
The letterforms of different typefaces are unique. Being able to identify and classify the differences helps the designer by making his/her job easier as well as by creating an effective design.

7: How it works
Adjusting the kerning and the leading in type can help the reader of a design. What is appropriate in a short block of text might be overwhelming and overly strenuous in a longer section.

8: Putting it to work
Just as certain typefaces and letterspacing might work well in some situations, but not in others, the layout is heavily reliant on what the main purpose of the design is meant to be.

9: There is no bad type
Type has evolved over centuries and greatly depended on what was popular at the time. Typefaces that may seem "ugly" or outdated to us now were perfectly legitimate. Use these sometimes unpopular typefaces to your advantage.

Straight from the Studio

So on Thursday, March 12 from 11:00 A.M. to 6:30 P.M. there is an exhibition at the Lawrence Arts Center that a drawing of mine is in. All of the work is from a life drawing class taught by Judith McCrea this past fall. The reception (i.e. when there will be free food) is from 4:30-6:30. You should go. It will be super duper.

Type 2 (due March 10)

Animated typography is when you add motion and other effects to letterforms.

Adding sound can really enhance a type animation (well, at least when it's done well). It can help convey a mood or emotion. However, I think when sound is done well it only helps the animation with these things - it shouldn't overpower the rest of the video.

I think the similarity of the videos I watched hurt the overall effect of them. It was like the animators were mainly concerned that their type looked cool and not that the animation style particularly fit the subject matter. Like Saul Bass said in his interview, everything in the video should create a "climate for the story." The animations that I though were more cohesive with their subject were the Hitler speech, the video on euthanasia, and the one near the end on human rights. The transitions, speed, sound, and emphasis on certain portions of the type made these videos stand out to me.

Links:
http://www.adobe.com/type/index.html (quick Adobe how-tos on type animation)
http://people.ku.edu/~herstow/VisualCommunication/videos.html (sample type animations)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UU132IUU_o (Saul Bass interview)

Type 2 (due March 3)

Reading the "Cult of the Ugly" by Steven Heller and having to do research in order to write an opinionated paper on it has really made me think. When I first heard about the subject of ugly design, I hardly had to pause before I said I hated the very idea. Why on earth would you ever, EVER want to make a design that was "ugly"?! But the more I read about it, from both sides of the argument, I began to realize that there could be some merits to such and unconventional design style (the expressive aspect for example). Some solutions just make more sense if they look horrible. One of the quotes from an article I read said this about so-called ugly design: "The only thing lost was an absolute dedication to minimalist form, which is a completely different issue from rationalist process." That made me think even more. Just because the form is more chaotic, it doesn't mean it was chosen at random.

What is aesthetically pleasing is such a subjective thing and really depends on who is doing the looking. I guess what I got out of the readings was an appreciation for ugly design, even if I couldn't ever get to especially like it. In some cases it does have its merits, and as long as a designer can sufficiently defend his or her use of the ugly style (like the designer should be able to do for any other choice in his or her design), I suppose it is fine to use.

Links:
http://www.highgrounddesign.com/mccoy/km3.htm
http://emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=32
http://books.google.com/booksid=31R1Uc1L3u8C&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=meaning+john+rheinfrank&source=web&ots=cSPNR6lFt5&sig=1KH-pGNXmG6NirX-q4omuQQNzo#PPA170,M1

"No Warning Signs" Poster

This poster, while not the most amazing thing out there, is a pretty good example of using a verbal and visual pun within a design. In the reading a pun was described as a "phenomena that one symbol can have two or more meanings, or that two or more symbols can have similar or identical images but different meanings." This uses commonly acknowledged symbols that we use on road ways to stand for warnings or cautions. The poster uses simile to compare the human body and a roadway. The lack of traffic signs (or their presence, in this case, to draw attention) are compared to the lack of symptoms suffered by individuals with kidney disease and the danger either case presents-a danger of not knowing you are in danger, I guess.

Logo for the new School of Design

http://www.people.ku.edu/~mstenzel/flash/index.html

Click on the link above to see the Flash animation of the logo I designed. It's flasherific!

Exploration in Modern Typography

Here is an interesting video that I stumbled across while looking up stuff for our paper on the "Cult of the Ugly." It was made for some design conference in 2007. The transitions are pretty nifty and it is a pretty good example of how sound can enhance your Flash videos.

A Rant on the Evilness of Mat Cutters

This could also be called "A Rant on the Stupidity of Me."

For anyone who owns a Logan mat cutter (or any type of mat cutter for that matter): BEWARE! Yes, every teacher we have ever had tells us to be careful. I thought I was. But no. I stupidly assumed that because said mat cutter ran along a track it would stay on the track. Well, it doesn't always. There I was, revelling in the ease and accuracy of my Logan mat cutter, merrily cutting the very last bit off a mat so it would fit into a frame, when ZOIT - I sliced my thumb. Apparently, you should NOT cut pieces off that are only 1/16th of an inch thick. It can cause the mat to bend; which causes the hand blade to jump the track; which causes you to cut your stupid thumb because you weren't expecting that; which causes pain, a three-hour trip to the ER, and five stitches. So remember: don't assume anything. It makes an ass out of u and me. In this case, mostly me.

Also, if you happen to be the recipient of the gift that someone slices their thumb making, the first thing out of your mouth after hearing the story should not be a worried "did you bleed on the paintings." That is just the tiniest bit tacky. Certain brothers of mine may want to re-read the last part a few times for clarity.

Type 2 (due Feb 24)

Being able to write well is very important to designers. I think it can help in both the initial design process as well as in the final product. Writing is useful for the designer because it is just another way to get one's idea across. I've noticed that writing sometimes helps me clarify to myself exactly what I am working towards. If I can write my idea down so others can understand it, I have a definite goal to work towards, rather than some vague idea. Teachers also have us come up with word lists during brainstorming. Often, the word associations help us come up with ideas we never would have thought of initially. As far as being useful in the final product, writing often accompanies a design, whether it comes in the form of a logotype, a book, a poster, or a web page. As a designer, I need to be make sure that the text and the image work together and enhance each other. Even though we sometimes focus on the visual part of graphic design, writing can be just as important.

links:
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/the-role-of-writing-in-a-design-curriculum
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/betterwritingthroughdesign
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/

Type 2 (due Feb 17)

For this week's journal I read the articles Designing Under the Influence and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Typeface. I liked Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Typeface more, but I'll admit that my opinion has more to due with the writing style than the subject. Both articles broght up very interesting and valid points. At what point does an idea that resembles and borrows from another become plagerizm? I guess I think it is (usually) OK to borrow from previous designers or artists as long as you bring some of your own ideas to the table. I also find borrowing a little more acceptable if you are using that person's style for more than just a "cool factor." The quesion of "How much design history does one have to know before he or she dares put pencil to paper?" also intrigued me a bit.
The second article, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Typeface, discussed how and why designers should choose certain typeface over others. I am of the opion that typography is mainly used to comunicate information and shouldn't inhibit the reader in understanding the message. To help encourage the flow of information from the designer to the reader, I belive it is best to avoid being a typographical "slut." However, I think limiting a designer's available choices for typefaces is, well, limiting. It would be stupid to limit a person's word usage to the ones they knew by the time they were ten years old just as I think it would be stupid to limit the available typefaces to five. Sure, said typefaces might be really awsome, but I think typefaces have their own personality and certain ones can carry a specific message better than others for any given project.

Type 2 (due Feb 10)

Stefan Sagmeister's video was different from most of the other videos we have seen on designers. Instead of mostly talking about what he did as a designer, he spoke about how design affects him and how he reacts to the world around him - an interesting perspective. I also loved the part where he talked about the designs that made him happy.

The other videos I watched were TED presentations by Theo Jenson and another by JJ Abrams. The creatures that Theo Jenson creates are really awesome, but I thought he was a less-than-stellar presenter. JJ Abrams talked about what gives him inspiration for what he does. One of the things he spoke about that I have heard from other designers was the importance of mystery to gain and hold the viewer's attention.

Ten Commandments of Typography and How to Break Them

Commandments:
I. Thou shalt not apply more than three typeface in a document.
II. Thou shalt lay headlines large at the top of the page.
III. Thou shalt employ no other type size than 8pt to 10pt for body copy.
IV. Remember that a typeface that is not legible is not truly a typeface.
V. Honour thy kerning, so that white space becomes visually equalized between characters.
VI. Thou shalt lay stress discreetly upon elements within text.
VII. Thou shat not use only capitals when setting vast body copy.
VIII. Thou shalt always align letters and word on a baseline.
IX. Thou shalt use flush-left, ragged-right type alignment.
X. Thou shalt not make line too short or too long.

How to Break Them:
1. Break the fetters imposed by the use of only three typefaces.
2. Let thine eyes be seduced by the hierarchy of type.
3. Do not forsake smaller or bigger sizes.
4. Be seduced into trying new and expressive typefaces.
5. Treat kerning and tracking with total irreverence.
6. Entice the reader to sample the delights of your text.
7. Do not forgo the liberal use of capitals within your text.
8. The Lord designed letterforms to stand side by side, but there is no harm in their being lured away from one another.
9. Yield to the temptation to align text in unusual ways.
10. Lure the reader down unfamiliar paths.

Jakob Trollback

I thought the lecture by Jakob Trollback was pretty interesting. Long, but interesting. the most interesting parts to me were the areas that he spoke about how a designer engages his/her audience. According to him, the designer needs to create an emotional connection with the audience. In the third part when he was answering questions he mentioned that the designer needed to put him/herself in the audience's shoes. In other words, design to the audience, not to yourself. Also, he spent some time describing and showing how leaving things out of a design is almost as important or more important as what the design includes. This engages the viewers' brain and helps the message feel more personal to them.

...huh?

We have been studying the design of book covers in typography 2. Some are clever. Some are interesting. Some are thought provoking. And some are just plain confusing:

There is a picture of a baby. On this so called Book of Tea. So it is a book about tea with a picture of a random (cute) baby on it. Does this make sense to anybody - 'cause I'd really like someone to explain it to me. Is this child particularly fond of tea? Maybe the baby is some world-famous tea brewer. Or maybe the author of this book is especially fond of tea with just the slightest bit of extract of baby in it. I just don't know. Please, feel free to leave your own explanation. I would love to hear (read?) it.

When You are Engulfed in Flames

For anyone interested, this is Chip Kidd's final design for When You are Engulfed in Flames (the book that he was still in the process of designing when the interview was filmed). I had actually picked this book up to look at in a Borders a few days before we watched the interview. Weird. I think the final solution works pretty well. I liked his idea of putting the title in a fake warning label, but it didn't really fit with the rest of the design.

Bruce Mau

Bruce Mau is a contemporary designer from Sudbury, Canada. When he first became interested in design he thought of himself mainly as a graphic designer, but he has branched out since then. He has worked to design a museum and installation art as well as authoring his own books. The books S, M, L, XL and Life Style cemented his fame in the design world. However, the work that launched his career and led to the founding of his business, appropriately named Bruce Mau Design, was the book series Zone. The designs for Zone Books are unique in their flexibility. The series contains over one hundred titles that work together but still maintain their independance. For a short video about him and his work check out this. He seems to like Slinkys and the word "capacity."

reading two

We've heard it once, we'll hear it again: working with clients can suck. Keeping your cool is key; apparently chair throwing is not an option. It will be tough to toe the line between ignoring the client to the point that they fire you or just going along with ideas that you know aren't the best you can do. I can always hope for clients that grant a lot of freedom or ones that give useful/good input. For a fun video of a client that does neither go here. Yes, I have posted this before, but it fits the situation...

I thought the part of the reading where it described how to come up with visual metaphors was pretty interesting as well. The ones we see and the ones mentioned in the reading seem so obvious but still clever, but when I try and make one of my own it's a lot harder. The steps that it gave will probably be useful later in this project.

Everything you always wanted to know, but were too afraid to ask...
YouTube was launched in 2005

Niffty Website

While I was doing the research for graphic design, I stumbled across the website for the School of Architecture at Urbana-Champain. It's pretty cool for a school website. I really liked how they designed the photo montage - most school websites have a space where one photo blips to the next and this was different and more interactive. It was interesting to see how some of the outlines were around negative space and others were around positive. You can also see bigger versions of most of the pictures on the next pages.

Type 2 (due Jan 20)

Chip Kidd is a designer, editor, and writer. For this particular project he is important because he has designed over 1000 book covers but still manages to keep each one unique. When I looked at his work I was surprised (and pleased) to note that he doesn’t seem to have a defining style. By keeping each cover true to the book it represents but still interesting in its own right he avoids repetitive or tedious work.

John Gall is the Vice President and Art Director for Vintage and Anchor Books. The reason he is important to us is because with his designs he is able to “convey the essence of the book in a unique and surprising way that maybe pushes the design envelope a bit.” Both John Gall and Chip Kidd are very good at mixing an interesting amount of unexpectedness in their designs. The content is recognizable enough for the viewer to understand it, but there is something there that captures the attention after the first glance and keeps it from being boring.

Definitions: I couldn’t find where the first two were in the readings, but I gave them a good old college try...

series – several books that are all connected, but don’t necessarily depend on the others; deal with the same world, time period, characters, similar themes, etc.

sequence – several books that have an obvious order for reading them, usually chronological

sign – things that have some sort of pattern and meaning; something that represents something else; there are many types of signs: they can be visual, verbal, literal, non-literal, etc.; a picture of a person represents them, a map represents a particular area, an apple can represent temptation…

index – there is a physical or cause and effect relationship between the sign and what it represents, viewer/reader can understand what caused something by seeing the result or can anticipate the result by seeing/reading a particular event; the timer on the microwave going off means the popcorn is done

symbol – non-literal relationship to what is being symbolized, entirely based on conventions; a set of scales represents justice

Interesting book covers:

John Gall

Chip Kidd

Henry Sene Yee

David Drummond

Chip Kidd

Indexing:

Bodies: the drawing of the person was half erassed as can be seen by the left over erasser crumbs

A Perfect Mess: the crooked lampshade means that someone must have bumped it (well, the would have if it were real…)

Small Crimes in an Age of Abundance: someone diliberately cutout/digitally removed the seccond “l” in the word “small”

Everything you always wanted to know, but were too afraid to ask...

I am allergic to Vicodin and this man.