Archive for the ‘Design’ category

EdenSpiekermann & Design Students

May 13th, 2009

EdenSpiekermann Gate

Some of you may already know that I started working at EdenSpiekermann this week. As of January 2009, Eden Design & Communication, Amsterdam merged with SpiekermannPartners, Berlin to form EdenSpiekermann. They have a serious amount of experience with a staff of about 100 strong; be sure to check the brand new website www.edenspiekermann.com for loads more. I hope to write regularly on what I’m doing at ES, what I’m learning and anything else I think is worth sharing.

Okay, so last Monday was my first day, the usual meet and greet through the three floors. So many hands to shake, I felt like a broken record, but they were very welcoming and friendly. The average age is probably about the 30–40 mark. I’ve officially being studying design for just under 2 years but when you compare that to someone who has about 20 years experience, it’s a wake-up call. Nobody can claim to know it all, but with that much experience you’re doing well.

» Read more: EdenSpiekermann & Design Students

Over-Reliance on Hero Designer

May 4th, 2009

After seeing a recent article about graphic design hero T-shirts with matching iconography, I couldn’t help but feel a certain cliche ringing in my ear. Although the t-shirts themselves are sorta cool and I would semi-reluctantly wear one (as a personal hatred of trends) I couldn’t help but feel these t-shirts literally embodied the current status of students solely being able to list off the all too familiar cast of Design Watchmen without any real context or information about what these designers really stand for. Is it a credit to the life of Milton Glaser to just “heart NY”?

As a student I sometimes find myself massacred by a world of over stimulated design inspiration and reliance on trends and hero designers. This over stimulation I find quite damaging with developments of a personal voice and style. Over fixation on the designer hero model can sometimes be quite irrelevant and sometimes just plain trendy. It is only when we study the concepts and applications of a piece of known design can we find any relevance. It is only a designers approach and work flow that we should find relevant, not the graphical end product.

» Read more: Over-Reliance on Hero Designer

Motion Graphics Animation & Workflow

April 8th, 2009

Ok to start, if you wanna get down to the bones of this and view the animation scroll to the bottom of this post of click here to view it in HD on Vimeo (I recommend that, HD is a big plus)

Direct link to SHIFT.chroma Animation

Last weekend I was worked on a short motion graphics piece. The idea was to record myself in front of a greenscreen and then incorporate an element of visual effects. As the recording and editing progressed I become more interested in abstracting the video to become a new medium, a sort of particular environment that I could explore. This intruiged me so I continued down this road. In this atricle I hope to share some of my own thoughts and techniques when it comes to working with after effects, etc. You’ll see that even with some rudimentary materials you can create some pretty impressive and vibrant visuals.

Picture 40

Ok so to give you a break down of what was involved it was something like this.

Film Greenscreen Content >> Capture/Cut/Key in Final Cut >> Particle Visuals, AE Camera Control, Sound FX & Music >> Final Ram Export

Thats the rough workflow, of course there were some forward-backward process as you can imagine. This isn’t going to be a tutorial but rather how you might approach working on something similar, I’ll go through each of the stages and fill you in on what worked and what didn’t.

» Read more: Motion Graphics Animation & Workflow

Instant Design

March 21st, 2009

Its been a while, here’s just a quick post on one of my favourite clips from hillmancurtis. Its an interview with designer Paula Scher. Watch it here first.

I can really relate to the immediacy of ideas, those moments when you can see a final solution, or a complex visual pun that solidly forms in your head when your working on a poster design, illustration or be it a logo. For me, the idea of an instant solution always reassures my confidence in its communication. My theory is that, the faster a final solution forms in your head, the more communication power it will have. Because it was the first image associated for me, it must translate similarly to an audience. Over-thinking it and the idea can get lost.

» Read more: Instant Design

Happy Paddys Day Wallpaper

March 16th, 2009

With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner I figured I’d spread some Irish cheer. Put some Paddy’s Day on your desktop.

Paddy's Day Wallpaper

Click for full size 1920 x 1200

That’s all, Enjoy. :)

Thoughts on Paul Rand by John Maeda

March 12th, 2009

“If someone isn’t willing to wake up to hear me to speak, I don’t want to speak to them!” – Paul Rand

I just finished reading this short piece by John Maeda on his experiences with Paul Rand. John Maede invited Rand to speak to the students of MIT which resulted in a fantastic turnout and an inspiring talk. It’s a short read so I suggest you click on over and enjoy every word of it. It’s simply touching and endearing. Well worth the five minutes.

Thoughts on Paul Rand by John Maeda

Enjoy it.