Film Friday - 2

This week we have an exciting recap of the office retreat that University Communications attended in October. It was pretty much as intense as this video portrays. Enjoy!

Speaking of movies...

For those in the mood for an outrageous film-watching experience, check out The Fall. I think I'll go ahead and deem this the most visually captivating film I've seen in 22 years (..ever). Shot on location in 18 countries around the world, over the course of some 5 years - it's absolutely stunning. If anything deserves the -overused/abused- word 'epic,' it's this film..

Great Independent MOVIE posters...

Independent movies usually lend a designer more artistic freedom. Here are some of my favorite independent posters– originally posted on Smashing Magazines.

Fun with Sharpies

I don't know if I could bring myself to do this, but I'm sure glad someone else had the inclination to Sharpie their Lamborghini!

Google Earth Abstraction

I was goofing around looking at the Bay area and I stumbled upon (well no, lets be honest I wanted to geek out) SFO. I zoomed WAY in to see which aircraft were pulled up at the gates. I started looking around and I saw some incredible textures in the pavement and taxiways. Here is on of several screen grabs I took. So abstract but part of such a structured system. Click on the image to see it large, its a lot more interesting.

Goodbye Mazzarello

Most of you already know, but Bryan Mazzarello's last day at University Communications is on December 12th. He will be moving back to California to officially launch Mazzarello Media Arts full time and help out with a few non-profit organizations.

We wish you the best of luck Bryan. You and Stephanie will be in our prayers as you prepare for this transition. It is extremely important to remind you how thankful we are for ALL of your hard work. You have inspired many around you. Without your vision and leadership with the Mazz Squad, the INK Group would not be possible. Thank you.

Brian

Film Friday at the INK group...

My Fav

Well here is my latest baby. I'v really enjoyed working on this job (though its not done). So, to respond to the prompt, challenges:

The number of items to organize in this small space was a headache at first. To use regular spacing between the titles, photos, and descriptions was creating a really cramped layout and it wasn't particularly attractive. When I laid out the photos it quickly looked like a contact sheet and I knew right away the grid was in, I just didn't know how to fit it all in. Brian had a look and suggested text over the photos and this system was birthed. I'm excited about it because I think its hierarchy is successful letting the person get the most important stuff immediately, especially since there will probably be front / back page referencing.

The second challenge was the upper left of this spread. The space was so awkward and I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't want to just go adding design elements to fill the space, I really wanted everything to be functional. After a lot of mulling with Brian and Bri, pushing up the size and giving some new color really helped fill the space in a meaningful way that is useful to the reader. I think it also helps the reader know to start top left rather than top top (obviously the "START HERE" icon helps with that too).

This project was a really fun challenge. I've never really done information design of any kind, so this was pretty fun. I really enjoyed challenging myself to think about the user experience, I hope this is a good one. Please share your thoughts (since it is out for client review now...)

The work of Arthur Mount

Arthur Mount, steadily holding a BFA in Drawing from the Caifornia Colege of the Arts (Oakland), is definitely a name to check. His works include lots of characters, among them known ones, in a style that makes them easy to recognize, while not being overtly ‘too’ realistic, ‘too’ detailed. They have also appeared in many publications around the world, including the USA, Canada, Japan and France.

Brilliant work from a brilliant man. Here's a great resource for you as we dive deeper into our class. Arthur Mount is a master in his field.

Impressive information design

For anyone tired of Quicken and spreadsheets to track personal finances, check out mint.com. So fresh and so cleeeaan!!

Diggin' It?!

I'm assuming some of you have already read the piece Diggin' It?! by Nick Shinn because it is part the current typography curriculum and I bet it has been for some years now. If you haven't and are interested you can view it here.

In his essay Shinn quotes Robert Bringhurst, "Typography exists to honour content." Shinn then says, somewhat less elegantly, "In other words, read the friggin copy. And care about it."

I never guessed this would be a problem, how could you not read the copy before designing? Right? Hello, my name is Justin Rusk and I designed without reading the copy.

Film Grain

I found this book The Art of Advertising by george Lois above my desk the other day. The book was published in the late seventies which means that there is a whole ton of film grain in everything. I think film grain is kind of annoying because like digital noise, I'm constantly fighting it in my digital photography, but its also kind of charming and it does something kind of unique to the look of everything, gives it a more hand-done look. Anyway, I was really interested in using this look in some new designs for fun. With this in the back of my head I went to Easy Street Records and I saw this glorious piece. I don't know anything about the artist but there it was, film grain, in the age of crispy everything. What I saw was actually a huge sign but here is the album art which has the same look. I love this piece because, like the work from the seventies, it incorporates really nice type with a bit of film grunge–crispy with dirty.