awesome interactive site

In another class of mine I was shown this interactive site. It is awesome. All it requires is your address and the site takes care of the rest.... try it!!

http://thewildernessdowntown.com/

literally lead type

As a designer, I am constantly looking for new and simple inspirations. I was browsing on the internet and I came across this blog that posted these pencil tip carvings. It blew my mind away thinking about the time and patience that went into these carvings. It is definitely worth the share with you guys. The carver's name is Dalton Ghetti. Check out his site http://www.daltonmghetti.com/ and prepare yourself to be amazed!

interactive business cards??

Going into the real world forced me into designing my own business card. Who would have known there were business cards that were interactive? I thought these were pretty awesome and decided to share! check out this link for other awesome cards. http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/01/22/30-memorable-and-creative-business-cards/

Attention all cowboys!!

This old west drink is new and improved! With a portable strap that you can grab and go. It's made with animal hide and stitched to perfection. Rum and coke will stay protected and cool. Go pick up a Roke at your local bar!

Establishing Hierarchy

After reading the article it was a nice review on elements that as designers we sometimes forget. There were a few points that were made that made me say, "huh I did not know that". The section that talks about space stated that, 'empty compositional space brings the visual elements alive 'should be considered a dominant element.' When creating compositions I always considered empty space as a secondary element because you would want the viewer to get the 'primary composition' first and then look at the negative space. I'll now keep my mind open to designing both positive and negative aspects at the same time.

Another element that was brought to my attention was about the composition. If you have a lot of diagonal lines or a lot of objects on the diagonal axis, you can rotate one or a series of elements going the opposite direction and this will bring attention to the distinct area of the design. This is something I'm interested in trying out because most diagonal compositions I make them go one way and I have never thought of breaking up the flow by changing the direction of the information that matters most.

The last thing I learned was darker values move to the foreground, lighter values recede in a monochromatic composition. In color I would think dark would go to the background and light would come forward. I think it's because when it comes to light and shadows, darkness is usually behind, and highlights come forward.

But I really appreciate articles like this one because as designers we get so caught up in doing what looks right that we forget the little technical aspects that we should always be keeping in mind.

colbie caillat

I am creating a music poster and decided to concentrate on Colbie Caillat's new album All of You. I am a fan of her music and soft lyrics which inspires me to do a very simple, young, fun poster. Below is my research and my mood board.

Dog packaging

Here's my packaging for dee oh gee treats.

mixed media art

After taking a trip to the Bergamot Station in Santa Monica I came across these mixed media art pieces made by David S. Palmer. They may look like just picture, but the images are actually made out of bullet shells, and are mounted on a glossy plastic canvas. They are all very ironic pieces and are so awesome in person. They are all approximately 3ft x 4ft and are being sold from $9,000 to $14,000. 

Design Hero- Louise Fili

Louise Fili is an Italian designer known for her packaging design as well as her logos, restaurant and book designs. She experiments a lot with typography and hand drawn lettering along with providing elaborate illustrations. She became an Art Director early on at Pantheon Books; it was here where she started reinventing the book jacket. Fili’s work includes over 2000 book designs and she received an abundance amount of awards including medals from The Society of Illustrators and the New York Art Directors Club. In 1989 she started her own company, Louise Fili Ltd. here is where she was able to explore her three favorite passions, food, typography, and Italy. Her passion for the Italian and French poster design and all of the Italian food packaging eventually influenced her to switch from book design to restaurant design. All of her restaurants she has designed have been in New York City, and the first restaurant she designed was right across the street from her place. But then in 1990 she studied the Italian Art Deco and decided to ultimately switch to food packaging. Along with her designing she has also been an instructor at the New School, New York University, Cooper Union, and the School of Visual Arts. Not only does she teach and design, but she also has written numerous books on her process, theory, and shares her love for typography.

The reason why I am so drawn to her work is because of her style and what she designs. All of her art pieces are very cohesive and she has this clean, organic style, which I can hopefully achieve in my style. She also has designed many book covers and I am currently interested in getting an internship at a book publishing company that involves designing books. She does packaging design and ultimately that is something I would like to pursue further after college. Since she has the career path that I am ultimately trying to mimic I feel she is a great design hero to me. 

LA county fair

I was looking through my photos that I took with my phone hoping to find some inspiration for a project and I came across this picture. I just love the fun layout and the quirky photography involved. This was on a newspaper stand on the street and I remember the complementary colors that initially caught my eye. Just reminds me how color is just as important as typography in layouts.  

books aren't just for reading...

I've never heard of such a thing as book sculptures until this past week in my senior projects class. My professor showed the class some artists that did book sculptures and they blew my mind away. They are just so delicate and awesome. I looked up Su Blackwell who is famous for her sculptures. These were just some of my favorites!! (my fav) alice in wonderland

logo comps

so after playing around with the logos i've managed to narrow it down to these three. I chose the color green because it represents growth, health, renewal, and nature. Before I started digitalizing the collateral stuff, I wanted to get a better sense of my logo. what do you guys think?

collateral sketches

website inspiration

What I like about this site is the use of circles instead of just placing things in squares. It is very clean and simple and different from ordinary sites.

This website was able to focus more on a quote and because my site is going to be more informational and factual, I am definitely going to keep this style in mind.

Another site that I found interesting was this one. It's strict use of squares and grids can get chaotic but it's also very interesting and colorful.

website sketches

here are some rough sketches of what I had in mind for my website layout. For my site I want to incorporate facts, statistics, a community forum, and a video. I also want to keep the site layout clean and comprehensive yet very easy and user friendly.