Response: Prototype critiques

This week we showed our M-word prototypes again. I was pretty pleased with the response to my pages. The Q&A is especially coming along nicely. I'll talk about that in my critique for the week.
Through this process I am definitely learning about how I design. While I have good initial ideas, when I have the chance to sit back, look at something again and then have an even more brilliant idea then I started with. This is really helpful since I tend to multitask while working on projects. I can do a draft of one project, then a draft of another and so on and so on. And then after finishing all my first drafts I can move back through to look at how I can make each draft better. I really hope I am able to implement this process more in the next few weeks.

You can't miss: a classic design combo

This week on LogoDesignLove they posted about the classic design idea: the hand-dove idea. They showed a ton of different ways to use it. While simple, it shows us how we can take strange pairs of things (hands and doves) to create something unexpected.
This is my favorite one. The shadow looks so cool:


Which ones do you guys like?

Response: Book covers

This week we had to do our 20/10 assignment of 20 books covers. Unfortunately I don't have an image for this, but for the class just re-visualize my fantastic drawings from class on Tuesday.
Overall, I learned that I am definitely one of those people who has two good ideas, hits a few just so-so designs, then achieves greatness. I definitely need to brainstorm a lot of ideas in order to come across a final product.
This is reflective in the classes votes for my designs. I am going to be redesigning things from all different ideas. Some on the more patriotic designs were chosen, but at the same time a lot of people liked some of my pin-up girl ideas. I'm really happy with this because I want to be able to come in with a lot of different possibilities for the publishers. I feel like with more variety I will bring more potential covers for the publishers. I just hope I am able to execute all of my ideas on Illustrator. This will definitely give me a lot of practice with illustrations.

Critique: Spring Preview Cover redone and Tiger Hotel feature

Hey all! I have some exciting news. I have a job interview on Monday! I'm really stoked, and I also am freaking out trying to perfect the portfolio I am going to bring. In order to do so, I redid my Spring Preview cover. Incase you don't remember, there was a teaser to the (then) upcoming Eli Young Band concert. So I took a media photo from their website, as suggested by Jan and Theresa during my portfolio review before break, to create a new cover. Here's how it looks:

I'm pretty satisfied with it, although I would like to play with the typography a bit more. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know!
I also have a second draft of my Tiger Hotel feature for tomorrow. Last time they suggest adding more photos, especially of the inside of rooms. They also gave me another page to work with which is greatly needed and appreciated. I am still loving my huge photo spread to open the feature, although I know it was a concern last time since it took up so much space for other potential photos. I'm hoping that with the amount of photos I added and the addition of the extra page I will be able to keep this spread intact. Let me know what you think!

You can't Miss: this sweet typography

Hey all. As you may have noticed, I love sharing cool typography. I just happened to stumble across this site that I thought I'd share.
This is my favorite design, although I am in a bit of a Star Wars nerd kind of mood:

I love how in this, as well as the other designs on the website, they are able to create entire images just using letters and numbers. It's crazy! Which is your favorite?

Response: Portfolio review

The week before break we had a portfolio reviews. It was pretty interesting. I was a little nervous going into the reviews because I didn't know what to expect. Overall, I think that the review went well. I definitely need to do more work with illustrations and photoshop. I also want to redo my Spring Preview cover.
I think that I'm in good shape for consumer magazines which is what I want to work in when I graduate. Overall this is how portfolio reviews made me feel:

Critique: Home Canvas Prototype

This week I worked a lot on my Home Canvas department prototypes. I think they're coming along really well now. I want to play a bit more with some of the color choices and maybe adding a few more visuals, but I definitely think they make more sense and are more cohesive now. Here's how they look:






My biggest issue so far is just playing with the Q&A. I really want a different photo (preferably an environmental shot) but I don't think that is going to be possible. The photo just does not work well with the Q&A. I also am still working on the organization of the page. I'm hoping that my publishing group tomorrow will have some suggestions.

For tomorrow I am also creating a masthead/editor's letter page for Home Canvas. I also am creating a first draft of the Tiger Hotel feature for Vox and a potential cover for the ROTC and Fire feature issue on 4/12. I should probably get off the blog and get back to work. Wish me luck!