Great logo design

As a designer, I know there is still a lot I have to learn. Which is fine, really. I don't think there will ever be a point where there is nothing left for me to learn. If it comes to that, then I'm probably not challenging myself enough.

Logo design is one of the areas I know I need to improve on. Doing magazine layouts come naturally, but designing logos doesn't.

So, in order to gain a little insight on what makes a great logo, I found this post on Dzineblog (link courtesy of an AIGA discussion by Will Sherwood). So clever. So simple. So worth your time. A few of my favorites are below.


Brilliant! I especially love the ones that utilize the negative space. I totally admire that, but have yet to successfully implement it in one of my designs (I often forget to even look for it!).

Upcoming Posts: Some recent work, an ethical discussion and a general update!

Blog, revisted

Well, the new year seems like an opportune time to resurrect this blog. I have been meaning to for a while now but let the job search and a new city distract the hell out of me. You can't blame me, can you?

So, quick life update: I am currently searching for a great graphic design job in New York City. I moved from Missouri to Brooklyn in August, three days before my birthday. I spent the following four months learning the subway system, experiencing the interesting folk that make up this city (and being creepily hit on by some that reside on the "interesting" extreme), job hunting, library haunting and eating, lots of eating (did you know there is an entire restaurant devoted to just mac 'n' cheese? Oh yeah, it's as wonderful as it sounds.)

About a month in I decided I was having trouble filling the days (and would soon have trouble paying the rent) so I hit the temp agencies rather hard. Snatching up the first offer was probably not the best idea. Enter NYC Life Lesson #1: Recruiters have a job to do and it is not necessarily going to land you what you had in mind. Thus, I am temping at a book publishing company. While it is nice to at least be somewhat in the publishing world, there is hardly enough things for me do to keep busy. I scan papers and read the New York Times. Not what you'd call thrilling. Regardless, I am grateful that I have something and I can pay the rent and buy food (all in the same month!).

So, here we are. Just back to work after the holiday. I'd like to say I have all these resolutions, but really I just have a renewed vigor to improve what I do and how I do it (does that count as a resolution?). That, and I'm hoping that 2010 will bring me some good job karma. I keep hearing that things will start to come back this year. Here's hoping!!

First Summer Issue

It's been an exciting week. The new Vox summer editors and reporters have started to trickle in and the TAs and I have published our first issue. Though it is still evergreen content from last semester, we still had to go through the process, this time without the help of the outgoing TAs. I'm not sure what I expected, but it went surprisingly smoothly. Guess I can't really ask for more than that. The only hitch for me was getting my editor's letter finished. I had plenty of time, but I had to start from scratch when I realized the Google Doc I had created the night before was no longer in my queue. Ah well. I like what I came up with yesterday morning better anyway.

Still, as I'm sitting here with an actual printed issue in front of me, it still seems kind of surreal. I wouldn't have guessed this is where I'd be this summer, but I'm really enjoying it so far.

Also this week, I finally got my second feature published! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I felt like I had the time to really work on it, which was a nice change. Plus, I learned some Photoshop tricks that helped a lot as well. One of my personal goals this summer is to improve my software knowledge, specifically with Photoshop. It is my most underused program, and I think my designs sometime suffer because of it.

Anyway, check out my feature below. If you are interested in reading the full story (and other great Vox stories!) be sure to visit the site.

And I thought drawing with a mouse was hard.

The New Yorker, known for it's illustrated covers, among other things, published cover art this week that was completely drawn with an iPhone. My experience with the iPhone is limited (sadly, I've yet to buy one), but I have to imagine this couldn't have been easy. I've tried typing on one before and it took me entirely too long. However, from the look of it, the Brushes app for the iPhone is kind of like finger-painting, only digital (and less messy). 

After watching the video of the cover artist Jorge Colombo creating the artwork, I am dying to get my hands on the app so I can try it out. Naturally, Colombo makes it look easy. But is it? It's fun to think of designing "on the fly". Stuck in traffic? Whip out your iPhone and get some illustrating in. This definitely puts the idea of cell phone journalism in a new light and is something I could get into. 

Check out The New Yorker's Web site for more on the cover and to see a cool video of the illustration as it is being drawn.

Global Journalist illustrations

It feels like things are starting to slow down design-wise. At least for me, I feel like there aren't too many more weekly deadlines to worry about. Tomorrow marks the end of classes (the last in my educational career!) and it's all wrapping up. I still have a few (or a lot ... ) things to mark off my to-do list. One thing that's finished is my spread for Global Journalist.

I designed for a story on Twitter and how it might be a new form of journalism. There wasn't any art for the piece, so I was tasked with illustrating something for it. I decided to use the Twitter bird that is on the homepage and add a journalist element. Since the demographic of GJ is older (median age for readers is about 50, I think Aimee told me), I wanted to add more context to the story and what Twitter is. So, the bird has a speech bubble, where the deck is located; so, the bird is, basically, "tweeting" the story's deck. Also, the pull quote looks like an actual tweet and is very nearly 140 characters.

The main illustration is still my favorite, though.

Response: Meredith Presentations

I was really impressed with everyone's presentations. It was so great to see all the final products, especially after seeing so many pieces over the semester. And, after all that work, it was nice to hear the feedback from the Meredith representatives.

One of the comments Spoon got was on its pacing. In our group, we each worked on several pieces and then sent them to our creative director, Victoria, who compiled them into the correct order. Granted, the order of pages was determined long before we began designing. So, I really didn't give it a second thought. Our publishers handled the question well, though, and referenced to our idea of the book as a "foodie handbook."

All in all, it is a relief. Now I'm wondering what to fill the Spoon void with. (I have a feeling I won't have to look that hard to find something. The to-do list is still so long....)

Fun Design Stuff

If you haven't seen this yet, you should check it out: 14 things design geeks must have. It's a fun list of kitschy design-themed things. Check it out, especially if you need gift ideas for the designers in your life.