Journal Entry: Erik Spiekermann

Summarize the designer.

At age 65, Erik Spiekermann is known as one of the most successful german typographers and graphic designers. He is a professor at the University of the Arts Bremen.
For a few years in his early design days, he worked as a freelance graphic designer in London.
He has started multiple foundations which have soared in the world of design. MetaDesign was his first and then there was FontShop, in which he co-owned with his wife, Joan. More recently he started United Designers Network. He has been awarded multiple times as his times in college design courses as a doctoric level professor. He is actually currently a professor at University of Arts in Bermen and stilll creating typefaces like the infamous Meta in present day.

This pretty much sums Erik Spiekermann up in a nut shell.

 

 

Spiekermann's typeface, Meta

 

 What can you take away from the video and the designer himself?

Right from the beginning of the interview given by Elliot Stocks, Spiekermann had great points. It's refreshing to hear from a designer that is straight forward and he seems to know exactly what he likes and doesn't like in the world of typography and design in general. I like how he emphasized from the get go that paper is paper or a screen is like every other screen. Elliott asked about an iphone applocation but to Erik he seems to think that whether it's on a phone, computer, or paper it all has to be designed for the user to understand and keep being able to use. I completely understand. I think that if an application is made for a specific reason, there shouldn't be all different complicated add ons that would just draw some consumers away. For example, in the interview they used an airprt terminal type of phone app. The point is to easily and quickly get the user to the correct trerminal in the airport. Not distract them with all these confusing random features that they probably don't have the time to look into at the moment they're about to miss their flight back home. It makes sense to make those sort of designs more specific and user friendly. Also, I agree with Spiekermann when he discusses color a little bit. He uses a lot of black and white compositons as well as black, white, 1 color designs. I think those can sometimes be the most intriguing works. Instead of being lost in 5 loud, bright colors, it can draw you to the focus of the design. For instance, if a book cover has a color palatte with 5 colors verse 2 or 3, yes it might draw you to pick it up but many would probably stare at the colors and then look at the type and what the title and author even is. Plus, in some cases black and white can look crisp, clean and fitting for certain designs, such as type dominate works.

It's funny that Erik talks about how now all of a sudden designers seem to be using grids when he has used them since he was a young boy. I think he probably right though. I didn't really think of grids until coming into college and being told by professors as advice to use them or it was mandatory for a porject. Now, I always try and use a grid, especially for my typographic designs. It's pretty obvious now to me when I see a page that didn't use one. For Spiekermann's works, such as his book spreads, it is clear that he has a specific grid that he follows for the majority of his famous work that's in the public eye. He also makes sure not to break any type rules such as widows, rivers, and so forth, which unfortunately even really famous designers still do and of course I have too. But after being in the department of design at KU, doing the projects I have, and watching this video, I can see myself being a lot more conscience about any typography I put in a composition.

The last note to add about Spiekermann is that I find him to be even more of a creative mind due to him not using his own type faces most of the time. Even though he has asthetically pleasing fonts like Berliner Grotesk, Govan, and Meta, he still likes to use other fonts that he never touched during the making process and that he sees with fresh eyes. He has been a designer for too many years to count and he is still wanting to swithc up his designs and keep being innovative. I can't think of that many designers that wouldn't just go with the obvious and use their own material that they have easy access to. It also must be difficult for him to not be completely attached to his own work that he spent so much time on. I know from experience, when I make something, like a book cover and use a certain illustration that I worked hard on perfecting and getting just right, It's not easy to throw it to the side and start over with completely new ideas. However, that's part of being a designer and it's clear that Erik Spiekermann knows what it means to be a graphic designer.

One of his most famous and one of my favorite works by Erik.

Simple and clever.

 

Inspiration for my book jacket ideas.

Journal Entry: Jessica Hische and Louise Fili

Summarize the designer: Hische

Jessica Hische's work can be found in mutiple mediums and different places all over the world. She is not only a general graphic designer, but also is known for being a letterer and illustrator. After going to the Tyler School of Art, and being a free lance designer, she landed a job with Louise Fili. There, she expanded her talent of creating unbeliveable letterforms, making identies for restuarants, wine companies, etc. She has gotten an aray of different opportunites, never really doing the same type of project. From book covers, to posters, to magazine spreads, to identies Hische has dabbed in on a little bit of everything. At the age of 28 years old now, she is still illustrating for the New York Times, Tiffany and Co, People Magazine and other huge companies that get her name further out into the world. Free lance seems to still kepp her moving on and side projects keep on coming.

 



What is the take away from the video?

First and foremost, I couldn't believe that a women still in her 20's had gotten her name out into the design world as much as she already has. Jessica seems to be the type of designer that will try a little but of everything. If she gets asked or contacted by an art director or agency, chances are she will go ahead and do that project for them. Her diversity of mediums really makes me think even more about how graphic design is not limiting or restricting. However, Jessica also made a good point. She said something along the lines that "if you don't have an illustration of a christmas tree on your portfolio, you won't be asked to ever design something with one in it." Even though that opinion can be true sometimes, and not other times, I went away with something because of that line. What I took from that statement is that if you don't want to design, draw, make something in your future jobs, don't cover your portfolio with it. Also, still have a diverse portfolio but if you aren't wanting to focus on dvd covers for instance, don't put 50 different covers you've designed in a porfolio. Moving on, I like how Jessica made working in a design office seem like a vacation almost. It was definitely a different outlook than what I've heard from other designers. She talked of getting to watch hilarious cat youtube videos, and being a crazy cat lady, she found it to be something that she was so lucky to get paid for. She made working for hours and hours on design work seem light and fun. That boosts my spirit just a bit, to know that once I find my certain niche in the real world, I can have fun with it even if it's stressful and chaotic at times. Her work, especially her illustrations which are whimsical most of the time, inspire me as well. And just like professors have said already and what Jessica actually does, I love how she always combines her illustrations with her own handmade letter forms. Even though I have not tried that aspect of design that much yet, after watching the video, I plan on giving it an attempt in a personal project.

 

 

 

Summarize the designer: Fili

 

Before starting her own design firm, Fili worked for Pantheon Books as an art director in the late 70's until the late 80's. There she was inspired to start on her own, a companly that would not only do book design but much more. In 1989 Fili founded Louise Fili Ltd. Jessica Hische of course is one of her most memorable and famous designers that worked at a junior then senior position. A lot of the type creations that are found on Fili's websites are from the work of Hische herself. Fili's design studio has clients that desire a variety of different things. On top of book covers, jackets, and spreads, there is also a focus on logos, packaging, and restuarant identities. Fili is known for her letterforms as well, and their elegant, swift quality. I get a sense of how life used to look like between the 50's and 70's when I look at her work. There is so much detail taken into consideration for each piece. Even the book covers seem to never waste white space. Her designs flow all over their compostion, no matter if it's a poster, book jacket, or restuarant design. Her strong use of lines and shapes makes me want to experiement with patterns that are simply just those two things. Even her logo for Louise Fili Ltd shows off her many years of experience with type. The curves are beautiful, especially for the uppercase L's. She takes letters and makes them look like fonts that came from years ago, but really are truly original to her and her designers' styles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Pinterest Image References

Here's a link to my pin board that has 30 images that will:
- keep me thinking
- remind me of ideas
 - and give me inspiration
for my own book cover design for David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day.


http://pinterest.com/ambersinterests/book-design-inspirations/

This Means This, This Means That

Summary and Reflection of Sean Hall's User Guide to Semiotics:

Semiotics: the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation


Divided into 76 key semiotic concepts, each section of the book begins with a single image or sign, accompanied by a question that invites us to interpret what we are seeing. Turning the page, we can compare our response with the theory behind the sign. In this way, we actively engage in creative thinking. The left hand side pages are dominated by text and information, while the right side pages have single images dominating with questions like briefly mentioned above. We see signs every day but we don't always realize what our culture has caused us to think about those signs. The book is meant to create more individualized thinking for designers and anyone who happens to pick it up.

 

 



I thought that the arrangement of text, questions and images was so clever and helped me understand the book even more.  I realized that the majority of the time, my answer to the questions were the same for the author and what his theory was. For instance, when the author asks, "What does this symbol mean?" on page 13, I knew right away that it was a Nazi swastika and I thought in my head that it was a negative symbol and I thought about things such as the Holocaust. That lead to realizing that the author wanted me to think that way so that I could see that symbols connect to emotions or traits, such as a lion being associated with strength. On the other hand, some images I didn't get right away. On the last pages, 29 and 30, it was probably the vectors used but I didn't have the answer before turning the page. It was supposed to be Elvis, and the first vector was supposed to be his most iconic hairstyle but I didn't see only Elvis. I got the point though. Even without a face and just hair or any tiny detail about a person, they can be noticed by many because of the excessive amount of media about them. For example, if I did a vector image of a blonde woman with nothing but a beauty mark mole on her face, most would get that it's Marilyn Monroe. Moving on, there was one section that stuck in my mind. Page 23 with the shapes, some colored and others stood out to me. The question given was "Which three items are most alike? Being attracted to pops of bright color as a designer, I immediately picked out the 3 different shapes that were all red. I then realized each row had 3 of the same shapes, 3 triangles for example. I liked how the author didn't give a right or wrong answer. He said it all depends on how you look at it. That's definitely true and exactly why we are designers. We try to communicate ideas through imagery, type, illustration, etc but not everyone will have the same interpretation. But the overall point is that the viewer will still understand it.

 

 

Book Store Exploration

Location: Books A Million at the Legends in Kansas City, KS

Book covers that caught my eye or inspired me for my own project:

 

 

 

 

 

        

Journal Entry: Kidd and Rand

Summarize each designer.

Chip Kidd: Besides being best known for his book cover designs, 48 year old Kidd is also an author and editor. One of his most famous novels is The Learners. Along with that, he also wrote The Cheese Monkeys. He also has created many books for comics, especially Batman. It is clear that he has a love for Batman, because much of his work has revolved around this iconic character. He resides in New York, where he has worked for the same company for more than 20 years. Kidd is an art director for Alfred A. Knopf where he designs book covers and jackets that have became icons. Jurassic Park, Naked, Dry and The Hunters. His latest media break through was for his 2012 TED talk which showed off his talent as a lecturer and somewhat of a comedian.

Kidd's Book Design's for Crichton's Series

 

Kidd's Own Novel and Book Design of The Learners

 





Paul Rand: Known as one of the founding fathers of design, Rand was born 1914 and died in 1916. He left behind some of the most iconic trademarks for Americans. He mainly worked on corporate logos, IBM's being what he is most known for today. Aside from logos such as UPS, Ford, and ABC, Rand created page designs for magazines, such as Apparel Arts. Rand was also a New Yorker and worked in New York City. He was the author of several books such as Thoughts on Design which he wrote and designed the iconic cover for. Today his designs live through modernism, considering he was one of the originators of Swiss Modernism.

Rand's iconic corporate logo for IBM

Rands own book and cover design

What is the take away from each?

Chip Kidd: First off, on the non design related side of things, I took away that the funnier you are, you more people tend to listen to you. Chip Kidd was animated throughout his whole lecture and it kept me engaged and I actually took away something. The main aspect that jumped out to me as a viewer was his "apple with the word apple" concept. I never really gave it that much thought before, especially for book covers, but now it makes perfect sense to me. Like Kidd said himself, you never should have the word apple and a photo or drawing of an apple paired with it. He basically said that it's making people feel stupid, like they need to be told something that's already obvious. I agree with him because, now that I've recently looked at book covers, I find the ones that aren't obvious from the title more interesting. I would pick up a book that has an abstract cover over a book that has a tiger on it and the title is "The Tiger's Eyes." I would rather the tiger book's cover be about another aspect, such as having an abstract drawing of the jungle, without a tiger anywhere to be seen. Kidd showed David Sedaris' novel, Naked, a cover he designed as an example. Readers would expect to see a naked body on the cover or bare skin. However, Kidd used boxers and then an x-ray of a man's lower body. That was a smart move because it was unexpected but it still fit with the title and plot.

Kidd's Book Design for David Sedaris' Naked

Another More Obvious Version of Naked

Paul Rand: When it comes to book covers and jackets Rand has a style that not everyone is particularly drawn to, but with his design techniques, he was still able to get his message across. For instance, a lot of his covers consist of imagery and type that is cut out into abstract shapes. One of his most famous covers for H.L. Mencken only had distorted squares/rectangles, type, and a photo that had been cropped in an interesting form. However, with the add in of the raised arm and pointed figure, the cover conveys emotion. That symbol is usually associated with people that are demanding something. Therefore, it gives off the feeling on tension between the reader and the character displayed on the cover. Even though the type looks handwritten, the shapes don't have perfectly straight lines, and the depiction of a raised up arm is not a clean drawing, the cover still would make me want to pick it up and read more. I took away that covers don't have to look completely finished, with set type and a photo bleeding edge to edge for it to be successful. The more free handed style can work out just as well. Also, it helps that Rand added pops of color to catch the eyes of viewers. I noticed, walking around bookstores that I pick up books more often when they have a bright color somewhere on the front cover.

Rand's cover design for H.L. Mencken

Another cover design of Rand

The Final Speech Animation and Wrap Up

Speech Information
Keynote Address to the Democratic Convention
Given by Mario Cuomo
Date of 1984
Music Credit goes to The Secession - Stasis Mind

 

 

 

Book Spread Example

 

 

 

 

Wrap Up of 1st Project

 

How does your motion piece effectively represent the speech content and delivery?

 

I feel like with subtle motions, the biggest moments are conveyed. For example, when Mario had a large statement, I made sure it was centered and faded in large. Also I emphasized periods to show that as well, such as in the above frame spread. And there was color change to show the audience what I wanted to stay out on each frame. Not all statements are blown up on the screen, because at some parts he is very calm and put together. Overall, I tried less color so the focus would be on his voice and what the type was trying to say to the viewer. A "blown away" effect was added at the right part of the music in the background and when there was a long pause.

 

What techniques worked well?

 

I think that introducing each word at a time in some parts worked well. I liked how clean it read on the screen but also it added suspense to what the speaker was about to tell the audience. I also really liked that at some parts I found a way to effectively present "shining" with the background switching to white from it's original red. To add, I thought the pop of red color was effect at the end. It tied everything up and added something extra, givng the viewer's eyes a break from black and white.

And even though this is not to do with type, I felt like the background music I added set the mood of the speech really well and made Mario's points stronger when it got louder as a statement faded on and off screen.

 

 

How did you address the narrative flow of the speech in static book and motion?

 

At parts where Mario Cuomo was emotional, I either scaled the type larger or made it centered. I used periods to add umph to statements, even though I sometimes felt puncuation wasn't needed. Also, I borke up spread based on pausing most of the time. If there was a long pause, in the book, I left more white space, and in the motion graphic I faded a word out for a longer period of time as one example. To add, I tried to make it look like steps on parts that he broke it down that ways. I also showed each word singularly if he spoke slower and on some faster parts, I would buunch more words together. Overall, his voice showed through with my typographic and timimg techniques.