The first time

Response: DIY Smokes

A. Getting back into the swing of things, my brain was as smoky as I imagine the location for our first assignment. This week, the advanced magazine design class was responsible for designing the cover and feature story for Vox magazine, a University of Missouri publication, about a Columbia-based roll your own tobacco shop.

The cover:

While we were given the title "Roll On," I made the executive decision to go with the more popular saying, "On a roll." It wasn't just that it is a well-known expression that attracted me to it but also because I felt it gave off a more positive image. "Roll on" implies that something is just existing in the same continuous state, b

ut I think "on a roll" gives a feeling of momentum, something getting stronger, which is what all businesses want. The one quote used in the story was, essentially, plan to be open tomorrow, which gives that hopefully feeling that I associate more with the latter expression.

Looking at the d

esign, I really like people on the cover because I think it grabs a reader or potential reader's attention. I am not the only one considering since McCall's started the trend many (if not most) of the popular magazine titles followed suit. However, I also choose this photo from among the other options because I liked its composition. I wanted the hand-rolled cigarette (although I learned from the story that the word cigarette implications big-tobacco industry, who knew?) to be prominently displayed. I also l

iked the element of the hands since the "smokes" are hand-rolled.

Typograp

hy is something I think I will complain about in most of my designs. I have a really hard time picking fonts. I am just never quite sure how to get the type and images to gel with a design concept. I think this is also hindering my ability to learn to design my own type. I tried to do something "fun" with the type on both the front and inside by using cigarettes to make the font. (Note: the title of my inside pages were DIY Smokes)

It just didn't feel right since this was a photo essay, so I dropped the idea. What did I end up with?

DIY Smokes: Feature pages

From the first moment I saw the photos and heard the concept of RYO, I couldn't help but think of a "how-to"/DIY articl

e. I love "Do It Yourself" and Pinterest and crafts, in general!

I also felt like my design decision was ins

pired by the directions of the IKEA chair I had put together recently. It turned out pretty well, and I feel like my design did as well. I chose pictures that went in a sequencal order for how you would participate in the RYO smokes activity at "Roll On." Although the photos were supposed to shine because this is a photo essay, I did

want to add slight graphic element by using a step-by-step design to lead the eye and tell the story before reading the text. Based on the in-class mini-critque Tuesday that might have been a "mistake." However, I am happy with the clean look and the extra elements.

B. This week, I will be working on the spring preview pages. I have been playing around with a few ideas - the one I have gotten the furthest on deals with running a race where the person pictured will be tearing through a finish line tape that says spring preview .... maybe. I just see the spring semester as this finish line to the school year. Update: I have changed my idea!

Response: Graphic Style

I'm a sucker for books, especially graphic design ones because of all the pictures. I also like to start at the beginning of books. Call me a traditionalist. I will admit that I cheated a little bit and did some high-quality magazine flipping when I first got the book in the mail. Then I settled down for a little bit of reading (really little bit - if you haven't looked at the book is it about 10 percent words). So, I will be taking you all through this book during this semester.

The first chapter focuses on early design - think hand-drawn Bible. Don't worry, I'm not going to be summerizing the chapter, I just wanted to set up the scene for all of you.

The opening images looks something like this:

That is a page from the Canterbury Tales. This type of literary art is classified as arts and crafts, which I think is a terrible down-grade to its beauty because, despite the re-emergence of the fun of "homemade," I think A&C has a negative connotation to it. Based on the page above, designing and creating this work of art was no small feat. In fact, I read an article last year about the "new" St. John's Bible, which is hand-drawn. To describe it as a project of Biblical proportions is not an understatement. It took 11 years to complete. It was commissioned by the Benedictine monks at St. John Abbey and St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn.

Although this isn't the best image of the St. John's Bible, I think you will be able to see what I saw, which is that the images are reminiscent/pay homage to 19th century book art but there is definitely a modern spin. I look at that modernization one of two ways. The first is that I wonder if it is impossible with today's technology (even when working by hand) to not be influenced by current art trends even when creating something as historical as a Bible. Or, second, I wonder if the choice of how to illustrate the pages was simply an artist's design to flex his, um, paintbrush. I think the biggest different I saw between the two is the lack of detail to the typography (as well as the rest of the page). But the typography does seems very secondary, which is often how I feel - shamefully.

The book does break the arts and crafts section into designs by cultures, British and American, and the American typography even then wasn't quite as flowery with the exception of the Altar Book. Why is this? Are Americans less flowery people? Something to ponder on.

You can't miss: Adhemas Batista

A. I love anecdotes, so here is the first of what I am sure will be many. Growing up, my dad took me to school and picked me up each day. In the morning, he would practice my weekly spelling words, but in the afternoon, we would get to chat. His favorite question was always, "what did you do in school today." He wouldn't except the answer stuff, so I had to come up with something. This is a conversation we continue to this day, and even when I worked full time. But I will never forget the day an advertising representative from Absolut Vodka came to my Advertising 250 class at the University of Tennessee. It was one of the first times, I purposely so he would ask me that question.

Although I wasn't sure what I would do with my life at that point, I did feel my first creative twinge when the guest lecturer began flipping through slides of the Absolut campaigns. I was in awe of the colorful creations, learning how they took pictures of a clear bottle and the rigorous planning it took to create and finalize the different concepts. I think I talked about the designs for about an hour.

So over the years, I have kept an eye on their advertisements. When I turned 21 (a few months after-the-fact because I was out of the country for a while), I couldn't wait to buy my first bottle just because of their advertising. Powerful stuff, those designers create. I mean, using the bottom of the bottle wasn't just a great idea it showed the recognition that Absolut had in its market.

I was excited when I came across this site, which featured Adhemas Batista's work on an Absolut campaign. I was not familiar with Batista's work before, but, if you are cool with Absolut, than you are cool with me! What I find most interesting about all the Absolut ads is that they are a strong enough brand that they allow the artist to infuse his or her style into the campaign. After looking through some of Batista's other work that is even more clear. I think his use of color is very whimsical and even when he is not using color, he is able to bring his illustrations to life.

Whew, this post is getting long. OK, last portion!

B. This semester, I will be looking at www.imprint.printmag.com. I am still just exploring the expansive site, so I am keeping it basic this week. So, fun with signage.

So, this really isn't design-y pre-say, however, it is a good reminder that bad design can create a really negative effect.