Response: the last few weeks

Since we have been working mainly out of class for the last couple of class periods, I don't have a specific topic to discuss. I do, however, have an image collage of how I feel (courtesy of a Google search of "frustrated woman"):

Mainly, I feel like the women with their computers. Is it a coincidence that so many of these photos have pictures when I simply searched "frustrated woman"? I think not, computers are so frustrating. Especially when you have a large InDesign document that makes your whole computer move at the speed of a turtle.

However, as stressed as I am with all of the Home Canvas and Modify business going on (on top of Vox business of course), I'm so anxious to see the outcome and to see all of our hard work pay off.

You can't miss: Map talk

Eye blog generally talks about things that I can expect from a design magazine: posters, fonts, events, etc., but today, they posted about Google maps. Upon reading the headline, I wondered what in the world Google maps had to do with a designer like myself, but after reading the article it is apparent that it has a great deal to do with the design world. Google maps is highly designed and is useful and relevant information for the user. However, Bing's map service and other maps are coming up on Google maps' tail. Eye blog suggests, "Perhaps the next great moment in information design is just around the corner." Maybe they're correct about that!

Designing maps seems to be quite a hard feat to tackle -- so many lines, so so so many lines. But realistically it is sort of like an infographic, because it does provide information in a graphic way.

Check out these map photos provided by Eye Blog:

OpenStreetMap's map

Map from Bing Maps

One advantage to Bing Maps is that they allow you to overlay multiple maps, to make the map custom to you.

Is it true, then? Google may not be taking over the whole digital world?

Critique: Modify

 After the not-so-wonderful first rounds of critiques, we basically did a complete revamp of Modify, but after all of the struggles, I'm pretty happy with how everything is shaping up. Some of (okay, most of) my stories were cut, so I've been assigned new stories, but a few have remained the same. I'm still trying to push myself to think outside of the box, so let me know your thoughts! But be gentle, many of these are DEFINITELY still in the works, I just wanted you to get an idea of where I'm heading here:

Criqitue: Vox feature, Home Canvas iPad

So, this week has been quite the design week for me. I've been balancing both prototype projects (one for print and the other for iPad), the 20/10 assignment and the feature that will be coming out tomorrow. Since you've already seen most of my print prototype designs and my 20/10 assignments, I'm proud to show you my feature and a couple screen shots of my iPad prototype so far (which may be completely changing come tomorrow):

First of all, the ladder isn't on fire in print :(. Sad day, I know. But BIG thanks to Katie for helping me set it on fire! And thanks to her computer for not hating her!

 

I've still got a few pages to design, and lots of things to add. They look way better on the iPad because they are interactive! Let me know your thoughts about these, please!

Response: Our Critique

Last week, we met to critique draft one of our prototype designs. PHEW. I'm glad that's over with. It was quite nerve wracking and frustrating when we met with our group of publishers. I think it's safe to say that our publishers' ideas and our designers' ideas don't exactly go hand in hand. However, I'm not sure that this is very representative of the magazine industry as a whole. I think, and I could be very wrong here, that a complete redesign (except for what magazines, such as what Glamour just went through), is not often necessary because there is already a style guide put into place. This makes it easier for the designers to design. However, when the content providers don't have a say in the style guide, or they think that they know what they want and what looks good after only taking intermediate design, it becomes much more difficult. There are certain magazine standards that we all know by now that people who are coming from the outside may not be aware of.

I do think that this is a good test to put us through for our capstone. Besides pumping up the content that we have for our portfolios, it's also going to be a good story to explain to publishers and will show that we know how to work as a team (without killing each other, at least).

You Can't Miss: Indie mags

Via//Eyeblog

I'm always surprised by the amount of magazines that there are, and this week Eye blog gives a little preview to a festival called Facing Pages, which features indie magazines. The event features showcases, work shops and a handful of other things...aka it's a designer's dream land. It focuses on the influence that magazines have on the visual aspect of our daily culture, which is a pretty important topic and one that we all think about daily. I think it's important that we have access to events such as these to further our design talents. We're in an ever-changing industry, so really, even after we graduate we will not be finished learning.

Also, check out these great graphic design posters, about design, that I stumbled upon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deapeajay/2265111389/ (Check it out here, they worded their copyright weird, so I didn't want to be sued! But they're appealing.)

Critique: Modify

Here are the designs that I have finished so far for Modify. I'm pleased with how they've turned out so far, and I think that it's definitely been a stretch for me to design under someone else's design scheme. Keeping in mind the way that Katie designs was difficult, but was also kind of fun. Since we had to go through things pretty quickly in class yesterday, let me know your thoughts!

You can't miss: travel posters for lazy people

Eye blog posted about "Travel Posters for Lazy People." Let's be serious, senioritis is in full swing, and some mornings I'm feeling pretty lazy. The posters are pretty comical and might offend you, make you laugh, or give you the strength it takes to get out of bed tomorrow.  Here are a few of my favorites that were presented via Visual News:

This could be just another thing to keep your design mind occupied while you're avoiding your not-so-fun classes (and no, I don't mean design - I actually enjoy that class!). But the use of graphics is so simple that I think any one of us could create something like this, given we come up with witty text to accompany the design.

Response: magazine presentations

Today, each group presented their magazine designs to the class. This was very interesting to see, especially because some of the magazines have similar content as another magazine (for example food or home) however they were designed very differently. It is important to note how much of an influence the art directors had on the design of the magazine. I know that for me, it was difficult for me to design while keeping someone else's style in mind, but it was a challenge that I liked. When we enter the world of consumer magazines, it is very likely that we will be designing under a certain set of rules. We have to do this in our Vox department pages, but it is much different when you are trying to design multiple pages and departments.

It was also pretty interesting to hear the publisher's feelings towards what our designs should and should not be. It makes me realize how very different the minds of designers are than the minds of writers (no wonder I struggled with all of my writing classes so much). Although many ideas were presented and developed, those ideas may not translate well into print. I can't help but think of Nick's group, and how they didn't want a "logo." I heard about this weeks ago, but it still doesn't sit well in my mind. Although the outside world may not realize it, nearly everything has a logo, even if it may look like simple type. It is somewhat of a challenge to pull away some design elements that we put our time and effort into and have our ideas shut down.

Overall, it's interesting to me to see the compilation of a small group of people's ideas come to one. We all have very different backgrounds and skills, so it's interesting to see how they will all come together to create one polished product.  I can't wait for our trip next month, and to see the finished designs!