Type blog

I'm not sure why I decided to do this, but ever since I transferred to Epp's class, I decided I wanted to use a wordpress blog. I've had the same blog since BDS and I'm thinking it's time for an upgrade.

From now on, my posts can be found at jenbeckdesign

Post V-Day, who cares, I'm sharing anyway

21 Awkward Valentine's

For next year....

Understanding Why

All it takes is a short conversation with a fellow graphic designer about typography to realize that we're all nerds here. We have our favorites. Sure. It's easy to pick a side... sans serif vs. serif, or even get reeeal specific... Gotham, Meta, Sabon (to list a few of mine.) The majority of the the time, however, the perfectly placed typeface has nothing to do with "I liked it," or "it just looked good," and everything to do with history, context and appropriateness.

Reading Jessica Helfand's Type Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry made me delve into the reasoning behind my recent typeface choices. While I've never been a constant user of Futura … (nor even a fan, sorry) ((nor ever had a project that required a Bauhaus inspired font)) … it is apparent how trends can influence design without the designer even realizing. 

Helvetica, is a perfect example. It's everywhere. There are even documentaries about the typeface. I'm fairly certain that Andrea has banned the use of it in class. Why? Because we, as designers, most likely can't explain why we chose it. Except for maybe Claire. She knows A LOT about type. 

It is important to expand your Font Book, and even step away from your favorites. It's even more important to know a little bit of history behind typography so that when it comes to choosing a font for a project, it's one that fits. This article helped me understand that research, even on a typographic level, is paramount. It can be very fulfilling explaining the reasoning to a professor behind a typeface choice. It's like you are rewarded super nerd points, and it's not even brown-nosing. It's pride.

If I had to choose a close alternative to Futura, it'd have to be Akzidenz Grotesk. They seem to be fairly proportionate in shape and width and also shares some similar features. I find this to be extremely interesting, because Akzidenz Grotesk most likely, with the combination of Paul Rand's education in Germany, inspired the creation of Futura. AG was developed decades before Futura...

Designing Under the Influence by Michael Bierut only solidified the points from Helfand's article. As designers, we absorb the visual world around us. At times, it's difficult to realize where our inspiration is rooted. This is no excuse when choosing a typeface. While it's impossible to know about ever influential designer, or why certain fonts are trending...it is important to know why a font is chosen for a project or the reason the typeface seems to fit. 

The most eye opening aspect of the article was the fact it came from the perspective of an interviewer...meaning that one day, I'm going to have to sit in front of a potential employer and explain why I chose Gill Sans as my sans serif typeface for my Understanding Grammar project. 

You can ask me. I know why.

Thinking Form

André Grürtler

A Swiss typographer, editorial collaborator, and teacher. Most known for his authority on type and type design. For 20 years, he was the editorial collaborator for Typografische Monatsblätter, where he designed numerous typefaces including Unica, as part of ‘Team 77’.

I was drawn the abstracted nature of his typography and how you had to look closely to decipher the letterforms and words. Some seemed to build as your eyes move up or down the page, transforming into something concrete. It was also refreshing to see work in predominantly black and white. Color is a beautiful aspect of design, but there is something to be said for sticking to the basics. 

Horst Hohl

I had a difficult time finding information on Horst Hohl. From what I know, he was a Swiss typographer and teacher who studied at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel. 

Layers, Layres, Layers!  
This reminded me of doing pressure prints in my letterpress class, which made this body of work catch my eye. Seeing them in a series, identifying the numbers as the counted upwards, and recognizing the letterforms became something I searched for once I realized the pattern. At times, the numbers overlapping the letters would form a unique shape or even an additional beginnings of a letter. I enjoyed looking to find a harmonious combination in such an abstract composition. 

Gregory Vines

Is an American graphic designer from Springfield, Massachusetts who teaches in the VisCom Institute, HGK/FHNW in Time Based Media and Imagery. He received his BFA at the Massachusetts School of Art in 1968. In the early 70s, he studied in the advanced class for graphic design at Schule für Gestaltung Basel, and then began teaching in 1978.  

Can I print these as posters and put them in my room? No, seriously.
Also, check out his website. http://www.gpvd.ch/why.html 
You can uncover information as you click on it, but it's been abstracted so much that you aren't entirely sure where you are going.
I must be in a black and white mood, because this is the third designer that I've been drawn to that predominantly produces prints lacking color. Vines's work is unlike the previous designers, because it feels more like typography is integrated into imagery and something greater and more complex, rather than containing only typography. His work feels like you are jumping into a different world entirely. One made from the imagination, but also stems from reality. Altering perception forces you to really absorb the information on the page, and when you do, you notice typography is subtly sprinkled in each composition. 

Roman Cieślewicz

A Polish graphic designer and photographer that attended the School of Artistic Industry, and went on to work for Vogue, Elle, and Mafia. He also taught at  l'Ecole Superieure d'Arts Graphiques (ESAG) in Paris.

Here's some color. And some weirdness, but it's a weirdness that I'm intrigued by. All the colors he uses are so vibrant, that you can't help but gravitate toward it. In many of his posers, the dark spaces feel like a respite from the rest of the composition. The typography is simple and sparing, which with the strangeness of his work, feels appropriate for the balance of the composition.

Bruno Monguzzi

A Swiss graphic designer that attended school at Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Geneva. He also studied gestault psychology, photography, and typography at Saint Martin's School of Art and the London College of Printing. After working in London, Monguzzi moved to Milan to join the Studio Boggeri – at the time the leading design and advertising agency in Italy. Later, he joined the Charles Gagnon and James Volkus office in Montreal, to help design nine pavilions for Expo 67. 

His work is very geometric and clean, and each piece has a simple, almost primary color palette of a few colors with black and white. Even though there is a lot going on in most of his posters, they still find space to breathe. He does a stunning job with finding and creating white space, even where there is a lot of content on the page. 

 

Will Burton

A German designer from Cologne is known for interrelating science with design. He's worked for Fortune Magazine, taught at the Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design, and created exhibits for IBM, Eastman Kodak, the Smithsonian, Mead Paper, Union Carbide, Herman Miller Furniture, and the United States Information Agency. 

"The creative person who can find himself or herself in this expanding universe is not only fortunate but indispensible."

Burton's work, since it relates so closely with science, feel undeniably organic. There is a flow and a direction to each of his designs and a vast understanding of color, patterns, and space. Some of his work falls on the side of bizarre, but most feel like them derive from something natural and familiar. It's interesting that he's also able to create patterns out of concrete items. His piece with the different kinds of eggs really caught my eye. The pattern formed by the different eggs, as well as the patterns on each shell, combine to make something unique out of something that is naturally, very normal. 

The Things I Find on the Internet

I can't say that I like this song, but I came across this music video and was surprised by its use of type.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Brmnl29uU

After Effects is not a program that I know...at all, but seeing music videos like this make me want to experiment. Watching my group leader, Josie, work with the program during the 48 Hour RePack also gave me an idea of what can be done with After Effects. I was fully impressed by what she could accomplish in such a short amount of time.

It's exciting to think that in a year, I could be exceedingly proficient at the major graphic design programs.

Listen — Bruce Mau

Bruce Mau, a Canadian designer, provides a 43 step program, the Incomplete Manifesto for Growth, intended for  designers and creative types to help them think about their design process. His design firm, Bruce Mau Design, is known for its high standards for design, its process, and its purpose:

We believe in the power of design to affect change and are committed to producing nothing less than world-class design. Our work is recognized for its depth of thought, clarity of purpose, boldness of vision and impact. 

At the end of the day, we all want our designs to mean something. Design isn't always about creating beautiful things. His ideology suggests it should help make the world a better place.

I related to his article for multiple reasons. Ever since I decided to return to school for design, my main focus and energy has been on allowing myself to grow as a person and a designer. There are opportunities all around us to learn something new, improve upon aspects of our lives, and find new ways to push ourselves. We were asked to choose a mantra from Mau's Manifesto, in which we try to accomplish in our lives for the week. 

My choice seemed obvious.

1. Listen carefully.
   Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
3. 
   
4. I've been having a difficult time with listening lately. It requires a lot of focus, for me, and my life has me pretty preoccupied these days. With school and work, I barely have time to do the things that keep me sane. The times I do have with others, it seems like my mind is only where I feel like I need to be other than there: my studio. It's important to realize that not everything in the world revolves around me. That it's ok to take a break. That sometimes, by listening, you can actually be improving yourself. Who knows where inspiration can arise? Perhaps it's the next conversation I have.

I could have chosen a few mantras to live by from his Manifesto. It's important to take change one step at a time. Maybe I'll choose a new one next week....

Jessica Hische and Louise Fili

My heart is a little bit at ease after watching Jessica Hische speak. There is hope. Or at least, it feels like there is after hearing her story. As a design student, I think I'm safe in saying that we're all wondering how we're going to "make it" once we graduate. Jessica Hische is killing it, so how did she do it?

Practice.

Find an incredible mentor.

Do what you love.

It's incredibly refreshing to hear someone speak about their life and their work that is genuinely excited about it. She is a great speaker — easy to listen to, explains her work in a way anyone could understand, and is very much herself. She started by showing some of her work from school, which somewhat surprised me. In my mind, the things I create in school won't remotely compare to the work I imagine myself doing in my career. Jessica included her beginning to demonstrate the little things that can influence your future. 

It surprised me that she didn't know she wanted her career to be in lettering. For some reason, I imaged that all typographers knew early on that they wanted to be typographers...because lettering is not easy. It takes hours and hours of practice, years of exposure, and an great understanding of type history and tradition. 

This is why having a great mentor is important. Get that internship! Take that job! Do anything you can to get under the wing of someone you admire. Jessica landed a job with Louise Fili through self-promotion of her illustrations. She mentioned that she enjoyed doing lettering in college, but by no means was it as refined or beautiful as the work she began creating for Louise. This is what sparked it all. As a mentor, Louise provided a more traditional approach toward design, an unsaid desire to impress, and a very extensive library. This type of work relationship can change your life and become the catalyst to your career. Throughout the two and a half years that Jessica worked for Louise, she continued to do freelance and personal projects on the side. 

Illustration and Design live in two completely different worlds. It's fun to watch how people make the both work together in their own career. For Jessica, it seems like she is hired for either one or the other, but it was pretty entertaining to hear her break down the differences between the two design areas. 

The biggest gem I took from this talk was that you'll be rewarded for doing what you love. Stay passionate and keep creating, because sometimes, those personal projects can be the reason people know your name. Jessica gained a large part of her popularity from a personal project she started called Daily Drop Cap. If you love it, do it daily. It's bound to get you somewhere close to where you want to be.