Ramblings of a Graphic Design Professor

Start Stealing Sheep, Goats, Pigs and Everything Else You Can Get Your Hands On…

2006-10-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

One of the trends I’ve noticed recently among my design students is their love of all design rules. Especially when I’m dishing out the latest assignment—they seem to crave the limitations and restrictions. It’s actually starting to worry me.

I like and understand the rules of design as much as the next designer—but in no way would I ever let them dominate my decisions when making work. For example, I have been taught and continue to teach my students to try at all costs to avoid stacking type. Most of us would agree that there is almost no really good reason to do it. It is difficult to read, it looks atrocious, it is even contradictory to the fundamental structural design of the type characters themselves, however, when I teach this rule and give my explanation on why, I simply get a bunch of okays and nodding heads. Every student is instantly in agreement with me and from henceforth they will never stack type again. And God have mercy on the soul of the student who forgets this rule, or wasn’t listening when I talked about it, and stacks type in a crit a few weeks later—because they will let into her. They’ll even lecture that student as to why she shouldn’t do it in the future, the same way that I did to them. That’s the condition of students these days in our design programs. They like the rules. They like to have order and they want to be told what to do.

Does this seem frightening to anyone else? I remember being taught this rule in my undergraduate studies and I also remember thinking at the time that there has to be some sort of exception. There has to be some time when it’s acceptable to stack type. I also remember thinking that in some design in the future I would have to try and pull it off successfully, even though I knew it was a huge design “no-no.” I think this is what a designer and artist should do. We are the agitators. We are the rule breakers. We are supposed to question and inspire. We are supposed to be the risk takers. So, what happened? How did design students get to be so “rule crazy?”

I imagine that there’s a certain comfort that comes from the rules. For some I guess it’s much easier to be ruled than to rule. Maybe they’re just not angry or aggressive as artists and designers. They all seem quite content with the “rules of design.” They like to keep quite, eat vanilla ice cream and shop at Wal-Mart.

Let’s take our old friend Comic Sans for instance. Like almost all designers I loathe this typeface. But I’ll be dammed if someone is going to tell me that I cannot use it in a sophisticated design problem. I know I could do it! It sure as hell wouldn’t be easy, but I refuse to accept a limitation or restriction like that. In fact, just thinking about it gets me so fired up that I want to take it on like a challenge—or a contest. Hey, wait, that might be a really great assignment. But, back to the matter at hand. There is some sort of urge or drive in my creative personality to be the visual spur in the side of society. I like it when old ladies have to read the “F” word. And no matter what psychologists and studies tell me, I refuse to believe the notion that seeing a photo of naked breasts will turn a child into a serial killer. During a recent critique I actually had one student questioning another student on why they chose to use 30 degree angles in their type assignment as opposed to 45 degrees. What the hell is going on here?!? This is maddening! I really had to take a calming breath before I addressed that student during that critique. There were so many more significant issues to resolve in that work than the degree angle of the type. I felt like a beet faced Winter Sorbeck (just check Google if you’ve never heard of him), ready to scream and flip-out on the spot.

Good design makes people think. And it certainly doesn’t do so by being safe, following all of the rules and blending in. The rules are good and they have their place but no rule is more important than making a good design.

I Recently Lost 75LBS. Check it out…

2006-10-16T10:27:00.000-04:00

Summer Classes…

2006-03-23T14:31:00.000-05:00

The Apple is Trying to Take a Bite Out of You…

2006-03-09T23:36:00.000-05:00

Watch this clip and decide why you should be paid to design anything. Scary.

Day Three in Boston…

2006-02-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

After our interviews this morning we rode the green line to the Financial District and then walked over to the North End and saw a bunch of shops and restaurants in Little Italy. It was interesting. I think Little Italy in NY is a bit more authentic, but Boston has Manhattan whopped on bakeries. There was this incredible little place called Mike’s Pastries and it was awesome. Since we were in Little Italy I had to have a cannoli and it was super good. I also bought this hunk of Italian bread that I just munched on while we walked around.

We ate lunch at this little Mom and Pop hole in the wall called the Theo’s Corner Café. It was great. I had a plate of spaghetti and meatballs for four bucks. That was the first time I got to kick Boston back financially. We also saw some historic stuff like Paul Revere’s house and some old churches and shopping districts. We walked all the way to the shore, but the cold wind was like a brisk ice water slap in the face and we had to pack it in.

Later for dinner we hit an Irish Pub, but I had to turn in early due to a rough migraine. Tomorrow we are going to try and visit the Contemporary Art Center. I’m also looking forward to getting back home and seeing the kiddies.

Trip to Boston (still in progress)…

2006-02-23T21:29:00.000-05:00

Julie and I arrived in Boston on Wednesday night at about 6:30 PM. After checking into the hotel and calling the fam to let then know that me made it O.K., we decided to go out and explore the city and find something to eat. Both of us have been so redunkulously busy lately that neither of us had time to prep for the trip. We knew where nothing was and didn’t even have a map. So, we just decided to walk until we found someplace that looked like it would have good local seafood.

We ended up at this place called the Atlantic Seafood Company. It’s a nicer place (by that I mean a little more expensive than I expected), but holy crap man, was that some gooooooood seafood. The place gets fresh fish in everyday—they even reprint their menus every day to keep up with the latest deliveries. We both had some clam “chowda” in a bread bowl and then we had some appetizers too (fried clams and some Italian style calamari). Really great stuff. Nothing like that in the Midwest. Since it was already late, we headed in for the night and prepared for our interviews the next day (well actually today).

I woke up early this morning and we had some morning interviews. During the lunch break we headed over to the mall which is connected to our hotel. Had some lunch, hit the Barnes and Noble for a map and headed back for the afternoon interview. After we were finished interviewing we decided we would hop on the subway and head out to Harvard to look around. We only had to take two trains to get there and it was a pretty fast and easy to navigate trip. The trains run on a color system and their direction is either called “in” or “out” of the city. So, we took the green in and transferred to red and took that out to Harvard. (I sound like a Bostonian already!). All the people that we’ve run into on the street and asked for help are super friendly. This is really a great city. It has the feeling of Manhattan, but a little smaller and much cleaner, and even a bit safer I think. And what’s pretty interesting is that an authentic, rich, blue collar Boston accent almost sounds like another language.

Anyway, back to Harvard. Harvard was pretty cool. Surprisingly, it was much more “touristy” than I expected—with gift shops, restaurants, the whole bit. But most of that was close to the stop where you get off of the train, once you walk into campus more it’s pretty much like you expect. Beautiful, old architecture everywhere you look. You really get a sense of how committed they are to their physical institution. Every building is brick or marble with wood all over the inside and they all have the feeling of giant old Catholic schoolhouses. It’s worth a visit. But, by far, the best part about Harvard was the Fogg Art Museum. When we first got there I was kind of bummed because I had to pay to get in, and I was considering whether or not it was really worth it to pay to get into just some university art museum. But man alive, it was absolutely worth it! What an incredible collection of stuff! There is one room that has Monet, Manet, Lautrech, Matisse, VanGogh and Picasso all right across from one another. And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. They have so many significant wonderful examples of work from a great range of artists. I even snapped off a few pictures of a Moholy-Nagy and a El Lissitzky before the security guard caught me. See below. I’ve never seen a Lissitzky before in person—very cool.

After taking the trains back from Harvard we met up with a former NKU student who now lives in Boston and he told us of this great sandwich shop that we went to called the Parish House. Great food, but again I spent too much money. This trip is great, but I think it’s going to break me. I see a lot of McDonalds in my future ; )

More interviews tomorrow during the day and later we’re heading to the North Shore to see all of the historic stuff. In addition to all of the landmarks, I hear there are some authentic mom and pop bakeries there that I will have to patronize. I’ll let you know how it goes.

A New Blog is Born!

2006-02-18T23:57:00.000-05:00

Lately I’ve been looking for a way to renew my enthusiam in blogging. I thought of something that may be pretty exciting as long as it doesn’t land me in jail. I started a new blog that is completely open to the public for anyone to post whatever they want. Check it out here: http://www.differenteveryhour.blogspot.com. The username and password are in the heading of the homepage so you really can log in and make a post of anything. I imagine there will be some idiot that puts kiddie porn on there I’ll have to delete, but this site should work as an incredible social experiment.

Pass it on, tell your friends and assuming it gets popular, it should be different every hour.

An Email From Fenny…

2006-02-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

So today I got the following email:

On Feb 17, 2006, at 8:17 PM, Fenny wrote:

Hi Tobias Brauer,

My name is Fenny, I'm a graphic design student
But now I really have big problem, which i cannot come up with any idea. How do I resolve that? I mean how usually graphic designer think? I spent so much for one project, but i cannot get idea, or concept, I mean blank, don't know what to do or suppose to do. I'm really scare, and desperate now. So I just want to know how usually designer come up with an idea? Could you please help me here? I don't even know how to do brainstorming. Sorry I ask you this, i know this is stupid but i really need some advice.

Thank You,
Fenny

Here was my response:

I use three different techniques for brainstorming:

The first method is a bit strange and as far as I know, I’m the only one who can get it to work. The way it works is that I try to think of an impossible answer to my problem. For example if I’m designing a business card, I’ll say something like: “Okay, this business card is going to cure cancer.” It sounds crazy I know, but bear with me. I know that the business card really isn’t going to cure cancer, but I start to think about how it could be possible that it would do such a thing. Maybe it’s made of a cellular medicinal material that melts as soon as it touches your skin. Maybe it has the ability to alter DNA if eaten. Whatever… And as I start to think about these different scenarios all of these visual design ideas also pop into my head. For example with the DNA thing, I start to think about how DNA mapping looks on those film negative images, or a sequence of a particular strain of numbers or letters. And now that I have some visual ideas, I start to try and apply those to the specific project I am working on. Will it somehow fit my client? Okay that’s method one. I told you it was a bit strange.

Method two: The old list technique. What I do here is take a piece of paper and a pencil and “just have at it” with all of the words that start to pop into my head associated with this idea. For example if I am thinking about an ad campaign idea for a soap company, my list would start like: bubble, suds, clean, wet, water, chemicals, smell, perfume, pink, etc…And I would go on and on like this for at least 100 words. The key to being successful with this one is that there are no dumb ideas. If you’re thinking about the soap company and the word “motorcycles” pops into your head you still have to write it down and add it to the list. The next step in this method is to number all of the items and find a way to randomly start to put them together. The more random and unusual the combination the better. It would be great to combine say “motorcycles” and “bubbles” and see where you could head with that. Maybe it’s a campaign about tough cleaning soap that’s for a sensitive “Hell’s Angel” or something. Or maybe there’s some kind of idea that could come from bubbles racing all over the dirt and cleaning very quickly. Or maybe the latest bubble character could wear a leather jacket and have a tattoo. Whatever… See how it works?

Method three is by far the most fun, but also the most dangerous. It’s very simple: You just go somewhere you’re not allowed to be and pay attention. For example: Get a clipboard, put on a tie and walk behind the counter at McDonald’s whether you work there or not. Just start walking around back there like you’re some kind of supervisor checking up on them. You may or may not get caught, but the success of this idea usually comes from the thrill of “maybe” getting caught. In those few brief moments when you’re risking getting in trouble your adrenaline is probably in an overload mode. All of your senses are heightened and if you use that thrill to pay attention, you can notice all sorts of details that you would not have ordinarily experienced. Maybe there’s a weird wallpaper back there, or maybe the manager has an unusual hair color, or perhaps there’s some kind of cool contraption back there for cookin’ up the patties…Whatever! The idea is that your going to get to see new stuff and that new stuff is going to make you think differently. Maybe that wallpaper pattern would make a great geometric background in your design. Maybe that hamburger cooker is made up of all of these cool shapes. I used to teach this method regularly in my classes until one day when one of the student groups with this task decided they would go joy riding in a campus police car for their influence! Somehow or rather, we all escaped that one without getting into any real trouble, but this method is sort of a “try it at your own risk” technique.

Good luck Fenny. I hope you do well on your project.

-Tobias

The picture above is the latest trophy winner from Illustration: Tommy Yacchari.

“Um…Do You Know Carson Palmer?”

2006-02-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Over this past Christmas holiday, my Aunt asked me if I would be willing to come and give a talk at a local private grade school on working as an artist professionally. At the time, the first Thursday in February seemed like awhile away and it’s pretty hard to say no to your Godmother, so I said “sure.”

Well, I forgot all about it until she reminded me yesterday and as a result I didn’t really take the time to prepare something for it as I should have, but as it turns out it didn’t really matter much. I always thought I would dread something like this, but the kids were so genuine and sweet that I could’ve been talking about being a potato farmer or creating a new type of waffle and they would’ve gotten about the same amount of information out of the talk.

Since I really had nothing prepared, I went through the usual spiel about how I arrived at design, where I went to school, blah, blah, blah. And then I posed a question to the group asking them to define graphic design. Some of them had some decent ideas here and there. They knew about logos and signs and junk and one of them even brought up “pinstriping.” (They ranged in age from 5th through 7th grade, so that last one surprised me a bit.) After I started to explain to them all of the different places in their life where they can find graphic design and how much they use it everyday, it may have sunk in for about three or four of the 100+ kids I was speaking to. But the interesting thing for me was just how polite and attentive they were trying to be, even if what I was saying made no sense to them.

Well that was enough of me talking, so I started the question and answer session by asking them what some of their favorite logos were, and their responses sounded like they were reading line for line off of the mall directory kiosk. Aeropostel, American Eagle, Old Navy and on and on and on. This went on for probably 10 minutes. Realizing that we were getting a bit off track, I asked if any of them had any “questions” about graphic design. One of them then asked me if I had designed anything that they would recognize or was famous. I started to tell them how I’ve done some design work for the group of surgeons that work on the Cincinnati Reds and Cincinnati Bengals and that they may have seen my logo and advertisement designs for them in the baseball program or on some television commercials. Another hand then goes up. (This is when it really got great.)

“So, Um…do you know Carson Palmer?”

“Uhhh, no. No I don’t.”

Another hand.

“Yes?”

“Do you know Ken Griffey Jr.?”

“No. I met him once, but I don’t really know him.”

Another hand,

“Yes, you?”

“Ummm…so, do you think Carson Palmer will be okay?”

“Yeah, I think he’s going to be just fine.”

“Good. ’Cause I was pretty worried.”

Another hand.

“So most of what you do is really for girls right?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, the stuff you make is all for stuff that gets bought, and everybody knows that girls are the ones who buy stuff.”

“Well, I’m not sure that’s entirely true. It probably goes both ways.”

Another hand goes up.

“Can I have your autograph?”

“Sure.”

It was just about then when the moderator wrapped up the presentation session and that was it. Teaching college students is very, very, very different from teaching in a grade school. I’m definitely working in the right place.

Today Was Supposed To Be A Trophy Day!!!

2006-02-01T23:28:00.000-05:00

We finally had the first final crit in Illustration today, and I forgot all about the freakin’ trophy! For the first assignment I had the students working on spot illustrations. I know for sure who would’ve won the stinking thing too—darnit! I’ll give it to him on Monday and snap a picture then.

A friend and colleague of mine here at NKU, Tom Davie has a solo painting show up in the small gallery right now. It’s a great collection. He’s been working like mad lately on his paintings ever since he made the decision to ditch us and go pro (I guess I can say that in public now, right Tom? Hence, our current graphic design faculty search.). Anyway, it’s paying off, because his work is super nice. The Parishioner Series is a cool mix of all the great things that can be visually appreciated about both painting and graphic design. He has recently launched a blog for his painting studio: studiotwentysix2, and of course its main focus right now is the show. It’s worth stopping by to see the photos of the work.

No luck on getting a signed Chip Kidd book. Julie couldn’t make it to the evening event. Oh well. I may just buy another copy and mail it to him and request a signature. I’ll let you know if it works out.

In a strange, unrelated and useless factoid, for some reason my profile views right now are at 666! Freaky, huh? Please encourage your friends to click on my face (over there to the left) really soon, so Old Beezlebub doesn’t get me.

I’ve been looking for another excuse/reason to get back to Germany soon. This looks like a good one.

As I am writing this post, I just got an email that says UC’s AIGA Student chapter is hosting a lecture by Rebeca Méndez tomorrow night at 7:00 pm. Is it bad that I don’t recognize her name? Well, it’s off to Google I go to learn more about her.

Listening: German II, Unit 7.
Reading: Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.

Chip Kidd Lecture…

2006-01-31T23:07:00.000-05:00

I went to hear Chip Kidd speak today at lunchtime. He gave a lecture that was co-sponsored by both the Cincinnati Advertising Club and the Cincinnati Chapter of the AIGA. And yes, my Chair at Northern was even kind enough to pay for my admission with departmental dinero. It was a pretty sweet gig all the way around.

The lecture was great! Chip was super entertaining. When he spoke he was informal and relaxed. He didn’t at all act like a pompous ass, like some other renown designers of his caliber tend to behave. Seriously, he just seemed like a regular guy with a great sense of humor. It was pretty refreshing. At one point he even recited a verse from the bible in the voice of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. I know that sounds weird, but it was hilarious.

During his lecture he started out talking about some projects that he is currently working on; like the stuff he’s doing for Vertical, some cover designs for DC Comics, and even a poster for Julia Robert’s Broadway debut. What was cool about the way he presented his ideas was, that he wasn’t just giving another portfolio style slide show. He walked us through the process of most of the pieces. You could catch a glimpse of how quickly he really works. To get a sense of his super-human design speed, he’s worked for Knopf Publishing, in New York for 20 years and has designed over 900 book covers in that time!!! Nine-freaking-hundred! No joke. He also told us about the hang-ups within his processes, the stuff the clients didn’t like, the changes he had to make, the crap he has to put up with, and so on…

What I found even more interesting about the lecture though, was that I started to get a sense of the way he thinks and works. When he spoke about his projects, you could really see that his work thrives off of instincts. I saw it as ‘designing from the gut’. Granted, there are 20 years experience and 900 book covers in that gut, but his decisions seem to be bold and primal in their wittiness. Sometimes working that way burns him and other times he’s the hero. But it’s apparent that he isn’t hung up on rules or process. His work is very much about those first strong ideas that pop into your head at the beginning of the brainstorming. It’s just that his first ideas are the ones that take the rest of us a while to get to.

I took a couple of pictures, but the lighting was so crappy, that you can’t really make them out very well. I had hoped to stay after, but the presentation went long and we had to get back to school for a class. Chip was also doing a book signing tonight at Josepf-Beth Books, but I couldn’t make that either. A colleague of mine was considering going to that, and if she made it, she was going to pickup an autographed Cheese Monkeys for me. We’ll see tomorrow I guess.

Moral of the story: If you ever get the chance to go attend a Chip Kidd lecture, you should do it. I’ve seen talks by Sagmeister, Beirut, and Cooper and Kidd is still the winner.

Accreditation?

2006-01-19T23:40:00.000-05:00

Our design department is not NASAD accredited. When I first came on board at NKU, my colleague and I both agreed that we value accreditation and would make sure to go through this process in our area.

We’re both in our third year now and with all of the in-house things that have had to be done here over the last few years in revitalizing our program, we simply haven’t had the chance to start this process yet. I’m guessing that with all that’s happening right now, we’re still not going to get to it this year either. We do think it’s very important we just haven’t had enough time.

In the process of serving on a few college committees lately, I’ve been speaking to other colleagues throughout the university in different departments who have had to go through their own accreditation processes. Some are very much for it, and some are very much against it. They each have their own reasons for either loving or hating it; some selfish, some valid—it was actually a pretty even mix. I realized during these conversations that I never thought that there might be valid reasons why some faculty members may not want to be accredited. And this is actually a conversation we haven’t had yet as a department that we probably should. Do we really want to seek accreditation? My instincts say: “yeah, of course we do”, but I’m beginning to think it’s worth some consideration.

Accreditation has its advantages. With it comes more of a validity in your program’s reputation among peer institutions…at least I think that’s what happens. And of course the review process can identify areas in your curriculum or program that you may not have realized were lacking or need improvement. It would be great to have an impartial outside observer give our version of design education the once over. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment but the designer in me is craving that critique. Another argument frequently mentioned on the “pro” side of accreditation is that it can give a school the ability to recruit a higher level of student. This one I’m not so sure about though. Remembering back to when I was a fresh-faced undergrad just out of high school, I’m pretty sure I didn’t really know much about accreditation. As it turns out, both colleges that I attended (undergrad and graduate) were accredited, but that had very little weight in my decision to attend them. Very little. Maybe I should’ve cared more, but I think I was concerned most about the reputation of the institution.

Those who would argue against the NASAD process would probably cite their ability to remain agile in their curriculum. Accreditation comes under an existing curriculum. In a way, it can bind your hands and lock your program into “their” model for a number of years. I like that our institution is still young (est. 1968). I like that if I want to get something started or change something in our program on my own and have the ambition to do the legwork myself—it will probably happen and relatively quickly. That really suits graphic design. Sure, we have our own set of fundamentals and concerns as a discipline, but we are changing increasingly quickly, and sometimes in a much faster span of time than one or two years. What if we want to shift our focus or be more entrepreneurial in our approach to design education? The flexibility is probably a great thing to have. There are also a number of great institutions with strong reputations in graphic design that are not accredited, like Cranbrook’s 2-D program for instance. I don’t think many students turn down an opportunity to attend these sorts of universities because they are not accredited.

I’m curious to see what everyone else out there thinks. Is it worth it? Should we still do it? Should it be NASAD? How about an AIGA design school version?

Searching, Boston and the Kidd…

2006-01-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

I feel like I haven’t made a post in forever and when I look at the dates I realize I really haven’t. I have been super busy lately and for some reason blogging has dropped on the old priority list. I’ll work on it.

What’s new?…Well, despite whatever your Chair or other colleagues may tell you, working on three search committees at the same time is no fun. Just this week I had to make seven different reference phone calls that were at least a half hour each—a couple were much longer. I don’t know about many of you out there, but I am not much of a phone person. In fact, I think I actually hate talking on the phone. When it rings at home, I never answer it, (even if I’m the only one home) and at work I only use it when it’s a necessity. I’m not anti-social or anything, I just really loathe the telephone for some unknown reason. I haven’t even owned a mobile phone for four or five years now. Although, for some reason, I sense that I’m going to have to ‘turn to the dark side’ on that one soon. Not having a cell phone and traveling can be super rough.

Speaking of travel, the CAA conference is in Boston this year around the mid twenties (23, 24, 25…something like that) of February—and I’ll be going. I’ve never been to Boston before and am kind of looking forward to it. It seems like an interesting town. I’ll be there to interview what I hope are tons and tons of wonderful candidates applying for a tenure track teaching position here at NKU in graphic design. I’ve posted the job description here on this site before, but it’s still NOT TOO LATE for someone to send in their materials and apply for the opening. Our reviewing starts at the end of this month. Tell your friends.

On the 31st of this month Chip Kidd is coming to Cincy to give a lecture in the afternoon and do a book signing in the evening for his new book. It’s on a Tuesday and I don’t have class that day so I think I’m going to try and get to the lunch thing. It’s being put on by the Advertising Club of Cincinnati, in the downtown area. Only one catch, I just re-checked the old invite and it will be 35 clams just to walk in the door. Students are cheaper at 18 dollars, but I think I’m going to have to try and seek alternative funding for that (by “alternative” I mean: not the Brauer checking account). I thinks it sounds like a perfectly valid business expense that the department could take on…don’t you think? It’s part of that faculty enrichment that I keep hearing about…right? Anyway, if I go, I try to rattle off a few snapshots and give a full report in my usual rambling format.

Classes are shaping up pretty well this semester. The only rough patch that may come into play is the head count in Illustration. I think we’re hovering right around 22 or 23 students. That makes for a bit of a different crit format. Let’s call it “terse.” Yeah, that’s a nice way to say it.

Still plugging away with Pimsleur at German II, (Unit 5).

The Design Entrepreneur…

2006-01-09T22:23:00.000-05:00

As I was sitting in the interviews today, I have to admit that for a moment or two, my mind began to wander. You see, I had just heard the word “entrepreneur” for about the fifteenth time today and I started to really examine its definition and how it can relate to graphic designers. You know, I was sitting there, already had the laptop open…what the hell, huh?

Anyway, the reason I started to consider it was the context in which it was being used. Many of the interviewers were discussing it as a characteristic of someone who innovates and creates new beginnings, therefore generating new outcomes; as opposed to simply solving existing problems. As you can imagine, my mind started racing a-mile-a-minute. I always thought that as a designer, I was an am a problem solver. Is this a bad thing? Am I just another pair of eyeglasses? (you know, the old “treating the symptoms” and “not addressing the problem” metaphor) It’s really something to think about in design.

I know that I have made work in design that I would consider an innovation…err, at least I hope I have. But I started to consider whether it was something I was doing consistently; or in fact, am I simply treating symptoms? This is a pretty tough, self-critical question.

I think that probably most design entrepreneurs work a great deal on client education. They asses a client need and create a design that correctly addresses that need. I can remember an example of mine in graduate school where all of us were to work on a project of redesigning a shopping cart. After quite a bit of thinking and research, I came to the conclusion that what the client actually needed was a creation I called: The Handheld Shopping Cart. I rethought the shopping experience. I went from a cart to a handheld scanner, I re-examined new methods of point of purchase displays, I explained the added value of technology in such a device, and so on. By the end of my presentation, the client was excited by the idea. They were expecting a wire box on four wheels with a handle, and instead they got a tricked out PDA and a new store. The idea was exciting to them and I remember them being impressed with a whole new experience. It wasn’t what they wanted initially, but it was probably what they needed.

I’m also aware that there is plenty of work I’ve created that could simply be called “corrective design”—all of those car commercials, for one. Those ads sure aren’t going to win any awards, but they do help with that private school tuition for the kids.

It’s a challenging question to ask of yourself. Are you making something new that addresses the design problem at its roots? Or instead with your design work, are you simply treating some symptoms of the problem? I guess one could argue that not all projects can meet this criterion, but then, I would put forth the notion that some may argue just the opposite—that all design projects should be treated this way.

I’ll tell ya’ what man, dang ol’ confidentiality, man…

2006-01-09T20:34:00.000-05:00

I left the house today very early when it was still dark and by the time I got out of the conference building tonight it was already dark again. Although this process is quite a bit of work it’s remarkably interesting. A search at the dean level is much different than a search at a faculty level position. The problem is that I can’t really comment on all of the interesting things that are happening because of a confidentiality agreement. I would however, recommend to anyone who is nominated to such a committee, that they accept that nomination.

The only downside has been, having to cancel the first day of classes. We’ll just have to meet on Wednesday, but there is something great about that first day of class. I think those are some of my favorite days of the year. It’s one of the ways I know I’m in the right profession—I like school way too much.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow with five more candidates.

The Hibernation is Over…

2006-01-08T11:25:00.000-05:00

Alright, so I guess it’s finally time to come out of my cave and stop hiding. School starts back up on Monday and I’ve been avoiding the inevitable for as long as possible. I love the breaks in teaching, and when I go on break—I really go on break.

As I said earlier, classes do start back on Monday, but not exactly for me. Somehow, I was nominated to serve on a search committee for the new Dean of the College of Informatics. Since this is a pretty high-level search committee, I was honored and eager to participate. Well, now it has come time to “pay the piper.” On Monday and Tuesday from 7:00 a.m. until about 6:30 p.m. we will be conducting TEN candidate interviews at the airport. Obviously because of confidentiality agreements, I can’t report on too much information about the specifics, but this is going to be quite a bit of work. And as a result of scheduling, my first classes on Monday had to be cancelled (no teaching on Tuesdays).

As I look back on my rants regarding my trip, I realize it may have seemed like I was a bit jaded about the whole trip. I had a great time and I loved Germany, I just had a bit of trouble getting home. I am definitely going to go back again and whenever that is it won’t be soon enough. Before I left, I did finish Pimsleur’s German I audio lessons (about 30 lessons that took a little less than two months of driving back and forth from work). I think I drove my wife bananas with all of the German talk but it did pay off while we were there—I used it a ton. I can speak enough to get by—it’s not an acceptable level, but it doesn’t intimidate me as much anymore. The funny thing is that I can’t read or write it very well at all. I’m going to have to keep working on it. I though that once I got back, I wouldn’t use the audio lessons anymore, but once I drove in the car a few times without them; I missed them. I’m already into my third lesson of German II and I think I’ll probably finish all three courses. I would recommend Pimsleur to anyone who has a commute to work of a half hour or more. Regular driving just seems like I’m wasting time now.

Bis Montag!

Back in My Office Again…

2005-12-16T12:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday and the day before were admittance reviews for freshman and sophomores hoping to claim graphic design as their major. We reviewed around thirty student portfolios in two days. Now that was busy.

Today is the last faculty meeting before the break. I suspect it will be short. I may fall off of the radar for a while, as my computer will be making a mecca to its homeland of Texas for repairs. The bottom third of the screen has gone all white. Apple tells me five days, we’ll see how that goes.

Happy Holidays.

I Made It Home…

2005-12-13T22:46:00.000-05:00

I’m finally home. I already can’t wait to go back to Germany. I also can’t wait until France falls into the ocean. America really is a great country to live in. Our lives here are quite comfortable.

The Worst Travel Day of My Life:

2005-12-12T22:40:00.000-05:00

I’ve tried to leave France on two different occasions today. Hopefully tomorrow will be my third and final try. All of these horrible things actually happened to us today in one day:

1. Late departure and late landing due to excessive hovering for landing clearance from Germany to France.

2. After asking for someone to meet us at the plane, they did not, and we missed our connection by 15 minutes for next flight.

3. Ran three miles or so to the gate, stopped by a passport line with maybe 200 people waiting and two employees working—same for security checkpoint.

4. After missing that flight, boarded substitute flight for Atlanta a few hours later. Exited this plane without going anywhere due to the toilets backing up. This happened after waiting for four and a half hours on the plane.

5. Go to pick up luggage but first have to wait in huge line for passport check to re-enter a country we never actually left. (France is smart.)

6. After crazy luggage free for all, my bag is missing.

7. After an hour of fighting to find my luggage, my bag pops up another hour later.

8. Go then to reschedule our flight, and the line that now contains an extra 200 people takes an additional 2.5 hours.

9. After reschedule, wait for shuttle to take us to the hotel. We circle the airport five times before heading to the hotel. Get yelled at by a French Napoleon looking guy driving the bus.

10. When we get to the hotel, the kitchen is closed and the telephones will not make phone card calls.

11. The elevators in the hotel do not work.

12. Had to walk to another hotel to eat yucky vending machine dinner (only meal in 11 hours).

In case you are wondering Air France is the devil. And as we all know, the devil lives in hell (the Charles DeCrap Airport).

Day Three Was Also Super Cool…

2005-12-11T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today we woke up early again after a full night of drinking and talking, while still not being adjusted to the time change…arrrggghh! Oh well, I’m sure as hell not going to sleep my way through Germany.

We spent the night at Hans Hermann’s house and all woke up early and drove over to Bernd and Margit’s. We ate a brief breakfast there, and headed into downtown Lingen (during the daylight this time), to see a number of historical family sights. (Ann’s grandfather immigrated to the US from there as a young man in his twenties.) We saw the church where he was baptized and the house in which he apprenticed as a young blacksmith. We were even able to see the house in which he was born. It was an incredible, once in a lifetime kind of experience.

Around lunchtime we started the two-hour drive back to Bremen. Driving back was much easier this time and we probably made it back in less than two hours. On the way back, we did decide to roll the dice once in trying a different highway exit and we paid for it. It was about ten minutes before we realized we had no idea where we were and I had to go into a bakery and ask directions. The woman working behind the counter spoke absolutely no English but I did know enough German to get directions from her and find the way back.

After we returned the car, Ann went off to shopping and I headed back to the conference. I attended a workshop for making protest graphics and heard a lecture on the work of the Boyle family given by the son, Sebastian. They are a family of artists who have traveled the earth working on studies from varying surfaces. It was a very interesting presentation. But the main reason I headed back to the conference for the evening portion that day was to hear David Carson’s lecture. Guess what? Carson was a no-show. Big shocker…huh? It never ceases to amaze me that someone with this stigma keeps getting booked for conferences and keeps not showing up. When will this crap end? Conference directors everywhere: STOP BOOKING CARSON!!! His work may be good—but enough already!

After getting back to hotel from the conference, Ann and I decided to go back up the Christmas Market up at the city square and enjoy the sights and sounds, and do some souvenir shopping. We ate dinner at a German steakhouse and didn’t make it back to the hotel until late.

Some more fun facts I learned today about Germany:

1. Breakfast in Germany can just be beer and meat.
2. There are lots of naked butts in German commercials.
3. It would take months of immersion in the culture to successfully speak the language.
4. My trip is not long enough.

Day Two Was A Great Day…

2005-12-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

I woke up early today to catch the shuttle at the train station and go register at the conference and finally start to see/hear some graphic design stuff. I probably got there at about 9:00 am, and was able to start listening to some lectures right away.

I was able to listen to speakers: Geoff White, Hamish Muir and Simon Johnston. The lectures took place in a salon area of a satellite building of the Hocschule fur Künst (University for Arts). The lectures I attended today were pretty good. Topics discussed included: a debate about whether or not design can be considered an art, design work that is just made for other designers and how “national” styles of design are starting to diminish as the world gets to be a smaller and smaller place. Good topics and interesting discussions.

I’m not 100% sure about the conference itself yet I will have to attend more events to give a fair evaluation. Just the fact that it is in another country is good for me, but I’m really looking forward to some substantial content. The setting for the conference at the university is quite interesting. The building reminds me of the old building of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where I attended undergrad. It’s old and used and dirty—all of the good attributes of an art school. I love to create stuff in messy spaces. Clutter can make for some wonderful ideas. The main building has some open studios/classrooms of a few floors with the top floor being a space that serves as a movie house/student lounge called the “attic.” It seems like a fun place to go to school. If I had one gripe it would be that the conference doesn’t exactly seem as international as it should. It’s very much mostly German and it seems most of those Germans are students of the school.

I left the conference today at about 2:00 to meet up with Ann. We decided to rent a car and drive a couple of hours to meet with some of her family in a nearby town called Lingen, where we would spend the night. Now that drive was an adventure! There are all kinds of differences driving in Germany as opposed to driving in the US. No, it’s not the cars, or the side of the road or the steering wheel, it’s all the other stuff like: a whole new system of semiotics for street signs, or learning who has the right of way in a “roundabout.” We probably got lost about six times and almost died only once. The car was an economy, diesel, Ford Festiva. I actually liked it very much. It was brand new, bigger than expected and super cheap. It’s a good thing too because fuel is super pricy in Germany. Probably the equivelant of 5 or 6 dollars a gallon! (Remember they use liters and euros so I may be off a smidge.)

When we finally did arrive in Lingen and meet up with Ann’s family it was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve ever had. First of all we had never met any of them before and they were super, super kind and accomidating in taking time to spend their weekend with us and getting to know us in this short period of time. The crazy part was that after driving and flying all of this way, when we finally made it to the house of her mom’s cousin and he open the door to greet us, it was like looking at one of her uncles that we had known for years. This guy really looked like all of the other people in the family. It was a big shocker. Anyway, we spent the night drinking and talking with them asking each other questions and becoming fast friends. As I said before, they were incredibly nice people.

Here are some random fun things that I learned today:

1. Jever is a good German beer.
2. I am 198 centimeters tall.
3. You really can drive as fast as you want on the German Autobahn. Below you will see a picture of me going 180km/hr.
4. Germany loves Christmas.

Made it to Germany:

2005-12-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

Well, Ann and I finally made it to Germany. It took a little longer than expected but I think everything will turn out o.k. We shall see. As I started writing this I can see on my computer that it’s 2:30pm in Cincinnati and it is 8:30pm here in Bremen. What-ever-the-hell :30 it is, I haven’t been to sleep for over 30 hours straight so please excuse me if this post is a little off.

We started the trip at the CVG airport with a cranky stewardess biotch from Delta who for some reason or another singled us out as having carry on luggage that was just slightly too big. Guess what? It’s the same freakin’ size as everybody else’s we were just some of the last ones to get on the plane. And after some words were shared, of course I was able to get both pieces to fit easily in the overhead compartment. Thanks for causing a stink and delay over nothing, Delta Psycho Woman!

After arriving in Newark, we waited a couple of hours and boarded our flight to Paris on Air France. I’m not sure if I ever mentioned it before, but I‘m 6’5” tall and transcontinental flights just do not agree with someone of that size. Air France handled the flight and the service was super! Way better than Delta by a long shot. The even had interactive t.v. thingies on the seat cushion in front of you loaded up with games and movies all controlled by something that looked like a Nintendo controller. And yes, I put in the Contra code, but nothing happened.

We had some more not so fun times when we arrived at Charles DeGaull airport. I’m pretty sure I‘m not spelling that correctly, but I don’t give a crap because this was by far the worst airport I’ve ever been too. They should call it the “armpit” of Europe. It was filthy, and most of the people going through there (both as workers and customers) were pushy, pissed-off and rude. I felt like I was the only one who knew how to smile in the whole god-forsaken place. And if I have one more 50 something French guy push me out of the way I’m going to deck him and right in le bouche! There is no respect for common decency in the armpit of Europe. And by the way, to reiterate my point, the way-finding signage in CDG is a freakin’ joke too. I have never been so lost in all of my life. And the hour-long line for a passport check, yeah that was pretty sweet too. This was the first four hours I’ve spent in Paris and I’m sure the city is much nicer, but if it is possible, I will always try and avoid this airport!

Flying from CDG to Bremen also had a term pop=up that I had already heard a couple of times during the day—technical glitches. For this flight we all got on to a bus, drove out to the place, got on the plane and then after about 15 minutes of sitting on the plane we were told in French and broken English to a place full of German speaking people, that some little orange button in the cockpit wasn’t lighting-up and we would have to switch planes. So, we all got out, back on a bus, and drove to another plane, which we boarded and flew to Bremen. When we got to BRE, the bus that was driving out to pick us up died on the way and we had to wait for a different one to come. Wait there’s more:

So the Stupid American in me made the hotel reservations. I saw the choice of a single room or a king-sized bed. And since it was just going to be Ann and me I figured we would not need a so-called “double room” or king sized bed. Man that was a bad move. A single room in Europe means a very thin bed. I’m pretty sure they measure it in centimeters. Anyway, as we tried to upgrade to the double room (what naïve Americans such as myself consider a run-o-the-mill hotel room) there were no more openings for such rooms. So we got a room for tonite but not tomorrow or the next day. Exciting huh? The girls at the front desk of our current hotel were very kind and have helped us to find a place for Sunday night. And tomorrow night we are going to try and drive to Lingen to meet with some of Ann’s family members and spend the night with them.

To top it all off—still no conference yet. That will be first thing tomorrow morning. The tourist information place had already closed for the day by the time I got to it today. We did how ever get a chance to walk around tonite, see some cool stuff and eat at an authentic German restaurant. This is the first time I’ve had an authentic German beer in Germany and man was it tasty. Oh yeah, I almost forgot all about the taxi ride from the BRE airport to the hotel. He spoke no English. Some of what I had learned on my ipod held up, but it wasn’t easy. I should have learned the word for receipt before I left.

I’ve attached some pictures below. More stuff to come tomorrow, (if I can get an internet connection at the end of the day) hopefully with better quality thanks to some daylight. I’m also looking for to that 2 hrs tomorrow when I try and cram myself into an OPEL. That will probably go just fine.

For now, so long from Bremen.

Just a Quick One Today…

2005-12-07T20:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry, but this has to be a quick post. (Busy packing and what-not—oh yeah, there’s plenty of what-not.)

Your trophy winners are:
• Tessa Prickle, Intermediate Graphic Design
• Dustin Williams, Introduction to Typography

Final Crit Today in Advanced Type:

2005-12-06T23:37:00.000-05:00

Today was the last regular day of class in my Advanced Type class. I had to cut things a bit short to compensate for travel. As to be expected, with the last day came a final crit. The students were working on a grid structure/annual report for their final project and quite of bit of the work turned out really great. In fact, the trophy voting was split close to even among a few different projects. It was the crit itself that held a bit of interest.

So, earlier this year in a critique, with this same group of students, I likened a student’s work to a urinal and called him the “Duchamp” of graphic design. Afterwards, I felt a little bad and thought maybe I was too tough on him. But today, in the final critique for Advanced Typography I was by far outdone by a student comment. A student had created a piece that had entirely too many colors, shapes and typefaces in it, and another student’s critical comment was as follows: “I’m afraid that when kids look at that, they’ll go into epileptic seizures!” Now that’s a critique! Maybe a touch harsh—but what a zinger! Although it’s not always nice to hear, there’s nothing that can account for crass, jaw-dropping honesty in a design critique.

I can’t believe I’m leaving in less than 48 hrs—I have a bunch to do still.

Your trophy winner is Evangeline Bauerle. Two more trophies tomorrow.

A Design History Challenge…

2005-12-05T09:54:00.000-05:00

Alright, all of you Art History and Graphic Design History buffs out there, here is a challenge for you. Be the first person to correctly identify the following pieces of historical design significance and win a prize! Identify the title, artist (if applicable), date and art/design historical movement under which each of these pieces can be categorized. If you are the first to correctly answer all three, your prize will be some sort of souvenir from Germany. Perhaps it will be a receipt from a shop, or a German candy wrapper or maybe even a refrigerator magnet—who knows? One thing you can count on for sure is that it will definitely come from Germany. Unless you already live in Germany, then I will send you something American.

Here are the images:

Send the answers to me via email or post a comment with your name. If no one responds correctly within 48 hours I will post the answers myself. Good luck!

Just a Quick Note:

2005-12-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

Like many other professions, Graphic Design embraces technology. A perfect example of this is design blogs. There’s been an incredible explosion of discussion among our ranks. I know this first hand as I am only entering my fifth month of blogging and that counter down below is getting closer and closer to 10,000 visits.

I would like to encourage all designers (professionals, students and educators) to consider this time an opportunity. This era can result in a tremendous shift in our profession. I’m almost certain because of these outlets and many other things happening right now that most in the future will consider this time an epoch in graphic design.

I would also like to encourage more unity among the design troops. Relevant dialogue and strong critique can be the cornerstone of design’s success. Petty name-calling and fruitless negative complaints without the offering of helpful suggestions will only be counterproductive. The eternal optimist in me leads me to believe that many of us share this same opinion—it never hurts to reconsider it though. It seems as soon as I am appreciating the synergy of this blog/discussion technology, and my faith in humanity is once again restored, some goofball comes along and brings us all right back down among the savages.

Luck favors a prepared mind.

Somebody else should identify the above image and its significance.

In a side note:
There’s a new batch of senior shows up in the gallery right now and as soon as I get back up to school to take some photos I will post them here.

UPDATE: 12.05.2005:

Sorry about the crappy image quality, I must have been a cup or two low on coffee at the time.

How Much are You Worth as a Designer?

2005-11-30T12:44:00.000-05:00

democratize:
To put an organization under the control of its members by giving them free and equal decision-making powers.

In essence, as design exists today, I believe it to represent a perfect democracy. We as designers all have free and equal decision-making power in the type of work that we create and in our level of involvement in the profession and future of design. In the good old U.S. of A., we have a particularly relentless fondness for democracy. Some would even categorize it as our modern day crusade.

There is no governing body for design, except for its practitioners. This model suits us creatively and productively. So then why the concern of “worth” in the above headline?

Well, one reason is that democracy tends to create intangibles. In this instance, by “intangibles” I mean that which is appreciated by its citizens, but difficult to explain quantifiably to others. For example: A spirit to be successful. Such a spirit or will, holds a tremendous value to its owner, yet it would be difficult to express that value in relationship to a commonplace noun. (i.e. My drive to succeed is equal to 1000 Lamborghinis, or 40,000 acres of land, or $16,000,000.) Someone may assume that they can assign values to these sorts of things but it’s rather difficult to prove.

Another reason to consider worth in a democracy is the fact that it is so openly fluid and organic. The democracy of design is particularly susceptible to great changes by its population as there are no admission requirements to join our ranks. The twenty-year veteran and the fledgling novice can practice our profession side by side with nearly the same technical (digital) abilities. For this reason, the definition of what it is we do can be clouded simply by what is being produced.

I’ve made a list of what I believe to be the most valuable of these intangibles that great designers will consistently possess. The list has nothing to do with operating Photoshop, or knowing how to properly kern and lead type. Those sorts of skills are now a given in worthwhile design work. The list does however signify the characteristics a citizen of our design democracy should attain in order to expect lifelong success as a designer. In essence, it describes their “design worth.”

• A Knowledge of History
• An Awareness of Culture
• The Ability to Think Creatively
• A Strength in Social Engagement and Interactions
• A Drive to Succeed
• The Ability to Solve Problems
• The Ability to Communicate
• A Strong Respect for Process
• Reputation, Courtesy and Dependability
• A Commitment to Stewardship of the Profession

In the way that you practice design it is important to try and express the value of these things to others—especially clients. If you hire a designer, put these kinds of attributes in your job description. If you’re a client, hold us accountable to these expectations. When promoting yourself as a designer, it’s time to start promoting your strengths in these areas. And most importantly the design work that you make should communicate these ideals clearly.

A positive, organic ebb of ambiguity in our democracy is just as easy to provoke as a negative one.

The image above belongs to Ed Fella.

Designers Unite: Logo Design Contests R.I.P. 2005!

2005-11-29T09:27:00.000-05:00

My colleagues, I am asking all of us to come together and immediately end designer participation in logo design contests. By uniting and uniformly refusing to participate in these atrocities we can reclaim a tremendous amount of worth in our profession. What we make is valuable. Do not allow it to be cheapened by another’s greed.

Imagine this scenario: Let’s say I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately. I decide that I need to go visit the doctor. In addition to making an appointment with my usual family physician, I also make appointments with 15 or 20 other doctors as well. As I visit each doctor’s office, I tell them that they are all in competition with one another for treating my illness and I will only pay the physician who I believe does the best job after they have all seen me. I sample a bit of all the different medicines, perhaps I even ask my four-year-old daughter which doctor she liked best. And after everything is said and done, I pay doctor #12 my $20 co-pay and head on my way cured and happy. Is there anything wrong with this? Did the other 19 doctors not do their job? Should they not be paid for spending time with me and examining me?

This is exactly what happens in a logo design contest. Some bonehead with a couple of extra bucks or so knows the value of design. He also knows that he needs design, however, what he knows most is that he’s too freakin’ cheap to pay for design. So when it comes time to start his roofing company he gets the bright idea to hold a logo design contest with a shiny $200 first prize and like mindless zombies, we as designers oblige him. Except in our case instead of twenty people working it’s probably more like 50 or 70. And we all scramble like mad for the bonehead, each of us spending maybe 15 or 20 hours on average submitting a couple of designs. Bonehead is super happy. He might even have a hundred versions now of his new company logo to choose from and it’s only going to cost him 200 bucks. All of the contest participants wait patiently to see who wins and low and behold the winner is little Sammy Thompson, a 12 year-old from Scranton, PA. Sammy’s design won because it reminded Bonehead of a toy he once possessed as a child. Sammy’s design was completed in Microsoft Word.

Why do we devalue our process and product? This can only be detrimental to design. There probably are cases where one may be able to justify participation in a logo contest; but it should be pro-bono and for a non-profit, deserving company. It’s time to reclaim the value of our profession. Leave the logo design contests to Sammy. If you agree with me leave your name in a comment here to put your commitment in print.

(My apologies to Sammy Thompson in Scranton, PA, if he really exists. Your design really was super sweet and you deserved the win.)

Lots of Stuff Happening Right Now:

2005-11-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

I started the day by grading a couple of projects for my Intermediate Graphic Design class. Every time I think I get ahead in the grading it backs right back up. Oh well, another day, another dollar.

Yet another student of mine was up against some legal trouble today. Fortunately it’s nothing as bad as huffing this time. However, I will still not mention his name to protect his identity. It’s kind of a funny story; he used his graphic design powers for evil. In an effort to save a few bucks, he created a phony parking pass; and a couple of weeks ago walked out to his car and found a real nice parking boot on the wheel of his car. This is evidently a much more serious offense than it sounds because this student had to appear in court before a county judge and meet with the Dean of Students. Not to worry though, the penalties weren’t unreasonably stiff and as long as he keeps his nose clean, he’ll still graduate on schedule next semester.

In both of my classes today there were in-progress crits for final projects. These two classes have a deadline of December 7th for their last pieces. In the Intro to Type class they all have quite a bit of work to do. In Intermediate Graphic Design most of them have a pretty good jump on things. I look forward to those last two crits, as final projects are usually some of the students’ best work.

Since today is the 28th, that only leaves ten days until I leave for Deutschland. I am super excited! I will be bringing my Powerbook and a digital camera to make for some “awesome” on-the-road, blogging.

In switching to yet a fifth topic for this post, we were forced to add a third section of Introduction to Computer Graphics for next semester. And as of now we have no idea who will be teaching it. All of our current faculty members are to capacity in their teaching loads. This class is for freshmen who have completed the Foundation courses but have not yet taken any graphic design classes. The course curriculum simply trains students on “the new big three” (Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign). There’s a smattering of Quark in there, but who knows for how long. The course content and syllabus are already written, we just need a truly computer savvy designer to step in there and teach the class. I’m going to start by trying to ask some local professional contacts that I have and hopefully someone will be interested. Something that’s to our advantage is that, to teach this class, it is not necessary for the instructor to hold a graduate degree. A working professional or grad student can teach it. If you are local to Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky and interested or know someone who may be interested please email me. We probably have less than a month to find someone.

Go 3-D! Everybody’s Doing It!

2005-11-22T23:47:00.000-05:00

Since AT&T just recently merged with SBC, they of course decided it was time for a new logo. Many of us knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow. So many of Paul and Saul’s masterpieces are being replaced by the demands of tastes and trends. You can check out some of the buzz about the switch on design blogs: DesignObserver and Be A Design Group . I personally loathe this 3-D craze. Why do all “current” and “modern” logos have to be 3-D? Shouldn’t a 3-dimensional design exist for a reason, like for say an architecture firm, or maybe a box manufacturer? I haven’t made any 3-D phone calls yet AT&T, and probably by the time it’s possible to do so there will be a new trendy style of logo design you’ll use, that yet again, will not at all match the service your company offers. But all that matters is that it looks great, right?

3-D logo design symbolizes a perfect example of technology predicating ideas. Design should be exactly the other way around. Ideas first; technology second. If Adobe invents a Photoshop filter tomorrow that puts realistic fur on surfaces will we soon see some furry golden arches? Or even worse, how long before this happens…

I apologize if my posts are sparse through the rest of the week. I will be away from work and design physically as well as mentally over the holiday.

Top Ten Gen Ed Classes at NKU…

2005-11-21T10:47:00.000-05:00

Since it is advising season, here is my latest TOP TEN suggestions in fulfilling those pesky General Education requirements for next semester.

1. SOC 380: ELITE DEVIANCE.
-This just sounds cool.

2. ATP 334: UPPER EXTREMITY EVALUATION
-Because ATP 333: Lower Extremity Evaluation just isn’t what it used to be.

3. ATS 361: FLUID POWER
-How could you go wrong with a course that has the word “POWER” in the title?

4. AVA 299: INDEPENDENT STUDY IN AVIATION
-Because I’m pretty sure you could trick somebody into letting you fly a plane.

5. BIO 129: SPRING FLORA OF KENTUCKY
-Although only one credit, you do get to look at flowers quite a bit!

6. DAN 222: JAZZ DANCE
-O.K. people: jazz hands, jazz hands, jazz hands and…freeze!

7. PHE 114: BEGINNING KARATE
-Hiiiiyyaaaaaaahhhh!

8. PHE 104: BEGINNING BADMINTON
-I really don’t think this one needs an explanation.

9. GLY 120: THIS DANGEROUS EARTH
-Volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides! Is this a course or the latest made for t.v. movie on CBS?

10. IET 300: ROBOTIC SYSTEMS
-You make a robot! They might as well be giving away free fun!

By the way, these are real classes offered at NKU.

The Concepts Concept…

2005-11-17T14:20:00.000-05:00

So, every year one of your responsibilities as an art faculty member here at NKU is to speak to the freshman art majors in a class called “Concepts in Art.” This class gives students exposure to different majors they could lean toward in our department’s curriculum (i.e. Painting, Sculpture, Photo, Graphic Design, etc…) Usually faculty lectures are supposed to last for about an hour and fifteen minutes and traditionally faculty will show their work and discuss their current research. I have found this to be terribly boring for myself and the students—not to mention the hours of prepping for the lecture the night before. Last year, in an effort to thwart the evil that is the “Concepts lecture” we decided we would team present during that time. And it did help. But there was still the prepping and the lecture and in essence things hadn’t changed all that much.

This year I had an idea that we implemented today that made things much better. We (Julie, [my colleague] and I) turned the hour into a design competition. We split the class into two groups, (each group lead by one of us), and we gave the students a “widget” and a design briefing. In that one-hour period each team had to create a name and use for their widget as well as a working logo in Illustrator. In our design brief we stated for them a target audience with specific qualities and basically broke the design process of: briefing, brainstorming, sketching, refining, making and critique into 10 min. increments. Near the end when it came time to make the logos in Illustrator, Julie and I were at the helm of the Macintoshes vectoring away!

The overall format was a huge success. Many of the students who had never designed before were quite enthusiastic about the process and impressed by how quickly we could arrive at results. At the end we asked the regular teacher of that class to choose a winner and unfortunately, my team didn’t win (I think we were robbed!!!), but maybe next year.

This turned out to be a great exercise as well; this concept of “speed design.” I am going to try and implement this more into the curriculum of my other design classes.

Did Somebody Say Trophies???

2005-11-15T20:05:00.000-05:00

This is the latest batch of Graphic Design Championship Trophy winners. They were voted champions by their peers at their critiques. As you can see by the photos, I am really starting to get into the big and let’s say “special” looking trophies. The recipients from top to bottom are: Kelly Conway from Introduction to Typography and Adam McIver and Samantha Reno from Advanced Typography. The reason for blurring Sam’s face in her photo is that she said she didn’t want to be on my website. And of course, I would like to respect her request. I would never put a picture of her on my site like say this site has, or maybe even like the picture of her you can find on this site from four and a half years ago. I feel it’s very important to respect someone’s wishes.

In Defense of Design Aesthetics…

2005-11-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

(Do to all of my recent meetings and remarkably busy schedule; I had to go back in time to yesterday to make this post. Hopefully I haven’t disrupted the time continuum too greatly. Enjoy!)

I think it sends a bad message to your students to all but ignore the validity of aesthetics. Just because something functions, that does not make it good design. That makes it a functioning design. And in the world of graphic design, merely functioning means mediocre or average. Just in the same way that something would only be considered average if it looked really cool but only communicated some of the information. Why would anyone choose to be average just because it works? This is not a good way to approach life and business.

I’ve worked both in the real world and in education now, and as I look back at the stuff I did in the “real world”, I wish I had the conviction to try to find a better solution for design without as much compromise; and the courage to work more diligently in educating my clients as to what they should be getting from design. The great ones (who I’m sure many of us respect dearly) already do this.

Grading, Grading, Grading…

2005-11-11T14:43:00.000-05:00

I spent most of the day today grading projects. To be truthful, I’ve gotten a bit behind and it was time to play catch-up. As I was looking at the work here and in the gallery, I realized just how impressive some of it is. We have some great graphic design students right now and I would be willing to pit them against any school in the country…then again I’m a bit biased. If you don’t believe me, check out some of the stuff from my Intro and Advanced Typography courses:

The students who are featured are (in order):
Jeremy Weinland, Dustin Williams, Nicole Christenson, Evangeline Bauerle, Chris Ritter, Adam McIver and Oliver Meinerding.

Bis Montag.

Not Too Much to Report Today…

2005-11-10T23:30:00.000-05:00

This morning in my Advanced Type class we had the last section of our seminar discussions. We read an essay by Josef Müller-Brockmann on the necessity of grids in design and one by Rudy VanderLans on the American non-copyrighting laws of type design. The discussion was pretty good but I could tell many of the students were tired because half of the class was putting the finishing touches on their senior shows.

The abridged discussion: grids=good, stealing fonts=bad. I’m starting to sense among the students with this discussion and other discussions, that they are embracing design with grids and growing tired of the “dirty,” modern look to design. I was discussing this style with one student in particular after class, and as we were looking at some examples of this layered, rough, texture heavy design ; I started to realize that I can’t even see this kind of work anymore. I mean, I still like it…or at least I thought I did until today. This style has been absolutely beaten to death. I have seen so much of this work that it’s now invisible to me. The next movement in design cannot get here fast enough. It’s going to be so clean and nice and full of white space. I’m already breathing better just thinking of it now.

Moving on, I am in advising hell right now. I think I currently have nearly sixty advisees. That’s right 6-0. That tends to take up a bit of time. I’m going to hold my tongue on that one.

In the afternoon I attended a Curriculum Committee Meeting where all of the courses I have been working on were approved at the college level. The university level of approval is next week.

I spent the end of my day at work hanging out in the galleries with the masses enjoying the senior exhibitions. We have some great BFA senior exhibitions this semester ranging from package and product design, a logo system (ala Ryan McGuinness) that examines a Buddhist philosophy and a collection of gig posters. If you’re local, it’s worth a visit. If you’re not nearby, here are some photos:

A Class on Self-Promotion in Graphic Design and The First Trophy Winner…

2005-11-09T22:23:00.000-05:00

I’ve had it in my head for a few semesters now that our curriculum needs a class where students have the opportunity to prepare themselves to effectively interview for a graphic design job. Sure, there are projects within classes where students may put together a self-promotional website or portfolio, but very little of this is actually used when these students leave school and apply for work.

In the second five-week session of this summer, I will finally get to teach that type of class. I want to make students ready to successfully interview for graphic design jobs immediately upon graduation. I would also like to give those students who are not yet ready for graduation the opportunity to prepare themselves to find a worthwhile co-op position. Additionally, I hope to include in some part of the course, a focus on the business of graphic design. What follows is some of the possible course content I’ve been tossing around:

• How to Find a Graphic Design Job
• A Graphic Designer’s Résumé—content and aesthetics
• The Creation and Presentation of a Graphic Design Portfolio
• Mock Job Interviews
• Salary Negotiations
• On-Site Visits to Renown, Local Design Studios
• A Reading and Seminar Component
• Client/Designer Interactions
• Working as a Freelance Designer
• Confidence Building Exercises
• Generation of a Local, Possible Employers Lead List

The course will be offered under the heading of Special Topics in Graphic Design. I know I will need at least ten students to register for the class to be offered, but I sense the interest may be even stronger than that. I’ve been reading Shaughnessy’s: How to Be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul, and it’s pretty good, but I still need to expand my bibliography for this course. I’ll keep you posted.

In a lighter note, today I gave away the first graphic design trophy! Woo-hoo trophy! The winner was…Julie Loboyko! She was awarded the graphic design championship trophy for her advertisement design in my Intermediate Graphic Design Class. I nominated three pieces from the crit and her work received the overwhelming majority of votes from her peers. See the photos below. Congrats Julie!

In a side note: In exactly one month from today I will be in Germany. Und ich verstehe nur ein kleines Deutsch!

More Making, Less Yacking Yet Again

2005-11-08T19:01:00.000-05:00

Although Annoying, Democratic Design Can Be Fun Too…

2005-11-07T23:28:00.000-05:00

dem·o·crat·ic: (adj)
Characterized by free and equal participation in the decision-making processes of an organization or group.

Many designers are worried about how too many regular folks (who know nothing about graphic design or have had no formal design training/education) are now making graphic design. If you look at this type of work carefully, it’s easy to see that we really have very little to worry about. What’s interesting though, is the audacity with which this type of work is made without the concern of embarrassing oneself with such tangible evidence of ignorance about the subject matter. Some of it I actually even like, but not in a good way; more like in an “awesomely-bad”, or “guilty pleasure” way. I like to call it “folk design.” It would be like having a velvet Elvis painting, you know it’s not good art but it’s so freaking interesting you’re tempted to hang it on your wall all the while hoping everyone who looks at it “gets” the joke.

In my Advanced Type class last week during our seminar discussion, we came up with an interesting way to combat this issue. In our university’s halls the greatest offenders are those in the music and theater departments. There are hundreds of horribly designed, music/theatre related posters that hang in our halls each year. As the graphic design students walk to their classes they are forced to look at these atrocities. There is no escape from folk design in the university environment. What we’ve decided to do, as a group is to each pick a musical instrument we have no knowledge about and walk through the halls playing it as loudly as possible. I think I’m going to pick either cymbals or the slide trombone. If they wanna make design, we’re gonna make music. How hard can it be, right? I would like to encourage everyone else out there to try this technique as well. Maybe someone in your human resources department has just crafted a wonderful flyer that’s hanging next to your desk. You should probably try to go cancel some of your company’s health care benefits or fire someone. How tough can it be? Perhaps the custodial staff has made a nice sign that directs you to do something inane. I think it’s time for you to fire up the rubbish incinerator or take the company bulldozer out for a spin. How tough can it be, right?

Hands Were Lopped Off!

2005-11-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

Last night Ann and I went to see the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival’s interpretation of Titus Andronicus and it was super sweet! If you don’t believe me; scroll down and check the snapshot of the “Violence Guide” below. When they have to invent graphic icons for cannibalism and live burials you know it’s going to be interesting. I’ve learned from Ann that this was one of Shakespeare’s earlier and lesser known plays and during its original release it met with quite a bit of criticism. I won’t ruin the story and say what happens (as I’m guessing most haven’t read it)—just know that it’s not your typical Shakespearian play. At one point, near the end of the show, blood actually squirted from the stage all the way back into the seventh or eighth row of the audience!

The CSF performs in the Empire Theatre on Race near Garfield Street in downtown Cincinnati. Their theater space is great. With seating for probably 100 or so audience members the setting is engaging and the sound quality is excellent, you can even buy seats where you would sit up on the stage during the performance. I can’t wait to go again.

One of The Scariest Trends in Education

2005-11-03T14:54:00.000-05:00

In ten or so minutes I’ll be going to a Curriculum Committee meeting where someone from the College of Business will be proposing a new Masters program that only requires 10 courses to be completed. That’s right a Masters of Science in Business that only takes 30 short semester hours. During this meeting I will bring up my objection for such an abbreviated course of study to be considered a “Masters” level education, and everyone will look at me with disdain. Why is this the accepted trend in Business programs? Doesn’t a Masters degree mean anything to them? I just spent some time looking around and this is actually the norm. Super accelerated weekend Masters degrees. Get ’em while they’re hot! Give a University $20K or so and 24 of your weekends and viola, you have a Masters in Business.

There is Only Conceptual Art, Conceptual Design Will Never Exist

2005-11-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

Just because a work of conceptual art is made by a designer, that does not make it conceptual design. There is no such thing as conceptual design.

I read this article today on the AIGA Voice site about “Conceptual Design” and what follows is a portion of my rant/response:

Design does not allow for a conceptual movement. If I were to pick up a rock and call it “art”—like it or not, it then becomes art. It may not be good art, but it is art nonetheless. Design doesn’t work in this same way. I can’t simply pick up a rock and call it a design. Design is something else. It includes the communication of a specific message plus art. Conceptual design would only be half of a design.

I can see a case for design being experimental in its delivery method or media (i.e. printed on food or a message comprised of everyday objects)—but without successfully conveying a specific message I think we’re back to art. And I’m not even hung up on legibility—I’m simply referring to communication. Art implies some levels of interpretation without specific communication or message resolution being necessary; design does not. Design needs to communicate something specific to a broader audience. Design needs a resolution.

Additionally, I’m not so sure that as designers we should want to be included among the conceptual artists. There’s a certain amount of public and professional respect that comes from successfully realized calculated thought. I believe it to be a core mission of design to intellectually challenge its audience through engagement in a concept as opposed to spouting off dictums causing further disassociation from that audience. Conceptual artists don’t really care if you “get it”; as designers we should care.

“They’re Takin’ Our Jobs!!!”(screamed in a funny South Park accent)

2005-11-01T12:25:00.000-05:00

Aside from the pot-smoking derelicts I have the fortune of calling neighbors, I can think of no other single group of people who are more paranoid about their future than graphic designers. And the truth of the matter is that it’s time to work hard and get over it.

The work that we do as graphic designers is important. Just because someone who is not a designer may have a difficult time defining graphic design—they will probably still know that they need it. They, (average consumers) may not be able to describe how we do something, but for the most part, they recognize that they couldn’t do it themselves and they recognize that they don’t want to live in a world without it. Think about that for a minute: A World With No Graphic Design. What would the grocery store look like? How would someone drive a car? The stuff that we make is not optional.

And that’s why graphic design will always be here. However where some of the disagreements and worries should really start to come into play is when one considers good vs. bad graphic design. At its core, whether you like it or not, GRAPHIC DESIGN = 50% ART + 50% MESSAGE. A strong graphic design communicates (notice I used the word “communicate” and not the word “legible”) and functions as seamlessly as it is aesthetically beautiful. The art is not more important than the message and vice versa. When designers recognize this, they then posses the opportunity to make good graphic design. Of course there’s quite a bit more than that going into good design, (education, influences, travel, experimentation, taste, literacy, intelligence, etc…) but this is the start.

If you’re going to worry about something, don’t worry about whether graphic design is going to be around forever—because it will; instead worry about whether or not you’re going to be a part of it.

NKU Graphic Design Championship Trophies!!!

2005-10-31T11:14:00.000-05:00

While driving with the fam this weekend, I spotted a house that was throwing away an enormous box full of old trophies. I turned around, pulled over and stuck them in the trunk of my car. Once I got a chance to look at them and clean them up, I couldn’t believe how strange some of them were. There’s one that’s close to three feet tall that was given for eating hamburgers (second place); and another that’s a mix of faux silver, faux gold, marble, wood, aluminum, and red paint with eagles feathers and a champion’s cup all in the same trophy! There are 14 of them and most are from the 1960s school of tasteless trophy design and aside from a few baseball guys, are pretty nonspecific. As soon as I saw them I knew I would have to give them away in class as prizes. So I went right after them with the White-out and a Sharpie. And from now on in each final critique, the class will vote on who had the best piece and that person will receive a NKU Graphic Design Champion trophy.

If the winner doesn’t mind I’ll post pictures of him/her holding their NKU Graphic Design Champion trophy after each crit here on the site. Let the competition begin!

Latest Assignment…

2005-10-27T13:08:00.000-04:00

What follows is word for word the latest assignment sheet I made and handed out in my Advanced Typography class:

Project 04
Typographic Portrairt/Coversation/Interview

In this assignment you will:

1. Go out into the world and speak with another human who is very different than you. The greater the difference, the stronger your assignment will probably turn out. This person can be a family member but there should be a dramatic difference in age between the two of you. If you pick a friend, pick someone who has had quite a different life/upbringing than you. This should be someone who doesn’t do the same sorts of things that you do (i.e. school, work, etc…).

2. While you’re talking to that person pay attention to everything about them. Take notes, pictures or make a recording if this will help you to remember. Notice everything.

3. Make a design that primarily uses type to address this experience. Perhaps you will create a visual or metaphorical portrait of that person by using typography. Maybe you put forth the content of your conversation in the form of a visually descriptive narrative design. Perhaps you’ll even make a flipbook that animates your experience—whatever! Just make a piece that primarily uses typography as your medium to describe your experience in encountering this person.

4. Just one catch—no computers. You cannot make any part of this on the computer. You can’t find your photos on the computer, you can’t use it to mock together your ideas, you can’t even use it to email the subject of your piece to ask them if you can meet with them. This rule is actually much less limiting than it appears. You can draw, right? You can paint. You can Xerox. You can punch the keys on a typewriter. Some of you even know how to use the letterpress or make a collage. And the last time I checked the newspaper and magazines are full of examples of tangible printed type.

I don’t want something that looks like a collage/ransom note. I still want a smart typographic design. You are at the level in your education where you can succeed at this sort of project. Use your noodle, take a risk and do something different than the rest of the class. Make something that all of us will remember and don’t give us the opportunity to dismiss your ideas.

You will arrive with FIVE well-developed sketch ideas at the next class.

(the image is from AntiText)

The List…

2005-10-25T21:32:00.000-04:00

I have this great book in my office at work titled: Star Spangled Kitsch. It’s a collection of a bunch of fascinatingly tacky things that have been sold in America from the 1800s up until the 1970s. I found it in an old abandoned locker at my first teaching job at UC. I didn’t even report it as found, I just kept it because it was so friggin’ weird and cool at the same time.

The reason I mention it is that I spent some time flipping through it today and it made me start to think of the age-old question of taboo in design. Is there a list of subject matter that when presented in a design automatically provokes visual/conceptual dismissal from its viewers? I’ll give you an example:

Transformers. (The robot toy, not that thing at the top of your phone pole.) Enough already with the damn Transformers! If I see one more God-forsaken Transformer in a student crit I think I’ll go right to the “vomit-on-work” method of critiquing projects.

So I’m going to try it. What follows is a list of images I never want to see in a design crit again:

• Marilyn Monroe
• James Dean
• Michael Jackson
• Type that is frozen, on fire, comprised of lightning bolts or dripping like blood
• Transformers
• Unicorns (although one of my better design students has what is probably North America’s largest collection of unicorns and unicorn paraphernalia)
• Rainbows
• Tie-Dye
• NASCAR
• Gradients
• Star Wars
• Marijuana leaf silhouettes

What did I miss?

(I know some of my colleagues do actually hand out a list of taboo imagery at the beginning of the semester.) And if I were a student and my teacher said this, the very next class I would try and make a piece that had all of these things in it at once—just to see if I could pull it off.

When the Shit Hits the Fan, Are You Going to Be One of the First Ones to Die?

2005-10-25T00:21:00.000-04:00

Think back to when you were a kid. I’m referring to the age when you were old enough to venture out of your own yard, but not so old that you had to hold down a job. Let’s say eleven years of age. Now imagine at that age, that it’s the middle of the summer. What did you do? How did you fill your days and have fun?

Did you ever:

Ride a bike,
Play in the woods,
Build a go-cart,
Build a fort,
Collect bottles for money,
Catch a wild animal,
Invent some thing or game,
Read books outdoors,
Explore new areas in your neighborhood,
Play video games on an Atari,
Get into fights,
Go to the library,
Pull relatively harmless neighborhood pranks,
Change or make your own clothes,
Stare at some thing (i.e. bug, flower, whatever…) in nature for more than 10 mins.?

Or did you:

Watch T.V.,
Play video games on a PlayStation,
Participate in some organized sport where everyone was a winner,
Get a trophy you didn’t earn,
Keep yourself relatively clean and germ free,
Talk on the phone,
Stay indoors often,
Do what your parents told you, religiously?

If you’re in the first group you’re probably going to be o.k. at that moment of contact when shit meets fan, but if you’re in that second group it’s probably time to starting making-out your last will right now. I’ve always thought these are the types of questions that determine whether or not you’ll find success in employing yourself as an artist or designer. Are you an active, risk-taking participant seizing life? Or instead are you doing what you’re supposed to do—as not to cause too much controversy or upset anyone.

Notice that these statements do not say anything about formal education. They don’t have to. They speak more on character and potential. If I were an Art Director right now conducting interviews for an open Graphic Designer’s position and I had my pick between a group one candidate with little or no experience in design and only a certificate or Associate’s degree; and a group two candidate with a couple of years experience and a Bachelor’s degree, I would without any hesitation pick the person from group one. No question. And I’m even in education and preach the significance of learning and teaching.

Group one includes survivors who make and discover things. Group two just wants to make sure that nobody gets too mad at them. You could give group one a dirty old rock and they could write an epic tale for you on the spot about all of the places and things that this rock has been and seen, while group two would be worried that by holding this rock their hand is getting a little dirty.

It won’t be too long before much more is expected from the soon to be commonplace profession of design. What next when 80% of the general public knows how to use Photoshop or can name more than five fonts? Maybe it’s time to stop sipping on your special portion of Kool-aid while eating your organized snack and instead go take something apart to see how it works.

A Rare Saturday Entry…

2005-10-22T11:16:00.000-04:00

Well, in reality I still owe one anyway—since I missed Friday. Friday was a faculty meeting. It went pretty well overall. I am serving on Curriculum Committee at the department, college and university levels this year and it has turned out to be quite a bit of work. At the department level I am the chair of the committee and I proposed three new classes that were all voted on and accepted at Friday’s meeting. Next, it will go through the other two levels, however, I am optimistic because none of it is too controversial. The last day to submit anything to the upper committees for inclusion in the Fall 2006 catalog is on the 27th of this week—so Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be interesting.

Monday is our BFA Portfolio Review day. All art majors who wish to pursue a BFA as opposed to a BA prepare a portfolio of work for review by the entire art department faculty. When I peeked at the list I noticed that we have maybe five of six graphic design students applying for the BFA this semester. That number is a little low, but it will be good to not have to try and review 12 or 13 portfolios all after the lunch meeting. There are a number of really great design students who could also be passing the review right now. I think they are just waiting until next semester so they can see what some of their classmates will have to go through before they try it themselves. I know many of them are in my and Julie’s Intermediate Graphic Design courses and are waiting until they have some of the work finished in there as well to include in their portfolio.

Tuesday I’m going to try and have lunch with some old buddies (John and Bill) from the design firm I used to work for—Iacono Productions. Although we’re all separated by a few years in age from one another we have quite a bit in common. We all went to the same high school and had the same art teacher—Mr. Rhythm Man himself, Bob Beemon. John Wolfer was a designer/painter there with me for a couple of years and he also went back into academia to become a professor. In fact, he was the one that made it possible for me to get my first teaching job. He emailed me yesterday and I was excited to hear from him. Bill Stock, the Art Director at Iacono is also going. I haven’t seen Bill or John in a number of months, but over the last two days I’ve run into Bill twice in two different places. First I bumped into him at the Johnston Paper conference in downtown Cincy on Thursday for lunch and last night I ran into him at the Taft as we were both taking our children to see a Children’s Theatre production of Cinderella. He also just spoke with John and told him he wanted to go to lunch on Tuesday too. Pretty strange coincidence, huh? For some reason or another the three of us are really supposed to get together.

Bill, John, Ann and I also went on a trip to NY together once that was super fun. It was the first time I saw a Matthew Barney show and it was at the Guggenheim. During that same trip I also saw the DaVinci drawing retrospective at the Met across the street. Talk about your visual contrasts! That was also the trip that allowed me to cross “ride the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan at 2:00 am” off of my list of things to do before I die.

Milton Glaser Interview…

2005-10-20T20:02:00.000-04:00

I’m sure there are many who would argue that there is no living designer more significant to graphic design than Milton Glaser. Co-founder of the influential Pushpin Studios with Seymour Chwast, Milton is probably best known for his design of the I ♥ NY logo, however, his incredible lifelong catalog of work stretches far beyond that. A New York native, Glaser started his design education at the Cooper Union art school in New York and through a Fulbright scholarship, was able to study fine art in Bolonga, Italy under the painter, Giorgio Morandi. In 1974 (after Pushpin) he established Milton Glaser Inc., and in 1983 along with Walter Bernard he co-created WBMG.

A great breadth of his portfolio includes hundreds of extraordinary poster designs, which in some instances, are part of permanent museum collections. His work is concise, brilliant and appeals to a remarkably wide audience. And in 2004, (to no one’s surprise) Milton was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

I am honored that he took the time to respond to my inquiry. And thanks to his responses here I think I’ve finally found a definition for graphic design that I like.

TOBIAS:
What is graphic design? How would you define it?

MILTON:
Going from an existing condition to a preferred one through the use of visual material.

TOBIAS:
Who in your opinion is making good design work right now?

MILTON:
The word "good" needs definition to answer this question.

TOBIAS:
I think when I was referring to the word "good" I meant the kind of work that does more than simply express aesthetic beauty. Work that also functions successfully, or perhaps teaches or even changes the way in which people think about something; the kind of design work that "sticks" in your mind for years as innovative, and intelligent.

MILTON:
I hate being put in the positions of ousting some and ignoring others.

TOBIAS:
Who are your design heroes?

MILTON:
William Morris. Joseph Hoffman, Leonardo.

TOBIAS:
What (book/magazine/blog/whatever…) should every graphic designer read?

MILTON:
The Use and Abuse of Art by Jacques Barzan.

TOBIAS:
What advice do you have for design students and design educators?

MILTON:
Keep an open mind. Stay curious.

TOBIAS:
Do you think designers will hold a different place in our culture in the future? If yes; in what ways?

MILTON:
No.

Thanks to Milton for responding.

More Making, Less Yacking…

2005-10-19T14:51:00.000-04:00

“the part of the psyche that is completely unconscious and concerned with instinctual needs and drives”

We Were on a Break!

2005-10-18T16:40:00.000-04:00

Since we operate on a semester calendar, yesterday and today have been Fall break for us here at NKU. And it is the reason for my recent laziness in blogging. Over the break I’ve been grading homework assignments, reading some materials associated with a search committee I am serving on, and doing some paperwork for curriculum committee. Breath-takingly exciting, right?

Bremen Update:

• Plane tickets purchased

• Hotel reservation made

• Conference registration confirmed

• Through unit 12 in Pimsleur’s German One

In a side note: It looks like David Carson is going to be the guest speaker at the conference I’m attending.

Firefox Forever, Safari & Explorer Never!

2005-10-14T11:01:00.000-04:00

Go ahead and click on that image above and look at the differences for a while. Go on. I’ll wait right here.

There you see? That is the exact same webpage at the exact same size all on the exact same computer. If you are on a Mac and use Explorer, poke yourself in the eye right now! Do it! If you use Safari you can just sit there and see almost everything the web has to offer. My guess is you’re “semi–enlightened.” And, if you’re viewing this page on a Mac with Firefox make yourself a badge that reads: “SUPERHERO” and wear it all day long.

If you don’t already have Firefox go download it right now for free and start seeing ALL web content in the CORRECT format. Until now, you didn’t even know what you were missing—after this I’m holding you responsible.

Steven Heller Interview…

2005-10-13T12:38:00.000-04:00

Evidently Steven Heller lives in a world where there are somewhere closer to 30 or 40 hours in a day. Steven has written far more books about graphic design than there are states in the union. (No joke—90+!!!) And by the time you factor in all of the countless periodicals (such as Eye, Print, I.D. Magazine, etc…) that publish his essays and critiques, he’s smithed more words than Shakespeare. He does all of this while working full-time as the Senior Art Director for the New York Times Book Review and co-chairing a graduate program at the School of Visual Arts. (There’s even a ton more than this too: blogs, AIGA Journal of Graphic Design, forewards, afterwards—the list doesn’t end.)

To quote Paula Scher: “Steven Heller has been graphic design’s biggest fan…For any question asked of him, he responds with twenty ideas, and if those aren’t the right ones, he finds another twenty.”

Thankfully, the same can be said for his interview here.

TOBIAS:
What is graphic design? How would you define it?

STEVEN:
Hmmm. I figured some day I would have to answer this question. Graphic design is the strategic and aesthetic management of type and image on a page or screen for the purpose of conveying a story or message. Technically speaking it is a problem solving process that takes disparate elements and ideas and makes them unified. I guess in this day and age its also making electronic mechanicals, pity.

TOBIAS:
Who in your opinion is making good design work right now?

STEVEN:
There are really too many to name. So I won't. But I will say that the mundane level has risen to where you might call it "good" and the next highest level is extraordinary. So what is extraordinary? That which transcends the cliches that make everything else mundane. I wish I were in that camp.

TOBIAS:
Who are your design heroes?

STEVEN:
They vary. In a couple of my books I've written about W.A. Dwiggins - the guy was a renaissance man and über skilled craftsman - from calligraphy to puppetry. Its hard to name one "hero." In fact, it’s easier to name heroes outside one's own field. Bob Dylan was and is my hero. The problem with hero worship, especially in your own field, is meeting them. I don't mean to say they routinely fall from the pedestal, but most are human with faults that you don't see when all you know is their work. So let's just say, there are many designers who I admire, and of these quite a few who have inspired me. But I guess the person who inspires me the most is my wife, Louise Fili, who is a true master of her craft.

TOBIAS:
What (book/magazine/blog/whatever…) should every graphic designer read?

STEVEN:
Well, that's another tall order. But the book I recommend year after year to my students is Ben Shahn's "The Shape of Content," because it is the clearest explanation of what goes through an artist's mind I've ever read. I have underlined it up the wazoo, and I still draw inspiration from it. BUT its not an "inspirational" book in the bullshit/artifice sense of term.

There are lots of books on graphic design and popular culture, including my own, that I hope designers will read. But I like the broader stroke books. I'm currently reading Helmut Lehmann-Haupt's "Art Under a Dictatorship" and there is a lot in this over 50 year-old volume that relates to current U.S.A.

TOBIAS:
What advice do you have for design students and design educators?

STEVEN:
Be design literate - not at the exclusion of other literacies, but certainly know everything you can about the art and craft you are practicing. By the way, every Friday I give a design/culture seminar and my favorite part is talking with and listening to the students; so my other bromide is to "stay open" to the younger crowd.

TOBIAS:
Do you think designers will hold a different place in our culture in the future? If yes; in what ways?

STEVEN:
Its all up to individuals not groups. Mike Mills just directed his first feature film. He started as a graphic designer but now he holds a different place in the culture. This doesn't mean all graphic designers will be filmmakers or ambassadors to Columbia (as was Thomas Nast). So, I don't know about the future, but I do know that no one has to be a graphic designer all their life if they want to do something else, but graphic design is a great language to apply to other things.

Thanks to Steven for responding.

School of Visual Arts
AIGA Voice

The Reason FedEx Continues to Kick the Poo Out of UPS…

2005-10-12T14:33:00.000-04:00

“…the ideal logo is simple, elegant, economical, flexible, practical and unforgettable.”

- Paul Rand

Thanks to Jeremy for digging up the quote.

Here’s the list of latest “pros” I’ve pestered:

James Victore
Wolfgang Weingart
Stefan Sagmeister
Milton Glaser
and Steven Heller (who responds tomorrow)

Michael Bierut Interview…

2005-10-11T09:14:00.000-04:00

What do you get when you mix together a designer, a writer, an information architect, a business partner and an advocate; who by the way hails from the greatest state in the union? The answer is Michael Bierut.

Michael Bierut is a partner at the renown design firm: Pentagram, in New York. He has won hundreds of design awards and even served as the national president of AIGA from 1998–2001. He still teaches at Yale and is co-founder of the design blog: DesignObserver.

More than that, Michael is known within the design community for his tireless volunteerism and for his great admiration of the profession of graphic design. When I sent out these questions, I had no doubt that he would respond. If you’re trying to think of a piece of Michael’s design work that you’ve seen, reach into your wallet for your Citi Bank card. See that little logo in the corner “citi”, that’s his. Paula Scher also claims to have had something to do with it (but since she wont respond to my email interview) I’m giving all of the credit to Michael.

TOBIAS:
What is graphic design? How would you define it?

MICHAEL:
Graphic design is the purposeful combination of words, pictures and other visual elements to support the communication of an explicit or implicit message.

TOBIAS:
Who in your opinion is making good design work right now?

MICHAEL:
Good graphic design is happening in so many places right now that the list would be endless.

TOBIAS:
Who are your design heroes?

MICHAEL:
Another nearly endless list, but one that deserves a start: my teachers, especially Gordon Salchow and Joe Bottoni; my bosses Dan Bittman, Chris Pullman, and Massimo Vignelli; my partners at Pentagram here in New York, Abbott Miller, Lisa Strausfeld, Jim Biber, Michael Gericke, Woody Pirtle and Paula Scher; and many more friends and colleagues I've made through the years.

TOBIAS:
What (book/magazine/blog/whatever…) should every graphic designer read?

MICHAEL:
Graphic designers should read, and read a lot, and read constantly and obsessively. It doesn't matter what. You can start by reading whatever it is you're designing.

TOBIAS:
What advice do you have for design students and design educators?

MICHAEL:
Successful graphic designers know a lot about the world and use graphic design as a way to discover more every day. Design is a means, not an end.

TOBIAS:
Do you think designers will hold a different place in our culture in the future? If yes; in what ways?

MICHAEL:
As more and more people get their hands on more and more tools for design and communication, our profession will become increasingly democratized. A world where everyone is a graphic designer will marginalize some of us, but push others into new, exciting directions.

Thanks to Michael for responding.

Chip Kidd Interview…

2005-10-10T10:57:00.000-04:00

Probably best known for his semi-fictional novel: The Cheese Monkeys, Chip Kidd, is often considered the single most sought after book jacket designer working today. Chip works as a writer in addition to being a graphic designer in New York for Knopf Publishers. Having designed over 1,500 book jackets, he has received numerous awards from both design and photography centers for his work on such classic book covers as Jurassic Park, American Rhapsody and The Border Trilogy.

Those of us in design who follow Chip’s work and writings know him to be an imaginative innovator who pushes designers and design students to spend time thinking and arriving at creative solutions first. He is also known for having quite a bit of personality, and freely speaking his mind, as you will see:

TOBIAS:
What is graphic design? How would you define it?

CHIP:
There are these three men, construction workers, building a skyscraper. One day they sit down to their lunch, side by side-on a girder, thirty stories above the city.

TOBIAS:
Who in your opinion is making good design work right now?

CHIP:
Before the first one opens his lunchbox, he says to the other two: “I am so SICK of liverwurst. If my wife packed another goddam liverwurst sandwhich in here, I swear I will leap to my death!” So he opens it up, and sure enough: Liverwurst. So he stands and dives head-first to the sidewalk. Ker-splap.

TOBIAS:
Who are your design heroes?

CHIP:
Then the second one says: “I am SO DAMN TIRED of ham and swiss! If my wife stuck me with one more ham and swiss sandwich I'm jumping too!” And wouldn't ya know: Ham and swiss. Geronimo, he lands with a messy, wet, explosion..

TOBIAS:
What (book/magazine/blog/whatever…) should every graphic designer read?

CHIP:
So the third guy says (to no one in particular at this point): “Hmmm. I have HAD IT with peanut butter and Jelly. If my wife gave me peanut butter and Jelly AGAIN I'm joining them!” And of course: pb & j. And so he jumps too. Not a pretty sight.

TOBIAS:
What advice do you have for design students and design educators?

CHIP:
And so, at the joint triple-funeral, the wife of the first man says: “Oh, it's so sad. If only I'd known he hated liverwurst so much, I would have given him something different.” And the wife of the second man wipes away a tear and says: “Yes, I know how you feel. I never would have given my husband ham and swiss again if I'd known it would lead to this.” And then the wife of the third man pipes up, and says, quizzically:

TOBIAS:
Do you think designers will hold a different place in our culture in the future? If yes; in what ways?

CHIP:
“I just don't understand it. He always packed his own lunch.”.

Thanks very much to Chip for responding. He has just launched at new site that is in its early stages of displaying his work, you can see it at: chipkidd.com.

Michael Bierut tomorrow…

David Carson Interview…

2005-10-07T10:55:00.000-04:00

David Carson who has been called: “Art Director of the Era” by London magazine: Creative Review, is probably most known for his innovative design work in magazines like Raygun and Beach Culture. His book, The End of Print, is now in it’s fifth printing and has sold over 275,000 copies worldwide. That being said, David is also known for making graphic design on his own terms and in his own unique way.

What’s great about this email interview format I’m using is that I’m getting answers that are quite frank from these different individuals. As I have continued to contact more professionals, I mentioned that Erik Spiekermann has already responded to these questions and they could read his responses if they chose to do so before responding themselves.

What follows is word for word David’s response:

tho i havent read it,
i would assume my answers would all be the
exact opposite of erik speakermans.......
: )
david

If you find this entertaining, wait until Monday when I post the Chip Kidd interview.

Do You Speak American?

2005-10-06T17:58:00.000-04:00

I’ve recently discovered that I speak “American.” I know that sounds funny, but hear me out and notice that I didn’t say that I speak “English” because I believe the differences are becoming greater and greater.

In preparing for my trip to Germany in December I’ve been scrambling like crazy to try and learn spoken German so I have at least some semblance of communicative normalcy while there and so that I’m not laughed out of the country. The more I learn about the euphemisms of another language, the more I learn about my own. As an overall spoken language, American seems to be much more succinct and caustic than German, or even UK English for that matter. When we as Americans say something we’re usually to the point and loud. It’s almost as if we’re orally writing with a black, wide tip Sharpie. This, no doubt, is a reflection of our culture/lifestyles/desires.

As I do with everything (because I’m so friggin’ neurotic) I started to consider how this relates to design. As American designers do we work in this same way? Of course there are always exceptions to stereotypes, but I think as a whole we do make work that functions as a direct reflection of our spoken language. After all, one of the primary functions of our work is to communicate. Why wouldn’t we do so in a way in which we are most familiar?

When I think of truly American designers creating work with an American voice, I think of designers who are concise and clear and acerbic in their design like James Victore (image above), Chip Kidd, Paula Scher and David Carson—who by the way, responds to my email request for an interview in tomorrow’s post. And no matter what your English-speaking friends tell you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with speaking American!

Keeping on the topic of linguistics: In my Advanced Typography course’s discussion today we invented a new word: “undertucky.” It refers to that instance when either accidentally or purposefully someone tucks their t-shirt into their underwear.

Here’s the latest list of pros I have pestered for an email interview.

Neville Brody
David Carson
Chip Kidd
April Greiman
Michael Bierut

A Rough Crit Today…

2005-10-05T23:58:00.000-04:00

Today in my Intermediate Graphic Design course we had the final critique for the students’ second project. For their first assignment, they designed logos for a restaurant they invented and then on this assignment they designed identity packages (letterhead, business card and envelopes) that meshed with their previous logo design.

They were all very well intentioned. Every one of them made specific paper selections, thought about sensitivity toward typography, worked on an overall consistent design systems, took risks and experimented…there was just one problem—CRAFT. Poor cut lines and knife marks, warped and bubbled paper, glue marks, dirt spots, frayed edges, cheap matte board, the list goes on and on… They knew it too. I could tell that some of them were even more disappointed with what they had done than I was. There were a lot of long faces. After everything went down, I looked around the room and felt like the dad who had to take away the “king size” Halloween Hershey bar because the wrapper was a little torn on one corner.

I like the fact that they took risks and worked with new and unfamiliar materials; I even thanked them for doing so—I just think the overall presentations could’ve been stronger. I’m sure I don’t have to tell anyone who is reading this, but the physical way that we present our work as designers is incredibly important. Our craft is a direct reflection of our talent. I guarantee I could tell you how long a designer has been working in industry and with what sorts of clients they are used to working, just by the craft of that designer’s presentation boards. It’s just like wearing inappropriate clothing and giving a limp and mushy handshake on a job interview. People notice. In fact, even the most oblivious of people notice these sorts of things and use them to form decisions and opinions.

Craft is just something we have to do well. I know it sucks and I know it’s hard but we are still responsible for it. Hey, things could be much worse. At least we’re not punching a time card at the city poop factory, separating the anomalies from the solid waste in some bacteria ridden cesspool. I’m just talking about re-cutting something with an x-acto here and there. I also reminded them that this was actually a great time for this to happen. School is the perfect place to take these sorts of risks, without the consequence of losing your career, clients or reputation.

The image is Trajan’s column. The only Roman Emperor in history to be adored by movie poster designers.

Yackity Yak…Part Deux.

2005-10-04T19:31:00.000-04:00

Today was the second seminar session in my Advanced Typography Class . The students read essays by both Lazlo Moholy-Nagy on the “New Typography Style” (circa 1919) and an essay by Peter Fraterdeus written within the last few years on some of the new (and I believe currently fading away) “grunge” and “trashy” styles in typography. These students are really a great group of thinking design citizens. Initially, I was quite worried about filling four entire class periods with seminar style discussions at the undergraduate level, but this couldn’t be going better. For the most part these students are well read and actively concerned about the future of their profession. Some of our discussion topics today included:

• What makes a typeface bad or good, and why? (By the way, the worst typeface we could think of was Comic Sans.)
• What is the next trend/style in graphic design?
• What kind of work should designers be making to attract positive public attention to design?
• What kind of work will designers be making in the future?

The list goes on and on. I wish my undergraduate professors had offered me this kind of format back when I was chasing a BFA. Of course, who knows if I would’ve been ready for it.

One of my latest blogging pals, Daniel Schutzsmith was kind enough to feature “Ramblings of a Graphic Design Professor” on his site today: GraphicDefine. His site is a great source for graphic design professionals chocked full of useful content. Daniel is a New York designer and his site was just awarded a top ten ranking for October by How Magazine. And congrats to student T.J. Ball who received a mention in the post!

Here’s the latest list of Graphic Design Pros I’ve pestered for an email interview:

• Paula Scher
• Nigel Holmes
• Kyle Cooper
• Zuzana Licko
• Art Chantry

Erik Spiekermann Interview…

2005-10-03T15:11:00.000-04:00

So here I am, now 34 posts into this blog, and although I usually have no trouble ranting and raving about the current events surrounding design and design education, I find that I am looking for some more meaningful content to post on this site. This past weekend it came to me. Why not come up with a short list of questions and email interview some of the bigger names working in graphic design today? Well, that’s what I did and it has actually started to work. (For those of you who are wondering, the Internet has finally kicked the “poo” out of sliced bread on the “all-time greatest things” list.)

The first person to respond to my list of questions was Erik Spiekermann (by the way, he responded from Berlin in less than an hour—take that sliced bread!). Erik is probably best known for his book: “Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works”, but his fastidious work ethic has also allowed him to achieve a level of success in design that most others have not. Originally from Hanover, Germany, Spiekermann founded the companies MetaDesign and FontShop International. Some of his more famous typeface designs include FF Meta, ITC Officina, and FF Info. He has a list of many other contributions to the field of graphic design far too long to post but more than that he is a citizen and steward of design as evidenced by his responses below:

TOBIAS:
What is graphic design? How would you define it?

ERIK:
visual communication

TOBIAS:
Who in your opinion is making good design work right now?

ERIK:
anybody who thinks before they start working; anybody who considers design an intellectual activity; I wouldn't like to name individuals: that list would be very long and still incomplete.

These people do not do good work:
Designers who don't challenge themselves and their clients; designers who cannot work in teams; designers who have no idea about their place in society.

TOBIAS:
Who are your design heroes?

ERIK:
Heroes are dangerous. They obscure our critical faculties, they replace our critical faculties with admiration, they take our eyes off the ball. I admire a lot of colleagues, mainly the ones I have worked with who are better than me. Graphic design is too mundane a field to achieve hero status. I leave that to people who save lives by giving their own.

TOBIAS:
What (book/magazine/blog/whatever…) should every graphic designer read?

ERIK:
Design Writing Research by Ellen Lupton; Technische Grundlagen der Satzherstellung and Mathematische Grundlagen der Satzherstellung by Rudolf Bosshard (German only); Tschichold's essays on typography; Mark Twain's works; as many old type specimens as possible; FontBook (new one coming out before the end of 2005); The New York Times (every day), The Economist (i redesigned it in 2001), EYE; typophile.com; designobserver.com, (I won't mention any sites in languages other than English that I frequent)

TOBIAS:
What advice do you have for design students and design educators?

ERIK:
Read.
Travel.
Read.
Ask.
Read.
Learn.
Read.
Connect.
Read.

TOBIAS:
Do you think designers will hold a different place in our culture in the future? If yes; in what ways?

ERIK:
yes. Design as a way of visualizing problems and answers will become very important in all businesses, not just in Graphic Design. Design as a process of problem-solving is already being taken up by people in other fields. Graphic Designers will have to become more active intellectually to play a role. We need to know enough about culture, society, industry and business to take part in conversations beyond layouts and pantone swatches.

Thanks very much to Erik for responding.

I am going to keep pursuing others in this same format. If you have someone in particular you would like to hear from, or any other questions you would like to see asked please leave a comment and I will try to address them.

Don’t Forget the Paper!

2005-09-30T11:18:00.000-04:00

It seems so many new designers and design students neglect to appreciate the significance of paper selection in printed and tactile graphic design. In my opinion, paper accounts for at least half of the piece. Particular types of paper can contribute to an overall tone of voice within a design as well as enhance the audience’s experience and memory of the work.

As many of the pros know, most metropolitan cities will have a third party paper distributor with an incredible sample room for designers. The major company in my city (Cincinnati) is XPEDX. Make friends with these people! At your request, they can arrange for an individual appointment with you where they will answer your questions and offer you advice and even give you free samples. I remember the first time I walked into the sample room at XPEDX, I felt like uhhhh… a drunk guy at a free beer convention? Okay, so I’m not so hot with the similes today—but trust me it’s worth the trip!

I also recently stopped by International Paper’s site and they have this great section on paper just for graphic designers; definitely worth a look!

Check out some of my students’ work from my Advanced Typography critique yesterday. (images below) The assignment was an homage to typefaces and designers. They were super ambitious and made some great stuff.

Don’t Just Read This Blog; Be My Colleague!

2005-09-30T10:39:00.000-04:00

Graphic Design
Northern Kentucky University

The Department of Art at Northern Kentucky University invites applications for a tenure track position in Graphic Design at the rank of Assistant or Associate professor. Position begins August, 2006. Seeking excellent designer/educator to teach in dynamic, professionally-oriented graphic design program. Responsibilities: teach 3 courses/semester to selective admission BA and BFA students in comprehensive art department; maintain creative/professional achievement; share oversight of area and facilities; service to the university and community. Requirements: MDes or MFA in design discipline; experience and expertise in applied and theoretical design with strengths in digital and traditional media. Candidates with college-level teaching experience preferred. Northern Kentucky University is a 14,000-student metropolitan campus located in the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio area.

Submit letter of application; CV; teaching philosophy; design philosophy; 20 examples of personal work and student work on slides, zip or CD; name, address and phone number of 3 references; and SASE to Thomas McGovern, Chair, Department of Art, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY 41099. Application review will begin January 31, 2006 and continue until position is filled. NKU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

Man, that Uncle Sam gets better looking every year!

The Worst Design in the Nation!!!

2005-09-28T14:29:00.000-04:00

That’s right folks. The license plate for the State of Kentucky was recently deemed “worst in the nation” by a panel of design professionals/reviewers and in an article from Pittsburgh’s Post Gazette.

I have to say that I completely agree. I couldn’t imagine a worse design than this gem. Just look at! And while you’re doing so, good luck trying to hold back that “mini-barf” forcing it’s way up the back of your throat. Sometimes as I’m driving home from work and I have to look at one of those atrocities I’m tempted to slam into the car in front of me in hopes of destroying at least one of these spawns of Satan. Here’s a quote from the article:

“They were caustically unanimous in choosing Kentucky's "Mr. Smiley Face" design, with a grinning cartoon sun in the middle and the motto "It's That Friendly," as the worst plate in America. They would get little argument from the people of Kentucky, who were so disgusted by the design introduced by former Gov. Paul Patton that they demanded and got a new standard plate, which is being issued this month.”

As I read this article I tried to think of how I would respond to this design during a class critique. Here are some of the statements/questions that I know for sure would end up coming out of my mouth:

• Is that really the piece you’re submitting?
• Gradients = Bad
• Do you actually consider your audience to be that ignorant?
• This is everything that’s wrong with designing on a computer!
• The illustration looks as if it should have a signature that reads: “Amy, Age 8” in the bottom right corner.
• Are there any colors that didn’t make the cut in this one?
• Typography…Uuuggghhh! Where do I even begin?
• This might be the assignment that you choose for your “re-do.”
• You still have quite a bit of work ahead of you, sometimes it’s best to just start over

Thanks to Thom for the link.

I’m Making Instead of Yaking Today

2005-09-27T18:27:00.000-04:00

Comments?

Like it or Not, Graphic Design is Still Just a Trade…

2005-09-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

…in the realm of public opinion, anyway. Many of us are working hard to elevate our work to the level of “profession” but the fact remains that the “trade” misperception still exists.

Go ahead and look up profession or professional in the dictionary, you’ll find a reference to extensive training and extensive education. Extensive training and education…check! It’s true that some designers have different education levels than others, but in order to find renown or even mediocre success in design, one must have extensive experience (training.)

The only other prevailing reoccurrence I find in defining “profession” has to do with being paid a certain wage for a certain level of expertise. Check again. I dare anyone to show me another group of people who know more about typography or how to make a website beautiful, witty and easier to use all while streamlining the content to just the essentials. And no matter what these cheap bastards (who keep calling me and asking if some of my students would like some “real-life experience”) think, our services are rarely performed for free.

So why does the perception exist? Go ahead and try to deny it if you wish, but it’s still there, like an enormous, sweaty, incontinent gorilla in the corner of the room. But why is it there? Where is that metaphorical can of “Gorilla-be-Gone”?

Perhaps part of the problem stems from trying to explain what the hell it is we do exactly. What is the definition of graphic design? I can’t find one I like. Hell, I can’t even write one I like. I’ve read Jessica Helfand’s essay as well as the work of the countless others who have made strides toward defining graphic design—but I feel like I need something much more concise and caustic to sway public perception. Like say, James Victore’s opinion on the subject: “Graphic design is a big fucking club with spikes in it and I want to wield it.”—well, maybe not that caustic, but I need something quick and clear and easy to explain that I don’t yet have.

Or perhaps what we do is somehow less socially significant than the work of the clearly recognized professionals like a dentist or an architect. I don’t know about you, but I can’t even eat a candy bar or drive to work without encountering graphic design and yet I haven’t been to the dentist in a couple of years and my teeth are fine. (Sorry Dr. Higley, I just can’t find the time.)

Or maybe quite a bit of the blame lies on our own shoulders. How many of us have “out grown” the title of Graphic Designer only to trade it in for monikers like Art Director or Creative Director? What’s so damn wrong with being a Graphic Designer? And if you think it’s difficult to explain to your mother-in-law what it is you do as a designer, try to explain to her what it means to be a Creative Director. That’s a long uncomfortable batch of dinner conversation that no one wants.

Public perception changes through public action. WE still need to define our profession’s reputation.

In a side note: I received a complimentary email today about this blog from a designer in Germany. His name is Thomas Schostok and his creations are incredible. His sensibilities are raunchy and intelligent and his work just flat-out kicks ass. You can check out his stuff at either one of his two sites {ths} or Cape-Arcona. The image above is his.

A Faculty Meeting and Some Nerd Talk…

2005-09-23T23:14:00.000-04:00

Nothing too crazy happened today. I went to a faculty meeting in the morning around nine and was in there until about noon. Much better than last time.

The most exciting thing that happened to me today was that I had a good nerd victory. I learned how to do that trick where in Safari and Firefox it’s possible to have a picture up inside the bar with the web address. Look up, it’s there now! Pretty sweet, right? I found the lines of code on this page. (If you can’t see it, hit refresh, clear your cache or buy a mac.)

The image is from a great graphic design site: Misprinted Type.

I told you it wasn’t that exciting of a day.

Talk at ya on Monday.

Let’s all get together…just be sure to bring your checkbook!

2005-09-22T20:59:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous blog entry I’m in the process of planning to attend a conference in December, and with all of this planning I thought it would only be fair to take a critical look at the cost associated with attending one of these events.

It’s my opinion that somewhere along the way in building bigger and better design associations (i.e. the AIGA and other such organizations) we (yes, I’m a card carrying member of the AIGA) have lost some of the core functions that are at the heart of the success of this kind of organization—community and accessibility. The internet has certainly made the world quite a bit smaller and brought everyone closer together, but there’s no substitute for learning and experiencing through actual human interaction. As designers, we’re visual, we’re tactile—we would much rather experience something first hand then to read a synopsis about it afterwards. Thus, the design conference was born! There’s only one problem—not everyone’s invited.

The design conference I will be attending in Bremen, Germany will cost about $300 (depending on the exchange-rate) just to walk in the door and listen. That’s not airfare, hotel, food, tram, incidentals, whatever else—it’s just attendance. And what’s interesting is that those who attend conferences know that this is cheap, and not just by a little bit either—we’re talking “fire sale” cheap here! Add up all of those other afore mentioned expenses and I’ll be lucky to finish this trip in the $1600 range. Fortunately, through some extra work responsibilities I took on last year that resulted in an expense account and the kindness of my Department Chair I’ll be able to go while incurring minimal expenses on my part. What’s even more interesting is that total I just mentioned isn’t all that different from the total operating expenses of my area’s (graphic design) ANNUAL budget.

Let’s take a look at some other design conferences and their admission rates:

The annual AIGA Design Conference (happening right now) charges $800 admission if you’re a member (annual membership $275)—If I attended this conference the total cost of my trip would be much closer to $2500.

Stand by, it gets much worse.

Richard Saul Wurman, acclaimed information designer is holding an upcoming conference called eg2006 with an admission fee of $4000. Yep, FOUR LARGE just to walk in, hobnob and listen. That’s a good deal right? For me, with expenses, this kind of trip would be around $5.5K.

Even more expensive (at a $4400 admission rate) is Wurman’s annual TED Conference. Oh, and another thing, you can’t even go to this one unless you’re invited! That’s right. You have to ask their permission to give them forty four hundred dollars!

I like Wurman and love his work, but he’s just being eccentric, right? The AIGA would never charge anywhere near that amount for a conference admission, right? WRONG!

The AIGA holds an annual conference at Harvard where the cost of admission is $7,500!!! That’s right SEVEN AND A HALF THOUSAND DOLLARS. Again, that’s a friend price—for members. How about that kick in the junk! That’s more than some cars, about 1/12 the cost of my house and it’s also near the amount of money it takes a number of respected design professionals MONTHS to make in income.

Okay, so maybe Sagmeister or David Blaine won’t be speaking at my Bremen conference but the value of my experience will by far, out-weigh whatever I would be getting in Boston from the AIGA conference right now. Is this truly a case of getting what you pay for? Or, are we building a shiny hiney club where community only exists for those who can afford it?

I love the AIGA and all of the good that they do but, everybody can take some criticism.

I’m Going To Bremen!!!

2005-09-21T17:33:00.000-04:00

From the spelling of my name, I’m sure many who don’t know me would expect a thick German accent to come pouring out of my mouth, this is not the case. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. And although I have been listening to some conversational German recordings on my ipod I speak very little of the language. However, that’s all going to change in December as I just found out today I will be attending a design conference in Bremen. Man, am I pumped! This will be an incredible opportunity and of course I’ll be blogging daily from the motherland. Here is a link that talks about the conference.

Today was a good, busy day of work. In both of my classes I had critiques. My Intro to Typography class had the final critique of their first project and my Intermediate Graphic Design class had a sketch critque of the initial brand identity materials they are developing (project 2). Both critiques went pretty well and were productive.

For the Intro group, I’ve been dragging them out into the hall and holding the critiques just outside of the gallery space. The regular classroom is a computer lab and in my opinion not the best location for critiques. It’s a white, boring, dead space lacking any vibrancy or life. At least out in the hall things are happening. And boy oh boy were they happening today. There were a couple of theatre students reciting their lines for a play not too far away from us. For some reason or another the dialogue for this play had the “F” bomb being dropped at least 7 or 8 times in this one scene. Now that’s a crit! I know it made some of the students crazy and I may have to find a new space, but I like the fact that it’s an exciting venue. I like that they are out there interacting with the public while talking about their design work. I hope it’s building some confidence in them and in how they present their work.

The Intermediate critique although more of just an sketch/idea session was one of the best yet. I love it when an overall awakening happens throughout the class during a critique. They are working on designing business cards, letterheads and envelopes based on the identity and logo marks they created in the previous assignment. And as beginning designers I’ve found that it is often difficult for students to think outside of the conventions of sticking the logo in the top left corner, or using plain white xerox paper. I can’t tell you how many times I heard today: “I never thought of it like that…” or “…that would be much better.” It was a great critique and I think they were even more excited about the positive ideas than I was. I know this class is going to make good work.

I also received a letter today from the Provost inviting me to serve on the search committee for the Dean of our newly formed College of Informatics. I’m not quite sure how my name came up as a committee member, nonetheless, I am honored to be chosen and serve.

I will keep posting updates about the Bremen trip as I learn more.

Work By Shinji Shimada

2005-09-20T12:49:00.000-04:00

There was a studio today in my Advanced Typography class today so I had a chance to meet with the students and discuss their current projects. They are working on pieces that are an homage to particularly significant historic typefaces. The stuff from in and around Germany near the time of the Bauhaus and WWII seems to be a favorite.

In one of my student’s research they came across some work by Shinji Shimada a Japanese designer. He did this interesting piece in which he interprets logo marks into a Japanese language system under the graphic poster section of his portfolio (image above). You can see his full portfolio here .

I have also recently agreed to tutor my niece in art. I think she’s about 10 or 11 years old and I see this an interesting challenge. I’ve become so used to discussing and explaining these sorts of concepts to adults and believe it or not the concept of working with a young child has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I spent some time today researching different ideas and techniques—however she is already showing remarkable talent for someone with no art training at all and I’m sure she’ll do well.

When I was that age I remember spending hours upon hours pouring through the Time Life series of books: The Library of Art. My mom had the entire set. I’m not even sure if those things are in print anymore.

This Place Gets Pretty Quiet Around 2:00AM

2005-09-17T01:40:00.000-04:00

RPT Materials DONE!!!

I am now leaving the office.

Am I Too Old to Still Like Cartoons?

2005-09-15T19:56:00.000-04:00

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before on this blog, but I have three kids—all under five years old. And sometimes as a special treat before they go to bed my wife and I will allow them to watch a channel called Boomerang. It plays a number of classic cartoons from Warner Brothers, Hanna Barbara, MGM, etc… You know, the really good stuff like Ken Harris drawing Tom and Jerry, or Tex Avery drawing Daffy Duck, or maybe it’s rabbit hunting season with Elmer Fudd, or Wile E. Coyote is about to be killed 10 or 15 times in the next 15 minutes—you name it. These were real cartoons and to my kids, they’re like crack cocaine—they can never get enough. It makes sense considering the kind of crap they are forced to watch in their generation: Blue’s Clues, Maisy, Caillou—BARF!!! Kid’s cartoons now are all about relationships and feelings and the sensitive nature of going to the potty, or some garbage like that. Anyway that’s another rant.

The reason I mention them is that I found a site where this guy has spent hours upon hours researching and collecting images from this era of animation. As I think back to when I was a kid (and even as I watch them now) I know my favorite part of the whole show was the title sequences at the beginning. These hand-drawn typographic slates were and still are incredible. I think this was probably one of my first experiences in being exposed to type design. I love how those titles were perfect prologues to the eminent story—highly successful graphic design/type design work. He even has a part of his site just dedicated to title screens. Check it out if you have the time.

Today, a student of mine also showed me a link to a post from about a year ago on the designobserver that contains one of the most ridiculous and intelligent typographic design debates I’ve ever read. It covers everything from dog poop to pediatric nomenclature in addition to all of the “meaty” talk about type. It has multiple posts from heavy hitters like Michael Beirut, Erik Spiekermann, and Steven Heller. This, hands down, is the best blog entry I’ve ever read. If you have a good half hour or so check it out here.

Lots left to do for reappointment; hopefully I will have time to post something tomorrow.

Presenting: The Ten Commandments of Teaching Graphic Design…

2005-09-14T18:14:00.000-04:00

01. Thou shall realistically prepare students for employment as professional graphic designers or to pursue graduate studies in graphic design.

02. Thou shall strive to make thyself more available to students and find new opportunities for communication between the students and thyself.

03. Thou shall strive to give thorough, honest and fair evaluations of student work.

04. Thou shall encourage thy students to take advantage of the synergy between the fine arts and design.

05. Thou shall encourage independent thinkers who arrive at original solutions, and are able to solve design problems—as opposed to students who leave school with only a technical knowledge of computer software.

06. Thou shall demand strong research, process and critique.

07. Thou shall demand professionalism and high levels of craft in presentation.

08. Thou shall elevate thy students’ strengths in using, sensitivity toward, and fundamental understandings of typography.

09. Thou shall demand thinking through drawing and sketching—as opposed to jumping right to the computer.

10. Thou shall encourage thy students to become stewards of graphic design.

(Sorry. I’m in the middle of reappointment materials and couldn't resist. And no, I do not have a deity complex! I was given this information on the top of a mountain—it was really far away, in Canada, you’ve probably never heard of it…)

Yackity Yak…

2005-09-13T17:04:00.000-04:00

This week I am in “re-appointment materials hell.” Everything is due on Friday. Lots to do. Lots to do.

Today in my Advanced Typography class we had the first of our seminar-style classes. Students were required to read essays and then make comments that would be posted to a blog this past Sunday. You can read their posts here. (One essay in particular is remarkably scathing toward Steven Heller, so if you’re a fan—beware!)

In class today we discussed their postings and reactions to the essays. This format seemed to work extremely well. The students’ comments and discussions were forthright and enthusiastic and we had no difficulty filling the class period. We tackled some very interesting issues; everything from the reverence for and the bastardization of modern type design—to the ethics of selecting clients and work as a designer. It was a strong class and I have a feeling that many of the students appreciated the content.

In a side note: I voted today. Today was the mayoral primary election in good ole Cincinnati. I had to pick from the three winners below. Who would you choose? I also estimate that I’ve probably gotten close to thirty phone calls at home JUST THIS WEEK over this election. There must have been a fire sale on automated dialing machines somewhere.

First Product Placement, and Now Logo Placement…

2005-09-12T22:06:00.000-04:00

I remember watching Back To The Future when it first came out and thinking it was a great movie. I was 10. As you may know, 10 yr. olds have quite discerning taste. I also remember watching the movie again in my mid-twenties and being disgusted by the number of shameless product placements that happen during this film. I never would have guessed just how much old Marty McFly was in love with Pepsi brand soda. And not to mention, just how perfectly he holds the “drink product” facing forward so that we can be sure exactly what it is he’s enjoying.

Which brings me to lunch on this past Saturday. Ann and I decided to take the kids to T.G.I. Friday’s. The location by our house has just gone through a cosmetic renovation and this was the first time we visited it since then. It was the same old Friday’s interior decorating taste for the most part. They took a bunch of crap and nailed it up to the walls. It seemed like eveything was from the ’80s—Atari, Star Wars masks, all that kind of stuff. Anyway, one of the things that struck me as odd was that in among the ramdom wall junk were LARGE SCALE LOGO SIGNS. There were three that I could see. A Coca-cola, (no surprise here they serve Coke products); but the shockers were a Levi’s logo and a Chevrolet logo. Right there between Darth Vader’s head and a hot-pink Bodyglove skateboard was a two-by-three foot embossed Levi’s logo sign. The Chevrolet chevron was near the door on the wall as well. What the hell is going on? Either the rest of the world has caught-up with graphic designers and their taste for trademarks, or there’s a touch of collusion happeneing here.

Has anyone else out there seen anything like this?

Posters From Russia, The Czech Republic, Poland, Cuba and Northern Kentucky

2005-09-09T20:23:00.000-04:00

Today was a rather slow work day. I spent some time emailing and phoning. I also tried to keep putting together some of my reappointment materials. I was only in the office until about 12:45, so not as much as I would have liked was accomplished. I also couldn’t help but spend some time on one of my research projects. I am working on designing a series of posters that are didactic in reference to the history of graphic design. It all started when I took on teaching a History of Graphic Design course in the spring semester of last school year. Although the prep work in teaching that course was grueling, it was an incredibly inspirational experience. It renewed my interest in research and history and consequently inspired this poster series.

My posters are meant to highlight significant epochs throughout design history. I’ve chosen the genre of propaganda and am trying to make every poster contain text from at least two different languages in effort to establish an international appeal. One of the sites I like to look at in order to fall back into the proper frame of mind while working on these pieces is this one. The image up at the top of this posting is from that site and the two down below are some of my preliminary pieces.

My Name Is Tobias and I Am a Nerd. It’s Been Almost Ten Minutes Since My Last Blog Posting…

2005-09-08T22:00:00.000-04:00

I apologize for being so late today in adding my posting. Today has been a remarkably busy and good day. It started with a pretty good crit in my Advanced Typography class and progressed with advising appointments, a curriculum committee meeting, and numerous emails, phone calls and paperwork.

But I would like to first take a minute and say thanks to a number of renoun design professionals who took time out of their days yesterday to listen to me and actually respond! Today I was reminded of the power of the internet and just how much smaller the world is getting everyday.

As promised in my rant yesterday I decided to circulate my thoughts about designing a tactile element into our currency around the web. I first sent a copy of the posting to the AIGA general contact email address and believe it or not, within an hour or so I received a personal response from Ric Grefé (AIGA Executive Director) expressing his concern for the issue and his willingness to get involved! Oh wait, it get’s better.

I also decided to send the posting to a couple of other nationally known design blogs I respect. First, I sent a copy to Michael Bierut at The DesignObserver who was kind enough to personally respond to my email and post a link to my site on that blog in their “Observed” section for the day.

Next I sent it to design-your-life.org. This is a great blog site that contains writing discussing how design works it’s way into our everyday lives. This site is co-created and operated by sisters and professors Ellen and Julia Lupton. Quickly, I received a couple of comments and a personal email response from Julia asking me to contribute to some other topics as well on their site. Of course, I could never resist an opprtunity to rant about design and went to work writing a response tonight. What follows is a response I posted today to their site to an entry about designers and technology:

Okay, I’ll admit it—I was born with a nerd gene. Consequently, I am often way too excited by all of the new, “techno-weenie” advancements and toys that find their way into my design toolbox. However, I’ve noticed that in a number of my design colleagues and students the motivation necessary to become just as technically as aesthetically proficient is often lacking. This has always existed as a confusing anomaly to me. Why? Why intentionally handicap yourself or your work in anyway?

Imagine a sculptor who makes the decision at the offset of her career (just as she is learning her trade) that she will NEVER in the production of any of her pieces use power tools. In fact, she has decided to not even learn to operate such “new-fangled” devices as a table-saw, blowtorch or lathe. This sculptor has quite a challenging road ahead of her.

Or better yet, how about a physician who claims that x-rays and CT scans “just aren’t for him.” Two hundred years ago, a physician or a sculptor could have made these sorts of claims and simply have been admired as one of those hard-nosed traditionalists—not anymore. What if Gutenberg had decided to not be a blacksmith/alchemist in addition to being a typesetter? What if Ben Franklin hadn’t spent time in Europe in the company of William Caslon learning to cut and set type while he was busy building our nation? What if Zuzana Licko hadn’t embraced the (now cantankerous) digital spunk of that first crude Macintosh while she published a magazine and co-created a type design company?

As designers we hold a tremendous advantage over those who are merely technicians. Creativity cannot so easily be learned, but techno wizardry can. I can teach almost anybody to use Adobe Illustrator, yet how can I teach someone to think like Saul Bass or Neville Brody? I know it’s not easy or comfortable—but dammit, just do it! As creative thinkers we should be the ones designing websites and building digitally interactive narratives. We have that certain “something” that is a part of us. A something that can only be nurtured not acquired. Perhaps it reveals itself through a sensitivity toward typography, or in the selection of a sophisticated color palette; but whatever it is, it’s the stuff that makes digital work, GREAT digital work.

There are a whole bunch of (actually it’s estimated to be around 43,000–Meredith Smith, AIGA Educators Conference, 2005) fresh new designers competing annually for our existing design jobs and clients. Forget about “working smart—not hard.” Today we have to do both while creating new opportunities not limitations.

Well, that’s probably enough writing for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with less words.

Is Graphic Design Only For Those Who Can See?

2005-09-07T10:25:00.000-04:00

Every two years or so, I make a trip to the optometrist to have my vision checked. And every time I go, it seems my prescription gets a bit stronger. The hypochondriac in me fears the evitable—I am a future Mr. Magoo! And until I can put together enough scratch to get my eyeballs blasted with laser beams I’ll be forced to wear glasses or contacts. I know, “boo-hoo!” I like to play the martyr, but the vision correction discomforts I have pale in comparison to those who are truly blind.

How often as graphic designers do we address the issues of the blind? I’ve been thinking about this lately. With almost all work that I make, I expect that my audience will be able to LOOK at it to enjoy it. As graphic designers, are we excluding the blind—even if it is unintentionally? I’m one of those optimistic blowhards who believes that graphic design has a higher purpose than to just make detergent boxes look pretty or convince consumers to buy a couple of extra packs of tube socks. Don’t get me wrong people, I love my tube socks and I love ’em clean, but our responsibility is much greater than this.

One of the organizations that I recently learned of, who I believe could use our services is Our Money Too. This is a group of Americans lobbying our government to establish some sort of tactile markings on our U.S. currency. It seems like it would be a “no-brainer” to get this rolling in Washington, but as you can guess it has been held up a number of times in the legislative process. THIS IS A GRAPHIC DESIGN PROBLEM. As graphic designers, this is exactly the sort of issue we should address. I have emailed this group to let them know that I am more than willing to help in whatever way they may need it. I am also going to send a copy of this post to the AIGA and my congressman and see what happens. I looked into this issue on the US Department of Treasury website and although they are aware of it they give the usual government “run-around” response. I believe this to be one form of exclusion, that as graphic designers we can remedy.

“To those whom much is given, much is expected in return.”

-I told you I was a blowhard.

When Did You First Use a Computer?

2005-09-06T13:23:00.000-04:00

Tuedays are shortdays for me. I just have a morning class and today was a studio. Nothing really too interesting about that.

I did stumble across a pretty interesting website though called: Guidebook: A Graphical User Interface Gallery. If you’ve got some spare time, check it out. It shows screen grabs of all kinds of old computer software and operating systems. It even has some old advertisements and sound files. It’s almost like a hallowed museum for a computer nerd like me! (Sadly, I did actually use Photoshop 1.0.7 a bit in undergrad.)

In a side note: I fear I may be pushing one of my Advanced Type students toward a breaking point on our current assignment. I won’t mention his/her name, but, if something happens to me—suspect foul play!

43,000 Reasons To Try Harder…

2005-09-02T09:45:00.000-04:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Hey, since we’re talking about “labor” how about some information:

In an address last March to the AIGA’s Schools of Thought II conference, Meredith Davis (NCSU College of Design Director) reported that in the United States there are over 1,700 two and four-year graphic design programs, CHURNING OUT OVER 43,000 GRADUATING STUDENTS EVERY YEAR! -CMYK Magazine, Summer 2005

It gets better. Here are some interesting points from the U.S. Department of Labor:

• Nearly one-third of designers were self-employed—almost five times the proportion for all professional and related occupations.

• Creativity is crucial in all design occupations; most designers need a bachelor’s degree, and candidates with a master’s degree hold an advantage.

•Keen competition is expected for most jobs, despite average projected employment growth, because many talented individuals are attracted to careers as designers.
-U.S. Department of Labor

Have a nice weekend everybody!

(The image is by Diego Lara, a Spanish graphic designer.)

Operation “Tough-Crit” Is In Full Effect

2005-09-01T12:50:00.000-04:00

The first thing you’ll probably notice about this site is the “visual overhaul.” It’s not really too different, the main change is that I ditched all of those annoying dots. I couldn’t look at those things one day longer.

Well, as the headline states, I have battened down the hatches on my critiques. The crit that took place in Intermediate Graphic Design last night was great. I was tougher and more honest and I really think I’m going to see some positive changes in the work because of it. I even had a couple of times where I pissed people off. Nice…right? This morning’s crit was along the same lines but it didn’t have the same caustic effect as the other. There were some good heated arguements, don’t get me wrong, but I feel it still could have been even tougher. The new rule in my crits now is that no one is allowed to start their comment with “I like…”

I remember being in undergrad and having teachers rip drawings off of the wall, crumble them up and throw them away as part of the critique. Today’s collegiate educational society is way too hand-holding and lovie-dovie to prepare students for the real world. I’d love to start bringing the brutal critique back WHEN NECESSARY. Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not some kind of evil design sadist, I’m just getting so sick of how “powder-puff” everything is. Whether you like or dislike a super tough crit, you have to admit that it produces better work. You may not end up being best friends with your students, but as an educator you are not here to make friends—you’re here to make good designers.

The truth of it is that I talk a mean game but it’s easy to fall back into being Mr. Nice Guy… all of us can and do. But, is everyone out in the job market a big bunch of sweeties who hug one another all day long? No. Not even close. People get layed-off for not working quickly enough—forget just being good.

I think I’m going to keep being tough for awhile.

If you want to be jaded just like me read this book. It’s been few years since I read it, but I think I’ll crack it open again this weekend for inspiration.

A Design Contest, A U.S. Citizenship Test, Art Chantry, Xu Bing and The Worst Gas Prices Ever…

2005-08-31T14:01:00.000-04:00

First, “A Student Gets High” Update:

The now imfamous student who got high in my Introduction to Typography Class returned to class today. I wasn’t sure if I would see him again. His health is fine and he is waiting to hear judgement from the Dean on the incident. Personally, I’m pulling for him to work his way out of these troubles. Being the eternal optimist that I am, to me, he seems like a good kid who has just made a number of egregious choices. If I hear anything further from the Dean I will keep you posted.

Step Inside Design Contest due date is October 3, 2005.

I teach two classes Mondays and Wednesdays, Intro to Typography at noon and Intermediate Graphic Design at 3:00.

In my Intro class today the students took their first exam which is 20% of their final grade. That’s right…four classes and an exam—that’s how I roll! I know it seems harsh, but, I do that so I can see who is serious about the class and their major. I’ll post some vague generalizations about the overall class curve once I grade the exams.

My Intermediate class has an in-progress critique today on their logo designs. I think it’s time to bring back “the hammer” in critiques. I’m feeling mean today, (like I haven’t been tough enough lately.) I think today’s crit is going to be a good one. A student reminded me today about how tough I used to be and I know I need to get back to that.

That same student also turned me on to the work of Xu Bing today. I just spent some time looking online but, Bing’s stuff seems amazing. Something of note: Bing has even won the MacArthur Genius Award!

I also spent some time today refamiliarizing myself with the work of Art Chantry (top picture above) today. I love his posters. And, some of his logo designs are super cool. I have a student in my Intro class who is going to use Chantry as his research topic.

Unless you drive a Segway to and from work; you, like me, have to be super pissed right now! They finally did it. Gas prices are JACKED way over THREE BUCKS!!! I drive a “charmingly” used 1992 Civic that holds about eight gallons of gasoline and it would cost me over $25.00 right now to fill up my tank! One of these days I’m going to start an ethel alcohol still in my back yard and try to drive around on that stuff.

In a side note: a very reliable source close to my Rambling headquarters told me that they overheard a graphic design major say how fun it was to be in graphic design. I will have to put a stop to this so called “fun” at once!

Ohh yea, I almost forgot about the citizenship test, here ya’ go:

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

As you can see I am one hell of a citizen!

-I’ll yak at ya’ tomorrie.

Not Quite So Crazy Today.

2005-08-30T20:53:00.000-04:00

Thankfully, nobody got high in class today.

Just a regular, “run of the mill” day at the old thinkin’ factory. Last weekend I spent some time trying to teach myself to read piano sheet music. It’s much more complicated than I thought. I can make reasonable sense of the treble staff, but the bass staff is rough. If I spend some time translating and practicing I can play the song, but I’m nowhere near real time in reading and playing. Maybe I should take actual lessons and stop letting my ego get the best of me. I learned how to read sheet music from somebody that calls himself the The Piano Nanny.

I also spent some time in Advanced Typography class today making sure all of my Advanced Typography students were up to snuff on the class blog. It’s starting to really turn into a nice site. In the next couple of weeks with deadlines looming it will fill up with exciting posts…I promise. One of the cool things to check out now is the posting about favorite design sites and the links associated within.

I also upgraded to the latest Mac operating system (Tiger) today for my powerbook and as you can imagine I went “dashboard” and “widget” crazy for a few hours. I’ve got about 15 now I think. Is that too many?

-T

Student Gets HIGH in My Class!!!!!!!!!!

2005-08-29T23:08:00.000-04:00

That headline is actually true!

About ten minutes before my 12:00 PM class started, a couple of students came down to my office to warn me that another student was “huffing” in the classroom. That’s right—“huffing.” He had stuck his nose down into the collar of his t-shirt and was then spraying photographic dusting spray in the bottom of his shirt and inhaling! Evidently, he was hitting the stuff pretty hard because the students who came down to warn me said he was falling out of his chair and going into convulsions. I got up and went to the classroom and saw him sitting there, joking around with another classmate. I approached him and asked him to collect his things and take a walk with me; and as he stood up I took the spray can from him. (The can was almost too cold to hold—he must have sprayed quite a bit.) As he got up and we started to walk out of the classroom he was stumbling back and forth and his speech was badly slurred.

I took him to a nearby conference room and asked him what the hell he was thinking. We had a conversation. Anyway, at this point I’m worried more about his health than anything else. From what I understand, you can die from doing that because your respiratory system shuts down. So, after a little discussion the two of us walked over to the nurse’s office and I left him in the care of the nurse. After that, I went back to teach my class. I later found out that the nurse called the police and they took him to the emergency room. There was also a police report filed that was sent to the Dean. Pretty crazy, huh?

I didn’t know there was really too much huffing in college. I figured I would have a drunk student before a high student in my classes—but I guess you never know. Ordinarily, I would cut some smart-ass joke in my blog, but this experience freaked me out more than anything. What was interesting about it was that he was very agreeable the whole time—kinda like a happy drunk. He knew what he did was wrong, assumed full responsibility, and seemed jovial in his slurred speech.

I guess I’ll have to add a line to all of my syllabi now about how it’s not o.k. to do drugs in class!

A Six Hour Faculty Meeting…No, Really!

2005-08-26T18:07:00.000-04:00

Well, it was the first faculty meeting of the year and man oh man was it a doozie! You always know that first one is going to be rough, but after the fifth hour you really start to wiggle in your chair. Six hours…no joke. We did make some good progress and got in a few votes. They provided us with both breakfast and lunch we were there so long.

The other graphic design faculty and I put together our course construction for next semester as well today after the meeting. Next semester I'll be teaching: Intro to Computer Graphics, Illustration and Advanced Graphic Design II. That schedule is still tenative, but I’m pretty sure it will go through. I’ve taught all three of these classes before and have good strong materials prepared for all of them. I’m looking forward to having the opportunity next semester to spend more time on creative research. I know…everyone is searching for more time on creative research.

The picture is from one of my friends Chris Sickles he is an illustrator who runs his own studio called Red Nose Studio. His work is incredible. When I went to undergrad at the Art Academy, he was two years ahead of me. He was kickin’ my ass art-wise then and he’s still doing it now. He even had a write up in How Magazine not too long ago!

Until Monday…

A New Blog is Born!

2005-08-25T13:57:00.000-04:00

Hey, Hey, Hey,

I feel terrible about missing my blog update for yesterday, but I was pretty busy. I just completed my work in starting up the blog for my Advanced Typography class and am sending out the student member invites today. That seems to be a great class. We had a crit today that was a bit dry but it was a sketch critique and 9:00 a.m., so I guess I can’t get too rough on them. I have a feeling that the advanced type blog will be loaded up will all kinds of great insight. That is a smart bunch of advanced level students who I'm sure have many opinions and who will probably have even more once the seminar component in that class kicks in.

Yesterday in my Intermediate graphic design class we we also had a sketch critique but I started the class with a lecture in hopes to stimulate more creative comments during the critique. For the most part it worked. I opened the class by showing that scene from American Psycho where they are all sitting around the conference table comparing business cards and Chrisitan Bale is freaking out. That’s probably the best scene in the movie, but it’s definitely worth a rental. I then showed them some examples of logo designs from brand new to the best of the best. I still believe there was no better logo designer than Saul Bass. I know, Paul Rand was close, but he was no Bass.

I have my first curriculum committee this afternoon at three. This is the first time I’m on a University wide committee. I’ve always had an interest in curriculum and hopefully I’ll find the work on this committee interesting enough to not get burned out on it. I’m serving both on the College of Arts and Sciences committee and on the University’s committee, so we’ll see how it goes.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Yesterday I gave a lecture in Introduction to Typography that lasted two hours and fifteen minutes and nobody fell asleep! That’s gotta be some kind of record.

Just Another Tuesday

2005-08-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

Just another Tuesday today. 2nd day of school and things are really in motion. I taught my first Advanced Typography class today and when they were given the option of writing tradional essays or blogging they picked blogging—go figure! I think it’s great. Now I have two of my classes that will be blogging and I will have a million less pieces of paper to deal with. I am setting up their class blog today and will link to it here when it’s finished.

I wandered over to the University Center for lunch today b/c I was curious to see the new rennovation of the cafeteria. I think it’s going to be even better. I almost feel like I’m additced to that place at lunch time. With a busy family life it’s hard to always cook healthy meals at home and over there I can eat all veggie meals everyday. Anyway, the new revamp looks good, the major change is that they replaced Taco Bell with some sort of homemade burritos place called: Habeñaros. I had a veggie and a bean burrito. The bean was much better and cheaper too— $.99! I think this will be my new regular for a while.

I’ll be working on a presentation for my Intro to Typography course this afternoon which I will give in Tomorrow’s class. Nothing else too interesting to report.

In a funny side story: Yesterday I pretended to be interested in a frat in order to get a free pizza lunch. I wonder for how many more years I’ll be able to get away with that little move.

It’s The First Day of School!!!!!!!!

2005-08-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

I always like the first day of school. Until it’s here I dread it and complain and bitch and moan, but then on that first day, I love it. I don’t know what it is, but there is something really great about that first day of school. Since this my third year at NKU I feel as though I’m finally starting to hit a good rhythm. My class sizes are pretty good, and the students seem eager. As to be expected, when I mentioned the graphic design admittance review in my Intro to Type class there was some moaning and worried looks, but I think they’re all going to take the review. We’ll have to wait and see. Tomorrow is my first Advanced Type class.

I had a great idea today on the way into work. Usually, my Intro to Type students have to keep a typography journal through the whole semester that they base on their readings from Spiekermann’s book: Stop Stealing Sheep. This year intsead of having them all create these clunky 3-ring notebooks, I’m making them all do blogs right here on blogspot. This will solve so many problems for them and me. No more paper, plastic and metal, no more lugging around 15 notebooks, no more terrible handwriting or sloppy cutting and pasting—it’s gonna be great. I just have to get them to start usuing the darn things.

I'll be back tomorrow (in terrible Schwartzeneggar accent)

Convocation Today

2005-08-19T15:24:00.000-04:00

I just got back into my office after going to convocation. As you can imagine it was a wild and crazy time. I think you can see how all of the ladies in the audience went “bananas” over the cool statistical data charts that are sure to help us help the students “envision their success.”

It wasn't the worst one I’ve sat through, and in case the president is reading this—it was Terriffic! And even if the president is reading this, the lunch left something to be desired. It was hamburgers and hotdogs buffet style, which may have been o.k. if they were remotely fresh. The patties were only about half-cooked and cold to the touch. They were also wet, not juicy, but wet. It was as if someone had washed all flavor off of them just before they were brought out to the table. The hot dogs looked like the kind that roll around on one of those sausage carousels at the local Quickie-Mart.

The breakfast this morning wasn't all that much better either. This is the third time I've gone to one of these things here at NKU and I still haven’t learned my lesson. I’m always worried that perhaps I come off to my co-workers as a bit aloof, because I’m always doing stuff with the fam. So I decide to attend—bad decision. Please allow me to paint this morning’s picture for you: It’s 8:00 a.m., and in the prision like lobby of the University Center there’s a 100 person-long line of 99 custodians and me and we’re all waiting to plunge our mitts into this gigantic pile of danishes. I guess the other professors are way too cool or busy to show-up at this thing, and since I only know a few people on the custodial staff I don't have anyone to talk to. Perhaps next year I’ll learn my lesson. But I doubt it, I’m just too damn cheap to turn down free donuts and coffee.

Well there’s plenty to do on my Advanced Typography syllabus, so adios!

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, MAD WORLD!

2005-08-18T14:27:00.000-04:00

Today is busy. Let me restate that: Today is a big ol’ friggin mess o’ busy!!! I can't seem to get everything done, but I did make some incredible progress.

Two of the three classes I'm teaching are finished. I really like my lineup of classes this semester. I'm teaching: Introduction to Typography (done), Intermediate Graphic Design (done), and Advanced Typography (plenty left to do). Tomorrow is going to be all sucked up because of the beginning of the year connvocation, where we all come together and get super excited about being back at school, which means…you guessed it, I’m working this weekend. YAAAAAAHHH! Oh well, it could be worse. At least I'm not a horse fertilizer, or a civil engineer at the city poop factory.

I’m gonna spend the weekend pouring over my typography library looking for ideas and making materials and presentations. I know I want the class to have a strong seminar component in addition to the studio work and I’ve done some research in that area, but other than that there’s plenty left to do. However it ends up it’s gotta be good. Typography is supposed to be the one thing that we do as designers better than anyone else.

It’s going to get really interesting in four days when classes start. The picture to the right is the cover of a book every designer should read if not own. Good ol’ Fortunato, he was the shizit back in the day. Do people say “shizit” anymore? Oh well, I’m gonna try and resurrect it forthwidth.

No Work For Me Today…

2005-08-17T22:38:00.000-04:00

I stayed home and watched the kids today because Ann had to work. Nothing too exciting to report today on graphic design. I did spend a little time reading online between chores. I started out reading some more about Stu Unger. I knew he was a great card player but I had no idea he also had an eidetic memory. The story about his counting cards into a six deck blackjack shoe is amazing. As I was reading about Stuey, I stubled across some information about Kim Peek, who was the real life inspiration for the movie character Raymond Babbit “The Rainman”. This guy Peek is absolutely amazing. I think even Einstein would’ve bowed down to him intellectually. If you read some of the links I’ve posted here you’ll see what I mean. He’s memorized nearly 10,000 books word for word, can read two different pages of a book at the same time with each different eye, and if you name any date in history he’ll tell you what day of the week it was. And trust me this is just the very tip of his mental iceberg. Many experts have referred to him as a “mega-savant.”

Back to work tomorrow, lots to do and not so much time.

Still Truckin’

2005-08-16T12:42:00.000-04:00

Work continues in preparing for school.

Nothing too exciting to report today in the world of graphic design. I did however want to mention a great book that I read this summer. One of the projects I am working on in the background of my daily life is writing a textbook for graphic designers to learn to animate. As with most textbooks the progress is slow. But over the summer I had some extra time to read and came across a book by Richard Williams called: The Animator’s Survival Kit. This is by far the best book I've seen on how to make things really appear to be moving in animations. It’s all the kind of stuff we think we understand as animators, but Williams really makes sense of it. What I like about the book is the respect he has for the craft of animation. We've all seen demonstrations on how to animate a walk, but this guy really has it figured out. He has also worked with some of the best in the biz like Chuck Jones and Ken Harris. If you don’t have a huge book budget and can only afford a few here and there—I don't see how you can make it without this one. You will not regret buying it.

-Peace and Chicken Grease

Well, It’s Monday...

2005-08-15T13:48:00.000-04:00

Man oh man, was it tough to get up this morning! Well, this is it. The final week of freedom before school starts back up.

I spent some time this weekend working on an illustration curriculum I am proposing to our chair. Last year, around the end of April, a good friend of mine, Woody (who adjuncts as an illustration instructor here) convinced his friend C. F. Payne (maybe you've heard of him!) to come in and give a guest lecture in Woody's evening class. First of all I have to say, that I was super impressed with Chris Payne. This guy is one of the, if not the premiere contemporary illustrators in the country today and he took time out of his busy schedule to not only lecture during this class period but to also give a working demonstration! And I'm not sure he would want me to announce this, but he did it all for free!!! Talk about stewardship of a profession, Chris is a real hero who deserves all of the accolades he receives.

After that lecture was over for the evening, Woody and I hung around afterwards and talked to Chris for probably three hours! Everything from his take on the Illustration biz today, his take on stock photography and illustration, how much he charges, who his illustration heroes are, etc… The guy could not have been more nice! After the meeting I was inspired! I went out and bought some acrylics, some illustration board and got back to drawing and painting again. I also decided that it time to finally dust off my plans to work on that illustration curriculum. I can see so many students who are majoring in Graphic Design at our university because it is the closest thing to what they are truly interested in—Illustration. I took it upon myself to try and help them out. We'll see what happens. I dropped off the materials to the chair today.

talk at ya' soon!

My First Posting...

2005-08-12T12:47:00.000-04:00

Hello All,

Over the summer break I was finally introduced to the significance of blogs ( I know, I'm a couple of years late). Thinking back to the numerous anecdotes and occurrences I've experienced while teaching graphic design, I thought my daily experiences would make for an interesting blog. Perhaps, I will be the only one who thinks that's so, but we shall see. If nothing else I will at least have a record of what the hell I do with my days.

Today is one of my first days back in my office before school starts. This year will start my third year teaching on a tenure track. My retention materials are due in about a month and I'm already stressing. By the way, classes start in about one week and I'm teaching a class that I've never taught before—Advanced Typography.

I wish I could say I spent the summer being extraordinarily productive in my research but we both know that is not the case. My wife took on a job this summer and I spent a tremendous amount of time being Mr. Mom. Although it was definitely my turn to take on some of the child rearing burden, it was not exactly as pleasurable as I had hoped. (I have 3 kids all 5 yrs. old and under). In some ways I am looking forward to the school year beginning, and in others not so much.

I did start a number of cool projects but they are still hanging in the wind. I had a cool idea for a typeface design, and am working on some propaganda based posters referencing the history of graphic design. I will keep you posted as things progress.Copyright Tobias Brauer 2005