17 posts tagged “design”
I’ve been digging around the web for some free flash slideshow examples for my wife. This one looks pretty slick… I can’t add music to this kind but the interface works really well.
An illustration I did for a poster for my work’s United Way charitable campaign bake auction. I had a lot of fun with this. It started out more as an “I wonder if I could do this...” illustration and turned out better than I expected.
I really need to get back into drawing more...
Show us a logo you really love.
Not only do I believe what this organization stands for, I LOOOOOOVE their logo. I think it’s a wonderful balance of positive and negative space — Oh. My. Yes. The negative space. It’s simply not that easy to create a logo that relies so heavily on negative space that reads as well as this one does.
What can I say... I know I posted this one before but I’m just blown away by it every time I see it. This Mother & Child was a logo for a magazine that has never been published. It was designed by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase in 1965. And remember, back then it would have been DRAWN BY HAND.
I love logo design.
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steelie
Hmmm... I wonder if I should a “steelie’s Top Ten Logos” list.
Might be fun.
I design this a couple a weeks ago and I was kinda proud if the way it turned out, so I thought I’d share. This Jennifer & Child was a logo was designed for a collegue of mine who has recently gone on maternity leave. I wanted to design something nice and clean. I remembered the “Mother & Child” logo designed by Herb Lubalin in 1965 and decided to make it a bit of an homage to one of my most favourite logos ever.
Herb Lubalin’s piece is amazing... almost every design student I’ve ever met has looked at this in awe. Of course I wasn’t able to copy what he had done entirely for my collegue’s because she didn’t have an “O” in her name to be able to place the child in a womb. Still... I’m happy that I was able to use the “&” as a baby and the letter “e” in her name. Not nearly as clever as the original... but a decent homage nontheless.
Oh, and keep in mind that the original was drawn by hand.
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steelie
Well, here I sit at my computer desk STARTING on my work “this evening” (overtime) that I was hoping to be done by now... It 12:50 AM here and I’m just waking up after having fallen asleep on Little “L’s” bedroom floor... after struggling to get him to bed... after only having gotten one hour of sleep the night/morning before...
Note to first-time parents of babies or young toddlers:
Your child WILL someday become aware of the fact that you really want them to become potty-trained and WILL someday use this to thier advantage to stay awake waaaaaay longer than they ought to. This MIGHT seem cute for a while but WILL invariably/eventually wear on you...
Ugh...
Now I have to start working on something that has to be done for tomorrow/today...
Double ugh... with fries... burnt ones...
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steelie
Okay...
Ever have one of those days that makes you feel like your life is on the verge of changing forever? That something wonderful has been deliciously crafted to help your dream become your real life? Things... wonderful things, have been in the works without my knowing... until yesterday that is.
I’ve been kinda disillusioned about my job (or line of work) for a while now... I keep asking myself, “How am I helping people?” As a graphic designer, I don’t feel that I help anyone... not directly anyway. In no hands-on way do I help anyone... and I mean really help anyone. In my ideal little world, if I continued to be a graphic designer my entire life I would somehow be financially self-sufficient and I would do graphic design for free for nonprofit organizations, small companies that need strong design work but cannot afford it, or something of the sort... I like being a designer. And I’m good at it. However, the more I do it the less I feel like I’m Contributing.
Right now, I’m working at a job that I’m not hugely fond of to provide for my family... “taking one for team.” As of yesterday, within a year from now, I’m not sure if I’ll be a full-time graphic designer anymore. If I can manage it, I’ll likely be still working here part-time but supplimenting my income by doing something for more amazing...
I’ll be training and teaching Parkour. I’ll be training and teaching Parkour... in a program that uses Parkour as a physical disipline to help troubled youth. I’d be helping troubled youth who are at risk of failing out of school or on the verge of getting expelled get their lives back on track.
Could you imagine?
I’ll have more time to write/post about it later... I just had to post something while the life-buzz is still hummin’.
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steelie
Okay... so I have a bit of French homework I have to do for tomorrow (glad I’ve learned responsability now that I’m older) so I figured I’ll use vox as my word processor for today... I’m supposed to explain what it is I do at my job. Keep in mind that it is a class I’m taking... which means I’m still learning and fully expect mistakes in this. That being said, here goes nothing...
Je travail comme concepteur graphique dans le centre national de design de Xxxxx Xxxxxx. Depuis mon début, j’étais responsable pour le développement créatif et la réalisation actuelle des projet de design dans notre bureau. Récemment, j’ai reçu un promotion. Un promotion de salaire et de responsabilité... sauf que, on ne m’a pas encore donnée l’opportunité d’employer cette nouvelle responsabilité.
Je devrais être le gestionnaire pour tous les projets sur quels je travaille, mais la majorité de mes projets sont pour notre bureau national. Alors, c’est ni pratique ni réaliste d’avoir moi comme gestionnaire pour ces projets car les décisions et horaires sont trop complexe et beaucoup plus grand que moi et mon cubicle. Donc, jusqu’à on m’explique différent, je suis encore responsable pour le développement créatif et la réalisation actuelle des projet de design dans notre bureau.
Pendant plus que trois années maintenant, j’avais travaillé sur les standards et lignes directrices pour la signalisation extérieur pour la programme d’image de marque de Xxxxx Xxxxxx (PIMPC). Dépendant sur l’aspect du projet actuel, il fallait que je travaille soit seule ou en équipe. Ces derniers mois, il fallait que je travaille seule sur les panneaux pour les droits d’entrée pour plusieurs parcs nationaux et lieux historiques nationaux. Ces panneaux ne sont pas très excitant mais je suis fier du produit final parce que on a utilisé mon idée qui va résulter dans une système qui produit moins de déchet qu’il aurait auparavant. Chaque année les droits d’entrée changent et l’idée initiale été de remplacer les panneaux en complète chaque année. Cependant, la système que j’ai designer est une système fixé avec deux insertion recto-verso, démontable pour seulement les droits d’entrée, et permet l’inclusion de ces droits pour quatre année de suites.
Pour la réalisation de ces panneaux il faut qu’on suive les lignes directrice pour la programme d’identification fédéral (PIF) et les lignes directrices pour la PIMPC, que nous sommes entrain de préparer présentement). La PIF est la programme qui gouverne l’identité ou l’image graphique fédéral. La PIMPC a des aspects uniques à elle mais doit aussi suivre les règles de la PIF qui est assez stricte. Avec la développement du PIMPC comme elle s’applique à la signalisation, il faut qu’on suive certain règles de la PIF mais pas les autres. Les police typographiques sont prescrit par la PIF alors il faut qu’on les utilise pour nos panneaux. Aussi, il faut qu’on suive les règles de la PIF qui gouverne l’espace entre ces éléments typographiques.
Quand les lignes directrices de la PIMPC auront fini, il va falloir que les autres concepteurs graphiques suivent les règles prescrit par nous pour pouvoir créer des panneaux propre. Honnêtement, je ne peux pas imaginer ma vie après avoir compléter les lignes directrices. Y-a-t’il d’autre projet pour vrai? On verra... pour maintenant, il faut que j’attende jusqu’à on me dit que j’avais fini.
Be kind...
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steelie
Well, I’m home now... have been for almost a week but I didn’t have much “play”-time on the computer, so I’m just updating now...
Having to leave my family to go on the work trip was a drag... I was feeling quite under the weather before I left but my manager GB was even sicker so I didn’t really have an excuse not to go. It made for a long day... We left the office at 11:30 AM last Wednesday and took a cab to the airport for a flight at 1:45 PM.
Landed at our destination at 3:00-ish, then drove for almost three hours to our hotel. After we got settled, we had supper at about 6:00 and I went to bed almost right after... spent the entire night in a pool of sweat (attractive I know), shivering a fever off until I woke up the next morn.
The next day was one long meeting that went from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM... I still wasn’t feeling that great but it was a productive meeting none-the-less — we were designing a number of signs and needed to have a face-to-face with the fabricators to hammer out the final details.
Day three was nothing but travelling again... left at 9:30 AM... drove to the airport for our flight at 1:00 PM (stopped for lunch and a vanilla soy latte on the way)... the flight was delayed so we arrive home almost an hour-and-a-half after we were supposed to. HOWEVER... the upside to the delay was that I was right on time to be dropped off a the daycare to pick up Little “L”. It was amazing to see everyone.
Now that I’m back, I’m glad I went (work-wise only, that is). Yes, I realise that I was only gone for three days and that might make me a man-baby for being so sappy but hey... that’s me. Back to the routine now...
It’s amazing how the daily pattern can seem monotonous until it’s gone... then it’s amazing how comforting you realise it is and you’d give just about anything for it.
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steelie
UPDATE: Okay... so I was going to do a video post to tell this
part of the story but I thought I heard Little “L” crying upstairs so I
stopped part way through and didn’t save it... Soooo... I’m just going to do a quick textual recap... One of the signs discussed at the meeting had previously been sent to us as a prototype — twice... the company wanted us to bring them back with us for discussion... this means we had to check them as luggage on the plane... the one GB chose to check was small so they took it no problem... mine was about 4' x 3' so it had to go through the “special” check-in place... it was too big to go through the scanner so they had to surface-swab it for illegal substances... they got a hit on it... “What does that mean?” “It means your package tested positive for explosives.” “Excuse me?!?”... a “LEVEL 1” had to come down and question me and oversee the unpacking of the questionable package... the sign/package was cleared because the “swabber” (not his official title) could find no wires attached to the sign... the sign was repackaged... I was escorted down through security for further questioning and a full-body pat-down... they were nice enough to warn me before checking my “back pocket area” (not my words... theirs)... every item in my carry-on was emptied and individually swabbed... I was cleared and allowed to board the plane.
And to top it all off... I was pulled out of the line for a random full-body pat-down on the way home too.
Fun.
I miss my own room... I miss Little “L” sleeping awkwardly close to my face... I miss Lady “T” sleeping next to him... I miss Baby “X’s” sweet little breathing in his bassinet next to her...
I’ve had to travel for the first time since we became “four” and my hotel room is just not the same... I miss home...
Nothing life changing to report... yet. For a while now, I’ve been playing around a bit with the idea of designing my own personalised “steelie” T-shirt. I think I may have finally come up with something I like... It’s simple but slick. Just felt like sharing it...
Fun stuff!
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steelie
