Show Me Dharma

Yay, my Show Me Dharma logo was chosen by the insight meditation organization of Mid-Missouri to be used in their print publications. In all honesty, I was beginning to feel a little defeated by design, so this success was a great confidence booster and just what I needed to make it through the rest of the semester. Below are  the redesigned logos; I refined the typography, made the text bigger and adjusted the dots on the "swirl" part of the design. I think the text could go even bigger than this, but I'll see what they think. 

Smooshy-faced Cats

Click here and watch the video. 

The 41 second mark is priceless.

Design pt. deux

First of all, how adorable is that couple in the oval frame?! Very. These are my initial designs for the pet look-alike department pages. When I found the photos on the server I was floored — they are amazing! I was expecting something much different, but this professional, cheeky and almost "glamour shots" look is exactly what I was hoping for. I am planning on adding a subtle drop shadow to the frames (to add some context) and maybe a decorative hanging hook/ribbon above them with the names below treated like artwork labels. I'm not sure if this whole vision will work for a department, but I think it could look really cool.

Next up, more Renovate | Style work. Here are two of my three departments (I still need to get the editor's letter from the server.) The first is a three page department on easy ways to update your home's interior. It's a little more detail oriented than the rest of the departments, so I was excited to do some product cutouts for the "Hob Knobbing" page. It looks a lot like my original prototype department page...it's nice to be able to add a personal touch to my pages while still keeping them within the style guide. 

You know when you're designing and you just CAN'T look at a page any longer? That's how this following spread was for me. It's just two pages! About products! Why is this so hard? I wanted to avoid cutouts because I had already used them on the previous page, but how the hell do I incorporate DOORS, SUITCASES AND ARMOIRES on one page without using cutouts or boring square photos? I searched and searched Meredith for a single room shot that featured all of these items, to no avail, obviously. I finally just decided to do a strange feather effect on the single images to avoid the compartmentalization that sometimes consumes department pages. 

I will leave you with this, the redesigned ren|ovation page, the last page of the magazine! 

This Week in Design

So, I have a lot of design work to post. First — pet covers! Here are the redesigns I will be showing tomorrow. I decided to keep the photo collage going and create a dominant image. I like how the speech bubbles give the pets a "voice," because afterall, this is THEIR issue.

I love pugs. I made this cover just because I think a simple pet shot gets the message across on a cover. In my mind it would be a photographed piece, and the dog would have a leash (attached to their collar) lying on the ground, their owner in the distance running after them. 

Global Journalist. I was a little nervous because of the more serious mood of this publication because I tend to have a bit too much fun with my designs sometimes. However, I lucked out because the Peru piece I was assigned has beautiful photography that basically did the design for me. I have three pages, starting on a single right splash page. I stared at that single blank page forever...it's so hard to go from double-truck openers to single pagers. I decided 

I wanted to use the pristine and beautiful photo of the Machu Picchu landscape in contrast with the photograph of a hoard of tourists on the second spread for contrast. So, I was stuck with this somewhat ambiguous horizontal photo to use on my opening page; I just couldn't really figure out what to do. I ended up using a black bar  slightly overlapping the first photo to create a visual barrier representative of how tourism is destroying and "overlapping" the beauty of Machu Picchu. I like the font because I don't find it distracts from the photography or the content, but at the same time looks current.

Renovate | Style. Pictured here is my "Hats to Home" feature. I was very pleased with the way the entire feature developed. My theory behind the trippy opening spread was born from a single word that caught my eye in the dek..."shift." After reading that, I decided to "shift"

 different parts of the image to reflect the shifting of both the interior of the lofts after their renovation, the exterior of the building over the years and also the neighborhood. This story featured a more modern interior than the rest of the features, so I just decided to go with it instead of trying a traditional layout that would make no sense with the content. 

VOX Redesign

Can I just say, THANK GOD. I feel like this VOX redesign is much-needed and Meredith found fabulous ways to solve some common design and aesthetic problems with the current magazine's style guide. 

My favorite part of the new style guide, by far, is the addition of photo cutouts. I think doing whole or partial photo cuts will make the publication look more professional and also adds an element of spontaneity that is missing from the current design. Like Meredith said, the cuts are a little "treat" for the reader, and I especially love the freedom to overlap and layer that comes with this element. 

The side-by-side hed and dek treatment, complete with  newly updated typefaces, sounded a little unorthodox but looks great. The contrast between the bold hed and delicate dek works really well in creating a clear hierarchy among the page elements. Also, the vertical bar between the two is a very popular current design element that works much better than the whole stacked Frutiger/Frutiger thing that was getting quite old. 

Louis Vuitton Don

Okay, so there's been mention of Kanye A LOT in the media lately, and I feel obligated to at least say a few words about his new Louis Vuitton shoe campaign, South Park parody (which, by the way, was gold) and a new release with the Clipse and Kaws.

First, the shoes. The "Louis Vuitton Don" has truly lived up to his self-given nickname and just launched his shoe campaign with the French luxury name. A few of the ads are a bit risque, but definitely in high fashion taste rather than sleaze.

The shoes range from around $700-$1200. *editor's note: thank you Tim for filling me in on the even more obnoxious price tag. The pink-soled shoes retail at around $1140. What!? Even for Louis Vuitton this is ridiculous, especially in comparison to their extremely popular and classic "Speedy" purse that runs around $500. Yes, not cheap, but I think many would pay much more for a purse than a pair of obnoxious sneakers (sorry K). But, just in case one pair of overpriced urbanized designer shoes isn't enough, they do come in multiple colors. As far aesthetics go, I am liking the all-red leather ones featured in his ad above — I mean, if you're going to go with the suit and sneakers look, go all the way.

Next, the South Park parody. I must admit I was a bit worried about this one seeing as how my loyalty to Kanye is blind, undying and all-consuming and everyone else's love for him is, well, nonexistent. I ended up thoroughly enjoying the episode and thought they effectively ripped him to shreds by not only making fun of his ego (to be expected) but also his ridiculous sense of determination and lack of self-awareness. I, personally, just love that they used such horrible graphics for his concert set; Kanye would never stand for that typeface!

On another note, the Carlos Mencia rip was long overdue.

Lastly, Kanye along with the Clipse and Kaws recently released a new song (with no shortage of hater shout-outs) called "Kinda Like a Big Deal."

...Kinda Like a Big Deal? Not so original, but hey, at least Kanye isn't depressed anymore.

The track is a little raw, but a nice beat compliments of Mr. West and the lyrical work of the Clipse make up for any production shortcomings. It is a refreshing step away from the over-produced and over-synthesized mash-up of crap that has been released on the hip hop scene lately — thank you T-Pain for starting a horrendous mainstream hip hop trend that has mysteriously creeped its way into the underground and just will.not.leave.

With this release, however, it looks like the synthesizer might finally be on its way out.

Peep-tastic

I really like Peeps. While many find them disgusting or even downright offensive, I love the tiny marshmallow delights both for aesthetic appeal (they are so awkward and cute) and taste (mmm you can taste the grains of sugar.) I even searched far and wide last halloween for a Peeps costume, but then decided I should probably keep at least a little self-respect and be Lil' Wayne instead, complete with lollipop chain. 

So much the whole self-respect thing...

That being said, meet this crazy peep-collector. Someone sent this to me on Facebook, which I'm hoping is not some sort of indication that my peepsession is spiraling out of control — I mean, I don't even own a stuffed peep!

 (yet)