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Crimes

I was looking on the newsstand last week when I saw this cover that caught my eye. It was this special magazine by Time Inc. This is a magazine about notorious crimes in American history. The idea of useing crimes from the past to make a special issue is unique. This time of year there a lot of magazines that review the year but TIME put together something that is different and caught my eye right away. Not only is it a interesting idea to release a magazine like this but it is laid out realy nicely. The articles use images and text to make this magazine complete. The cropping of images are also great.One sall thing that makes this magazine unique as I was going threw it was there were no ads. That right NO ADS. If you get a chance pick it up.

Great Magazine Cover Blog

http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/09/28/colors-of-the-top-20-magazine-covers/

CD Booklet Point size

I just pick up Jay Z's CD. Thats right I still buy CD's. I went to take a look at the inside of the CD booklet and I could not believe what I was seeing or should I say what I could not see. The point size was so small. Does the designer really think anyone can read five point type? I think not. Some of us like to read the inside of CD's. It is bad enough that CD booklets have images in the background with text on top but to have small text is a sin. I wish artist would spend a little more money and add pages to their booklets. It sure would save my eyes.

DOLLAR STORE?

Is the Dollar store really a dollar store if everything is not a dollar. I was in Richmond and came across this dollar store with this sign in the window. I started to think to myself. If everything is not a dollar then its no longer a dollar store. Almost all stores have something that is a dollar. So, all stores are dollar stores.

Breast Cancer

This is a great image. The designer created something that is visually pleasing and effective. Usually designer place an image of the pink ribbon to represent breast cancer. But this designer was able to use something very different. The use of the map on a woman raising her arm for a breast exam is nice. The color pallet on the image does not over take the cover. I don't like the bold font but I think this is the standard font for Time magazine.

Can You Handle the Truth?

This a great clip.

Will the real MJ stand up

The Ebony magazine cover is the most recent cover of Michael Jackson and is just as photoshoped as the image that appeears in our McQuade book. The inside article uses photoshop and lighting to give MJ the appearance he wants and to hide any of his flaws.

Graphic Design Has Arrived

Catalog Cover

This catalog came in my mail on Monday. When I first saw it I said to myself, “What is this?” This Nordstrom holiday catalog does make any sense. Yes, the cover uses snow but it does not make me want open it and purchase anything. The does not draw me in I just wanted to down or throw it out.

I barely noticed that it was from Nordstrom. The scan makes the name pop more than what the actual cover shows. The cover uses a foil stamp that blends in with the illustration.

I am assuming they are creating a visual holiday story but it doesn’t connect. I think it would of worked better if they would of used happy people on the cover. The illustration just does not say happy holiday.

Exhibit

There is a great exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery of African American Portraits. The exhibit highlights different African Americans throughout the ages. The exhibit does a great job putting you in the era. Seeing the progression of BW images to color is amazing. There are images from W.E.B. Du Bois to Gordon Parks to Wynton Marsalis. The cropping of the photographs captures the personalities and the times. The photographers establish an identity of all their subjects.

If you love photographs I recommend this exhibit.

Green Ad

This is a very clean ad. Most ads that promote green living seem to think we need a lot of green in the ad in order to get the point across that the company has gone green. This HP ad uses a little green which does not take over the page.

TIME Special Issue

I was in the grocery store Monday. When I saw this cover that caught my eye. It is a great example of good cropping. The cropping shows the impact global warming is having on the planet. The designer allows you to connect with a living animal and his environment. The bear appears to be trying to get on solid ground but there is none because of global warming. By making the issue more vertical it forces you think this goes on forever. The size opens the cover up.

The use of hierarchy is excellent. The magazine moves behind the topic, which is rare in the magazine world. Global Warming has become more important than the magazine masthead just by making the masthead smaller and making the headline larger and bolder. I applaud Time magazine for taking a back seat to the purpose of the special issue.

Graphic Advenger

This is a GREAT SHORT.

Guess Who the Big Guy Is?

This is a great ad by Hyundai. It is visually captivating and compliments the copy. The copy reads:

Think About It
Two Warranties Enter the Ring, One Warranty Leaves.
It’s gonna be long night for one of these warranties. Guess which one:

In this corner, the typical 5-year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty from the typical car company. In the other corner, Hyundai’s towering 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage—more than BMW, Honda, or Toyota.

We wouldn’t offer this kind of coverage if our cars didn’t keep humming year after year. Yelps would go in our financial depart-
Continued at ThinkAboutIt.com

The use of the word towering is a strong connection to the image. I love the use of the word humming to describe the fact that the cars last a long time. The ending of the text in the middle is also a good way to drive the reader to the website for more information.

Mugshot Covers

I was looking through my magazine collection. When I noticed these two magazines. They both are using the same type of image (MUGSHOT) and similar color palettes but they are both different.

The Men’s Journal magazine does not feel welcoming at all. The photo of Steve Nash looks dry and empty. Even though the article is about him bringing fun back to the NBA. He doesn’t look very fun to me. He looks like an animation. There is a disconnect between the cover line (Steve Nash The Superstar Who Made The NBA Fun Again) and the image. The fonts take over the page. Everything is in bold which is overpowering. Note: I hate Rooflines! (I hate them so much I think it is worth wasting one of my five “!”)

The Details magazine feels lighter and cleaner. The cropping and the off center positioning helps the cover. Ben Affleck’s expression looks like a man that is determined and focused which goes well with the cover line. I love the use of bold, regular and lightface fonts to show hierarchy. The fonts don’t takeover the page as the Men’s Journal cover does. The lighting is also well done. The lighting does not make Ben Affleck look dark or evil. The lighting can change the effect of an image like this. The Men’s Journal cover is a perfect example of this. The shadow on the left hand side gives Steve Nash a dark mysterious look. This look would be OK if the cover line read “The Dark Side of Steve Nash.”

If you are going to use an image like this on your cover you have to really think about what this type of image says to your reader. The image, typography and lighting can make or break a cover.

COLORS

As a designer I love the changing of the seasons. This time of year I would have to say is my favorite. The color pallets that the trees have are amazing. The oranges, reds, greens, and yellows inspire me everyday on my long commute from Bowie to Gaithersburg. The colors for this time of year are bright and vive rant. It always fascinates me that as the sun go down the effects of the colors and the mood of the trees change as well.

Mother nature gives us this amazing display of colors and a lot of us take it for granted. Next time you get a chance look up and take in all the amazing colors.

Washington Post Commercial

There is a Washington Post commercial that is airing on TV that sums up the life of a designer in the world. The commercial shows a designer working on a project with someone behind him telling him how to lay a project out. The person behind the designer is tell what colors to use and is not allowing the designer to get a word in edge wise. Then their shadows appear in the background. The shadow is a ringmaster making a dog jump through a hoop.

As designers we all have had this feeling. I LOVE THIS COMMERCIAL!

Second Life

Check this commercial out. It is a never ending story.

Clover Lines

I was scanning the newsstand the other day and saw this cover of Detail magazine. As I looked at the cover lines from the newsstand they read as the following: Are you satisfying your wife, the new White-collar addiction, and the army's big gay secret. Are they telling me Brad Pitt can satisfy my wife, is he the new addiction, or is he the Army's big gay secret? The cover line that had something to do with Brad Pitt was on the bottom of the cover.

The placement of cover lines are important to magazines on the newsstands. If the main cover line is on the bottom of the cover it is most likely covered. Details probably thought his image would be enough. But as a reader I want to know what the article is about.

Sneakers

As I was working on my classification project. I ran across a lot of shoes that have interesting designs. Sneakers have come a long way from those off white Chuck Taylor’s All-Stars of the 20’s. Sneakers have some good and bad color palettes. Our sneakers can say a lot about us. What do you look for in a sneaker? Is it the design/style, comfort, or price?

TOC RANT

Has any one tried to find the TOC in some of the more popular magazines. Well if you are looking for it you will have to go through around 50 to 100 pages of advertising. When will publications understand that the TOC is the key to their magazines and reader need to find the TOC in order to find the articles we would like to read. This makes me feel like the advertising is more important than the readers. We all understand that advertisers pay a lot of money for their ad placement but the publications need to make the readers feel like we are just as important important.

I was looking through GQ magazine and counted over 100 pages before I could find the TOC. THis number seems to be getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Magazines are giving into the old mighty door. I often wonder how effective these ads are in the front of the magazines.

Where has the Album Covers Gone?

The usage of album covers use to be an art form. I know I could not only wait to hear the music but I also use to look forward to seeing the art covers and surprises that may be in the albums. With the MP3’s being used the album cover design/art and the content inside is becoming obsolete. The quote below is the best way to sum up what has happened to this art form.

"For a while, there was a true 'marriage' of two very distinct and different media -- art and music. In their heyday, LP covers were an outlet for experimentation, art, fun, social comment, and the power of the visual image to sell you the music that was contained therein. It's over I guess. The 'cover' of a CD is about 14% of the size of a record album; the artwork on the cassette box is just 7% as big. That's barely enough space to put the name of the artist, much less some breathtaking or unusual artwork."__Bill Walsh

Cover Article

There is a great article that appears in the September 2007 issue of Folio magazine. The article focuses on three magazines that have to use images and cover lines to draw attention to their magazines on newsstands. The article tells the challenges and the process the magazines go through in order to produce an effective cover that catches the eye of their old and new readers. This is a great article for every designer to read.

The FRO vs Balanced Layout

Is this an ad where the designer did a great job keeping a balanced layout or did the designer decide the FRO was to big to fit in the ad space anyway?

Like a Fox Freddy

If there were ever an image that matched the text this is a perfect example. On the September 10, 2007 cover of Newsweek there is an image of presidential hopefull Fred Thompson looking like a “FOX” waiting to jump on its prey. By taking out the background Newsweek makes you focus on the image and words. It is a very clean and devious looking cover.

The cover made me think that Fred Thompson is an old calculating candidate that has been waiting for all of the Rebuplican candidates to attack each other. Then when they attack each other he jumps in and takes out the weak.

What is your ideal work environment?

Hello Everyone,

I was reading the October 2007 issue of HOW magazine, when I ran across an article about an advertising agency that has revamped its own image. They decided to change their logo, create a new slogan and move their 75 employees to a new office. The new office has more of a retro feel to it. The office halls have artifacts from different eras and every office or open work area has "HANG IN THERE" on the walls.




This article made me think about when I graduated from undergrad and knew the world was at my feet. I saw myself working for an agency or company that would have this type of work environment. BOY OH BOY was I in for a rude awaking. My first job was doing paste up for a local newspaper. (I know most of you don't remember a time when Photoshop was a stat-camera.) The production room smelled like wax and developing solution from the stat-camera room. You were lucky if you were able to end the workday without shedding any blood from your X-acto knife.

Today my ideal work environment would be anyplace that has good people. One thing I have learned through the years is that designers need other good people around them. It is cool to work for a place that has a great color palette in the office and great artwork, but it is always better to have someone with whom you can bounce ideas off. It could be a tough environment to be creative without this support.

Today’s designers work in all types of work environments. We work in law offices, business offices, agencies, newsrooms, from home, etc. What is your ideal work environment?