April 03, 2008

>>Design Observer–2 articles

http://www.designobserver.com/archives/025212.html

>Thirteen ways of looking at a typeface by: Michael Bierut
I found this article very entertaining and it definetly gave me a new perspective, or 13, on how to look at and how to choose a font for a specific project. His catholic school analogy made me laugh and the part where his wife called him a slut. I wish I would have read this article before the logo project in graphic design, I had trouble deciding on what font to use for my logo and I didn't really know how to go about chosing one. I ended up picking something that I thought looked good with the style of my logo. I never considered who made the font, when it was made, its history anything beyond "it looks good."

http://www.designobserver.com/archives/029608.html

>Type Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry by: Jessica Helfand
I enjoyed this article a lot. The main emphasis of the article was focused on the importance of educating design students about the history of design. I agree with what the author is saying. I am in design history right now and I think the class, along with the journal activites, has helped me in my studio classes. I have definetly learned a lot about design history, typographers, and famous designers. I think it is important to know the history before you begin to try to create your own solutions so that you can have reason behind your choices beyond just, "it looked good."

#1– graphic design is a way to visually communicate a concept/idea through the combination of image and type. graphic design is constantly changing and expanding through the enthusiasm of designers contributing to the field. it is a way to send a message through careful research and exploration. it is a way to uniquely display the ideals/meaning/intentions of the company/organization or whatever you are designing for.
#2– typography is the use of text in a visually pleasing way to complete a concept and communicate a story
#3– my responsibilities as a design student are to research, explore, and expand my knowldege of design history in order to understand graphic design to help me create the best solutions possible and get a better understanding of what works and what does not. this knowledge of design history will aslo help me make choices about what fonts to use and what style to focus on.
#4– to get the most out of my VisCom classes it is important for me to ask questions, ask for constructive criticism and learn from others. it is important to do a lot of process work and refinements in order to achieve the best solutions. it is also important for me to give feeback and brainstorm with other students in order to help eachother reach the best solutions