Inventive Graphic Designer Dies

I was coming across different headlines online and was interested by this story that proclaimed the passing of an inventive and inspiring graphic designer named Noel Martin. He died of leukemia at the age of 86. Noel is known for inventing the standard museum catalog. What drew me to this story was the fact that I will be taking a field trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art this Monday and the thought about it made this news story significant. Noel's legacy was his creation of the standard museum catalog. More importantly was his interest in typographic design. Using his interest in typographic design, Noel transformed these museum catalogs into works of art that can continue to be cherished by young museum goers. Using classical and modern typography Noel would bring his love for museum art to the fore front of design.   As made important in our Art 468 design class at Cal State LA, this concept of addressing clutter was also an important design principle for Noel. Noel avoided clutter in his museum catalogs and his passion for addressing this issue made his museum catalogs a great example for beginning graphic designers all around the world. A last comment I want to say has to do with the importance of continuing to cherish museum art for decades to come. Young museum goers I believe continue to ignore the great influence that museum artists can have on the mind. Graphic designers like Noel can bring back this passion to the design world once again and his museum catalogs is an example of this.

Regarded as one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2009, The Watchmen has been regarded as the greatest comic book story of all time. From the same creator of the blockbuster movie 300 comes this highly visionary comic book turned into movie adaptation of this graphic novel. As a fan of these visionary movies, I praise the creation of these visionary characters and environments. In my opinion, they are the reason that movie goers as well as thrill seeking designers go to see them. They become inspired by the revolutionary technology that goes into creating such a visionary movie. The movie and game industries continue to grow and become big businesses well into 2009 and they are the reason that graphic designers like myself continue to create. In design it is all about the audience. The audience is the main reason that we, the graphic designers, continue to find inspiration. The technology that goes into making such a visionary movie entails a long and crucial process that includes hours of comps to mark-ups. As in design, the creation of these comps can decide on the successfulness of a design work. What else would go into the creation of such a movie? Hours of experimenting with the software and becoming familiar with the software that a designer becomes knowledgeable with the software. That is the whole point with graphic design. To become successful in the movie and game industry a graphic designer must master and know how to solve design problems right away. This is a crucial aspect in graphic design. This principle is also discussed in our Art 468 textbook titled Envisioning Information. From the color palette to the right usage of layering and separating data it is crucial as a designer to recognize and implement solutions to these problems. As the opening date(March 6) of the new comic book movie The Watchmen nears, one must recognize that we as graphic designers create these movies to amaze and inspire. If the movie becomes a blockbuster, March 6 should be a day to recognize the extraordinary ability of these hard working graphic designers. Lets all salute The Watchmen by going to buy a movie ticket.  

Did anyone watch the Oscars?

Another year another Oscar award ceremony,

Surprised to have seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button win a couple of awards. Highlights of this year's Oscar awards featured the technological achievements that went into creating this year's nominees. Nominees such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Dark Knight saw some of the greatest achievements using makeup to creating the dark and threatening environments that made up The Dark Knight. The field of design would feature such technological environments that would make all these things possible. The technology that continues to come out makes these movies something to behold. New movies such as 300 to Watchman would see some of the greatest looking environments. What do you think makes these things possible? It is the power and the thinking ability of all these talented graphic designers that put their mind to work to make these movies possible. You walk down the street and just marvel at the poster deigns that promote these visionary movies. Graphic design is all about crossing the lines and wowing the audience with design works that are their to inspire and captivate us. The Oscar's isn't just an award show but is a time in design to celebrate the technological achievements that make these visionary movies possible. I as a growing graphic designer continue to be inspired by these movies. I believe 2009 will welcome visionary movies that cross boundaries. 2009 is an era of digital and 3-D creation. From documentaries to action to romantic movies, 2009 will be a year of continued technological innovation. Watching this year's Oscar's reminded me of all these things. Until next year!. Congratulations to all the winners!!!  

Check out these cool poster designs!

Last week's Grammy awards provided us, the television audience, with a glimpse into the vast array of musical genres and tastes that inhabit our entertainment generation. Last week's Grammy event was all about the music and this music has influenced graphic designers all around the world to keep creating visually stunning designs like the one's featuring artists such as Kanye West and Coldplay. These poster designs that I stumbled across are just plain beautiful. The color palette to the positioning and the resizing of the text just creates a visually enthralling design work. The color palette selected by the designer can be described as smooth and warm depicting colors that are not distracting. These poster designs bring up an important concept in design called the layering and separation of data introduced in my Art 468 class with Jimmy Moss at Cal State LA. The successful implication of this concept by the designer of these posters has taken into regard many things such as text size to the type font. In design, this is important because the layering and separation of your data as well as the text size to the type font determines the successfulness of your design. The colors are just visually stunning and radiating to look at. If the designer has implemented this information in a different method these posters wouldn't be successful. The hierarchy of the design has been implemented by the designer in an also successful manner. The small to large text would create the shape of the artist while the color would make the text stand out more. These Grammy posters are just beautiful to look at. Other poster designs that I came across on the internet was of one on global warming. Just the headline catches your eye: Earth's Time Is Over. Wake Up. We should be worried. The design is also interesting featuring a time clock that has incorporated a part of the globe. This type of design just makes you want to reflect. Type of designs that makes you want to reflect in my opinion are examples of successful design. What makes me wonder about this design is the importance of  the time clock stopping at the number 60. Is there meaning in this number? Are we just running out of time? It just makes you think. Overall, great collection of design posters featuring vital information to a visually stunning color palette to type font. Until next week everyone. 

Pass the Economic Stimulus Plan Already!

This weekend my focus was to construct a 3-D replica of an object. This was for my Art 109 class with Richard Wearn at Cal State L.A. I was ordered to work with just a roll of wire mesh. As described by Richard, the selection of my object was crucial being that I would have to replicate every little detail of my object using wire mesh. When working with wire mesh, this stubborn material would have a tendency to curl up. The idea of selection and working with material are both crucial aspects in design. Going back to last week's reading in my other  Art class taught by Jimmy Moss, it is crucial in design to layer and separate. When working with my 3-D object, the layering of my pieces in relation to the real object was crucial in the completion of the project. My goal was the following: How can I use this material to my advantage? Just as in design, my beginning task was to break apart the object into layers. When breaking apart the object the designer can analyze its proportions and dimensions. Next was the difficult task of cutting the wire mesh. Lastly, was the putting together of the pieces to form the object. In conclusion, the process of design involves these very steps that must be implemented in order to successfully complete a piece of work. Design is about finding out these solutions and is a continual process that must be recognized. Working with the wire mesh made me realize these principles. This turned out to be a great opportunity to see how I would put my observation skills to work.   

I Am In Debt and in Need of a Job

Good Day Everyone,

   Hope you had a great Super Bowl weekend. Hope your television sets were not bombarded with the endless and sometimes pointless Super Bowl commercials. By the way, I am not in no way a football lover but I got to cheer for our country and salute the Steelers who won the big game. As in graphic design, we as designers need to know one important thing: our purpose as designers is to visually engage. While these Super Bowl commercials can sometimes be annoying and just plain stupid they are there to entertain and visually engage the Super Bowl fan. The creators of these commercials can take hours and cost them butt loads of money to come up with an engaging and worth staying for Super Bowl commercial. I can't imagine the work involved in coming up with a unforgettable commercial. Like the design process, it involves the creation of countless examples and mark-ups that must be redone over and over until a satisfying one is decided upon. As in design, it is a painstaking process but living in an environment that craves entertaining images and videos it is downright crucial. As in design, it can result in people talking about it the next day. This is when you know that a Super Bowl commercial or design work is successful. Until next week everyone and in response to California not reaching an agreement with the budget crisis I am concerned.   

Good Day Everyone,

To start off the week I first want to congratulate the new cast from Phantom of the Opera. What a great show! I had the opportunity to have seen it this past weekend. Anyways, my trip down Hollywood and past Sunset to arrive at the famous Pantages Theatre again showered with glimpses from Shephard Fairey and his now famous HOPE creation. Hollywood and Sunset is known for its outlandish and creative design posters that have been plastered on its legendary walls. For your enjoyement here are a few of Hollywood's great designs. As always Hollywood and Sunset continues to inspire graphic designers like myself to continue creating visually stunning designs that draw the human eye to them. Hollywood and Sunset in my opinion is considered one of the design capital of the world offering the sights and sounds of new talent as well talent in the graphic design field. Just one thing to say: Continue to inspire us Hollywood and we will continue to create. Below are a few of Hollywood's famous designs: