3. Establish Coherent Harmony Amount Elements of Design
4. Attract & Hold Audience
5. Create & Establish Recognition
“The type should reflect the tone, attitude and personality of the communication.”
“Type should be selected and arranged to achieve maximum readability.”
Homework: Please read Chapter 3 in your book. It has great information about the history of type and terminology that everyone should know.
** Exactly one week left before your first assignment is due to the client. You should be well into your design process by now. Remember you want to “WOW” the client next Thursday.
By looking at various examples of logos we can see a few different things that make logos effective.
As you can see in the above gallery, styles will emerge depending on your design capability. By defining your design style, and doing your research you are able to evolve a logo way beyond its visual appeal. Try to add multiple layers to your logo and identity design.
Last week marked the first week of the new semester at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. While students were buzzing form one class to the next I took the opportunity to go to a seminar about eTextbooks at the student book store. It just so happens that the HGTC bookstore is actually a Barnes & Noble College Booksellers store! At the impromptu gathering book sellers were on hand to answer a few questions about the eTextbook format.
Right away I could tell that the eTextbook format would not go along the same road that I would like to take the idea. The eTextbook format in my opinion is the same (if not worse) than that of traditional textbooks. Here goes a few key points from the overview.
eTextbooks require a free reader which can be downloaded onto a PC or Mac
Though eReaders are free, they require a credit card on file in case you want to use other services or download additional products.
eReaders promoted by B&N booksellers are NOOKstudy , Xplana and Vital Source. Depending on which eTextbook you have is to which eReader that you will need (based on publisher).
eTextbooks are not meant for use on non textbook devices such as Kindle or NOOK.
eTextbook tags show various Digital Right Management (DRM) items such as subscription length, # of pages you may copy, # of pages you may print and # of devices you can download to.
You cannot return an eTextbook.
There is no buy back of eTextbooks at the end of the semester.
While there was a price difference in the eTextbook and the printed edition it was nominal at best. If you factor in all of the DRM restrictions and non-buyback, the purchase of an eTextbook did not make since. You did not get anything extra by buying the eTextbook version such as live content, videos or sound. The only benefit I could see was the fact you did not have to lug around the heavy printed version.
What about some of the unforeseen problems that you may run across with eTextbook format? What if you teacher decides to give you an open book test or exam, but does not allow laptops? Or what about if your textbook spans two semesters of classes? With the DRM restrictions there is a good chance that you would have to purchase the book again. In essence you are not buying anything, you are renting. And at the rates they charges that is a steep rent rate.
After the overview of the eTextbook format I was giving a little FAQ sheet to help answer any questions that I still had. Here goes a few notable questions and answers. (Some answers have been paraphrased to highlight some interesting answers)
1: Q: What device can I read an eTextbook from?
A: eTextbooks are meant to be read on your computer via NOOKstudy application. You can not you NOOK or mobile device to read textbooks as the screens are too small to properly view the contents.
2: Q: Can I read my eTextbook on more than one computer?
A: Yes, you can read it on up to 2 computers.
3: Q: Can I access my eTextbook from the web?
A: No, you can only access them with the NOOKStudy eReader application.
4: Q: If my title comes with supplemental materials, will I get them with the purchase of the eTextbook format?
A:Due to the delivery format, eTextbooks do not include CD content or other companion materials that may be available with the new physical book.
This is just a handful of the FAQ’s that they provided. Granted I cherry picked the ones that I showed the ridiculousness of the eTextbook in it’s current format, but regardless I think it showcases my point.
Recently I was turned onto a post by Seth Godin in which he spoke to Independent Book Publishers. During his talk he laid out, from top to bottom, just how the publishing industry needs to change to make sure they stay relevant. Since Textbooks fall into that category, I think those publishers should take notice! We are at a turning point in the publishing industry. Publishers can either choose to be proactive and inventive with the technology at hand or end up like the major publishers of the music industry. Stating stupid, irrelevant points such as “screens are too small to properly view the contents” will lead students and professors alike to adopt a new form of teaching and learning. (I teach paperless and do not require my students to use a textbook. I crowd source materials that I find relevant to the days topic to showcase current text and video.)
While I was surprised to see HGTC promoting a new learning tool within it’s bookstore, I was not that surprised to learn of how it is being implemented. I find myself one again disappointed with traditional industries trying to retrofit old products instead of being innovative and pushing the boundaries of new ones. The music industry failed, the newspaper industry is failing and book publishing is starting off on the wrong foot.
You can find a bunch of discussion of eBooks out there on the internet. Most of which also applies to the eTextbook industry. While I may not have a perfect plan, I think that publishers should really look at ways of connecting students with new media technologies. In doing so may we bridge the gap of education divide and push innovation within the publishing industry.
1) Logo for an old school paper zine named BOX OF ROCKS Subtitle: “The dumb zine for smart people”
Standard mini-comic size, single sheet folded in half at 5.5″ X 8.5″ . Basic logo to work in that form factor in kind of a square shape for a masthead, and also laid out horizontally so it could be a banner header across a web page.
Aesthetic ideas, All three “o”s should look like boulders or rocks? Bombastic like 70′s Thor logo
Spencer D. Williams (aka Devil Turnip) has two new upstart business. Review a week is a weekly live steaming video game review site, while Turnip Books is a used book store. A stylized turnip on top of a book? Turnips and books in any configuration. Must complete both of these for grade.
Homework Assignment – Please choose one designer below and email me five key bits of information about them (ie. What did they create, what is there design process, where did they work, what was their inspiration etc.)
Welcome To ARV 261 For Horry Georgetown Technical College.
I am going to be your professor for the next 16 weeks. During that time I hope to introduce you to the field of advertising as it pertains to graphic design and communications. It is a very exciting fast paced world. A world that for some of you may be a rude awaking. Between quick turn arounds, crazy deadlines, and pushy clients the world of advertising is both nerve racking and rewarding.
We live in very interesting times. The world of advertising is changing as we are sitting here. New rules are being written, standards are changing and even the tools in which we use are being upgraded. To be successful you are going to have to take on a lot of responsibility yourself. The goal of the course is to introduce you to advertising and its principals. By understanding how and why advertising works you will become a better designer.
Remember you are on a two year crash course into design communications. During that time you will be inundated with many theories and practices. But like I said before these are always changing. In order to stay ahead of the curve you must take on much responsibility yourself. We will build upon the knowledge bestowed upon you in previous classes – however, you may find the need to focus some of your extra time on learning/taking tutorials on some of the programs in which we will be discussing.
Once you enter into the workforce you will not only be surrounded by your fellow classmates but also students from four year colleges, ad prep schools, specialized portfolio schools, freelancers and ad executives looking for a new job. If this doesn’t frighten you, it should. The job market is shrinking so you will have to arm yourself with as many tools as you can to have a leg up on the competition. I am here to help out in any way that I can. However I am just one man and this is just one class. I can show you many tools, but it going to be up to you to figure out how to master them.
A few weeks ago I posted an idea I had about setting up an digital textbook community business. I have since sent off various emails to help me get a better feel for technology, cost and origination. During that time I have continued to look at existing business models that may be in line with what I had envisioned.
One of the key point that the New York Times article addressed is one of the points that I received back from my initial reaction emails. I reached out to Dan Conover due to his work in pay wall business models in the newspaper industry. In his correspondence Dan suggested that a pricing structure to look at is FREE, focusing more on an open-source community structure. He also recommended checking out Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future Of Business by Chris Anderson.
It has truly been interesting exploring these different processes. While I am not sure my digital textbook idea will ever make it off the ground I have gained much insight into a world that I knew very little about.
For more info about Curriki please check out there link below:
The other day I had to stay late at 803 Labs and finish a print run for the 2010 Wooden Boat Show direct mailers. Since most of it was a bunch of waiting around I took the liberty to try and do a little more filming. However I didn’t have my new new tripod adaptor so I know there is room fro improvement. Take a peek and make sure you plan on checking out the Wooden Boat Show, Oct. 16, 2010 in Georgetown, SC.
The new iPhone 4 is finally out and since I made the upgrade I finally have access to shooting video. While I haven’t shot much video before there is one thing that I thought I needed, a tripod. While there are a few 3rd party iPhone tripod adaptors out there, I decided to make my own.
I based my design off of the fine video by the guys over at Lo-Fi High-Style.
As you can see there was some trial and error. (You never know until you try.) I even created another tripod mount by welding the nut onto the bar clamp, but found that the JB Weld version was faster and easier.
I may never get around to shooting much video, but this was a fun little project to say the least.
The other day my wife and I were at the bookstore. I was looking for Memphis a birthday gift. One book that caught my attention was Star Wars ABC . Memphis is a bit old for an ABC book, so I settled on Marvel Super Hero Squad: Infinity Sword Quest instead. However the idea behind the book stayed with me.
On our drive home I challenged my wife to see if we could come up with characters, vehicles and planets from the Star Wars universe that started with the letters of the alphabet. It turned out to be a blast. We got stumped for a bit on the letter “F” and then on the letter “U” but we pressed on and came out victorious. I guess the force was with us on this one. It was so much fun I called up my brother to see if he and his wife could complete the task. Sure enough he did and we discussed the letters that gave us trouble.
Fifteen minuets of fun has turned into an idea that my wife and I enjoy on a regular basis. We have played “From A-Z” using the Marvel and DC universe, Harry Potter and even attempted a J.R.R. Tolken. Part of the fun is thinking of new universes that we can try this with (maybe next time we can do it with the Kevin Bacon film library).
Go ahead and give it a try, you’ll like it. Please leave comments letting me know the different types of “From A-Z” that you tried.
