Sunday, November 1st, 2009
One of my freelance projects is designing the Impressions newsletter that is published three times a year for alumni and friends of the UNMC College of Dentistry. We recently worked to re-design the newsletter to fit into the new UNMC branding guidelines. Read more from the UNMC Branding Initiative.
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
I am not dead yet, but I do have a Master’s degree now so 2009 is just starting to exist outside of work and school.
Anyway, recently I have been reading this great book by Rebecca Lieb called “The Truth About Search Engine Optimization.” Nice quick read but jam packed with practical information about SEO. I teach a New Media Design class at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and will definitely be referencing this book and recommending it to students. It is easy to understand but also clears ups some gray areas I had about the topic. It is broken down into short sections making it a great reference book that is a great addition to any advertiser, marketer, web designer/developer, graphic design or anyone else involved with working online.
More info here, they also offer it as a PDF download which I am always excited about for classes I teach.
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Through various contacts and research on other things I ran into Nxtbook Media’s website where they “find ways to leverage traditional print material for optimized use online.” It is an interesting concept and goes into the whole debate on whether print is dead. I will speak on that at a later date, but they make arguments ranging from easy online integration to environmentally friendly.
I see where they are going with this and seems like a glorified PDF or Google Book. The interface is nice and it is neat how the pages actually flip, but I think it seems like an older crowd application who are hanging onto how they read printed pieces. It is nice to have the printed layout available but there are multiple benefits to provide a web-based layout to include related materials, links, video, interactive charts, and commenting options. In other words take advantage of all the “Web 2.0″ there is some included but it is very clunky.
Nxt Book Media Sample
Monday, July 14th, 2008
Here is a crazy video from Radiohead using no cameras, “uses real time 3D recording instead of cameras, utilizing highly technical structured light and Lidar laser-enhanced scanners to model lead singer Thom Yorke and provide an otherworldly narrative accompaniment to the song.” The technology here creates all kinds of directions for video and scanning. I am thinking of real-time images for something like goolge street view to have live images via the web. Obviously the technology would have to become much more cleaner but the possibilities are unlimited.
On the other hand, the way the technology is being used in this video provides an amazing mood which compliments the song perfectly. Radiohead has a way of combining current technology into their music and videos that push the boundaries in a variety of fields which leads to an entire multimedia experience. The attack on all the senses makes the band brilliant. Check out the video as well as an article and behind the scenes video from Creativity Online…
Link to Article and a behind the scenes video ~ via CREATIVITY
Friday, March 28th, 2008
On NPR this morning they had a story about the rush to patent the atomic bomb and it’s components. Here the story on NPR. So why am I posting it here, the website shows some great line drawings of the patent applications. The drawings are wonderful to look at but also very eerie to view know what the product was ultimately used for. Here’s some drawings:
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
Hopefully to get to the other side, but evidently in Australia people wearing iPods are having trouble with the trafiic.
DDB advertising agency in Sydney, Australia and the New South Wales Police Force have released a road safety print campaign to raise awareness of the fact that teenagers are dying from crossing the road while listening to their iPods. (iPhone Savior)
Visually, think the ads are beautifully done. The play off of a chalk outline with the earbuds snaking around the victim. It reminds me a lot of Melanie Pullen’s “High Fashion Crime Scenes“, which is some amazing photography emitting a sober feeling will viewed similar to these ads. Here are some of the ads from DDB.
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
Yesterday a few of the AIGA students and I watched the new documentary, Helvetica. In my opinion, it was a great movie about typography that would be entertaining to even none designers. Visually the film is wonderful to watch. It gets into the pros and cons of the typeface, Helvetica, as well as other fonts and a brief history of typography in the last few decades. The short version is that Helvetica is around 50 years old and the debate is whether it is overused. The movie interviewed designs, creators, and historians who gave their take on typography and specifically Helvetica.
We talked a bit after the movie and had some good conversations, assuming your into design and have a nerdy interest in typefaces. Function vs. Ascetics, which is always a fun topic. Should it be readable or a piece of art. Some of the designers in the movie feel type should have no more meaning then the words themselves, while others feel you can use fonts to enhance your message. It’s great they talk about modernism through grunge backlash to get to where we are today. We discussed how people outside the design world like what is comfortable, which Helvetica fits this niche. So what to do as a designer when approached by a client who does not want to break down design barriers and only wants an appropriate look for their business?
For me, this is the challenge of being an effective designer is to know your audience. Finding the appropriate balance between form and function is the fun part. I have an assignment in one of the advertising classes I teach, communication graphics, where they are required to use the university branding guidelines. Most of the reactions are frustration and feelings of restriction when they don’t have free reign. To me this is a fun obstacle, but when given the opportunity to create, go all out. In short, the movie is fun and raises many interesting topics regarding typography and design.
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
I am on a typography kick and ran into this wonderful video short of a classic pulp fiction scene rendered as type. It was done by Jarratt Moody, a SCAD student. colorful language can be expected…
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
Stella Artois, a European brewery not only has super sweet beer that everyone should try it also has a couple of amazing websites. There regular site, www.stellaartois.com, is very entertaining with the its’ “cinema” style. It blends the borders of a websites navigation into a entertaining film(s). Classic example of an Advertainment in my mind.
They also have a new campaign called “Le Courage” where you bravely navigate the challenges of brewing beer in 1366. Again its a wonderful blend of advertisement and entertainment. It has a short, amusing story line which you play a simple short “game” to accomplish your task. The visuals themselves are a very well done flash piece that combines live action video with flash interactivity. Check out it out here.
Courtesy of Adobe Edge Newsletter, December 2007 issue, which everyone should subscribe to if your into any kind of graphics or design.
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007
Currently I am a faculty adviser for the UNL AIGA student chapter. We had a meeting last week and looked at this year’s AIGA Medalists. Some great stuff, and is conveniently listed under the “Inspiration” button on their website. Here are some cool examples, but if you want to see more they have plenty here!
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