Erik Spiekermann

Erik Spiekermann is a famous typographer/graphic designer responsible for creating many original typefaces including meta. Spiekermann in the interview talks about how constraints such as the constraints that are created by the digital age are nothing new to the world of design. Fitting a lot of crucial information onto say an iphone screen, is comparable to fitting information on a pill bottle. Constraints such as these have been around for a long time and are rather necessary for design. Spiekermann goes on to talk about himself as a designer. It is obvious that he carries much experience, and has designed many typefaces, posters, print publications. When asked about his typefaces, Erik informs the interviewee that he gets bored only using the typefaces he creates. As for other people using his typefaces Spiekermann says as with anything sometimes people surprise me with the aesthetics achieved, other times they fail miserably. The part of this interview that I related to the most was the end when Spiekermann talked about our western culture and how it thrives upon excess and over stimulation. He says the number of typefaces now available to people can be very overwhelming, however, much of the time the vast amount of typefaces can create new design possibilities. This interview taught me that contraints should be embraced as well as the changing world. Both create new design opportunities.

Final Movie and Book Spreads

Refined Rough Movie

Here is a refined version of my rough After Effects Sketch. After much time consuming experimentation, watching tutorials, and talking to my peers, I feel this version has progressed greatly from before.

Very Rough Animatic

My video is very very rough. I have no previous experience with After Effects, and so this is a very long and tedious process for me. After creating this movie and talking to my classmates I better understand how I need to better use after effects to achieve the desired expressive effects I want to achieve. In the next draft of my movie I will apply sound as to time the entrance and exit of words, as well as the overall flow better.

Book Spreads Refined

This spread is reminiscent of the previous one, however, I feel that the addition of the extended L of "long" adds both aesthetic value and meaning to the word. I feel that this composition's expressiveness is very clearly seen, and illustrates the speech nicely.

This composition was completely redone. I kept similar elements such as the "Has been granted," and the bold and condensed "Defending." I feel as if this composition is cleaner and more simplistic than the previous one without sacrificing any meaning. The "Defending" here is meant to seem as if it is protecting freedom. 

With this composition, expressive and kinetic potential. The X is supposed to symbolize both a sign of hazard and an hour glass. The words "in its hour of" is reminiscent of an hour glass's last bit of sand, falling into the large amount of danger. The kerning of the word maximum is supposed to exemplify the meaning of the word.

Motion Inspiration

Saul Bass uses simplistic yet expressive type, movement, and music in these title openings to create three very unique and interesting motion graphics. Each one of these three title openings sets the tone for the upcoming movie. In North by Northwest, Bass uses word blocks sliding up and down and meeting in the middle to illustrate the business and chaos of city life. The music further creates this anxious and fast moving feeling. In the psycho opening, the parts of a word slide horizontally into each other. Stark lines and agressive movements keyed with the suspenseful music alludes to the horror, action, and impending doom that will be found later in the film. For the Oceans' Eleven opening, more kinetic movements of dots create words and large numbers that introduce the actors. A sense of excitement is realized as the dots fall into place and the staccato music loudly plays. An upbeat, and happy mood is created, and once again Bass shows how simple movements, expressive type scaling, and music can all work so nicely together to introduce a film, and create a mood. Each opening is relatively simplistic, yet demand your attention. In openings such as the Oceans' Eleven and North by Northwest, subtle color is used to further accent certain elements.

Marlene McCarthy takes a somewhat different approach in her title openings. Similar to Bass, she also uses expressive type, kinetic movement, and carefully selected music to set the tone for the coming film. In I Shot Andy Warhol, splashes of color, expressively sketchy typography, drastic scale changes, disappearing and reappearing words, and suspenseful music to create a mysterious and dark tone. In Safe, McCarthy brings her type in subtly, accenting it with a glow momentarily before having it disappear. This mixed with the music and the background camera shots also works to create a mysterious tone and arouse interest. In American Psycho, she uses clean and subtle type, laid over an enticing video background that foreshadows the blood and killing that will come. This is juxtaposed by the clean type, the fancy images and classical music, all of which creates a suspenseful, yet pleasant tone. In all of these title openings, McCarthy uses subtle intro and exits for her type, and employs a background which is related to the film. These openings are less kinetic, and slightly expressive, yet still convey an overall tone. The I Shot Andy Warhol opening seemed different than the other two in the way that the expressiveness of the type, and the color was very powerful. 

As for what inspires me, the Catch Me If You Can opening really stuck out to me. This opening was designed by Kuntzel and Deygas for the film by Stephen Spielberg. This opening combines animation with expressive typography, and employs many vertical extensions on many of the important words. These vertical lines break up the space and reminds me somewhat of what I am currently trying to do with my motion graphic. The simplistic and subtle black on blue is aesthetic, and the music fits nicely with the animation. Subtle splashes of orange and white bring the composition together. The expressiveness of the extended letters, the movement of the words and the music create an original, exciting opening for a fantastic movie. It creates a somewhat suspenseful, classy, yet exciting tone. I was very inspired by this opening. 

3 Spread Directions

This spread I really focused on using scale and weight of letters to accent words that stuck out or were emphasized in the actual speech. With this spread I juxtaposed Gotham with Baskerville and although it is visually interesting, there may be too many elements for it to work well. 

This spread played more with horizontal and vertical text. Similar to the last one, I called out words that were important to the speech or were emphasized by the speaker. I used univers and a monospaced typeface. These typefaces seemed more serious, straightforward, and monotone. These spreads seemed to convey a more determined, or heavy feeling tone. JFK with his speech did call the people to action and not mince words, therefore this approach may work.

With this spread I tried to use word blocks to organize the text as well as pull out the style of JFK's speaking. I used scale to accent the most important words, while trying to personify the meanings of other words such as "human." with italics and "different" by flipping the word upside down. This strategy was probably my least successful of the three.

Initial 5 Visual Studies

Hybrid

 Spacing

 Tint

 Hybrid

 Size and Scale

JFK Inauguration Speech Background Info

John F. Kennedy Inauguration Speech

This speech is important because John F Kennedy was being inaugurated and many people felt he was going to be the change that they wanted to see in America. It was a time of hardship and war, where a man like Kennedy as president could work to unite and grow the nation of America. Not long after he was elected, John F Kennedy was assassinated.

I chose this speech because it was well written and well delivered. It resonated with the people of America at the time, as it still does today. Because he was assassinated, the speech itself becomes a timeless representation of this man, the aspiring uniter of America.

The tone of the speech is determined, patriotic, and powerful. It is encouraging and exciting, even breathtaking. Hope is evidently created. A nationalistic drive I’m sure can be found in the onlookers on that day. Looking back, the speech holds great sorrow and remembrance for the life of John F Kennedy.

Words such as Nation, You, God, The World, Man, Power, Same, We, Let the word go forth, tempered, and proud are all emphasized. He tends to emphasize many of the strong subject words, many of which are important or apply directly to the audience that he speaks to. Many dramatic pauses are taken advantage of, typically after each thought, allowing time for reflection and anticipation.

The strong subject words where people or things are directly referred to I definitely feel should feel loud. A soft tapering off should be used to accent the dramatic negative phrases in the speech.

There is much call to action in this speech. Kennedy addresses the people and proclaims “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed.” He is referring to the present America and how it is their time to make a change towards bettering the country and world that they live in. He emphasizes the people’s power, and the ability to make a difference.

This speech gives me goosebumps. It is a powerful representation of a man who served and died for his country. The timeless spirit of American is captured, and still remains relevant to this day.

What a breathtaking experience it must have been to have listened to the speech in person. People most definitely were captivated. A dramatic, overwhelming, sense of pride and togetherness must have united the audience.

This speech was in the here and now. It was timeless and was a single, unrepeatable event in itself. It is very unlikely there could be another interpretation of it.

John F Kennedy was elected president in the 1960 elections and won against Richard Nixon. Major events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the crime, but he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later, before a trial could take place. 

Jakob Trollback Journal

Jakob Trollback came from humble beginnings of being a DJ and just designing stuff for fun. He recognized that eventually we all want to make some sort of difference. Thus began his actual career as a motion graphic designer. He compared starting out as a designer as learning to play the guitar. When learning how to play the guitar your inspiration comes from famous songs, and you better yourself by trying to copy these songs. With a designer it is the same way. Imitation isn't necessarily a bad thing, sooner or later one must break free and create for oneself. The main point here is that you need to BE INSPIRED. Inspiration comes from anything, especially iconic designs from the past. Creativity is everywhere and is everything, there is no lack of inspiration for a designer to find. Jakob Trollback also talked about different medias and how sometimes mixing medias is a great way to take the extra step and excel as a designer. Other times creativity and design isn't meant to be spread across different medias or contexts. Jakob Trollback talks and talks and talks, drawing examples from a wide variety of sources including music, current events, history, past designers, the human condition, love, and many other things. Trollback had quite a few good points. The thing that stuck with me the most is how he tells us to be inspired, tell stories, and let your imagination fill in the blanks. Good design is much of the time subtle.

The Incomplete Manifesto For Growth

I was thoroughly inspired by Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto for Growth. I felt it was very insightful and it portrayed the Bruce Mau group as a very thoughtful, wise, and interesting group of designers/human beings. Bruce Mau Design is actually a multidisciplinary design firm that is made up of many graphic designers. This group "specializes in brands and environments," and also seem to do quite a bit of work in typography. The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth is just one of their design projects. My mantra for the day would be "Make Mistakes Faster." This mantra would have been a good thing to read earlier this morning before I seemingly wasted about seven hours slaving over pointless backgrounds and irrelevant design aspects. I feel this mantra is telling me to manage my time better, work faster, don't get caught up on the small stupid things in my designs, and get the mistakes out of the way. In doing these things, I may not waste full days anymore, and might reach the end goal quicker. I think that all designers can learn from Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto for Growth.

Discovering Jessica Hische and Louise Fili

These two designers/ illustrators/ typographers were very inspirational with both their work and what they had to share. I was very interested by the decorative, fanciful, and aesthetic qualities of both of these ladies' design work. I especially was interested in Jessica's lecture. The main thing I took away from watching, reading, and reflecting on these two designers come in the form of the following design/life lessons. Both had a lot to offer, and I can definitely say I came away with some knowledge.

-Don’t give your clients working files if you don’t have to.

-It is good to create your own lettering. Not only for originality, but also because it's cheaper. Most importantly it adds value to the design.

-Lettering is specific for that specific design, whereas type applies to fonts that can be used again, and in different contexts. Creating type takes longer than just the lettering.

-How to draw chalk type: Draw with pencil, smudge it, take it into photoshop, invert colors.

-Like the guy who only draws chocolate, sometimes it is better to get really good at something you already know how to do rather than learn something (programs) that doesn’t really apply to what you want to do.

-Exposure: not worth it. Do free stuff for people that deserve it,  not for companies that don’t.

-Do stuff you love to do. Some clients will be less likable than others, and may ruin your design, gotta do the shitty stuff to get to the good stuff.

This Means That Response

"This Means That," called "A user's guide to semiotics," was a useful and informative reading focused on helping people understand the massive amount of deeper meaning in art, literature, film, and popular culture as a whole.  These meanings that our very own culture creates are identifiable, but only to a trained eye. "This Means That" challenges people to search for meaning that may not have been noticed before, as well as understand how those meanings were created. By approaching semiotics and the world of signs and signing. It states "most societies tend to create hierarchies, preform rituals,  play games, adhere to moral systems, and engage in forms of symbolic representation." We live in a culture that revolves around signs and signage, and "This Means That" illustrates how people make signs and how signs affect people and how they are perceived. The reading then takes the reader through numerous images, asking one main question to reflect upon. Each question is crucial to better understanding the image, and gives the reader the answer, explaining the answer to each question on the next page. These numerous images consisted of art, signs, icons, shapes, and objects. Each one's meaning becoming more clear by the end of the reading. "This Means That" was very insightful and helpful in understanding cultural meanings and signs.

Journal Entry: Alvin Lustig

After learning all about famous book jacket designers such as Chip Kidd, Paul Rand, and Alvin Lustig, I have come to better understand how different designers approach the task of designing a captivating, functional, and overall successful book cover. Chip Kidd has designed many contemporary book jackets ranging from Jurassic Park to Dry: a memoir, and a wide variation of books in-between. He is very insightful in the way he illustrates the deeper meanings found in the book without giving anything away. His book jackets seem to break free from the standard layouts, and work to create a unique and enticing hook for the possible reader. Kidd using his jackets illustrates certain motifs, some context, and aspects from the book. He successfully does this by getting to know, and understanding the book he is designing for very well. Paul Rand approaches book jacket designs from a different angle. He includes some aspects from the book, yet illustrates them in ways that are different and stand out. He uses strong colors, and usually one element that really pops out. Rand's jackets all seem to have personality, a humanistic feeling, as many of them are made using cut and paste, and hand drawn/crafted elements. This style is peculiar, and works to arouse curiosity with the potential reader. Alvin Lustig's designs serve as a rejection of more rendered illustration. He is influenced by abstract expressionism artists such as Jackson Pollock, and this abstract style shows through his book jackets. Different styles and mediums are used by him ranging from full type compositions and typographic solutions to photography and sometimes a combo of the two. His designs are contemporary, not so much flashy as they are functional and pure. By using only type, the reader is left to find initial meanings for themselves, meanings that Lustig subtly creates. Lustig proves that book jackets dont necessarily need pictures to be successful. His covers are intelligent, simple, and even dramatic, all because of his unique style. His covers also don't give too much away, something that is important when it comes to book jacket designs. All three of these designers successfully design their own book jackets, all taking different approaches, and all arousing curiosity and drawing the reader into what is inside the jacket.