Natalie

Many applications

I found these designs in a creative profile on the artist, Dinah Coops on the Communication Arts website. Her profile caught my eye because of her unique and diverse applications. I like the ways in which she's featured her artwork on jewelry and table wear. When I read the product description, I found out that Coops created these products locally from non-toxic, sustainable materials. She shows a relevant and admirable concern for the environmental implications of her designs.

Matter of fact

I wondered where people were getting these big, medium, and little brown bags after countless shopping trips in Chicago. The simple language grabbed me and made me question what could be stowed in all of these brown bags. I felt out of the loop and thus, the branding could not be forgotten. The placement of the Bloomingdale's logo made it almost impossible to spot when the bag's sides were collapsed and being carried to and fro. Once I finally caught on to the distributor,  I made an unforgettable connection and already had so much respect for the strategy. 

Psychedelic Presentation

pssst.

 

 

note: top 3 images are one side, bottom 3 are other side making a tri-fold brochure.

I work as the photographer for the U of I dance department, so I often pick up their promotional materials. This brochure actually features a professional dance company rather than students, so it does not include my own work. There are silhouetted dancers lined up in front of an abstract graphic, which immediately caught my eye. I think that the silhouettes are powerful visuals, especially in black and white. My favorite part of the cover is the tagline: psst. The photo tastefully wraps around to the back cover, but is shaded darker so that the overlaid type is readable. There is a striped pattern atop the gray background on the inside spreads. It provides a tactile sensation and ads character to the piece. One doesn't often see the use of printed "highlighting" to accentuate text, but this design employs it quite pleasingly. The highlighter color is a tint of the green that is used throughout the design, creating unity. This design works really well overall – there are many elements that are used consistently and with purpose. A two column grid organizes the information and careful typographic consideration is evident in the readability, legibility, and hierarchy of the text treatment.

Money always looks good, but does it always look this good?

 

I've been carrying around this old bag that I got in India instead of my usual backpack for the past couple of weeks because I injured my back. I've never been very good about unpacking bags, especially when what they store is not useful. This is one instance in which I can be thankful for my neglectful habit. Apparently I last made use of this bag when traveling in the Dominican Republic about 4 years ago. I remember having some money left over that I was never able to trade in for dollars. Again, I applaud the positive outcome I now receive from what was once a mistake.

People all over the world handle money every day, though more and more it is being replaced by credit cards and online payments. Personally, I favor the old fashion way of exchanging something physical for services and goods. This is not only for moral reasons, but also because I appreciate the tactile sensations from bills and coins. I'd consider myself pretty unfamiliar with the imagery on our currency, because I find it hard to recall specific faces and symbols in connection with their worth. It is recognizable, though, that the DR's currency is more flavorful and beautiful than that of the United States, while still depicting many comparable things.

The intricacy and multitude of patterns on each bill is outstanding. In some cases, the eye may not even be capable of seeing all that is contained within a pattern. For example, in the fourth close up image you can see that there is text making a pattern on the right, which I believe says “Republica Dominicana.”  I could not see this detail until looking at a high resolution scan on my computer. Some of the patterns give a sense of texture, and others feel more decorative.  They use a serif typeface for their headings and a sans serif font for the small, hard to read text.  The coins utilize a sans-serif font completely. The designer of this currency obviously understood that small text is more readable in a sans-serif typeface. In general, I see that imagery dominant over text, which I like very much. The gradients are quite attractive and again, can be even further appreciated in extreme magnification. Color, line, pattern, and composition were each so intricately planned and executed in these designs. Some of the line work has an Art Nouveau flavor, which leads me to question when these designs were first printed. I’m going to do some research on that, and end my post here for now.

hidden

I like the use of irony in this piece - the heading says "never hide" yet everything within the composition seems somewhat hidden, blending to form a bigger picture. I found this piece on a graphic design blog (creativenerds.co.uk). I don't know the original purpose or intent of this design, but it seems like something that could work as a magazine cover illustration.