Thursday, April 28, 2011

A Fond Farewell to Another School Year Gone By... (a note to my GDS 120 class)

4/28/11 TeeFury shirt of the day
shirt.woot  #1 shirt on the charts as of 4/28/11
Well, here we all are again.  The end of the semester, the end of the school year...maybe, for some, the end of Parkland.  It's never more apparent to you the things you enjoy and the things you have grown to look forward to, until you feel them slipping away.  As it turns out, this class has been the highlight of my week.  Each and every one of you in there has been amazing in your attitudes and work production.  I have never more felt outclassed, nor have I ever been more okay with getting outclassed, than I was in this class.  One of my regrets in this class is that I wasn't able to work with everyone.  I wish I could take time and right something sappy and insightful about every individual, but, sadly, my attention span will not allow for that.  I feel like I have really grown over the semester, both in my artistic ability, my creativity, and that whole "getting work done on time" responsibility factor thing.  My appreciation goes out to all y'all, especially Larry, for allowing me to try and do whatever my little ADD brain would spit out.  If I gave you the impression this semester that I'm impulsive, weird, and just slightly off my nut, it's because I am.  Any impression of normalcy that you perceived was erroneous and should be discounted.  I'll be taking Larry's Graphic Design History class in the fall, and I would hope to see some of you there.  I plan on keeping this blog going with postings of all the cool stuff I find on the internet and other places, and I might even start posting stuff I make.  I invite you all to follow along, keep your ear to the door of the padded cell, and check in now and then.

As this is my last post, I leave you with two t-shirt designs.  I started the semester with t-shirt designs, so it only seems fitting I should end with them.  I also leave you with a song that, to me, has come to be associated with the ending of something grand and fun that has in one way or another impacted my life to its bettering.  Some of you may recognize it (those of you who don't REALLY need to spend more time on the internet and video games) as the ending song from the game Portal.  Enjoy.




Saturday, April 9, 2011

Back to the shirts...

Hello, once again, and welcome back to my weekly graphic design blog.  So this week I was having some trouble coming up with a very profound lesson, as I have produced the last two weeks, and so I am back to the old standard of t-shirt critique.  This little beauty is a reference to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but all you cool people knew that already, right?  It's designed with the feeling of an old flyer or billboard, or maybe even an advert in the paper.  It's a simple and fun design that leaves no real ambiguity as to what it is referring to.  Also, if you haven't seen this movie, I would heartily suggest doing so.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Batman: Past to Present

So, I was randomly browsing YouTube (as I often do when I have homework or other important matters to attend to) and I stumbled across this little bit of awesome.  While this might qualify as more of multimedia than graphic design, it is a prime example of how a logo or an image can drastically change form and yet still be readily recognizable.  Some of these versions of the symbol are so different, but each one is instantly identified with the same character.  I suppose the lesson here is that if you feel like a project you are working on has only one view and the lines must go just so, or else it's not going to be what it's supposed to be, just take a break and rethink it.  Decide on two or three elements that make the design what it is, but play around with everything else.  In every symbol the ears are pointy and the wings go out to the side, always the flying bat silhouette, but every other aspect is toyed with, and, in the end, it still looks like Batman.  Never be afraid to open your mind to new possibilities.

Also, I used this because Batman is flippin' SWEEEEEEET!