Carroll College Ad, December 2008
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 19, 2008 by John in 2008, Graphic Design, Northrop Grumman
For about a days’ worth of effort, including tracking down the photos and recreating the “Halo C logo” in Illustrator, I’m pretty proud of this little ad. This will occupy a strip at the bottom of a special insert in the Sunday, December 21, edition of the Helena Independent Record. Since the game is being played tomorrow, I had to provide a “win” version and a “loss” version, respectively.
The “loss” version is understandably calmer. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t inspired by the masthead on the Carroll College Football web page. The Independent Record provided the source photos for the background, although we had investigated the purchase of some images from Grant Hanson, who does some amazing work. There were concerns that using images of the players violated some rule with either the college or the NAIA, but the Carroll College athletic director gave his approval for their use.
Northrop Grumman has a healthy relationship with Carroll College and the IT internship program. In fact, one of the football players is an intern and will be returning to our office soon. Unlike many internship programs, the students get real world experience in software development, and often a permanent job after graduation.
Update: THEY LOST! Rats!
Epic Fail
Permalink | Tweet This! | | December 8, 2008 by John in Graphic Design, Photography
(via ge)
So a big company like Marriott can’t purchase their stock photography? (Note iStockphoto watermark.) I’m willing to assume that this was just a mockup and once approved they did buy the image but neglected to replace it in the file and printed the mockup as final. But it looks really fishy.
Too busy laughing to hurl
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 21, 2008 by John in Graphic Design, Television
I suppose it was only a matter of time. CMYK - America’s Top Graphic Designer (via Creattica):
“Look around you. Everything you see visually was created by a graphic designer. There have been many successful reality shows, but none have featured the graphic design geniuses behind major marketing campaigns for print, television, Internet, and mobile devices. CMYK will do just that,” stated Cheryle R. Reynolds, creator and producer of the reality show.
Print designers (and increasingly web designers) tend to be insanely pretentious and elitist. Cue the kvetching and gnashing of teeth by the nation’s graphic designers. I’m not going to watch the show, but I love that it will piss off certain people.
Creative Location Titles
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 20, 2008 by John in Graphic Design, Movies, Television
I love seeing creative solutions to one of the most overlooked aspects of movies and television, the location title text. The first thing that really stood out to me about the new series Fringe was the 3D type composited into the backgrounds at the beginning of each new scene. Here is an example, probably from a commercial, with promotional text rather than location text (I’ll try to find a better example):
One of the nice touches in Quantum of Solace that was not lost on me was the different typefaces used to announce each location, designed by Tomato (via goldenfiddle).
Now if only they would have explained the title of the movie…
(more…)
Exit Strategy
Permalink | Tweet This! | | October 29, 2008 by John in Freelancing, Graphic Design, Web Design
This post, “5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting Another Freelance Endeavor,” on WebWorkerDaily is worth reading just for the last item, which I’m horrible/forgetful at addressing:
What’s your exit strategy? If your new venture doesn’t fare as well as you hoped, how will you get out of it? Will you be able to sell it? Or will you simply change your strategy? Also, how do you quantify if it’s a success or not?
Although I’m glad that I was never in the position to opt for an exit strategy, it’s always an important part of my initial planning. It allows me to have a Plan B if the venture doesn’t turn out to be as profitable or as worthwhile as I thought it would be.
I need to plan (with the prospective client) for my exit after project completion, especially for the positive/successful variety. I usually assume I will hand over a CD and be done with it, but I need to make sure the client understands that. The negative exit is usually/should be described in the contract.
Don’t touch ME, Mr. Savior
Permalink | Tweet This! | | July 2, 2008 by John in Graphic Design, Humor, Religion
Ah, so THAT’S where those priests got THAT idea…
Creepy…
Design Inspiration Gallery - FAVEUP
Sympathy for the Devil
Permalink | Tweet This! | | May 9, 2008 by John in Graphic Design, Humor, Religion
One of my favorite fictional characters finally has a quality logo: Satan’s Logo. The Creator (heh) describes the design parameters thusly:
I wonder if I could telecommute?
Permalink | Tweet This! | | October 24, 2007 by John in Career, Graphic Design
Graphic Designer - Int MM Emph — Central Intelligence Agency
Important Notice: Friends, family, individuals, or organizations may be interested to learn that you are an applicant for or an employee of the CIA. Their interest, however, may not be benign or in your best interest. You cannot control whom they would tell. We therefore ask you to exercise discretion and good judgment in disclosing your interest in a position with the Agency. You will receive further guidance on this topic as you proceed through your CIA employment processing.
Designers: You’re so Intelligent
Permalink | Tweet This! | | September 5, 2007 by John in Graphic Design
Design Observer: You’re So Intelligent—Michael Bierut”
No, what designers wanted then and want now, more than anything else, is respect. Respect from clients. Respect from the general public. Respect from — let’s go right to the cliché — our moms. We want to be seen as more than mere stylists, we want to set the agenda, to be involved earlier in the strategic process, to be granted a place at the table. In short, just like the Chaste Clarissa, we want to be taken seriously.
Found via Mark Boulton.
Oh, so THAT’S how you make art…
Permalink | Tweet This! | | September 28, 2006 by John in Graphic Design, Interesting/Trivia
Comments Off