Week 9 (pt 2 ) LAST POST..

To finish off this last post on the blog, I think I'll have that touch of "home" feeling to ease everything to a comfortable stop! While visiting a friend, I noticed his house was filled with fine art and a collection of maritime works.

I definitely enjoyed waltzing around his house to check out all the art around us. Every direction has a new addition to my weekly inspiration treks!

Well, it was nice sharing inspiration with you all, and I'll see everyone during the school year at La Roche!

Until next time everyone!

--Evan

Week 9 (pt 1)

Hey guys, looks like it's the last week of posting on our blogs, so I think I'll wrap up the last internet inspiration with an artist I very recently became a fan off. His name is Jason Heuser, and apparently he's a very important art entity in the video gaming industry and a unique American patriot! Here is an article containing a few of his many pieces of artwork:

Comics Alliance Article on Jason Heuser

I discovered his work while sifting through the newest GameInformer magazine and spotted an Afterglow Headset advertisement (which contained a rather interesting version of George Washington, complete with an AG Headset, cyborg implants, and an axe). Here's the image of said George:

Jason Heuser has a great approach to bringing old with new, and definitely in a successful way!

Week 8 (pt 2)

I like skateboarding magazines, so while I go through them or hop onto the internet to see articles in the editions I miss, I check out the distinctive designs they tend to have in design. For one, fish-eye lens photography and a DIY look usually fit the bill for these type of mags, and I have to say that skating zines wouldn't be what they are without those elements!

A good example of these are found in Thrasher Magazine and their site. They have a very unique logo, just a simplified graffiti-style type that also curves upward and center. Even skate terminology adds flair to their distinctive look and mag layouts; someone who doesn't really fit into the skater demographic could still get the idea based off of the designs.

Well, I suppose that wraps up week 8's inspirations! Let me know your thoughts, guys! Not to many people posted last week, and I don't want to be greedy and have all this inspiration to myself!! :P

Okay, see you all for next week's inspirations!

--Evan

Week 8 (pt 1)

Hello all, finally work is done for the week! Onto the blogging! Today, I was flipping through the Target employee business guide and I realized that it's actually designed pretty well! Obviously not everyone works at Target, so I figured this could be a way to show you all how nifty Target really is (design-wise).

So, for the most part every section resembles the cover design. The table of contents was pretty cool because the color of the chapter corresponds in the table's type. The imagery is vector based with no outlines anywhere, just solid colors. The type crisp and legible, and the color scheme is solidified by the extra space it has. Let me know your thoughts on Target's design decisions!

Week 7 (pt 3)

Okay, last of this week's inspirations and last of anything Ocean City related (I promise). These images are from the internet because I wasn't about to walk 6 miles up the road to get to this hotel, but after all the years I've gone down there this place has always stuck out. It's the Pyramid Hotel, and it is the only one of its kind in OC (I also think in the world, if I'm not mistaken).

The architectural design of this hotel is phenomenal! This is proof that design of a building can really curve someone's decision when planning a trip. I also find the line-work and geometric shapes within the design layout enthralling to look at and get lost in! Let me know your thoughts guys!

Thanks for being patient this week! Until next time!

--Evan

Week 7 (pt 2)

Besides the Ocean City Gallery, I wanted to share some inspiration from the boardwalk in general. There were so many shops, products, and signage that you could get a headache not knowing where to start! I took a few pictures of some signage, and even got to check out another gallery called the Park Place Gallery! A little more conservative, the Park Place Gallery was a cool "extra" to my art gallery experience at OC!

Once again, it was an open entrance and filled with fine art, but I refrained from taking pictures of other artists' work.

Here are some examples of signage going down the boardwalk. They all follow a Maritime-Summer color palette or iconism, and I tried showing the angle most boardwalk-goers see of the shops. There were a lot of t-shirt graphic shops that would make your t-shirt of choice right there on the spot on a press, but in all honesty I think the graphics/work effort were shoddy and lacked the passion the craft needs. But all in all, it was still worth it to see an abundance of good and bad designs in the real world.

Week 7

 First Museum Trip!

Hi guys! Back from Ocean City, MD and I have a few things to share with you all for inspirations. I know I'm a little late here than usual, but I couldn't find any WiFi at my hotel! Anyways, let's get this first part of inspirations rolling.

This is the Ocean City Gallery down on the famous OC Boardwalk. It's unlike any other gallery/museum I've ever seen; just look at its presentation! I love how it's unorthodox in manner, and it has an open entrance and completely free to walk through. However, I felt extremely bad taking pictures of other's hard work in there and I thought you all would understand.

I absolutely loved the simplistic hand-rendered type used to display the gallery's name! The addition of flags and random assortments of signage really help its flair. I think this museum was an excellent choice to stop in to get inspired, especially because I want to be better at painting and sketching.
I hope you all get a chance to come down to Ocean City and experience this awesome display of fine artwork by the beach!

Week 6 (Part 2)

To wrap up this week's inspirations, I figured that I'd end it with a high note. When I need an uplift in the creative department, sometimes I will just listen to (or simply look at imagery of) the Beatles. They are the perfect blend of raw superior talent, amazing music, vivid personalities, and they have some of the coolest photographs and art. I would be shocked to meet someone who hasn't heard of them or listened to one of their many awesome tracks.

They have some of the most iconic imagery, brands, music, and their personalities unleashed creativity that might as well be unparallelled. The Beatles' logo uses height and a sort of pseudo-serif to differentiate their logo from other type. The miniature "The" fits in well with the length of the A and T, and the T is utilized as a descender to make up for the added height of "The." The B is an ascender to emphasize their name, but also to help anchor the logo into a box-like plain. Overall, and needless to say, this logo is no stranger to the limelight, even in today's world.

The Beatles always had a knack when it came to photography. They were very photogenic and some of their snapshots have basically immortalized in the annals of history, such as their Abbey Road album cover or their iconic "action" shots. Because they followed their dreams, they crafted such amazing music with equal imagery that can inspire the whole world. Whether it's the Walrus, the Yellow Submarine, The Meanies, the Apple, or even Revolver's album art, the Fab Four never cease to inspire creativity to me and I believe that there never will be a time they don't. Hopefully their music and their canon and the culture they spawned can inspire you all too. (Either that, or you all can respect their messages. I can't tell you how much I sing "A Hard Day's Night" to myself during the school year; hours of hard work from classes really catch up!!).

Alrighty everyone, until next week! Let me know what you all think!

--Evan

Week 6 (Update and Part 1)

Hey guys, so I have 2 quick updates for you all! Firstly, this post is a little behind schedule because I've been training at my new job. And the big one: all next week I'll be away on vacation, so that week's posts will be postponed possibly if there is no wifi at the hotel. However, I will be visiting the Ocean City Gallery to share their art and designs with you all!

Ok, onto the first part of this week's inspiration! So I have been musing along at Half Price Books, and I came upon this cool book in their Design section. It's called "What is Packaging Design?" and I have to say, it really does its job at showing some awesome design decisions and amazing packaging executions.

The top-most image is just displaying the cover. I like its simple palette and straight-forward message. The inner-most image is a really awesome exhibit of typography shown in this book; I can't stress enough how cool type can be! The last image shows some package designs and their alternative designs. All of the contents within the book are discussed and/or also shown in several forms. It's a neat book, so come classtime I can bring it in to share with you all!

Week 5 (2)

Okay, while browsing on the internet the other day I came across another speed painting video that I really enjoyed watching. It's kind of long, but it has a lot of commentary and information, and it's a tutorial so naturally it would be as such. It is by FZD, which I'm not sure is the artist's preferred name or the business. Anyways, I thoroughly enjoy concept art and so this video shows how to photoshop fantastical worlds, but my reason for sharing this with you all is because the methods present in the film could help out if one decides to design their own backgrounds for a project or just to touch up on their photoshop abilities.

I am definitely a nerd, so this was right up my alley, but for those who don't want to watch all nine minutes of it, simply watch the first thirty seconds, then click on the (roughly) 7 minute mark and watch from there. I hope this inspired everyone like it did to me. Until next time everyone!

--Evan

Week 5 (1)

Hey everyone, I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July. As usual, Thursday has come around and so has some inspirations that I'd like to share with you all. So recently, I went to the Waterfront in Aspenwall to a place called Burgatory. It's the first time I've ever heard of it and went there, and upon arriving I saw a lot of really cool design decisions for its business. Its theme is based on Heaven and Hell with a twist: they apply to burgers. Here are a few images I took while I was there:

The logo is pretty self explanatory; a B for Burgatory, a halo to play off of Heaven, and flames to represent Hell. They had such things on the menu as a Heavenly Shake and a Devilish Burger, plus many more items.

The logos above were on the doors to the bathrooms. I saw them from across the restaurant and I really liked the idea of simply changing one element of the design to keep all the branding and signage close together, to prevent any sort of design disconnect.

The top image is of the actual menu, which was bound with thin wood, metal hinges, and fabric sleeves. The second picture is of the inside of the menu, which displays some really cool typography and a wood-type style to the layout. The bottom image shows the DIY burger menu, in which you make all the calls on how you want your custom burger. There's even a place on the bottom of the tablet where you sign it! Overall, I thought this restaurant really stuck out from other food joints solely because they really emphasized their look and design to almost tell a story around their burgers. It's pleasant to see good design being appreciated and brought to the table. Sorry for the bad pun there, by the way.

Week 4 Part 2

Now for round 2! I love video games, so this next inspiration always helps me when I need to exercise my design studies.

This is the original cover art and design layout of the best zombie game ever, Left 4 Dead. It personifies horror simply with distressed areas, an ominous color palette, and the clever placement of a bite mark. The red pops out, which is used to capture attention first and then serve its purpose as blood second.

This is where the inspiration part comes in; I love looking at and also trying to create game cover fan-art. I couldn't find out who created this cover, but they did an amazing job keeping the spirit of Left 4 Dead. The designer kept the red as the initial flag-down for viewers and then as blood. They also substituted realistic vector art in place of the realistic art. Either way, they both look amazing, and the idea of this inspiration can serve as a design exercise!


--Evan

Week 4 Inspirations Part 1

Hello again! On this lovely Thursday I have my weekly inspirations at the ready for you all to enjoy (hopefully). To start off week 4's inspirations, I wanted to share a few pictures I took while stopping in at Levin's Furniture store. I have to admit, I didn't think I'd end up finding some inspiration in there at first! Well, I guess it helps that I post them before going further!

Okay, so the first picture is of several photographs and a poster. It's not absolutely significant, but I really enjoyed how their height variables stayed equal, but their widths differed. The black borders really attracted my attention too, but I suppose it helps that the photos were awesome to boot. The second image is of a sign I saw hanging by a lot of chairs. It reads: "The perfect chair: What's your perfect chair?". I know the actual message is clunky and/or very repetitive, but I looked specifically at the execution of the styles. I like the hand rendered type on top, it was effective at catching people's attention, myself included. I also enjoyed the darker italic underscore, because after the attention is caught this phrase now resonates with potential buyers. That is pretty effective design, given its simplicity. And lastly, the bottom image is of a mural of sorts with nothing but a lot of type! It has names of tangent and familiar areas of the particular store, each with its own font and size. I really liked looking at this mural, and I actually had to wait to get a clear shot because of customers looking and crowding near it!

Week 3 Inspirations!

Hi guys, and welcome back! I haven't been feeling that great lately and I think it's because I got scorched from the sun, so unfortunately I didn't leave the house to find exciting designs around town. However, I still have two interesting designs/art that I wanted to share with you all and hear your take on them.

#1.

Okay, so here are seven shots of the Warner Bros. logo spanning (respectively) the entire film saga of the Harry Potter series. Since I've been under the weather I've been watching movies a lot, but every time I see these HP movies I always, ALWAYS fascinate over these logos. Say someone hasn't ever read or seen Harry Potter; they can still see from each logo that with every progressing installment of the series there is some ominous force or antagonistic presence decaying the logo itself. I wholly applaud this, I think that this maneuver is a nice way to give viewers a heads-up about the nature of each installment. Plus, the logos tell a story themselves; that's not as easy as it looks. I think this a wonderful tactic and it has inspired me to really consider all steps toward designing logos/signage.

And.... #2.

Well, this isn't exactly "good" inspiration this time. I don't think it would be realistic to only look at good design, but I do think it's essential to see what to avoid. Alright, here's the quick rundown: this is called "Country A", "Country B", and "Country C" respectively. This piece, or fragments thereof, is "art" by the notorious Yoko Ono. (Can you viewers see where I'm going with this?) These mounds of dirt are erected in front of a vintage poster that says "War is Over!". According to a few internet sources, Yoko Ono says that she believes this is art and that her message is togetherness. Well, that may be, but the "message" is lost in this void, this attempt at real 3D negative space, between each part of the whole piece. I understand each is supposed to represent a different country and promote the idea of peace; however, I don't think each is powerful enough to encourage that idea. When I first saw this image I immediately thought that someone didn't know where to put their garbage. Also, if one has horrible vision like myself, that poster in the background loses its purpose. So basically, I'm inspired indirectly with this design. How? I can truly appreciate good design now, and this Ono piece has shown me what all to avoid with design: lackluster process, disconnect of the message, disconnect of demographics, and letting fame get to your head. Sometimes inspiration is more effective when you see the terrors of what others may consider art. 

--Evan

2nd Week Inspiration

Hi guys! And sorry for the wait, I know this week is coming to a close fast. Now I understand that there were a ton of art festivals going on, however I had no means of getting to said festivals. That doesn't mean I can't find design for you all this week though! To save time, I'll combine this week's post materials together as one. Ok, here goes:


For the web-based inspiration, check this out.

It's by "The Concept Painter" on YouTube, which is actually Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. I'm a geek for concept art and design, as well as for the game Halo. I watch this video endlessly; it truly serves its purpose as extreme inspiration to me, and even if any of you viewers don't like or play games, maybe you can still find the value to this video. It's all done in photoshop, every step of the design process! That's incredible, and simply put: educational.


Now for inspiration from life:

These images are of one of the many Zits comic treasuries that is around the house. Unfortunately, some of the pictures I took of it didn't upload (I'll bring this to class sometime if anyone is interested). Anyways, Zits is a comic strip in newspapers and ever since I've first read it I couldn't help but admire the artistic value it held. Over the years, its protagonist Jeremy and his family and friends have had several makeovers in design; line-work and crosshatching seemed mediocre but entrancing at first, but currently has really polished lines and shades (alongside brilliant color palettes) which I think is fantastic. It's hard to believe that such inspiration could simply lie within comic strips in a newspaper, but I'm sure thankful it's publicly dispersed because everyone deserves to see this diamond in the rough. 

Well, this concludes this week's inspiration, but any input is always welcomed!

--Evan

Hello once again! Today, as a wrap for the first week's inspirations for design, I thought I'd share two small personal pictures from my backyard. Why, you might ask? Well, sometimes the best design inspiration comes straight from the places that give you the most comfort or the best cognition! For me, design should be infinite; it's always changing, always evolving, and ever-so resilient. Some of my best student projects were thought up while I gazed upon my backyard pond, and when I'd stare at the heavens, watching the clouds create unique shapes. Now, before you think that I'm just lazy and watching the world, realize that to make good design sometimes you have to stay idle and simply observe. Whether it be watching what people buy, where their eyes are drawn to, what cars are driving around, color palettes in shops or "natural" palettes in the environment, and absolutely anything relevant to today's society, it never hurts to know what is liked! Be like the water and clouds: adaptive!

Until next week!

--Evan

Here's where to find this design.

This style of design always intrigues me; I'm such a big fan of the designs that came from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. This particular piece, designed by Jeff Miller, emulates the style of those eras with the diffuse-looking color palette, the image in the background, the rules that flank the type on the right side, and the transparent stencil that anchors the center of the book cover. I really enjoy how design can outlast its time period, as this clearly shows! Compositionally, I like how the image crops in about 3/4ths of the subjects' faces, isolating unnecessary space from the main focus.

Testing!

Hi, this is just a test post. I'm new to blogging, but while I learn the ropes with that maybe we could do something productive meanwhile. Like say....interpreting graphic design. Yeah, let's do that. Basically, my goal for this blog is to post twice a week about and discuss design, and perhaps even more. Feedback is always welcome! Thanks!

--Evan