Information Design Project

For GD III we are doing a project creating a poster to inform people of something. For my project, I plan to do research on "Urban Farming" and using what I learn to develop an informative poster that brings about a sense of the importance of sustainability and community. I will be going on a tour at Growing Power to get inspiration for my design. They are a local organization doing wonderful things to improve heath, community, and sustainability. I am looking forward to the tour!

Natural Rugs

To go along with the rug theme, I found a website, http://www.natural-elements.net/products.php, that makes rugs out of all natural fibers, such as abaca, coir (harvested from coconut husks), sea grass and mountain grass, to name a few. While the patterns formed from weaving and interwinding the fibers may not seem very intricate from a distance, they actually do make beautiful, yet simple patterns.

Rug Patterns

I was searching different rug patterns and came across a few patterns I enjoyed.  When I think of rugs, oriental rugs with very symmetric and ornamental designs come to mind, so here are different styles that I found appealing that may be more simplistic, but still beautiful. 

Patrick Nagel

Patrick Nagel, an American artist, created popular illustrations on board, paper, and canvas, most of which emphasize the simple grace of and beauty of the female form, in a distinctive style descended from Art Deco. He is best known for his illustrations for Playboy magazine, and the pop group Duran Duran, for whom he designed the cover of the best selling album Rio.

He also made some designs for a Budweiser campaign to target college students to drink Budweiser.

Eco-friendly Graffiti

The Reverse Graffiti Project imbues the guerrilla tactics of street-art with an eco-friendly element, detourning the definition of graffiti by actually cutting through and cleaning up grit to leave a lasting impression. 
The Reverse Graffiti team recently teamed up with the eco cleaner brand GreenWorks to create a clean, green, 140 foot mural on the walls of San Francisco’s Broadway tunnel. The artist scraped through the grit and grime of the tunnel walls to reveal a stunning portrait of a lusher San Francisco, transforming the dingy tunnel sidewalls into a flourishing forest of native plants, providing an inverse reflection of how the site may have looked 500 years ago.

The UK’s Paul Curtis, better known as “Moose,” is one of the technique’s pioneers. Operating around Leeds and London, he has been commissioned by a number of brands, such as Smirnoff, who want to convey a sense of “clean” in an innovative way.

Graffiti

Originally used by gangs to mark their territory in some urban area, graffitis have now become a rich medium for unrestricted expression of ideas and statements. In fact, creative designers and artists across the globe use this form of art to deliver their message and showcase their work.
The most prominent graffiti artist is Banksy, a famous pseudo-anonymous British artist whose works focus on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics.

Deluxemodern Design

I found this woman who is a self taught graphic designer and was really attracted to her work. Her sense of style is great and very light. http://www.deluxemoderndesign.com/

Fun Web Design

http://www.kristinejanssen.com/

I came across this website and really enjoyed the design. Instead of using conventional tabs, I like the use of sushi. There is not much information shown but the simplicity works well. I also enjoy the simpler, lighter colors used.

Norman Rockwell

Here are four oil paintings Rockwell did as part of a series called "Four Freedoms". His inspiration came from President Roosevelt's State of the Union Address in 1941. They helped to raise money for the war effort by increasing sales of war bonds. He was considered a perfectionist, which shows in his work.

Freedom of speech

Freedom from fear

Freedom from want

Freedom of worship

Logo Design...back in the day

This is cute, just thought I'd share.

Walter Gropius

http://www.walter-gropius.com/

Total Theater

http://academic.chrissnider.com/bauhaus/pages/subpages/gropius.html

Werkbund Exhibition

This is one of my designs for my latest graphic design project. The project required three obsessions/passions to be portrayed in a design using at least 75% typography. My passions are the Non-GMO (genetically-modified) movement, self-sustainability, and traveling and the importance of cultural experiences that can occur as a result of traveling.

Pepsi Skinny Can

Pepsi has redesigned the can for their diet soda. It is being introduced on a runway with tall, skinny women carrying a can. Notice any connection? They are informing people that, what they believe are, good things come in tall, skinny packages. Diet soda, altogether, is deceiving to me. The word "diet" is usually associated with getting healthy, or even losing weight. While these low or no calorie beverages may help cut a few pounds, the trade-off of consuming health-hazardous chemicals is not worth it. 

http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-10-still-drinking-diet-soda-dont-be-a-fashion-victim-pepsi-strokes

The Art of Food

I enjoy food, but rarely, if ever, plate my dinner in a way that would pass as a Five-Star entrée. I have taken cooking classes in high school and learned a few things about garnishing, though I haven't used them since. I like the idea of creating something appealing to the eye that is so temporary. It's a shame to waste food, but when I see something put together so nicely I often don't want to ruin it. Whether it's making a fruit sculpture, garnishing a dessert, or plating an entrée, the craft for making food look beautiful or interesting is often overlooked. 

Snow Sculpture

With all the snow that came in the last couple days followed by high winds, which made some pretty sweet drifts outside of my apartment, my roommates, one of my neighbors, and I decided to go out and play in the snow. We decided to tunnel through an area of the drifts and made about a 15-foot tunnel (even with 5 feet of it collapsing). This got me thinking of all the art that is, or can be, made in the snow, so I decided to look at some snow sculptures. While they all were amazing and had to take a lot of time and dedication, this is an example of one that amazed me due to the frailty of the design. As with making a tunnel, you have to be careful not to get too close to a side or top in order to prevent if from collapsing, the snow sculpture also had to be done with great care. Not only did the artist have to work cautiously, but they had to do it out in the cold!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcv6dv_pixels-by-patrick-jean_creation

Photographs

While Ansel Adams produced photography from 1920's-1970's, due to the high resolution he took his images at makes them seem as though they were taken from a digital camera and maybe even re-touched in Photoshop a little. I just came across some of his images and was amazed at the crisp and clear qualities of his work, especially the landscape images.

Compassion

I Googled "compassion" and these two images came up. Compassion is something I'm trying to involve in my life more as I continue in my journey through life. I feel there would be less disagreement, hate, and overall problems in our world if compassion was more central in our lives. All humans are connected in the fact we yearn for acceptance and love. While being a push-over can be seen as something weak and pathetic, the simplest act of compassion can turn a world up-side-down and I feel those are the kinds of acts we need today.

To-Go Ware

My room mates and I just exchanged our Christmas gifts last week since none of us had presents ready before we left for break. While I loved the gifts I received equally, I thought I would share one thing I got because I think it is genius.

It's called "To-Go Ware" and consists of a knife, fork, spoon, and chopsticks all made of bamboo and comes in a cute little carrying case. Using this product can help reduce excess waste by reducing the amount of plastic silverware we use. I can't wait to use mine!!!

GD 2 Project

For the first project of the semester in GD 2 I have to come up with five designs that each contain something to do with three passions/obsessions that I have chosen. My three things fall more along the line of passions than obsessions. They are: traveling, sewing (sort of how it's related to handmade gifts or items), and the Non-GMO movement (focusing on awareness of the effects of it) which I have been introduced to mostly by a couple documentaries:

http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-issues.php
http://www.thefutureoffood.com/About.html

A topic all three of my passions bring up is awareness. Being aware of how the choice we make affect the way we live. In the area of travel, awareness is opening your mind to all the wonderful things every culture, country, or people has to offer and teach each other.