Media Minded

Hey Guys! I'm back blogging over at Media Minded.

So for now, any and all new posts will be featured there. Check it out!

The Gutenburgh

This is a web mock-up I did recently using Adobe Illustrator for a hypothetical online newspaper based in Pittsburgh. The name is inspired by the Gutenberg printing press, but I changed up the end to "burgh," as in the 'Burgh...clever, right? I wanted to keep it clean and easy to navigate. In addition, I used the colors of black, golds, and grays to relate it more to the city of Pittsburgh. (All stories are fictional.)

Buddies :)

That's A Lot of Rubble

Mashup Smashups

I recently started playing around "mashing" up images using the online creation tool: Aviary. Aviary furthers the idea of re-appropiation on the web to create something uniquely "your" own. Based on the idea of Photoshop Tennis, I mashed up an original image of mine with a fellow classmates to create something entirely new.

Waldo Takes on Brooklyn

Waldo really fits in with all those hipsters.

Obviously, this is a play on the “Where’s Waldo” theme books, which were a favorite of mine growing up. Even recently, a friend of mine commented that he believes “Where’s Waldo” contributed greatly to his perceptual abilities leading to his new found interest in ornithology.

To create this image I used a photo I took this past summer at a free show in Brooklyn. Using Photoshop, I cropped the image to place emphasis on the crowd. After removing Waldo from his original image, I placed him amongst the crowd and changed his size to fit in with his new surroundings. I then altered the color of the original crowd photograph to be more in tune with Waldo’s highly saturated, cartoon appearance. Lastly, I used the Clone Stamp Tool to add shadows under Waldo’s feet, so he didn’t appear be floating

Effective Typography

Continuing to look at typography and it’s role in design, I have to address the concept of book covers and the graphic novel. If there is anywhere where font and image need to co-exist harmoniously it’s within the frames of the comic book. A great example – one of my all time favorite graphic novelists, the artist that really turned me on to the genre, Chris Ware.

I remember reading this book years ago after my sister decided to check it out from the library to bring on vacation. By the end of the week my entire family had read it. This act of excellent book selection was prompted by a Ware exhibit we had seen together earlier that summer at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Ware is a master of design layout. Within the borders of the page, his frames are all over the place in different shapes and sizes. Occasionally arrows point to the next sequence, creating an exciting world for the viewer, but sadly not for his protagonist, Jimmy Corrigan. This book cover is a great example of how effective Ware is at combining image and typography. Various fonts are at play here, but with the tight color scheme and the radial balance it all works; drawing the viewer’s eyes to absorb every word.

If you want to see more of where that came from, check out Drawn & Quarterly’s website. The site is very visually appealing, and a work of art in its own right. And it should be as they publish works by the likes of Clowes, Brown, Ware, and Barry.