old navy typography

Being a fan of Old Navy's clothing, I frequent their website. I've been noticing their latest 'rebranding' efforts over the past few months (they send me a newly designed credit card after each rebranding -- I think I've gotten 4 in the last few years), and they are currently using a very interesting choices in typography.

I guess it would be kind of risky mixing 'normal' faced text with italicized within a word, and they do it a lot of places on their site. They also mix small caps with upper and lower case words.

I think I like it, and I think they are successful in what they've done. I like the look of the wording that they treat with this type choice and it doesn't detract from the readability...what do you think?

tiki time!

I took a quick minute to browse the internet to see if I could find the Tiki Time Drummer that Stephanie brought in for show and tell this past weekend. I've found a few of them for sale and I'm thinking about picking up a couple because I can think of a few people that would love to find that guy in their stocking!

Anyways, to get your fix, you can watch a video of the little drummer doing his thing here.

a little typography help...

I wanted to post this to get a little feedback from the class on my typography choices and the way I have presented them. Typography is one thing I struggle with in design, so I need all the extra help I can get! Thankfully, I asked for a bunch of books on the topic for Christmas, and I will be taking typography next semester.

turkey home invasions spread to michigan...

I saw this article and had to post it -- it reminds me of the construction paper story we constructed back at the midterm.

Check it out for a good chuckle check out the article here.

show & tell: a collection

For my collection show and tell, I brought in a few selections from my shot glass collection. The above photo is my entire collection. I guess I started collecting about 4 years ago, but I really haven't gone anywhere exciting in that time. Many are from trips I've made to Chicago, Atlantic City, New York City, Vermont and a car ride to Florida. When I originally started this collection, my intent was to only have shot glasses from the places I've been to, but after a few trips to the same place and with no trips planned, I told my friends and family to pick them up for me when they were away, which is how I got a shot glass from Los Angeles, and one from Ireland.

a professional blog...

For tomorrow's class, we were asked to find a professional blog that we read or would read regularly. I did some searching and I found this blog: You The Designer

I think it's a great resource for designers from newbies to the seasoned pro. It gives a lot of great information about the 'do's and dont's' of design in the real world.

collector: another word for a packrat

My mind has been on collections this week. Upon looking around my apartment for something for show and tell this weekend, I've realized I have numerous 'collections,' almost all of which take up a humongous amount of space and are extremely heavy.

Take for example, the two I have pictured: my paper samples and my book collection. They are ridiculous. I also horde magazines in the hopes that someday I will get through them all and cut out everything I find to be interesting to be put into binders (hmmm, maybe that could be my project over the holiday break?)

I will not be bringing in any of these collections this weekend, instead, I'm opting for something a bit lighter -- a few of my favorites from my shot glass collection...

perhaps it could be tang?

Well, I was trying to create orange juice tonight to go along with my cereal. With everlasting elegance and my growing collection of acrylic paints, I had a difficult time with it.

Above, is the result...not too orange juicey, but at least it looks like tang? What do you think?

show & tell: something i've been dying to share

One of the things I was told a few years ago when I began pursuing design as a career that stuck with me was to always expand your library of books relating to design. I guess about a year ago I finally decided to treat myself to a book twice a month, or whenever I got a paycheck. My trips to Barnes and Noble have died down this semester, mainly because of the lack of time I've had. My most recent purchase has been a book I had been eyeing up for a while -- 'Logo Design' by Julius Wiedemann, published by Taschen.

gfaf event invitation

Each year, the Greater Frederick Advertising Federation hosts the Addy Awards. I recently received my invitation in the mail for the event that will take place next spring. I thought the design was really great. Feel free to click on the photo for a closer look at the components to this piece. The envelope reminded me of what the components of a computer come in, or the bag I got my EZ-Pass tag in.

istock double take

I'm always on the lookout for great greeting cards and stationery, and that's no exception around the holidays. I hunt to find the perfect Christmas cards to send to my friends and family.

This year, I didn't have much luck finding anything I liked, so I decided that I would quickly throw something together. I did a search on istock for the perfect image to use, and I immediately fell in love with this image. I downloaded it, and whipped up a quick postcard and sent the file off to VistaPrint for printing.

Then, yesterday, I received an order of gifts from amazon.com and one of the inserts had the exact image, just a different color scheme.

it's almost there...(i think)

So, I've been working on my text for the 3D project the past few days and I've hit a roadblock. I'm not sure where I'm going with it and what else it needs, so I'm hoping to get some feedback from cyberspace! Please comment with your thoughts -- thanks!

The handful of colorful rings swimming in a sea of sweet pink milk sitting next to the unread sections of the Sunday Frederick News Post are quickly turning into an undesirable mushy rainbow. Sure, the last of the box of ‘Froot Loops’ were poured and topped with a splash of nearly expired 1% milk a mere fifteen minutes ago, but it doesn’t take long for the milk to permeate the candy coating of sugar and suck the life out of the once crunchy cereal.

You were looking forward to those last few mouthfuls of Toucan Sam’s confection. If only you could go back to the first crunchy bites. It serves you right though, what was so great about the article you were reading on Britney Spears’ custody battle that made you neglect the most important meal of the day?

As a child, your mother insisted you clean your cereal bowl each morning. She knew your secret weapon, too – the cat that patiently waited under the table. But there’s no cat to pass this bowl to. Just you, your conscience, the Sunday paper and your ‘Froot Loop’ soup.

It’s getting more repulsive by the minute. If you eat it, it may just ruin your day, and if you don’t, in your head all day you’ll hear your mother lecturing you about the starving kids in Africa that would do anything for a morsel of food.

The guilt is almost too much to bear. You fiddle with your spoon in the bowl; something your mother would have scolded you for. Maybe if you sat there long enough, like you did as a child in your silent protest against eating the brussel sprouts on your dinner plate until your father told you to go to bed without dessert, the guilt would subside. But the longer you wait, the worse it looks. It couldn’t be that bad…or could it?

this is on my christmas list...

I think I saw this link in a random graphic design magazine during a recent visit to Barnes & Noble and when I got home I visited the site. It has some great t-shirts on it. The one in particular that caught my eye was the 'Magic Eraser' shirt...I think a recent Saturday lunch conversation circled around how we wished that there was a Command + Z function for life.

show & tell: unnecessary process

My 'unnecessary process' is somewhat subjective. To me, writing out the procedure to do these things is unnecessary, however to some people, it is necessary. Here's an example:

-Put blank CD into CD-Rom drive
-Open ‘My Computer’, double click on your CD
Drive (this opens a blank window)
-Minimize window and open folder where the
files you want to burn to CD are located (Select all by hitting Ctrl + A, then
hit Ctrl + C to copy them.)
-Re-open CD drive window
-Hit Ctrl + V to
paste files onto CD
-Click ‘Write these files to CD’
-A new window will
open, here you can name your CD
-Click next and continue through the steps
until it spits out your burned CD or says it has finished burning.

**NOTE: if there are too many files that you are trying to burn to a CD, the burning will not work, if you delete the files from the CD-rom drive window, they will NOT delete from the computer…just remember what files they are so you can burn them to a second CD, if you desire to.**

holidaze 2007

This illustration is for an upcoming AIGA BlueRidge event. Isn't it great? A student at Shepherd University did it and while it's a little suggestive...(almost) everyone who has seen it really loves it. I think we may be getting t-shirts printed with this on it as well, if you're interested in one, let me know!

Here's the specifics on the event in case you'd like to attend...I'm headed to it immediately after class!

Please join members of AIGA Blueridge and the Greater Frederick Ad Fed as we toast the end of 2007 at Danielle's Restaurant. A cash bar and light munchies await you on this first Saturday in December.

Call ahead to make reservations for dinner following the event or wander the streets of historic Frederick and take in "First Saturday", with light-trimmed trees and stores open late.

When: December 1, 2007, 4:30pm-6pm

Where: Danielle's Restaurant, 6 N. East Street, Frederick

RSVP: Free to members, $10 for guests. Space is limited, RSVP early!

Please RSVP by 11/28/07 to chris@txtdesign.com

Thanks to our generous sponsors for making this event happen:

Celebrate Gettysburg
Jean Peterson Design
Octavo
Rocketfuel Design
Text Design

expanding my library of graphic design books...

My mother recently asked me for some ideas of gifts for me for Christmas and since my parents refuse to buy me an iPhone, I figured this would be a great opportunity to build my graphic design library with some of the books that Stephanie & Amy have suggested to us in class.

Just wondering if anyone has come across any books that they have found to be really helpful to them not only in this class, but in graphic design and improving your writing?

everlasting elegance

A few people were asking what I used to make the 'milk in my cereal bowl for project 6, so I figured I'd share some info on it.

I got Everlasting Elegance at AC Moore...it's somewhat pricey -- around $14, but depending on how much you use, it should last you the entire project. I used about 1/5th of the bottle for machette I brought in last Saturday. I added white and red acrylic paint to give it the 'froot loop' milk color.

Despite the price, this is the only product like this that dries to a hard resin, as opposed to the gel ones out there.

For my next phase, I'm going to try using tacky glue with a touch of red food coloring instead of Everlasting Elegance.

Speaking of project six, can anyone think of a cereal I could use instead of Froot Loops? Amy suggested that I look for something with different shapes. I was at the grocery store last night and I didn't see anything. Trix used to be all the different shapes of fruits, but they went back to 'puffs.'

artsetera

I love series art...especially series that incorporate unique patterns and color palettes.

I normally don't click on ads, but I couldn't resist this one.

I'm definitely adding this to my bookmarks as something to buy for myself in the future...if only I could decide on which paintings I like the best!

show & tell: description

I stumbled across the very bizarre book called Catflexing: The Catlover's Guide to Weightlifting, Aerobics & Stretching while looking for a show & tell item for last Saturday. Despite it's weirdness, I think it's a good visual description of something I was completely clueless about: a woman, in workout clothing, obviously doing some sort of push-up, with her cat (obviously sedated...) relaxing on her back.

When I was searching for an image to include on my blog this evening, I came across this book as well, in case you're interested in reading your cat's paws!

show & tell: narrative

Growing up, and even to this day, one of my favorite children's authors has been Robert Munsch. You may remember him as the author of the book 'Love You Forever.'

One of my absolute favorite stories by him is 'Purple, Green and Yellow.' I tried to include an iMovie, which was a project I did during undergrad. I was lucky enough to find that on his website, Munsch includes readings of his books, so I was able to use that in my project.

I'll give you a brief summary of the book:

It's about a girl named Brigid, who wants a set of markers, but her mom is concerned she'll draw on the walls, floors and on herself. So she asks for the markers that wash off with water. But when she gets bored with those, she wants the set of markers that smell, so she gets those as well. And again, she becomes bored. Then she tells her mom she wants the super-indelible-never-come-off-till-you're-dead-and-maybe-even-later markers. She gets bored with these as well, and decides to draw all over herself. She tries to wash off the marker and of course, it doesn't work. She remembers the marker at the bottom of the box that will color you your original color, so she uses that to return to normal. But, when her mom asks her to wash up for dinner and Brigid tells her mother she's already done so, her mother smells her hands...no soap! So she takes Brigid into the bathroom and the 'return to normal' marker wears off to reveal a colorful Brigid! The doctor comes and gives her a pill that makes her invisible and Brigid again takes her 'return to normal marker' and colors herself back in...

a designer's inside joke...

I know a few others in class have posted some funny videos lately, I got an e-mail this afternoon from a former professor/AIGA colleague with another video that made me laugh. It's a pretty long one...about 6 minutes, but well worth it!

Check it out! http://www.makemylogobiggercream.com/

I'm eying up the merchandise they have too -- I think the poster would be a great thing to hang in an office!

fun website...

I stumbled upon this website and I thought it was amusing. People post photographs that they've taken in places that have asked people to not take photos, like museums, concerts, etc.

inspiration to share

I used to work at a retail shop where we got a lot of unusual items in. I made sure to keep a list of the companies so that I knew where to find the items they produce in the future.

Whether they are greeting cards or fabrics, many of these provide a great deal of inspiration to me.

Here are just a few of the links:

Knock Knock

Chicago Textiles

Flight 001

Quotable

TrollBeads

Enjoy!

what a week, what a week.

so, it's been a very rough week for me. i've been trying to give a lot of thought to what i want to do an imovie project on, however, my mind has been elsewhere this week.

My grandparents, aunt and uncle from Vermont came to Maryland for a mini-vacation this past weekend. They very rarely leave the state of Vermont, so I was rather excited about their visit.

Very early Sunday morning, my grandfather was rushed to the hospital with chest pains and it was determined he had a heart attack. Monday he was transferred to Washington Hospital Center in DC where they did a cathederization on him that afternoon. The test revealed he was a walking time bomb and a triple bypass was scheduled for him on Tuesday.

Tuesday, he had the surgery, however, when the surgeon comes to talk with us after the surgery, he tells us they ended up doing 5 bypasses! Nevertheless, the surgeon says his heart is strong and the surgery went well. Before we left that night, we got to see him. He was in the cardiovascular recovery room, still hooked up to a ventilator and was unable to hear us. I have to say, that is one of the most heart-wrenching things I have ever had to see.

Today, my grandmother, aunt, uncle and father went to see him. He is doing well. He was up walking around and may be able to come 'home' by Sunday! He'll recover at my parents house for a few weeks and they'll return to Vermont when he's able to travel.

Being someone who has never lost anyone close to them, this experience has really had a huge impact on me. I have really been thinking about a lot of things lately.

I could go on forever with all the emotions I have been experiencing lately, so I'll stop there. While I haven't decided what I want to do my movie on just yet, I'm seriously trying to figure out a a way to incorporate my grandparents into the project. Any suggestions or thoughts?

show & tell: interesting typography

I just realized that I let Stephanie borrow my show and tell magazine from this week so I was unable to scan in the ad I showed in class. However, I was able to find a similar ad for the same product (Extensis Suitcase Fusion), just a different scene.

I love the look of putting typography together to form a picture, though, I've never done a project like this for a class, but as Amy said, it's a standard project for a typography class. I hope that I will get to do something like this in a future class at UB.

autism in the news...

While on the internet last night, the above story caught my eye on Yahoo. The website that has posted the videos showing autism's 'red flags' is that of the organization I chose to 'represent' in my campaign project. The videos on their site shows two clips -- one of each child asked to do/play with identical toys, one child was 'normal' while the other had been diagnosed with autism. The video on Yahoo's site interviewed various medical professionals who were worried that these videos would cause panic in parents.

This is the same issue I had with the text I initially wrote for my campaign. The problem is, the warning signs could in fact be autism, or it could be that your child is just a bit slower than the next, or it could even be some other illness.

My initial idea included photos of kids looking sad (I know, I know, no sad children!) and there were headlines like 'No big grins from Travis yet? Is he just not ready to smile or is it autism?' Obviously, my intent was never to make parents paranoid that their kid might have autism, but my small group suggested I take a different approach to the assignment all together. I put it aside a few days and I took into considerations the suggestions from my group and I opted for a 'happy children' approach, with parents looking back on when they first noticed something was wrong with their children, and the proactive steps they took to get to the bottom of the problem. I definitely think this works a lot better.

show & tell: list of favorite words

My favorite words include words that make me happy, inspire me, or remind me of certain people/occasions:

-Dream
-Star
-Create
-Friends
-Imagine
-Sleep
-Money
-Go
-Fun
-Happy
-Travel
-Perhaps
-Actually
-Apple
-Green
-Chaos
-Fabulous
-Fo shizzle
-Othorhinolaryngologist

this is what we have to look forward to...

I stumbled across a blog that had posted this link to statistics from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health which shows the rate of depression in adults employed full-time. Unfortunately, the design industry is number 5 on the list.

I guess that makes sense though -- there are constantly deadlines, last minute edits at the request of your client, indecisive clients, etc.

I noticed that a lot of the comments on this blog I found were from folks that had been designers that had transferred over into production. They still designed on the side, but were able to be a bit more selective in what jobs they took, so that they could really put their creativity into their work.

Briefly after I graduated, I took a temp job in Alexandria, VA at the American Physical Therapy Association as Assistant Production Manager of their two publications. I really loved the work I did there, but the 2 hour commute was a bit more than I could handle! That is definitely one career path I wouldn't mind getting back into. Maybe someday I'll do that again and do freelance design on the side.

show & tell: classification

Like many people in class, I found my example of classification in Real Simple.

However, the article I had initially picked out was about shoe organizers. The different items they featured in this article could be intermixed into other classifications, so I chose a different article before posting this on my blog.

The article I chose is about tights -- it breaks them down into the following categories: control top, sweater, leggings, regular. The tights are then broken down by the 'winner' in an additional classification - best black, best color, best patterned. I have included a page from the article above.

to feather or not to feather?

Perhaps the decline in the real estate market has got my boss thinking, but lately she's been on a kick about feathering the photos we use in our marketing materials and for the photos of our properties in the MLS. I'm somewhat torn on the idea of 'feathering' these photos -- part of me thinks it does give them an 'elegant' look, but part of me thinks it's somewhat tacky. What do you guys think about this look?

show & tell: a call to action

My show and tell this week was a postcard that my dad received in the mail reminding him of a tire rotation. With the pace life today, receiving something like this in the mail, along with the coupons on the back of the postcard, is a great reminder of the things that we often forget about but should really make time for. This particular piece is a type of 'integrated marketing' that I recently went to a seminar on. Companies can customize each piece to their clients -- all they need is a database with their customer names, addresses, year and make of car, and possibly even what maintenance the car is due for and the designed piece. They take it to a printer, and the printer is able to change the variables of the piece for each customer.

AIGA baltimore cs3 event tomorrow night!

So, I realize this is my 3rd post of the night, but I was just catching up on some AIGA e-mails and I thought this might be something of interest for W&I students considering it's being held on campus...

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium lets your ideas take flight in your choice of media -- from print to web to mobile.

At this workshop you will learn how to:

• Leverage a new and improved user interface. Incorporate vector graphics and images into print, web, interactive, and mobile projects. Use intuitive tools to help you stay true to your creative intent -- allowing you to express your ideas in virtually any medium.
• Jumpstart your web designs by exporting XHTML from InDesign® to Dreamweaver® Enjoy seamless integration between Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Illustrator® CS3, and Adobe Flash® CS3
• The value of services such as Adobe Stock Photos for royalty-free imagery and Acrobat Connect for web conferencing And much, much more!

Attendees will be entered to win Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, but you must be present to win.

Tuesday, September 25 2007
University of Baltimore
1420 N. Charles St.
Thumel Business Center
Time: 5pm to 8pm

Cost:

Student AIGA Members: Free with online registration (Have your student ID!); $5 at the door;

AIGA Members: $5 members online registration; $10 at the door

Non-Members: $15 non-members online registration; $20 at the door

Register Online

happy punctuation day!

While at work today, I got an e-mail from one of our advertisers who normally sends quirky little messages in her reminders about when our ads are due. I usually breeze over them quickly, but today's e-mail caught my eye.

Today is 'National Punctuation Day.' No, it really is. They even have a website about it.

I found it to be humorous and quite fitting for our class so I felt the need to share.

ugly throwback jersey

I was watching TV last night as they were recapping the NFL games of the day, when they got to the footage of the Eagles vs. Lions game, I couldn't help but notice how ugly the throwback Eagles jersey really was -- anyone else agree with me?

show & tell: a good example of description

When we got our daily last Saturday that said we had to bring in a good example of description for our next show & tell, I immediately began to think of things that I could bring in. I couldn't think of where I had seen a great description, but I knew I had seen one somewhere. So, I didn't dwell on it and I kept it in the back of my mind. So when I was at work looking at some real estate magazines, I stumbled across this ad and description of this house in Downtown Frederick. I read it quickly and I liked it a lot. Compared to a lot of the ones I have read, this one stood out to me. It's by no means the best description though.

hole punch portrait

i was just surfing the web for some information on printers, and i came across this, it's pretty impressive
(not to mention time consuming!)

to get more info and see more photos, go to this site

a small plug for AIGA...

I was reminded of an upcoming AIGA BlueRidge event when I received a postcard in the mail this afternoon. FLUX, the 2007 student design competition is accepting entries until Friday, October 5th for school, freelance or pro bono work created between August 2006 and October 2007. You don't even need to mount your pieces -- you submit unmounted work! It doesn't cost too much either -- single entries are $5 for AIGA members (any chapter!) or $10 for non-members. $20 for AIGA members submitting 4 or more entries, $25 for non-members. The categories are: poster, environmental/packaging design, identity, publications, websites/interactive, motion, miscellaneous. There will also be some pretty awesome prizes for the winners!

If you or anyone you know would be interested in submitting pieces and would like to save a bit on shipping, I'd be happy to bring them back to Frederick to deliver to the person in charge of the show for you. Of course, since our class is on Saturday, I'd need any entries by Saturday, September 29th. or, if you want to take a road trip to Frederick we could arrange to meet sometime the first week of October and i can deliver them before the deadline as well!

Visit the website to get more info and to download the entry form, or feel free to contact me and I'll get you in touch with the right folks!

my new favorite website...

I received an e-mail message earlier from flickr reminding me that my pro account expires soon. I was curious on the cost, so I clicked the link. When the site opened, something else caught my eye: "Ooh! and if you upgrade today, you'll get 10 free MOO cards!" I was intrigued. What's a MOO card? So, again, I clicked.

Five minutes later, I was hooked. They offer fun products (StickerBooks, MiniCards and NoteCards) at reasonable prices, you can even customize a box of 100 MiniCards, and have a different photo on each if you'd like! Or, if you prefer, you can use their awesome designs, including COLOURLovers schemes...another site I love which I forgot to mention in my previous post.

So, if you're looking to kill a little bit of time, check out their site: www.moo.com

show & tell: what inspires you?

One of my biggest inspirations is color. I'm amazed at some of the color schemes people come up with that actually work.

Here are some places to check out color schemes:

Color Burn Widgets: Whether you use a Mac or PC, you can download this 'widget' and get a new color scheme everyday!

Kuler: This is a pretty awesome site. Say you find a color scheme you like, but there's one color that just won't work -- you can go and edit it, and even save it as your own (if you have an account with Adobe.) Also if you register for an account, you have the ability to download your favorite schemes as an Adobe Swatch Exchange File. Illustrator CS3 users can use a new feature by going to 'Windows' > 'Adobe Labs' > 'Kuler' on your menu. With this Kuler RSS feed window open, you can upload new schemes and download the newest, highest rated and most popular schemes directly to your swatches palette.

Also on the topic of colors, I stumbled across an awesome website a while back - etsy.com - that is somewhat of a store for homemade things people around the world make. The site offers a few different ways to search for items for sale, including my favorite, color search. Ladies, this is a great resource for handmade jewelry, purses and other accessories in any color you can imagine! I get lost looking for new purses! :o)

what's in a name?

You may or may not be wondering what the title of my blog -- 'anitsirk' is. I find that the first question from most people when I present them with my self-promotional pieces is "what does 'ANTI-sirk' mean?"

So, here's the background on it...

Anitsirk is my name -- Kristina -- spelled backwards and it's pronounced [uh-nit-surk]. I don't really remember where I got the idea for it...but I started using it in a graphic design project as an undergrad at Shippensburg University. We were instructed to make a logo and I somehow decided to spell my name backward, and it stuck. Which is truly amazing, considering I change my mind on design for myself weekly.

The piece above is not the logo I originally created, that is actually my letterhead which I designed in Communications Graphics II at Frederick Community College in the Fall of 2006. This self-promotional design package included a letterhead, business card front and back, label, envelope front and back and cd label. I entered this piece into the Fall 2006 Visual Arts' Exhibition at FCC, where I won 2nd place.

One of the thoughts I had when I started to design this piece was that I wanted to be able to change the color scheme if I wanted to because, again, I change my mind on color schemes I like rather frequently. This design gives me that luxury, but, I have yet to change it.