youtube inspiration

so. for this weeks installment of my blog, I’m supposed to find some videos on youtube on graphic portfolios, that I find helpful, cool, inspirational, etc.

so, first I saw MSM designs video, which is pretty cool, interesting music that won’t put you to sleep, very nice visuals, and put together well overall. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azvkdj5hRJk ,I don’t know why the blue link thing didn’t show up, but that’s the link.

Next I saw the video of HVLYONS portfolio, whic has some really good animation in it, also some pretty cool music, good video to just sit back and watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEV3QIn6tCM&feature=related , the link again, the link doesn’t show up right because I’m used to the right click, and these mac mice just don’t have that (argh), but there again is the link for the video.

This week we present: graphic design magazines

So this week we had to find some online graphic design magazines we haven’t seen before. Shouldn’t be too hard, since I haven’t seen really any before, the search wasn’t too hard to find somehting unseen by me before. So, first we have PRINT Magazine, evidently a very popular magazine for the field of graphic design.     

http://www.printmag.com/ Simple, easy to use layout, but looks like it has a lot of information about pretty much anything current, looks pretty good.

Next is the magazine, HOW Design, http://www.howdesign.com/GeneralMenu/, this site covers stuff that helps you run successful design studio’s, has info on current designers, blogs, events, contests, lots of good stuff thats deifinitely worth a look.

And last but not least is Computer Arts, http://www.computerarts.co.uk/, as you can tell a european website, this place has news, galleries, forums, downloads, loads of stuff, and while I’m not normally a fan of the computer stuff, programs, all that, this site has some great info and reviews, in-depth stuff, tutorials, all kinds of awesome junk. this is a site you have to look at whether you like workin on the computer mainly or not, a review of this site said it was good for freelancing, which it looks like it is.

So there you have it, my review of a few online graphic design magazines, many of which will send you a free copy, just to see if you like it or not. Now off to see what everyone else wrote in their blogs, see what good stuff they came up with.

A couple of design resource pages

so this week, we were supposed to find some design resource sites that we thought were handy to use, or maybe handy fro someone else to use too. without further delay, lets dive in to the design stuff i found around the net.

first we have a website that has various things in it, backgrounds, buttons, banners, icons, and more. they don’t have the biggest selection of items, but they do have a few things. what i like most are the backgrounds, as there is a good number of them to choose from. the buttons and icons look pretty basic i think, but i really took a liking to some of the backgrounds. http://www.ender-design.com/rg/ is the link to their page of goodness.

the next site is just a huge help with different colors, and schemes, and is just cool to use overall. http://kuler.adobe.com/, with adobe kuler, you can look at other peoples color schemes, see what works with a color you like, see examples of already made stuff, it’s just an awesome site, very cool to use. so if you like color, this is definitely the site for you.

and with that i wrap up my selection of design resources for this week. check back next week, i might have more resources, or i might have some other random information typed in, guess we’ll just have to find out.

Even more graphic designers that I think rock

So, first off let me apolagize for the delay in getting this blog out, I’ve had a very hectic schedule, and I feel that it will never slow down. Anyway, so I was looking at Demara’s blog, and I looked at the http://justcreativedesign.com/ site, which is very cool, look at it if you haven’t already, and I found some very cool designers sites listed in there.

First we have Elliot Jay Stocks, who does a range of things, from website design, to illustrations, to CD packaging, posters, logos, and more. His site link http://elliotjaystocks.com/portfolio/, this is definitely a well made site to look at, very visually interesting, and has some good content in it too.

The second person I found is Jina Bolton, who I think is just awesome, she has a large range os stuff she does also, as she does such works as drawings, digital art, sculptures, all kinds of stuff that is worth a look. Even if you don’t care to look at her works, just the way she made her site is very fun I thought, not a real corporate look, just carefree, I love it. Oh, and she does love her sushi and robots. right, her website link: http://www.sushiandrobots.com/. Now go look at it after you see my last designer.

And for the third designer I found is Andy Clarke, not from the US even, but he’s based out of North Wales. His site, http://www.stuffandnonsense.co.uk/, is a pretty cool site also, with a pretty cool illustration on the front page. He is not a lone freelance designer, but his site is for the company he made back in 1998, and they have some good information in it, various blogs about various things, and they even have contests in it, where right now you could try to win a DVD and book combo on CSS, which would be very helpful for this class.

So, there you have it, more designers that I think rock, mainly their works, but also their sites are pretty cool also. if you want some good design idea’s, the first website mentioned is good for many things, blogs, info, just various things around the web. Also look at Demara’s stuff if you want some good people, she always seems to know who rocks out there.

Other designers that inspire me

so, the assignment for this week was to find other designers that inspire us, our work. I’ll say this upfront, the sites I found, there’s a lot of variation on the styles of the artists, mainly because I like a wide variety of things, not just one aspect or style, I like to see the full range of ideas. Some of these have photo’s, some graphic design, sculpture, just various things. you have been warned.

The first contestant in my blog is in fact a graphic designer, by the name of Amanda Ohrt. Looking through her site, I found it pretty easy to use, to navigate around, and man is she good at photoshop. She does a lot of logos, signs, t-shirt designs, pretty much a lot of design and advertising, which looks phenomenal to me. As someone who will be doing many jobs like this later in my career, this is definitely a site I will be looking back at for a while, and one I would recommend for others to look at for inspiration.

http://www.amandaohrt.com/

The next contestant doesn’t use photoshop, or anything with computers as far as I can tell, she uses metal and clay, in her sculptures. This next person goes by the name of Pamela Dueweke. Her website is chock full of good info about her stuff, exhibits, how to contact, all that good stuff. Pretty easy to explore also, if you like to sculpt, or just like to look at sculpture, this is definitely a good site for that. Her works vary, some more abstract, some not, either way you like she has really good works, which I recommend anyone look at.

http://www.pdueweke.com/index.htm

The middle contestant in todays game also does a few various things: photography, painting, portraits, really interesting things. The person of which I speak is Lauren Olivieri. Pretty simple website, not a lot of options at the top, but it has what it needs for you to navigate around in it. uses various mediums for different looks of things, good stuff overall. Also has a various range of abstract to non-abstract works, like many of the people I found. good site to look at if you just feel like browsing around or whatever.

http://www.laurenolivieri.com/index.htm

The second to last highlighted person does very abstract, almost trippy drawings. This person goes by the name of Dominique Heffley. Very crazy looking works, really explores the extent of what the mind can create, does paintings, drawings, and greeting cards actually. I don’t think i’ve seen their stuff in the store, but I’m sure its somewhere, maybe in spencer’s or something like that. I think it’s interesting, not somehting I would draw like, but very interesting to look at.

http://www.dominiqueheffley.com/index.htm

And lastly we have artworks by Ricardo Vela, whose works are done by the camera, and by the computer using those photos.  Some of it looks painterly, really good look about them. He tries to go for the peaceful, serene, natural world, and really does it well. So if you like that look, of nature, peaceful, serene kind of stuff, this is your guy.

http://www.ricardovelaphotography.com/index.htm?music=1

As far as what I want to do for my personal identity project thing, I don’t know what exactly I want to do, but I like the more simple, clean look, not too much on the pages, but enough to give the feel of what I do, what I can do, and what I’m all about. With any luck I’ll figure it out before the class is over.

what is web 2.0, and just how is it important to me?

When first asked what web 2.0 is, and how it affects me, i just gave the deer in the headlights look, sitting there in utter confusion wondering what you were talking about. this is what wikipedia had to say about it,”Web 2.0 is a term describing changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web.” When put that way, it kind of makes a little more sense to me about what it is. I can see why it could be important to me, because its helping update what’s being done on the web, and making it more creative friendly so designers like us can do more of what we’d like to make on the web and not be constrained yb any limitations. I found an interesting article on the annual web 2.0 summit, which has many people more web smart than me convene to discuss problems with things, new innovations, and various other things that would just plain confuse me. 

the links to wikipedia web 2.0, which I found to be helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

and here is the link to the web 2.0 summit thing: http://en.oreilly.com/web2008/public/content/home

hope these links help you figure out what web 2.0 is, and why its important to know what it is.

how web design is important to my career

to be honest, I’m more of a hands-on kind of artist, I never have really liked doing lots of stuff on the computer, it’s just not personal, your own, in my belief. I fully understand, however, how important web design is in graphic design, or in any field nowadays really. Everything is on the computers now, it now seems to be the only way to do anything, and if you want to be seen, noticed, anything, you have to have something online. This seems especially important to jobs like graphic design, so clients can find your business, see any work you’ve done, any information at all on you. Plus, we as designers have to know how to design on the web, create websites, do the upkeep, because this is part of what we have to do, and it also lets us be creative, as the computers are so advanced now, you really can do anything on them. It does seem really important to graphic design though, because the more creative you are on the web, the more people will notice you, come back to look at your page, business, whatever, and thats what clients want, is to be seen, noticed, so they come to the designers to come up with the most creative, noticable sites, because thats what we know how to do, is be creative, make appelaing things to look at. normally, i never would type anything this much, but this is actually a good thought-provoking question. so thats why I see it improtant to my career, is because people want creative things, so they come to the creative people who know how to make them noticable, seen. people want the best, and thats what we provide, is the best thing for them, website or logo or whatever.

so, anyway

thanks to a class I have at school, now everyone can hear my random thoughts and rambles, and let me know how crazy I sound when I go on and on about nothing. good times.