American Idiot

So I had the largest epiphany I've had in a while last week when doing my CD cover concepts. I was having trouble with them so I decided to look at some CDs I had for inspiration, which this was one of them. It wasn't until the I had already set it aside and glanced at it for the 2nd or 3rd time when it just suddenly hit me, "oh my God, it's Saul Bass"(<--literal thought process), which I then promptly looked up and yes indeed, the artist, Chris Bilheimer, was influenced by The Man with the Golden Arm. In high school I basically worshiped this album, and I remember thinking, the cover was so cool and punk looking with the colors and design of the hand, but now I can't unsee the Saul Bass-ness of it and that's all I think about now every time I look at it (thanks graphic design.....thanks). I guess it was just very surprising revelation to me how even now, the works from over 50 years ago can still have a strong influence on today's designs, even on some of the most unexpected things. 

- Catherine 

The 'Golden Age' of Posters

It was a great time to be doing posters.

This is a slightly different post in that it's not of a specific piece, but I feel it is important for what it is, especially since it was one of the featured articles when I first saw it.
The article is a short reflection of when poster designing really took off and how the artists had to depict a message through one image by using geometric shapes, colors, and text. It may seem like a no-brainer now, but imagine coming up with that back when there was nothing like it to reference. Even now, I am sure that there is some novel design technique and style that has never been seen before, it's just no one has thought of it yet. The article also mentions some of the "failures" of well designed posters because they were just ahead of their time, so the next time someone says your design sucks, maybe the world is just not ready for it yet.

- Catherine

UIC Summer Session Brochure

During the summer, I saw a stack of these brochures where I work at UIUC. I didn't pick them up at first, but they did catch my eye because they were just so bright and the typography was so appealing, especially compared to the other posters and fliers there. Have you seen ads in science/engineering buildings?? They're just awful. After walking by for a month, I finally picked one up just to use for inspiration in the future. I was so pleased when looking at the inside because it just looked so "young" and exciting that it almost made me want to take summer classes.....almost. I especially liked the way they put the calendar in it because you don't normally see an actual calendar in brochures. It's a great visual guide to how long the sessions will be. I also like the variety of colors and shapes used to mark the different events. Overall, I'm super glad I decided to get this. It's a great addition to my "inspiration box" (which is currently the box that my monitor came in) and I can see myself referring back to it for text heavy designs inspiration.

- Catherine

UIUC ECE Upgrade

I got this in the mail today and I really liked the way it is designed. Nowadays, people know exactly what to do when they see a #, so I like how they put a twitter tag as a "title". I also like the contrast between the bright orange and white (granted their color is orange). On the inside, instead of putting exactly half orange and half white, they made it so the orange goes over the fold crease, and for what? Just to create negative space and asymmetry, so it is modern, dynamic, and interesting to look at. The only thing I have to complain about is the typeface chosen for "ECE ILLINOIS" on the inside first page. It is the only thing is that typeface and I don't see the purpose, unless it's the logo for the ECE Building. 

- Catherine