Sunday, November 29, 2009

Holiday Wish List :: Pantone Deck

Next up for the Holiday Wish List are Pantone Decks
I got a full Pantone set when I graduated from High School and absolutely love it! It's easy to walk around with your deck when getting inspiration for a project to match up ink colors to something you see.

The FORMULA GUIDE is a necessary tool for graphic designers, pre-press professionals and printers. Use it to select, specify and match 1,114 solid PANTONE Colors. Ink formulations are provided along with helpful RGB and CMYK icons under colors that can be effectively simulated on-screen and in CMYK. The guide's simple design provides a convenient and portable reference that can accompany you at client presentations or on press.
cost: $125

Friday, November 27, 2009

Speaker :: Portfolios

 
You asked... we listened!
On Tuesday, December 1st Travis Olson from mono is coming to Stout to speak about Portfolios.

Freshman, Super Seniors and all Graphic Design majors from the area are encouraged to attend. This is a great opportunity to see some examples, ask questions and understand what employers want to see in a graphic design portfolio.

Travis Olson is the design director at mono and joined AIGA in 2004. Over his career he has worked on brands ranging from Barbie to Harley Davidson. At mono, he makes sure that every touchpoint of a brand is consistent, interesting and visually powerful. If he’s not at mono, you can find him covered in grease from his two vintage bikes, covered by two dogs (Taco and Ferdinand) or covered with “Kahs!” from his summer softball team, the Weaselhawks. - from AIGA Luncheon Series 2008

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Holiday Wish List :: L Letterpress

Does everyone keep asking you what you want for Christmas? In these Holiday Wish List posts, the officers and I will give you wonderful ideas to tell parents, friends or people that have been lucky enough to draw your name out of a hat.

First up... The L Letterpress Machine
I am absolutely in love with Letterpress - and those of you who toured Studio on Fire this past weekend will agree with me that it is absolutely beautiful.  I'm am super excited to announce the arrival of the L Letterpress Machine at Paper Source for $150

Here's how it works:
Step 1: Place printing plate on clear lid of L Letterpress tool. There are currently 15 printing plate sets with fantastic designs that can be mixed and matched to create an unlimited number of projects!


Step 2: Use the ink brayer to ink the printing plate. There are currently 20 ink colors available which can also be mixed to create additional custom colors!


Step 3: Place paper on the base of the tool. The L Letterpress paper is specifically designed for the L Letterpress tool to achieve that fantastic impression and soft texture.

Step 4: Close the lid of the L Letterpress tool and roll through the Epic Six tool to simultaneously print and deboss your image.




Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Thanks Mike

A huge thanks to Mike Voermans for coming to speak. It was good to have you back in menom Mike!


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Event :: Freedom on the Fence Screening and Discussion


Thursday, November 19, 2009 7:00 pm  
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
MCAD Auditorium 140
2501 Stevens Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55404 



Join us at MCAD for an exclusive screening of Freedom on the Fence and a discussion with director Andrea Marks about the film and the art of Polish posters. Whether you're a designer or are simply interested in art and design history, cultural history, or politics, you’ll want to be at MCAD Auditorium 140 on November 19th.

Freedom on the Fence presents a history of Polish poster art from WWII through the fall of Communism, detailing the evolution of this art form by revealing the revolutionary role posters played in the social, political, and cultural life of Poland. The film fuses contemporary footage of Warsaw and Krakow with remarkable archival footage (from the Polish National Film Archive) of posters on the streets and artists at work, providing context and demonstrating the contribution poster art made to Polish culture.

Cost:
AIGA Members: $8 advance/$10 door
AIGA Students: $5
Non-Members: $15 advance/$18 door


Monday, November 16, 2009

You asked... Phil Jones answered



A huge thank you to Phil Jones for coming out to Stout a few weeks ago.
You asked... Phil answered. Here are all the questions students had after Phil came:




AIGA: What was your biggest challenge after graduating from college?
Phil: My biggest challenge was that I was completely unprepared for a career in graphic design. I didn't know how to work most of the programs so I had to find lessons online and check out books from the library to teach myself. I would get an assignment and work half the night just teaching myself how to do it. I always had the ideas I just didn't know how to create what was in my head. The thing was I was never afraid to ask questions. I asked my boss to give me homework at my internship. I asked him a question a day and he would teach me how something was made or how to get that effect. By showing that desire I got jobs I had no business getting and was put on projects I had no business being on. Because they knew I wouldn't settle they gave me things to push me. You have to be like that or nobody will spend time with you. They want to know that you are listening and trying to improve.



AIGA: What advice do you have for graduating seniors looking for a job?
Phil: Don't be to picky. Everyone is looking for something bigger, better or different. I would guarantee you that you will find people at the best design shops in the world looking to move on or do something that excites them more. You cannot believe that the job you have defines you as a designer. You need to look inside yourself for constant motivation. If your job isn't giving you the work you want to do, then go find it. If you can't find it create it. The only way you get ahead in this business is by challenging yourself outside of what is brought to your desk. If you only do the work that is given to you by your teacher you will look like a student. If you reach out into the community while in school you could come out looking like a professional. I got my first job because I went out in the community and told everyone I would design something for them and the crazy thing was, people took me up on it and some even paid me for it. If you wait for the perfect project or the perfect creative brief to do brilliant work, you will be waiting your entire life.



AIGA: When looking through portfolios what stands out?
Phil: Fresh thinking. I want to open up a portfolio and see projects that make me think, why didn't I think of that. Here is a good test to see if your idea is unique. Tell the design problem to someone who you feel isn't very creative. If they answer the question the way you did, then it is safe to say that is a very easy solution. What you want to do is craft an idea into a brilliant visual or set of visuals. Work hard to make your idea smart and your approach innovative. What I find all to often is young people look very quickly to develop a "style". This is a very bad thing unless you are an illustrator. As a graphic designer you never want to assign each brand your style. Great graphic designers may refine their approach but always allow for the style to emerge from the client or the project they are working on. This is important because this is what we look for in a good portfolio, the ability to interpret the message or brand in a way that speaks loud and clear for them - not you.



AIGA: How important is social media? Do i really need to Tweet or twittered or whatever?
Phil: Social media is a must have in the market today. I am not saying that you have to have it to survive but you do have to understand it. As the internet evolves graphic design is ever more important. We are in charge of decoding information and making the internet enjoyable just as we did for many years outdoors on posters and billboards. Outside of a knowledge of the internet it is very easy to get involved with communities that will help you search out job openings, opportunities, new projects, new clients and friends within the graphic design community. It is called networking for a reason. What you need to do early on is build a huge net of people and contacts. The more people that know you, know your work, like you and know you are looking for a job the better your chances are of getting what you need. Be a part of the community online and make yourself known. Share your work and praise others great work. It goes a long way in building a career.



AIGA: In many of your projects you thought of an idea and then went to the client to pitch it. How common is this?
Phil: It is extremely common to do this. I talked about my process because this is exactly what you need to be doing to get out there and get seen by people. I have worked at some great places but I wasn't always getting the projects that I wanted to be working on. So when I went home at night I worked on projects that I wanted to work on. I did things for clients I thought I wanted to work with. Some people say visualize your success and it will happen, or dress for the position you want, or even fake it til you make it. These all are basically what I did. I worked really hard on projects and then called them up and tried to find someone who would listen to me or look at my work. It worked for me. Trust me it isn't all luck. I have heard a ton of no's but once I heard that first one I realized it wasn't that bad so I kept trying. Each time I learned and built on that experience and alot of those experiences are what put me where I am today. Like I said before if you only do what comes across your desk you will only grow that fast. If you demand better work and push to be heard I think you would be surprised who will listen.



AIGA: In freelancing, how do you manage your time?
Phil: Freelancing is a constant battle of time management. You have to make investments in time to meet with clients, meet with agencies and produce work that pays. It is not an easy thing to do. You have to understand that the majority of your time in freelance work is spent promoting yourself. That is why social networking and things like twitter become so vital. Once you have the business you have to create timelines and estimates to make sure that you stay on track with your clients needs and budget. Then once that is all taken care of you have to produce good work. Good work means good business. When you make the client happy they will be more than happy to pass your name along. That equals less time promoting and more time doing what you love - designing. 


AIGA: What is the best way to get freelance gigs?
Phil: Tell everyone you know, you design. Tell everyone you meet, you design. My biggest tool in getting freelance gigs is meeting up with people and doing good work. Doing good work will always get you more work. People will always remember the wonderful designer they hired to do their work and will always gladly pass along your name.



AIGA: How important is knowing web design if I want to do print?
Phil: It is a rare place this day and age that you will only need to know one area of design work. You really need to know the web even if you would rather only work in print. Another way to keep clients happy is to provide them with a large scope of design knowledge. You might not build their whole website but it would be good if you design their identity system that you know enough to show them what would look best on their website. Everything is moving towards the web and interactive. If you don't know it you really need to learn it because you job will require knowledge of it at some point in time I promise you that.  


AIGA: Where do you draw inspiration from and how do you incorporate it in your designs?
Phil: My inspiration comes from everything. I am constantly writing in my little notebook. I am constantly thinking and creating in my head. I usually try to avoid design annuals and communication arts magazines they only make you design along current trends. What I like to do is dig into the clients business. I like to learn things about their business that they might even find fascinating. I love the library and old books. I like vintage sign typography and watching my nephews draw. I think you pull from things that you love and if it makes sense for a client then use it, but if not then don't force it. What I would tell you to do is take that funny thing that happened on the bus or the way your fry landed in the ketchup and create something you want to see. If it works for a client that is great but if not create to learn and keep pushing yourself as a designer and more importantly an artist.



AIGA:  What are the pros of working freelance vs. working for a firm?
Phil: I think everyone should experience doing both at one point in their career. Early on I would recommend you work at a firm especially one you are able to learn at. Firms can be a wonderful environment full of creative energy. That is a great place to find out why your ideas work or why they don't. Being around seasoned pros they will be able to tell you what works and what doesn't about your idea. These are things you have to learn to be a great creative. It is really important to have an understanding of people's creative process and see how others work through problems.
On the flip side working for yourself allows you to be the boss and set your own guidelines. You need to be confident in your decisions because your clients depend on you to be the knowledgeable party. They expect you to know how to set things up for print and why they should use offset printing instead of digital. It is much more pressure to perform but when you have the knowledge of a few years in the field the problem solving becomes second nature and you can really explore things that you may not get the opportunity to if you are working as a designer for an agency or design firm.  


AIGA: How do you learn more about the programs like illustrator and photoshop? Do you look at tutorials?
Phil: I learn new things all the time. I get on places like lynda.com and other tutorial sites and re-teach myself things all the time - just to see if I am doing it right. If you stop learning you could very well fall into bad habits. Those sites are out there to help you get better as a designer. There is a ton of information out there and I still find myself trying out new programs or new approaches to the same old problems. Early on I lived by tutorials but you can't ever be satisfied. The software companies keep tweaking and perfecting their programs we should all be updating our skills to stay up with the technology.  


AIGA: How often do you do projects like threadless ts? 
Phil: I love threadless. I am not the best illustrator and my style isn't always what they are looking for but it allows me to think within a different realm. I don't always get the chance to design tshirts so it is fun to try and give it a shot. If it isn't threadless it needs to be something. You have to constantly try things and push yourself. If you want a package design in your portfolio then create a package design. If you need a website then create one. The only thing preventing you from reinventing your portfolio every month is you. As a young designer you have the ability to experiment and try things you may have no business trying. When you get older they look to see what has been produced or what awards you have but when you are young they don't care about any of that. All we want to see is a yearning for more and a constant striving to create something different.


Students can email Phil some of their work for feedback. He kind of likes us Stout kids :)

Speaker :: Mike Voermans :: Life after Stout


Stout Alum, and Larsen's web designer Mike Voermans is coming to Stout on Tuesday to discuss interactions with clients, collaborating with other designers and designing in the real world.

Mike has been one of my "go-to" guys since Freshman year - he's great at answering questions and helping solve problems.

Be sure to show up - even if you want to be a print designer, Mike can shed some light on why you want to be a well rounded designer versed in the world of web

Tuesday, Nov 17th
5:45, AA 210


{Poster designed by Graphic Design Junior and AIGA member Lenn Soderlund}

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Cocktails with Creatives at OM

Derek, Ross and Kayd went to Cocktails with Creatives a week ago and met tons of great people!



The next cocktails with creatives is Dec 3rd at Fabulous Fern's Bar and Grill

Great Northern Corporation Follow up

A huge thanks to Fred from Great Northern Corporation for coming last tuesday to speak with ID and GD students about the packaging industry and possible internship opportunities.


Thanks for everyone that made it out.


Monday, November 9, 2009

Intern Opportunities: Graphic Design & Industrial Design/Packaging & Display

Great Northern Corporation will be at Stout to talk about GD and ID internship opportunities.
 Nov 10th
AA 321
5:45pm


Great Northern Corporation/Chippewa Falls (Formerly Kell Container) has 2 student intern/coop positions available and will be presenting information about GNC at the AIGA Student Chapter Meeting on Tuesday, November 10th at 5:45 PM.

Great Northern Corporation is the largest independent corrugated paperboard manufacturer in the Wisconsin/Minneapolis market area designing and manufacturing Commercial Packaging (Brown Box); Consumer Packaging (Primary Product Packaging) and Point of Purchase Displays, both in Corrugated and Permanent materials.

The two positions are:
Graphic Design intern – participating in the design development, coordination and execution of graphics and print production.
Structural Design intern  - open to Industrial Design students – participating in the development and design of; and sample making of commercial packaging; consumer packaging and displays.

Both positions are paid full time positions, Monday to Friday 8AM to 4:30 PM.
The Graphic position begins January and runs 8 months until August
The Structural Position begins in May and runs until December.

Interviews can be set up through the Stout Career Services Office and will follow the November 10th presentation, date to be posted shortly.

Students and Faculty can check our website at www.greatnortherncorp.com for further Company information.

Great Northern will be on campus on Wednesday, November 18th conducting interviews through Career Services.  Students can sign up through the Stout Career Link.  If you need help signing up or registering with Career Services, please contact Sonja Gilberston at (715)232-1603.


{Poster Designed by Laura Howard, AIGA member and Graphic Design Senior. Laura workined at Great Northern Corporation last summer}

Friday, November 6, 2009

Cookie Decorating Photos

Here's some photos from cookie decorating -


Thursday, November 5, 2009

Make something cool everyday

Phil passed on this link for inspiration into Daily Design
If you are creating something cool everyday, or something cool every week SEND it to kaydmustonen@gmail.com and I'll blog about your creativity.


Tutorial A Day...

Following Phil's talk I think everyone is inspired about "one-a-day design". The challenge we pose to our members is to push yourself and learn more each day no matter how busy you are with your studio classes, Spanish exams or nap schedule.

I will be adding to THIS POST each day with a new tutorial and add a print out on the board outside of AA124. Mainly Illustrator and Photoshop tutorials taken from various tutorial sites.

Tutorial #1
Thursday, Nov 5th
Creating Vintage Vector Bottle Caps In Illustrator  via Vector Tuts


Tutorial #2
Friday, Nov 6th
Create a Sleep Illustration that Fades from Line Art to Color from PSD Tuts



Tutorial #3
Monday, November 9th
How to Create a Smokin' Western Type Treatment in Illustrator from Vectortuts




Tutorial #4
Tuesday, November 10th
Gradient Mesh Tutorial from Deviantart




Tutorial #5
Wednesday, November 11th
Create a Rolling Stones Inspired Tongue Illustration from Blog Spoon Graphics



Tutorial #6
Thursday, November 12th
Draw a Classy 3D Poker Chip in Photoshop from Tutorial 9



Tutorial #7
Friday, November 13th
Learn How to Draw Hand-crafted Pixel Art in Photoshop from PSD tuts


Tutorial #8
Monday, November 16th
How to create a realistic IES Lighting Effect in Photoshop from PSD tuts



Tutorial #9
Tuesday, November 17th
How to Create a Ribbon Using Blend Effect in Illustrator from Graphic Identity



Tutorial #10
Wednesday, November 18th
Using Shape Experimentation to Create Facial Features from Vector Tuts








Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Carbonmade : Easy On-line Portfolios


from Cram Blog by Matt:

"I came across this neat little site for creating online portfolios and I have to say that I think it to be awesome. Of course if your thing is web design, you should make your own. But if you are strapped for time or the web isn’t really your thing and you still need to get something up to show, it would be hard to do better than what carbonmade has created.
I think that this is so easy in fact that there is really no excuse for having some sort of simple portfolio online. So, what are you waiting for? Go make something…"

Cocktails with Creatives - Nov



Thursday, November 5, 2009 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.  
OM
401 N 1st Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
http://www.minnesota.aiga.org/events/2009/11/36310313

   
Come out and mingle with some of the most creative individuals in the Twin Cities area on November 5th from 6 tp 8 p.m. at AIGA's Cocktails with Creatives, located this month in downtown Minneapolis at OM. OM is a restaurant and bar which introduces a modern approach to Indian cuisine showcasing a unique blend of flavors found throughout India.
Bring your appetite along with your business cards as we will be sampling a variety of OM's finest cuisine. Come early and enjoy $2 drinks until 6:30

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

UW-Stout : Product and Package Design

Product and Package Design
program used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

1st project - Packaging in a set of three
2nd project - Software packaging
3rd project - Wine Bottle

In a portfolio book many employers want to see product design or package design because that's where most of their business comes from.

Airborne by Staci Paul



Paulie & Pollie by Katie Lupton



Desi Delights by Kayd Mustonen

more images to come once everyone gets their products photographed

UW-Stout : Type In Motion

As registration is upon us here is a insight as to what each design selective is all about:
TYPE IN MOTION
program used: Adobe After Effects
basically it's type... in motion
Awesome class to take if you ask me. The first project was a minimum of 2 minute sound clip from a movie or tv show. The second project was focused on the bibliography of a designer. The final project was a whole system for a tv network.


Step Brother from Ross Harried


Shamwow from Kayd Mustonen


Pork TV from Ian Crombie on Vimeo.


Garden TV from Kayd Mustonen on Vimeo.


Tween Scene from Ross Harried on Vimeo.


OMFGtv from Andrew Freeding on Vimeo.


RED redneck entertainment from Jessica Staude on Vimeo.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Speaker :: PHIL JONES

Join us at UW-STOUT as Phil Jones speaks about his experiences in the design word and focuses on freelance design.  Tuesday, Nov 3rd :: Applied Arts 210 :: 5:45



Phil Jones is a graphic designer and art director, working and living in Minneapolis, MN. His most known pieces is the Yoga One : Get Stretchy business card and promotional items featured on countless blogs and ABC's World's Wackiest Ads.

He is currently working as a full-time freelance designer after working for two years as a designer/art director for Wray Ward where he was a designer on accounts like AAA, WIX Filters and Chicago Pneumatic, Discovery Place and McColl Center for Visual Art. In addition to "for profit" work, Phil has donated him time and talent to develop campaigns for the American Red Cross, Humane Society, Hopeline – Vet2Vet Suicide Hotline and Save the Children.