Veloria

- GDMA Student - Going Somewhere - 

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Templates

Killing our copyright integrity?

With the increase of online sharing and stock files creates an opportunity to be their own graphic designer (and for cheap most of the time). However as a designer and as a graphic designer I believe there is little value in having such a vast compilation of designs and pre-made business solutions. They not only take away work from us as designers but also create a marketplace where everyone has the same or similar imagery styles and layout elements. While this is not a new problem for creative professionals such as photographers. It is further encouraging the use of unpaid stock photos and free templates for graphic design. However there is a counter argument that all should be provided with equal opportunity and resources, but that fails to define the qualities and strengths of a business or marketing plan.  A design should not only reflect the money that was spend on it, but also the use of time, careful planning, and differentiating it from the competition on values.  

Ultimately if the design was so closely replicated in cases such as stock logo designs, there would be uproar from the designer or design company for copyright infringement. By providing so many branding identity designs for such a little or no cost it devalues the design exponentially. 

Examples

https://www.stocklayouts.com/Templates/NewReleases.aspx

https://stocklogos.com/

https://www.istockphoto.com/ca

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Can packaging promote purchase habits?

With the revival of cardboard texture and use of botanical elements in our packaging design we may be influencing consumers to buy high quality as to incur less frequency. For this example I will use the packing of soaps and consumable.

While we are not quite seeing this (coconut shell packaging for fruit)

 We are seeing more of this (cardboard and recyclable materials)

And this (local crafted products and packaging)

And this (partial packaging for marketing for items which need less protection)

This use of natural imagery and natural/recyclable materials is suggestive that both designers and product providers are willing to move into a sustainable materials as long there is a market. The Environmental Professional Network included the use of recyclable materials here and we are seeing a movement both in-store locations and even online (seen here) to reduce and remove packaging and promote reusable containers.

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12 Beautifully Designed Advent Calendars Just In Time For the Holidays

With the holidays right around the corner we wanted to celebrate some advent calendars that are taking their design to the next level. Advent calendars were traditionally designed to count down the days until Christmas and would often serve a religious purpose. In modern times however, the advent ca

The Dieline is some that I subscribe to and will show up constantly in my Pinterest feed. This post was written just to my interest too. 

Something I just have to mention is my current obsession with beautifully designed advent calendars, the challenge or creating a physical construct that holds something other than a plastic sheet with little bits of chocolate astounds me. With the task of hiding or bringing attention to 24 (or 12 if you want socks from target) I am delighted with the number of beautifully and craftily well designed advent calendars this year.

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Digital Stylus

The new and friendlier option.

As designers we love our tools, working away hour after hour, relying on the function to drive our concepts into solutions. With an interactive laptop, or a touch capable work space, I researched what my options were without buying an additional graphics tablet. 

Ultimately I found my list of comparable products, consisting of:

The Apple Pencil 

The Adobe Ink and Slide 

The Surface Pencil 

and the Bamboo Ink + the Bamboo Sketch 

While the Apple pencil offers competitive technology, its range of supported devices are so minimal you have to almost exclusively work on the iPad Pro and while there are Adobe Suite Apps, there is little possibilities of completing a project solely on the iPad. 

The Adobe Ink and Slide had many of the same problems, they offered an increased range of support on the iPad’s, supporting the newer generations of the iPad in addition to some of the iPad Pro models. 

The Surface Pencil both marketed and performed similar to the Apple Pencil, although because it was released first, it does not offer the same level of technology (tilt detection for example). The Surface Pencil was also one of the most restrictive, built initially for work only on the Surface Pro tablet it left users disappointed with the promised compatibility on other Surface models. 

The Bamboo Ink and the Bamboo Sketch are a newly released WACOM digital stylus’ available for both IOS and Windows. They were released around March 2017, and available for sale in June 2017 in the UK. They are the first company to offer both a Mac and Windows supporting system, with all the technology and a continually increasing platform for app capability. Not only do these allow for new technology but the Bamboo Ink is fully supportive of Windows Ink, allowing it to be used directly in Adobe Suit apps on supporting laptops and tablets. 

See more here

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Book Jacket

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 

This was an individual project, done with the purpose or creating a new dust jacket for a book from a provided list. I chose to redesign “The Handmaid’s Tale” as it was a book I was interested in reading and I had no former exposure to the book or the movie. With the new mini-series on Hulu, I wanted to stick with illustrated imagery and chose not to watch the series so I was not influenced by the design choices already there. 

My book jacket is deep rooted concept, one playing on many themes of the book while drawing on the imagery or gardening (tulips or flowers) and the public hanging. To create a subtle yet somewhat horrifying image I chose to hide the hanging by turning the image upside-down and allowing the dresses create a flower like shape. Due to the numerous editions of the book, this was directed at a target market of those who had been a previous audience or would understand the scene after watching the mini-series. 

references for mock up

<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-psd/realistic-book-cover-presentation_1016369.htm">Designed by Freepik</a>

<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-psd/realistic-book-cover-presentation_1016367.htm">Designed by Freepik</a>

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Newspaper Redesign

The Georgia Straight

We were tasked to redesign a local newspaper in our publication class. In teams we chose, researched, and redesigned a newspaper that we felt needed an update. My partner and I chose The Georgia Straight, a local and free publication that focuses on arts and entertainment. While this could reach a large audience of Vancouverites, it looses majority of possible readers with the large number of advertisements.  

The redesign features the use of a themed cover page transitioning the movement though the newspaper. This creates an exciting and artistic twist that both advertisers and entertainers would want to advertise in. 

The project featured: the use of layouts on a gridline, being able to create a unified concept across multiple pages, the use of colour and text elements to create interest, and a team member provided someone to bounce ideas off of.

the hardships of this include having to send the document between people again and time management is key, having to produce visual skills first in order to support team development.

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IKEA

The fine line between quality and cost, designing furniture to last a lifespan not a lifetime.

The ideal outfitters for completely redoing a room or when moving into your first home. Put together with a small booklet of information and a packaged pre-sorted assembly kits. IKEA is known for doing average and above average offerings. These however are not timeless, are not recycling friendly and are not moving friendly. Not quite fast fashion and not quite classics, the Ardines in a world of Bluenotes and Bootlegger. Reasonable price for quality and designed for personal assembly with no prior skills. 

For this they are highly successful, designing so that many people are can put together large pieces of furniture without any expensive tools and 1-2 people spending a time span of hours and not days to build a withstanding purpose serving addition to the home. 

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Typeface vs Font.................... to a Non-Designer

Explaining typefaces vs fonts to a non-designer.

General exposure to the word “font” is that of the Word Processing drop down font menu. With this perception that the “font” holds the style and additional options of Italic, Bold, and Capitals. While designers know that the style of the characters are built in by the Typeface and the font is a resulting set of characters derived from that style. Common derivations of English (Latin-English most commonly) words however would suggest a type “face” would be the visual result of this style. Each character literally being a face of the designed style. While we know this not to be the case, it does seem a reasonable explanation. 

Explaining the concept is that a typeface is that of the signature or style and that a font is the character set that is visually presented and chosen.

 In a blog called NERDPLUSART they put it eloquently by analogy,

“I think it's easiest to understand the difference by analogy: a typeface is like a song and a font is like a recording. One is the definition, the other is an instance. One is a concept, the other a manifestation.” - http://nerdplusart.com/type-terminology-smackdown/

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Fear

What does fear do to our design?

Does fear push us to be successful, past our comfort zones, and into the unknown? What about the different kinds of fear, fear of failure, embarrassment, deadlines, or the unknown.

Some people report working well under pressure of with fear driving the self-perception of the project. Allowing fear to build the fire of hard work and passion, fear forcing us push past the meek suggestions that may not be “good” enough. Fear is a driving force and an emotional state both created and situated in where we choose to be mentally and physically. We chose to either be motivated or burdened by fear. 

Fear of failure in design can allow us to focus on the specifications and constraints of a design, reminding the use of the design, the user safety, durability and codes. Creating a successful, conscious design where fear is an instrument.

Fear of failure could also be seen as a restriction, a halt in confidence building innovation and exploration of ideas. The stopper of “what if”. Creating a harsh negative impact placing strain and underachievement on the designer.

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Minimalism

All design should be true definition minimalist

Recently after watching the Netflix documentary “Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things” it inspired further research into the general perception of what minimalism actually is. One thing that really resonated with me was something that Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus mentioned in the film was that it was not a set of restrictions that defined minimalism but by the removal of anything not essential or without value (“the minimalists”). This meaning that if you wish to collect hundreds of figures or collectable items, then have them only if they bring value into your life. An object brings you happiness, minimalism does not require you to get rid of it. Minimalism requires you to reduce everything else so you have time for that object or that activity.

This application to design can be a beautify thing, to remove all that holds no value and be left with pure communication and purpose. Intricate details and multiple objects can support graphic design messages when done correctly. This resulting in a dynamic design that communicates the message with strength and value.

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HYPHEN show 2017: David Fenton builds empathy for social issues through gaming

The industry that produces chocolate comes with a heavy human cost- yet it’s far too easy for Western consumers to turn a blind eye to injustices and hardships that happen far away from them, out o…

Social Design

- Summary and response to “HYPHEN show 2017: David Fenton builds empathy for social issues through gaming” by GOLDSMITHDESIGN - 

Using design as a social platform is not unheard of, although not too popular due to the nature of not paying well. Individuals and for profit companies usually do much in their power to convey positive messages to support positive public perception. These companies often avoid affiliation with social issues that can elicit strong negative emotional responses.

One designer, David Fenton, decided it was time to bring light upon the West Coast cocoa industry by using his platform to create the game Modern Cocoa Farmer. While he was not alone in the creation of the project, he was the visionary for the game and the website  where the game can be found. According to the GOLDSMITHDESIGN Blog; the Modern Cocoa Farmer “raises awareness and educates about the plight of children in the cocoa industry in West Africa” by using real statistics and attempts at accurate representation. In an excerpt quote Fenton mentions he didn’t want to create a “superficial representation” so there are no winners to reflect “more accurately the lives of people in West Africa”.

With the new age of streaming, social sharing, and information influx; it is also increasingly easier to ignore or scroll past emotional uncomfortable information. As designers in this age we have a larger responsibility than ever before to use social design to prompt education and growth.

The game itself is a project done in good measure, its greatest success is showing the potential of social design as a tool for education.

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Bio

I grew up in Australia, moving to Canada during high school in the hopes of connecting with family and going to school here. The water has always been a happy place so being able to connect with nature is important to me.

I enjoy going on outside adventures and spending time with my dog and my hedgehog (although not at the same time so much…).

If I were to describe myself it would be conclusive that I am someone who needs to observe in order to understand. I thrive on making connections and trying to communicate those connections to others. My hopes for the future are to someday be a creative director for a company, to inspire and collaborate with others to do something amazing.   Bio can also be found at https://veloria2100.tumblr.com/bio