So this article has been up for a while on LogoLounge.com but I thought I'd go ahead and post it anyway to see what you guys thought about it.
LOGO Trends
So this article has been up for a while on LogoLounge.com but I thought I'd go ahead and post it anyway to see what you guys thought about it.
Dear ComDes grads...
So I found this artist through another site and loved the work. Curious to see more, I went to their actual website. Wow. So many moving parts , I was distracted and confused at the same time. Just curious about you guys opinion.
Underwater Sculpture Park Art Installation
Jason de Caires Taylor has created the world’s first underwater sculpture park with spectacular results. The works are close enough to the surface to be seen by snorklers and visited by divers but left to decay, deform and accumulate living plants as any lost wonder of the sea. These works, though seemingly less accessible on the surface (no pun intended) are in fact huge draws as people travel from around the world to visit them.
AIGA Competition
For any CommDes people who need another contest entry, AIGA's annual competition deadline is March 5. Entries are $35 each for AIGA members. And if you're not a member, you should be! (it's a nice line on your CV). Here are the details:
The Wide, Wide World of Graphic Design
Rozina Vavetsi, a professor of Graphic Design at the New York Institute of Technology, reflects on her time in school and transition into teaching after being immersed in the "real world" of design. I think this Article rings true for most of those graduating with a B.A. in Design, but I'm curious about our role as Educators. Should we nurture and facilitate free-range creativity if it is not an available option after graduation? Or is it even fair to? I think a lot of the younger students get caught up in the possibilities and/or on the idea that Graphic Design is "cool". However, we still exist in a professional environment that will not always want or appreciate our skill set.
I found another article, below, on an aiga newsletter, and while it is older (2003), I believe it is still relevant. I actually like the idea of a 5 year program. I think designers need the time to apply their knowledge before graduation.
WHAT GRADUATES HAVEN'T LEARNED
John, hired by a design firm right out of school, just finished his first design for a client. It's beautiful. And hip. But it has little to do with solving the problem. John's boss complains, "What did they teach you in school?"
Like many young creatives, John was lured into design school by the notion that graphic design is the best way for artists to make a living. While design certainly is a creative field, it is also part of the professional communications industry, and as such demands skills in both critical thinking and problem solving. Learning—and teaching—these skills is no easy task. This is a report card from the professional community on design education. What skills are students graduating with? What skills do they seem to lack?
The skills you already have
Computers and aesthetics. Everyone we asked gave high grades to graduates' computer skills. Today's grads are also more skilled in aesthetics than designers from previous generations. (This may be the result of sophisticated education techniques, and it may have to do with the fact that you've been bombarded since birth with well-funded consumer campaigns and pop-culture imagery.) Marry that well-developed aesthetic sense with advanced computer skills, and you get another strength: highly professional presentation skills. Practitioners and employers give schools high grades for teaching the surface techniques of graphic design.
The skills to build on
Think first. "Newcomers can spit out pretty darn spiffy work," says Tamar Rosenthal, creative director for FIDM in Los Angeles, "but the product is often idea poor." Pat Samata, of Samata Mason, a Chicago-area firm, tells of working with young designers who believe they've solved a client's problem by making a piece look "cool." It seems that some schools aren't teaching students to listen, or think, before they design.
Get up to pace. Steff Geissbuhler of Chermayeff & Geismar says that though schools are teaching the design process well, juniors are often shocked by timelines, budgets and the typically incomplete information clients give at the beginning of a project. Other designers agree that new graduates work too slowly, and that school has failed to prepare them for the pace of the real world.
Sharpen your business sense.
Senior members in the firms I called also find that many juniors lack an understanding of basic business principles and the role a designer plays in the business world. Bryan Peterson, of Peterson & Co. in Dallas, Texas, added that though business knowledge develops thoughout a career, schools should cultivate students’ awareness and interest in the basics. “The designer who doesn’t understand business will be severely handicapped,” he says.
Practice speaking and writing. Another basic that juniors are found to lack is skilled communication. Both in writing and on the telephone, new grads are judged mediocre.
Concentrate on the problem. A common mistake young designers make is to eloquently and passionately solve the wrong problem. They think hard, care deeply and chase rainbows.
Why are there gaps? So employers find today’s design graduates inarticulate; lacking in depth, judgment and business savvy; overly infatuated with everything “new”; and unaccustomed to workplace demands. Sounds familiar. What’s the difference between the cool-and-hip grad today and cool-and-hip grad 15 or 20 years ago? Probably very little. So what is different today?
Expectations have changed. The real changes seem to lie not in the people, but in the business. Studios, graduates and schools are working with higher expectations, higher expenses and less time. Project fees have held steady as we’ve grown increasingly dependent on expensive technology to produce designs faster. Tuition is up, and so is the cost of supplies (software and computers), leaving graduates deeply in debt and pressed to “pay their dues.” Design schools are expected to produce articulate, culturally literate, aesthetically developed, conceptually deep and business-wise graduates with expert computer production skills.
The time frame is too short. Most design programs in the U.S. are expected to do all of this within three or four years, putting an enormous amount of pressure on faculty and students. Given the time frame allowed, it’s inevitable that gaps will appear. Whether it’s in the cultivation of design skills, business skills or social maturity, filling these gaps now falls in the lap of the first employer.
Who is your competition? Meanwhile, you’d be surprised how many firms prefer to hire graduates from Europe. “There’s more rigor in the education there,” says Terry Irwin of San Francisco. The one problem she confirms: “visa problems.” Otherwise, it seems studios would be full of Europeans. Their attractiveness is due to a combination of discipline, eagerness, and problem-solving and aesthetic skills. What gives Europeans this edge? First, the average design program across the Atlantic lasts six years: enough time to smoothly integrate knowledge with practice, get grounded in liberal studies and gain personal maturity. Most European schools are supported by their governments, too, so they’re less expensive to attend. Europeans can afford to stay in school longer than their American counterparts, and they aren’t harried by debt after graduation.
Survival through learning Schools are under a lot of pressure in this highly competitive industry to create the best possible curriculum while keeping costs reasonable. They’ll have to prioritize what they can provide within tight time parameters. One solution might be to require computer skills or basic liberal studies as a condition of acceptance. (They can be studied much more cheaply at community or junior colleges, anyway.) Employers may have to accept that they can’t have it all in a 22-year-old. And graduates may have to realize that getting a degree is only the first stage in a lifetime of learning.
Petrula Vrontikis is principal of Vrontikis Design Office and a faculty member at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She lectures at universities, to professional organizations and at conferences nationwide about her work and about graphic design education and inspiration. She is currently on the National Advisory Board of AIGA. Petrula recently authored and designed inspiration=ideas, a creativity sourcebook for graphic designers.
I found another article, below, on an aiga newsletter, and while it is older (2003), I believe it is still relevant. I actually like the idea of a 5 year program. I think designers need the time to apply their knowledge before graduation.
WHAT GRADUATES HAVEN'T LEARNED
John, hired by a design firm right out of school, just finished his first design for a client. It's beautiful. And hip. But it has little to do with solving the problem. John's boss complains, "What did they teach you in school?"
Like many young creatives, John was lured into design school by the notion that graphic design is the best way for artists to make a living. While design certainly is a creative field, it is also part of the professional communications industry, and as such demands skills in both critical thinking and problem solving. Learning—and teaching—these skills is no easy task. This is a report card from the professional community on design education. What skills are students graduating with? What skills do they seem to lack?
The skills you already have
Computers and aesthetics. Everyone we asked gave high grades to graduates' computer skills. Today's grads are also more skilled in aesthetics than designers from previous generations. (This may be the result of sophisticated education techniques, and it may have to do with the fact that you've been bombarded since birth with well-funded consumer campaigns and pop-culture imagery.) Marry that well-developed aesthetic sense with advanced computer skills, and you get another strength: highly professional presentation skills. Practitioners and employers give schools high grades for teaching the surface techniques of graphic design.
The skills to build on
Think first. "Newcomers can spit out pretty darn spiffy work," says Tamar Rosenthal, creative director for FIDM in Los Angeles, "but the product is often idea poor." Pat Samata, of Samata Mason, a Chicago-area firm, tells of working with young designers who believe they've solved a client's problem by making a piece look "cool." It seems that some schools aren't teaching students to listen, or think, before they design.
Get up to pace. Steff Geissbuhler of Chermayeff & Geismar says that though schools are teaching the design process well, juniors are often shocked by timelines, budgets and the typically incomplete information clients give at the beginning of a project. Other designers agree that new graduates work too slowly, and that school has failed to prepare them for the pace of the real world.
Sharpen your business sense.
Senior members in the firms I called also find that many juniors lack an understanding of basic business principles and the role a designer plays in the business world. Bryan Peterson, of Peterson & Co. in Dallas, Texas, added that though business knowledge develops thoughout a career, schools should cultivate students’ awareness and interest in the basics. “The designer who doesn’t understand business will be severely handicapped,” he says.
Practice speaking and writing. Another basic that juniors are found to lack is skilled communication. Both in writing and on the telephone, new grads are judged mediocre.
Concentrate on the problem. A common mistake young designers make is to eloquently and passionately solve the wrong problem. They think hard, care deeply and chase rainbows.
Why are there gaps? So employers find today’s design graduates inarticulate; lacking in depth, judgment and business savvy; overly infatuated with everything “new”; and unaccustomed to workplace demands. Sounds familiar. What’s the difference between the cool-and-hip grad today and cool-and-hip grad 15 or 20 years ago? Probably very little. So what is different today?
Expectations have changed. The real changes seem to lie not in the people, but in the business. Studios, graduates and schools are working with higher expectations, higher expenses and less time. Project fees have held steady as we’ve grown increasingly dependent on expensive technology to produce designs faster. Tuition is up, and so is the cost of supplies (software and computers), leaving graduates deeply in debt and pressed to “pay their dues.” Design schools are expected to produce articulate, culturally literate, aesthetically developed, conceptually deep and business-wise graduates with expert computer production skills.
The time frame is too short. Most design programs in the U.S. are expected to do all of this within three or four years, putting an enormous amount of pressure on faculty and students. Given the time frame allowed, it’s inevitable that gaps will appear. Whether it’s in the cultivation of design skills, business skills or social maturity, filling these gaps now falls in the lap of the first employer.
Who is your competition? Meanwhile, you’d be surprised how many firms prefer to hire graduates from Europe. “There’s more rigor in the education there,” says Terry Irwin of San Francisco. The one problem she confirms: “visa problems.” Otherwise, it seems studios would be full of Europeans. Their attractiveness is due to a combination of discipline, eagerness, and problem-solving and aesthetic skills. What gives Europeans this edge? First, the average design program across the Atlantic lasts six years: enough time to smoothly integrate knowledge with practice, get grounded in liberal studies and gain personal maturity. Most European schools are supported by their governments, too, so they’re less expensive to attend. Europeans can afford to stay in school longer than their American counterparts, and they aren’t harried by debt after graduation.
Survival through learning Schools are under a lot of pressure in this highly competitive industry to create the best possible curriculum while keeping costs reasonable. They’ll have to prioritize what they can provide within tight time parameters. One solution might be to require computer skills or basic liberal studies as a condition of acceptance. (They can be studied much more cheaply at community or junior colleges, anyway.) Employers may have to accept that they can’t have it all in a 22-year-old. And graduates may have to realize that getting a degree is only the first stage in a lifetime of learning.
Petrula Vrontikis is principal of Vrontikis Design Office and a faculty member at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She lectures at universities, to professional organizations and at conferences nationwide about her work and about graphic design education and inspiration. She is currently on the National Advisory Board of AIGA. Petrula recently authored and designed inspiration=ideas, a creativity sourcebook for graphic designers.
The Brander and the Bigelow.
So here is some recent work that I've been working on. The top is my self identity that can be seen on my teaching packet material as well as my website. The next was a logo and package redesign that I did for Bigelow Tea Co. Feel free to give your feedback, also for more images or bigger images check them out at www.jacobcotton.com.
While on a Kitchen Safari... Sock Monkey Discovers Green Bee
This is one of my most recent photographs. I simply noticed a relationship between several objects at once that lead me to some new ideas around the house. I would like to know what you all think.
Complexity Paradox
It seems like we are always learning complex ways to simplify our work while we usually simply complicate our work. This article can be seen as relevant in many ways.Link
edwardkersh.com
I've finally launched my website. It's the first site I've had online in quite a while and the first time I've registered a domain name. I realize the coding is archaic and completely invalid versus current standards, but please let me know if you see any problems. Critiques or suggestions on design or content are certainly welcome as well.
Also, to the grads: let me know if any of you want me to add a link to your page (for purposes of Google boosting, etc).
Also, to the grads: let me know if any of you want me to add a link to your page (for purposes of Google boosting, etc).
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