Why graphic design?

In high school I excelled at visual arts like drawing and painting. Graphic design had always interested me but I was never fully sure as to what it was. This was because graphic design is a broad medium and can come in many different forms. Graphic design is the kind of art that is experienced on a daily basis. the simplicity of the medium is something that interests me, because it is so simple but takes time and effort to get right. I am mostly trying graphic design because of my curiosity for the medium and appreciation for the final product.

brand design

  Robert Brieisch

kim Barsegyan

Brand design interests because of its simplistic construct and visual attractiveness. The idea behind brand design is to make something that is iconic and recognizable. It is a challenge to create something that is both simple but artistically pleasing and eye grabbing.

Motion design

Since I am a film major I feel that motion design would complement that well. I feel that motion design and film trend to cross paths during the production stages of a film. Motion design creates the title screens, animations and visual effects. Motion graphics create some of the best aspects in film. The title screen is the first impression a film gives to it’s viewers, therefore the title screen like a brand or logo must be simple but must also be constructed well enough to convey the themes of the film and peek the viewers interest.

Mike Perry

Nelson Cash

What is graphic design?

Going into high school, I never thought that I would find my myself taking any graphic design courses. At my high school, they are some of the more popular classes we had to offer. Regardless of popularity, these classes never caught my attention until I was short a credit in my schedule. I decided to take Graphic Design 1 and I truthfully did not know what to expect. As someone who is a film major, I would definitely consider myself a visual learner. At first I thought that my graphics class was going to be challenging; however, it turned out to be one of the most fun and easy classes I took my senior year. Near the end of the last semester, I had to decide what classes I wanted to take. My friend had asked me a few times before to help with their Graphic Design homework and so I used my knowledge that I had obtained in high school to help them out. At this time I realized that I still had an interest in graphic design. I hope to use everything I learn in this class to help out with my film career. Advertising and branding are a very important part of film making and by taking this class, I can advance my knowledge and help my artistic ability and my film career. The two types of design in which I am most interested are in are Brand and Identity Design and Signage Design. These two types of design catch my eye for different reasons and both are very important in the graphic design field.

Brand and Identity Design: 

Every single brand has its own specific identity that they use in order to define how people see their brand. Every company works very hard to create a logo that will forever last in the mind of its customers. When people hear the word apple, their minds have diverted to thinking of the bright white logo that is found in the multiple apple products that they have within their house. Brand and identity design interests me because as someone who hopes to make a big name for myself, eventually I will need to create some sort of logo and/or branding label for myself.

While making a logo for anything, you need to make sure that it is pleasing to the eye and memorable. This type of graphic design also interests me because I believe that it is crazy how a single designer can leave such a long lasting impression on a person. For example, if someone says the letters I, B, and M, I don’t think of a random set of letters, I think one of the most popular computer hardware companies around. Branding and identity design within a company can make or break any given company which is why I hope that I can use this class in order to learn how brand and identity design will advance any company which i will be a proud part of.

The photos above show examples of brand identity design.

Signage Design:

Signage design interests me in multiple different ways. Signage design is one of the most simplistic yet so complex ways to get information to a reader or viewer. Combined with my interest in brand and identity design, I believe that these two types of design can come together and ultimately help not only major companies but small businesses as well. This is because small businesses often times have little to know way of getting their business off the ground because of financial issues or lack of resources. When designing a sign, whether it is for a big-name company or a local, small business, how you present it matters greatly.

Signage design is a type of design that is most always overlooked by the general public because of how subtle it is. When walking down the street you notice a sign for a new pair of Adidas sneakers. Soon after seeing that sign you see a sign that is for a new pair of Nike sneakers. You decide that you want to go back and look at the Adidas shoes. While Nike may be atop the sportswear industry, Adidas could have used bette signage design in order to get your attention better than that of Nike. Every day people pass by hundreds, if not thousands, of signs, all of which have been strategically designed by someone along the way. This type of design interests me because I believe that there is a lot more than meets the eye when you walk past any given sign and I will use this class to help expand my knowledge in the field of signage design but help me with personal/business branding in the process.

These show different kinds of signage design

Image by: takenobu Igarashi

“What is Graphic Design”

I became interested in graphic design after I had learned about 3D printing. I’m a BFA studio arts major thinking about becoming a duel major within the graphic design field. What had put me off to graphic design before was that I didn’t care much for working with computers. However after using the software for the 3D printing, it opened my eyes to the possible of becoming a graphic designer due to the fact it could expand my skill set.

What I took away from the reading was how graphic design has always been around us yet we have just recently become more of a graphic world due to technology. With technology the jobs involving graphic design have expanded to involving multi-media. Becoming a graphic designer, this article advises you to stay relevant with the times. Going to concerts reading the paper watching tv, going out into the world are prime examples. To be able to bring a relevant/creativeness taught process to your work.

Advertising Design

I found advertising design the most compelling when the work of the artist is able to represent a company through their logo while also being visually appealing. Advertising is known to play a significant apart in marketing. This helps the company identify themselves and create their own personality identity. These designs are important because the images have to visually appealing yet also have to convey a graphic message to the customers. Which in would take up a bit of the customer’s memory, so the next time they pass by the product they are more likely to purchase. Increasing sales for the company.

Ivan Chermayeff, Paula Scher, Michael Bierut

Typeface Design

Typeface was fascinating to learn to learn about because I truly didn’t know how much design and thought goes into each one. Also trying to create something that has been done billions of times in various different ways, yet sit there are new typefaces and people who strive to not be limited. To make a type face you have to design a new letterforms, fonts (inducing, variations as bold and italic), ligatures, letters, numeral and punctuations. Which requires a lot of time working on computers and yet is “May not be obvious to the general public”.

Eric Gill, Seymour Chwast, Alvin lustig

Exploring Graphic Design

I have loved art since I can remember, and I’ve always been sure that wherever I ended up in life I would be pursuing art. I discovered graphic design in high school after talking to a guidance counselor about career options; leading me to later job shadow a graphic designer working in the local area. She took on a variety of projects, mainly brand and information design, while working under a printing company. Admittedly I wasn’t completely sold on it at first, but the more I looked into it and thought about it, the more I was convinced that this was where I wanted to be.  Even in the event that after graduation I decide to find something else, I know that my education in graphic design will always be important to my interests.

Brand and Identity Design

The first thing that comes to a lot of peoples minds when you say graphic designs is company logos. I love the idea of being able to channel the energy of a company into their own identity with a design. Figuring out how to create the image and personality of a brand is like solving a puzzle. I used to be apart of an online art community that hosted weekly drawing contests based around a prompt. It’s that same feeling of being challenged on how to convey the idea the best way possible, while also trying to produce something original that stands out from the others.

A Library of Logos — Iconic Logo Designers — Articles on Logos

Book Jacket Design

The other design type that caught my eye on this list was book jacket design. I am a rather avid reader, and the cover of books is always something that’s interested me. Despite the old saying, you’re lying if you say you’ve never immediately judged a book by its cover. I certainly have been tricked into reading several books simply because I adored their covers, even if in the end they didn’t turn out as good as I’d hoped. Similar to brand and identity design, I also revel the idea of being challenged to convey the story and feeling of the book through my imagined design.

Book Cover Archive — Book and Magazine Cover Collection

Why am I interested in Graphic Design?

Graphic Design has always been a mystery to me. For the longest time I thought art just popped up out of nowhere and was used for labels and pretty signs to entice people to look at the product. All I know is that I love seeing the designs because they are so interesting and precise. I like thinking about how these artists made the signs and how much thought went into something. I am interested in Publication and Brand and Identity Design because I enjoy the thought of people seeing my designs on products and in magazines. I enjoy promoting things to make them more popular and more memorable.

Publication Design…

is a type of Graphic Design that includes articles, magazines, newspapers, and more for different uses such as fashion, retail, travel, etc. They use a lot of photography and typography for this type of design and these are things that I am very interested in. I enjoy photography very much and happens to be the exact reason why I want to be a photographer and learn photoshop. I also love messing with different fonts and trying to make my own unique font. I love making clever slogans and making it visually appealing and thought-provoking which gives me a good idea that I may be best in Publication Design.

Eye Magazine “is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about design and visual culture.”

Click here to open Eye Magazine webpage

YouWorkForThem “Since 2001, YouWorkForThem’s mission has been to be the world’s best source for design resources. We are privately owned and run by designers, and not subject to shareholders or bottom line.”

Click here to open YouWorkForThem webpage

Design Envy “Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant asked Lernert & Sander to make a photograph for their documentary photography special, with the theme food. The solution was a transformation of unprocessed food into perfect cubes of 2,5 x 2,5 x 2,5 cm. A simple and clever visual input in the debate of processed vs. natural food.”

Click here to open Design Envy webpage

Brand and Identity Design…

is another type of Graphic Design I am interested in. It is for businesses that need logos, business cards, advertising, websites, etc. It uses a lot of photoshop and typography and again that is something I am interested in. I love the idea of people recognizing my logo and knowing that it was my design that people know by heart. I love looking at intricate designs and seeing unique ideas that people came up with and talked about. Thinking about the trial and error and the countless hours and examples the person had to go through to find the logo just seems so worth it in the end.

Thirst “is a communication design practice based in Chicago. We work with the design, cultural, and civic communities.”

Click here to open Thirst webpage

TED “is a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks.”

Click here to open TED webpage

iStock “by Getty Images is one of the world’s leading stock content marketplaces, offering millions of hand-picked premium images at ridiculously low prices that you can only get from us.”

Click here to open iStock webpage

Why I am interested in Graphic Design

I am currently a Film Production major in my Junior year, I never really thought about Graphic Design until last year when I was trying to decide what classes to take. I don’t necessarily have a desire to be a graphic designer but I do feel that I can learn many different skills that can apply to film production. Being a film major is quite different from GD as I am slowly realizing as I have taken a few different classes about graphic design. Although they may be different I can see many similarities with how they both intertwine with each other and require dedication and lots of time management. I feel that I can apply knowledge from graphic design into my film career throughout the courses I take in graphic design to also improve my film career.

Screen Design

This type of design is a collaboration of  film production, experimental design and motion graphics. This type of design is very interesting to me because of the film aspect of it and how it includes media and the way we incorporate it into the layout and design of what we are looking at on the screen. Screen Design is also how we are conceiving and creating of the graphical user into using the site. The arrangement of the elements which can be seen on the screen is of greatest importance to intrigue and entice an audience to keep exploring what is on the screen in front of them. Film and Screen Design are similar in many ways in which we as filmmakers need to make something visually appealing and interesting to the audience.

Click Here to watch this awesome video about Production & Post 

Click Here to learn more about Content & Programming 

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Motion Graphics 

Motion graphics is a type of graphic design that caught my eye because it relates to film in a sort of way in which it involves adding sound, motion and a time sequence to pictures and words. This type of graphic design is a combination of film making and story telling to create a visual concept. I am very interested in this type of Graphic Design because it relates to a passion of mine. I sometimes believe that people don’t think that film making is something you can make a career out of unless you’re “good” at it. I think that if you believe that you are good at something you should go for in, this is why I was interested in Motion Graphics specifically because it is putting so many elements together from GD and film making that it creates something right in the middle

LUMES, light-emitting wood paneling

Don’t be a bully, loser.

Stuff I Thought As a Kid

What is Graphic Design…

My interest in graphic design started in high school. I worked with adobe illustrator and loved drawing on there. I am a studio art major, and I can’t see myself leaving it, but I am looking forward to learning graphic design. Although I find graphic design intimidating, I wanted to try and see if being a designer could be a path I’d want to follow. Even if I decide that graphic design isn’t for me, It would be something I’d like to learn so I can do it in my spare time as a break from the studio. I also feel that graphic design is a good tool to have for any career in the future. Let’s say I become successful with studio art after graduation, I’m going to need graphic design skills to make a cohesive webpage, pamphlets, business cards…etc. It’s a good thing to know, and is relevant in everyday life.

BRAND AND IDENTITY DESIGN

Target, Lacoste, Walmart, Hollister…etc. What do these and many more share, memorable brand logos. Target’s target, Lacoste’s alligator, Walmart’ss flower/firework looking logo, Hollister’s seagull. Little logos that mean big things to everyone, and are easily recognizable. Simple designs are something that I would be interested in trying. What stands out even more to me is brands representing the companies, and the complimenting logo. When I think of “Gregory’s Coffee” I think of walking by Bryant Park and seeing the emblem of the top half of a man’s face. I would love to be the designer who creates that logo that you just can’t forget. Like I said before, I like being told what to do. For this case it would be I would like to know what they want, whether itd be an object and I can make multiple renditions of it. Or maybe they want a specific emotion or feeling to be portrayed through something I feel is fitting. It’s interesting how much a logo and brand could make much more money just based on curb appeal through design.

logo options

brand design

brand and logo design

PUBLICATION DESIGN

Publication design interests me because it’s everywhere. Newspapers, magazines, periodicals…etc they are in every household or business. Everyone has seen one or all of these things, and read articles of news, travel, fashion, business…etc. It’s something we have all seen, and I could spend hours looking, then re-looking through magazines noticing different details in the designs, layouts, type, pictures, drawings…etc. An interest I have in publication design would be to see what I can do differently, to see how well I can promote the context through visual aids or different formatting. Or to see if there’s opportunity for making a spread purely for the art and graphic designing rather than including text. I think my personality would be good for this line of work because I’m great at being told what people want from me, rather than free expression. I’d like to be the person an author or journalist comes to for  my layout and design to compliment their text. I wouldn’t oppose changing my style for their perspective and goals in their layout. It would be amazing to be any part of publication, seeing as it’s everywhere and anyone and everyone has an opportunity to see the work that is done.

magazine design

magazine cover

option design

Why Graphic Design?

I first sparked an interest in graphic design when I took a graphics design class in high school, where I learned how to use computers to create logos, designs, magazine flyers, and business cards.  In the following graphics class, I had learned about the more physical side of graphic design, like how to create advertisements and signs for businesses, how to create vinyl stickers, how to use a typesetter, how to create shirts in many different ways such as screen printing and heat transfer paper.   I don’t really know yet if I want to become a designer, or just do it in my free time as a hobby.

What Draws You to the Brand and Logo side of Graphic Design?

Possibly my favorite part of graphics is being able to design logos for companies, and creating a corresponding overall image of the company itself.  I’d love to be able to create a logo that reflects the company in an appealing, yet fitting way.  For example, a famous designer by the name of Milton Glaser created the “I Love NY” logo.  This wasn’t for a company, but for the state and city of New York itself.  The logo is simple, easy to read, and attractive, it was designed to help attract tourists back to the city at a time that the city wasn’t looked at in a good light. And the logo was successful, 40 years later and the logo itself generates $30 million in merchandise a year, and helped bring back tourists to New York City. Being able to accomplish something like this is insane, although possible and actually occurs all the time with all sorts of different companies and the effect their logo can create on others.

Links: Logo and Identity Design   |   Milton Glaser   |   What Make’s a Great Logo

What Draws You to the Advertising side of Graphic Design?

I personally feel that advertising design goes hand in hand with brand and identity design and are quite similar. While brand and identity tends to focus more on the logo itself and how it reflects the company or organization as a whole.  Advertising design focuses on the ads themselves. Take the company Budweiser, their logo itself hasn’t changed much at all over the past century, but their advertisements themselves are constantly changing to remain appealing and modern, while still sticking with the same overall theme.  Their ads are manly or appealing to men and thats because they’re targeting the audience that has proven to be the most profitable for them, but they still change it enough to stay in style.  This is what I find thrilling, being able to create an advertisement that sends messages through visuals that evokes certain feelings and emotions in people.

Links: TV Advertising   |   Advertising Design   |   Advertising Industry

I didn’t know much about graphic design and I never thought I would like it. I only took graphic design at my high school so I could get enough art credits. After taking graphic design 1 and 2 in school I really enjoyed it. My first graphic design class I didn’t know what to except or what we would even do. In the beginning I felt that it was very confusing and that maybe I should switch out. I had no clue what to do on the computer or what object did what. I ended up staying in the class and after a couple weeks I got the hang of it. I decide to take the second graphic design class my senior year and I already knew what I was doing and liked it a lot. I never thought I would ever do graphic design in college or maybe as a major but now I might be thinking about it.

I had no clue what types of graphic design I would like. After reading the passage I learned a lot more about the different types of graphic design that I didn’t know existed. The two graphic designs that caught my eye and I seemed to like the most were Type Design and Publication Design.

Type Design 

I found type design to be very interesting. I learned about the different fonts that you can use and how each font means something different just by the way it looks. Its amazing how someone takes time to come up with a new font that can then be changed into either bold or italic. Having one word and changing one thing about it I think it makes it mean something else. The way the different fonts look I think it gives off a different meaning. Making something for a brand or any type of label I feel would be a good fit for me because you have to be patient and organized which I think I am.

To learn more about typography click here Typography     What is Typography

Publication Design

I found publication design to be very interesting. I thought about how fun it would be to make a magazine cove, newspaper or something for a business. I like reading magazines and looking at the front covers because thats the first thing mostly everyone sees. You can see how the creator uses the different colors, layouts, pictures and how they set it up. I didn’t know much about publication design but now I know how important it actually is because everyone sees it. In high school I had to make a magazine cover in one of my graphic design class and I really enjoyed doing that project. Its interesting seeing all the pictures on the front cover and seeing how they made the magazine cover by putting labels, pictures and fonts together. I feel this would be a good fit for me because I could see myself doing this and taking different pictures and putting them together to make the perfect front cover.

To learn more about publication design click here Publication Design    What does a publication designer do

Why Graphic Design?

Throughout my four years of high school, I lived in the “Graphic Communications Lab.” This was a class that I took randomly as a ninth grader, and soon fell in love with. It became more than a class to me, it became my home. Through this class and the ones to follow, I gained great knowledge in how to use InDesign, Illustrator, and I dabbled in Photoshop. I also became comfortable using the technology of a color printer, a large format printer, a screen printer, a printing press, a laminator, a folding and scoring machine, a cutting machine, and many others. I was incredibly lucky to have gone to a high school that gave me the opportunity to find my passion. The shop was able to continuously buy up to date equipment by having the students participate in live jobs for parents, employers, and the city itself. Working with clients and being responsible for creating work that I could later see being utilized throughout the town taught me important skills such as time management, professionalism, work ethic, and confidence, as well as increasing my experience on the graphic design programs. Throughout my high school career, I fell in love with creating logos. By reading “What is Graphic Design?” I learned that I am most interested in Brand and Identity Design and Book Jacket Design.

Brand and Identity Design

Throughout high school, I had the opportunity to create logos for local companies. Whether they were being put on business cards or printed on clothing, knowing that my creation was the focal point for many printed advertisements of said companies was inspiring in itself. I love how logos can have an incredibly simplistic design and still be unique and eye catching. They are functional and designed to embody something about the company they are for. This symbolic expression of design allows for a lot of creativity. The piece of artwork literally becomes the brand’s identity which means that along with stating something about the company, effective logos use emotion to express the company’s goal. It is this challenge of creating something never done before that is both simplistic and memorable that I love about creating logos.

Book Jacket Design

I personally have never listened  to the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” I used to be an avid reader and I largely picked the books I wanted to read purely based on whether or not they were attractive and compelling to look at. I always felt that the visual design on the front gave more insight on what the book would be about, then the summary on the back. Standing in a book store with all the time in the world, I take a step back and scan the side edges of all the book covers. If one pops out to me, I will remove it from the shelf and examine the front of it. I love how much power the design of a book jacket has on potential readers. Although many people deny it, I feel as though all books can be judged by the design on the front for it is usually the sole image in the entire book and thus it starts reader’s imaginations. I think this process of creating a book jacket is fascinating because there are limitless possibilities to what impact it could have on the reader.