Simply Beautiful Design

Do you feel overwhelmed with the complexity and daily noise of life? Why not relax and look at some simply beautiful design at Geometry Daily!

http://geometrydaily.tumblr.com/

Minimalist story telling

You may have heard of Blaise Pascal famously ending a correspondence to a friend with "I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had time to make it shorter." Many writers identify with this because they understand how much time and effort is needed to convey complex meaning in few words.

I'm no designer, but I'd imagine they face similar challenges when conveying meaning with minimal visual elements. At least that's what I thought of when I saw this series of minimalist posters for fairy tales. Scroll slowly and see if you can guess the tale with just he image.

Design thinking: A new egg carton?

Welcoming spring with this innovative egg box design by a University of West Hungary student.

The redesigned carton is made of cardboard and a rubber band. It's flexible and environmentally friendly.

Think it will make it to the supermarket?

Stay creative

Just a nice video to help you think of ways to stay creative...

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

A banana nut muffin

It happens to the best of us. You sit down to start a project or feature article...or a blog entry for the Communicators Forum and you get stuck. The blank page or screen is the biggest dam for creative juices. How can you get them flowing? 

Just start writing. You could just get out what you want to say and agree to come back later and fix it or you could just start with a stream of consciousness. 

Get up and go somewhere else. Maybe if Charlie had moved his typewriter to a less dismal location, inspiration would have hit!

Exercise! A quick walk around the block or a trip to the gym might give you a bolt of creative energy from just getting your blood circulating to your brain. 

Look at something completely unrelated. Watch a short TED Talk, open book of images, or read an article about a new science discovery. The point is to break out of the subject matter you are dealing with and come back to it with a new perspective. 

What other tips do you have for getting un-stuck? Share them here and help your colleages! 

 

Designing in three dimensions

If you've ever thought about designing in 3D but didn't want to invest in the software Google (rather, now Trimble) will let you do it for free! Sketchup is a terrific program that will let you model and design in three dimensions. It is fairly intuitive and there are numerous tutorials available to help you learn. It's easier than you might think.

SketchUp Intro: http://www.sketchup.com/
Tutorials: http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/training/videos.html

Once you've created something neat you might try using these tutorials to make your designs look more realistic.

Rendering Tutorials: http://www.alexhogrefe.com/tutorials/

Color of the year

Pantone announced the color of the year for 2013 today: emerald (17-5641 for those of you who like to be exact about this kind of thing). Those of us who prefer green may be a little smug about this announcement, but...does it really mean anything? Will we start seeing more designs using this color that purportedly "enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight as well as promoting balance and harmony?"

Is it more than a marketing tool? Is it fun, regardless? Would you have picked something else?

The Creative Process

Recently, I've been doing some research on the creative process to help describe to my non-design educated co-workers what it is I actually do all day. I came across this beautiful, informative, and short video of the very talented minds behind MINDCASTLE. 

http://mindcastleblog.com/blog/2009/12/27/holidays-are-awesome.html

I would also be remiss to not mention the (presumably) fabulous National Design Week last month in New York at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Launched in 2006, National Design Week is held each year in conjunction with the National Design Awards program. During National Design Week, Cooper-Hewitt's award-winning Education Department hosts a series of free public programs based on the vision and work of the National Design Awards honorees. National Design Week culminates with the National Design Awards gala ceremony. Definitely something to keep in mind for next year. 

http://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/ndw

UMCF Member of the Year Profile: Jen Peters

Editor's note: To start off a new academic year on the blog, we decided to profile the 2012 UMCF Member of the Year, Jen Peters. Take notes, folks.

UMCF: What is your job title and department here at the U? How long have you worked there?

Jen Peters: Graphic designer at the University Libraries since September 2008 (4 years, 1 month).

UMCF: What's an average workday like?

JP: The majority of my day is spent in my office designing. I generally have at least five projects going at once, and produce them from concept to completion. I often start a project with a few quick sketches and typeface explorations before moving into InDesign. I often sort through images from the Libraries' archives and special collections and collaborate with our exhibits designer, Darren Terpstra. I work closely with the Communications Director finalizing text edits and creating and sending HTML emails.
 
UMCF: Favorite part of your workday?

JP: I love starting a new project, particularly brainstorming visual concepts and searching for the perfect typeface! I am fortunate to work with so much incredible art here at the Libraries such as these lovely seed catalogs.

UMCF: How does what you do support the mission of the University?

JP: We work to promote our vast resources which ultimately help expand the reach of research: our expert librarians, the millions of volumes held in our collections, tools to enhance productivity, and programs and services.

UMCF: Why did you join the Forum? What role does the Forum plan in your everyday work life?

JP: It was a big transition coming from an agency setting into my current position, working with only two other people. I joined to network and gain a better understanding of the communications work happening at the University.

I have learned so much by volunteering on the conference committee. I have been asked to help plan events at the Libraries as a result. Plus, it gave me a good excuse to approach potential speakers - designers and artists I admire.
 
UMCF: Where do you find creative inspiration?

JP: Design and photography blogs, any type of magazine, Pinterest, plus the incredible local art and design culture here in the Twin Cities.

UMCF: What are your hobbies outside of work?

JP: Riding bike, gardening, photography, skiing - anything outdoors!

UMCF: Tell us a fun fact about yourself.

JP: We (my husband and I) have a 15 year old music loving cat. When my husband plays guitar, she demands to be in the same room, sitting by his feet.
 

Go for the Maroon and Gold: Training Tip

Screen
printing. This is quite possibly one of the coolest forms of visual
communication. Conveying a message or brand through images is compelling
and, if you're an art enthusiast like me, more engaging than other
forms of communication (when done well).

A
great example is Twin Cities illustrator and print maker Adam Turman
who tells the story of biking in the Twin Cities through his collection of cycling prints.

Check out how to create the final product in this screen printing tutorial written by Turman.

And,
plan to attend Turman's UMCF conference session "Let's Print" where
he'll talk about the process of screen printing, but more
importantly, he'll be teaching how to pull some actual prints that
attendees can take with home.

Register by April 23 for the discounted rate.

Link Roundup: Sustainable Design

In celebration of Beautiful U Day which is happening next week, some sustainable links:

• Companies are revolutionizing sustainable product design by using environmental life cycle assessment to benchmark their product impacts.


• Heard about the U's RFID program? Faculty and staff can bicycle towards points to reduce 2013 medical program rates.
• See art out in the open and year-round at Mankato's CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour.
• RiverFIRST is the winning design proposal for the Minneapolis riverfront. Watch the design team's video and learn about the 2010 international design competition which was sponsored by the Mpls. Park Board and Parks Foundation, with creative partners the U of M College of Design and Walker Art Center.

Link Roundup: Olympic Design

In light of the upcoming "Go for the Maroon and Gold" conference, happening a day before the 2012 Olympic Games begin, some Olympic design-related links:

• 39 Olympic Logos From 1924 to 2012 


• Summer Olympic logos from 1896 to 2012, including many of the more colorful posters and logos


• The London Olympic Games Organising Committee on the 2012 Olympic brand: "The number 2012 is our brand. It is universal and understandable worldwide."
• According to an Olympic medals timeline, the London 2012 design is the largest Summer Olympics medal to date.
  


• Finally, who doesn't love the 2012 Olympics logo?

And don't forget to register for the conference. Rates go up after April 23!

Link Roundup: Photography

Mastering photography is an elusive art. But, practice makes perfect and building photographic skills is an enjoyable hobby.

Here's an edition of link roundup on getting good at taking pictures.

-- 14 Ways to Improve Your Photography in a Few Days
-- 90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources
-- How to Stay Up Late and Make an HDR Image
-- How To: Master Smartphone Photography 
-- iPhone Photography + Social Networking = Instagram
-- The Washington Post Wants Your Instagram Photos to Illustrate Health of U.S. Economy

Wordle word cloud of Comm Forum blog posts

So this is a word cloud (courtesy of Wordle) of all the blog posts on the Comm Forum blog since Jan. 2011. If you're unfamiliar with word clouds, this weights words according to appearence frequency, presenting them within an image.

It seems "communicators" has been a big topic this year so far. Makes sense, since that is the topic of the May 12 conference. "Forum" is (quite literally) big, too. We like to toot our own horn, it seems. Social media mentions include "social," "media," and a fat "Facebook," but I don't see Twitter...Hmmm... So maybe the question here is, "What don't you see?" Because Twitter is BIG. I do see a slightly smaller "Neil." That would be as in Neil Diamond. If you missed that post, you better go find it.

What else are you missing?

"Design solves problems in the world." An interview with U of M design dean Tom Fisher

It looks like The Line online magazine is beginning a "Big Picture" interview series. Their first interview happens to be a conversation on designing the future with U of M design dean Tom Fisher.

You're Gonna Love This

Like probably maybe most of you, I receive several forwards a day from
friends and fellow designers, who freely declare, "you're gonna love this." And while
I'd heard of tilt-shift photography,
I'd never seen the technique applied to art. Here, a select few Van Gogh paintings, many of which I know
well and admire greatly, are dramatically transformed with the tilt-shift treatment.

It was as if I was experiencing them if for the first time. And since
then, I've not stopped thinking about this dreamy perspective or how I wish I could travel at a slant into all
the paintings at the MIA.

Try your hand at the tilt-shift technique in Photoshop. 

Query: Your favorite online tools

Have you tried wordmark.it? It's a fun and helpful online application that lets you preview words with the fonts installed on your computer. Definitely a time saver when you're trying to choose an appropriate font.

What about your favorite online tools? Have you recently come across any great online resources like this?

Who wrote this?

A well-intentioned department wants its own newsletter/email/(insert random project here), but there's no one in-house to create it. What is a communicator to do? In the days of tiny budgets and shrinking staff, a solution to meeting your organization's needs is not easy to come by.

Some organizations and nonprofits have turned to using a content provider to fill in the gaps. In some cases the content provider just supplies generic text on a predetermined topic. In other cases, they provide copy and design services for client newsletters and webpages.

The choice to use these companies can help ease the load on existing staff, while still meeting the organization's communication needs. However, this set up also creates a host of other issues.

Who will manage the relationship with the company? Who will ensure your brand and style is represented appropriately? Will the generic content be compelling or suitable to your specific audience?

I wanted to see what Forum members think about this. Does anyone have an experience to share? Any tips on working with a content provider?

Ode to a Typeface

This is fantastic and fun. You'll never look at Neutraface the same: Neutra Face : An Ode On A Typeface (A Bearded Poker Face Parody).

National Day on Writing, Oct. 20!

With all the gridlock in Congress these days, it's hard to believe politicians can agree on anything at all. Apparently, though, they've found common ground in agreeing that writing is a good and necessary activity. In September, Congress unanimously-approved a U S. Senate resolution establishing Oct. 20 as "National Day on Writing."

In case you didn't know it, the U of M has a Center for Writing, which supports the work of all U students, faculty, and staff engaged in the practice, teaching, and study of writing. And on Oct. 20, the Center is hosting a variety of writing events, including some quirky ones, like "Stalled Writing," an event that will take place in the Nicholson Hall bathrooms, where you can be "inspired by the porcelain muse," and perhaps move beyond "for a good time" to "Once upon a time."

If the bathroom isn't your style, they'll have "InTentsive Writing," which will take place in...you guessed it--a tent. Those looking to get outside any physical boundaries might have luck with "Artful Writing: Writing With, Through and About Art with the Weisman Art Museum," which will practice building perception skills and respond to works of art verbally and through a variety of writing activities. For more course offerings and more information, see the Center for Writing, National Day on Writing.