Warm and Fuzzy

During college one of my favourite assignments was one where I was assigned to think of a project that could positively impact society through design. I spent a great deal of time thinking about different things that I could design that would accomplish this and ended up going with a website. In general I've found that people who focus more on the positive things and less on the negative are much happier regardless of their situation. The idea of my website was to say thank you and think about the good things that happen on an average day. When we are given a gift it seems obvious to say thank you, but being thankful for smaller things such as having a door held for you or when your roommate does your dishes, can have just as positive of an impact. On the website visitors could write quick thank you notes in an online feed or print cards to give out in person. The project was well received, and I still think that should I come upon a vast amount of free time I could really make it work.

I was reminded of this because of a feel good article I saw on the Daily Heller. Students from Stefan Sagmeister's "Touch Someone's Heart" class completed their project by bringing their final product to New York City bus drivers. Check out the story here or here.

Oh and as a side note, one of my classmates made a fictional company like Bixi, looks like they had the right idea!

Holiday Hopes

With the holidays come stress, tension and sometimes a lack of sleep, but all of that is greatly overshadowed by the fun times I have. My hope for the holidays is that everyone has a fantastic and safe break. To my friends, family, and especially everyone hosting the parties a big thank you for helping me enjoy a great holiday season!

Talking to Ted

Today, like every day, I told myself I would get a ton done and got distracted by other things. I often go to bed regretting wasting my time on Facebook and email, but I need to stop doing that. There is no use regretting things, all of this was summed up nicely in the Ted Talk I watched tonight while I meant to do other things. I find that even if other people may think I am wasting my time, I enjoyed doing whatever it was. I had a nice time knitting, watching a Christmas special, preparing for the holidays and especially watching some new Ted Talks tonight.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few of my favourite talks from the night

Don't regret regret

(Fun fact, I have a tattoo that I don't regret. Likely because it loosely translates to remember to live, a great reminder that regrets are frivolous.)

Aimee Mullins and her 12 pairs of legs

Eve Ensler: Suddenly my body

Round and Round We Go

I'll admit I'm the first to complain about our dependancy on technology. Of course I love the advances, my job is so much easier with a computer, but sometimes it is too much for me. My friends used to complain all the time about how they couldn't rely on messaging or calling me because I may take hours to get back to them, I've gotten better but not much. I think longingly of the days when people would just called someone at home, or plan to meet with them in person.

All of this brings us neatly around to the newest item on my Christmas wish list, a phone for my phone. I saw this gadget months ago and loved it. Isn't it funny when older technology comes back around.

Birthday Bonanza

This year I decided to make my birthday extra special; five celebrations and a ton of free goodies. I had so much fun getting things for free that I thought I would share, a little early birthday present to all my friends! Generally you just sign up and they email you a coupon, but if you have issues check out where I got all my ideas from here or here (there are a ton of dinner options on the aforementioned sites so check that out also!)

Enjoy!

Booster Juice - free regular sized smoothie!

Sephora - free body wash/shampoo

La Senza - free undies with membership

Quiznos - free combo and cookie

Starbucks - free drink after 1 year membership

Boston Pizza - free starter and pasta or dessert

Williams Fresh Cafe - BOGO value meal

Orange Julius - BOGO 20 oz. Julius or Fruit Smoothie

East Side Marios - free appetizer with entree purchase

Warning!

I love and I hate walking to work in the morning. It feels great to be outside and breath in the fresh air, except that after making the move to Toronto the air isn't fresh anymore.

I was excited to move to Toronto, but what I was most thrilled about was that I could finally walk everywhere I wanted to go. Only when I actually started walking everywhere did I realize that there were so many people who smoked. It feels like each day at least one person blows a puff of smoke directly in my face or flicks a butt in my general direction. I am very happy that Ontario has banned smoking indoors, but we need more. Things are starting to improve; buildings now have designated smoking areas away from doorways, many outdoor public spaces have done the same and on top of that packaging updates may help to further deter smoking.

For 8 years Canada had been working on new warning labels for cigarettes. It was argued that the current labels were stale and had become less shocking to smokers and that a toll-free quit line should be included to help promote change. Since, new labels were unveiled and strict laws about the way cigarettes are displayed have been put in place.

This year the United States will be working to get their new labels ready for Fall of 2012. Progression was stalled by a federal judge earlier this month who argued that the new labels were not factual. Whether or not this is true, smoking is an annoyance and health risk for everyone and it is not fair to compromise the well being of others.

I am hopeful that my generation will help to decrease smoking and that I will have to deal with the invasion on my personal space less and less the longer I live in the city.

Not Cutting It!

The International Energy Agency released its annual World Energy Output this past Wednesday and it doesn't sound good. After reading a couple articles I decided to take a look at the presentation, I was disappointed to see that despite the attention the environment is gaining, it is still not enough.

• Economic concerns have diverted the attention from the energy policy

• CO2 emissions rebounded to a record high

• Energy efficiency for the global economy has worsened for a second straight year

• Spending on oil imports is near record highs

• Rising incomes and population will increase energy needs

• Heavily polluting coal could increase 65% by 2035

I try to do my part, but at times it feels like it makes little difference. While Canada kept it's promises to reduce energy consumption, the savings were over shone by the excessive usage in less developed countries. It is disappointing to see reports like theses, but hopefully the International Energy Agency will be successful in promoting positive change for our global energy consumption.

At The Salon

A couple of Tuesdays ago I decided to stay late at work then head over to the Design Exchange for their first Salon Night. The idea for the evening was that a designer of the DX's choosing would ask another designer if they could interview them, creating live entertainment for the twenty-something people that were in attendance.

At first I found myself a little uncomfortable, I quickly realized that everyone brought a friend with them and that perhaps I should have done the same (worry not, I have a partner lined up for next time). Things quickly changed when the interviewer, Jeremy Vandermeij, started asking the interviewee, Paddy Harrington, a few surface questions.

After learning a bit about Paddy, the questions got a lot more interesting and I pulled out my notebook to jot down a few things. I would fancy up my scribbles but it seems that Raylene Knutson from the Toronto Standard has already done a much better job of it, check out this link for a fantastic recap of the evening!

Menacing Plagues

"Advertising helps to keep the masses dissatisfied with their mode of life, discontented with ugly things around them," reported an advertising trade journal in the late forties. "Satisfied customers are not as profitable as discontented ones." (Heller)

I find it amazing that in the late forties advertisers realized that insecurity-marketing would prevail. By turning body odor, bad breath and acne into plague like issues, they convinced the masses that it was imperative to deal with these common nuisances.

This is still the case over sixty years later and it seems like things are getting worse. In addition to hygiene, we all must have expensive clothes, clear skin, a perfect body and of course the latest in electronics. I realize that technology has significantly advanced my field and I am very grateful that I am not using tech pens and illustration boards, but at the same time I, along with my parents generation, wonder if technology is taking things in the wrong direction. We now have to be insecure about having the right phone, computer and tablet, not to mention maintaining cars and houses.

The costs are adding up and sometimes I think I would have preferred to have been born 50 years earlier when there weren't so many things to buy to keep up with the Joneses.

Missing the Movement

For the past month I have been hearing a lot about the Occupy WallStreet movement online, especially through social media. I didn't realize that the idea was first brought up by Adbusters mid-July or that it was gaining such momentum until I looked into it further this weekend.

The Occupy Wall Street website states that, "Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants."

One of the most recent speakers was Slavoj Zizek, he spoke about North America's lack of dreaming, the issues with the system and the need for patience. Below I have summarized what I found most interesting from his visit.

In China the government prohibited all stories that contain alternate reality or time travel, this shows that citizens still dream about alternatives and that there is a need for prohibition. In the United States there is no need to prohibit such things as the ruling system has suppressed the capacity to dream. It seems that we have all the freedoms we want but are missing the language to articulate the extent of the current non-freedom.

The biggest threat to the movement is that when everyone goes back to normal life there will be no changes. That down the road, protesters will meet up yearly to remember the nice time they had, not the changes they have experienced.

It is imperative to think about alternatives, we know we are not living in the best possible world, but after understanding what we don't want, we need to figure out what we do want. One of Zizek's final points was that people often desire something but do not really want it. Citizens need to really want what they desire to make a significant change.

"We don't want higher standards of living. We want better standards of living."

Amateur

Today at an interview I was told I was going to continue being an amateur until I was paid for the work I was doing. The interviewer did not mean it in a mean, "you are such an amateur" way, but more in a, "you should be getting paid" sort of manner. While I agree, I love the work I have been able to do as an intern, making it all worthwhile to me.

I bring all of this up because of an article I came across today. In simple terms Karen Howe, of Due North Communications, gives advice on how to get hired for the first time. Below are some excerpts from the article that I found especially pertinent.

Advertising is one tough business. Anyone who’s survived it has the scars to prove it. The only thing tougher is breaking into it.

Let’s start with your work. It has to be spectacular. You need to rise above this year’s flood of graduates. Once you land somewhere that trajectory needs to continue.

If you are a writer, show copy.

If you’re an art director, know more fonts than Helvetica.

Have range.

Attack on all fronts, the phone is not enough. In emails, be charming, brief and professional.

If you can’t get in to see the CD, interview with anyone who is willing to spare you the time. It gives you experience interviewing. It gives you feedback on your work. And it just might give you a back door into the place.

You hooked an interview. Now what? Confirm your appointment the day before, then show up on time.

What I took away from the article was to be persistent and organized. Working hard and meeting with as many people possible is bound to lead to a great junior job.

Smiley Face

While reading my Twitter feed today I came across this; "AUTHORS. Finish every sentence of your book with either a sad or happy face, to give younger readers an indication of mood." While it came from a comical author, it is fairly ironic. Younger generations have altered the English language with the addition of emoticons and acronyms.

I admit I use "lol" quite a bit while texting and I'm generally not laughing out loud. When I go back and think about how my language has changed with newer forms of media, I am disappointed. It should not be necessary to use emoticons to convey my feelings, or act as if everything makes me laugh. To me, these things seem insincere, I would much rather sit and talk with friends in person and see their true reactions than have them type it to me.

The Owl Blog

After finding out that I had a mild obsession with owls, my old classmates would often send me pictures and links they thought I would like. The best thing I ever received was a link to My Owl Barn, a blog with daily posts all related to owls.

I have seen a lot of tutorials and handmade owls on the blog and decided that I should submit my own owl project. I originally created my owl for an illustration project, but after getting a positive response from the writer of My Owl Barn, I decided to make a tutorial on how to make your own owl. I submitted my work a couple days ago and got the OK, keep yours eyes out for my owl!

Work and Webinar

Today I attended RGD's Through the Looking Glass Webinar with Michael Deal geared towards design students. While I'm not technically a student anymore, it was still very relevant. Deal spoke mainly about his career path and how he ended up creating his more famous work.

I was told many times that I would need to do something different to land an awesome job, I would need to somehow stand out against all of the other applicants. Michael Deal took that advice to heart and came up with a couple of really awesome solutions.

His first solution (which unfortunately I could not find an image of) was inspired by the work of one of his favourite studio's (Alphabet Arm Design). Deal took a number of their logos and used them to create a message asking the recipient to view his resume. By maintaining the colour and style of the logos, he was able to change the words inside, creating a unique cover letter for his resume.

The second time Deal approached the job hunt he was applying to be a designer for Zoo York. To make himself stand out he created a few t-shirt illustrations for the brand. This clearly demonstrated his interest in the position and helped him secure a freelance position.

The third story Michael Deal told about finding a job was a time when someone else came to him looking to hire him. When Deal graduated he had partially completed an infographic titled Charting the Beetles. After working on the project further he posted it on his website, this attracted clients and resulted in his project for Umbro.

At the end of the webinar the host asked a couple typical questions; "What do you wish you knew as a student?", and even more relevant, "What advice do you have for recent graduates?" At first he didn't know what to say, hoping to come up with something more original. Eventually he decided to pass on the advice that worked for him, do something unique and make yourself stand out. Deal spoke about how while he was working on these solutions he worried that he was putting too many eggs in one basket, he quickly came to the conclusion that it really does work. Putting as much effort as possible into an application can really make you stand out.

Check out his website or his blog for visuals.

Burning Questions

My last post was almost a month ago, but I'm still thinking about the same thing, a talk the RGD put on at the Design Exchange in Toronto about the future of book publication.

On the day of the event I arrived with many others to an already full room. More chairs were put out by the excellent staff and the event got on it's way. After rummaging through my purse for almost five minutes, I finally found my pen and notebook and began to furiously write things down. Throughout the talk I felt like I was nodding to everything that was said; yes the music industry did go through this, yes this could lead to wild add ons and yes, we don't know what will actually happen. I was surprised when one of the speakers noted that she expected significant change in six months, she thought that in six months we could better predict where the future of books was going. Before going to the talk I didn't realize that things were changing so rapidly, I did buy a tablet, but I thought I was the minority, not the majority.

During the talk I noted a lot of other things. For your reading pleasure and to help refresh myself, here is what I found more interesting at the RGD's Book: Burning Questions. (Don't mind the length, I just enjoyed almost everything that was said.)

• digital sales account for 27%

• can compare to the changes in music, but music was only one sense

(sound), books have more, need a visual to accompany the book

• new ideas for books: book trailers, incorporate videos into books

• books could become more of a premium product and design will

go up OR books could become extremely inexpensive and design

would go down

• Is this a cultural shift? Will it change the way authors write?

Kindles are similar, but iPad doesn't maintain the classic feel,

physical books give readers more control (forward and back)

• vooks: video book, can't be a long format with video, too much

going on at once

• books can be added to with separate elements, but incorporating

video into the book really changed the book

• e-books can eliminate editors and publishers, everyone can publish

• designers used to choose paper, margins, fonts, now with e-books

we have lost the ability to control how people see the book

• designing e-books will be like designing websites, have to make

them work on a number of devices

• users are gaining control over designers in how they view the book,

can change font and font size

• people steal music, now they could start to steal books, creates an issue

• Will younger people be more engaged with e-books than regular books?

• books used to be a snapshot in time, published one a certain date, books

will now be refresh-able

• art books may become more cherished, luxury item

• publishers are slowly starting to think more about the format

(book or e-book)

• real books may become more limited, smaller runs in addition to e-books

• after a good book you miss the characters like you would a good friend,

e-readers don't affect this

• "the train is already moving", "it is what it is", it's too late to stop e-readers

now, might as well go with it, make the best of it

• with book covers you have to appeal to so many tastes, each level of

approval presents a sort of gate keeper

• buyers have a challenging time, they need to continue to sell books to

survive in the market

• tragic that independent booksellers will go by the wayside

• for cover design we often get advice that has nothing to back us up,

no tools, no stats

• people have been liberated to self publish, many have a hard time selling,

they are missing the editor, editor has a very important role, they are much

more than proofreaders

• people still need editors and publishers even if they are creating e-books

• buying books online is so different than in a book store, online, books need

to be easily searchable, in person, people may just pick a book up because

it looks cool

• people will no longer be recommended books by bookstore employees,

similar to how record store employees knew regulars' taste and

made recommendations

• book publishing has been very slow to change over the last 100 years,

now things are changing every five minutes

• online people don't scroll, they don't notice pretty covers, they often

use "what others bought" section to decide

• for online, now they are starting to consider designing two covers, one for

in person and one optimized for online (preview thumbnail)

• a networked book may be created (see who is referencing the book,

what are people saying, how do they feel about it) to oppose the

traditional book

• books are currently a private experience, you dive in and use it to get away

• people will become more public with their opinions about books,

Tweeting and Facebooking as they read

• new choose your own ending may have a resurgence, Would authors

become more involved in creating additional elements? Will they

help with the design process? e-books make more sense with non-fiction

don't want to move to the Hollywood scenario with books

• Will content and design become more intertwined? co-production

• designers will have to help authors choose whether to do an e-book

or a physical book or both

• press jobs are now being traded for digital jobs, more designers,

less tradespeople

• people want designers to become technologists, but that is not our role

• when web first started designers did it all, now there are web designers

and book designers, soon there will be print designers and digital print

designers, there will also be hybrids

• Trends: fewer hardcovers, books will be more precious and expensive

(rather than cheap and digital ideally), books will now compete with

candles and home décor along with e-readers (Chapters, Indigo),

designers will have to create a reason for consumers to buy both,

digital vs. printed will need added features unique to each media

• hard to say what will be available a year from now for e-books,

will move past the cover

• music, now they have more niche bands that are very popular

but not top 40, Will this happen to authors?

• self-publishers will have a hard time with marketing, how will

they get their books in the hands of vendors

• e-readers will create interesting new hybrid careers

• Does pushing technology devalue the content? people put less

value on individual books because they they had to buy expensive

technology to get these products

• the cheaper the book becomes, the less perceived value

• open-source vs. copywrited books

• if you don't pay for content, there will be no content (quality content)

• in the beginning designers had to learn how to talk to typesetters, now

they have to learn to talk to coders

• print per order, printing only when a book is ordered will help publishers

save money (print on demand)

• Could adding characters on Facebook add more depth to characters?

• Technology will add more dimension, but will it create more revenue?

the internet is free, we don't want to pay for online

• the author's job is to manipulate the readers imagination, Will these added

features create a more true form or will it ruin things? Do we even need

added features for books?

• book vs. book movie, I don't like being told how to imagine the book, ruins

the book for me

• added features will only enhance certain types of books

• the experimentation phase may be very cheesy and distracting

• authors will write differently when they know they have added features

I hope you enjoyed these notes as much as I enjoyed the event.

Book Burning

After much time (3 years of college and the 4 years of highschool leading up to that) I have come to realize that becoming a graphic designer is not what others would consider a typical career. When I first realized what a graphic designer was, I thought perfect! I could see myself doing that for a very long time. Now that I have finished college, I am often asked what I do. I usually answer with a simple, "I'm a graphic designer", and leave it at that.

Again, after much time, I have realized that a lot of people don't actually know what designers do. I get asked if I design websites, or do illustrations but rarely do people understand the broad spectrum of things designers are capable of. The second question I am usually asked (after I explain my career path, and my interest in publication design), is whether I am worried that the internet will lead books to extinction.

Of course I worry about these sorts of things, I just try to ignore them and look at the great opportunities out there. I've had many conversations with other designers about this and one of the most interesting things that have come from these discussions is that maybe this will create a sort of battle of the fittest. Mediocre magazines will cease to exist and the boundaries of typical magazines will be pushed to further the art form. It's scary of course, I often think, "What if I'm not good enough!" Regardless of all of this, part of being a designer is staying informed, learning new things and keeping up with what is happening next.

To help me with this topic specifically, I decided to sign up for RGD's panel discussion called Book: Burning Questions – The Future of The Book and Book Industry in Canada. I'm really excited to be part of a crowd that is as nerdy about design as I am. I anticipate being overwhelmed with information and inspired by what I hear, can't wait until the 11th!

The Upside of Obsession?

Yesterday I read an article titled Is Obsession a Prerequisite for Success? I really related to what the author had to say, but also really hope it's not true.

After being asked how he became a successful blogger, author Scott Young, took some time to look at other blogs. While it could be said that you need to be a good writer to be a good blogger, he found that over time most writers improved. He also noted that having an interesting story would help make a blog successful, again he countered this saying that the story is shaped once you start writing. In the end he realized that the best thing you could do to succeed at something is to become obsessed with it. While obsessing over one thing may lead to success in that field, it also needs to neglect in all other aspects of life.

I'm the first to admit that I yearn for balance, I work very hard to make time for all of the things I want to do. Before I started college it was a lot easier to balance things, all my friends lived in the same town as me and I didn't have to make an effort to visit my parents. Currently both of these things are at the top of my to do list, but I have to make a conscious effort to make time for visiting. On the work side of things I'm trying to start my career, as well as find a part time job to let me continue with my goals. Responsibilities start adding up quickly and all of a sudden I lose sight of what I want to obsess over.

It can be very hard to stay focused on one task. I don't find that caring about one thing at a time works for me, I want it all. I agree with this article, obsession likely does lead to success, but for now I think I will obsess over my career 75% of the time and spend the other 25% of my time building a fulfilling life that will support me during the lifespan of my career and beyond.

Shiny and New

One of the last projects I created while still in school was called Advance. Less traditional and much more digital than my previous projects, it guides you through a typical day in my life. Here is a more in depth rationale, and a link (you may have to refresh it) to my website. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed creating it.


http://www.amy-eaton.com/WeekDay/weekday_work.html

To communicate what my day to day life entails I took a series of photographs of my surroundings. These photos create one extremely long panoramic photo that shows a sequence of events from the beginning to end of my day. I chose to photograph a simplified version of what my average day has been like for the last three years; sleep, eat, school, sleep, to help me remember what I went through to get to where I am today. While I did not always want to go to school I have never wavered in the fact that I want to be a successful graphic designer. The commitment I have made to school has helped me to prioritize, make time for and enjoy the fun things I do. While viewers will only see one day, each photo represents time spent over the last three years. Minor details are lost over time and the bigger picture becomes more clear. Focusing on the accomplishments I have made overall surpasses the now minor mistakes I made on the way.

The panoramic is distributed to viewers as a 6 minute movie with commentary. The pace of the movie changes, as does the pace of my day. On occassion time seems to fly by, at other times it feels that I am almost at a standstill.

Sequence
• A set of related events, movements, or things that follow each other in a particular order.
• The related events, movements towards bettering my skills and lessons that followed each other to prepare me for graduation are the sequences of my design education.

Series
• A set of books, maps, periodicals, or other documents published in a common format or under a common title.
• A set of photographs published in the same format under the title Advance.

• A set of stamps, banknotes, or coins issued at a particular time or having a common design or theme.
• A set of photographs taken on one day with the common subject of my surroundings.

Magazines

I recently started interning at a magazine company and realized that I've been missing out on a ton of great magazines. After talking to the previous intern for less than an hour I had heard of at least 10 new magazines and nodded along as she listed a slew of artists I've never heard of. I'm excited to learn about new designers and artists, and to broaden my current education. While I loved going to Conestoga (it's in Kitchener), I can't wait to further my education with all the things I'll discover in Toronto.

I knew it!

While I enjoy plenty of reality tv shows, I've always been wary of Jersey Shore. I'm not much of a partier and tend to find the drunken escapades of others to be a bit ridiculous, and not in a funny way. When I saw this article I couldn't help but laugh. I thought the funniest thing about it all was actually the first comment at the bottom. Take a look!

Newbie News

Today I read an article written just for me, a recent design grad, thanks TAXI!

While most of these tips seem fairly straightforward it is a good refresher. Understanding what employers value most makes it easier to predict what my new career will be like and helps me ensure I meet their needs.

Learn from Others

Acknowledge the experience of seniors and peers, and at all costs avoid being a know-it-all. Make a note of the tips and pointers that your peers give you. Remember that more experienced employees have made mistakes and can help you avoid them. Never feel ashamed to ask questions.

Remember Names

Make a point to learn and remember names. This will make a positive impression on your co-workers, will help you gain respect and will create a stronger bond with team mates.

Ask Questions

It may be hard at first but it is important to ask relevant parties questions. Asking questions creates a positive impression, it helps to show that you are an eager learner and enthusiastic worker.

Be a Team Player

While you may be used to calling all the shots, it is important to learn to be a team player and how to work effectively in groups. Learn to collaborate and acknowledge each other's work.

Keep Your Stuff Organized

The workload of new designers can be cumbersome, it is very important to keep everything organized and arranged. A great tip for working with layers is to name layers accordingly, this makes changes quick and simple.

Improve via Criticism

Realize that criticism helps to improve and enhance your skills. Hear out others opinions and analysis about you. Try to take positive aspects from their comments and improve.

Don't Make Enemies

Make your at work personality likeable and avoid making any enemies, this will lead to better performance appraisals. Keep on good terms with everyone regardless of their position.

Share Your Ideas

Express your ideas and opinions, if you believe you could make something even better, share. Keep in mind the fine line between making a point and arguing for arguments sake. Make positive comments that can eventually benefit you in performance appraisals.

With all this in mind, I'm excited to start working at my first full time position.

I Love That Song

Today I read an article called, "Listen Up: I Don't Know What I'm Talking About." Beginning with an antidote about a girl in an antique shop, it talked about how people often speak with conviction regarding things they know nothing about. The author's own personal experience dealt with music and instruments. While Maddux loves music and frequently writes about the subject, she cannot play any instruments. She admits to only half-heartedly trying to learn but also finds her lack of skill to be a redeeming quality. When Maddux listens to music she bypasses the notes and pays attention purely to the sounds. She differentiates what she likes, what she doesn't, what else it sounds like, and what she wishes it sounded like. All of this helps her form her opinion without getting caught up on the actual notes being played.

I relate to not being able to differentiate one note from another, but also take it one step further. When I listen to music I listen blindly, most of the time I don't know what the song is called or even who it is by. While I have learned the names of my favourites, I love the anonymity that comes with this ignorance. I'm not trapped by having to avoid bands that are "uncool" and can relay to friends what I'm liking by singing a few lines or looking it up on the internet.

Optimism

Today I read an article I've been saving for about a week; The Optimism Bias. While it points out that things have gotten significantly more difficult over the past number of years, the article also states that as a populace, our optimism has not wavered. We tend to expect that things will turn out better than they do, we're optimistic rather than realistic. At times this can be dangerous, for example skipping regular health checkups, but it also helps to promote progress. To make progress we have to be able to imagine better realities and believe we can achieve them.

Personally I think that's great! Why not go for your dream job, save for an exotic vacation and work towards getting what you have always wanted. I think that if we were realistic all of the time life would be boring. While failing can be rough, I always have a harder time dealing with regret than failure.

The Future

Yesterday I did something different, instead of trying to figure out what my future would hold, I decided to attend a conference about how to design for the future. My morning started off in typical Amy fashion, lost in yet another city I am not familiar with. I arrived at the conference during the first break, said hello to the only person I knew and took a seat.

The first presenter I saw, Ari Baum, spoke mainly about the numerous different types of apps on the market. Coming from a print background, it was interesting to hear about the differences, as well as ways that you can get around coding.

After lunch I saw Jean-Pierre Lacroix, he talked a lot about the need statements of companies and how to accomplish them. One of the most important things was figuring out how to market to the heart of consumers to better connect consumers to brands. Even better than coming up with a big idea is coming up with a big idea that integrates a social cause.

Next up was Ryan Wolman of henderson bas kahn, who brought up the shift from one to two way communication between brands and consumers. In the past companies did not want to hear from their customers, the only reason customers called was to complain. The difference now is that companies incorporate customers into what they are doing and even sometimes have customers promote their products for them. Companies now have to be more truthful, they can't just say something is good for consumers unless it is, this paired with two way communication has caused an increase in brand transparency and positive social involvement.

The final presenter of the day was Patrick Robinson who spoke about a lot of things I had never heard of including augmented reality and numerous interactive apps. There were a number of interesting points he made, but I'll summarize them into a list: everyone we interact with is moving at different paces, "the future is here, it is just unevenly distributed", half of what half of us will be working on in five years doesn't exist yet, when looking at costs there is more than just cost to the client and cost to the company.

At the end of the day I felt inspired and curious. I wanted to go home and spend hours on my computer researching all of the things I heard about. I haven't gotten very far yet, but in the days ahead I'm sure I will be digging into a ton of great articles.

Innovation Ideas

Last week Design Edge recapped a design panel involving housewares manufacturer, Umbra and user interface designer, RIM. From the article I drew some great quotes from the panelists about innovation.

"Something really innovative is bound to be disruptive." said Todd Wood, VP industrial design RIM.

“Innovation comes from collaboration between designers and involving the client… You have to get out of yourself. Asking questions leads to innovation." said Ian Chalmers, graphic designer.

Matt Car of Umbra explained that cross-pollination is key. Each Tuesday representatives from product design, marketing and sales meet to bounce ideas around.

Wood mentioned that tools such as 3D printers make it easier to prototype and test ideas but, “Sometimes innovation is ahead of its time… It's not just about innovative design, but also about whether the marketplace is ready for that innovative design”

How Good Designers Think

I came upon this article a couple weeks ago and found it be a great look into how designers think at each stage of the creative process. From insight to inspiration to action, the writer describes how good designers think differently.

Insight

Most insight deals only with improvements upon an existing solution, but occasionally good designers go deeper and find unexpected but relevant solutions. One key thing they do is to think of people as people rather than consumers, this makes it easier to empathize with the issues people face every day. By observing people, good designers are able to move past what people say they do and see how they truly live their lives. Good designers also look beyond the discipline they are working within and add in expertise from other areas. Finally good designers look at how things may change in the future, then consult with many disciplines to see if they agree with their predictions.

Inspiration

Good designers have the ability to visualize things that have never been done, they can think abstractly and make it happen. In design, things are always being created for the future, whether it be through designing for new products or services, designers are constantly using their creativity to make something feasible. This skill is very useful when trying to come up with and execute something that has never been done before. Another useful skill is a designer's ability to inspire others to become part of their idea and help make it a reality.

Action

Good designers understand that they can't do everything and know to work with others to be successful. Designers stay with the project until the end, what's better than being able to say, "I did that!" Good designers are also able to come up with practical solutions, they can help solve contradictions and make compromises to get the project to work. Finally good designers understand the importance of iteration, they refine concepts through multiple stages, by getting feedback from the right people along the way, projects are brought to their full potential.

The 7 Cs of Communication

Twitter is my new favourite resource for articles, by following design related tweeters I am linked to close to 50 articles each day. While I don’t read them all, I do read all the titles. Depending if I have a lot of time or not I either read the article or send myself an email with a link. Most recently I emailed myself a link to “The 7 Cs of Communication.”

The article discusses how being clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete and courteous can greatly improve productivity. It is important to make sure that presentations, emails, conference calls, reports and meetings are well constructed to ensure the audience understands the message.

The article had some great tips, but what I found humorous was the inclusion of correct. Initially I thought they meant that you tell the truth when communicating, but they had a different focus. In the article the author discuss the importance using language that the audience will understand; try to avoid jargon. They also spoke about the importance of checking over grammar, spelling and names. I thought that all of these suggestions were valuable and that these errors are often overlooked.

Overall the article was a good read, and definitely brought up things to keep in mind the next time I write an email, make a phone call or attend a meeting.

Paper Type

I've been trying to catch up on some reading the past couple weeks, the magazines are piling up and my inbox is full of eblasts. My favourite read this morning was once again from The Daily Heller. Jerome Corgier, a graphic designer from Paris, spends his time cutting and pasting pieces of paper to create intricate three-dimensional letters. When asked why he chose to use paper as his medium he said that it is easy to manipulate. Corgier offered that the worst thing that can happen is to realize the colours are wrong once the piece is completed. Below are my favourites, take a look around his blog or website for more examples.

Gladys Glover

I have been trying to catch up on my blog reading and last night I came across an interesting article about the movie It Should Happen to You starring the character Gladys Glover.

Gladys had just lost her job when she met Pete Sheppard, maker of documentaries. After filming Gladys feeding pigeons, he introduced himself and offers to contact her when the documentary is complete. Gladys' expresses that her dream is to become famous, Pete encourages her to follow her dream and they part ways. While wandering aimlessly an empty billboard catches Gladys' attention, a few days later after following up with the owner, her name is up and she is thrilled. As it turns out another company, Adams Soap, typically uses the billboard. Adams Soap barters with Gladys and eventually she gives up the billboard in return for 6 other billboards. This skyrockets her fame and lands her appearances on television shows. When audiences realize the only reason she is famous is the billboards she is humiliated; Adams Soap quickly comes to her rescue by hiring her to be their all American model. Gladys has finally realized her dream, presumably making her happy and bringing the film to a close. In actuality Gladys feels empty and frustrated, next to rescue her is Pete. After meeting by chance, Pete harbored romantic feelings for Gladys, leading him to move in next door. Throughout the film he offers advice and eventually helps her realize that being famous will not make her happy. Cue the sappy, happy ending.

I loved this story for two reasons. One the ridiculous ways people find to get famous and two the realization that fame isn't sustainable, that fame doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Can't wait to watch the real thing on the weekend!

On the Go

This week has been a busy, but very exciting one! I temporarily moved to Toronto for my placement at Parcel on Sunday, found out Wednesday that I made it to round two for the Next Gen Dinner Series and today the judging for the Reggies began.

Through my college I was given the opportunity to apply for a three week placement, while I live in Kitchener, I thought it would be great to take a stab at Toronto. So far I have loved it, the TTC is so much better than the transit in Kitchener, I'm getting the chance to experience working at a great design studio and everything I see is new (which I love). Everyone at Parcel has been so welcoming and get me involved in a ton of different projects.

The Next Gen Dinner Series is my next big news, I applied hoping for the best and have made it on to the interview process. The dinner brings together 63 students with 7 industry professionals. Each professional is an expert in a different field and students are placed at tables according to their interests. Overall I think it would be a great chance to meet members of the industry and also a neat opportunity to see what students like myself are up to.

Lastly, but never least, I saw on Twitter today that judging has began for the second annual Reggies. I can't wait to hear the results as this year I entered one of my favourite pieces, my Wite-Out package redesign.

My week so far has shown me that making the effort makes for a much more exciting life. Had I decided to not go on placement, or not entered either of the competitions, I would have been carrying out a boring old week.

RGD Resources

For the past few weeks I have been reading sections of the RGD's professional handbook. So far in my schooling I have found that it is hard to find textbooks or definitive information about the practices and rules of being a graphic designer. It seems that to every rule there are so many exceptions that there need not be a rule. After reading through the handbook I felt that a lot of my thoughts and assumptions had been justified. Many of my lingering questions about what to do in certain professional situations and what to include in particular documents were answered. I learned a lot in a short amount of time, the information was succinct and very helpful. On the RGD website I also found a great section called "Resources at your Fingertips", where design specific information is easy to find. I suggest checking out both.

A Graphic Showcase

It's common to go to an art gallery and observe art, but it is far less common for the public to go to a showcase focusing on graphic design. Rick Poynor, columnist of Print magazine, wrote that there is a lack of integrating graphic design into broader visual studies programs, departments and exhibitions. Steven Heller rebutted that there is at least one show that proves that assumption wrong, The Albany Institute of Art and History’s show titled Graphic Design: Get the Message!

The show exhibits typography and early printing, commerce and graphic design, political and social messages, and the creative process. Through posters, package design, paintings, decorative arts, historical photos and computer interactives, the four themes are thoroughly explored. Check out their site as well as a few of my favourites below.

Graphic Design: Get the Message!

Designing the Future

Earlier this week I started reading Robert L. Peters’ article on designing the future, I decided the best way for me to recap the article would be to pull out some of his most interesting points and summarize them.

Individuals are threatened by information overload, overwhelming change, an evolving ecosystem and staggering social imbalances. People are drowning in data; this makes it hard for the public to focus on what is important.

White collar workers encounter one million words per week, take in 16,000 brands and are part of the 200 million emails that are sent per day (90% are spam).

The top 100 economies are now mostly corporations rather than nations. 99% of the top 100 companies are based in industrialized nations and three quarters of the almost 70,000 transnational corporations are based in North America, Europe or Japan.

In the past is has seemed the some corporations were uncaring, impersonal and immoral. It appeared that they were using branding to create unique and attractive personalities for themselves to deceive consumers.

Globalization tends to exploit the earth’s resources for private gain. Corporations look for cheap labour, inexpensive raw materials and governments that are willing to ignore laws.

Globalism is the opposite, this point of view sees the earth as fragile, that it requires careful treatment and mutual respect.

Globalization threatens culture, language, traditions, beliefs, morals, laws, social behaviours, and the art of communities.

Our shrinking world calls for an increased respect for differences. We are threatened by mono-culture; designers need to help prevent this by celebrating societal differences. To create a better future we need to showcase the unique things that dignify us, make our civilizations meaningful and make life worth living.

Design can influence thinking, empower better decision making, help create economic success, and shape communities and culture.

There is a need for designers to question the status quo, reexamine the practices of past decades, and initiate change towards a more holistic, inclusive, sensitive, eclectic, empowering and sustainable manner.

Graphic design is finally developing an identity and the public is starting to understand its role and responsibilities relative to society. Graphic design improves communication, shapes culture and influences societal values.

We are the first to live by clock and calendar rather than sun and season.

It is said that 85% of what we know is learned through our eyes, graphic designers have a lot of responsibility as they are the designers of this information.

It has become increasingly important for designers to share ideas and act as part of the global design community.

Worst Logo Competition

Desginers all have their own taste and on a regular basis think things are ugly, even awful. Often times designers don't keep those comments to themselves and find it fun to compete as to who can create or find the worst logo, sign or product out there. At the end of last year Armin Vit of Brand New tempted designers with a "Make the Logo Suckier" competition. After reading through a number of comments I found an even greater resource, How Low Can Your Logo?, a hilarious website dedicated to logo design. Check out both sites for a laugh, don't worry if you can relate, I know I look back and wonder what I was thinking in first year.

Good Stuff Design

Today I was looking for a website I had heard about, I thought it was something like Good Stuff and I knew it was for design so I typed that into Google. While I didnt find what I was looking for I did find a few interesting sites.

http://www.welcometogoodstuff.com/
A neat single member design shop that offers screen printed poster art, print design, web design and development.

http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/
For Print Only is a section of Under Consideration that focuses on lovely printed pieces, I can't get enough of Kambala's beautiful invitation.

http://www.goodstuffdesign.com/
I found it ironic that there are two design shops with the same name, personally I prefer the unique qualities of the previous shop but these designers do some nice corporate work.

Overall I think I will try random Google seaches more often, I ended up with some nice morning entertainment.

Rough Roads

While not related to graphic design, the way roads are laid out and built is definitely design. I recently read an article about the 15 worst roads in the world. We think that snow is bad but imagine winds so high that you are pushed off the road, imagine a dark road where no one turns on their headlights, or even roads with flash floods and wash outs. Here are some of the craziest!

Siberia Road to Yakutsk, Russia

Luxor-Hurghada Road, Egypt (I'm glad headlights are mandatory here, unlike in Egypt)

Coastal Roads, Croatia (My newest travel destination, no driving for me!)

Sichuan-Tibet highway, Tibet

Reuse!

Out of reduce, reuse, recycle; I think that reuse is my favourite. I love to wander around thrift stores, antique shops and discount clothing stores, and find ways to rework a piece of clothing, fix up an old piece of furniture or create something entirely different and new. Today on Design*Sponge I saw a cool way to reduce and reuse at the same time. TourDeFork designs and produces kitchen related items that help you reduce kitchen waste and reuse them for everyday tasks.

The orange peel hanger re-uses orange peels as scent diffusers. Simply skewer the orange peels and attach to you radiator or near a heat source and spread the scent throughout your space. The Coffee Scent Dissipater uses old coffee grinds to neutralize odors in your fridge. Place old coffee grinds in the ceramic holder and hang in your fridge, super easy and entirely natural.

I’m always amazed by the creative things people come up with.

Designing Obama

This week in the slow periods at work (I work at my College's information desk) I started to read Designing Obama. I haven't gotten all that far (it's a 338 page PDF) and couldn't even tell you what page I'm on because of the numbering system. (In grade one my teacher taught me roman numerals, but I have surpassed my range and am now unsure how to read the page numbers.) Regardless, here is a recap of what I have read so far.

• Designers complain that clients are insensitive and ruin our ideas, one designer

interviewed for the book suggested that to avoid this, we should choose our clients carefully and the rest will be easy.

• Many people will study Obama's campaign and try to replicate it's success. You need a good logo, consistent typography and commitment from those involved. These three things will be useless unless the person you are promoting is smart with a unique message and a good product.

• Obama won the design race and used this new level of design to signal change. The Obama campaign was consistent over all platforms; cell phones, websites, email, social network, iPods, laptops, billboards, print ads, campaign events, television, etc..

• Typefaces alone do not make a successful graphics campaign, the public needs something memorable that perpetuates good feelings towards the brand, product or candidate.

• Americans have come to know red as a Republican colour and blue as the Democratic colour. Obama's campaign combined these two colours, with an emphasis on blue, to imply unity and to present the country as one instead of segregated.

• The logo had a number of purposes: help make Obama compelling and credible, demonstrate the campaign's organization, allow supporters to show their excitement, serve as a visual signature in media coverage.

• Three basic criteria were looked at when brainstorming for the logo: tell a simple and authentic story, be stylistically resonant, demonstrate impeccable execution.

Next week I will continue to read and will post more highlights at the end of the week. Hopefully it continues to be as interesting and informative as it has been so far.

Placement Time

In my final semester, along with projects, I also get to do a 3 or 6 week placement. My professor mentioned that we should think about where we would like to do a placement and try to find somewhere to stay or transportation to get there. Over the break I emailed all of the relatives I could think of and eventually found places to stay in London and Toronto. Originally I thought London would be a great option, close to home and not as intimidating as Toronto. Yesterday, after talking to my professor, I found out that the studio I was interested in, wasn't interested in having and students. Luckily he had lots of other options for placements, he mentioned that Underline Studio in Toronto would be an option. I looked at their website and was blown away. I loved all of their work and was extremely excited about the magazines they produce. If things work out I think it would be an excellent opportunity. It would give me a chance to see how studios work and become, for a short time, part of a new team.