marimekko sale

it's the 24 days till christmas marimekko sale, in case anyone was interested - new sales every day!

Conveying Meaning Though Advertisements

Browsing the web for effective advertising and I found this.  The way they display the font conveys meaning because of the ice cream.  It shows you the texture of the ice cream, giving it meaning.  Plus the color choices are super pretty!

happiness

stefan sagmeister gives a TED talk about happiness.

Click Here

collages

after making these collages, i can't stop obsessing over&appreciating color harmonies. here are some of my favorites:

Less is More

I saw this browsing through one website, and I thought it was a good example of how sometimes less is more. Enjoy.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Minimalist-effect-in-the-maximalist-market/1514831

Stop-Motion

Stop-motion films in themselves are daunting to do. One picture is taken per frame and there are about 24 frames per second of footage typically. Every small movement must be photographed and, as you can imagine, stop-motion requires a lot of patience and time. Now, I don’t have the patience to make such films, but others do and props to them! Here’s a music video all in stop motion that blew my mind. And did I mention that the animated background was all done with… JELLY BEANS?! Prepare to be blown away.

Oh, and if you’re interested in how the music video was made, check behind the scenes! It was a crazy process, but definitely worth the time and effort.

Arts & Crafts

You know the scraps of paper you have after you cut out your gauche swatches?

Don’t throw them away just yet! I’m an arts and crafts person and I saw potential in these little strips of paper. So with a hot glue gun at hand, I made...

Nothing should go to waste.

Possibilities with Paper

Sherin showed some us in her 2 pm class what one student did with his/her left over Bristol paper for the last project. He/she created this lovely, delicate, 3D piece that reminded me of Regina Spektor's "Samson" music video. Please enjoy!

I encourage you to watch the entire video. The paper stop motion gets more complicated as it continues.

Helvetica- A Documentary

I recently watched a documentary on the font, Helvetica, originally named Neue Haas Grotesk, by Gary Hustwit.

It was eye opening to learn about the importance of a neutral font and the world of typography in general.

The film talks about the importance of negative spaces around the letters that holds together the positive space together to form a coherent and clear type face. Made me think about our last project how we utilized negative space to frame our eyes to make strong compositions!

There is much more to the film, but you should definitely check it out for yourself. It's an eye opening 80 minutes into the world of typography!

Check out more information on the film by clicking the picture! 

- Lisa G. Yoo

Project #2 - The Process

Hello friends!

I just wanted to stop by to share a few process pictures from Project #2. Below are some shots of my "Balance" painting, plus a few avian amigos from my "Proportion" piece.

I actually ended up with a lot of really neat cutouts from this project - hopefully I can use them for something else later on! That's all from me, congrats to everyone for wrapping this project up, I was beyond impressed with everyone's final results.

-Nikki D.

The Sky (Getty Exhibit)

I am always amazed on how the sky can make me feel so little, how it constantly changes, and can shift the ambience of a day. There's an exhibit at the Getty Center focusing on the sky from July 26 to December4.

Although this is a photography exhibit, I think we can learn a thing or two about composition through these photos. The sky is such a large expanse of space and we can see how the photographers compose their shots to create mood and illuminate the beauty of the sky.

TED Talk on Advertising

Stumbled onto this TED video on advertising and marketing... Enjoy!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2HFiv1/www.ted.com/index.php/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man.html

Charles and Ray Eames...and Geology 125.

I was sitting in my Geology class the other day when my professor asked, "Have any of you ever heard of Charles and Ray Eames?" This of course caught my ear, and I couldn't help but think, he can't possibly be talking about the designers, can he?

Well, it turns out he was! (I mean, what're the odds of there being two pairs of Charles and Ray Eamses in the world?) We're currently learning about the structure and composition of the universe, and it turns out the Eames Office created a famous film in 1977 entitled "Powers of Ten," which takes viewers through the relative scale of our universe by you guessed it - powers of ten.




It reminded me of the Michael Bierut reading, which talked about how "not everything is design. But design is about everything." In this case, design was about everything from the nucleus of a carbon atom to the furthest reaches of the universe, billions of light-years away from our own galaxy.

Wrap your mind around that, space cadets.

All my love x 10¹⁰,
Nikki D.

WATERFALL!

Octfalls from RYOICHI KUROKAWA on Vimeo.

This one is the sickest installation/visual art, ever!

had to post them up here.

Cheers,

jb.

Painting or Photograph?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44255806/from/ET/?beginSlide=1

This artist applies paint directly on her models and then takes photographs of them, so they look like actual paintings! So cool!

Pacific Standard Time Events & Exhibitions

Pacific Standard Time is a collaboration of more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California coming together for the first time to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene. The celebration begins October 2011 and runs to April 2012. Click here for a schedule of events

Graduate Lecture Series: Thomas Demand

Image: Thomas Demand, Copyshop, 1999, C-print, 72.25 x 118.25".

September 7, 2011
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Lecture Forum
Graduate Fine Arts Building (IFT)
3001 S. Flower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Thomas Demand is a German artist who works in Los Angeles and Berlin. He is a 2010–2011 Getty Scholar at the Getty Research Institute in L.A. Demand has shown his work in solo exhibitions at museums and gallderies around the world, including Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Centro Cultural Usina do Gasômetro, Porto Alegre, Brazil; Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and many more. Born in Munich, Demand studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich; the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf; and Goldsmiths College, London.

Design in Motion

Design does not have to be static. It doesn't just lie flat on a piece of paper. It can be in MOTION. It can be captured on video. As a film student, I love to draw inspiration from videos and there are so many videos out there that have fantastic designs and ideas. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.vimeo.com/8766811

http://www.vimeo.com/21198351

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfBlUQguvyw&list=FL3wkTgbOC49jf1opoxoUodA&index=27&feature=plpp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLY5XXumLDY&list=FL3wkTgbOC49jf1opoxoUodA&index=63&feature=plpp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zOrV-5vh1A&feature=related

First Time I've Ever Enjoyed Researching . . .

While researching Michael Beirut tonight, I realized how essential research is to making a good design. This is SUCH AN INTERESTING ARTICLE outlining the entire process behind his redesigning of the Saks Fifth Avenue packaging, and it's fascinating. Also, the design is amazing.

http://pentagram.com/en/new/2006/12/new-work-saks-fifth-avenue.php

Just look at this.

Cool? I think so.

(Seriously, read the article though. The word "article" never sounds appealing, but I swear I read it of my own free will and I'm the kind of person who never reads from G.E. textbooks. Ever. Which says something for its level of interesting content.)

So, after this, I'm updating my definition of design to something that requires the designer to be genuinely interested in the subject matter and willing to spend a lot of time learning about it. The designer should base his/her designs off of their research, for inspiration, and also to ensure that their designs are applicable and fit the style required. For example, Beirut made sure that his design was based off of previous designs so as to still retain the historical style of the company since its founding and not to completely recreate the image into something unrecognizable. This is essential.

DESIGN: my definition...

Design to me implies an arrangement of things in space: what is the perfect configuration to solve the problem of a) making something aesthetically pleasing, b) useful,or c) achieve the goal in mind. But it's not just concrete-- think of an architect's mental design of a building, or the way all the chemicals in DNA are designed and configured a certain way to do what it needs to best. The old masters understood and appreciated the natural design of the organic world around us, and the philosophers of ancient Greece used math to try and understand the design of the universe. Above all design means there is forethought involved, and every step is certain and necessary for its purpose. What I don't yet know, though, is whether it exists out there and we just pick it up with our radio antenna of a brain, or if it's a human invention to understand the workings of the world around us...

touch wood ad.

NTT DOCOMO "TOUCH WOOD" from sohn seok kyoung on Vimeo.


I love advertisements. More than anything else, I often myself searching
through the web to find some fascinating video clips, ads or whatevers.
I recently saw this ads/commercial made in Japan, more than the
design of the cellphone, this crazy ad for this cellphone made me
drop my jaw. Take a look at it, and here is the making video for this commercial.
touch wood making from sohn seok kyoung on Vimeo.
Cheers,


jb.

Design

 Design is a tool of representing myself to others in practical ways.  It also must contain artist’s emotion and its own style. When artist’s creative thinking, beauty, and practicality appropriately mixed, it definitely creates GOOD design.

DESIGN

Is tthe most important step to help conceptualize an idea. Without putting your thoughts into a visual format no one would ever get to understand your idea or thought process. Design is a part of our everyday life and without it many things would not be accomplished. Ranging from architecural plans to pattern makers, they all start with a design.

What is the Design?

Design is another language expressing ideas and also it is a tool that makes people to believe my ideas. I believe, design breathes the happiness in life because it gives convenience and visual energy.

Design

What's design? Well, a lot of things.

A painter arranging figures in a work is design. An engineer shaping an airplane wing is design. Poetry is a sort of design. Advertising is design. Programming can be design, although it often isn't very good design.

Regardless of the materials and goals, the point of design is the same: to get the most of something, while using the least of something else. The goal can be measurable, like a bridge's strength, or abstract, like a painting's appeal to an audience, but the goal of design is to make it happen, and to make it happen efficiently. The cost involved with design is sometimes subtle; in engineering or programming, costs in materials and memory are easy to see and measure, but in art or advertising the cost is more likely to be in things like time and patience. Adding an element to a piece of art might make it deeper and more meaningful, but it can also make the work as a whole harder to understand. On the other hand, advertisements have to sneak as much meaning as possible into strict time constraints.

All design shares a few key concepts, including its most important tools: iteration and testing. Iteration involves going back over a design that has already been made and trimming or adding to it as necessary to improve its effect. Testing, meanwhile, helps to identify problems or holes that can be fixed by later iteration. In some cases an artist's eye or an engineer's calculations can be valuable "testing", but it's always best to send the design out into the world (at least a little part of it) to see if it works the way it's intended to.

In visual design, this means not just analyzing your own work as it progresses, but asking others to look it over and see if it works for them, too. The earlier potential problems can be spotted, the easier it is to revise them.

Design

Design is language, or rather a book or an essay. It is the way to communicate with the world and the people who live in it, but at the same time, it tells a story. Design is not just a process of coming up with new ideas, but going through very thoughtful processes and creating a story. The design contains the designers thoughts, hearts, purposes, pleasures, pains, and everything. Design is the way for the designers to communicate with the world and people. I do not think the design has to be pretty. It could be whatever the designer wants to show or tell people.

Design

Design is the practice of artistically arranging elements such as line, shape, color, value, and texture, in a way that fulfills a certain purpose. This purpose can be to create a pleasing visual aesthetic, but it might not always be to cause an experience of pure aesthetic pleasure. For example, its purpose might be to make the viewer uncomfortable, or to inspire the viewer's generosity by invoking pity or sadness. Either way, design is meant to attract the viewer and to demand the viewer's attention, though it can appeal to different needs/emotions to do so. To me, design is organized and clean, and these qualities separate it from the rawness and chaos that can be depicted in art forms such as painting and drawing.

d e s i g n

To me, design is the use of artistic elements and principles to create aesthetically pleasing compositions. These compositions are turned into pieces of artwork that catch the viewer's eye enough to take a second look and absorb the true meaning and purpose of the work, whether it be a painting with a profound social commentary, or an advertisement for potato chips.

Design

Design is a construction of purpose and style. It can be used to make sense of different aspects of life.

To me design is...

Creativity.

Inspiration.

A lifestyle.

Design pervades every aspect of our lives, even the parts your mind doesn't usually associate with the fashion or haute couture that the word "design" initially evokes. The most whimsical creations demand a discipline to complete the translation from thought to fruition. The most basic productions require a structuring that ensures the feasibility of realizing an idea. That discipline and structuring is design, without which the world would be reduced to chaos and stripped of any aestheticism.

Design is such an integral part of society as we know it; it is the foundation for creation, inspiration and life.

Defining Design

For me, design is where practicality and art meet. Design is smart and can be justified. It causes people to look, think, understand, and, ultimately, enjoy. It beautifully organizes the chaos of everyday life.

What is Design

Design is a kind of aesthetic practice process, combined with knowledge, material, individual imagination and personal talent to created a special things.

Design...

is when a person’s creativity and imagination clash together to make something unique and that is appealing to others. Its boundaries are limitless.

Definition of Design

I've heard a statistic thrown around that something like 80% of all meaning in a conversation is transmitted through elements beyond the actual spoken words themselves. Factors such as vocal tone and body language can transform an ambiguous serious of words into an coherent message full to the brim with subtext and indirect implications. While this is effective within the context of verbal communication, it is unsurprisingly less useful when applied to written communication and other visual forms. In these cases, design is used to fill the gap. Design gives voice to visuals, granting any single word placed on a page the potential to carry any of a near infinite variety of meanings. Imagine two closed doors, each bearing a sign reading, “Danger, do not enter.” Now imagine that one is scrawled haphazardly in pencil on the top of a post-it note while the other is printed in a rich, black, bold Helvetica font on a sturdy, neon yellow, reflective placard. While the words are the same, the levels of impact of the signs are significantly different due purely to their variation in design. One signs whimpers ineffectually while the other shouts in your face. Essentially, design is visual voice.

-Ed Saavedra

Sharpie colored lamborghini

Click link above

Check this out, it's very cool! It inspires working on different types of surfaces.

What is Design

Design is the artistic quality that makes something- whether it be a product, space, or advertisement- appealing.  This is showcased in many different ways through pictures and designs that utilize different aspects of art like color, negative space, and composition.  The design of something is what catches a viewer or consumer's eye; it's the art  that draws buyers attention for more than a few seconds.

People design living spaces by utilizing which colors go well together, what shapes look good, what materials match the others, and common art knowledge that makes something look appealing.

Having a flier with an okay design vs. an eye catching colorful and appealing design makes the difference between whether people come to your event or buy your product.

Design is the way you package your art to make it appealing to your intended audience. 

DESIGN

Almost everything that we come in contact with in our lives is a product of careful design.
Design is the piece of art hung up in museums, it's the fan that keeps you cool on a hot summer day, it's the buildings that you have class in, the clothes you wear, the album cover of your favorite CD.
Design is both appealing to the eye and functional. Sometimes it's practical and other times silly and a result of pure imagination.
When it comes down to it, design is what you want it to be. You as the designer have the power to create exactly what you want. 

The picture is a design piece I did. It reads, "How does it feel to be a visionaire? Dubito ergo cogito ergo sum. Feast yourself upon the truth."


"Everything is designed. Few things are designed well."
- Brian Reed

Definition of Design

Design:

Design is a conceptually based idea that addresses the needs of a particular audience. It is the answer to a problem that is common amongst an audience, and it is a growing idea that is meant to be finessed. A good design is often simple and satisfies the basic (or complex) needs of the people. They respond to problems in an efficient way.

Design....

Design is a game plan. a process. 
A process that begins with countless possibilities 
but ends with one right answer

Design: (Verb or Noun)?

Design embodies the needs that society has and forms it into an art form. Design is art refined and polished until practical for communicating ideas, viewpoints, messages, and sometimes even hope. It is a significant and crucial part of not only media, but also business, film, photography, architecture, and every aspect imaginable and beyond.

Definition of Design

Design is everything.

It can mean everything. Through design, we can visually communicate with others. Design is what applies to everything. Anything we see has its own design, its own meaning. It can be simple, and it can be complicated. There are no boundaries. Design can be anything we want it to be--a language, a performance, or anything beyond.

design design design

Design happens when creativity meets functionality.

Paul Rand, an American graphic designer once said that

"Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; There is no single definition. Design can be art. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated."

And I completely agree.

Design

Design is an aesthetically pleasing work of art that is composed of different elements; usually a figment of the imagination or an expression of the artist’s thoughts that is meant to convey a meaning or influence the viewer as they look at it.

Design - Natalia T

Design covers such a huge area that my general description of it would be the most functional and visually pleasing creation with an intended purpose. I think the success of a design relates to how popular it is and how long it can maintain its popularity.

Design

Design is an expression of thought. It has the power to convince or create an idea within an individual, simple or not.

What Design is to Me..

I'm a novice in this area, but what attracted me to this area was the fact that design is a craft that almost magically entices humans to something. This something can be something so ordinary in the practical aspect, but with a touch of design it becomes something so desirable by human.

I personally believe it is design that made Apple such a successful company, design more so than the technical skills that Apple had. (this coming from a computer science major)

my works.

you can check my works out on my website.

imjaybe

Cheers,

Design.

to me, design is Nothing to Something.

Design is...

Design is a part of our daily lives.

Design is often used as a tool to show the abstract forms of our thoughts, motives and inspirations.

Design has to be “pretty”.

Yes, but the true beauty comes from the point where we are willing to embrace the reality and pain that we want to hide from the world. We can come up with beautiful design with “pretty” things. However, if the design cannot gain sympathy that ugliness and commonness will do, what is the point of the design being solely "pretty" and visually aesthetic? We should stop for a moment and think about the true meaning of beauty in order to create a “good” design.

Design...

Design is a combination of art elements and ideas. It has the ability to express a thought, satisfy a purpose, or solve a problem.

Design

Design is the convergence of two ostensibly disparate concepts: art and practicality. It is the thoughtful assembly, arrangement, and alteration of elements to serve both an aesthetic and pragmatic purpose.

Design:

Design is the thoughtfully constructed arrangement of an environment--of any form or scale--that aims to most directly connect with the individual(s) interacting with it.

Design

Design is everywhere and anywhere- often, we are are unaware of its presence in our lives. Design, to me, means that someone has intentionally arranged certain elements of color, items, patterns, etc. to portray some sort of idea or to evoke emotions in the viewer.

Define Design:

To me, design is a summation of visual elements which represent something greater, like an idea or event, and express my reaction to that idea

So I recently made a skateboard for a friend and have since been continuing the idea on my own for a series. I'd ideally like to several with Alice in Wonderland characters with the same kinda design elements BUT I don't know which ones to do. Anyone care to suggest their top 3 faves? (besides the white rabbit of course)

Definition of Design...

Design: The way an idea or concept is aesthetically portrayed.

Last Major Work

The above link shows my last project for my senior photography class. After five years of pursuing projects that aimed to project a mastery of technical precision and cleanliness, I decided to finish my tenure with the program on a slightly different note. These are a series of Cyanotype prints on cotton t-shirts. Originally I wanted to have the subjects present some kind of emotion that they normally do not portray, but after realizing the difficulty of the cyanotyping process I started to vary the subject matter. Despite the diversion from my previous projects, I was extremely satisfied with the outcome of the project.

Definition of Design

My definition of design is the use of experiences to convey an idea or message in the most efficient way.

-Sarah Shea

my definition of Design

my definition of design is to plan or to create a visual content out of imagination

The Concepts of Design

What is the definition of design? When I looked up “design” in the Oxford dictionary, seven different definitions, including when it is a noun and when it is a verb, from in terms of arrangement to in terms of intention, are present. Charles Eames defined “design” as “a plan for arranging elements in such a way as to best accomplish a particular purpose. (Eames)” Broadly, design is often connected with “arrange”; this is also the one big difference between “design” and “invention”. Design is not a “craft for industrial purposes” according to Charles Eames; for example, we can say that the design of Apple is innovative, but Steven Jobs did not invent the computer or the mp3. Design is taking what was created before and adding to it, hopefully in order to make it more convenient for use or more aesthetic; the latter is what we are learning to achieve in art schools and what artists usually talk about. Of course, often artistic beauty does not conflict with convenience, as Eames pointed out, “Who would say that pleasure is not useful?”



Below is Alphonse Mucha’s poster design, Gismonda. Highly realistic and splendid, the design serves to attract people to the play, as an advertisement.








The design here is sophisticated but its purpose, to attract people, has been successfully achieved.



Below is a very different, yet also successful design, the iPod shuffle.

Instead of being attracted by the colors, patterns, and elaborateness, people are attracted by the simplicity and small size of the iPod shuffle.

There is, therefore, no simple conclusion of what is a “good” design; the design that adds to a piece that already exists may add to its beauty or usefulness, without crossing the “constraints” of possibility.

Work Cited:

Eames, Charles. "What Is Design?" Interview. 1972.

Hornby, A. S. Oxford Advanced Learner's English Chinese Dictionary. 7th ed. England: Oxford, 2009. Print.

Pictures:

Mucha, Alphonse. Gismonda. Paintinghere.com. Web. 26 Aug. 2011. .

Apple IPod Shuffle 4GB - Size Comparison - II. Photograph. Softpedia. Softpedia. Web. 26 Aug. 2011.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After discussing the interview with the class, several points may be added. Both pictures above are designs bearing strong "trademarks" of the designer or the "research office", but some designers, such as Philippe Starck, designs in various fields; their work is, as well, brilliant designs if the "elements" are cleverly arranged.

Stefan G Bucher Book Signing

Monica and I had a great time attending Stefan G Buchers book signing on February 25th 2011. Skylight books was packed with fans, artists, photographers, journalists and random passerby's interested in free food. Regardless of what brought you to the signing, it was unanimous that You Deserve A Medal had something for everyone. Bucher created this book in order to reward the everyday person for personal affairs. This book commends those who struggle in the battle for true love through highlighting 40 different ‘stops’ along the way. With actual medals along side the book and available for purchase, Bucher took the ever touchy subject of lost love and broken hearts to a comedic level, awarding everyone within a stones throw a medal for something. To aid in your reward, Bucher broke down the medals to 4 categories- Breakup, Singlehood, Relationship, and True Love. He then broke it down even further to topics such as Fool Me Once, Kiss and Tell, Let’s Go Over This Again, and Love Medal Nomination Form. Overall an extremely entertaining book and one which has seen much praise in its short time on the shelves.

Stefan G Bucher Book Signing

Being that I had just finished a presentation on the designer, I was more than thrilled to attendStefan G. Bucher's book signing, on February 15th, 2011, only a few blocks from campus at Skylight Books in Los Angeles. I went alongside my classmate Alexandra, and we both were very excited to meet the designer/writer, and take a look at his book. The event was for Stefan's most recent book, You Deserve A Medal, a book with the most obscure awards, leaving something for every individual. When we arrived, Stefan was deep in a conversation with a few of the other guests, so we slid around the group towards the back of the bookstore. The guests were dining on wine, crackers, cheese and vegetables, and reading through Stefan's book, in addition to the different entertainment books throughout the store. Alexandra and I read through multiple books & magazines that sparked our interests. I hadn't been to many bookstores in Los Angeles, but after seeing what all they had to offer at Skylight Books, I have since then decided to venture to others around town. Being that there were so many people at the event, we weren't able to get a conversation in with Stefan, but I was still a great experience to see the live personality behind his eccentric books and designs.

Written By Monica Ahanonu

Bring It, Make It, Swap It, Take It! Roski Art Swap

March 29, 2011
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
University Park Campus, South Lawn

Make mono-prints
Model in clay
Generate buttons and books with AIGA
Create ink drawings
Answer the SOFA challenge—sidewalk chalk drawing
Bring art to trade
Pluto is not a planet t-shirts

Popcorn · soft drinks · music · Let's Be Frank turkey, beef, and vegan hot dogs

Trade art with your classmates at the Swap Tarp! 

Lupton DIY talk - Extra Credit

Design Your Life featuring Julia Lupton Visions and Voices
	Friday, March 25, 2011 : 2:00pm University Park Campus Doheny Memorial Library (DML) Friends Lecture Hall, Room 240 Admission is free. Reception to follow.
While pundits worry about the increasing amount of time young people spend online in dematerialized virtual spaces, we have also witnessed an explosion of practices and devices that return our attention to the hand. From the online craft vendor Etsy to the tactile interfaces of our iPhones, the body and the digital are deeply interlaced. The Touch of the Hand in the Digital Era is a two-part series that will consider the particular roles that touch and the emotions play in our sense of self and the world. Julia Lupton will offer a wide-ranging exploration of the D.I.Y. impulse of the past decade. The do-it-yourself movement, which signals the resurgence of craft and the handmade in contemporary life, exists in interesting tension with the widespread use of digital media. Julia Lupton is ideally poised to address this seeming paradox. She is a noted Shakespearean scholar who has published a series of popular books focused on design and everyday life, including Design Your Life, D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself and D.I.Y. Kids. She will also engage the audience in a hands-on D.I.Y. experience. Related Event: Feeling the Screen: Tactility and Emotion in the Digital AgeMonday, October 4, 4 p.m. Doheny Memorial Library, Friends Lecture Hall, Room 240 For more info, click here. Organized by Philip Ethington (History and Political Science) and Tara McPherson (Cinematic Arts). Co-sponsored by the Center for Transformative Scholarship. Image: Ellen Lupton For further information on this event: visionsandvoices@usc.edu

TONIGHT!! Stefan Bucher Book Signing @ Skylight books

You Deserve a Medal Book Launch and Party

Tuesday 2/15 7-10pm, at Skylight Books in Silver Lake

What better way to distract yourself from your spiritual or actual Valentine's Day hangover than by helping me celebrate the launch of my new book "YOU DESERVE A MEDAL - Honors on the Path to True Love" at Skylight? Sip some wine, nibble on the finest cheeses, crackers, and cookies, meet some new people!


What's the book about? It's a collection of medals that recognize achievements in the fields of dating, relationships, and love. Heartbreak? Anxiety? Casual sex? It's all in there. Romance? Butterflies? Meeting the parents? Yes, indeed. 

This book is my way of processing the last ten years of looking for love, dating online, being on both sides of too many heartbreaks, and generally losing my mind in the process.

The writing? Funny (I hope). The illustrations? Sumptuous. The binding? Case. And hey: It's my first embossed cover! With a foil stamp, no less. (Look out, Robert Ludlum!)

If you've been to the launch parties for my first three books -- All Access, 100 Days of Monsters, and The Graphic Eye -- you know it'll be fun, and the company will be excellent! See you on the 15th!

differences.

i know they don't really look like 20 of the same object, but they are all writing utensils. i thought it would be interesting to see how different things can be that are used for the same purpose.

differences.

-range from 2 in. to 6 in. long

-some use lead

-some use ink, or some kind of fluid

-some have lids

-others you can click or twist open

-different color exterior

-different purposes (coloring, writing, highlighting, etc.)

-some you can refill

-some will run out and be useless

-different colors when used

-different thicknesses when used

-some can be erased

-some are permanent

-some have writing on the covering either indicating its qualities, or advertising.

-some indicate writing color by exterior color

-some can be taken a part and put back together

-some require sharpening

-some are used to compliment others

-different exterior designs

-some have rubber grips

-made with different materials (wood, plastic, etc.)

-some are more fragile than others

-some have been used, others are new

-came from different places

-even though some look different the writing will be the same

that's what i observed.

Kafka book covers by mendelsund

"New Kafka Book Covers by Peter Mendelsund

9:59 am Saturday Jan 29, 2011 by Emily Temple

One of our favorite book jacket designers, Peter Mendelsund (who is also the associate art director at Knopf and the art director proper of Pantheon), was recently charged with creating a series of cohesive covers for Schocken’s (part of Pantheon) backlist of Kafka books. Mendelsund, by his own account, has always wanted to design for Kafka, and his love of Mr. K’s works is evident in his meticulous artwork. The covers are playful and serious at once, able to convey all of Kafka’s strangeness, humor, and severity in seemingly simple designs. The new designs will begin appearing on paperbacks early this summer, so keep an eye on the backpacks of any thoughtful college students you know. Click through for our favorites and some of Mendelsund’s musings on the man."

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20 differences

In order to enhance our understanding of tiny differences and gain a grounding in the fundamentals of design, we conducted an exercise called '20 differences' as a homework assignment, in this we selected 20 items with a similarity in that they would normally be considered the same, however we individually made lists of their differences, however slight. I chose dried and salted sunflower seeds purchased from the student store, 'Tro Gro', and made sure that the selection of the seeds for my experiment was as random as possible to ensure thet there was no bias towards particularly obscure individual seeds. The differences i noticed were:

-One seed has a slightly paler complexion than its peers

-One appears particularly short and fat

-One of the seeds has its edible centre bursting from the shell

-One does not have an edible centre as it is only half a shell

-One seed has a very solid complexion

-One seed, while dark, has several very vivid and very light coloured patches on it

-One seed has a much more obvious light line around its edge than its fellows

-One seed, instead of patches, has a lightly coloured line running vertically through it

-One seed appears tiny

-One seed has the majority of its shell covered with a light patch

-One seed has three light dots forming a perfect line up its side

-One seed appears to have more salt residue on it than others

-One seed has not one, but three vertical pale lines running up it

-One seed has a strange wrinkle in its shell

-One seed has a much browner overall complexion than the others

-One seed has a chipped point

-One seed is flat on one side, but bulging up at the other like a wing

-One seed has a light patch on it in the shape of Italy

-One seed has very little lightly coloured patching on it atall

-One seed has one vertical line by itself and two grouped closely together

-The half seed appears to have little salt residue on it

-One seed is extremely long and thin

-That seed also has no salt residue on it

-One seed goes very sharply to a point at one end

-One seed is extremely flat as though it does not have an edible centre

Note that all of the observations were based on the seeds around that particular seed and were all comparisons

-Greg McGanty