Jason Knits » typography

Mock Disney Concert Hall Poster

Jason — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:54:59 +0000

First, let me say that I was pleasantly surprised at school yesterday. I found my End Censorship poster in the small, small one-day student exhibit on campus. I also found my poem poster in the glass showcase in the hallway. I feel a little embarrassed, but also feel good to be accepted, still somehow lack confidence in myself. Oh well. LOL

Turned in the mock Disney Concert Hall poster this week. We were to introduce Gustavo Dudamel as the new conductor of Los Angeles Philharmonic with a poster in International Typographic Style. I think most of us were really confused by the instructions and material. There seemed to be a bit of conflict between the amount of info and the simple and clean style of the Swiss designers. I emailed the professor my first draft and received a horrible reaction. She then sent out more instructions to the classes, which in my view clarified a lot about what she was expecting. A good exercise in designer and client communication, getting to understanding what clients want.

Anyway, I ended up with 2 designs:

I turned in the first one because its elements have more dynamics.

Project Poem Poster

Jason — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:42:57 +0000

Another project completed, two more to go. This one really took a lot of time researching poets and poems. Lots of good ones that I wasn’t able to quickly translate into graphics. Maybe the professor’s restrictions made it more challenging? We had to incorporate an image that gives a feel of the subject of the poem, at the same time make creative use of the type. I thought about doing Langston Hughes’ “Cubes”. But with Picasso’s name thrown in there I felt little confidence in making a believable cubist drawing in a short time. So I picked a lighthearted poem, “Madam and the Fortune Teller,” also by Langston Hughes.

Fortune teller looked in my hand.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, It’s just good luck
You ain’t dead.

Fortune teller squeeze my hand.
She squinted up her eyes.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, you ain’t wise.

I said, Please explain to me
What you mean by that?
She said, You must recognize
Where your fortune’s at.

I said, Madam, tell me–
For she was Madam, too-
Where is my fortune at?
I’ll pay some mind to you.

She said, Your fortune, honey,
Lies right in yourself.
You ain’t gonna find it
On nobody else’s shelf.

I said, What man you’re talking ‘bout?
She said, Madam! Be calm–
For one more dollar and a half,
I’ll read your other palm.

My ideas came from those signs selling psychic readings. Using an image of all-seeing-eye to represent the fortune teller, and the palm the madam. The funniest lines are the last two which shows the true intention of the fortune teller. Those words I put on the palm which can seem to be open to giving more money. The rays are sort of hypnotic, no? I turned in the blue one to the professor. But I also like the other two variations that I printed out. One criticism I got from the professor was that the title and author’s name were unnecessary and seemed out of place. If I were to insist on using them, they should be inside the graphic elements, not a separate entity. I agree.

Project Cube – Finished

Jason — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:40:00 +0000

This was turned more than a week ago. Crazy German was here and life was a little more hectic for a few days.

Oh, and this is my new workspace:

Project Cube

Jason — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:50:00 +0000

This is the second graded project for the Design Concept class. We are starting to look at typography. The project’s goal is to examine the positive and negative spaces using letterforms by creating sides of a cube following different sets of rules, also treating it as a packaging design, all sides have to relate to each other.

Side 1: Using the chosen letterform once, working the negative space of the letterform to make it visually dominant
Side 2: Using the letterform with a geometric shape, showing both negative and positive space within the letterform
Side 3: Emphasize scale and sizes using multiple instances of the letterform
Side 4: Use the letterform as a texture
Side 5: Create a side that compliments all other sides
Side 6: Reserved for name and color information

Here are some designs that I have created. I like most of them, but will likely keep only a couple and have to come up with new designs. My original idea was to tie the sides together with a prominent letterform “a”. Treating that single element as a logo or merchandise that never changes position, but with other elements of design bringing different treatments. I took them to class, but the instructor was worried that people couldn’t tie them together easily. So, back to the drawing board.

I really like the above design. I used the letterform as texture, I also tried making it look like something else. It worked. The instructor at first thought I was using extra element that wasn’t allowed. Unfortunately it looks too different than the others.

I am leaning toward to making a series of designs in the above direction now.