-| Week No. 1 and we're still alive |-

We survived the first week of classes and it wasn't half bad! I'm really excited for this semester. I know on the fist day of class I was feeling a little overwhelmed (Actually, I was feeling really overwhelmed.) but now I'm confident that this is going to be a great semester.

-| Critique |-

My first design was a little abstract. I pushed the envelope and took the risk of having it be misunderstood. I'm okay with that, though, because on Saturday afternoon I was really struggling. I was just thinking, sketching and looking at everything for any inspiration or ideas. Nothing was coming to me. So, I took a break (let me just say that on a 29-degree day, it's still a wonderful 85 at the rec center pool.) and came back to a night of design. I finally started to conceptualize something that I could work with.

I got this idea of a bald head. But color it blue, give it a blur and it's a piece of art for my page. I complemented the blue with the orange background, a nice look, I thought. I didn't want anything too dark, because the story isn't dark. But I didn't want anything too upbeat, either, because there is a large portion of the story on Heather's history with cancer, which isn't upbeat at all. I got the idea for the dot images from a Beatles' Cirque du Soleil program my roommate brought back from Vegas.

So I get the idea that my concept wasn't quite conveyed properly. I was thinking a lot about really out there designers (David Carson) and tried to be inspired by their sometimes very abstract work.

-| React |-

Judging today in class was a great experience. I've been to a lot of judging sessions before so I was very familiar with how subjective the contests really are. Honestly, it's usually one person's opinion and if you don't win, it doesn't necessarily mean your work sucked. It just isn't the best in the eyes of the judge (Whomever that might be.). I seriously liked the sperm bank design and the St. Louis comedian design. This has also been good for me because regional mags have never held quite the same spot in my mind that other mainstream mags held. I saw a lot of great stuff come from many magazines all across the country. Now I see they are of just as high a caliber, if not higher than a lot of other mags out there.

-| You can't miss. . . Newspaper Design! |-

Hear ye, hear ye, I love newspaper design. (I actually love all design, but newspapers hold a special place in my heart.) At one point I held the belief that I was going to be a magazine designer and only a magazine designer becuase magazines are just cooler. So not true! There are so many great papers out there that do amazing features, a lot of them on 1A, the best spot in the paper to have your work. Even if you have to do a news page every now and then, I still find it very fulfilling to be the one who decides how the next day's reader will absorb their news. You decide what's most important and what kind of play each story gets. It's so cool.

I'm going to cover newsdesigner.com. You'll probably hear a lot about redesigns, designers, news coverage and convergence, a huge topic in the newspaper biz as they try to recreate their niche. This week on newsdesigner, they recognized Mario Garcia, a famous redesign consultant. Garcia was recognized as one of People Español's 100 top most influential people (not bad for a news designer). His most recent work, which was also discussed on the site, was the redesign of the Wall Street Journal. He also did a ton of work for KC in their huge redesign.

WSJ Redesign/Mario Garcia's Work



This one is a little ridiculous, but I had to include it.


The KC Star's redesign. Most people tend to hate it or love it. I tend to love it, but it does tend to seem a bit formatted on 1A day after day. The newshole is just kind of small which doesn't leave as much room for creativity. But that flag is so cool!

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Also, two redesigns were unveiled today. The Rocky Mountain News (A news TAB) and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Nothing too amazing here. The Rocky Mountain News is looking a little more like a magazine, though, with its section covers that today all touted huge photos with text on them. They had the huge photos before, but with the rails below, it still read more like a news tab. The first read is a bit different, now.





I also just read on vizeds.com that Wired magazine launched its redesign today, too. There must be something in the water. . . So far, the feedback on vizeds is that it's looking more like a high-fashion mag than where it started as an alternative techy mag. Click here to read about it straight from the horse's mouth.

Must See

The amazing work of Martin Gee, out of the San Jose Mercury News. Please be inspired by him, for he is amazing. (Click on pics for higher res)


The Virginian-Pilot does some amazing and completely innovative things with their design, especially on 1A. This is 1A from Tuesday, Jan. 23. Nothing amazing, but different. You'll see more from them, I promise.


Jessica Randklev, The Kitsap Sun. I've never heard of this paper in my life, but this is a great concept executed amazingly!