Artist Book
Update: I’ve found an amazing artist to work with! 
Hello artists!
What: My semester project for my Prepress class is to create a 40 page book about an artist or art show. In it I will be showing my capabilities of layout. It will be a 10 week progress and by the end I will have a professionally printed and bounded book.
Who: I would love to work with an artist who has a substantial body of work to be featured. This book can serve as your portfolio for any upcoming show. What I’m envisioning is about 10-12 pages of copy which can be filled with essays written by you, your colleagues and fellow artists about your work. The rest of the pages will be filled with images of your work with short descriptors.
When: I would like to begin research and collaborating as soon as possible. So, let’s talk!
How: They layout will be done through InDesign CS 5.5.
Why: Class assignment and portfolio piece for you and me.
If this is something you are interested in, please email me at: nguyen.n.lanny@gmaill.com Looking forward to hearing from you!
It’s A New Semester!!
Horray!
I was always that kid who got uber-excited about the first day of school with my brand new notebooks and freshly sharpened pencils.
This time around, I have my new drawing pencils to replace the ones I worn down last semester, sketchbooks for all my drawing classes and drawing pads. I’ve cleared out my portfolio and I am ready for this semester.
For this semester I am taking six classes. Some may call it crazy, and I agree, but I love being pushed to the limit with all the assignments.
I’ve gone to 4/6 classes already and I can already tell it’s going to be an extremely challenge semester, but I’m ready.
So these are my classes this semester:
Life Drawing – The instructor is intense and I’m looking forward to what I’m going to learn.
Drawing 2- This class is set up to be more of an independent studies class with more research of artists and working with color in my drawings. Excited about all the new projects.
Art 2D- The catalogue best describes this: The course in the visual organization of the elements and principles of design as fundamental concepts in visual problem solving, composition, and color theory. Emphasis will be on the underlying nonobjective and abstract structure of visual art.
Photo Lab Practices- I’m excited to get back into the dark room and learn more techniques in developing and printing. From learning the old adage, over expose and under develop to trying different developers for a variety of film. I’ve been wanting to take this class for the past 2 years and am ready to dive right in.
Art History- The book is huge. Ready to go to the museums though.
Pre-press – This is the only class that involves a computer this semester. We will get to use all the programs and learn about working with printers and getting images color ready to go to press. I hear we get to visit a few printing studios to learn about the process.
So these are my days:
Monday: Work 6am-10am, class 2pm-5pm
Tuesday: Classes 9am – 10pm
Wednesday: Work 6am-10am, classes 2pm-9:30pm
Thursday: Classes 9am – 10pm
Friday- Sunday: Work and homework!
I value my breaks in between and there will definitely be no time to procrastinate. Coffee will be my best friend and sleep will be a luxury. EXCITED!
Here’s to a new semester! Cheers!
Expressive Word Book Cover
This is the final product from my last project, Express Words.
The assignment was to search for a book with the same word title and redo it with more emphasis on the word more than an image. For this design I used illustrator and photoshop for the mock up.
Editorial Layout: Hillman Curtis
This was part of my final editorial layout which was focused on short documentary film director, Hillman Curtis.
I am really proud of this layout . I was inspired by film reels, hence the black borders. My second inspiration was the letter H for his name. Can you spot the H layout?
Take some time to look up Hillman Curtis and perhaps you will be as inspired as I was. Musician, Graphic Designer and now film maker.
You can check out all his short films at: www.hillmancurtis.com
DONE!
“Design is easy. All you do is stare at the screen until drops of blood form on your forehead.” – Marty Neumeir
*Wipes blood from forehead, and falls asleep for 48 hours.*
This is what I really wanted to do today, but I woke up at my normal time and ate breakfast, then I sat around and thought, “Well, this is weird.”
It was weird because I am officially done with my first semester as a design student! HORRAY!! After 5 months and 5 design classes and so many all-nighters that I lost count of, I had crossed the finish line and submitted my final project Monday morning at 12AM.
What a semester, what a year.
This semester my classes were:
Drawing 1
Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
InDesign/Typography Layout
Webpage Design/DreamWeaver
Many people thought I was crazy for diving in with 5 classes, let along design classes that demand so much time to work on projects and homework. I thought I was crazy, but I really wanted to fully immerse myself and I’m so glad I did.
I will post some of my final projects soon.
Do you know Paula Scher?
At the beginning of the semester, our first assignment for typography/InDesign class was to research Paula Scher and do an article layout about her.
I was so inspired by what I had researched and she is someone I know I will be continuously studying. What makes Paula Scher unique was she took used typography as her art. Instead of words being second to image in design, they became the focus.
Her use of typography throughout the years has changed the world of design and how we use it in our designs.
Below is my layout and I have attached a video from a talk she had done. I hope you find her as inspirational as I had.
An Update & Paul Rand
This gallery contains 2 photos.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted and that’s because I’ve been swamped with a fun load of projects to tackle in preparation for the end of the semester. I have about two to three big projects to tackle per class for the final, on top of the ongoing assignments. It’s been a challenge, but [...]
Typography + Motivation
This speech always moves me. I was starting to feel the pressures of all the final projects piling up, but I took a breath and watched this video. Not only does it always motivate and inspire me, coupled with the typography and layout I’m even more determined to push through and excel.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.”
Color Themes
When I first started designing, I would go right to designing, then play with layout and color and font as I go along. However, I noticed this always seem to take me way too long. Along the way, I’ve been starting a sketch on paper then choosing three colors, my font then I do a grid and begin a layout.
Through my online class, I was informed of a great site to get inspired for your color themes:
http://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/rating?time=30
This is a great alternative for all those color books. I have quite a few!
Let me know how it works for you. I’m excited to integrate this into my design process.
What Is Going On At Gap?
I’ve been a long time fan of Gap and their affiliate brands, Old Navy and Banana Republic. I have always trusted Gap to provide me with the best denim and Banana to have the higher quality items such as my beloved trench coat and heavy wool coats. Though I rarely bought anything from Old Navy, I appreciated that it provided stylish clothes for a lower price.
However, as many analysts have covered, Gap Inc. has been in a weird area for quite some time. I was working at the Gap when they decided to throw their hat in the ring for fashion forward clothes. This flopped miserably. They looked like the mild manner teenager who was desperately trying to fit in with the cool kids of school, but ended up looking awkward standing in the corner with their ill fitting trendy clothes. This approach to clothes turned off many loyal Gap fans. Although I was an employee and had a discount, I rarely bought into any of those trendy items, instead sticking with what they knew best, quality basics.
I don’t think Gap ever fully recovered after that. To me, they were always so brilliant when it came to promoting their key products which can be seen in some of these videos:
Obviously, these last two paragraphs, I’ve really harped on them not focusing on their most important products, which brings me to my current state of bafflement, why are Gap and Banana Republic associating themselves with food?
When I think of Gap, food does not cross my mind. Denim walls, perfect fitting t’s, great great fitted tops and jackets, but food? No. So this past summer when they rolled out their taco truck, Pico De Gap to promote their 1969 denim line, I didn’t understand it at all. Were they trying to tie in food truck culture with their stores? Perhaps they were doing it for promotion, getting more people to talk about them on the social networks as people have done with hugely successful food trucks. However, this only told me thatGap was missing its mark again.
Instead of focusing internally on what was really lacking in their stores and products, they chose to dive into a field they had VERY LITTLE knowledge about. Sure, people talked about their truck, but did it really translate into sales in the long run for them? Did they attract new customers who were going to be long time customers, or did the coupons they give out only gained a few hundred non-repeating customers?
Once again, Gap looked like that awkward teenager who was trying too hard and only muddled up their brand some more.
I thought Gap Inc. was done with their food partnership, until I read about Banana Republic partnering with Clos du Bois wines to do two special edition bottles for the holidays to be sold in their stores. You can read more about it here: http://blogs.wsj.com/runway/2011/10/17/bananas-up-banana-republic-draws-wine-collaboration/
Like the article said, Banana should stick with what they know, clothes. I know wine says classy and refined, but wine inside Banana Republic stores only say bizarre to me. Partnerships like the Mad Men collection makes sense to me, but with food, it only says we’re trying too hard again.
My background is in marketing, but I claim no expertise in these manners. I am speaking as a long time consumer and fan, I am baffled and sad by these approaches. Other brands, such as JCrew has managed to stick to their signature pieces while be able to be fashion forward in a desirable manner. It also saddens me to hear about Gap needing to restructure with closing of so many stores. I hope this will force them to revaluate their focus. I hope that I am wrong about the wine for BR and maybe people will love the novelty of buying wine while they find their perfect holiday dress and BR will be successful.
However, I can’t help but think that only place I want to be able to pick up a bottle of wine with an outfit is Target, and it should remain that way.
