SMartin6's GDS 220 blog

2009-12-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

Well, we're winding down here and i gotta say thank the lord God almighty!! Well, i got a cew great examples i found on webbyawards.com. Great site in itself.

The first is a design group named R/GA. This is the way i like sites, a very strong emphasis on the typography and simple navigation system. and why not. yes, they do a lot of good work for nationally known brands but i think it clever of them to present themselves with content driven design. Great stuff.

The second is the british heart foundation. Man, what a great site, the design is obviously continuous and the animation to and from is seamless. I really love the use of type and the representation of the heart. Very simple but very effective.

enjoy!

2009-11-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

Hello, well, got some stuff. The first, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, established in 1859, is among the nation's oldest and most distinguished institutions of higher learning. The college, the legacy of Peter Cooper, occupies a special place in the history of American education....or so the mission statement goes. Anyhow, this site achieves what i'm trying to achieve with my site. They do a great job of consistency among the inside pages. Also, check out the Lubalin show under the current events links.

Secondly, the New Yorker. The magazine of old has now taken on a new face courtesy of web 2.0 technology. Though i'm not exactly a reader of the new yorker you gotta appreciate the use of their iconic typography and STRICT adherence to the establish grid. delicious!

I found both of these great examples in Print magazine this month. bye......ohhh....yeah, i found this aswell...very nice.

design=diy

2009-11-11T20:34:00.000-08:00

Well, i had found this site, instructables, a while ago and it has gotten better and better. Not only is this site chock-full-a great ideas, ranging from a home-made bike trailer to chokers, I think it's designed really well.

Secondly, Pitch is a design studio located in Chicago. The author, Margot, dabbles in just about any type of design from graphic to interior. I've been trolling this site for a few weeks now and man, i really enjoy every single post so far. The design of the site is great. she manages to use colors that i wouldn't think would look good on the web but combining that with the typographical choices and interesting backgrounds i really makes a statement. enjoy!

It's cold!

2009-11-04T20:11:00.001-08:00

Well, it's gettin' cold outside and for me the only thing i can think about is skiing/snowboarding/snowshoeing/......well, you get the idea. Unfortunately for me I live in Illinois so it got me to thinking about Colorado. I really like this site. The logo, the colors, the feel of the entire site makes me want to go to Colorado. It just has a great feel to it. Also, the information is excellently and clearly displayed including the navigation.

Secondly, with winter coming everyone's going to be enticed to crank up the heat and spend more money. Wattzon.com is essentially a calculator that totals up your average amount of energy used by a person, group, etc. I really enjoy the clean graphics used in the interpretation of data after the calculation has been done. Also, i think the use of color in regards to typography does a great job of clarifying the information. Oh, and i found this one in the newest Communication Arts November/December 09. Thanks for looking!

Web Design...again.

2009-10-28T21:12:00.001-07:00

Hello, I got a few examples of great stuff from a few top design firms working right now. Both were found whilst looking through this year's Communication Art's Interactive Design. The first is for Factory Labs, a company that really deals with a diverse client group but is mostly known for their work with outdoor companies. Anyhow, I thought it was great that their site was just a greatest hits reel, much like you would see in a 3d portfolio, and 2 links. The first link being a bunch of great reviews and the second, how to contact them. I think they made a great site that gets to the point.

Secondly, Plural Design, a chicago-based design firm that specializes in strong typography and strong composition. This is more of my style personally but, it kind of pales in experience when compared to Factory Lab's site. That said, i find their site aesthetically pleasing and very easy to navigate utilizing a simple menu and excellent hierarchy.

Enjoy!

Good Stuff

2009-10-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Hello, these are some websites I found whilst cruising through some magazines. The first one is for a designer named Stefan Dziallas. Mr. Dziallas does great work in the world of icons for large clients such as Cooking magazine and ESPN. His website I think really reflects his work: clean simple and easy to read. I really like that he unites his website by color and does a good job of using space.

Secondly, this site is one that i stumbled upon while looking up examples for the upcoming project regarding the Parkland Theatre. ESI design actually specializes in designing physical spaces, taking on an entire project. I enjoy the clean, simplicity (ummm...i'm noticing a trend here) and easy to navigate. I think the use of flash in their gallery is an excellent way to display a bunch of navigation "above the fold". Super nice!

handmade goodness

2009-10-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome back. I'm serving up two more websites that are along the same lines as the other website i posted last week. The first one is the "save the chickens" website. This site is fictitious in nature but has an underlying tone of free trade being integrated into our economy. Fair enough. I really enjoyed going through the website due to the handmade feeling of it. I don't know why but i'm really drawn to these sites that utilize a simulation of real craftsmanship. Anyhow, the second one deals with yet another band, Facing New York. Not really my kind of tunes but hey, i'm a reverend horton heat fan. This too has a grungy, crafted on a coffee table during a rowdy party thing to it and it really works. The site map is part of the navigation and frankly, i really like the obviousness of it. These were both done by wefail and i f0und these examples in Fingerprint a book by Chen Design Associates published in 2006 and is available in your local library.....as soon as i'm done sniping these great designs! cheers!

incredible!

2009-10-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hello! Man i've got a few things you're gonna like. the first being a website for Bill Harvey. "An aging rock start that needed a website...". As you'll see the website takes you around Bill's apartment after a night of drinking. I really enjoy the look and feel of the website. The handmade feel of the website unifies it with the actual "real" cutouts photographs in the uhh....photographs....anyhow, this things was put together by SoFake. There website warrants a walk around aswell. It's truly incredible what's available right now. Enjoy!

week5

2009-09-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Howdy, I have here a very eclectic mix of items that really caught my eye.

The first is the bbq sauce bottles, i really like the great mix of display fonts used and the old-fashioned look of them. (complete with corks!) unfortunately the designer's site is under construction but judging from his "under construction page" i'm sure Erick is semi-cool. Oh, and i found these in CMYK Vol. 43 of this year.

Secondly, i offer up dogfood! These were done by Michelle Haft and i found them in CMYK Vol. 44 of this year. I really love the clean but cluttered look. by that i mean the hand-written type that is smattered all over the otherwise clean package......and i like boxers.

Lastly, I know when to shut up, i found a great example of advertising in places you least expect it. That's right, it's a drawbridge.....and there's a car stuck to it. No, this isn't real but is just a portfolio piece for a student at the Chicago Portfolion School named Tracey Yuen. Again, found in CMYK 43.

Thanks for the read!

Less=more

2009-09-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

hello, got a few examples this week. These are really more about print and design decisions but nonetheless are applicable to our web class. Yup, both designs i think are very good examples of using grids but not necessarily in such a strict manner. I took these from Communication Arts design annual Dec 2008. I really enjoy the simplicity of the Dirty Harry editorial, the picture of Clint Eastwood is such an icon that the designer is able to make something fantastic yet simple. I really enjoyed the illustration and the minimal type used in the bicycle editorial. Ok, that's all see you next week!

2009-09-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, this week's examples are from an another exciting Communication Arts Dec. no. 395

I really enjoyed the illustrations and the use of typography to bring everything together. Hope you enjoy it as much as i do.

2009-08-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, this week I've got two site found in the communication arts interactive issue of 2009. The first on is called thatsnotcool.com. The intent of this site is to inform and stop people from bullying/abusing others via their cellphone or other mobile device. I really enjoyed the handmade feel of the website and yes, i like the "handmade" puppets and videos. The second site is for a neighborhood development situated in Florida. I really like the navigation (though, after a few minutes i found it clunky and hard to control, i guess i just like the theory of it) and the overall look of it. I also liked the "nona-ology" name where it was two different fonts to make the name. I think it's garamond and futura.....correct me if i'm wrong. Anyhow, enjoy!

2009-08-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

Hello!