Positive/negative

Seeing color

Michael Bierut Video Notes

His design process was simple but still inspiring. Even his beginnings to finding how he wanted to be a designer seemed like it just feel into place, as a kid there was just a Logo that changed his life. The Clark logo’s L is lifting the A. It was a little moment of pleasure and delight in a logo and it inspired him to become a designer.

He explains how making people happy can sell a product. The sales of a nut company went up when he helped create a cute and unique design for the company. People were happy about getting nuts in boxes. You can ruin things with graphic design as well. His example was a Florida ballot from the Bush v. Gore election. His rebranding for Saks Fifth remade the brand without changing the logo too much, but just by exploring how you can see it. 

His designs for an old church in New York were able to make old feel knew by accentuating the old. “Refresh thy homepage.” They used humor and made it stand out by using an old font in a new context. “Collect what you receive”. The “Though shalt not poop” dog sign became the most photographed sign in NY. 

He teaches how you often need to just shut up and listen and you can find a design. 

An example is from the, MAD, museum of art and design. He finally listened and came up with a better design. 

Marian Bantjes notes

The documentary brought up a lot of interesting points that stuck with me. She inspired me to want to effect people in a different way with my work and that design can be personal and specific to one human being. This can make work more interesting and clients make actually like it better because you are doing something you enjoy. Marian's style can be seen as very illustrative and it is a good example of how illustration can cross over with graphic design and can help you be a better designer. I like the point she brings up about how there can be a right on wrong way to do typography. I also find her dirt collection very inspiring and I think a quirky collection of that kind can inspire a lot of different things. Its a refreshing and interesting way to look at the world and can be a good way to open up your mind to even better and meaningful design. Marian says everything she does is for love. I like how serendipitous she sometimes approaches her design process. Sometimes I think this is important to use because it helps you come up with new ideas you wouldn't have otherwise found out yourself. 

Another thing I took away from this video is to take a step back from the computer. She said that when she designs on the computer she feels like it takes over her brain. I can relate and feel almost the same way. I feel limited when designing straight away on the computer. 

Lastly, I was inspired by Marian's blogging. I think I would like to find a new way to be able to share and exchange my knowledge learned with a wider audience. 

Color Studies

Typographic Texture