Inspirational Post

Typography is the most important visual element in graphic design.  It is the transfer of information from paper to mind.  Not only does it break down a visual message into a language to be read by the mind, it also sets the mood for what the composition is presenting.  Bold type is loud, without making a single sound.  Italic type is formal, without dressing up.  Distorted type creates movement, without even moving away from its place.  I believe type is called "characters" because thats exactly what they are, they can almost have their own sense of being within a composition.  I find it amazing how there are so many decorations to the same shape that makes a letter, and each one has its own personal feel because of it.  A sans serif on paper looks and feels completely different than a serif.  The fact that I can say "feel" is just as amazing, because I'm talking about a bunch of letters.  That's all people will know them as, that's all they are intended to be.  Since when were they given so much power to move the mind throughout a piece of paper.

A symbol has the power to promote as much personal emotion as a human being.  That is what I find so inspirational in graphic design.  Its a subliminal message, one you would never realize until you are taught how to recognize it.  Before ever taking a class that shown me how graphic design affects people I never would've known that seeing a sentence in all caps is promoting a lot of energy. Yet I would feel the energy thats there, spawned off of connecting emotion to what I am seeing.  I believe all forms of art creates a world for your mind to set itself upon. In graphic design, type is the pillars that keep the roof stable in the world you create.  Without type being in place, you wouldn't have the stable structure in your composition.  I also find the fact that Graphic Design is like a science completely amazing.  Everything has its own function with the intent of moving someone.  A billboard will be seen by a hundred thousand people approximately, for about 0.9 seconds each average.  If the billboard is good enough, it will be remembered for fifteen thousand times more than the time given to observe it.  That doesn't sound like much for just a billboard but thats just it: its a billboard.  Graphic design has been given a power to control what is considered trendy in todays age, and for some reason nobody really recognizes the work of graphic design as much as what it is promoting.  I find that inspirational that something so moving as remained this quiet for so long.

Matte YES

I really like how simply AMAZING this card is.  I love the flat matte black with raised ink printing.  I also love the irony of how you can pull YES out of Mayes name and use that as the advantage to the card.  I feel if you laid down a bunch of different designs down on a table, this would be one of the first to be picked up and looked at.  Despite its simplicity, the type is elegant, it is quietly bold, and it is very direct and to the point.

New Tree

While looking for inspiration for my contemporary slideshow, I stumbled across this.  I would have to say this is the most contemporary image I found, I didn't use it in my slide cause I didn't know who created it.  I say this is a modified update to art nouveau.  In today's designs illustrations still respect the natural feel of images, but this reflects the clean and straightforward contemporary digital look we've transcended into.  A beautiful composition in my opinion.

Gears

I stumbled across this looking at interesting printing houses.  I thought this was the most unique business card I have ever seen.  It's actually the card for a watch repair business, which makes sense cause that mimics the gears of a watch.  I would love to see the amount of construction put into each and every one of these cards.  That or how much it cost for a bundle?

Fresh

I found this looking for inspiration for creative envelopes for my type project.  I really like how they reused the gradient for the inside of the envelope, but left a lot of breathing space for the font.  Speaking of font, how about that font? I don't think that'll die down until we start going back to engravers as the hip typeface.

Time's a ticking.

During our field trip to Surface 51 I happened to notice a very interesting clock on the wall.  Only the first quarter of the clock was there, while the rest was open air, allowing you to make a mental connection of what time it was as to a normal clock.  I found this, and I feel it does the same thing but a little more subtle.  I really enjoy seeing the large, offset numbers in white, allowing you to mentally compromise what time it is from knowing where numbers are regularly placed.

Depth in Type

I've found quite a few of these, and i must say I really do enjoy them.  I like the simplicity, and cartoony feel it has.  I posted this on my type blog as well, makes sense huh? In terms of style I would call this contemporary,  this kind of playfulness is valued a lot in today's art.