The Design Process

I saw this today and thought it was really great.

Stop signs are one of the many things we take for granted. It's hard to believe that there was a time before the stop sign existed, and that someone had to invent it. The Process is a fun short about how things would have turned out if it were designed by committee.

- Chris

7 fonts that should die

I forgot one of the uses we established for this blog was to share things with each other that are design-related.

Well, here's a quick and funny one that Alex and I were talking about earlier today:

7 Fonts that should die

He and I both agreed that Comic Sans should most definitely be added to that list (that is, if it already isn't dead...we can only hope)

If you guys find anything fun or useful that is design-related, post it up here and share it with us.

- Chris

Summer Task #3 -- Advertise!

Hey Guys,

I've decided to go ahead and propose the third official Design Matters Summer Task. This is one that my friends and I used to do a long time ago for fun way back when we were first taking an interest in digital art.

I would like everyone to make a magazine advertisement.

Well, what are the stipulations, you ask? None, really. Like all of the other summer tasks, this is very open ended. This is not a magazine layout or a spread. This is a one page ad for a product, service, business, etc. Thumb through any magazine that's close to you to draw inspiration. You can advertise anything you want and design in any style that you'd like to.











I'm going to go ahead and give everyone more time to complete this one since the last task had such a low turnout (more than likely due to the time frame). I'll go ahead and make submissions due on August 9th. That give you 12 days, not counting today. If you feel like you could do more during that time, by all means, do more than one. Or if you didn't already submit one, go ahead and submit a website design for the 2nd summer task.

Unfortunately, this will be the last summer task because school will resume shortly after this project's completion.

Good luck everyone, and I hope to see some ads from everyone in the next 2 weeks

- Chris

Summer Task #2 Submissions

Hey again, everyone.

So, perhaps I went and made the 2nd summer challenge a bit too short. I blame the boredom of summer and having to wait around for 12 days feels like an eternity so as impatient as I was feeling, I may have jumped the gun.

We only got 2 submissions: Raphyel and myself.


Raphyel Jordan



Chris Gibson


Short video showing how it would look while browsing the site


Both of us agreed that we had fun coming up with our ideas and executing the project itself so if you still want to come up with a design, by all means, keep working at it. I'll take them whenever you're done and post them up here. We'll just remove the deadline for the challenge.

- Chris

Gig Poster submissions!

Hey Everybody,

just wanted to go ahead and show off everyone's gig poster submissions for the first official Design Matters Summer Task.

Raphyel Jordan



Diana Holliday



Jimmy Taylor




Chris Gibson







Alex Sandoval




Well, that's it. Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did and also learned a few things along the way. I know I did. Good Job, everyone.

- Chris

Summer Task #2

Hey guys,With the first summer task having come to a close, I decided I would step up and present the next challenge. Diana mentioned maybe making some things for the Block Party but until we meet up to discuss, I'd like to continue having projects to work on.
Without further adieu:

Summer Task #2: Web Site Design

Let me preface this task by saying that your web site design, in no way needs to be functional on the web. A simple JPEG of your conceptualized design will suffice.

Here are a few examples to help you get inspired:











The actual site can be whatever you want it to be. A website for a band, a blog, an online store, anything goes.

Think about Typography and Graphics (images). These days, graphics play a huge role in website design. Remember that you have certain liberties that you might normally be restricted by with print media.
Really look around and see what makes certain websites stand out from others.

Let's say that submissions will be due on July 12th. That gives you 9 days to come up with a design. I know this is less time that the previous task but, given that it's summer, I feel like it should be enough.

I look foward to seeing your designs.

- Chris

Summer Task #1 - Gig Poster

Okay, so it's been a long time. Summer started a while ago, and I'm sure by now, many of us have wrested some form of laziness or enjoyment from it. I know I have gotten both.

But, if you're up to it, it's time for Design Matters' first Summer Task. There are optional assignments that you can choose to do to have a little fun, challenge yourself, or learn something from. I picked this first medium because I absolutely LOVE poster art, especially the famous gig poster.

A "gig poster" for the uninitiated, are those posters you find at venues or on telephone poles that advertise a concert or performance that is coming at a later date. There's really no boundaries here, as gig posters come in all shapes, sizes, colors and styles. Some are deconstructed, some could be considered high art-- it's all up to you.

I'll try and put some examples down here for you to look at.

Cake -- http://www.gigposters.com/posters/90130.jpg
Radiohead -- http://www.gigposters.com/posters/66556.jpg
Pink Floyd -- http://www.gigposters.com/posters/72733.jpg
Spoon -- http://www.gigposters.com/posters/95925.jpg
Dave Matthews Band -- http://www.gigposters.com/posters/86792.jpg

Got those gears rolling? Here are some guidelines:

Style: Limitless.
Dimensions: Anything, within reason. (Most gig posters are manageable paper size, not billboard big.)
Additional Elements (Things to consider): Many gig posters have, in addition to the main act name: additional support band names, date of show, venue name and location, time of show start, price of ticket, venue website.

Put it all in, leave it all out, it's up to you. There really are no restrictions on this one, so just have a day.



Final submissions will be due... let's say... by June 30th. (Send them to designmattersaasu@gmail.com) That gives you TWELVE days, so try and do something that pushes you in a couple areas you haven't ventured in.

HAVE FUN!

~L, LX.