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04 Promote a word booklet
>>CHIP KIDD : WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27TH : MINNEAPOLIS LIBRARY<< We wll leave class at 6:30 to attend.
The Chip Kidd presentation was great, he's quite a character. My most favorite part of his presentation was the inclusion of rejected covers. He showed some preliminary designs that were rejected by either the publisher, editor, or author. This helped show how often design (and illustration) is often about compromise more so than free expression. The message and communication of the message is key; pretty design and pretty pictures are always secondary in the real world. Of course the pretty ones are remembered most and win the awards.
The other valuable part of his presentation was how context plays a role in his design. Beyond mixing text with image, what is the context or content? And again, what is the message?
The podcast of the presentation will be available here shortly (looks like they upload it on the same day as the event): http://www.friendsofmpl.org/events_listen.html.
I'll bring in my Chip Kidd monograph to class, here's his website again (updated by the way): http://www.goodisdead.com. His video promo for The Learners is a great example of form with content.
In-class exercises
01 What is the message? example2 example3
Group up into teams of three and find an example of print art direction (magazine cover, print ad, billboard, poster, book cover). Once you find your example, determine what the message is and who it is meant for (the audience). Be prepared to answer the following questions (due by 6:30pm for class discussion):
__ the message?
__ the audience?
__ url of print art direction example?
02 Tear out a one-page article from a magazine and determine the style of the body text. To do this, copy this placeholder text and paste it into a text area in Illustrator. Once you determine the font, make size and spacing adjustments to match the magazine article body copy. Print out your Illustrator text area and hold it up to a light along with your magazine article to check how they are matching. You will need to determine the following aspects of the magazine body copy:
- font (use this site to determine the font)
- type size and leading (written as 10/12, 10 being the size and 12 the leading)
- is there any tracking adjustment (loosened, tightened)?
Bring your illustrator file containing the formatted text area along with your magazine article to class Monday for review. You will have time in class on Monday to make any necessary adjustments to your Illustrator text. This is a beginning point for the next project which will be assigned on Monday Wednesday.
01 Art Director - as defined by Wikipedia:Art directors in advertising aren't necessarily the head of an art department although the title may suggest it. In modern advertising practice, they typically work in tandem with a copywriter. Together, the art director and copywriter work on a concept for commercials, print advertisements, and any other advertising medium. Individually, the art director is mostly responsible for the visual look and feel of the creative product, and the copywriter has ultimate responsibility for the product's verbal and textual content. Both are responsible for coming up with big, effective and persuasive ideas. Depending on the competencies of each, they may share tasks that are traditionally designated for one or the other, for instance, an art director may suggest certain wording and a copywriter may suggest a certain aesthetic for a project.
The art director/copywriter tandem is overseen by a creative director. Art directors may also oversee a team of junior designers, image developers and production artists. In a smaller organization the art director may fill these roles as well. In a larger organization, art directors may oversee other art directors or designers.
02 Art Director - as defined by A List Apart: In advertising and print work, art directors (often teamed up with a copywriter) come up with “concepts,” the creative ideas which communicate with us on a gut level through such devices as theme, metaphor, and symbolism. Some art directors do little more than dream up these ideas and present them to clients, while some oversee almost all aspects of the design and production process. Surprisingly, art direction is seldom taught in schools and there is very little formal information on the subject; it is often learned in practice.
03 Art direction vs. design - by Jeffrey Zeldman: If you want to know what art direction is, pick up the 26 April–2 May 2003 issue of The Economist Magazine and regard its cover image. Two icons recognized around the world – one old, one new – have been merged to create an arresting visual statement. That is art direction. The design part consists of typography, color, size and placement relationships, and the design is low key compared to the image it supports.
05 Working with type: Letter (size and anatomy of type) Text (spacing and alignment) Grid
06 The Creative Brief: A creative brief is a document used by creative professionals and agencies to develop creative deliverables: visual design, copy, advertising, web sites, etc. The document is usually developed by the requestor (in most cases a marketing team member) and approved by the creative team of designers, writers, and project managers. In some cases, the project's creative brief may need creative director approval before work will commence.
The creative brief, consisting of a series of simple questions asked by the creative team and answered by the requestor, becomes the guidepost for the development of the creative deliverable. As with many strategic documents, if the project goes off track referring back to this mutually agreed upon document to see where the divergence began is helpful.
Creative briefs can come in many flavors and are usually tailored to the agency or group that is developing the creative deliverable. They know which questions (and answers) are of paramount importance to them in order to deliver a high-quality creative execution.
A creative brief may contain:
• Background — what is the background of the project? Why is it being done?
• Target audience — what do they already think about this subject? Is there anything that should be avoided?
• Objectives — what is to be accomplished? How will this be measured and success understood?
• Single message — what is the one thing to tell the audience? What is the single thing they should remember about the offering? How will they believe what we say?
• Deliverables — what is to be used to give the audience the message? What is the best way or place to reach this audience?
• Timeline — how soon is this needed? When is it expected to be done? How many rounds (revisions) will this project undergo?
• Budget — how much can be spent to get this developed? Is there any budget needed to publish/flight the creative?
• Approvals — who needs to give the "okay"?
07 Design Principles
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