NEW PROJECT // ALAU.ME PRODUCT OVERVIEW VIDEO
As part of the creative team at Duarte, I assisted in the development of the Alau.me Product Overview Video. I sketched the storyboard and created visual assets which were used in the production of the motion piece.
You can view the product in my portfolio here.
Learn more about Alau.me here.
NEW PROJECT // DUFF RESEARCH REBRAND
Last year at Duarte Design, I was the Lead Designer on the development of Duff Research’s new website and logo. The success of this project was attributed to active engagement with the client at the onset and a collaborative creative process.
See the final design in my portfolio now.
Visit the Duff Research website.
DUARTE BLOG // SKETCH CRAWL
Recently, four colleagues and I participated in the SF SketchCrawl. SketchCrawl is an event where artists gather in a location in and around San Francisco to casually sketch what we see in our surroundings—people, buildings, etc. Check out the entry about this event on Duarte’s blog here: Insights & Inspirations from SF Sketch Crawl
PAPER // 53
Hello! It’s been a while, + blog. I haven’t contributed to this spot in a long time. Life’s been busy. I thought I would start off my latest post with something fun. Way back in December 2011, my generous employers at Duarte, Inc. gave every employee at the company an iPad 2. For keeps! It was a way to not only show their gratitude for our work but also as a way to inspire us toward innovation and creativity. In that time, I’ve tried out a few different apps for productivity and note taking and of course creative apps. My favorite is a lightweight app called, Paper.
Sometimes you feel like you need a bigger toolbox. At the top of my wish list are more colors in the palette, at least three different radius sizes for each brush, the ability to shuffle sketchbooks and export entire sketchbooks as pdfs. However, given enough creativity anyone can make good use out of the parameters of a few well-made tools.
You can learn more about Paper app and also see my collection of illustrations that I’ve made with it.
SEAN CHANG WINS 2011 ADOBE DESIGN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Just received great news from Sean Chang, an MFA Graphic Design graduate that I taught as a directed study advisor. He was awarded the 2011 Adobe Design Achievement Award for his thesis project, DAMN!OTAKU. Sean sent all his instructors and directors this lovely thank you:
“To my directors and instructors in Academy of Art university, Mary Scott, Phil Hamlett, Hunter Wimmer, Carolina de Bartolo, Frances Liddell, and Liana Lawrance. Thanks for pushing and teaching me harder. You all drove me crazy, which turned me in a good way. Because of your guiding, I can stand on the stage now and share with you this honor. I strongly believe that design has the power to make this world better, and thank you for giving me this power. Thank you.”
I couldn’t be more proud of him! I think he’s still seeking a design position, someone better snag him soon. Learn more about Sean and his work below.
Adobe Design Achievement Award 2011: Sean Chang
Portfolio: Gather Link
MFA Graphic Design Thesis: DAMN!OTAKU
THE RIGHT CLOTHES
I want to open up this blog to discuss another area of design—fashion. Most know me as a graphic designer and illustrator, but every now and then, I am a model. To be precise, I am a plus size model.
I grew up a chubby kid and grew into a curvy, full-figured woman. I faced issues of weight and self-esteem growing up—and still do. It sucks to step into a store like Anthropologie, with all it’s kitschy/rustic/mid-century charm, and not be able to buy anything because they don’t carry anything in my size. I secretly hate clothes shopping with my thinner friends and try to avoid it because I’m ashamed that I can’t try anything on. I hate stepping into some “women’s” clothing stores because the clothes look frumpy and too senior. It’s like the fashion world was telling me, that I didn’t deserve to look nice because I wasn’t in a size 4.
Happily, the clothing manufacturers and designers have been paying attention. Now many brands offer plus sizes (American Rag, Old Navy, INC) and there are some that specialize specifically in plus (Torrid, Igigi, Avenue, Lane Bryant). There are more options out there now for plus-sized women… clothing that breeds confidence and accentuates your figure instead of hiding it.
I’m always on the look out for new plus brands. Back in 2010, I lost my job at VIZ Media due to an economic downturn. In between job applications, I cruised Facebook. At the time, I hadn’t been on a job hunt in two and a half years and after the lay-off, I needed something to boost my confidence on interviews. I noticed an ad for a new plus size clothing brand and visited the site. I fell in love with the clothes immediately. After discovering they were located in San Francisco, I arranged a visit.
Jessica, the design brain behind Eliza Parker, had selected two other dresses in addition to my first choice and I tried them all on. The lines were clean, cut to compliment my curves. The fabric felt good between my fingers and felt good to wear. She seemed to love seeing me in the clothes, saying that I was the same size as their fit model. I jokingly said, “Well, maybe I can model for you too!” I purchased the Bordeaux dress in black. Three weeks later, I got an email from Jessica saying that she wanted to know if I was interested in coming in for a shoot. I was surprised and thrilled. No one had ever asked me to model before. I didn’t think of myself as exactly the type. After the shoot and every shoot since then, I’ve felt a reaffirmation of my own worth.
It’s easy to see the wrong out there, how fashion bombards women with impossibly thin models that we are being programmed to believe is what we should be when what we should be is ourselves. We often overlook the positive impact fashion design can have on people. When I wear something designed for a woman like me. I feel like I have on a special armor. I don’t have to look like someone else to be worthwhile and my gifts are not limited to what I could do in Photoshop or InDesign. Isn’t it strange how you can feel so strong, confident and beautiful just being yourself?
And all it took was the right clothes.
Want to know more about Eliza Parker? Follow the links below.
ONLINE STORE: Eliza Parker
BLOG: Eliza Parker Blog
MY ELIZA CAMPAIGN: “Real Women. Real Life. Real Style.”
FULL CIRCLE
Recently, I was contacted by Reshonda Perryman, a new graduate from JSU’s graphic design program. She was referred to me by my former instructor, John Jennings and wanted me to give her advice, answer questions about my graduate school experience at Academy of Art University in San Francisco and to critique her work. I was very impressed by her level of design work. It shamed my 2001 portfolio when I graduated from JSU… and I’m happy about that. This told me that the program had continued to evolve and with it so had the students’ work. I’m proud of having made the decision to attend Jackson State University for my Bachelors.
I enrolled at Jackson State University, one of America’s many historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), in 1997. The design lab was filled with outdated Mac PowerPCs, useless Amiga PCs and obsolete, broken Apple printers (Apple stopped making Laserwriters years ago). On top of everything, the university was not properly funding the department (limited printer paper) and it was in great danger of losing it’s accreditation. As a student, I often felt that the administration neglected the Art Department because it valued it’s other schools so much more. I saw that at the university’s job fairs there were plenty of recruiters seeking engineers, biologists, marketing/business majors but not one single design firm or creative ad agency. I couldn’t help but feel that this was a ripple effect from the underlying stigma of being a designer or artist in the black community. Talking to some other students and some faculty, I was left with the “starving artist” stereotype. Unless it’s a performance art such as singing, dance or instrumental, being an visual artist or designer was seen as impractical and not lucrative. And… something ignored.
However, there was a growing pool of design talent, spurred on by a new graphic design instructor, John Jennings. I felt that he was a driving force in revitalizing the department. Jennings encouraged exploration and experimentation with type, image, composition and mixed media. Often the lab was full of students well past the posted lab hours and there would be plenty waiting outside of the lab well before it opened the next day. By 2001, the computer lab was located in a new state-of-the-art liberal arts building, filled with new computers, scanners and current software. I could feel a change in attitudes and a new energy in the classes that I’m happy did not die out when Mr. J moved on to a new position at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. Others took up the torch and 10 years later it shows.
CULTURE NOT A COSTUME
Halloween is on it’s way and I’ve already selected my own costume. Last year, I was Peg Bundy from the late 80s-90s sitcom, Married with Children. It was a hit! I dressed up in typically tacky Peg Bundy get up, complete with a bouffant. But as we prepare for the holiday, there are some costumes that are not only tacky but highly inflammatory.
A friend of mine shared an interesting blog post by Melissa R. Sipin and I wanted to pass it along. Sipin discussed the project by STARS, a student organization at Ohio University on her blog Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Read the Full Article
SEQUENT
New to my Professional listing is the final assignment I worked on at 1185 Design and my first fully realized website design. Here you can see the original concept and the final execution.
Original Concept (above)
Final (above)
I’m pleased to see that after another designer picked up the concept, that the final design preserves most of what I originally concepted. Though new to designing for web, I feel that my work with this project shows that I am adept at developing visual layout in this medium. I look forward to working with future clients to develop other successful visual designs in the future.
THE KERNING GAME
Finally the internet delivers something that combines my nerd-on for typography and casual gaming. Check out this neat game developed by Mark McKay for Method of Action.
“Your mission is simple: achieve pleasant and readable text by distributing the space between letters. Typographers call this activity kerning. Your solution will be compared to typographer’s solution, and you will be given a score depending on how close you nailed it. Good luck!”
I managed to make an 85% the first time I played. How well can you kern? Play the game!
