Archive for April, 2011
This is the identity I created for myself. It is a palindrome. The lower case “e” reflected resembles the shape of a lower case “s”. I plan on die cutting the mark on Business cards, letterheads, resumes, etc. When the logo is die cut, the opposite side will read “es” as well. I chose the color blue to bring a professional element to the design as well as to bring my serene, mellow personality into the look and feel.
The annual ADCD Review is coming up this Saturday, April 30th 2011. I will be volunteering for the first session and participating for the second session. I am thinking I should switch that up because the first session is suggested for sophomores and Juniors, and the second session is suggested for Juniors and Seniors. Although I am about to graduate, I do not feel confident about my portfolio. Mainly because I have not had much time to work on it. I am in over my head with this event. I might consider volunteering and not part taking for now. I know Noah would be disappointed. So much to do so little time. I have had strep throat 3 times this semester and I just cannot maintain this schedule I have set up for myself this semester.
At my internship at Baxa, I don’t always get assigned the most compelling projects. Usually, they are internal projects such as flyers, posters, logos, and booklets used internally by Baxa. The senior designer at Baxa, Noah Dempewolf has taught me to appreciate every project and to find the best angle for each. These internal projects have little to none guidelines, I do not have to follow corporate guidelines. This gives me the freedom of creativity and experimentation.
The purpose of this poster is to compel Baxa associates to eat more fruit during their day. Baxa provides free fruit baskets in every lunchroom. This striking illustration attracts associates in the lunchroom to get closer to the sign therefore get closer to the fruit.
Metropolitan State College, Arts bld.
April 8th 2011
A local Denver letterpress artist David Parsons, donated an extra letterpress he had to the Metro State Communication Design Department. Thanks to his generous gift several student at Metro State have been able to learn the art of letterpress. Thus adding one more skill to pump up that resume, not to mention a lifetime of knowledge. The workshop is directed by Peter Regenold Bergman, a full time faculty at Metro State. This quick workshop has allowed me to further my skills with the letterpress, as I am one of the letterpress studio assistants this coming Fall 2011. I look forward to spending time in that little room. Thank you Peter.
Michael Boswell and Elle Kim gave an alumni lecture at Metro State’s Art Department. Michael Boswell a recent graduate of Metro State, went on to seeking a Master’s of Fine Arts at Cranbrook Academy in Detroit, Michigan. Michael is currently working under the moniker Assets and Inventory for pleasure and Nickelodeon ( a kids cartoon channel) for a paycheck. His work consists of typography and illustration referencing the underground Detroit culture.
Elle Kim graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, and also pursued a masters at Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has worked in publishing, advertising, and the fashion industry. Her work is also centered out of the moniker Assets and Inventory. These two have been working in partnership for years and shed light to the importance of collaboration and individual style.
Baxa Corporation develops innovative products of superior quality for hospital pharmacies nationwide. Baxa provides practical fluid-delivery solutions for both the pharmacy and nursing environments. The company’s reach is international. Baxa Corporation has been on the Colorado Biz “Top 50 Family-Owned Businesses in Colorado” list for ten years and in 2011 Baxa will move up to be one of the top 5 family-owned Businesses in Colorado. As a Baxa corporation graphic design intern, I have come to learn that the in-house design team at Baxa is truly a hidden gem. The exciting, and supportive corporate design environment shatters the notion of in-house designers being inferior in comparison to other design professionals. The overall feel at Baxa is reaching excellence through a collaborative effort.
The Baxa Corporation graphic design internship has given me an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the world of professional design. They follow an organized program of observation and practical hands on experience in order to understand the various aspects of the creative process and professional practices. As an design studio intern I have an opportunity to develop an understanding of various aspects in the field of design. This is including but not limited to, developing an understanding of the creative design process from initial concept through final project delivery, exposure to professional pre-press methodology for print design, as well as attend supervised press-checks. Also to further develop and enhance an existing workflow, and time management skills. Recognize and maintain corporate design standards and processes while applying these standards through print collateral and interactive media.
At Baxa, the design process is focused on assigning specific projects to a specific design professional. Although the creative process is a collaboration within the team, the project will be executed by one professional. My assignments at Baxa are mainly print design oriented from logos, postcards, to brochures. I work in collaboration with a designer in assisting with marketing collateral projects such as mailers and brochures for existing and potential clientele. Working on Baxa print productions gives me an opportunity to apply the specific Baxa corporate design guidelines. Most of my assigned projects consist of internal projects, such as flyers, posters, newsletters, logos, brochures, and other print collateral. These internal projects give me a chance to work outside of the Baxa corporate design guidelines and allows for an open design criteria. My duties at Baxa is to execute the assigned projects from start to finish in a professional and timely manner. The process includes first meeting with the project manager to receive specific guidelines and information about the project. Then going forth with the creative process, providing sufficient sketches and concepts to present to the team. Only after the teams input I would move to the computer to execute the design solution. The project will then be reviewed by both the design team and project manager up until it is ready for production.
Yes, I do feel qualified in the area in which I have been working. I have an extensive understanding of the software I use and I put the effort to obtain every guideline and requirement for the assigned project. The best resources available to me are my supervisors, who guide me through the creative process, holding Brainstorming sessions if necessary. My main focus is on the concept which is sketched out on paper, as for the technical execution, if indeed I lack the skills to execute a specific technique I have my wonderful supervisors or my team to help.
At Baxa I am treated more as an employee than an intern. Being part of the company has been the most valuable insight gained through out this experience. As a Baxa associate, my involvement goes beyond the design team into the corporate team. Attending corporate meetings, product line demonstrations, and other Baxa events allows me to understand not only the corporate design environment, but the overall corporate environment as well.
The greatest challenge for me to contend with during this semester in the internship came with a particular internal project. Baxa needed a fresh look for its two part newsletter system, one for the corporate building called Baxa Happenings and other for the production building called Baxa Beat. Each newsletter had a different theme. Baxa Beat had a easygoing superhero theme, whereas Baxa Happenings was strictly corporate. I struggled with the creative direction, for each supervisor expressed a different look and feel. I worked with three supervisors on this project, the designer who assigned me the project, the senior designer, as well as the creative director. I found myself taking a different route with each supervisor. Needless to say, there was a problem with communication. When the team identified the problem, our solution was to hold critiques and other creative briefs as a team, for a united solution to the problem.
One activity that I would suggest that could have been done differently on the job, in order to increase my learning experience in the field would be to participate in all of the creative briefs and brainstorming sessions with the design team. Due to my limited availability as an intern, I was not able to be present on a daily basis and therefore missed many critiques. I feel it would have benefit me to observe and participate in the various aspects of the creative process of other design projects besides my own.
My principal objective from this experience was to attain a deeper understanding of the in-house design environment within a corporate world. I feel that I have reached this goal. I have gained a valuable insight from improving my ability to recognize and maintain corporate design standards and processes throughout various applications. I also feel that I have attained a wider knowledge of professional design practices, which I would not necessarily learn from an academic environment. As for the remainder of my time at Baxa, I would like to dip my feet into interactive material such as website development and other interactive projects. I would also like to concentrate on improving my portfolio as a whole.
FLOD (Future Leaders of Design) is a student chapter of AIGA. The club consists of Communication Design students and faculty of Metropolitan State College. They are responsible for organizing Brown Bag lectures, and workshops. The club meets once a week to discuss guest speakers, funding, paperwork, event planning, etc. In order to raise funds, the club held its first bake sale. The funds would go to travel, lectures, and workshops. This was a poster I created for the bake sale. The appealing cupcakes are paired with an array of eery arms to capture the viewers attention and lead them to the bake sale.
Every year the Art Directors Club of Denver, organizes an annual Paper Fashion show. I partook in the 2011 Paper Fashion Show with the Communication Design team at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Having some experience with fashion design, I jumped to the opportunity. Soon I discovered partaking in this event was a tricky thing to make time for between school, internship, and work. My team of five were meeting nights to conceptualize, design, and configure. The designs came together at last and it was a success. The dress had a strong color scheme, and an easy going, wearable style. Pattern and texture were our two mantras.
The show on March 2011 turned out to the the most successful yet. With over 1,100 attendees and 60+ design teams and fashions. The fashions were showcased at a grand runway and voted on by a panel of judges. This year a total of $7,250 was donate to DAVA (Downtown Aurora Visual Arts).
Public lecture
March 17th, 2011
RMCAD: Mary Harris Auditorium
Rick Valicenti is the founder and director of Thirst / Chicago. Art, function, and design is the focus at Thirst. In October 2006, Rick was presented with the highest honor in graphic design, the AIGA Medal. His speech at RMCAD was appropriately titled “Difference Making.” He talked about the world of design today and what making a difference really means. Many designers claim to be great thinkers and problem solvers, where the problems they are solving quite often include typefaces, color use, and deadlines. His responsive and inventive thinking directs towards solving real problems, and really making a difference with design.
This poster was screen printed at a winter workshop organized by FLOD (Future Leaders of Design), an AIGA student chapter at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The workshop was held at Idaho Stew Ink Lounge, owned by Stu and Nikki Alden, a husband and wife design team. The objective of this workshop was not only to learn how to screen print but to have an opportunity to work with great mentors such as Stu and Nikki Alden. The task was to design a social issue poster. My concept was to get the publics attention on a subject matter that is considered uncomfortable. One in four children are sexually abused in America, yet adults keep shying away from the issue due its graphics content. My goal was to create a strong concept illustrating the severity of the subject. I illustrated a beaten up teddy bear paired with original copyright. The text read a child damaged cannot be stitched up, prevent child sex abuse before it happens. This poster is intended to prevent child sex abuse by calling attention to adults with children in risk of sexual abuse and adults who themselves commit sexual abuse on children. Once the damage is done, it is done. Therapy can only heal the wound, the scar will always remain.
The poster is printed in 11″ x 17″ size. It is two color, because the workshop provided two screens per student. One screen is used for each color. I choose to pair a child like blue and a muddy brown to represent conflicting ideas of innocence and violence. Blue gives off a childlike feel while brown brings in a darker, impure tone to the image.
Overall the workshop was a great success. I learn how to screen print from the best screen printers in Denver and walked away with a strong concept.
Idaho Stew Ink Lounge
1512 S. Acoma Street
Denver, Colorado
303-321-7107
http://www.inkloungegallery.com
January 5th – 7th 2011
Elizashrestha's Blog 