Designism

Original Site

Recently we talked about designism in class. I like the thought of designism, but it seems so difficult to think of something that is worth creating. I like seeing the solution found here. Making shelters out of earth has been what people do. In Africa people have been making buildings out of earth for many years, it only makes sense that they make vaults out of the earth as well, as long as they are actually secure and it isn't possible to dig through with a shovel.

Legendary

Original Site

I like it when people do clever things with pop culture. When people make obvious connections between two very different things it makes the rest of us laugh. The movie cover above is originally from the movie I Am Legend, however, it has been adjusted to fit the TV show How I Met Your Mother.

Green Photograph

Original Image

I like this photo because it looks like it comes out of an ad. The colours are bright, the sky is blue, some of it is white. Everything is how we expect it to be, perfect. It is balanced, with the trunk of the tree on the right, and the leaves and branches on the left. This is the type of tree that a family puts a tire swing in.

Interview with Spencer Nugent

A while ago I wrote about Spencer Nugent and his sketches. I sent him an email recently and he agreed to answer a few questions. Here they are:

1. Where did you find inspiration for your style?

First and foremost, I think I got most of my inspiration in school from my Professor, Paul Skaggs at Brigham Young University. I also like to just browse the internet for new styles and cool sketches. I don't consider myself the best at what I do, but I am passionate. I also was influenced a lot by Feng Zhu

2. Who are your three favorite designers?

That's a tough question. I tend to be a loner when it comes to design and am not really a fan of design celebrity. That being said, I relate more to the designs from firms rather than a singular designer. I do like what I see coming out of MNML these days.

3. What inspired you to start designing.

I'm not sure. I've always been curious about things in general. When I was younger, my brother and I would take things apart and make things together, and see what happened. I was more his accomplice in the matter, but I loved doing it with him!

4. What type of work would you see yourself doing in the future.

I'd like to still be involved in design visualization in the future. I see my path leading towards design education in the long term.

5. Sketch-A-Day doesn't seem to be something that brings in much money. What inspires you to keep doing this?

Well I do run a studio with my business partner, John Muhlenkamp, called Studio Tminus (studiotminus.com). So that's my primary source of income. Sketch-A-Day really started as a means to keep my skills sharp and relevant. You find that as a professional, it's easy to let your skills slip. Practice makes perfect after all.

6. What type of work do you spend most of your time doing?

I spend most of me time in front end visualization and conceptualization. It's my favorite part of the process and I feel I get to really shape, no pun intended, the outcome of the project. I am also the primary CAD modeler in the studio, so I enjoy doing that as well.

7. How long do your sketches take on average.

Depends. For a sketch page full of ideas, it could take 30-60 minutes. For a small, singular idea, about 5-10. Add in some color and that doubles the time.

8. How much do you look to historical designers, or designers that don't directly relate to your field of work?

Not very much. It's something that I find can be limiting in some ways. I'd rather look to the future than relate too much to the past. That's not to say I abandon all principles of good design as advocated by past designers.

9. I noticed you do a lot of robot sketches. What is your favorite robot movie?

Funny you ask. I was just watching Robot Jox, a little known movie, the other day. I pretty much will watch any movie that has some robot in it.

10. What other projects will you be involved with in the near future?

If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

visual.ly

Original Site

While working on a poster, my employer sent me to this site. He wanted something to the same effect as a lot of these infographics. I found this site to be a great source of design as well as content. The people running it have a sense of humour, and a good eye for design.

Stephen Kroninger

Original Site

Stephen Kroninger designed a lot of album covers. He has a really interesting illustration style. I like his work, but I couldn't do work like that I don't think. His style is older, and would have been in a cartoon pop culture. Depending on how everything would have been produced it would have taken a long time. Letterpress would have taken ages and a lot of plates, and screen printing would have taken days.

Van Gogh to Rothko

I found this video this morning. I really like how it found the similarities in paintings, possibly even transitions shown throughout history. I like the effort put into this video. It is evident that there was a lot of planning involved in preparation for the stop motion that took place.