Great Mind Designer

I choose Armin Hofmann for my research project.

Interlocking Pattern

Grid Typeface

Layers

Hierarchy + Typography

Foundations of Typography: Hierarchy and Navigation with Ina Saltz

Hierarchy is a powerful tool designers use to express an order of things for the reader to perceive, i.e. a method used so that viewers could easily understand a content's importance or urgency. Magazines and websites utilize hierarchy in their layout design, keeping their title / most important content within the mass-head.  Western style reading (Top-down and left to right) is a good place to start when dealing with hierarchy and navigation, but it is not the only way to achieve importance. A large weight font in comparison to the rest of the layout can be flush right and still be read first due to its size.

An image and text can integrate well just by using a possible line of sight and/or angles of objects that will point to the text block. Additionally, exaggerating size and/or weight to increase contrast can work in your favor in establishing a clear hierarchy. All of these tools are used to hold and captivate a reader, but for each rule there are also exceptions.

Color is another method designers use to establish a strong hierarchy. Typographic color can separate, it can link and it can unify content on a page for the reader to perceive.

Cropping

Creative Inspirations: Kit Hinrichs

In this video, the grand father of design, Kit Hinrichs, reminisces about his upbringing, education, and highlights the need to expand one's mind by being exposed to new environments. His approach to design mimics his approach to life, with clear and distinct goals in mind.

Straight out of high school, Hinrichs was accepted to Art Center in LA, where the average age for freshmen was in the mid-twenties.  There, he was exposed to the wide variety of lifestyles and personalities, which shaped his persona and career. With new experiences driving his creativity and lifestyle, he decided to spend a year living and working in Germany, and to later enlisted to the Marine Corp upon graduating Art Center.  He believed that new experiences make better work - meeting people and going to new places that one wouldn't do normally.

Bouncing around studios in New York, setting up his own studio in SF which later merged with Pentagram, and now heading Studio Hinrichs also in SF. Kit uses a small, but trustworthy team with the mindset that smaller team dynamics mean stronger, more efficient work. He also believes that design should make something better, not just look pretty.

Overall, Kit showed great passion and admiration for great communicating design.  His extensive library and collection of americana exemplifies a love for art and his country. Growing as a designer pre-digital age makes him rely on his team to do most of the computerize artwork, but his ideas and sketches are still powerful and unique in its own regard.

Learning Graphic Design: Cropping Photographs

Senior author of Lynda.com, John McWade, demonstrated the ability to transform existing images with the simple use of cropping techniques.  Using the seven types of crops: 1) hard crop, 2) soft crop, 3) split crop, 4) stickout crop, 5) the knockout crop, 6) false crop, and 7) shape crop, the user has the ability to adjust the composition and mood freely and easily.

Although familiar with most of the seven crop techniques, I never utilized the false or shape crop, so it was nice to see both used in a strategic manner.  False crop uses textual or pictoral cover to crop a picture behind it, where both front and back designs are exposed to make a new design.  Shape crop is a method where the user will crop only part of an image to a shape seen in the picture.  From there, text/color can fill the back, making the cropped shape/object appear to pop.

Major take-away from the videos were:
1) See with your eyes & mind - look at the scene and recall the experiences that the composition dictates.
2) Look for descriptive slices - seek power lines that could be utilize to make the overall composition stronger,
i.e. rule of thirds, line of sight
3) Crop Radically - keep in mind that agressive lines can lead to interesting and captivating photos.
4) Watch for the story - stay true for the overall feel, and try to capture that with cropping

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