Wednesday 26 November 2008

Referred But Not Deterred

It’s been a hectic fourteen days. There have been two new assignments to consider on top of one ongoing and one referral.

Receiving the referral didn’t come as a shock as knew I had made a mess of presenting the information on the CD that was required. What was a shock was the amount of other things I had done wrong or simply not addressed. I felt quite stupid when I was told and a little embarrassed that I was unable to follow instruction. I think this may have been reflected in the group as most received the same feedback. I suppose it gave me a bit of relief when I found out I was not alone.

The referral has done no favours regarding time management. It’s increased my work load and stress. I’m still pretty nervous about handing it in again. I will be reading, trying to get others to read and reading it again before I hand it in for the final time. I have taken the opportunity of going into college out of my scheduled time this week as it will give the chance ‘crack on’ with my work.

Receiving feedback on the eCard project has also increased my confidence this week. I’ve just found out that I, along with a few others, have been shortlisted for the final design. So I must be doing something right.

eCard
Our new assignments have been interesting this week. I’ve enjoyed working on ‘thought processes’ and sketching frantically to develop ideas. I think I may have missed instruction at one point as I took too long on the second development stage. It’s becoming clear to me that I need to understand what is being asked of me and not to just say I know. The result can be catastrophic.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

Industrial Insight

I was fortunate enough to be enlightened on the ins-and-outs of the industry I have chosen to pursuit. Two people, Dave and Craig, from The Design Mechanics gave their views and practices they have encountered while working in this field.

The information presented before me hit home and mapped out just how much work is ahead of me to succeed in the future. I was shocked to learn that designs take less than a week to produce from initial brief to final draft. A very short time frame to produce a large quantity of work is frightening but this is now what I should expect to be able to cope with. No questions.

Learning that the company had just started to generate profits in the last two years (within a period of ten) definitely gives me perceptions about where to aim my focus when I complete this course. I thought it would be a walk in the park going straight into a freelance type job or setting up a business but listening to Dave speak has put this into perspective.

Being able to speak with Craig also gave the opportunity to seek out how the industry works for the employee. I found it interesting that several briefs will be juggled at any one time and that works, not excuses, are expected on time and to satisfaction of the client.

I shall use the advice given and set personal goals to meet the standards of a professional manner at all times. This is paramount if I am to ‘make a name for myself’ in this field.

I’m sure I will hit snags along the way and feel like I could have done more or approached a situation differently but this will mold me into a more prominent designer in the future.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

ITC Bauhaus

Bauhaus is of German origin and is roughly translated as Building House. The name was also given to the institute that ran in Dessau, Germany from 1919 until its closure by the Nazi regime in 1933. The Bauhaus produced works in a variety of fields such as art, design and typography.1

The font 'ITC Bauhaus' was developed by Edward Benguiat and Victor Caruso in 1975. It was developed on a prototype designed by the Bauhaus designer Herbert Bayer he created in 19252 named Universal.

The family itself is considered Linotype as it was used by the Linotype machine3. It is now available for use in five styles: Light, Medium, Demi Bold, Medium Bold and Heavy. The heavy version of the family was originally meant for display purposes only along with, the now redundant, outline typeface.


Bauhaus font


A free version of the font can be found on most up to date computers (running Microsoft Windows) named 'Bauhaus 93' and differs little from the version created in 1975. There are also other versions of the family: Blippo, based on the original 1925 design and ITC Ronda, similar to Bauhaus’ work with a few distinguishing characteristics.4

The font uses geometric shapes to produce a robust, clean type face that is easy to read and art deco in feel. Its use shows in industry such as media. Examples of this font family can be seen in the credits of American TV sitcom 'Roseanne'5 and, in recent times, used by Adidas on the back of their sponsored football shirts.