Alyssa Strand's GDI Process Blog

Final Polymer Plate and Crash Printing

2008-05-08T11:17:00.003-05:00

It's sad to say that this semester is over. I had so much in the class and learned a ton, most specifically within the final production pieces. I learned to appreciate and respect the challenges that go along with hand done printing, i.e. that of the inadequacies of the pieces. I experienced several blocks to not be type-high but lead me to utilize strips of masking tape to raise the blocks. During crash printing, the wood type takes the rubber based inks in an uneven fashion and when printed creates a very exciting texture which is truly specific to the medium of wood type. Also, the issues with registration (as seen in the second image in the triptych) that are so specific and precise. As a designer, I want it to be perfect and points and picas are just not small enough to get it right! But that goes with the medium and I appreciate and welcome the challenge.

I chose to leave out the word "ready" on some of the prints to retain the integrity of the design and detail of the polymer plate itself. As seen in the bottom image of the triptych, the dimension of the image is highly detailed and the polymer plate medium makes this possible as it can support such a small dot within a halftone image.

My internet connection is not fast enough to load the final images of these pieces so visit my website and see this, and all of the finished pieces from this semester! READY-made final page

Again I loved this class and will continue to blog about my processes in later classes because ultimately the process dictates the final piece and I feel that is important to document.

Crash Printing!

2008-05-02T08:28:00.005-05:00

I was so excited after class on Thursday, I just had to blog about it. My experience with crash printing was great! I left class with ink dyed hands and a smile on my face. The images included are simple cell phone images and I apologize for the quality, I will update as soon as I am able. Laid out are the prints I made with the headline "Type SET!, Press" and "Ready, SET!, Press" which is a contradiction to the amount of time the prints actually take to create.

It took quite awhile for things to come together, what with non-type-high pieces that are older than I am. In order to make things sit at the right levels, I first tried using strips of leading underneath the pieces and that was even too much. So, from there, I used only two strips of masking tape which worked really well. Also, when I realized I wasn't pulling the arm back far enough on the Ostrander press, things worked even more effectively. It's over 100 years old, naturally I will be a little tentative.

Again, I will add more images once they are available, I was just too excited!

Assignment 05: Website/Blog

2008-04-29T21:46:00.006-05:00

Throughout the course of Spring semester, our class was assigned to create a blog page (the very one you are reading now) and also a complete website with a link to each of our final pieces in a digital format. The U of MN allows each student a certain amount of web-space which made this website possible. There is a link in the right hand bar to the site. Or click on the web address and you will be redirected to the site.

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~stran356/2334

The design of the site resulted from the need to appear professional but also to reflect my age and personality. I decided to utilize circles as a background in grayscale in order to allow the final pieces to pop off the page and become a focal point.

As this site is still under construction, some of the menu bars are inactive at this time. The "coursework" menu that leads to "computer apps" and "gd 1" are live and show final pieces with a description of the project and the piece itself. Also, the "biography" and "contact" links are active.

Letterpress Sketches

2008-04-27T15:13:00.005-05:00

I know these probably should have gone up first, I just finally got my sketches scanned. These show my exploration of the finger-painting idea, from the word "ready" through the development of the scratching idea.

Here's the first proof print! It was really surprising to see the plate and then see print. The plate holds a really really small dot so the half-tone was really difficult make out, but once it printed it was amazing!

Assignment 04: Letterpress

2008-04-20T12:07:00.005-05:00

For this project we were assigned to create a design utilizing two polymer plates to be used on the Vandercook press. We were each given a prefix to the idea of "-made." I receive the word "ready." From here, I came up with the idea that something that is ready-made is perfect upon creation and does not need outside assistance. Nature and children stuck out to me the most. After sketching, I decided to peruse the child idea.

A child with its innocence and wonder is essentially ready-made. As a child plays, or finger-paints, he or she is completely open to the work and it is pure and utterly perfect in the feeling put in.

I image put here are possible color choices to

use on the press. The design itself, is a splotch of paint with the word "ready" scratched in as if a child had done it. Also, the dominant "ready" written over top will be used if the scratched word is not readable.

Assignment 03: Informative Series Final

2008-04-06T17:51:00.004-05:00

This is the final of the Informative Series project. These posters are designed to be on a bus shelter to be seen by those waiting for buses and also, those driving by. To do this I wanted to avoid too much text and concentrate on image and large drastic statistics.

After much review I essentially combined the creepy and informative styles used in previous drafts. Each piece utilizes a striking statistic juxtaposed with an image to both draw attention, but also suggest the intensity of the statistic presented. The bright yellow-green was used to emphasize the idea of the wicked witch from Snow White and the poison apple analogy. Also, the stem and leaf motif was used to create a sense of identity to the pieces and to suggest there is more than just these three pieces. Lastly, the pattern in the background is designed to reflect the mass amount of people this issue affects. Using the typical bathroom stall male image also fits with a statistic style.

I tried to mix very similar designs with that of pieces that can be independent. The first two are similar in design and I think they fit together better than the third. Granted, these would typically not be seen all at once, but I would have liked all three to be more similar. That being said, I feel the third is a strong design in itself because of the strong attention it draws from the viewer.

Greenway Mailer Final

2008-03-27T10:08:00.005-05:00

This is the final for the Greenway Mailer. The flowers were reevaluated to represent more native plants to the Minnesota area. Also, the background was made a tint of a blue color as used inside the mailer my group created. The direct email color was changed to fix the vibrating boundaries that occurred once it was printed.

These are the correct colors that were utilized for the mailer.

Greenway Mailer

2008-03-14T10:27:00.007-05:00

This project is for a non-profit organization here in the Twin Cities. The Greenway is a stretch of bike and walking trails that are beautifully decorated with intricate gardens of native plants and flowers. Our assignment was to create a promotional piece that incorporated the handmade quality of the Greenway and a call for involvement.

The piece I created is the backside of a half-fold mailer that could be created in large quantities at a low price. My group decided to utilize hand drawn elements with images from the Greenway inside a color scheme that reflected the idea of spring, growth, and renewal.

DISCLAIMER: The colors in this image are incorrect, I am currently investigating the strange colors that occurred and will update when the correct image is created.

Series: In Process Critique

2008-03-14T09:45:00.004-05:00

For the in-process critique held last week I presented a more visually friendly representation of similarity between prescription drugs and Snow White's poison apple.

During the critique I received very helpful feed back on reevaluating the placement of the American Heart Association logo, the fictional website title, and also the relationship between the piece's final place and how that affects what will be read.

It was brought to my attention that I was inadvertently taking the idea of the position apple and presenting it as a positive when putting into the website title.

Lastly, the idea of a billboard versus a bus shelter advertisement and how much time a viewer is able to perceive the message really interested me. Limiting the copy on a billboard is effective because the viewer is speeding past in a car on an interstate or freeway. In contrast, a bus shelter advertisement allows for more copy because the viewer would likely be there for a while and would have ample time to view the piece.

Assignment 03: Informative Series

2008-03-04T10:21:00.005-06:00

Initial Brainstorming:

This project is an expansion on Assignment 02: Persuasive Poster. For this project I wanted to take the Snow White fairy tale idea and reevaluate to create a series of three different posters that reinforce the poison apple idea.

These sketches are the result of complete brainstorming. Both an exploration of possible grid systems and layouts, and also other fairy tales. In the earlier stages of brainstorming, I played with the idea of recreating other fairy tales in the same light as the Snow White apple. However, this idea did not effectively present a means with which to create cohesive posters.

Assignment 03: Informative Series

2008-02-19T09:20:00.000-06:00

INSPIRATION

Facts

American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine

This page presents several startling statistics about prescription drugs such as "51% of FDA-approved drugs have serious adverse effects not detected prior to approval and prescription drugs cause 100,000 deaths annually."

Prescription for Trouble: Common drugs, hidden dangers. Tens of million of people at risk

The article on this page explains some of the adverse effects of some prescriptions and also attempts to explain why these mistakes are made in prescribing these medications. Both article listed add effective statistics to the issue that when citied in a poster or ad will grad the attention of the viewer and increase the validity of piece.

Grids

Redesigning The New Yorker, Pt.2: A Visual Critique

by KT Meaney

Throughout this article Meaney explains the influence grids played when the redesign of The New Yorker took place. What is most interesting is how the author writes of need to break away from the grid to add interest and update text. Adding the idea that breaking a grid can be effective in adding interest is important when designing to avoid becoming locked into a specific area or idea.

Design Campagins

The Hardest Working Presidential Candidate Logo

by Armin

This page explains the Obama campaign logo and how it is slightly manipulated to reflect different areas of voters. Also, there is a line of Christmas ornaments and each state has the logo represented within it. An article such as this will help to keep similarities between the different pieces within the series while keeping it simple and distinct.

L'Oreal Poetry Harp

Small Design Firm Inc.

The colors used in the campaign for the L'Oreal Poetry Harp is a good representation of how using a limited color scheme can be extremely effective. Also, the monochromatic color scheme changes in hue from piece to piece. Each piece is still connected because the hue chose are similar to each other.

Assignment 02: Persuasive Poster

2008-02-07T08:45:00.003-06:00

Beginnings:

For this assignment I set out to design a poster that persuaded viewers to think more carefully about what prescription drugs they are putting into their body. In order to achieve this, I utilized a parallel of the fairy tale Snow White and the connection between the poisonous apple and the witch with her drive to become beautiful. I chose to stay simple with the elements and draw attention to the image of the hand holding the prescription drugs by allowing a large amount of space around the image. Also, the hand is the brightest element of the piece, this in turn draws more attention from the viewer to that area as it sits forward.

Critique: I really would have liked to use a much larger image and poster size to create a large impact on the viewer. This would help in enforcing the severity of the issue. However, the image began with a photograph that was then manipulated in Photoshop to create the witch look, the original was not large enough to satisfy a larger poster.

Moving the secondary text lower and reducing the size of the type would help with the hierarchy of the overall piece. Also, making the hand look more like a hand, such as adding an arm would help the perception of the image.

Assignment 01: Informational Book Review

2008-01-30T21:18:00.000-06:00

• Beginnings

For this assignment I focused on the intensity of the strong works exemplified throughout this book. In doing so, I arranged the pieces in the Microsoft Power Point presentation by the sections outlined in the book. To do this, I pulled from the colors and layouts utilized by the original designer of the book.

• Critique

Given the use of Power Point as an application, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment in this design as a whole. Throughout the presentation, there is a strong sense of unity in how the similarity within color and text is repeated in each representation of the chapters within the book. Also, there is an attention to detail that was followed when presenting the images pulled from the book. Each image was scanned in at a high resolution and brought down to be suitable for screen presentation.

However, the limitations of Power Point left me to decide to create layouts in Illustrator and then utilize a PDF format to display them. This turn, left a slightly less crisp look, although on screen is less obtrusive.