An advert no less
Right after college I dove right into interface work, skipping the world of print design. In fact, my senior project was a CD-ROM horribly pieced together in “multimedia” application. Man I’m glad that word is pretty much dead.
I like the fluid nature of pixels on screen. I enjoyed that I didn’t have to get upset by press checks and how things take on a new life when output on different paper stock with various inks.
CD-ROMs of course, had an element of commitment I never liked. The “gold master”—the point where change was no longer possible. Additionally there was still a filter of programming and platform that made concessions necessary to the interface.
So as the web began to emerge as a place for design, I jumped on board.
A whole new set of restrictions came to surface. Restrictions that are slowly becoming less painful, but then again, I’ve a few years under my belt to know what works and what doesn’t. The best part of course though, is that the web evolves. If something doesn’t work, change it.
Only twice in my life have I gotten close to a press. Both times there were more experienced folks present to ensure things went as planned. It’s changed over the years though as well.—just as much as the net. Now I can deliver a artwork in a PDF and not have to worry about packaging fonts and referenced images. It’s much easier.
The radio station needed some ads for magazines and whatnot and I freshened up on how to prep files. This month’s Filter magazine (with Beck on the cover) has the finished product. ow fun it was to see the page and the fine resolution. Of course, after the ad went out the door, I fretted that the computer monitor image used was too generic. So subsequent ads will now use the image off to the side up there with the funky “retro” one.
Commitment is hard. WILCO is still too big.
I think that the ad and the monitor used look funky already! Like it.
When I begin studying communication design in March I will have to chose a pathway: “Visual Communication” (print), “New Media” and “Film”.
I always thought most (web-)designers had their background/education in print design and that this was the best base to work on in either direction (on- or offline). Seems like you’re disproving this.
Sebastian –
Technically, print is the basis of most of the classes I took in college. My degree was in Visual Communication with a focus in Graphic Design, this path in lieu of Interior Space or Product Design. We really didn’t use computers until our senior year, and that was without much guidance from our professors. I picked up Director on my own to create the CD-ROM mockup.
One thing that made the (Ohio State University) program stand out was, at the time, the Bachelor of Science degree for Industrial Design. Not a Bachelor of Arts. That has since changed, but I feel it reinforced the process oriented approach.
OK, I see.
No computer until your senior year? I’m lost without computer and I know that’s a bad thing.
How long did it take you to get your Bachelor? I’ll get my Diplom(a) after 8 semesters.
4 years.
For color theory, we used Gouache.
For typography, we used Letraset type transfers.
For photo manipulation, we used a darkroom.
For drawing, we used Rapidograph technical pens.
And for everything else, an x-acto was likely involved.
I love regaling my designers with stories about how when we wanted to make a copy change in the old days, we had to wait for the machine to spit out the corrected copy, cut it out with an xacto, rubber cement it to the board, roll the bubbles out, white out the borders, then shoot a new stat of the board.
“What’s a stat?” is always the first question.