J.D. Gordon Advertising — a firm that honors the personal approach of graphic design

Jeff Gordon, principal of J.D. Gordon Advertising (photograph is from the J.D. Gordon Advertising website).

AIGA Dordt College Student Group is very pleased to announce a field trip to J.D. Gordon Advertising in Sioux City, Iowa on Wednesday, November 9, 2011.

This is from J.D. Gordon's website:

“… creativity isn’t just about making a pretty picture, designing a head-turning campaign or writing a snappy jingle. Although we’re very good at all those things. Our creativity goes far beyond the expected, seeping into our media plans, our daily communications and even our lunch meetings.”

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Designer, Young Ae Kim can do it all — exceptionally well

photographs by versluis, 2011

Speaker, Designer, Teacher, Product Developer and Sales — Young Ae Kim, it seems, can do it all very well. On Tuesday, October 11, 2011 the Dordt College Department of Art and Design and the AIGA Student Group recently hosted an all day event with Young Ae Kim. We were honored and delighted to have her serve as a visiting designer. And her students accompanied her from the University of South Dakota, which was especially great to have community between Dordt and USD students. Interestingly, Young Ae Kim has training in product design and so some of her portfolio work showed the relationship of promotional materials for her own products.

We thank Dordt students, Michelle Stam and Ellie Dykstra who compiled the following notes from Young Ae Kim’s presentations.

Designer tips for students (notes by Michelle):

1. Ask to see the work of other companies. Go and visit them. This way you can see what they do and build helpful relationships within the design community. Make as many connections as you can.
2. Be welcoming and patient. Communicate well. Get along with all kinds of people, even one’s you don’t like.
3. Put yourself out there / take chances.
4. Educate people logically — help them see how your design could benefit them and improve their business.
5. Do a lot of research about the subject matter and the client. You want to know them the best you can so that you can better fulfill their needs.
6. Employers want to see work, not degrees.
7. Look at the big picture and where different opportunities might lead. You have to think about the future, not just what you want to do now.
8. Try to map out where you want to be in 5 year increments from now to 50. This will help motivate you and give you goals to aim for.

Quotes by Young Ae Kim — notes by Ellie

1. Be an entertainer.
2. Be experienced in all areas of life.
3. Be willing to do anything — having many experiences will expand you.
4. Know the difference between looking good and being creative.
5. “50 inches of invisible concrete on your face” (learn to take criticism).
6. Be outgoing and don’t be shy — you are a communicator
7. Have a big heart.
8. Present yourself in a professional manner.
9. Develop a business plan and how you can make it better.
10. Don’t compromise and seek out job you really want.
11. Know what you like and go after it.
12. Doesn’t matter where you work, its how you work and who you work with.

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Young Ae Kim: visiting designer at Dordt College

above: portrait of Young Ae Kim
below: portfolio project for SangsangMadang — KT&G Imagination Seed Identity Program.
The SangsangMadang company’s website states:

KT&G Imagination Seed is where you grow your artistic imagination:

1. supports new imaginations
2. supports and advocates cultural variety and uniqueness.
3. communicates and shares with the world

The concept of KT&G Imagination Seed:

1. We aim open projects, such as external co-projects, which allow individuals and the public to realize projects that they can plan, exhibit and perform by themselves.
2. We pay attention to and seek out small but worthy art works.
3. We support young artists of design, photography, music bands, etc. with our practical artist support programs.

The Dordt College Department of Art and Design is pleased to announce Young Ae Kim will be on campus Tuesday 11 October as a visiting designer. During the day she will be visiting several classes as well giving an afternoon presentation highlighting her various projects. Young Ae Kim who teaches graphic design at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion is an energetic teacher and versatile designer and artist. Each year she runs the acclaimed week-long graphic design workshop called “Design Habit” which is open to all students who would like to participate.

Here’s the schedule:

Young Ae Kim: Visiting Designer
Tuesday 11 October (All events held in the Art Gallery Lobby)

Dordt College Department of Art and Design

• 9:30 a.m. Senior Seminar (the M.F.A. in Graphic Design)
• 11:00 a.m. Graphic Design 3 (“Imperfect Beauty”)
• Lunch with students and faculty
• 1:30 a.m. AIGA Presentation Young Ae Kim will discuss her personal work.

Young Ae Kim’s USD webpage mentions that:

[She] has a B.F.A. in Industrial Design from Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul Korea and she holds an M.F.A. in Graphic Design, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Savannah, Georgia. She writes, “I am happy with a design when it makes people smile. There are many ways an object can make someone smile: familiarity, surprise, beauty, satisfaction, pride, simplicity, humor or wonder. If an object stimulates this reaction whilst performing the function for which it was created, then it is well designed.…”

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AIGA Nebraska: the Reboot Camp “Small Talk” with Robynne Raye (Modern Dog Design Co.)

Robynne Raye photograph by versluis 2011

Reboot Camp with Seattle-based graphic designer Robynne Raye was a three-day design workshop organized by Paul Berkbigler, education director for AIGA Nebraska and hosted by Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska (Phil Schimonitz, graphic design instructor). As Paul said in the promotional materials, “this is an opportunity to meet with one of America’s top designers.” The workshop, which took place from September 15-17, 2011 was team oriented and geared for professional designers, design educators, and students.

At the end of the first day of the workshop Robynne held a “Small Talk” (small group session) with workshop participants and for those just interested. Several students and I made our way to Norfolk to gather for a Q & A with Ms. Raye.

Interestingly, Raye graduated from college with an art education degree, but since teaching jobs were scarce at the time, Robynne turned to graphic design. Near the beginning of the session she stressed that the roots of her company, Modern Dog Design, were in serving non-profit organizations and developing Identity projects. Raye said, “Non-profits have been very good for us because we feel we’re making something of a difference with graphic design by really helping people. However, we’re able to stay in business because of our [loyal] for-profit clients.”

At the end of the session Ellie, a Dordt student, asked Robynne about her design process at Modern Dog (I’m paraphrasing):

I use the Internet – Google. But first we think about the project and then we talk about the project. We look at and study a lot of other designs and images.

We don’t necessarily try to be original — it’s very important that we know the source of every inspirational thing we look at. We’re always aware and know where our ideas have come from. We parody through redrawing, which helps translate a copy either with hand-drawing or the computer into our own unique interpretation.

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Some notes on John Vander Stelt: A Renaissance Man

Mr. John Vander Stelt was our guest designer and presenter for our AIGA Student Group event held on Wednesday, March 30. John works as a creative director, graphic designer, illustrator, artist, husband, and father. We invite you to check out John's blog. Colleague Matt Van Rys is again our fine purveyor of meeting notes, which are as follows:

John has lived in Sioux County his whole life and has been a part of the art community in Northwest Iowa for a long time. Coming from a creative family, it was no surprise that as a child John was drawing a recognizable as a Blue Jay before kindergarten. John continued as an artist by attending Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa as an Art Education major and enjoyed his student teaching experience, but didn’t feel it was his passion.

After college, John applied at K-Products and started as a Graphic Designer. Early on, he worked primarily designing and preparing artwork for promotional products, such as t-shirt screen printing and embroidery for hats.

After about two years, John moved to the catalog and creative department. This allowed for additional creative freedom and more direct client interaction. On many catalogs, John and his team would do up to six ideas for the client; often changing yearly due to evolving corporate tastes. A suggestion John has for students is to listen to your clients and design to best meet their objectives for the project; designing within their limitations while maintaining your creative freedom. John often uses Typography to express creativity through font choices, color, texture and such. Using type, while understanding the relationship between letters and utilizing positive versus negative space can exhibit the difference between a designer and an amateur.

About three and a half years ago, John left K-Products and began working as the Creative Director for Pizza Ranch, moving from a large corporate department to being the sole creative force behind a brand. While at K-Products, John worked with a variety of brands and had some concerns that working with just one brand would eventually get stale. However, just the opposite is true, and working with rebranding and branding has been very rewarding. John expressed that his job at Pizza Ranch was really an answered prayer.

John has developed the general direction for the Pizza Ranch brand and uses subtle techniques such as photo edges, distressing textures and textured typography to carry the brand through various pieces. This isn’t a change on a dime approach, but updating stuff as needed while continuing to re-evaluate whom Pizza Ranch is marketing to. For example, John has been adding more photos of people to help the customer relate better to the pizza product and the restaurant experience.

As the key creative person, John has a lot of creative control and also has to wear many “hats”, including writing the copy for his work, working on marketing plans, designing graphics for a Nascar stock car, directing photo shoots and even assisting with art direction on a TV commercial and an upcoming website update.

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AIGA Dordt College Student Group Event: John Vander Stelt

John Vander Stelt, guest designer and presenter:

Creative Director • Graphic Designer • Illustrator • Artist
Wednesday, March 30 — 4 to 5 p.m.
Dordt College Department of Art and Design Lobby Display Area

John E. Vander Stelt has been in the graphic design field for nearly 25 years and has served clients in achieving a variety of visual communication and marketing goals. Currently, John is the creative director and graphic designer responsible for developing the graphic identity, advertisements, and various print collateral for Pizza Ranch, which is based in Orange City, Iowa.

In addition, John is an artist who has embraced his subject matter of family and small-town life. His love for art goes back to his childhood and his inspiration is sought in the family and small–town life he loves. Vander Stelt lives and creates his work in his studio in Maurice, Iowa.

Vander Stelt is a native of Maurice, Iowa and it is there, in the midst of the Heartland, where he seeks the inspiration for his work. Vander Stelt takes a traditional approach to the realism, which pervades his subjects. His artistic heroes include his Grandfather (John Vander Stelt, Sr.), Edward Hopper, Thomas Eakins, Grant Wood and Norman Rockwell.

John studied art from an early age and comes from a family with a creative spirit. The artist's friends, family and small-town surroundings are crucial elements in his work. He graduated from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa with a degree in fine art. His artwork is included in public and private collections throughout the country.

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“Print + Environmental Graphic Design” — a presentation by Sarah Franken

Photograph of Sarah Franken beginning her presentation. Photograph by versluis © 2011

On Wednesday 9 February a group of us from the AIGA Dordt student group gathered to participate in the presentation by Dordt College alumna Sarah Franken. Sarah’s topic conveyed her experiences working since graduating from Dordt as an Environmental Graphic Designer.

The web site for the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) describes Environmental Graphic Design this way:

Environmental Graphic Design embraces many design disciplines including graphic, architectural, interior, landscape, and industrial design, all concerned with the visual aspects of wayfinding. [In addition,] the SEGD is the global community of people working at the intersection of communication design and the built environment and dedicated to communicating identity and information, and shaping the idea of place.

Dordt’s adjunct instructor in web design, Matt Van Rys, graciously provided notes on Sarah’s presentation, which we are publishing here:

Sarah Franken is a gifted graphic designer with unique experience in exhibition design.

Sarah is a 2006 Dordt graduate. While at Dordt, Sarah spent the spring semester of her junior year attending Chicago Semester; looking for some interesting experiences in the big city, being a small town Sioux Center native. Many art students at Dordt who use this opportunity gain excellent experience. Shortly after graduating, Sarah began working as a full time member of the Field Museum’s Exhibition Department in the Graphic Design division.

Sarah’s work as a member of The Field Museum design team had special emphasis on gallery/exhibition environmental design. The Field Museum is part of Chicago’s Museum Campus, which includes The Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium and Soldier Field. This is an active area, full of tourists, located along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Sarah shared some of the process of exhibition design. One of the main components is to understand the hierarchy of information. The curators, 3D designers and graphic designers are all responsible for maintaining this hierarchy. The hierarchy usually begins with the entrance to the exhibition, the “attractor area,” to draw visitors in. The entrance often includes a signpost of information that is repeated later in the exhibition when the visitor transfers from one gallery to another, within the overall exhibition. Changing galleries also involves other visual shifts, such as carpet color or changing other graphic elements. In addition, the planning process involves figuring out what the voice of the exhibition needs to be.

Sarah described what an exhibition team would consist of: a project manager, 3D designer, graphic designers, production manager (budget and building), developers (information/writing), builders, media team (web, video and projections); about 10 people, give or take. This group of people can end up working together anywhere from 1 to 3 years depending if an exhibition is temporary or permanent or on the size and complexity of an exhibition. Once the donors, curators, researchers and other planning parties determine the direction of the exhibition, the team begins concepting the 3D space. Using the hierarchy of information they begin the designing. Sarah mentioned that quite often much of the graphics come together in the last six months before the installation and opening of an exhibition. In addition, the graphics department is heavily involved with the additional printed and web collateral for promoting the exhibition. When she started out in exhibition design, her job consisted of about 80% production work, 20% design. But Sarah notes that this is key for building the skills to be a technically stronger designer. She suggests that if you have an internship opportunity, use your time to learn by asking questions and by being a polite nuisance.

Sarah expressed that one of the rewarding parts of exhibition design is sifting through the information while designing and then ultimately watching the visitors interacting with the exhibition; absorbing, learning and sharing with the artist and the museum. Other highlights include working with large format printing and unique substrates, working with show installers and suppliers and understanding how lighting a 3D space, such as a gallery, vastly changes the impact of the space and how the visitor perceives it.

Although Sarah doesn’t work at The Field Museum anymore, she recently began working for the Science Museum of Minnesota designing exhibitions for various institutions around the country.

Some of the exhibitions Sarah designed:

In March 2007, “The Ancient Americas” permanent exhibition opened. This was the first major exhibition Sarah worked on for the Field Museum. Permanent exhibitions are a big deal, as they often take 2-4 years of work by the design team and are kept in the museum for several years, sometimes up to 20. For “The Ancient Americas,” Sarah was primarily a production designer, taking direction from her Lead Designer, working up the graphics within the established structure.

The next large exhibition Sarah worked on was “The Aztec World”. Sarah was involved from the beginning as co-designer and played a key role in determining the overall design of the exhibition and branding elements. One of the key elements of the design was a signature color, turquoise. This color was used to it’s largest impact by creating a 45 ft wide Styrofoam “slab” of turquoise at the entrance to the gallery.

Sarah’s first solo exhibition as Lead Designer was an exhibition of The Field Museum’s Chinese Rubbings collection, called “Lasting Impressions”. The Field Museum’s collection is the largest and best outside of East Asia. One of the challenges of this exhibition was presenting the rubbings in a budget-friendly way that would allow them to be rolled up and stored later. The solution was a large acrylic frame, creating shadow boxes with magnets holding the rubbings in place.

To see examples of Sarah’s superb print design and exhibition design, visit her on-line portfolio.

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AIGA Student Group presentation — Sarah Franken, graphic designer

Poster design by Sarah Franken © 2011

Sarah Franken will be our next guest designer for Wednesday, February 9, from 4 to 5 p.m. in CL room 1223. The focus of her presentation will be about Print + Environmental Graphic Design. There will be a time for Q and A as well.

Sarah mentions that:

My life and work since graduation from Dordt in 2006 has involved: Chicago, museums, public transit, cats, concerts, and striving for great design. Extra special emphasis on the 2nd and last items on that list, since that’s what you all might be the most interested in. I’ll be talking about my time working as a graphic designer in a museum setting and the kind of design skills I’ve learned, some of which I never expected or even knew I needed to learn. Hope you’ll join me.

Here’s some more basic info:
• Here’s a link to my portfolio.
• I currently work at the Science Museum of Minnesota as a Graphic Designer.
• I’m a member of AIGA Iowa.
• Previously, I worked at The Field Museum (of Natural History) in Chicago.

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Paul Berkbigler, Guest Designer Extraordinaire from AIGA Nebraska

Mr. Paul Berkbigler makes one of his points during the Q and A session with Dordt students.

Last Wednesday, January 12, the AIGA Dordt College Student Group had a wonderful time gathered around Paul Berkbigler who came as a guest graphic designer. In addition to serving AIGA Nebraska as Director of Education Paul is owner of P.Berkbigler Design and Illustration, which is based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Our colleague Matt Van Rys graciously took the following notes highlighting Paul’s insights —here they are:

Some notes on Paul Berkbigler: A fount of knowledge for budding designers and freelancers.

After studying, working and teaching, Paul has returned to the wild world of freelance graphic design.

His design passions include, but are not limited to:

1. An illustrative spirit; loving simple visual elements and complex ideas.
2. A deep love and respect for typography; not only figuring out how to fit a bunch of letters into a small space, Paul enjoys the richness of content and shape when using typography Paul emphasizes that when he designs, combining words and images, he likes to ask the question: how does this photo or text enhance the text or photo around it? How is the communication improved by this element? He follows a similar mentality with interactive work, asking how each animation, motion or interaction will enhance the viewer’s experience and improve the communication.

His freelance clientele includes many Christian organizations and non-profit organizations (about 2/3 of total client mix) and the additional 1/3 is standard commercial for-profit clients. Paul acknowledges being a bit OCD about typography, being able to needle with type in a design for hours. However, he mentions that not every project will be a gem and budget or client taste can limit a design.

A little bit about Paul’s networking. Networking and meeting people can be and often is a powerful tool for a freelance designer. Paul acquires much of his work through a contact that runs a PR firm. He also mentions that if you are specifically seeking to work for Christian organizations, you may need to start networking within or in sister organizations. It is often not a direct contact, but an acquaintance that will need work done. Your good reputation as a designer and businessperson is important; if you really prove yourself on the first design, you can often get full creative freedom on subsequent projects.

When asked about seeking internships, Paul suggests that if you find a company or group that you feel strongly about and be a polite nuisance. Without wasting time, perhaps request a portfolio review or ask for a lunch meeting to discuss how you really like a new addition they made to their body of work. Overall, if you are passionate about something, try to become a part of that world and make connections.

A few students were curious about collaboration. Paul strongly endorses designer collaboration, suggesting that several great ideas will make for a superb finished product. He also noted that the challenge in collaboration is personal ego. If everyone checks their ego at the door, ideas and responsibilities will flow freely, allowing the best candidates for each portion of the project to be utilized. In conjunction with collaboration, Paul mentions something I have called “digital organization”. When preparing your artwork for another designer, try to be as organized and clear as possible. Provide a simple and well-named file/folder structure and in layered Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign files, name and order the layers so anyone can interpret what you’re thinking, even yourself. Several years down the line when you have to update the project, you may not remember you original structures.

Some tips Paul has for freelancers are particularly helpful. For time use, Paul is flexible with how he uses his time, but strict about keeping track of time on a job. He prioritizes his work based on the expected completion date from the customer. He creates milestones when he starts the project so there will be deadlines throughout; basically scheduling in reverse. Some additional recommendations for freelancers include: don’t be an awful boss to yourself, keep fairly normal hours and if you do rush work, be sure to charge extra. When asked about should all designers have an online presence, Paul suggests determining the need for an online portfolio based on your intended clientele and how best to reach them.

Paul’s advice is concise and spot on…I lost count of how many times I was nodding as he described experiences I have also had. His work is excellent and inspiring; I suggest taking a look at his online portfolio (which he hosts using the AIGA Behance network) at www.behance.net/PaulBerkbigler.

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An AIGA visitor: Paul Berkbigler

Copyright for artwork and poster belongs to P.Berkbigler Design & Illustration © 2011.

The amazing Paul Berkbigler will be visiting Dordt College. As Paul says, “to talk about his life on the lamb as an escaped designer and illustrator working independently in the Midwest on projects across America. This event will offer you insights about the brave new world of working virtually from somewhere awfully close to your own living room.”

Join us in the Department of Art and Design Lobby from 4–5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, January 12 for an open Q&A session. This will be a chance to hear about how AIGA can directly help you.

Paul is a full-time, independent owner, proprietor and general honcho at P.Berkbigler Design & Illustration, which is based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Berkbigler also serves as Director of Education for AIGA Nebraska. His prior lives include: working at Studio X, a small design and illustration firm in St. Louis, Missouri, earning an MFA in graphic and interactive design at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and serving as a full-time professor of design & illustration at Concordia University, Nebraska.

His professional specialties include layout & design, interactive media conceptualization, planning and implementation, motion graphic planning and creation, copy writing, play writing, editing, critical analysis, visual communication research, digital and hands-on illustration, printmaking and print process familiarity.

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Joe Sparano: Visiting Graphic Designer Notes

The following notes are from Joe Sparano’s visit to Dordt College last month and were submitted by Matt Van Rys, adjunct instructor in web design at Dordt. We certainly want to thank Matt for providing excellent minutes. —blog editor

Meeting Notes by Matt Van Rys:

Before getting into Joe’s presentation, it is important to note two interesting facts that came out at the very end of the Question and Answer section:

Superman Versus Batman? — Batman

DC Versus Marvel? — DC

The Black Knight Pinball Machine at the offices of Oxide Design Co.

Joe’s Employer:
Oxide Design Co., Omaha, Nebraska
Professional graphic designer for 7 years, graduated 2004 from University of Nebraska Omaha.

• 3 Person Staff: (identified as right to left above) Drew (founding member – 9 years), Joe and Adam (newest member – 3 years)
• Building: Old Hardware store with vintage Neon Sign, Wall with giant logo mark, Lego village with radio operated train in front window with OXIDE letters on train cars and The Black Knight Pinball Machine.
• Workspace: Everybody has own workspace, but open to each other. Group space for meeting and concepting designs.
• Open workspace allows for perpetual communication and free form design work. Ownership of individual work spaces, like shelves of toys, lego cup and other personal markers.
• Workplace Dogs: Glady and Rosie!

Joe, Oxide and Problem Solving:
The ability to solve visual problems with unique solutions is the key to Graphic Design.

Sample Projects:

• “Ready Collective” — A company based in helping other companies and groups rethink or think differently. Challenge: Designing an identity to capture the idea of non-traditional thinking with clarity of the finished thought. Solution: Camel “R” and Croissant “C” etc. Using colors to relate R & C illustrations to the Ready Collective logo. Using unique marks to link off-the-wall ideas with a polished workable finished concept.
• “The Biatomic Point” — (A feeling shared by two people). Challenge: How do we illustrate a shared experience while combining the idea of science and rocking out. Solution: A simple mark that solves an arguably complicated problem. B + P with the lightning bolt rocking out.
• “BIG OMAHA” — Conference for technical inventors to meet with small business entrepreneurs. Challenge: How do we represent Connecting/challenge, Midwest and something big (the big new idea). Solution: Cow with various illustrations. What do people do with the Cow? Or, how do people react to new ideas? It’s about interpretation, response and problem solving.

Inspiration for Joe:
Darwyn Cooke (Illustrator)

• Superb action of comics captured in relatively simple renderings.
• Simplicity, don’t over complicate.
• Mad Man (Television Drama) Writing for TV (Showing the Old Pitch) — Season 1 Finale, trying to concept a name for the Kodak slide projector. “Carousel” – captures the magic and fun of photo memories.
• Jim Henson (Puppeteer – Extraordinaire) — Super Creative. Turning a small felt puppet into a character with personality. Solving a problem, with a simple Muppet solution and creating a lasting, memorable metaphor.
• Clint Mansell (Film Score Composer) — Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain… Evoking emotion and experience from raw music.
• The Spork (Plastic Utensil) — Solves a problem – perhaps one of the best solutions ever. Spoon + fork + plastic = giveaway solution to a complex restaurant problem.
• The Oxide Blog: Hey Students Series – Sharing knowledge before it’s too late to learn it or use it effectively.
  
  

The Question and Answers (And some sweet Oxide Swag)
Q. Did you remodel the hardware store space at Oxide?
A. Actually an architect remodeled the hardware store prior to Oxide’s existence. We kept the huge bookshelf storage and removed the walls between desks to create a more open and collaborative work environment.

Q. Can you describe the collaboration?
A. Working together, specifically in the conception stage. Sometimes divide, but always conquering together.

Q. What’s the balance of Technology versus hands on?
A. The Oxide group starts by sketching together on paper. It creates an easy place to quickly create and also eliminate less than stellar ideas early on before bringing the computer into the picture.

Q. Internships @ Oxide?
A. In Joe’s case, he came to portfolio review night and he was called later for internship. A good way to start with any business is to simply ask for feedback on your portfolio. Also, represent yourself as a student, a work in progress. Most people will respect your honesty.

Q. General Typographic Work…Regular Design, Forms?
A. Oxide participated in the AIGA National Initiative for ballet standards. This project was a true genesis of Information Design, sort of extreme problem solving for an important but possibly confusing form that a wide variety of people would use.

Q. Does Oxide work in web design?
A. Oxide prefers print design, however, designing the look of something (a website, flash site, standalone app, mobile app) is fine, but other developers, programmers and designers can be more skilled and produce a finer finished product. We feel that it is sometimes best to hire a professional for certain tasks.

Q. What applications do you use primarily?
A. We use the Adobe Suite…not much for alternatives, but it is an imperfect solution. We use Illustrator for hard edge artwork and then move into Photoshop.

Q. How do you stay fresh?
A. Try to find design inspiration everywhere; always be on the look out for good problem solving. One example is www.logopond.com great logos and problem solving.

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Joe Sparano, graphic designer for Oxide Design Co., will be at Dordt Wednesday October 27

Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent. —Joe Sparano

The AIGA Dordt College student group is proud to present Joe Sparano a graphic designer for Oxide Design Co. of Omaha, Nebraska. Sparano, an active member of AIGA Nebraska, will be here Wednesday October 27 from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Ribbens Academic Complex room CL1223. All are invited to join us.

Joe doesn’t exactly enjoy writing about himself. Truth be told, he’s kind of embarrassed about it — because it implies that he's done something especially important with his life.

Until that happens (and he’s confident that it will), Joe is proud to have had his work recognized by Communication Arts, AIGA 365, and One Show.

Joe believes in the power of design to make the world a less convoluted, more breathable place. In fact, New York State’s voter registration form (which was designed by Joe and the rest of the Oxide team) has been printed 2.5 million times. Joe hopes (sincerely) that his work has simplified the lives of as many people.

Joe is also the inventor of The Sparano System™, an uncomplicated method for evaluating everything. You can read all about it at sparanosystem.com. (In case you were wondering, he’d give the quality of writing in this bio a “Not Great”.)

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The AIGA Dordt College student group meeting with Erik Rodne

09/22/10: Erik Rodne—Visiting Print/Web Designer—Working [at] HenkinSchultz—Member of AIGA South Dakota. The following notes were submitted by Matt Van Rys, assistant adjunct in art (web design)—we thank Matt for an incredible job recording the minutes. Photograph by Andrew Hornor.

Job Search Tips:

• From Graduation to Hired: Erik traveled to London, Norway and then back home.
• Faced the cold shoulder when attempting to work in Britain—hiring a non-national can be a hassle.
• However, Erik recommends shooting for the stars, as you will learn from any experience, even a failed one.
• Another reminder is that your location doesn’t define you. Great designers create great work anywhere.

Interviewing Tips:

• Ask questions about the company; practice with a sales job or by joining a debate team.
• Dress up for the interview and then dress down within company policies after being hired.
• Visit people and ask if they’ll look at your portfolio; exhibit a willingness to learn.
• Have a confident character and trust in your skills.

Expectations for Graduates?

• Try to have a good idea of who you are and what you can do. What will you bring to the table?
• Consider Production Artist as a first job. Prepress and Production layout work will help you improve your technical skills. With better technical skills, you’ll be able to design high-end work at a pace that will impress your peers and management.
• Be ready to solve other people’s visual/creative problems with your design solutions.

What about my Personal Style?

• Sometimes having a personal style can be very helpful, especially if your style fits with a particular company.
• However, sometimes it is better to show a potential employer that you can emulate many kinds of style, which would make you a good choice for an Advertising Agency or Graphic Design Agency.

Defined by Your Work:

• Be a Designer as defined by your work, not your title. Many people claim the title of designer in various fields, but only a few can set themselves apart by executing unique and exciting design.

Choosing an Ad Agency:

• Look for an agency that is design driven, not accounts driven and ask how close the designers are to clients.
• Be ready to discuss how can you improve the Ad Agency’s business.

Freelancers:

• Not always a good hire for an Ad Agency, as it can be hard to get a read on a contract designer. Risky for the Agency.
• Impress them with your initial work and hopefully get more work.

In-house Designer:

• In house graphic designer work can be more cut and dry.
• It also comes with challenges of working with people who are ignorant of the value of good design and/or have no concept of correctly creating a marketing budget.

Graphic Design HAS Value:

• Remember that Graphic Design is ART 4 PAY. What you do is valuable, and when possible, don’t do it for free.
• Consider unpaid internships when the networking or learning benefits are valuable enough to equate your time.
• Art isn’t free, but it is often categorized as a tool of business by many business people; the management meat grinder—undervalues the abilities of truly original people—there is a price tag on everything.

Real World Design Challenges:

• Real World design is filled with a different set of challenges then what you experience in the classroom.
• Clients, coworkers, billings, mismanagement, project deadlines, faulty equipment, liability, useless meetings etc.

Difficult Clients:

• Trouble clients are often not worth the trouble. Trouble clients cost a company lot of money and they may tell their friends, breeding other trouble clients.
• The “Bosses Son Syndrome”—sometimes, the clients will ruin their own work. Fight back; for example: Ask the client how their logo speaks about the company, product and/or service. Make them think critically about their work.

What is Work Like?

• Work is a lot like Office Space.
• In the case of web projects, it’s often a process of maintaining sites that never finish. A website project can last forever in-between full redesigns.
• A large portion of most design jobs is maintaining old work, but the new work is the diamond in the rough, making it all worth it. Sometimes projects die too though, even good ones.
• Working with a small client can be very rewarding. Especially creating a motif and applying it to a variety of media.

Favorite Projects?

• Try to make your current project your favorite project.
• New ideas and technologies: Ambigrams, Flash versus HTML5, intuitive content management etc.

Web Growth:

• Huge growth industry, but most believe we will never see the end of print.
• Digital content is necessary to be competitive and it is fast, however, everyone likes the tactile nature of print design and it will always be part of a good, comprehensive marketing strategy.

Avoid Burnout:

• Find something(s) or someone(s) outside of work that helps take the edge off of the bustle.
• Sometimes fine art can be a good extension; hobbies or traveling are other options.

Training: Practical, Perpetual and Self-Driven:

• Better to be a “jack of all trades” versus a master of one, these days.
• There used to be a time when a designer would do just one thing: illustrator, type designer, layout designer, artwork designer, photographer, videographer etc. Now, we often do it all, or at least a lot of it. So it doesn’t hurt to be a great print designer with some skills in photography and web design.
• The cost of code: should I learn how to code as a graphic/web designer? The cost of a developer can be very expensive for a web project, so even a basic understanding of coding can help you avoid the cost and make more money on a simple web project.
• Be tech savvy and understand that you are doing 5 people’s jobs. Have the confidence to charge a real rate.
• Perpetual learning is important to improve yourself and stem off burnout, a sort of constant self-awareness. So spend time researching new techniques, trends in design, new typefaces, new technology, new software etc.

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Erik Rodne of HenkinSchultz—visiting designer at Dordt—will be here this Wednesday

Pomp and circumstance(s)

The AIGA Dordt College Student Group is very pleased to announce that our first visiting designer this year is Erik Rodne. Erik is currently a graphic designer (print + web) for HenkinSchultz Communication Arts in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He has won several awards for his design work.

Erik will be visiting this Wednesday September 22, 2010.

His evening presentation is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. in CL1223 and he’ll focus on the AIGA South Dakota and about his design practice. All those interested are invited to attend. In addition, Erik will a visiting designer/guest critic for the graphic design I class that afternoon. Those interested can stop by anytime between 12 noon to 1:50 p.m. in CL1310.

Erik describes himself as an honest, hard-working designer who effectively crafts visual solutions for print and web projects. He’s a strong proponent of developing a project brief to help further define the target, primary message and success of each project.

Rodne says, “More than type and image the spirit of graphic design is carried through this century in the craftsmanship of ideas. And as I craft my future I envision daily creative challenges met with outstanding visual solutions. I am interested in the skillful, the masterly, the articulate designs; I seek further insight into the essence of creative virtuosity and to further develop my own pneuma. Most all areas of this trade excite me especially typography and the creation of typefaces. Through a myriad of expressive possibilities coupled with precise attention to detail and craftsmanship I enjoy discovering that altogether higher level in the art of communication and public service.”

Erik is a 2008 alumnus of South Dakota State University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design and a minor in Computer Science.

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Heidegger: About the Nature of Things

Part 1a: 15 minutes. Produced by request from a Follower.

Part 1b: 15 minutes.

Thinking About “Things” Part 1 — Tuesday, March 2, An Evening With Philosopher and Dordt College Professor, Mark Tazelaar.

Regarding Robert Rauschenberg’s painting Pilgrim, Robert Venturi mentions the piece in his important book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, 1966. Venturi writes:

…the surface pattern continues from the stretcher canvas to the actual chair [chairs have stretchers too] in front of it, making ambiguous the distinction between the painting and the furniture, and on another level, the work of art in a room. A contradiction between levels of function and meaning is recognized in these works, and the medium is strained.

Marc Edo Tralbaut in his book, Vincent Van Gogh, discusses Van Gogh’s Boots, 1887, by quoting Martin Heidegger, who said, “Engraved in the hollow of a boot is the weariness of the steps of work. The rough and solid weight of the clog tells of the slow and obstinate trudge across the fields”.

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Thinking About “Things” — Tuesday, March 2, An Evening With Philosopher, Mark Tazelaar

Photograph by Paul Hanaoka

An open AIGA Dordt College Student Group Event:
In 1960, for his piece titled Pilgrim, artist Robert Rauschenberg literally combined a chair with a painting in a way that challenges our assumptions about art. Was Rauschenberg negating the traditional dichotomy between the design of ordinary objects and fine art? Does Rauschenberg’s piece compel us to think about the function and meaning of things in a different way?

To help us sort through these questions we’ve asked Dordt philosophy professor Mark Tazelaar to be our guest presenter/facilitator. The event will be on Tuesday evening, March 2 at 7 pm. in the art department studio CL1223. Professor Tazelaar will lead us in discussion of philosopher Martin Heidegger’s (1889-1976) views about the nature of objects and things.

According to Professor Tazelaar:

“Heidegger talks about ‘things’ in many essays and lectures, from his earliest lectures in the early 20s to his final seminars in the 60s. The things he interprets are familiar, everyday things like tables, hammers, shoes, bridges, and jugs (It may sound odd to hear ‘interpreting a hammer or table’ — or maybe not. Artists and designers will probably have a better sense for the appropriateness of that word than a natural or social scientist will. In any case, I’ll have to talk a bit about that too.). In short, there is a wealth of material to draw upon. I'll restrict myself for the most part to two essays by Heidegger: ‘The Thing’ and ‘Building Dwelling Thinking.’ In these essays he talks a lot about the nature of a thing, focusing on jugs and bridges. Whether or not you agree with Heidegger, I can almost guarantee that you will not think about bridges, tables, jugs and milk cartons in the same way as you did before.”

All art, graphic design, pre-architecture, engineering, and philosophy students are encouraged to attend this event.

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A day with Kent McCuddin — Thursday, February 25

Kent McCuddin considers himself to be problem solver.

As a guest speaker and presenter, he encourages others to use creative intelligence and divergent thinking to solve problems and find better ways to accomplish bigger and better things.

On Thursday, February 25, he’ll be sharing insights with students and guests at Dordt College, hosted by Dordt’s AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) student group.

“The Creative Process to Developing Ideas” will be presented by McCuddin at 9:25 a.m. on Thursday in the Science and Technology Center, classroom SB108. At 2 p.m. he’ll explain methods of tapping into creative intelligence with the topic, “Divergent Thinking,” in lecture hall SB101. The public is welcome to attend both of these lectures.

Kent McCuddin is marketing manager in the Consumer Communications division of Wells’ Dairy Inc., Blue Bunny, based in Le Mars. He has extensive management experience in retail marketing communications, with expertise in art direction and as director of creative services. He serves the company in branding, advertising, SBU (Strategic Business Unit) communications, customer marketing, social and interactive media.

McCuddin will also speak to graphic design and marketing management classes during his day as guest speaker at the college.

Itinerary for Thursday, February 25:

8:00 am.
Marketing Management Class (including e-marketing students) in room CA 319
Topic: Social Media and how it applies to business.

9:25 am.
AIGA student group open event in room SB 108
Topic: The creative process to developing ideas.

11:00 am.
Lunch with students

12:25 p.m.
Graphic Design II in room CL 1310
Topic: History of graphic design.

2:00 p.m.
AIGA student group open event in room SB 101
Topic: Divergent thinking (tapping into Creative Intelligence to make ideas bigger and better).

McCuddin writes the following:

The magic is in the field philosophy.

Creativity is a matter of preparation and experience over genetically produced ideas. Creativity falls in the same category that Thomas Edison talked about when he said, “Genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.” 90 percent of the creative process is done before you start to generate ideas. Many times the only part of the creative process anyone ever notices is the final product and they assume you just thought it up. Short and sweet, wham, you’re a genius. The reality is it takes hard work to be that creative genius.

If you were to draw a line on a piece of paper to visualize the creative process timeline, you would need to draw a long line not a short line. The first 90 percent is prep time and the last 10 percent is idea generation.

Gordon MacKenzie best illustrated this process with a story about dairy cows. “Imagine dairy cows in a field eating grass. It may not look like much, but that field is where the magic happens, turning grass into milk. Not until the cows get in the barn do you ever see the product, milk. You can’t continually milk the cows and expect to get the same quantity and quality of milk with each milking. That cow needs to spend 90 percent of their time in the field hanging around eating grass before they can deliver their milk.”

The creative person needs time in the field before they can make their magic happen. They must first fill their brains with information, have time to process that information then they can start generating creative ideas. This information gathering may come from years of experience or one meeting to review a creative brief. But it must happen.

So the next time you see a glass of milk, remember, the magic happened in the field not the barn.

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Tonya Harpenau: guest designer

Tonya Harpenau, graphic designer, will be presenting her work this Thursday, 21 January at 7 pm. in room CL 1223. Tonya is owner of DeZign Lines in Le Mars, Iowa. Her clients include: AG Partners, Burgess Health Center, Plymouth Ice Cream Company, and others. All are invited to attend.


Burgess Health Center

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Dean Heetderks… Pantone 032C Red

Portrait of Dean Heetderks as he discussed his graphic design work to the Dordt AIGA Student Group last Thursday evening, November 5. As a side, Dean's favorite color is Pantone 032C Red. Photo by Paul Hanaoka.

Dean R. Heetderks, Creative Director and Director of CRC Proservices for the Christian Reformed Church came to Dordt last week and presented some of his work to the art and graphic design students. On Thursday evening, he discussed aspects of his interest/passion for graphic design, communication, liturgical art, and illustration. He was interesting, experienced, and an inspiring master.

Dean started his presentation by showing his favorite type fonts. His list includes the classics: Caslon, Bodoni, Univers as well as Minion, Lubalin, Georgia and Brickham for a script style. Not wanting to give advice he made suggestions such as, when given the opportunity, always try to do pro bono design assignments for organizations that need design help. Because, it provides the experience of working for a client.

His other suggestion was learn how to draw in order to draw out your ideas. Your drawings not be highly finished renderings but rather show your thinking process with rough sketches.

As for web development, Dean listed the following favorite websites and software as especially helpful for him: Smashing Magazine, Stuff White People Like, Stuff Christians Like, Life Hacker, BritBox, Six Revisions, A List Apart, Daring Fireball, and 22 Words. His other favorites: 1Password software, Adium, Disk Utility, DVD, Font ExplorerXpress, HandBrake, Highlight, iCal, Chrome, Firebug, Yojimbo, Transmit, MPEG Streamclip, Toast Titanium, UpperBlip, Snapz Pro X, Focus IE.

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Dordt Alumni in Design: Ben Meyer, will be at Dordt to discuss his computer animation work on October 23, 2009.

The Dordt College AIGA student group is delighted to announce that Dordt alumnus, Ben Meyer (class of 1994) is scheduled to present and discuss his computer animation work with students and faculty on Friday, October 23, 2009 at 1:30 to 3p.m. in the digital media lab, 1310. This is a continuation of the AIGA student group’s initiative to host monthly design professionals as guest speakers and visting designers. All those who are interested are invited to attend this event.

Meyer is assistant professor of digital design at The University of Cincinnati (UC), in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP). Ben specializes in graphic design and computer aided animation, having worked in industry for international clients and having previously taught graphic design at Montana State University. The range of Meyer's experience includes development of animated children’s games for Hasbro, Inc., for Warner Brothers Studios as well as other clients. In addition, he has provided design expertise to such clients as Hewlett Packard Co., Motorola, Inc., Houghton Mifflin Co., the Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York City), and to PBS, for the channel's “Terra” program.

In terms of his own research, Meyer hopes to pursue scientific visualizations — computer animations related to medical research and forensics.

He is a faculty member in the Digital Design program, in which he’s responsible for most of the advanced motion graphic, and interaction design courses. Graduates from this program pursue careers in interface design, motion graphics, human factors, and information design. Ben stresses the import of giving students a strong foundation in type, composition, form, and animation.

As a side, DAAP is frequently ranked as one of the best art and design schools in the nation. Recently, Business Week ranked their design programs as one of the world’s elite. I.D. (International Design) Magazine listed UC among the globe’s Top 10 design schools. (Information from the UC website).

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