January 24, 2013 · 01.53

Guided by the ‘spirit’ of content: Designing OTTAWA magazine


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DESIGNING WITH THE ‘SPIRIT’ OF THE STORY IN MIND

I had the opportunity to work with the staff of Ottawa magazine for the last year as a design consultant. Their special spring issue featured a full report on the impact of the condo boom in our city. When we started talking about the issue, we focused on the ‘spirit’ of the topic. While discussing the story and photo ideas, the profiles, the issues (are there too many condos going up?), and the entire concept, we created a list of key words to guide us:  ’vibrant,’ ‘high rise,’ ‘vertical,’ ‘tall, sky scraping,’ ‘trendy.’ From there, working cover lines were written  to help guide the overall design and the story flow. Using ‘content drives design’ as our guide, all of our decisions were based on our list of key words. We chose typography (Interstate) with a strong vertical stroke to emphasize the ‘rise’, and we created a grid system that promoted the feeling of growth, height and rising. Notice how the 12-column grid (underlying 3-column grid) allowed us to use white space in a proportional, not arbitrary way. That white space was strategically placed throughout the page designs to promote the feeling of vertical movement.

But while we were talking, we also explored the idea of entering condo spaces. Most were wide open concept, very horizontal in feel. So, we inserted important horizontal movement throughout the pages in order to emphasize the idea of elevator doors opening into expansive spaces. Rise up in the elevator (vertical feel), elevator doors open, enter the large, open concept space (horizontal feel).

A color palette was created to reflect stainless steel, glass and clear, bright open spaces. Grey, orange and white became the key tones used throughout.

The great creative team on this issue included Art Director Jane Corbett, Editor Sarah Brown, Designer Jeff Eustace, and Publisher Dianne Wing.

 

HERE ARE SOME SPREADS FROM THE ISSUE


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LESSONS LEARNED

It was very important to have conversations about the concept, the stories in the works and the ‘spirit’ of the issue BEFORE the design was started. That conversation led us to pencil sketches and InDesign prototypes that gave the whole issue structure, flow and spirit.

By establishing that overall feel and look, the photographers knew that a combination of vertical and horizontal images would work well within the framework. The writers had the whole issue concept in mind while they finished their stories. And we had a good framework on which to design.

Check out OTTAWA magazine at http://www.ottawamagazine.com

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Filed under Magazine and web, Magazine design, Tips, Lessons, Resources

October 16, 2012 · 01.53

Mario Garcia’s ‘iPad Design Lab’ opens new doors for print designers

If you, like me, have focused on print design most of your career, and you have been timid about entering the world of tablet design, it is time to jump in! And to give you inspiration on how to do it, you must read Mario Garcia‘s new iPad book called iPad Design Lab.

Reading, or navigating,  through this remarkable book, you will enjoy video interviews with designers and editors as they explain how they conceptualized and created their tablet design. You get to see and hear Mario talk about design. His unique and animated descriptions, filled with that ‘Mario energy,’ makes you feel as if you are in the room with him, and for this reason, the book is a treat. He offers comments on many tablet designs and suggests ways to make them even more interactive like in this example from Vanity Fair magazine. Mario suggests that you should be able to ‘enter’ the room of Sophia Loren and click on the various items in her home to see their origin.

As in print, good tablet design begins with story telling and Mario devotes a good part of the book to explaining that. Content drives the decisions for design including when to introduce audio and video, when to link to something, when to make something interactive. The theme of story telling is woven throughout the chapters ranging from grid creation, color palette, typographic choices, advertising and marketing. Mario applies his concepts to the design of this book as well.

The story of how to design for the tablet is told through appropriate pacing – read here, click here, look at this series of pages, and listen to this interview.  It’s easy to navigate and when finishing the book you realize what a rich meal you have just had. But it is so much fun and so easy to get through. There’s a lot to read and explore and lots of interactivity to experience. The book never slows down or gets dull during the journey. The strategic placement of interactive elements is appropriate and well timed.

 We see tablet design from around the world –  an international perspective with lots of examples and links so that we can experience the interactivity he describes. End-of-chapter review questions offer thought-provoking discussions for seminars, classrooms and newsrooms. I will make ‘iPad Design Lab’ a must-read for my students.

My friend Ron Reason tells me that you can buy the tablet app for less than $10 and it takes little time to learn it. He is the one who helped me set up my blog on WordPress. That training session took just one hour. If the tablet design app is as easy as this, I’m sold!

Reed Reibstein, Art Director and Project Manager for Garcia-Media designed the book with Mario, and did the production of the book, and it is flawless. The flow and pacing work so well and keep you engaged to the very end.

For me, I am convinced that the tablet is the way of the future and I’m ready to jump in. Join me! I may revisit ‘Color, Contrast and Dimension’ that is housed on www.poynter.org and recreate it for the tablet. This is the perfect time to jump into this exciting arena and create books that readers can ‘experience’ in such rich detail. Mario’s book will help you do that.

(Disclosure, I helped with the color palette for the book and wrote a summary of how to use ‘color as punctuation’).

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April 5, 2012 · 01.53

Dalí Museum Building + Gardens Guide

I’m happy to announce the publication of ‘Building + Gardens Guide’ for The Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida. This is the companion piece to the Gallery Guide, that I designed for the opening of the Museum in 2011. Working with Kathy White, Deputy Director/Marketing + Administration, we structured the book on the same grid system, typographic and color palette as the Gallery Guide. The book contains beautiful imagery of the building with it’s enormous glass ‘enigma’ and unusual gardens creating a landmark on the St. Petersburg downtown waterfront. In addition, there are rich explanations of the Golden Ratio which Dalí embedded into his work along with  images of how it appears in the Museum gardens. The Dalí Museum is a MUST SEE on your travel list.

THE COMPANION GUIDES TO THE DALI MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA

PAGES FROM THE NEW BUILDING AND GARDENS GUIDE

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· 01.53

Designing for The Dalí Museum: Keeping it (sur)real


THE MUSEUM GUIDE

The new Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida has opened on the waterfront. Its spectacular design and extensive collection are creating record numbers of visitors. I had designed Dalí publications and worked on exhibits in the past, so I was delighted to be asked to design the Museum Guide. It’s available in the gift shop and online at www.thedali.org. Here are some pages from the Guide with the story behind the book. (All images copyright, The Dali Museum)

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Filed under Books, Corporate, Museum work

July 27, 2011 · 01.53

Amy

….

When I heard that Amy Winehouse had died, I was saddened for the loss, saddened by the tragedy, saddened by the images documenting her destruction over the last several months. She told us she was trouble, but she sure was generous in what she gave us.

So many artists, whatever their palette, lead unusual lives. Artists look at the world in ways that others don’t understand. They understand the abstract and see the absurdities of life. They have different brains that are wired to the unconscious, the unknown and sometimes the divine.

Amy Winehouse’s voice was pure magic and her sound original. Rich, soulful, colorful, and deliciously wicked. I loved her. I wanted more. I wanted her to do a CD of old 40s songs, I wanted her to do a Christmas CD. Maybe we expected too much. Perhaps she had given us enough. And it’s time to focus on what that was. Her songs are little gems. They will be with us forever and will live on long after we are gone. She left us plenty.

Like many artists – van Gogh, Rothko, Pollock, Cobain, Joplin and on and on and on – the world is better because of what they left behind. Their gifts live in us.

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July 9, 2011 · 01.53

A spa-like experience on the web: ‘Rinaldo’s’ of Ottawa

RINALDO HAIR DESIGNERS AND SPA, Ottawa, Ontario

Canada’s most famous hair stylist, Rinaldo, is located in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. His salon and spa are sophisticated, cutting edge, calming, relaxing, elegant – all with a European feel. Rinaldo wanted his website and print materials to reflect the experience of his salon and spa. Working with owner Pat Rinaldo, we redesigned the site from top to bottom.

Entering the site, one is greeted with a scene akin to Rinaldo’s spa – calm, cool green envelops the visitor as she ‘enters’ the rich selection of services and treatments. Each is described and shown. Treatments are described in detail – both words and visuals – so the visitor knows what to expect when scheduling an appointment.

Interstate is used because of its contemporary feel. It helps with the navigation of the site. Thin and narrow styles of Interstate were used to promote the airy feeling one gets when visiting Rinaldo’s. www.rinaldo.com

Here are screen shots from the website.

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Here is the BEFORE website.

The lack of dominant element provided the viewer with no real feeling for what the salon and spa looked like or felt like. The bright colors did not reflect the ‘experience’ of Rinaldo’s. And the circular rules along with underlined type added too much decoration to what should feel like a serene space.

Here are two examples of redesign prototypes for updating the website:

As the web presence develops, additional information is planned. For example, bios of the various stylists and aestheticians will be added. Photos will capture their spirit and quotes will give them a chance to talk about their special areas of expertise. Here are some prototype screens presented for consideration.

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And the partner pricing pamphlet

While creating the website, careful consideration was taken to use the same design elements, such as type treatment and photos, as the printed materials in the salon and spa.

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June 23, 2011 · 01.53

TYPE as ART

You know the feeling. You’re designing a page. You’ve got a great story and headline, but no photo or art. What to do? ‘Type attack!’ Coined by my colleague, international designer Dr. Mario Garcia, while teaching a seminar at The Poynter Institute, this phrase describes how type can become your main art. How? Read the story, pull out key phrases, words or sentences, make sure those words reflect the spirit and meaning of the story. Using type, experiment with variation of style, size, weight and color to create a centerpiece. Here are some examples that may inspire.

HOW TO WORK WITH SIMPLE IMAGES AND LARGE TYPE DISPLAY

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