Book recommendation (graphic design)

Ok I've had it. This book is just too nice to keep for myself.

While our class was on a trip to London a few months ago we visited the Design Museum and of course looked at some really great stuff in the exhibits, but what made me really happy that day was one of the best gift shops ever. It was more of a design + design books shop, and I'm serious, I pretty much wanted to bring all of the books back home with me. Sadly, my arms and wallet can only sustain so much damage, so I narrowed it down to one book. It took me forever, the others were literally waiting for me so we could leave at the end. The book I keep being impressed by is "Introducing: Visual Identities for Small Businesses".

The deal is they show work of somewhat small, and sometimes low-budget visual identities for small businesses. Which I'm sure you got from the title. (Oh how smart you are). There's a lot of diversity and it's great to have to browse through just to get a zap of inspiration and know that it can be done even if you're not a multi-million dollar design agency! Just check these out:
Aren't they great? And these aren't even the best of the bunch, as I got lazy/am busy and just borrowed these from the publisher's website. So you want to know where to get it do you? Well here or at Amazon are both good places to look. Or you could go to London, that's always the best choice.

Ta-da! Back to reading for my oral exam. Yup! I'm sure that would include reading CAP&DESIGN. Wink.

All pictures from Gestalten (They have a lot of other brilliant art & design books so you should check that out too while you're at it.)

Inspiration is cross pollination.

Marian Bantjes gives an interesting talk about how she has gone from the strictly impersonal graphic design work into a more personal and artistic approach, and the fact that she has never been more successful.




It's a bit of fresh air while I take a breather from the theoretical part of my studies.

Hasn't everyone seen Pinterest by now?

Well, just in case you haven't I figured it would be a good thing to show you. I keep spending a lot of time there gathering inspiration for Graphic Design, "Fashion", Interior Design, Photography, Tattoos - you name it, it's probably there in some form. Follow your friends, enemies(the competition) or strangers with great taste. Most of all: Enjoy it while it's there. (Cue mumbling about grey-area copyright wise). Just remember to give credit!

A link to my boards in case you're curious: http://pinterest.com/kjeri/

Mikhael Paskalev

MIKHAEL PASKALEV - SUSIE from Mikhael Paskalev on Vimeo.

Quite lovely.

Fresh Guacamole - Pes

Fascinating, innit? :)

kjerstinasak.com

Guess who went and finally got herself a proper domain name for her portfolio?

Go check it out: kjerstinasak.com

Planning my future?

Slowly but surely it seems my time at Buskerud University College is running out. The focus is still heavy on the school work but for some time now I’ve had a nagging feeling about how I’m going to get ready for what is to come, (real life). Of course I have been thinking about this for quite some time now, but it feels a lot more real now that I’m just months from the leap. Do I have the knowledge? Is my portfolio sound enough to start applying to junior design positions or should I continue at a private design school to get some more practice? All I know is I need to prepare myself thoroughly to make this work. Of course I’m aware that I will encounter good and bad periods throughout this and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took me more than a year to get the kind of job I’d be satisfied with as a Graphic Designer, I kind of expect it actually. This implies that I will constantly be searching for businesses who need new people, developing new work for my portfolio and in the meantime get a different job to have something to go on - I do like having a bed and eating real food you know, gotten quite accustomed to it. Plu as a side-note I also think it will be very important to make the other (hopefully) employer aware of my plans, because getting a bad rep as an employee anywhere certainly won’t do you any good.

So what do I do? I research. 

There’s a few articles I just read that I’d really like to show you:

http://graphicpush.com/hiring-a-junior-designer

 -          Not exactly new, but it shows what you’re expected to know. The comments also show a healthy dialogue of education vs. being self-taught

http://www.hugoandcat.com/careers_junior_designer.aspx

-          Some really good points about what you should try to contribute with when you don’t have too much experience. 

http://www.lifeclever.com/talent-isnt-everything-7-habits-of-highly-effective-junior-designers/

-          Some pointers to remember that you might know of but haven’t really put into context. This one isn’t recent either, but I think it shows some general ideas that transfer well into today’s market. And I’m also quite sure these three can translate into the Norwegian design business. Disagree? Please do comment! Any discussion on this will be quite helpful.

Guess who's back

Aaand then she was home again. Well I was actually back around Christmas time, but I didn't feel like writing about it then. I'm a bit miffed, yet back on track in the place they call "Norway" (It's actually Norge, dumbasses) I must say I miss all the drawing, the short travel distance and of course the people. (Which I keep repeating on facebook incidentally). It's quite a contrast going from what felt like a stressful version of my favourite playtime with coloured pencils, cutting and pasting and adobe basics, to mostly business and project related stuff here at home. I've gotten much better at maintaining focus during lectures after the substancial break from it, so I'll count it as a success. 

 Indeed.

How did my trip to Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England change me, or what have I learned? Well I reconfirmed that I do in fact enjoy drawing and being creative. Watercolours are fun. I still posess the ability to befriend new and amazing people - I have highly exaggerated my "lone wolf" tendencies before now. I'm more confident when it comes to my English (which I'm not sure I needed because I'm getting a bit cocky about it, bad Kjerstin). I can present my own work again which I was much better at before I started Uni. I love snack cheeses now. Vinegar on Chips is the bomb. Fireball Whisky and apple juice shouldn't be alcoholic cause it tastes like liquid Christmas and I wish I could drink it all the friggin time. Use any excuse to promote yourself. Be more forward to leave an impression on people. German people are cooler than I thought. Eat ALL the popcorn! I finally got the hang of paragraph styles in Indesign (about time). Always plan ahead of time, cause you never have the amount of time you think you have...

 Bye-bye Sunderland, bye Clanny House...

BBC Sherlock drawing

You should watch BBC Sherlock. Just saying!