Graphic Design Archives - Page 22 of 32

Jul 12

Best monitors for graphic design for 2022

Published Jun 13, 2022 10:00 AM

Monitors for graphic design have some very specific requirements beyond the typical displays found in homes and offices. Graphic designers frequently work in fine detail, so sharpness and clarity are critical. Text components and fine line work should be crisp and easy to see, or you’re just asking for a headache. Color accuracy is also crucial in graphic design. Displays need to accurately depict tones and offer advanced color management because inconsistencies could cost big money in professional settings. You don’t want to wrap up their design and get printed materials made only to see that the colors don’t match the customer’s branding. The best monitors for graphic design will ensure your work meets the needs of even the most demanding clients.

Things to consider before buying a monitors for graphic design

As with any monitor or technical device decision, there are lots of different specs and terms thrown around. It can be very confusing to wade through what matters and what doesn’t. To simplify things, when it comes to graphic design, three features are most important: screen size, resolution, and color accuracy. Things like refresh and response rate aren’t relevant to graphic design, so you don’t need to worry about those.

Screen size

Screen size will have a big (no pun intended) impact on your workflow. While you can absolutely work in design programs on laptop screens or small external monitors, creating on a larger display can make your work more efficient and comfortable. A large monitor will allow you to see more at once, so you can scroll around less. It makes it easier to compare things when you need to because you can fit multiple canvases on a single screen. And, you won’t have to squint and crane your neck forward when working with small details.

For most graphic designers, a screen between 27 and 32 inches will be perfect. But, if you like to multitask with multiple windows open at once, or want a more immersive experience, something around 40 inches may be better. Those huge displays offer lots of screen real estate without having to worry about perfectly color matching multiple displays.

Resolution

Resolution is another essential spec to pay attention to, especially for designers and photographers. Many will say that you absolutely need a 4K monitor for graphic design, but that isn’t necessarily the case. 4K displays do provide some advantages. The detail is exceptional, which can be helpful for certain types of design work. All those pixels come in handy for displaying large versions of your work with room enough for your editing program’s tools and palettes. But, these high-res displays can also get very expensive and may be out of reach for many.

For some types of design, or someone just starting out, 4K may be overkill. Instead, a resolution of at least 2560 by 1440 will give you a good balance between quality and price. That said, if you can afford a 4K–or higher–monitor, go

Jul 12

Two ODU Graphic Design Students Win National ADDY Awards « News @ ODU

June 10, 2022

“Banana Ketchup Packaging” by Stephanie Marx.

sekoyah-mcglorn-design Cover redesign of George Saunder’s “The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil” by Sekoyah McGlorn.

By Jonah Grinkewitz

Two Old Dominion University graphic design students won national ADDYs in the student division of the American Advertising Awards.

Stephanie Marx, a spring graduate, won silver for her “Banana Ketchup Packaging” design created in a typographic design class at ODU.

Sekoyah McGlorn, a rising senior, won silver for her cover redesign of George Saunders’ political satire novella, “The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil.”

They received their awards at ADMERICA, the American Advertising Federation’s national conference, on June 3 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee.

To make it to the national level, their designs had to medal in local and regional ADDY competitions.

“The fact that their work made it through these three steps is quite a feat,” said Ivanete Blanco, associate professor of graphic design at ODU. “This recognition increases the profile of the program and it’s a rarity to have a student receive a national ADDY. We are so proud of them both.”

After graduating, Marx started a job as a graphic designer for MGM International.

“My time at ODU prepared me so much for my professional career,” she said. “I utilized my professors and took the time to push my undergrad projects to a higher level, and I used my summers for internships as well as taking time to gain experience during the school year.”

She came up with the idea for her packaging design after researching banana ketchup – a popular fruit ketchup in the Philippines that is dyed red to resemble tomato ketchup.

“I was excited to take a product that was common in another country and display it as something exciting on US shelves,” Marx said.

Since banana ketchup was first produced during WWII, she used ration stamp ephemera as inspiration for the bold type, contained spaces and distressed patterning and structure of her design.

“Stephanie’s work is always well-researched and considered,” said David Shields, associate professor of graphic design and Marx’s typographic design teacher. “At the same time, she consistently demonstrates a great sense of humor and empathy and has a knack for matching visual style to the demands of a particular problem.”

In her redesign of Saunders’ abstract political novella, McGlorn chose to reduce the citizen characters of the book down to bits and pieces of flesh. She reimagined Phil, a character who manipulates his way into becoming a dictator, as a monstrous hammer ready to bring down his wrath.

“Usually when you read a book, you can picture it in your head, but in this book, you are forced to interpret many of the visuals for yourself,” she said. “The strange and fantastical world gave me a lot of freedom to interpret the characters the way I wanted.”

McGlorn said working

Jul 11

The Art and Craft of Graphic Design

Alice Premeau ’22, the winner of Chapman’s annual State of the University poster contest, shares her creative process, love of purple, and how the past informs the future.

Each year, Chapman University President Daniele Struppa announces a poster contest to the students in the Advanced Graphic Design Course, in Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, with the winning design presented at the State of the University address; this year’s theme was research. “The theme was very open to interpretation and gave a lot of creative freedom,” Premeau says. “I started conceptualizing my idea based on what I believe the nature of research is. I started to think about it as something rooted in the past, but continuously building into the future.”

Premeau sitting on her desk working on her designs on her IPad

“I am known for adding the color purple to many of my designs, so when I first started crafting drafts in more monochromatic colors, [my professor] noticed the lack of color. Eventually I chose to add blue and purple, creating what feels like space. This is also associated closely with the future and technology.” Describing her creative process, Premeau says, “I started by drawing the separate pieces on my iPad Iby hand, allowing me to play around with the overall look and style.”

The Chapman Poster

“Alice’s design really captured my imagination the moment I saw it,” President Struppa said when the poster competition winner was unveiled at the 2022 State of the University address. The centerpiece of Premeau’s design is Da Vinci’s “Vetruvian Man,” but with a twist: the figure is also a woman. It is also inspired by Michaleangelo’s “Creation of Adam” fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but instead of a divine hand touching a human, it’s a robot arm touching a human’s: the present literally igniting the future. The atom and double helix invoke scientific progress, and the use of Arabic mathematical equations aims to de-center Western history and be inclusive of other cultures. “In the poster, the High Renaissance meets modern design elements,” Premeau says.

Premeau showing the color wheel

This isn’t Premeau’s first win. She also recently won Chapman’s Diversity and Inclusion poster competition. “Our department head, Eric Chimenti, believes in an environment of friendly competition – it encourages us to produce our best work,” says Premeau.

Premeau standing in front of the posters

“Ever since I was a kid and saw the Broadway posters created by the design firm SpotCo, I’ve wanted to be a designer,” says Premeau, whose future goal is to design movie posters. “That’s the dream,” she says. Premeau is getting hands-on experience as a student-worker in Chapman’s Ideation Lab, a fully functioning design firm run out of Moulton Hall, Chapman’s art building. “When I started working in the Ideation Lab as a first-year student, I had little knowledge of design tools and programs, but Professor Chimenti insisted that I apply – then I learned everything on the job,” she says.

Premeau and Chimenti discussed design

“In graphic design, everything is integrated,” says Chimenti, associate professor of art at Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “You can’t just be a web designer, you

Jul 06

Two retiring faculty members reflect on how they changed UofL’s graphic design program

Steve Skaggs and Leslie Friesen are both retreating from the graphic design department.

If you put Steve Skaggs and Leslie Friesen in the same room, chances are they’ll tag team entire conversations with enthusiasm, finishing each other’s sentences and frequently lobbing compliments back and forth.

This was the case recently when the two gathered in the “red chair room” in the basement of Schneider Hall to talk about UofL’s graphic design program. They talked about what defines a visual object and semiotics and other granularities unfamiliar to those not actually in the world of graphic design.

They also talked about the history of the program – its ups and downs – and how each other’s strengths ushered the department into a modern era.

This friendly, thoughtful dialogue has been happening between them for over 20 years now, sometimes in the red chair room, sometimes over a cup of coffee at McDonald’s. But these conversations will soon become less frequent as both faculty members recently announced their retirement.

Professor Skaggs is the head of the graphic design BFA track. He earned his degree from UofL in 1973, then worked in design in Atlanta before heading off to grad school at the Pratt Institute in New York. He then spent three years as an assistant professor at the University of Kansas before taking over the UofL program in 1983.

Skaggs followed a pretty deep bench. In fact, the first graphic design professor hired at UofL was Malcolm Grear in 1950 (if that name sounds familiar, it’s because Grear designed the look for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta). Grear was followed by Robert Doherty, under whom Skaggs studied, and Daniel Boyarski.

By the time Skaggs took over, he immediately identified changes he wanted to make and was able to conceptualize how he wanted the program to grow.

“There weren’t a lot of changes made to the curriculum before then and graphic design was boxed together with media,” he said. “It wasn’t meant to be a graphic design program but rather a design thinking series of courses.”

Skaggs spent years scribbling down his ideas and was finally able to articulate them to then-President John Shumaker. He wrote his first vision statement in 1984.

“I didn’t think our students were fully prepared and I wanted to guide them to do more than just think and figure life out on their own,” Skaggs said. “I knew if we were going to do this right, the minimum we needed was curriculum that required either four or five adjuncts or a second full-time person.”

The vision statement finally becomes a reality

His vision, however, didn’t become a reality until nearly 18 years later. Enter Friesen, who joined the department in 2002 as the Power Agency Designer-in-Residence. Skaggs calls her hire the “big turning point of the program.”

Friesen, also a UofL graduate, said her role was specifically focused on three objectives – teaching, facilitating internships and serving as a professional liaison. That latter directive was the catalyst for

Jul 06

Graphic Design Digital Media Instructor (Temporary Contract) 2022-2023

Deadline: 7/8/2022 11:59 PM Pacific

Full job description and OFFICIAL application available ONLY here.

PLEASE NOTE: Interviews are anticipated for this position in mid to late July; a brief teaching demonstration will be required during the interview.

Starting Salary Range: $60,189 to $92,390 per year, salary placement determined by documented education and experience; maximum initial salary step placement on the faculty salary schedule is step 9. An annual doctoral stipend of $4,018 is granted to eligible faculty.

BENEFITS
Excellent benefits, including quality health insurance at a low cost for you and your family! Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, life, short and long term, and vision (optional) insurance provided at a share of cost on a pretax basis, CalSTRS Retirement and an Employee Assistance Program. Depending on health plan selections, in many cases full-time employee net out-of-pocket for benefit premiums may be as low as $0. Please see the Benefits link on the HR webpage for more information.

Description: This full-time, temporary contract instructor for the 2022-2023 Academic Year pursuant to Ed Code 87481/82 will enjoy a 175-Day work schedule. The position begins on Monday, August 22, 2022 pending Governing Board ratification. Classes may be in a traditional “in class” setting, online, or hybrid format scheduled over summer and/or winter months, and at various campus locations including days, evenings, and/or weekends.

We are seeking a graphic design generalist with a broad knowledge of print, web, and interface design who has the requisite skills to play a leadership role in the department and teach a broad range of courses within the candidate’s specific strengths and areas of interest, including but not limited to: web design, web development, interface design, graphic design and typography principles, digital imaging, digital illustration, animation/moving image, self-promotion, and marketing. The candidate should have expert technical knowledge in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and be highly proficient in HTML/CSS. WordPress, Adobe Animate, and social media self-promotion skills are a plus. The ideal candidate will also be an effective communicator and team player who can facilitate smooth operations of the program and facilities, develop cohesive strategies for growth and sustainability, develop student pathways into and through Cabrillo College to career and transfer, foster student success and creativity, and potentially provide leadership to the program as Department Chair/Co-Chair in the future.

Examples of Duties

Teach assigned classes, which may include evening or off-campus assignments
Collaborate in participatory governance committees, processes, and initiatives such as Guided Pathways
Maintain timely and accurate records of student enrollment, attendance, and academic progress
Provide academic assistance and related services to students during scheduled office hours Cooperate with and participate as may be required in District investigations and/or student grievances matters of alleged unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation
Demonstrate sensitivity to and understanding of diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty and staff
Work with the Dean of CTE and local educational partners to create and update student pathways as they relate to current labor market