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Experimental Layout Design

The emphasis of this project was to experiment with layout design. Take a look at the image above and you’ll see what I’m talking about. This is just a quick experiment with the grid, typography and hierarchy treatment.

Process Book

Above, you can see the process book I put together for this project. It ended up being a 42 page book with a french fold that’s spiral bound. The concept was to align the gutter of the spreads with the edges of the pages. This would allow space for commentary on each page. The french folds allow for the reader to flatten a page to see the full spread as well as the previous and next page all at once, hiding the commentary.

Process

The process of expanding on the concepts of Gestalt Theory and Accessibility was just as important as the final products. A lot of time and effort went in to writing the articles before the design was even considered. I interviewed Qi Zhu, a disabled student at VCU. She gave me a lot of insight in to the problems with accessibility on campus, around popular research avenues and online. The article on Gestalt Philosophy started with a lot of research on the subject and ended with a quest to create the word “Prägnanz 1924” two characters at a time using the laws of Gestalt Philosophy.

Accessibility Spreads

Accessibility across languages, technologies and disabilities has interested me for quite some time. Since I’ve had an interest in web design and front-end development since I was in high school, it only seemed natural that I pick up an interest inaccessibility and usability. This article is about the problem we have online with accessibility. There exists this issue because the user base that is effected is so small in comparison. Larger companies do not feel the need to accommodate these types of accessibility issues. I would encourage you to read the article.

Gestalt Philosophy Spreads

Gestalt Philosophy is another subject I’ve become more and more interested in over the years. I have always liked playing with people’s perception of the world. Modifying it just a little to make them second guess their own eyes. That’s where Gestalt Philosophy comes into play. It is the study of how the mind naturally organizes the world around it so it can make sense of its surroundings. This article goes into depth about the component parts of Gestalt Philosophy and why it exists.

Table of Contents

The final part of the project was to come up with a way of marking the different sections by author. It needed to link the book together since the articles and designs of each section were so different every 4 pages. My design drew upon a secret element to generate the size of the color bar. The subsequent section dividers would gradually fill up with the specified color according to the position in the book. The closer the section divider was to the back of the book the more color and the less space the text would take up. The second image above would be near the front of the book while the third image would be closer to the rear.

Common Groundz was my home for more hours out of the day than my own house. When they first opened I was so excited there was a big, accommodating coffee shop right next to my house that I literally did my best to stay from opening to closing. Eventually the owners and I developed a relationship with one another and we started bartering services. I designed this identity system to represent the modern interior, simple food and quirky attitude you get as soon as you walk in the door.

Above, you can see the variety of sketches that were reproduced in Illustrator.

In this case it was important to find a type face that matched the atmosphere. The guys, aka the owners of Common Groundz, informed me they wanted the logotype to be the primary form of communication.

The Type

Halvorsen Extra Bold by The Australian Type Foundry was the font of choice because of its clean lines, modern feel and barely-noticeable quirks. Instead of going with black on white, as pictured above, I decided a nice flat black on white would make the design feel more professional, as pictured below.

The Mark

The mark for Common Groundz was definitely the hardest part. How do you pull in all the experiences you have at a coffee shop and encase it in one image? I went back to the roots. Common Groundz was originally established as a place for recovering addicts to come and enjoy away from life’s temptations. I wanted to show it was a place of healing, unity and recovery. The problem was every mark I came up with did not convey the idea effectively.

The Result

The final product was nice and simple. Combine the C and G to form a coffee mug. Don’t make it too obvious. Make sure it reads “coffee mug” first and “CG” after a second. The image above was the first sketch of the idea. The image below is the final draft.

Initial Collateral

The initial identity system Common Groundz had set up used Ambient, a free, widely available typeface. Before I finished the identity system, I was asked to do an ad for RVA magazine for Common Groundz. The below image is the result of using their identity system with RVA’s aesthetic.

Further Collateral

After the identity system was complete I worked with the guys to produce some materials that could be used for promotions as well as in-store materials. Below you will see 4-up handbills, business cards, frequent flyer cards and free coffee cards.

Web Site

Honestly, in this case there is not much to show or say. I built a web site for Common Groundz based on a free template from Blog Oh! Blog. I kept it updated with the latest information, but it did not go much further than that. They just needed something that was online, easy to update and had all their current information. I was happy to oblige.

Conclusion

This was a great project to work on because the owners trusted me enough to let me have some freedom to explore some different options. After finalizing the design of the identity system I merely had to keep the printing in their budget.

Despite all of this, Common Groundz has decided to close their doors in May 2009. They will be sorely missed as they provided companionship and coffee of which there is no equal. I wish Mark and Scott well in their endeavors as they move forward. I would also like to congratulate Heather and Scott on finally getting engaged.
Common Groundz on Behance.net

Mr. Meade approached me through the head of the Graphic Design department. He requested a unique website that would knock the other law firm websites out of the water, but also did not want to pay an arm and a leg for a web design firm. Most of the other law sites were all designed and maintained by one company. As a result, they all looked exactly alike.

The above image is the original wireframe I brought to the table. I wanted to try and fit all the pages into the three column format, but in the end it didn’t work out. The home page fit very nicely into this format, though.

The mock up pictured above was the first draft of the site. Mr. Meade explained to me he wanted the site to be clean and professional with large pictures, well-organized content and quick ways to get in contact with The Meade Law Firm. I was tasked with placing all the content on the home page without it looking overcrowded and messy. I employed the grid mentioned earlier and kept to strict rules about where content should and shouldn’t be. I offered two different versions of the site, one red and one white. The red page was widely accepted because it was bold without being too overpowering.

The mock up pictured above is the design we finally all agreed upon. It wasn’t my first choice, but I’m still happy with the way it turned out. A few things changed in the way the main points of interest were presented, but I think this option is just as viable as the previous instance.

The final site design can be found at http://www.themeadelawfirm.com and looks much the same as the image above. The biggest hang up with this design was the compatibility with older versions of Internet Explorer and the overlays of content above Flash. In the end, it all worked out. Mr. Meade is very happy with the result.

During the process of designing this site I experimented with jQuery, CSS 3 font embedding, multi-column paragraph layouts, Blueprint CSS and the finer points of z-indexes.
The Meade Law Firm on Behance.net

I was hired this summer as an intern for the Dean of the Arts at VCU. My first project was to redesign the Department of Art History website. It was old, outdated, tabled and buggy. They gave me free reign over the entire process, from creating a concept to coding the end product. I was the designer responsible for all communications, mockups, and updates. It was really an eye-opening experience.

Mock Ups

In the initial mockups I was asked to develop a typographic logo, hence the large “Art History” in the second and third mockup. Each of these mocks were sketched out first and then reproduced in illustrator. There were countless variations, but these were the most prominent. The first is the most experimental (Art History Departments are notoriously conservative). In the second, I worked with the golden ratio to build out a design that allowed for as much user interaction and presented as much information up from as possible for an Art History department. The third and final was closest to what we ended up with. I focused on subtracting as much out of the design as possible without getting rid of some of the basic elements that needed to be included, in my opinion.

Design Direction

These mockups whittled down the fine points of all the features the department did and didn’t want on their site. They kept bringing up Yale’s site and how they wanted to mimic their level of professionalism, so I added a few things, like an images slide show, high-end typography and scripts like thickbox for images and subpages. These mockups are still in illustrator, but after we decide on a look for a page I don’t stay too far from the original design.

The CSS

The end product turned out to be a lot more detailed than I had anticipated. I’ve never used so many typographically specific code. The advantage is that it’s really beautiful because of those small details. The first screen shot captures the page, the second captures a Thickbox detail. The next two follow the same pattern, just with the faculty page.

See for yourself. – My design is no longer being used.
VCU Art History Department on Behance.net

The Concept

Hamlet resides in the halls of the literary greats. Among the Milton’s, the Dicken’s, the Chaucer’s, so on and so forth. Hamletter was created to mock that lofty stance and challenge its place in today’s society. Does Hamlett fit into the modern west? Into the mundane, ordinary life of a simple middle-management slob? Does Ordinary Joe belong in the realm of King against Prince? These are some of the ideas that were kept in mind while constructing this book.

This stanza is taken from Scene III where the King enters the confession box to confess his sins. Hamlet enters to hear his pleas for fogiveness. He has the opportunity to kill the King outright, but catches himself in an internal struggle.

Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent.
When he is drunk asleep; or in his rage;
or in th’incestuous pleasure of his bed;
at game, a-swearing, or about some act
that has no relish of salvation in’t-
then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven,
and that his soul may be as damn’d and black
as hell, whereto it goes.
Hamletter on Behance.net
You can also purchase the book on Lulu.com.