PATH - Toronto's downtown walkway

Thesis Ideas

a. Suggesting new design solutions for Canada Post

b. Branding + wayfinding design for PATH - Toronto’s downtown walkway

c. Creating a public toilet map for the City of Toronto

Reading 4 - Jessica Helfand

Design and Faux Science

Jessica Helfand

Faux Science is the new vernacular, a methodology that, while highly disciplined in a formal sense, is still all about appropriation. Arguably, perhaps, the landscape has shifted, too, from grit to grid. It’s not so much a tension of form versus content as a favoring of style over substance.

Science represents an enormous opportunity for designers, but not if their contributions remain fundamentally restricted by what they know. At the core of this critique lie serious questions about the role of education. Why don’t design students study music theory? Why aren’t they required to learn a second language? And why, for that matter, don’t they study science? “The difficulty lies not in the new ideas,” writes John Maynard Keynes, “but in escaping the old ones.” In other words, design beyond reach.

Reading 4 - Michael Vanderbyl

Graphic Design Thesis: A Survivors Guide

Michael Vanderbyl

Graphic design thesis is designed to define the complex intersection

between personal voice, conceptual understanding,

and the ability to conduct and use research effectively in the service

of creating a compelling, finely crafted public communication.

- The thesis proposal

- Research

- The thesis project

- The process book

1. Make a schedule

2. Make connections

3. Research

4. Trust yourself

5. Last thoughts

Reading 4 - Michael Bierut

On Design Bullshit

Michael Bierut

In asking this question, I am of course aware that bullshit has become a subject of legitimate inquiry these days with the popularity of Harry G. Frankfurt's slender volume, On Bullshit. Frankfurt, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton, is careful to distinguish bullshit from lies, pointing out that bullshit is "not designed primarily to give its audience a false belief about whatever state of affairs may be the topic, but that its primary intention is rather to give its audience a false impression concerning what is going on in the mind of the speaker."

Thesis Ideas - Logo Maker by HP

New medium in print?

Logo Design Process

Design brief.
Conduct a questionnaire or interview with the client to get the design brief.

Research.
Conduct research on the industry itself, its history and competitors. Problem-solve first, design later.

Reference.
Conduct research on logo designs that have been successful and on current styles and trends that may relate to the design brief. Follow trends not for their own sake but rather to be aware of them: longevity in logo design is key.

Sketching and conceptualizing.
Develop the logo design concept(s) around the brief and your research. This is the single most important part of the design process. Get creative and be inspired. As Dainis Graveris has written once, “sketching isn’t time-consuming and is a really good way to put ideas in your head right on paper. After that, it’s always easier to actually design it on the computer. Sketching helps to evolve your imagination: once you understand it, you will always start from just white paper.

Reflection.
Take breaks throughout the design process. This helps your ideas mature, renews your enthusiasm and allows you to solicit feedback. It also gives you a fresh perspective on your work.

Revisions and positioning.
Whether you position yourself as a contractor (i.e. getting instructions from the client) or build a long-lasting relationship (i.e. guiding the client to the best solution), revise and improve the logo as required.

Presentation.
Present only your best logo designs to your client. PDF format usually works best. You may also wish to show the logo in context, which will help the client more clearly visualize the brand identity. Preparing a high-quality presentation is the single most effective way to get your clients to approve your designs.

“Canned presentations have the ring of emptiness. The meaningful presentation is custom designed—for a particular purpose, for a particular person. How to present a new idea is, perhaps, one of the designer’s most difficult tasks. This how is not only a design problem, it also pleads for something novel.

Everything a designer does involves presentation of some kind—not only how to explain (present) a particular design to an interested listener (client, reader, spectator), but how the design may explain itself in the marketplace… A presentation is the musical accompaniment of design. A presentation that lacks an idea cannot hide behind glamorous photos, pizazz, or ballyhoo. If it is full of gibberish, it may fall on deaf ears; if too laid back, it may land a prospect in the arms of Morpheus.” (Paul Rand)

Delivery and support.
Deliver the appropriate files to the client and give all support that is needed. Remember to under-promise and over-deliver. After you’ve finished, have a beer, eat some chocolate and then start your next project.

What Makes A Good Logo?

A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic and simple in form, and it conveys the owner’s intended message. A concept or “meaning” is usually behind an effective logo, and it communicates the intended message. A logo should be able to be printed at any size and, in most cases, be effective without color. A great logo essentially boils down to two things: great concept and great execution.

How To Choose A Logo Designer?

Keep an eye out for certain things when choosing a logo designer:

• Experience and proven success
  Do they have a proven track record? How experienced are they?
• Testimonials
  Do they have positive testimonials from previous clients? Ensure you check the validity of testimonials. A quick email to the company should suffice.
• Their design process
  Do they follow a logo design process?
• Awards won and published work
  Have they won any awards for their work? Is their work published in any books or magazines? How recognized are they in the industry?
• Strength of portfolio
  How strong is their portfolio? Have they got 100+ mediocre logo designs or 10 to 30 excellent ones? What is the ratio of real to fake logo designs?
• Timeframe
  How long would they take to complete your logo? A typical logo design process takes 4 to 15 days, but many can go for months on end. Think of how long your logo design will be used for: would you want it to be designed (much less researched) in less than 24 hours?
• Price
  The cost of the service usually reflects what you will receive. In most cases, you get what you pay for… but price is not the only indication.
• Affiliations
  Are they affiliated with any design associations or publications? This is a good indication of how dedicated they are to their craft, though it is not essential.
• Professionalism and communication
  How do they present themselves? Do they respond to your emails quickly? How do they communicate? Do they work with a contract (to protect both them and you)?
• Questions asked
  How many questions does the designer ask about your business? Questions should revolve around your company’s history, target market, goals, etc.

5 Principles Of Effective Logo Design

A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic and simple in form, and it conveys the owner’s intended message. You should follow the five principles below to ensure that your design meets all of these criteria:

1. Simple
2. Memorable
3. Timeless
4. Versatile
5. Appropriate

Reading 2 - Helfand

Method Designing: The Paradox of Modern Design Education

Jessica Helfand

- Over a century ago, Konstantin Stanislavsky revolutionized the modern theatre by introducing a new system of training, in which the actor would draw on his or her own emotions to achieve a true understanding of a character.

- The good news is that in an effort to produce designers who can think for themselves, we ask our students to identify a method which becomes evident through the work that they produce.

- Such an emphasis on authorship is, by and large, a way to train young designers as thinkers — and not merely as service providers. At the same time, we encourage them to seek references beyond the obvious: the richness of their sources testifies to an ability to engage a larger universe, and their work benefits from locating itself along a trajectory they’ve chosen and defined for themselves.

- The bad news is that as a consequence of seeking validation elsewhere, there is an unusual bias toward false identity: so the design student, after looking at so much art, believes that s/he is making art.

Reading 2 - Bayazit

Investigating Design: A Review of Forty Years of Design Research

Bayazit

Design research tries to answer the obligations of design to the humanities:

A - Design research is concerned with the physical embodiment of man-made things, how these things perform their jobs, and how they work.

B - Design research is concerned with construction as a human activity, how designers work, how they think, and how they carry out design activity.

C - Design research is concerned with what is achieved at the end of a purposeful design activity, how an artificial thing appears, and what it means.

D - Design research is concerned with the embodiment of configurations.

E - Design research is a systematic search and acquisition of knowledge related to design and design activity.

First-Generation Design Methods

- The influence of systems analysis and systems theory on design established the grounds for the foundation of “systematic design methods,”

- The methods proposed at that conference were simplistic in character. Everyone was systematizing his or her own approach to design, and externalizing it as design method.

Second-Generation Design Methods

- Second-generation design methods began to compensate for the inadequacy of the first-generation design methods.

- User participation to P&D is a very wide and comprehensive subject, with its political, ideological, psychological, managerial, administrative, legal and economical aspects in relation to various countries.

Reading 2 - Leedy + Ormrod

The Problem: The Heart of the Research Process

Leedy + Ormrod

The problem or question is the axis around which the whole research effort revolves. The statement of the problem must first be expressed with the utmost precision; it should then be divided into more manageable subproblems. Such an approach clarifies the goals and directions of the entire research effort.

Basic Research

Such projects, which can advance human being's theoretical conceptualizations about a particular topic, are known as basic research.

Applied Research

Such projects, which can inform human decision making about practical problems, are known as applied research.

Axe Effect

Creative thinking - business card design ideas

Creative thinking

Reading 1 - Gunnar Swanson

Design as Liberal Art

Gunnar Swanson

We need to consider whether our attitudes toward "professionalism" in design education do the same.

By "synthetic" I mean that design does not have a subject matter of its own- it exists in practice only in relation to the requirements of given project. The path of progress for the field is not defined by the next great unsolved design problem.

Design is "integrative" in that, by its lack of specific subject matter, it has the potential to connect many disciplines.

Even while some design programs are strengthening their liberal studies requirements, the tendency toward professional rather than general education at colleges and universities has been growing for the past two decades.

In light of this tendency toward professionalism, it may seem counter-intuitive that I suggest that we not only increase the augmentation of design training with more liberal studies, but also reconsider graphic design education - as a liberal arts subject.

Reading 1 - Leedy + Ormrod

The Fundamentals: What is Research?

Leedy + Ormrod

What is not a research?

1. Research is not mere information gathering.

2. Research is not mere transportation of facts from one location to another.

3. Research is not merely rummaging for information.

4. Research is not a catchword used to get attention.

What is research?

1. Research originates with a question or problem.

2. Research requires clear articulation of a goal.

3. Research requires a specific plan for proceeding.

4. Research usually divides the principal problem into more manageable sub-problems.

5. Research is guided by the specific research problem, question, or hypothesis.

6. Research accepts certain critical assumptions.

7. Research requires the collection and interpretation of data in an attempt to resolve the problem that initiated the research.

8. Research is, by its nature, cyclical or, more exactly, helical.

Reading 1 - Meredith Davis

The Landscape of Graphic Design Education

Meredith Davis

A discipline is a branch of learning that has a body of knowledge, modes of inquiry, and historical and critical perspectives on both as they relate to the subject. Chemistry and anthropology are disciplines. A profession, on the other hand, is an occupation that involves the application of knowledge and training in the discipline.

The role of colleges and universities now engaged in professional education is to develop students with respect to both the discipline and the profession of graphic design.

I would argue that what distinguishes a professional graphic design education from a pre-professional experience (and a profession from a trade) is not the one-to-one match between curriculum and the current skill set necessary for entry-level practice, but the essential competencies that enable design practitioners to be predictive and responsible for transforming the field across their professional careers.

What excellent professional programs in design demonstrate, regardless of their structure and the particular skills of the faculty, is that it takes time to produce a professional and even longer to produce a leader in the field.

We must move the relationships of general education of liberal arts courses to design courses from one of proximity to integration.

As long as we remain reactive to changes in the profession, instead of anticipating changes in the communication environment itself, we will be ill-prepared for addressing them from a position of strength.

Toronto Police Service - Logo

The components of the TPS logo is similar to the old Metro Toronto Police logo less the name change:

• winged wheels of industry on the top part of the shield
• crown commemorating the coronation year of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953
• two books for education
• Caduceus - Roman god of commerce
• chevron for housing
• beaver from the city of Toronto logo

Toronto Police Service - Uniform

Front line officers wear dark navy blue shirts, cargo pants (with red stripe) and boots. Winter jackets are either dark navy blue jacket design– Eisenhower style, single breasted front closing, 2 patch type breast pockets, shoulder straps, gold buttons, or yellow windbreaker style with the word POLICE in reflective silver and black at the back (Generally worn by the bicycle police). All ranks shall wear dark navy blue clip on ties when wearing long-sleeve uniforms.

Auxiliary officers (shown to the right) wear light blue shirts, with the badging of auxiliary on the bottom of the crest. Originally front line officer also wore light blue shirts but changed to the current navy blue shirts in the Fall of 2000.

Hats can be styled after baseball caps, combination caps,or fur trim hats for winter. Motorcycle units have white helmets. Black or reflective yellow gloves are also provided to officers with Traffic Services. Front line officers usually wear combination caps since that is the location of their badge.

As is the case with all Ontario Law Enforcement Officers, uniformed officers wear name tags. They are in the style of "A. Example" where the first letter of the first name is written and the last name next to it. Name tags are usually stitched on with white stitching on a black background, but they also have pin-styled with black lettering on a gold plate.

Senior officers wear white shirts and a black dress jacket.

Toronto Police

Welcome to my blog

I am a 4th year graphic design student in OCAD.