You Can't Miss This: Alphabet and Other Things Not Kanye

Wooo for Complex this week!

The first thing I bring to you is a visual interpretation of the alphabet brought to you by The Pompadaur. 

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/38933303?byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=ff0179" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>

The next treat I have for you from Complex is a minimal look at Disnet movies. Eat Now has an essence of minimalism to it, so I can appreciate these. Here are some of my faves. Check out the rest here. They're pretty awesome.

Lastly, I have for you some rap stuff because what would a Nick Williams blog be without something rap. Here we have classic rap album covers with comic book characters. I'm not comic buff, but these still make me chuckle. My fave is the Biggie cover. I'll show you the original first.

Its considered a classic design and sonically. Now here's the comic interpretation. 

Here's another classic by Nas. Illmatic.

Aaand here we have the comic remix.

Not as awesome as the Biggie one, but still pretty funny.

Response: Dear John

Presenting these M word projects have been pretty intense. I ran into some last second problems on the presentation side of things last week. Thanks Issuu for failing me. Anyway, The Eat Now design team showed something way more put together than what I presented on Tuesday. There's still some edits to take care of, but Eat Now is shaping up to be super awesome. Dare I say dope.

Impressing John has become a strange obsession of mine. He has an anonymous vibe to him and he's terribly difficult to read. I thought he loathed my first designs I presented to the publishing team. Again, I thought he hated the latest designs I showed. However, as the presentation winded down he said something awesome. He called the magazine, as a whole, "fresh." I might be looking into that a tad too much, but to me that's exactly what I wanted to do with Eat Now. I wanted something new, original all the while not coming off to pretentious but still super "artsy."

Critique: Book covers

This assignment was a pain at times, but it was a nice departure from  the M word designs. I'll talk about some of my faves.

This was one of those star aligning moments. Easily my favorite, I was kind of bummed at first because the bars weren't really lighting up like I wanted them to. They popped like I wanted them too when I placed the silhouette there. It's pretty conceptual, so I don't think conservative minds will go for the whole drunken flag thing. Anyway, I love it.

This was a design I had to get out of my mind a la Ms. Hall. I had the title stuck in my head, so I went for it. I'll switch the title out for the right now and attempt to make some sticker-esque beer cans and women for the helmet.

Low key, this was one of my favorites too. I'm on a morphing photos together kick lately. This kick was definitely an influence from Ms. Landis.  This particular cover didn't garner many votes, but noneless I loved it.

There's another morph job.

These book covers were pretty fun, and I'm definitely looking forward to showing the publishing folks some "atypical" stuff.

You Can't Miss This: Complex's G.O.A.T. Graphic Designers

For those of you who don't know, G.O.A.T. means Greatest Of All Time. If you don't know anything about Complex, know they love lists. That's what they do, and they do it well! The list that caught my eye this week was The 20 G.O.A.T.  Graphic designers.

For the sake and integrity of this blog, we'll call these designers the O.G. Triple O.G. (That's like the godfather or O.G.'s)

the first O.G. Triple O.G. is George Lois. He help build Esquire as designing giant. He did the "I want my MTV!" campaign along with Tommy Hilfiger and VH1 designs. His Muhammad Ali cover is one of my favorite covers of all time.

The next and last O.G. Triple O.G. I will discuss is Milton Glasor. If you own a I <3 NY shirt, you're wearing his design. He founded New York Magazine. The I <3 NY logo is an iconic as anything New York. Iconic isn't a stretch either. His design is the definition of iconic.  I love his Dylan design too. As a self-proclaimed neo-hippie (I shower), I naturally love it.

For Schitz and giggles here's I photo I took of a swing on Dylan's property in Woodstock this summer. Miss that place. 

Critique: My TFA lesson designs

A little more than a month ago I decided to apply for Teach For America. I was lucky enough to get a final interview so I was faced with the deciding what to do for my 5 minute lesson. At first I was leaning towards something basic like addition or subtraction, but I realized if I'm going to do something that represents who I am I need to do something with art. After solo brainstorming, I decided to go with a personal branding exercise that allows students to draft their own logo using their initials in some sort of creative way. We'll see how it goes over, but I have high hopes! Here's my handout.

And here is the template for the business cards the students with design.

I think it's pretty creative, so hopefully the interviewers agree. That's my only design for the week! Crazy, I know.

Reponse: Portfolio reviews

Earlier this afternoon I had my first portfolio review with Jan.  Unlike my in-class review, I had a few more pieces to round out my portfolio. If only I had the will power to upload all those images up. You're in for a treat, though, because I am going to show you some stuff I left out. I still have to iron these puppies out, but I think they deserve to be seen.

These certainly aren't the headliners of my portfolio, but they have a special place in my design heart. I designed these when I had no clue what I was doing. This was before I dove into design, reading everything  I could about it and really studying what was going on in the field. 

Anyway, Jan has a great eye for everything. I tried to self edit, but she found things I wouldn't have thought of. While Jan and Theresa definitely praised some of my work, I left my portfolio feeling I had to work even harder than I have before. And I'm OK with that.

Critique: Just Dance

This dance cover was pretty much straight forward. I wanted to make something that showed off a few dance styles. However, the photos were really good, and I wanted to push myself to do an effective photo cover. So, here what I came up with.

I really liked my iTunes idea. I was kind of sad the editors didn't comment on it, but I was super stoked they liked my ballet photo cover. I wanted to keep everything soft, so the photo "could speak."

I'm not done editing it, but here's what I have so far. Just a few tweaks, but I will do some more.

Response: Just My Type

I'll keep this one brief. My favorite part of the JMT book was the Gotham x Obama story. If there's anyone that has as much swagger as Kanye outside of the hip-hop realm, it's Barry Obama. That's saying a lot. Anyway. Every time I design I look at a zillion different typefaces. I've seen Gotham a few zillion times now. I never thought of when it was created. If I were to guess (before reading the book) , I would have guessed in the 40's- 60's. I just assume that's when all the cool fonts were designed. Well. I was wrong. It was just 12 years ago in 2000.

If I were a font maker, a fontsmith if you will, one of the ultimate compliments would be to have the president use my font in their campaign. That must have been one of Tobias Frere-Jones' best days.  I really liked how it was all tied back together with the Obama GQ cover.

Response: OG Helvetica

Well before I start this response I have something that will hopefully make you laugh. While I was watching Helvetica I kept on thinking, "Wow, helvetica is really OG." As I starting to get my thoughts together for this post, I figured I'd call it "OG Helvetica." Then I figured not all you would know what OG means. I decided to test it on Andrea. OG means original gangsta by the way. A similar phrase would be, That's old school and awesome all at the same time." So here's what came of my test.


Me (sitting next to Andrea Hall in the lab writing my blog)- Do you know what OG means?
Andrea (with the most straight face ever): Oh, Goodness?


This made my week. Such a wholesome spirit that girl has.


Anyway, I didn't realize how OG helvetica really was until I saw this documentary. Like a few people have already said, I was just amazing at how passionate someone could be about a typeface. Once I thought about it, though, it sunk in helvetica is everywhere! All those emotional Drake memes you see on Tumblr- helvetica. Most memes in general- helvetica. The typography on my iPhone screen- helvetica(?).


it's everywhere. Maybe more astounding than that fact is that it is so versatile. It fits everything.  Its emotional enough for Drake memes. But it can still tackle the opposite feeling. That is cray.

Week 7: Kanye finds a way into everything I do-You can't miss this SKATEBOARDS

Glancing at Complex Design this week, I came across these awesome skateboard decks. You may ask your self, "Self, why was Nick intrigued by a skateboard?" Well, my friend, I might not look it, but I was once a skateboarder. I'm talking like 7th and 8th grade. I spent like 3 months worth of allowance on a skateboard. I even sold my Nintendo64.  I recently received a gift card to Target so, naturally, I bought a brand new skateboard. This one is much more cheap and, frankly,  much more wack than my skateboard years ago. But it on clearance and I had the urge to skate around the parking lot next to my house. Here it is in all its Instagramed glory.

If you could see the bottom, you would notice that the graphic that was there when purchased is ripped off. That is the real reason I bought this puppy for so cheap. I just wanted to design the deck. I'm thinking a stencil-type piece of art, but after seeing these decks on Complex I might change my mind. Check it out!

This might not look very difficult to do, but just wait to see how he did it.

Via Nick Schonberger/ Complex

Simon Ålander, a Swedish designer, combines analog and digital techniques to produce unique hand-lettering. For this skateboard, he employed a projector to trace the design and then enhanced the outlines using a white marker. To further the texture, Ålander applied three layers of ink and then stippled the foundation to give the letters some depth. Complex steps to a simple, neatly crafted end. 

The detailed shots really show the work Simon put in. Seeing and reading about this, a can of spray paint just into going to cut it with my deck any more.

P.S. I've been fooling with stenciling lately. Just as Kanye has a thing for Will Ferrell's body of work, I do too. So, I decided to make use his face in my first stenciling test drive. (I took this next picture before I did another layer of a stencil so it's not the finished product.)

Week 7: Kanye finds a way into everything I do- Response

The portfolio review this week was enlightening to say the least. I take pride in everything I do. This is especially true since the Roll On covers. Admittedly, I'm still learning how to take criticism, so I went through a bunch of emotions going through my critiques.

One of the more common remarks I received was not having enough variety in the pieces I brought to the review. I definitely agree with that. I did forget a few pieces I have done over the past year that would dispute that. I really have fallen in love with Illustrator this semester. No doubt about that. I've heard Theresa say before Illustrator is the most powerful application for a designer. I know what she means now. With that said, Photoshop is my next quest. The next portfolio review we have, there will definitely be some more photo driven work.

Week 6: All Complex Everything- You Can't Miss This

Last week was a let down for Complex's Art + Design blog. This week they brought it. Up first we have Yo Mama Jokes: Graphic Designer Edition. YOU HAVE TO READ THESE! My favorite would be "Yo mam so poor, she pirates from Dafont." Ha! (via welikethat.de)

We're going to keep it going with these infographic-esque designs. This next one pits geeks vs. hipsters. (Via Visual.ly) Click on it to blow it up.

This last thing is my favorite. If you've seen the background on the computer you would know why. The Jordan shoe brand is one of the most unique brands of all time. No other athlete or shoe company for that matter has been able to touch what Michael Jordan and his Nike team have built. I do love Jordans. But I don't love every Jordan. I only wear the 3's. They're the black shoes I wear pretty much every day. Here's a visual. And yes, that smell is Kanye molecules filling the air, again, on my blog.

The reason why I only wear the 3's because of one thing: the elephant print. Here's a close up.

Urban beauty at it's finest. The Jordan brand sponsors a few high schools across the country and one high school basketbal team just got extremely fresh.

That's elephant print letters and numbers. I'm not crazy about the typeface, but the texture and look of the elephant print takes me there. 

(via Complex)

Week 6: The week there was no Vox- Response

Ahh, Pop. Mechanic. I have to say, this wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be. I actually had fun with it. Looking at the covers was definitely inspring. Seeing what these designers could do with an illustration was remarkable.

Overall, the interior design was underwhelming. Maybe it was the 150 pages of ads to sift through. I'm going to check out Popular Mechanics this weekend when I go for my weekly B&N trip. Sidenote:This weekend I'm going to quiz my former editor at Vox that's now at Pop. Mech. about some of the mag's history to see what he's made of.

Also, props to LeeAnn for 35-minute Ladies Home Journal presentation.

Week 6: The week there was no Vox- Critique

Before I go into this critique I guess I should preface you all about RESPECT. Magazine. It's a national hip-hop magazine based in New York City, and I interned there last summer. They liked me, so I was able to stay on remotely since I left for school back in August. Since then, I have turned into the website's unofficial feature designer. When we are able to get original photographs or courtesy art for bigger interviews, I try to design something that puts that RESPECT. stamp of approval on it. I pitched the idea of doing weekly web covers for the bigger features this week and the editors liked the idea "originally."

For reference, here's some previous RESPECT. print covers. RESPECT.'s design steez is definitely clean. I believe we use three fonts for the entire magazine. For a hip-hop magazine, it's probably one of the most conservative design-wise. The Tyler, The Creator cover was a collector's cover so that's why there are no sell lines.

Here's the web cover prototype I sent.

It still the print feel, but I tagged it as a "RESPECT-MAG.COM COVER." I loved it, naturally. The feedback wasn't what I expected, exactly. It looked to much like the magazine and the web cover idea wasn't clear enough. An hour later, I sent this in.

I figured I would cement the online web cover factor with the addition of a second "-mag.com" tag. Also, notice "The Krista" on his head with the logo. My feedback came back, and the powers that be still weren't feeling the magazine feel. As it turns out, we had a miscommunication with the concept. I kept on saying web cover, but the editor was thinking, more or less, a feature image with some type and a logo on it. Alas, I had to settle.

...

Not crazy about it, but compromise is the name of the game.

Prototypes and Bics (Week 5)- You can't miss this

Complex Art has this extremely funny, and sometimes inspiring, reoccuring section online called We Tumblforya. It highlights tumblr pages that focus on something super, super niche. For example, there's this: kanyewithwhitepeople. For this week's post, I'm going to highlight Complex's We Tumblforya: BIC Lighters.

Super simple. super effective. I love when artists incorporate something that's so everyday and mix it with something super fresh and inspiring. It's the little things that count. Tupac flicking some off everything you flick a BIC is just something awesome to think about.

For anybody that still has Lin fever, this has been my favorite so far. 

I'm my opinion, Brooklyn is the most inspiring places on earth, so obviously I love this.

Prototypes and Bics (Week 5)- Response

The prototypes my group presented were all really good. I think the most interesting part of the presentation was seeing however perceived the magazine as. I don't think any of us had a similar feature on any page. I love the diversity.

The diversity helped everyone out. Our editorial team liked something from everyone. My challenge, now, is to translate those likes and needs all into one concise piece of art. I love that challenge, and it was exactly what I was looking for coming into this class.  

I've heard it's a lot more work from previous prototype CD's, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. We have a ton of talent on the team, and the whole concept of the magazine has a lot of potential, especially if they let us push it.

Prototypes and Bics (Week 5)- Critique

Last week I presented my prototype rough draft. Rough is an understatement.

Clearly not my best offering. There's no drive, no love and no direction. I'm glad I got that one out of my system. If anything, showing this in front of everybody and hearing them critique something I know I could have done something 10x better made me realize I should hold take more pride in whatever I put out. With that thought mulling around my mind the entire week and weekend, I created this...

With the cover, I wanted to go for an atypical food magazine look. The logo takes on a very modern, fashionable look, but, still, the first thing you notice in eat. I kept the time element with the eye, but it's pretty slick, so some might just overlook it. I quieted the "now" too. I love the softness of it. I love playing with typography so I decided to go for it on a food cover. It's not really common for food mags to do typography stuff on covers it goes with the logo being left field a bit.  The cropped burger is uncommon too. I think that meat looks great. Ha!

Sticking with the left field theme, I decided to give the editorial side of my group something to think about. Both these stories sell themselves in a different way. The top spread has a science, deeper-than-recipes feel and look it. The bottom spread has a men's consumer mag feel to it while keeping with the environment photo essence too.

Overall, I am much more excited about showing my second drafts. I'm also glad to say my second design  earned me the Creative Director title for my group. This will be a fun and excited experience, and my other talented and creative designers will make my life easier as a CD.