04 Jul 2011 - Gandhali Intern
Hello there!
Gandhali here, reporting from the Frontend bunker! I'm currently a third-year student studying the Bachelor of Graphic Design from AUT.
A little bit about me. Design challenges me in a positive way, and I love thinking up ideas and creative solutions to a problem. My favourite aspect of design would be layout design, and working with type. I find inspiration from Victorian typography and design. Jessica Hische is my hero.
Apart from designing, I also enjoy craft, the Lord of the Rings, and writing my blog, where I record snippets and things that I find charming, and design work and artists that inspire me.
I am really looking forward to learning and absorbing as much as I can from the Frontend team. I'm normally found working holed up, alone. But I've already found that being a part of a professional design team is very inspiring. Still being at university, I don't really know how the real design world works, so I'm also excited to find out and learn more about that!
Gandhali
My time at Frontend is coming to an end today so I thought I would share a few things I have learnt and experienced firsthand...
Every pixel counts. I was given the opportunity to learn from the pro's and watched Dan and Simon work on an typography based website. For nearly an hour I watched them move around these few words, pixel by pixel, in various combination's. This may sound pedantic but it honestly made the biggest difference and proved that even the smallest pixel matters!
The design process. I was involved from the very early stages designing an iPhone app. I drew with pencil on paper, progressed to tablet drawing (a new experience!), refined in illustrator, presented to my co-workers, then developed and refined some more. It is a long and time consuming process but the design has definitely improved a lot from the beginning.
An example of the progress from a tablet drawn button to a more refined button. Who knows where it will go from here?!
Sharing. I have found asking for others opinions very worthwhile. Having a fresh pair of eyes looking over a design can bring the inspiration back.
I would like to thank the Frontend team for your support and giving me the opportunity to work alongside you the past two weeks. It has been a very worthwhile experience and I urge designers-in-training to give work experience a go before heading out into the real world!
Sarah
Every thursday afternoon the Frontend team get together for an "Inspirational" show-and-tell. Everyone searches the internet for a few well designed websites that fit under a predetermined theme.
Last weeks theme was "single page websites" and this weeks was "one colour". These meetings give everyone the chance to draw their eyes away from the projects they have been intensely working on and helps to refresh the brain and get those creative juices flowing! They serve as a way to keep up-to-date with what is happening in the world of web design. The team actively discusses each website, its pros and cons, and then stores it away for future reference. I attended two of these meetings and found them very engaging and fun!
One page websites
Here are a few examples from the last two meetings…
Think Green
Deka
One colour Websites
Veronika Goldberg
Breakfast
Icon Monstr
Today we've got a special guest post from Sarah, who is one of our 2011 interns at Frontend. Internship gives a realistic perspective of how the industry works and has tremendous benefits for both intern and the company taking them on. We encourage more business' to take on an intern and give back a little bit to those who are eager to learn.
Anyway I proudly present Sarah's guest post.
Hello, Frontend!
Hi there, my name is Sarah and I am a third year student studying for a Bachelor of design at AUT. Frontend has very kindly offered to take me on for two weeks so I can experience the "real" world of design before I graduate. I thought I would share my first day experience with you so you can get an insiders peek into what working at Frontend is like!
In awe with Frontend's high quality portfolio and reputation I've got to admit my first day here was pretty nerve racking! Luckily for me everyone here at Frontend is very down-to-earth and friendly which has helped me feel like part of the team. Just being here I feel like a designer, this may be due to Frontend's very modern "Bunker" which is very spacious with stylish textured walls and a large "f" and "7" freestanding at the entrance (what is more designer than that?!). I have my own massive desk and laptop supplied, coffee in hand…bliss!
On my first day I was put straight to work to create a small advertisement that will be used in one of the websites Frontend is building. I was very excited that I was finally designing something that would be seen on a real website. After many supervised hours, critiques and countless trips backwards and forwards to site builder James (sorry James) I finally came up with a solution. I have always been proud of all the work I produce but to create something for the real world felt very rewarding.
In the little time I have spent here so far I have found working in a team a lot more satisfying and stable than working alone at university. I am learning a lot and looking forward to the rest of my stay.
Sarah
27 May 2011 - Corinne Gibson
I once saw an article in a design magazine, where the designer had made elegant dresses out of digital type - each letter form individually placed to create the whole garment. It was one of the most beautiful design piecess I've ever seen.
That was almost 15 years ago and unfortunately I can't find the article again. There is still plenty of type design work that inspires me though - here's a few of my favs at the moment.
ABChairs
Roeland Otten designed this series of 26 seats based on typographic letter forms. Personal favourites are the "e" and the "s" - though i'd happily have the whole set at home... so we can make words like you do with fridge magnets. Manufactured on request, in limited edition... my favourite type of edition! Check out more at www.roelandotten.com
Hand Embroidered Type
The hand embroidered type of Maricor Maricar are stunning as both final pieces and the complexity of work that goes into building them. Confessing their "unusual obsession with paper and patterns", we're fortunate to see a lot of their output at
maricormaricar.com
Interior Design
I don't know much about the origin of this work, what it was done for, or the artist. The more you look into the details of this structure, the more amazed you'll become by the pieces that make it, and the work as a whole. Every angle works it's own magic. It's a beautiful piece, and very inspiring. The artists profile is on behance, along with some other interesting works.
Profile: FLY_ ART_S
Paris Linocut
6 months of research (including a trip to Paris), design and over 800 hours of carving to finish. Mark Webber took a single 150x180cm piece of linoleum and converted it into this "Where in the World" typographic representation of the city map. Can't wait for these to be printed! Check out his work over at
www.markandrewwebber.com, and while you're there, make sure you check out the 30 second ‘linomation’ as well.
Paper-made type
Something I thought very little of (paper curling) is suddenly transformed into something very innovative and extremely cool with a bit of imagination - have a squiz at Yulia Brodskaya's papergraphic work.
www.artyulia.com, and if you thought that was cool... check out her amazing illustration piece!
Fab-ul-ous!
LOVE the psychadellic type - best seen in all it's glory here by Icelandic born (and now Berlin based) Siggi Eggertsson. Apparently a rejected magazine cover... which is a bit sad, because I think it's amazing. Along with all the other beautiful work on the site... just wow.
Hype! Hype! Hype!
Lastly, I'm a huge fan of a slick logo - and I think DJ Hype has nailed it here. I'm not sure who did it, so can't link you off to any pretty visuals, but can send you to some auditory goodness.
Hype features on Kiss100 on Thursdays around lunch time (NZ time) - tune in.
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