Hot FLASH

If you have dabbled in Flash at all, you'll loved this:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/34244097/

My excuse for not attending class on Saturday, April 7

Apologies, Aiden deserves better press.
No full-face shot has surfaced that doesn't include a pacifier or inappropriate parts of anatomy. By the way, this may not be a definition but it certainly is an illustration of joy. Also, Mary didn't think about what he'd be like as an old man, but she did say she thought about what he'll look like in three years, in overalls asking for a cookie.

An example of Definition?

Cooking up “architectonics”
THE HIGHFALUTIN’ TERM for “the form and the shape of the thing” in nonfiction writing is architectonics, which Norman Simms, in his anthology The Literary Journalists, defines as “the structural design that gives order, balance and unity to a work, the element of form that relates the parts to each other and to the whole.”
Jon Franklin, the first writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, likens the architectonic part for the writing process to getting ready to climb a mountain. “Structuring is the art of planning and analysis, of hiring Sherpas, accumulating equipment and buying tickets,” he says in Writing for Story. “It is the antithesis of dream, as unartful as anything the writer does. Yet it is absolutely necessary to his survival.”
Another Pulitzer Prize winner, Richard Rhodes, has observed, in The Literary Journalists, “The kind of architectonic structures that you have to build, that nobody ever teaches or talks about, are crucial to writing and have little to do with verbal abilities. They have to do with pattern ability and administrative abilities—generalship, if you will. Writers don’t talk about it much, unfortunately.”
Seeing, sorting, seeking threads—these are the skills that architectonics demands. In building structures, the nonfiction writer must both separate his materials and find commonalities among seemingly disparate elements.
Though comparisons to architecture and even military strategy are more colorful, it’s maybe easiest to understand architectonics by thing of cooking. I like to cook, particularly spicy Cajun dishes that flirt with inedibility, and I think cooking appeals to me in part because it’s like writing. First you assemble the ingredients—onion, chicken breasts, and so on—just as when you write an article you must first gather all your research. But you wouldn’t just dump all the onions or all the chicken you’ve got in the kitchen into your pot any more than you’d put every quote in your notebook into an article. No, the cooking begins with selection: so much onion, this many chicken breasts, just enough cayenne pepper. And you don’t add all the ingredients to the stew all at once. In making a good gumbo, for example, there’s an order to every ingredient: Some of the onions go into the hot, penny-colored roux right away; others are added later, to preserve more of their individual onion identity. Finally, there’s a certain style in how the dish is served. You don’t just holler “Come and get it!” and slop the stuff into the first dish, bowl or coffee mug that’s at hand. With gumbo, you mound a cupful of rice and then carefully ladle the stew on top and all around. With an article, you try to serve up a pleasing presentation that will entice the reader to take that all-important first bite.
Sounds delicious, you’re probably saying, but what’s it have to do with structure? Seems as though by the time it’s served, the onions and chicken and such are all just gumbo, and the diner seeking structure would have about as much luck as hunting polar bear in a bayou. That’s the point precisely, of course: to blend the ingredients so skillfully into a larger whole that collectively they become something more delectable than a teaspoon of this or a cup of that. You don’t want the reader to see the structure any more than the chef wants the diner back in his kitchen. The process is organized and highly disciplined; the product is pure gumbo.

Fryxell, David A. Structure and Flow. Cincinnati, Ohio:
Writer’s Digest Books, 1996. 6-7.

New JibJab Cartoon

There's a new JibJab cartoon, What We Call the News. The cartoons are so funny and they make their point. I'm impressed by the still animation. I wish I could do that and I wish I was capable of that pithy commentary.

My Inspiration

My daughter Mary was the inspiration for choosing maternity jeans for the Description brochure. I snapped this picture a couple of weeks ago at her shower.

She is due today and she just called after her doctor's visit. Aiden isn't ready for his debut, maybe in a week or so.

Recently, Mary grumbled to her girlfriend Amy that she felt practically planetary. Amy offered to drop small objects in Mary's vicinity to see if they would begin to orbit.

I don't think my sense of humor was nearly this developed when I was her age.

Analysis: Description. Ah Maternity Jeans

A roll fold with five panels seemed like a good solution to showcase maternity jeans. It introduced, and progressed images and copy supporting the notion that maternity pants can fit well, be attractive and comfortable throughout a pregnancy and afterwards. The goal was to keep the images, copy and type very clear and clean, but pretty.

In the first iteration, some of the wording was too blunt. The challenge was figuring out how to deliver a clear message softly. The design of the jeans addressed the needs of the audience—women who are interested in looking good during their pregnancies but to whom comfort is a real issue. I wrote the copy to educate women in their first pregnancies about how their shapes change and to inform women who are in a second or later pregnancies about the particular discomforts the design of the jeans relieves.

The rounded logo was created to look as if it just took a breath and there was room to do so comfortably. A sans serif font, Myriad Pro, supported the simplicity of the design and looked good with the logo. The illustrations, created to support the copy, show a woman progressing through her pregnancy wearing Ah jeans, showcasing the three items making them comfortable: The soft band (in the primary illustrations), the adjustable tabs and the bit of elastic in the front seam (in the little circles).

A split complement seemed like a natural color choice for this mailer. Washed denim blue was the obvious first choice with soft rose and gold colors completing the palette.

I worry that the flier might appear too simple. It meets the assignment, solving the challenges: don’t use a standard brochure format, describe the product to the target audience. I could have created a more sophisticated design, but I think this design would be very effective.

Compare and contrast analysis for articles on real estate fraud written for Vanity Fair and Esquire.

Target audience for Vanity Fair is 39.8 years old with a median household income of $67,626.00. 30.6% are professionals or in management. 37.6% graduated from college. 77% are women, 23% are men. Esquire’s media kit states that it is a magazine for men about men’s interests and passions. The target audience for Esquire is 44.3 years old with a median household income of $59,713.00. 60.5% are professionals or in management, 33.8% graduated from college. 63.2% are men, 36.8% are women.

Vanity Fair is personality driven, focused on human interest. Esquire is about getting the job done and doing it correctly. Esquire writers spend a lot of time defining what “correct” is but Esquire is frequently playful and tongue-in-cheek. Vanity Fair writers are more serious. Both write to an informed audience.

In the Vanity Fair article, focus remained on human tragedy and the blindness of greed. The bad guys preyed upon people unused to confidence games, duping them out of their savings. The article is sympathetic to the victims but the final paragraph suggests a little homework and a lot less trust might have saved the victims much unhappiness. The article was written to a group with a solid liberal arts education. Words such as debacle and esoteric seemed appropriate. Esquire readers are more proactive. The Esquire article did not focus on any individual, rather, scenarios illustrating typical real estate scams were delineated. A sidebar listed ten tips for avoiding real estate fraud, a typical device in Esquire.

Vanity Fair’s layout is open, with lots of white space, captions are in distinctive red boxes with drop shadows. Type is set gracefully with plenty of leading. In my final design, I decided to leave the red boxes out. Only the standing head got a red box. The pull quote was in type only slightly smaller than the headline. and there was one image for the headline and one on the second page. The article was very tightly gridded. Approximating the Vanity Fair fonts, I used Futura for the captions, Bodoni BE for the headline and Garamond Premier Pro for the body copy.

Esquire was also on a very tight grid. Because of the lines used in the layout, the grid is quite a bit more evident. The colors are a progression from black to red signifying money loss. [This was an Amy suggestion and I really liked it, thank you.] I chose an urban chic color scheme also influenced by the prominent colors in the photos and limited the color pallet to four colors. Running the headline and the deck at a negative leading ratio is one of the devices used frequently in the magazine. I approximated the type using Caslon for the headline and Bodoni for the body. All sans serif type is Helvetical Neue.

The final was a struggle. It was fairly easy defining the styles of the two magazines and following their formats. Finding my own voice while respecting their design proved quite a bit more challenging.

Call to Action Show & Tell

Gardasil ad. Essence Magazine, Feb 2007. Page 112.

Ad copy. GARDASIL is for girls and young women ages 9 to 26. This vaccine is part of your daughter’s recommended vaccination schedule, but only her doctor can decide if GARDASIL is right for her. Ask your daughter’s doctor or healthcare professional about getting her vaccinated with GARDASIL. She could become one less life affected by cervical cancer.

As I recall, Stephanie said that a good call to action ad focuses on either the cause or the effect, but not both. I must say the headline is just oblique enough to intrigue me—no mention of HPV here, although a body part is mentioned [If I were part of this demographic would I be intrigued or offended? Hm]. No mention of the method of transmission anywhere—headline or copy. So, I guess cause isn’t mentioned, is it?

I was arrested by the type—a slightly eroded, condensed, bold sans-serif. Did the designer mean to suggest ‘hands-on’ or ‘embattlement’ or did the designer just like the typeface? The colors are slightly neutralized—magenta and deep brown. [Not the rose and black that it translated into when I scanned it]. They are part of the GARDASIL logo mark, is that why they were chosen? I don’t think they are attractive. When I look at them I think of skin and blood. Is this just me? This ad doen’t look like the "One Less" campaign, where else is this ad running? Perhaps the existing ad campaign isn’t working here?

Is this an effective ad? I read it completely and I’ve thought about what it says. Perhaps I read it because I have a daughter who is in the age range. I’m not certain that I would have read it if I hadn’t had a point of common interest.
http://evilslutopia.blogspot.com/2007/01/gardasil.html This blog ponders the issue [rather than the typeface and page design] more thoroughly if you have a personal interest and want information.

Description show & tell

Timberlane Shutters ad. Garden Design, March 2007. Page 32.

The ad describes the durable materials, classic workmanship and “historically authentic design” used in constructing these shutters. They are fully functional, able to be opened and closed. We are told that either way, they are so attractive that people are going to stare.
The designer used Garamond in various forms throughout and everything is formally balanced, reinforcing the notions of good style and permanence.

Ad copy: Although it's always pleasing to be the subject of unbridled envy, one can stand only so much fawning adoration. But honestly, don’t blame your captivated audience. When passers-by catch a glimpse of your solid cedar, custom handcrafted shutters from the Timberlane collection, naturally they’ll be dazzled by the precision of the woodworking. The historically authentic designs. The copper capping that crowns and protects the wood. And the handsome period hardware hand-forged by local blacksmiths. Why, admirers might even be tempted to gape and dawdle in front of your abode. In which case, you may enjoy a brief respite by drawing your fully functional Timberlane shutters closed. But whether you decide to flaunt your shutters or discreetly deflect attention, please be forewarned they will be an unmistakable sign of your exceptional good taste and high standards for generations to come. If you’re okay with the resultant acclaim, call for a Timberlane catalog today.

I have a problem with the language in this ad. There is a Harlequin Romance flavor to the copy that cheapens it. I don't have enough writing experience to express this well, but it changes the audience from a group that would invest in quality goods to gauche, nouveau riche wishing to flash all of their newly acquired bling. I think the word 'okay' is part of the problem, it doesn't fit with the established language. Also, the spiel about leaving the shutters open or closing them isn't right. The viewers' ability to see inside the house would change, not the view of the shutters. The only difference regarding the shutters is what side of them is on view, they would still reveal the same amount of themselves. I don't think that is what the writer was trying to say.

The art choice and placement, the color choices and type choices all say old money, the copy says the ink is still wet on the Grants used to buy the shutters that will be installed on the shiny new McMansion. With all that, the author makes the point that this is a good buy. The shutters are well constructed even if some of the language of the ad is not to my liking.

Classification Example

Garden Design, March issue. Pages 51 – 65. the way hot 100. Categories include Annuals, Perennials, Grassy Plants, Shrubs. Each page also includes a sidebar named Hot Box where certain plant categories are highlighted. For example, in antique shades page 57, Calibrachoa is described as having “Earthy tones on small, petunia-like flowers—rosy central stars with vanilla edges on Callie Rose Star; delicate purple veining over a yellow background on Callie Purple Sunrise.”

Favorite words

nouns, definitely nouns…
Bandersnatch
kugle
Mariachi
tchotchke
orifice
halitosis
serendipity
Snooky
Monkeyboy
curmudgeon
stratosphere
heliotrope
aubergine
emerald
cumulonimbus
Kali
Kalahari

verb!
obfuscate

Uh...
cool
kluge
freak

Adjectives
Grandiose
global
omnipresent

Often used as expletives
Schwing
cool
freaking

Peter Max

Peter Max lives!
Here's a version of his signature cartouch and his Love poster.
Max has created a cover for the New York telephone book, painted a jet for Continental and created a stamp for the USPS. He’s done numerous portraits [including Bill Clinton], and has painted several likenesses of the Statue of Liberty. There's more and you've seen them, not knowing they were works by him.
Max has an online presence at http://www.petermax.com/ Go see.
There’s also an excellent book of his work by Charles A Riley II, the art of peter max ISBN 10:0-8109-3270-9.

Type Casting

I recalled this book cover design in Timothy Samara’s Typography Workbook. The design is attributed to Stephen Doyle of Doyle Partners but I think the type is Stefan Sagmeister’s work. The bookcover is for The Druid King, a novel by Norman Spinrad. The type is formed from twigs and acorns.

Check out Sagmeister’s website, http://sagmeister.com/, he has some unusual ways with type. In one ad, he used disposable coffee cups to form type. Some are empty and upside-down, others are filled with coffee-with and without cream. Another—Work 5—he used his own body as a canvas. He was scheduled to speak in Chicago on the painful process of design. He had his intern Martin carve the event particulars into his skin with a scalpel, photographed the result and used enlargements as event posters.

Compare and Contrast

Hanes Barely There Ad. People Magazine, 2 Apr. Page 17.

I love this ad. I wasn't going to buy this issue, I was just looking through it because I was in the shortest line in the grocery store and I still waited over fifteen minutes to buy my stuff. I got to this ad, and burst out laughing.

Ad copy: Our new spring invisible Look(TM) bras are here.
No bulges. No bunches. No funny shapes under your clothes.
BARELYTHERE.COM

There is parallel structure and the images and writing really support the topic.
Color is used to advantage [peppers are sometimes sold in three-packs: one green pepper, one orange/yellow pepper/one red pepper...they're called stoplight peppers].

Shooting Honey

I was reading the Edward Hirsch poem on Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad in McQuade and McQuade when Honey leaped to the bookcase and began to lunch on the tulip leaves [again]. Windowlight ignited lush amber fur and turned tattered flowers to amethysts and emeralds.
The snarl of protest rising in my throat died. I reached for my camera and softly called to her, snapping the picture just as she turned her head.



Completely new experiences can be frightening. Once, when I was staring at a blank piece of hotpress paper in a watercolor studio class, my instructor Ann Iott, ambled past and left a divot of black charcoal in the upper right-hand corner of my paper. After I got over being angry [1.5 seconds] I managed to fumble through the first assignment. Operating under the assumption that anything is better than nothing, I submit this photo and a bit of purplish prose having nothing to do with the first assignment.