Tag: graphic design

Categories
affiliations brand classes and presentations consulting curriculum vitae Illustration libraries open source portfolio professional activities professional experience research interests teaching teaching experience technology workshops

Free design course tonight at Princeton Public Library

John LeMasney of LeMasney Consulting
John LeMasney of LeMasney Consulting
Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting by lemasney
Do not covet your ideas by lemasney
Bowl of noodles by lemasney
Rocketship by lemasney
Helen Keller quote by lemasney
Project 09 – Motorized Pinwheel in Fritzing by lemasney
Marylin Monroe as Pixel art by lemasney
body sized tablet by lemasney
panda by lemasney

Design Course for the non-designer.

Tonight, at 7 pm in the Technology Center at Princeton Public Library, I will be teaching a design course for free to the public about the basic tenets of graphic design. No registration is necessary. In the class, we will discuss color, typography, layout, shape, format, tools, inspiration and more. The increasing importance of visual literacy for communication in an increasingly visual communication environment means that those who are simply using text, clip-art, and other more common tools are making messages that are getting lost among more visual presentations. Come visit us and let’s fix that.

“This workshop covers the foundations of design principles, key (free) tools for design and illustration, and sources for inspiration to help you create the best visual solution for your particular needs. Learn about color theory, typography, layout and more. Instructor: John LeMasney.  Skill Level: Intermediate” – Graphic Design for Non-Designers | Princeton Public Library –

Categories
brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights open source photography portfolio professional activities professional experience research interests teaching teaching experience technology workshops

40 of 365: Ampersand Greater Than modified typography

Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Today, I decided to use Inkscape to play with type. When you type less than three (<3), you are expressing an emoticon for love, symbolized by a heart. It’s a straightforward, easy-to-use symbol. Two close friends or sweethearts might use it in SMS to express a little love.

Ampersand Greater Than (&>)

Melissa Brisbin and I have used an alternative to less than three to express not only that we are good friends, but that we exchange and share value in technology, libraries, and related interests.  Ampersand greater than (&>) resembles a heart too, but indicates a togetherness, a bond. When we type it to each other, it’s a little reminder of our history. In honor of her birthday yesterday, I decided to work on the ampersand greater than as a typography muse.

I started by going through my font catalog and pulling out all the fonts that had interesting ampersand and greater than symbols.

40 of 365: Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
40 of 365: Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Then I began pulling out the best combinations, angling the symbols, pulling them together into a single flowing shape.

40 of 365: Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
40 of 365: Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Finally, I went back in and tweaked the finest points of the combinations. This was my result: nearly the final set.

40 of 365: Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
40 of 365: Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

And today, I decided to add some color, along with final tweaks to the pieces.

Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Ampersand Greater Than Font Study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Related articles
Categories
affiliations brand classes and presentations consulting curriculum vitae insights instructional technology libraries open source professional activities professional experience publications references research interests teaching teaching experience technology workshops

Resources for Staff Day Training at Woodbridge Public Library

Libraries, the original co-working space cc-by lemasney
Libraries, the original co-working space cc-by lemasney
An important distinction
An important distinction (Photo credit: lemasney)

Today, I’m presenting on behalf of Library Link NJ on the topics of eBook borrowing and the Basics of Graphic Design.

In this session, we are going to look at using Overdrive to borrow eBooks, a very common method in libraries today. We will spend the rest of the time looking at the basics of Graphic Design concepts, like inspiration, font choice, layout and visual branding. The materials that I am distributing are below.

The graphic design presentation is here.

The eBooks handout (Brisbin, Lemasney, 2014) is here.

A complete list of all of my presentation materials is here.  

Categories
brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights portfolio research interests teaching teaching experience technology

31 of 365: Design by Committee design principle

31 of 365 - Design by committee design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
31 of 365 - Design by committee design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
31 of 365 - Design by committee design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
31 of 365 – Design by committee design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

There are times where design is best accomplished by a single, monolithic voice (design by dictator) and other times when it is best done by committee. In cases where stakeholder buy in is not necessary, the design parameters are exceptionally clear, or the scope and timing of the design are narrow, design by dictator may work perfectly. In many other cases however, design is best done by collecting representatives of diverse backgrounds, stakeholder representation, and critical thinking. The design by committee process often takes more time, is often a compromise of many views, and can be frustrating comparative to a single voice, but it often leads to a design that is of higher value to more people. Design by in-group, in which the committee is composed of only like-minded people, can be just as disappointing to a larger audience as design by dictator.

I decided to do an abstract color study illustration of the potential beauty of design by committee, many voices coming together in a reasonable fashion. Meanwhile, I did the design without advice from others. Irony?

Related articles

 

Categories
brand classes and presentations consulting curriculum vitae insights professional activities professional experience references research interests teaching teaching experience workshops

Earlier today: Personal and Organizational branding at Rossmoor Computer Club

Brand is not a logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Brand is not a logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Brand is not a logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Brand is not a logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Today, I had the pleasure of a return visit to Rossmoor, a gated community near Monroe, NJ. In the past I’ve talked about the Chromebook, Social Media, and graphic design at this 55 plus Computer Users Group, but today I talked about something more akin to Psychology or Business meetups than computer groups: Organizational and personal branding. I was a bit worried about how it would be received because I have only given the talk to more brand minded groups, but figured that if I really believe that brand is universal, which I do, that the talk would be appropriate.

It was received very well. The people there talked about their communication methods, their platforms, their keywords, and discovered their brand. We discussed abstraction and concretia in branding, such as the idea of loving as a keyword versus technology as a keyword. We talked about how everyday meetups and conversations are opportunities for branding, and that even though not everyone is familiar with their brand, that everyone has one and that it is beneficial to become familiar with it, shape it, and strengthen it.

Thanks very much to Rossmoor, Paul, and Gano for the kind reception, patient ear, and engaged responses.

The link to my presentation is here:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VR3uWDW0zpbJUrT0YfJtleB4-e7qOnj6Qj-39mIKyok/edit?usp=sharing

 

Related articles

 

Categories
brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights portfolio professional experience research interests teaching experience technology

The design principle of area alignment

8 of 365 - Area alignment design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
8 of 365 - Area alignment design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
8 of 365 - Area alignment design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Area alignment design principle cc-by lemasney.com

The design principle of area alignment says that when you have a series of objects to be aligned that do not have regular shapes, that it is more aesthetically pleasing to centrally align them according to their area and weight than by central alignment of the bounding boxes.

In the illustration I’ve made here, the birds to the left are centrally aligned according to the centers of the bounding boxes, and the birds to the right are centrally aligned according to their area, form, and weight. The area aligned images are more pleasing as a series of aligned objects. These are two different ways of thinking about layout of related objects in a design plane.

“Alignment based on the area of elements versus the edges of elements.  With the advent of professional design and engineering software, elements in a design can be aligned with exacting precision. However, the alignment supported by software is based on the edges of elements — including center alignment, which calculates a center based on the edges. This method works well when elements are relatively uniform and symmetrical, but less well when the elements are nonuniform and asymmetrical. In these latter cases, it is preferable to align based on the visual weight or area of the elements, a technique that must be performed using the designer’s eye and judgment. Using edge alignment when area alignment is called for is one of the …” found in Area Alignment – Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design [Book] at https://goo.gl/exykFB