Cornish BFA show

So this afternoon I headed to the Cornish BFA show downtown and I was quite surprised by what I saw. I knew that Cornish had a very different design aesthetic- one that was more illustration based- but it also appeared as though their general educational focus was quite different than the UW Design program. There were soo many different kinds of projects it was a bit overwhelming. Some of them were very thorough and polished while others seemed a bit open-ended and incomplete. I almost wish they had each included a sample portfolio so you could have the opportunity to get a feel for all they're involved in- which some of them actually did, and it really helped to illustrate where their general interests lie. There were a couple projects that seemed almost design studies oriented which was nice to see, and a few projects that were very image methodology based. 

As for how the show was arranged- there were a few things that I really liked about how they dealt with each student's work. The show had very clean and simple take-away booklets with a small profile picture of each student and an image that represented their interests or work with was nice to carry with you through the show and reference when you came across their final project. Also, each student got their own section in the show. Either part of a wall or half a cubicle. I thought that was a nice touch because it allowed them to spread their work out, gave them move space to meet and greet guests, and allowed them to determine their own display style and have their business cards on display for whoever might be interested. 

Overall, it was really nice to have a brief look into what another school has been doing, and what their students have to offer in the field. It was interesting to see just how different our education has been- not necessarily better, but definitely different. Just another reason why I love design soo much- there are soo many different flavors and personalities involved.

Now on another note- this week I'm trying to concentrate on nailing down a grid and feel for my book. I want my cover fairly solid so that I have something clean to turn in on Wednesday for the judges. Monday morning hopefully I'll be coming in with an a nice selection of options for everyone to look at. 

So far this week I've been continuing on my journey of writing my copy for the 

my book, and I've been looking into various pre-existing design books for ideas on what I want my look and feel to be. I think right now building my layout has become my largest worry. Since I have such varying information and imagery, coming up with a book that looks clean, functional, and yet interesting is giving me an ulcer. But, I've found a few books that look promising- a couple from the library and a couple off Amazon. Right now I'm looking at Kristen Cullen's Layout Workbook. It seems to have a nice balance of text and image use in a fairly clean way soo I'm trying to pick up her style- via osmosis. Fingers crossed.  Aside from that my personal goal for this week is to get into the photo lab and take quality photographs for my portfolio work. I keep putting it off because some of my work is at my home in Mukilteo but I'm having my parents bring it all down this Saturday before we go to our concert.

On another note- I went to the offset printing talk the other day. It was a flashback to having Doug W. as a teacher. It all sounded interesting and overwhelming at the same time. I feel like its almost impossible to fully grasp the professional printing practice without actually going to see one. I need to see a press. You can go on all day about duo-tone, monotone etc but I don't think I'll fully understand how the process works until I see it for myself- and I find it a bit frustrating that I'm graduating in a little over a month and I know so little about the process. It seriously seems like something any designer should know because from what the guy was saying- the actual design must be put together with printing in consideration. I would hate to go through the whole design process and then discover that I used weird layering or colors that cant be matched. Maybe its just one of those things you learn once you're in the field...I dunno.