John Binagatan: Student Designer

AIGA Design Archives

The AIGA Design Archives are great collections of different designs from designers throughout the years. Below are lists of designers that I had met, and people I have heard of.

People I Have Met
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v45/236/45/40007132/n40007132_30895690_3800.jpg
Rick Valicenti
I met Rick Valicenti at the SEEK conference in Chicago in 2006. He has 15 projects in the archives, and one of them is the Lecture Poster that he designed to encourage people to participate his lecture. He said that he decided to seduce the design community with purposeful eye candy in a Miami-like color palette. He added that it must have worked because the seats were filled.

Linda Powell
http://designarchives.aiga.org/entry.cfm/eid_8096
Linda worked as a designer for Herman Miller. Now, she is a professor at Ferris State University, where I attend. Recently, she was on a sabbatical at Herman Miller, and she showed us some of the projects she was involved in. It was really nice to see some of her designs. One of the things, I saw in the archives was the Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster.

Barbara Loveland
http://designarchives.aiga.org/entry.cfm/eid_6206
I had the great opportunity to work with Barbara Loveland for one of my projects this year. Barb also worked at Herman Miller and was a graphic design professor at Ferris State University.

Alison Popp
http://designarchives.aiga.org/entry.cfm/eid_1177
Alison is also a design professor at Ferris and got me interested in web design. She used to work for BBK Studio, which is now known as People Design in Grand Rapids. Her work in the Herman Miller website as an Art Director can be viewed in the archives.

People I Have Heard Of

David Carson
http://designarchives.aiga.org/img/media/15939_m.jpg
He was best known for his innovative magazine design and use of experimental typography. He is also known for his grunge style that most of his type are not legible. One of his project that can be seen in the AIGA archives is his work on Ray Gun. He was the art director for this magazine.

Kevin Budelman
He worked with Alison Popp for Herman Miller’s website, and he also worked for (BBK Studio) now known as People Design, and Square One Design. Most of his works in the archives are promotional design and advertising, and information design.

Tim Bruce
Tim is an art director for Lowercase Inc. in Chicago. I heard of him during one of AIGA meeting at Ferris, when one of the students recommended him as one of the speakers for an upcoming Speaker series at Ferris. The archives showcase is works that ranges from packaging design, typography, corporate communications, book design and editorial design.

Deb Sussman
Deborah is well known for her environmental graphic designs. She did the graphic identity for the City of Santa Monica, Disney World Freeway Sign, Cleveland Cavaliers/Gund Arena, and the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad to name a few.

Linda @ Herman Miller

Last week, Linda presented some of the projects she worked on during her sabbatical at Herman Miller. She showed us the holiday card, and investing in the Herman Miller logo project.

First thing she showed was the holiday card. She had to design the card in a way that everyone can relate to, and had a low budget. She started with a long list of words about the holidays. Then, she started designing in the computer. She had the words start from the top and drizzle down the bottom, while highlighting the letters p, e, a, c, e. At the bottom, the word PEACE is in bold red. She did some color explorations, and I liked the white background, gray and red text the best. From there, she showed it to the people and they all liked it. The writer from Herman Miller suggested to show Peace in different languages. The first thing I did was look for my language, but it didn’t mean peace. It meant long live, hello, welcome, or greetings. After that it evolved into phrases, and still calling out the letters in the word peace. In the back of the card, she had a bright red to complete the design. I was very intrigued about her process of getting the holiday card done.

The next thing she showed us was her presentation of “Invest in the Mark.” In the presentation, she had many different ways of showing the Herman Miller logo. She did the whole thing, from brochures to websites, and to environmental graphics. It was a really exciting to see all of her works.

GRAM: Richard Avedon

Also at the GRAM on Friday was an exhibit of Richard Avedon’s work titled Larger than Life. The exhibit is open from October 3, 2008 - January 4, 2009.

Richard Avedon is a famous American photographer. His career started from the postwar years of the late 1940s in Europe to the early 21st century. He mostly shot portraits of actors, artists, writers, politicians, and intellectuals. He transformed his models from posed mannequins to actresses.

The first thing that I saw in the exhibit was his series of older people kissing. All of the photographs were in black and white. He has larger than life photographs of Presidents, The Beatles, famous painters and sculptors, Louis Armstrong, etc. He also have portraits of Napalm victims in Vietnam.

Richard Avedon died in 2004 while shooting in San Antonio, Texas for the New Yorker Magazine. His photographs shows different emotions. From the disastrous life of the Napalm victims to the regal portraits of presidents.

The photos were simple and I really like the range of emotions I saw in them. As a graphic designer, I could use his photography technique in one of my projects.

GRAM: LEED Gold Certified

On Friday, November 21, some students of the Graphic Design senior class and Trevor, a junior went to Grand Rapids to visit the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM). The GRAM is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certified. Newsweek’s architectural critic also cited GRAM as one of the world’s six best new buildings of 2007. When we walked in the building, the people were very nice. Since we had more than ten people in the group, they gave us a discount and let us pay for only $6.00 instead of $8.00. Then, I got a brochure about why GRAM is LEED Gold Certified. Here is what it says:

Natural light + energy saving features. Lets in natural light through large windows without harming the art.
Green Housekeeping and strict recycling program.
Eco-friendly entrance. Large front portico (140 feet wide and 120 feet deep). It gives protection during harsh winter and shade in the summer.
Small building footprint. Leaving parts of the land for park, courtyards, and water features.
Natural water recycling. Rain and snow water is stored and recycled for toilets, plant irrigation, pool and water wall.
Energy-saving construction. Efficient insulation for solid concrete walls and glass walls.
Energy-saving skylights tailored to light levels for art. Natural light enters through tripled-layered glass with ultraviolet protection and adjustable louvers to provide suitable light for the art.
Safe and energy-efficient indoor air quality control. Carbon dioxide monitoring, low-emitting materials and strict chemical/pollutant control.
Certified wood flooring. White Oak planks used in the gallery come from sustainably harvested forests in the Northwest.
Local Materials. The concrete is made from cement, sand and stone from sources near Lake Michigan.
Use of recycled and recyclable materials. Insulation materials made from recycled paper and fiber. Recyclable carpeting made from digestable corn-based plastic.
Public transportation friendly. Bicycle racks and staff showers in the building.
Water-efficient landscape design.
Educate and inform the public about green building and environment.
Regeneration of underdeveloped urban site.
Innovative Air-conditioning system. Uses three 12-foot diameter energy wheels to bring in fresh air.

The building was beautifully designed and I was really amazed at all the earth friendly, art friendly and innovative designs it took to build the museum. To all aspiring designers, architects, engineers, and others that wants to make a difference in the environment, I would recommend touring the Grand Rapids Art Museum for inspiration.