Author Archives: s.chen2

Design Sample – Susan Chen

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The design of these containers found right in front of the Flatiron is what  would say a more successful way of informing people on how to dispose their trash. Rather than having the typical green and blue bins (which indicate which type to material to throw out), these bins actually label the bins in a very loud and simplistic way. I enjoy the sideways rotation of the type as well as the contrasting colors that go very well together. Although the type is not most extravagant type out there, it serves its purpose successfully by getting to the point.

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The first thing that caught my eye is the vibrant colors and the levels of texture of the poster. The type is successful because it is embedded in a blue background that contrasts itself from the rest of the brightly colored foods. Putting “FEED” on top of “YOUR” is a nice touch to maximize space.  Like the previous image, this type is basic but gets their message across nicely.

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I chose this advertisement while sitting on the subway. The type on this ad is very vintage but at the same time cryptic. I would like to add that that serifs of this type is very pointy which parallels the sharp teeth on the image behind it. The type was successful in putting out their message because when I first took a glance at it, I instantly imagined vampires and fangs in relations to the red on black color scheme and sharp edges of the serifs.

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I know that pixelation nowadays does not have the biggest fan group but for this poster in particular, pixelation suits it very well. You can see the sky in the image to be very pixelated and lacks a smoother color transition. The type is in a form that used to be found on video game displays. The image also is very boxy and lacks curvature. Surrounding the theme of a digital video game, this type and image that went with it are successful in obviously pointing out its message.

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I personally love late night talk shows so it was not a surprise that this ad for the Jimmy Kimmel Live talk show caught my eye. Taking a closer look at the type, the Ms in ‘Jimmy’ and ‘Kimmel’ uses the picture of the Brooklyn Bridge. I thought that added a nice and comical touch to the message that he is coming back to his hometown in Brooklyn. I definitely get a New York vibe from this ad with the rustic burgundy and vintage beige coloring of the background and type.

Screen Shot 2015-10-24 at 11.27.26 PMThis bus stop advertisement for New York City says “The only thing standing between you and the meal of a lifetime is a bridge.” Not only is the type all capitalized, but this poster uses only one kind of typeface throughout the poster (ignoring the bottom citations). The typeface doesn’t just sit vertical. You can see it being used as a slice of meat for the Brooklyn burger, a mug logo in the Bronx, as a fortune cookie message in Manhattan, and so on. The designer of this poster perfected placing the texts on the poster without overwhelming it with letters.

Illustrated Quote – Susan Chen

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When I first saw the quote ” Someday is NOT a day of the week,” I first thought about travel. When people say that they are going to this country one day or that country for vacation, they never say the exact date or time. This quote is motivational because it pushes people in committing to their desires by setting a date rather than putting it off to worry about later on. With the theme of travel, I decided to go with the idea of a person getting a letter with the quote from someone traveling all over the world. I chose the typeface Baskerville in italics because of all the options I was given, this looked the most handwritten. The other fonts seemed inappropriate to my vintage letter scheme of project. I slanted the text to align the words parallel to the edges of the letter so that the text looks like it belongs on the sheet of paper rather than flowing around. All the envelopes are beige or brown, giving the overall image an antique, vintage feel to it. I’ve been told that the image could also relate to pursuing a relationship with someone. To avoid confusion, I made my message more direct by inserting a postage stamp of an airplane flying over the word ‘travel.’ I learned through this project is that detail is everything. I first needed a solid mental image of what I would like to create. If I was just given a blank document and have been told to create something, I would have just sat there for hours contemplating random ideas. Preparation is key, as well as patience.

Expressive Words – Susan Chen

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Throughout all 25 designs, I realized that I caught myself leaning towards creating images that are symmetrical, or somewhat balanced. Maybe it’s because I am playing it safe but as my personal preference, I do not like images that are too scrambled and not uniform. I know the assignment was to put some variety into each word and into each letter such as changing the size and capitalization but I didn’t have the heart to go to that extreme. But then again, I experimented and did the wacky. For example, for the word Quiet, I set the word into an image of a clock because when I think of the word quiet, I find myself picturing me, the night before school, yelling at my brothers for making too much noise and shouting at them, QUIET do you know what time it is?

I used all four versions of Helvetica and decided that the one I would use the most is the regular, classic one. I learned that coming up with new ideas without repeating myself is very hard when you are just given a blank sheet of paper. I think it’s because I didn’t have a vision or spark in the project that really got me driven to think outside of the box. It took me a while to think of ideas for each word. Some I am proud of, some not so much. I am used to being told what to create and how designs should look. But after this project, I found it a bit of a challenge since I was given all the freedom to manipulate the words in whatever style I like under my command. It was also challenging to convert my PC ways of technology into learning the ways of a Mac. Same with using InDesign. This is the first time I am using this software. Struggling with using a mac and using a new program did cause some stress from me but I know that with time, everything will become second nature and the designs will come more fluidly to me.

Trace Your Name – Susan Chen

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For my Trace Your Name project, I chose the typeface Baskerville. I chose this because I personally like fonts that is not too tall not too wide. Baskerville caught my attention with its balanced shape; the others seemed a bit too skewed or disproportionate in thickness and in overall appearance. I noticed that Baskerville differentiates the thickness of the lines in the letter. Tracing the first half my name SUSAN was more difficult than the second half. Drawing SUS took some more focus in the curvature and gradual shift in thickness of the curves, especially the S. The most trouble I had was drawing the thinnest curves and serifs that thickened out of the thin curves of the S. The easiest part of my name would be the AN. I have some background in drawing straight lines and noticing when lines are not perfectly straight.

My next words were “THE SAVAGE.” This took less time because I was allowed to trace/ mimic the worksheet. Tracing was easy with a steady hand. The issue was determining the  correct spacing between each letter, especially in the AVA. My technique was to draw the outline of the letters and then step back from the sheet and analyze the spacing. If my eye feels little big awkward at the sight, it means to start over.

I learned that typefaces are very strict on structure and the slightest detail. One wrong stroke and the whole letter is off and unappealing. I’ve also learned that the serifs, although very tedious to draw, is essential in stabilizing existence of the letter. Without the serifs, my name would have floated off into a 120 degree rather than the preferred 180 degree.

I am old fashion, meaning that I will voluntarily choose to draw by hand than draw with a trackpad on a laptop. Tracing and erasing brought back memories from high school and it felt great to relive the same passion again.

What is Graphic Design? -Susan Chen

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At first I first perceived graphic design as the mere act of creating content but after reading this article, I now believe graphic design is more than typing letters on a page. It’s an interactive experiment, full of changes, rejections and precision to detail. It came to me as a surprise the fact that typography has been around for centuries ever since the development of language, as an outlet for distributing information. I never realized how old it was until it sunk in. Found on product packaging, posters, magazines, newspapers, webpages and much more, graphic design is inescapable in the world we live in, which gives me comfort to know that there will be some sort of opportunity out there for me as I declare this as my major. What stuck out to me was how relevant graphic design and typography affects the behavior of consumers. We live in a technologically advanced generation that relies heavily on quality of display and dramatic visualizations. Signage, logos, advertisements, packaging and webpage layout and color scheme can gravitate viewers and grab their attentions, whether it is just to send out a message or to convince them to purchase a product/service.

If I had one question to ask the author it would be, does graphic designs all have to be purely digital? I preferably enjoy hand drawn, hand crafted projects over adjusting images through a computer mouse digitally. I don’t know if it is just me but the fact that my ideas flow out of my brain, down into my hand then straight into a pencil gives me great satisfaction. Let me elaborate. Back in high school, I was in Architecture, technical drawing to be exact, and I hand drew the houses, floor plans and the New York skyline with just a wooden board, white paper, a t-square and a couple of pencils and rulers. Physically drawing with a pencil seems to now be a lost art form as we transition to the digital age, which is one of my biggest fear: something that I love so much has become outdated and obsolete.