December 2009 Archives

Student Competition Q&A: December Grads

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Smart Quote #16: What's Your Passion?

I think a good way to figure out your passions is to look at what you do when you're procrastinating from everything else. --Jessica Hische

That quote (and the above art--our little way of saying Happy Holidays) comes from the FAQ page of designer/illustrator/typographer/etc Jessica Hische. If you're a frequenter of design/craft blogs, you've probably seen links to her Daily Drop Cap blog. She's done a ton of other great work, and she's a young'un too! Featured in Print, Communication Arts, STEP and by the Art Director's Club in their Young Guns competition, she's made quite a name for herself despite having graduated only 3 years ago in 2006. Check out her entire FAQ page for some awesome insight into design school, entering the real world and making a name for yourself.

"Smart Quote" is a recurring feature on the SPD Student Blog ... look for more wise words every Monday, or see past ones here. Got an inspiring or motivating quote to share? Email it to us at spdstudentoutreach@gmail.com.

Today's Vocab Lesson Cancelled

In honor of the holidays, there's no vocab class today, dear SPD Student Blog readers! We're not completely shutting down, but blog activity will be sporadic until the New Year when we'll be back in full force with lots more great info and advice and events.

In the meantime, don't forget to mark your calendars for our Job-Hunt event on January 19. And of course don't forget about our Student Competition!

If you're really bored this winter break, check out all our Vocab Lessons so far. And be sure to let us know if there's any terminology that you'd like to see defined and discussed.

Just in Time for the Holidays: Student Competition Entry Forms

All that time off for your winter break sure must get boring, so SPD to the rescue! Think of it as our holiday gift to you: official rules and entry forms for our Student Design Competition are now available here. After all, the March deadline will be here before you know it.

Happy Designing!

Smart Quote #15: Bad Leads to Good

"It's important to take bad pictures. It's the bad ones that have to do with what you've never done before. They can make you recognize something you hadn't seen in a way that will make you recognize it when you see it again."
--Diane Arbus

The same applies to design or anything really. It's all about experimenting, trying to do the same old thing in new ways. That leads to innovation, to discovering something new. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't, but even from the failures, you'll learn something.

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The above quote comes from this 1000 Words Photography blog post, via A Photo Editor.

"Smart Quote" is a recurring feature on the SPD Student Blog ... look for more wise words every Monday, or see past ones here. Got an inspiring or motivating quote to share? Email it to us at spdstudentoutreach@gmail.com.

Save The Date: Job-Hunt Event Jan. 19

Read on for more details.
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Vocab Lesson 14: Cover Lines

If you've been reading any of the media blogs lately, you've probably come across news about the coverlines on Men's Health magazine. The definition of cover lines is probably pretty obvious, but just to make it official...

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Smart Quote #14: DO Stuff

"Therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don't. No one does. You shouldn't be trying to check off the boxes of life; they aren't real and they were created by other people, not you. There is no explicit path I'm following, and I'm not walking in anyone else's footsteps. I'm making it up as I go."
--Charlie Hoehn
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Magazine Covers Today: What Do YOU Think?

If you've been in design and/or advertising classes for a while, you've probably come across George Lois, the master behind those legendary Esquire covers from the '60s and early '70s. He recently spoke with BlackBook about the state of magazine covers today and he had some pretty intense things to say...
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Vocab Lesson 13: Shipping

No, this is not a post on how to get your holiday gifts to their recipients on time. And it's not even about the process of magazines being shipped out to their subscribers. Shipping in magazine-speak is why your magazine friends can't do dinner this week ... it's deadline time!


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Attention NYCers: Hear Milton Glaser and Stefan Sagmeister

If you're in or near the city this Friday, you now have a great form of procrastination from final projects and exams ... it's cool, it's exclusive and it counts as education too!
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Smart Quote #13: Great is Not Trendy

What makes great design "great" is not a trendy technique, but the logic and conceptual aspect that were figured out in the designer's mind--or on more likely, on paper--before a mouse cursor ever opened Photoshop.
--Kyle Meyer, interactive designer

The above quote comes from a thoughtful post on Kyle's blog, Astheria. Kyle is the lead user experience designer at Clockwork Active Media Systems in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and as such, his blog mainly addresses web design. However, many of his points can be applied to print design as well. And well, let's face it, even us die-hard print designers are having to learn the web stuff ... his blog is a good place to get some insight.

"Smart Quote" is a recurring feature on the SPD Student Blog ... look for more wise words every Monday. Got an inspiring or motivating quote to share? Email us at spdstudentoutreach@gmail.com.

Announcing Our Student Competition Judges

There are many reasons to enter our Student Design Competition, and one of them is the chance to get your work in front of an acclaimed group of art directors and designers who serve as our judges. So even if you don't officially win, you've still won that exposure and the chance to impress which can be hard to get otherwise!

Just who are these judges, you ask? Find out after the jump.
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Vocab Lesson 12: Spread

Know how there are some things in life that it seems like you've known about forever? Like Harry Potter or reality television ... was there ever a time where we DIDN'T know about them? Well, the term spread is kinda like that. It's such a foundation of editorial design, particularly magazine design, that once you know it, you can't imagine not knowing it. Well, for those of you who are just beginning to learn about magazines and editorial design, we're here to help you out. … MORE

Pay for Your Student Competition Entries Here!

If you need entry forms and instructions, download them here.
Have a question about the competition? Send us an e-mail to tips@spd.org.

You can pay for your entries right here on the site, and not worry about sending personal payment with your delivery:

• Current Student Members -- you get 3 FREE entries, so just choose the Student Member option & worry only about getting your entries done on time! Print out your $0 receipt and include it with your entries and entry form.

• New Student Member or need to Renew? Choose the $25 option and you still save $5 on your 3 FREE entries, and still get the upcoming PUB 45 Annual, free admission to SPD Student Events, discounts and special offers from Adobe, and our members' News & Notes newsletter. Print out your $25 receipt and include it with your entries and entry form.

• Interested in beefing up your library? Choose the $35 option for New Student Member + and get all the member goodies listed above PLUS a copy of SPD PUB 44, the Annual from 2009. That's a $60 book for only $10 more! Print out your $35 receipt and include it with your entries and entry form.

• Need to pay for just entries? Each entry is only $10, and you can submit as many as you think are great. Print out your payment receipt and include it with your entries and entry form.



SPD uses Eventbrite to make all of our RSVPs easier... you should too! Find more info here.

Smart Quote #12: Hard Work and Luck

Knowing what we wanted from design and having an idea of where we wanted to take our careers was huge. If you don't know what you want it's easy to end up designing credit cards, or the phone book. Creating goals big or small is a good way to avoid settling.

Also we are good at presenting ourselves. If you can't sell yourself and your ideas you will end up working for someone who can sell them for you.

Then comes luck. Luck doesn't seem to strike if you are sitting around smoking weed and tripping off your screen saver. When you work hard people will notice and in turn you will get better opportunities and be surrounded by like-minded people.

--Andre Andreev and G. Dan Covert

The above paragraphs are in response to the question "Are Great Designers Born or Made?" ... a question proposed by students like you to the authors of Never Sleep, a book about the transition from college to the professional world. Check out more great questions on their site here. And hear more from them this Thursday in their live DesignCast online session.

Got questions of your own like those? Then email us! We'll then post your question and our answer here.

And speaking of working hard, why not get started on your Student Design Competition entry!