My Influence was Cipe Pineless who was a graphic designer for magazines such as Seventeen, Glamour, Vanity and many more. I love her work and how she creates a cover that is both enticing but realistic. I took her cover that was a reflection of a beach picture and used that to create this poster. I loved the simplicity of it while also being able to have the picture speak for you.
For the Conceptual Illustration Project, we had the choice between three different articles to design out magazine around. I chose to design a magazine based on the “Old Tech” story, which was a story about how old tech is coming back into style. I learned a lot when I was designing this magazine and overall learned how to conceptually show an idea.
For this project, because it is a story about old tech coming back, I thought this was a great opportunity to show comparison through color/pages/ect. I thought that the project being a magazine and having two pages in the opening spread, that this opportunity would show itself very well on the first spread.
Opening Spread
I chose the font “Helvetica” in bold because I think this font looks vintage and modern at the same time. Because the text is on both of the pages on the opening spread, I wanted to choose a font that had these qualities. I thought that Helvetica was perfect. To continue this transcending through time feeling, I wanted to show the “vintage” items on both pages. Within this, I wanted to incorporate the font into the design to make everything feel cohesive. On the left page, the “n” is extended and used as the needle for the vinyl record. On the right page, the “l” from Revival is extended to be the part of the camera where the Polaroid comes out. Along with this, I wanted to continue to emphasize the transcendence of old to new through color. On the left page, the blue background and white text feels vintage to me. On the right page, I chose to do black text on a white background, because that feels more modern.
I chose the name “Vintage Revival” because it felt right with the story. I wanted the word “Vintage” to be in the title because that is such a large part of the story, and the word “Revival” just felt right.
Story
In terms of the next two pages, my biggest goal was to ave the Polaroid continue onto the second page. I really like how this looks. In terms of the story, I chose the font “Times New Roman”, as it is a good classic serif font for magazine body copy. I wanted the quote about how the majority of kids fascinated by record players have never seen one before, which is why I made it such a large emphasis on the left page. At the bottom of the left page, I added another record, similar to the one that is in the opening spread. I made this choice because it felt appropriate if the Polaroid is also on the second spread. I also included the blue strip to pull in the color from the opening spread, but also so there is a needle on the record. In terms of the sidebar, I chose to make the record, credit card, and camera more illustrative to separate them from the other illustrations. I also made it on a black background so it had a similar flow to the opening spread in terms of comparison, but change up the colors.
Overall, I am really proud of how this project came out. I was honestly intimidated by the name of the project “Conceptual Illustration” because I feel my strengths lie in photography and not graphic illustrations. This definitely showed me that I can do both. I learned a lot in terms of how to show a story through illustration.
For this project, I carefully considered the three story options given to us before deciding on the article about a robot that was created to purposefully waste the time of telemarketers. I thought this was the most engaging, original story of the three and I could see my illustration going any number of ways.
I knew that I did not want to create a full illustration of a robot in my design, wanting to stay away from an image that was too cartoony or silly, but instead lean into one that is fun and eye catching. I wanted to highlight my illustrative skills by drawing every image on the page, but wanted to walk the line between having it come off as too realistic or too childish. I looked to other examples of illustrated conceptual designs in newspapers and magazines, getting some inspirations in the type of drawings I saw as well as aspects of color-usage, typography and layout. In thinking about the best way to capture the heart of the story, I thought about different keywords regarding the players in my story. Tech. Business. Trapped. Phones. I finally settled on the idea of a phone cord, and literally having someone be trapped within the tangles of the line and unable to move; a metaphor for what this robot was doing to the telemarketers’ time.
I began with the robot, using the imagery of a more modern version of a physical robot, with smooth, clean machinery that appeared lifelike. I believed this was the best way to avoid creating a caricature of a robot, while still having an image that is recognize-able to people. I chose just to draw the hand to create this sense of power the robot holds, dangling the humans they call by their fingertips. The phone was simple; I used real images of landline phones and chose a blockier, straightforward phone layout that would look good in the robot’s hand. The telemarketer was my biggest decision. I knew I wanted a good blend of realistic, sophisticated rendering with the fun, more zany element of the story. Thus, I settled on a faceless, basically colorless drawing of a man in a suit that I think pairs well with the rest of the elements. To create the cords of the phone, I originally used the preset phone cord brush available in Illustrator. But after some trial and error, and especially after learning the fact that I could not adjust the color of the black cord preset they gave me, I decided just to use the brush as a guide, creating a path of the general direction I wanted my own cord to go, and then drawing the actual phone cord by hand to make it the color and size I desired.
Once all the elements were complete, I went for a light blue backdrop for my image, keeping in mind the aesthetics that come from picturing the words “tech” and “business,” and found a more futuristic, blocky typography for my headline that felt similar to something you would see in coding, without being too obvious. On the second page, I laid out my text, retained the light blue coloring for my sidebar element, and then carried over parts of the images from the first page, namely the phone and the cord. I felt I was still missing something, specifically a brand new drawn element, and so I went back to Illustrator and drew the robot’s hand again, this time completely open.
Finally, with such an interesting story with crazy quotes about the thought process of the AI, I chose to select three of my favorite quotes from the reading and magnify them to draw the reader’s eye. Overall, I am quite pleased with how my design came together, proud of my abilities in illustrating and happy with the overall look of my design because of the various elements I chose. If I could do one thing differently, I think I would have created another original illustration element for the second page instead of just carrying the entire phone over. Something fresh and new that maybe fits a little better with the layout of the page.
For this project, I took a look at all three potential stories for my magazine design and sketched a few ideas. However, I felt more drawn to and eventually chose the story by Nick Bilton. He writes about the idea that social media and technology bring people together in a way that outweighs the many negative consequences of technology. I first thought about ways to conceptualize the concept of social media having a personal touch or a way of conceptualizing the connection between two people due to technology. I did not want to simply personify a piece of technology, like an iPhone into a human-like figure, but I also did want to draw a connection between technology and humans. Therefore, I ended up coming up with this idea of two abstract human figures hugging each other but made up of popular social media icons. In this way, it is as if humans are fostering this connection with each other via the social media or technology they use.
When creating my imagery, I knew I wanted to stick with a pretty simple, almost monochromatic color scheme. I stuck with shades of blue to give the overall magazine design a techy feel. For the background, I used a blue and white center gradient and added a screen-like texture. I also tried to create human figures for my hand-drawn image in a way that reflects early 2000s tech design. I took inspiration from the Frutiger Aero design style that was popular in the 2000s. The name comes from Adrian Frutiger, a Swiss typeface designer, and Windows Aero, a visual style used in Microsoft’s Windows Vista software. This is where I got the inspiration to keep the human figures more rounded and have varying shades of blue with highlights of white.
Once I had designed my conceptual image, I worked on the headline. I chose “BEYOND THE SCREEN: THE UNEXPECTED DIGITAL HUG OF TECH” since my imagery reflects two figures filled with media hugging each other. I aimed to convey the message within the story about how technology goes beyond just being technology or media to creating positive benefits for users. After I created the headline, I had the idea of formatting the headline and deck into Apple iPhone text messages. I think this element of my design fits into the overall technology and social media theme of the story and imagery, as well as fits into the color scheme I chose. To match the text message idea, I selected the default Apple iPhone text message font family “San Francisco.” I wanted the font to be as close of a match to what a real text message might look like. I carried over this font into some of the other elements in my design such as the sidebar and pull quote. For my body text, I chose Roboto because I think it is easy to read and matches well with the theme. I also ended up creating and adding a scroll bar to both spreads on the farmost right side. I think this adds another tie-in to the overarching technology theme and works with the formatting of the headline and the deck.
For my second spread, I wanted to continue the tech, Frutiger Aero media theme. I first carried over the exact same background and color scheme. I also added some more hand-drawn technology-based imagery such as a mouse cursor and forms of modern technology like computers, a tablet, and a smartphone. I also carried over some of the social media icons that make up the hugging humans on the first spread into the tops of the last two pages creating another tie between the two spreads. The scroll bar is featured on the second spread as well but moved further down as if the reader has scrolled through the story.
For my additional elements, I included a sidebar designed in a way that is meant to reflect what a notification panel might look like on a user’s phone. Each section of the sidebar featuring fun facts about social media is designed to look like its own notification with hand-drawn icons. I aimed to create a sidebar in a way that does not break the overall theme of the design and instead adds to it. I also pulled out a quote from the story that I thought encompasses the overall message of not only the story but the conceptual imagery on the first spread as well.
Overall, I am pretty proud of my design work. I think I did a nice job at consistency and connecting both of the spreads. I think I also added a lot of technology and media-based design elements to craft a cohesive theme that matches the content of the story. I did struggle a little with making sure the pages did not end up with too much empty space due to the story not completely filling up both spreads. However, I think I worked out an effective solution. Although I like my conceptual imagery and think it gives off a Frutiger Aero vibe, if I re-did the project, I think I could push myself further to design something even more creative while still reflecting the content of the story.
For my influence poster project, I chose to be influenced by American graphic designer Timothy Goodman. Timothy Goodman is an award-winning artist, graphic designer, author and public speaker. Timothy Goodman’s art and words have populated walls, packaging, clothes, products, magazine covers and one sanitation truck for brands including Apple, Nike, Google, Samsung, MoMa, Netflix, YSL, Time, The New Yorker, and the New York Times. His partnerships have included a global collection of clothing with Uniqlo and a Nike b-ball shoe with Kevin Durant. He regularly partners with schools to create art for communities in NYC. His second solo gallery exhibition Every Time I Fall in Love It’s Summer was on view at the Richard Taittinger Gallery in the summer of 2023. He’s the author of three books and the co-creator of several social experiments including the viral blog 40 Days of Dating and 12 Kinds of Kindness. Timothy’s work often discusses topics such as mental health, manhood, politics, heartbreak and love. He teaches at School of Visual Arts in NYC, and speaks around the world at conferences. His graphic memoir I Always Think It’s Forever was published in 2023 by Simon & Schuster.
When researching and looking more into the pieces that Timothy Goodman created, I noticed that he tended to have different forms of typography included. I liked that it wasn’t all uniform and wanted that also. I started off with a sketch where I hand drew the fonts and everything that I thought would work. While I do believe that I could have added more detail into this piece, I had a level of restraint because I was worried that the more that I added, the more it would become too similar to the ideas of Goodman.
When beginning this project, I went onto Google and begun to research different designers to find who I wanted to represent. I came across a site that include a bunch of options and showed images of the different kinds of styles. I came across the name Timothy Goodman and when I saw the image of his style, I knew that I wanted to choose him right away. It was very much similar to how I used to like to draw and gave that ‘doodle’ style that I liked.
At first, I was starting to wonder how I could execute this styling without making it too similar or too obvious of who I was portraying. I wanted to keep the style of doodling with the random kinds of typography that were included. Although some of his work has included color, I decided to keep my work in black and white. I wanted to stick with the base colors. The main key points that I tried to portray were both the type and color.
Overall, I was influenced his piece that he made for Times magazine, but also by his design of his main homepage. I liked a lot how each involved different forms of typography and framing. I decided I wanted to focus on those two main points in his style. I decided to keep the base color as black and white to stay with the idea of sketches.
In the end, I’d say that I think that although I could have come up with a little bit better design, I am happy with how my final design for this Little 500 poster turned out. Being able to find a equal balance between using the reference from another designer and being able to develop a design that visually comes off as an original piece. This process was interesting but fun. I think the typography and free style are still recognizably the main elements in my design.
For my influence poster project, I chose to be influenced by American graphic designer Paula Scher. Scher is known for her branding designs and her unique use of typography. Some of her most known designs are her posters for The Public Theater. I chose to be influenced by her work because I like the way she creatively uses typography as the main elements of many of her designs. I also enjoy her use of bold colors and angled elements.
Paula Scher began her design career as an art director in the 1970s. She has been a partner at design firm Pentagram since 1991. She has a BFA from the Tyler School of Art and honorary doctorates from the Corcoran College of Art and Design, the Maryland Institute College of Art, Moore College of Art and Design, and Columbus College of Art and Design. She also taught for over 20 years at the School of Visual Arts. Scher has won numerous honors and awards. Her work has been shown around the world and is permanently exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York. She is well recognized for her work on brand identities, promotional materials, and more for clients such as Citibank, Microsoft, Adobe, Coca-Cola, and more. As an advertising student, I find her work uniquely inspiring, which also led to my choice in using her for my poster’s influence.
I specifically chose to be influenced by her poster work for The Public Theater, which won the Beacon Award for integrated corporate design strategy. Scher served as the in-house designer for The Public Theater for many years. These posters feature large street style typography. The unconventional typographic style began to pop up everywhere, having a significant impact on theater advertising going forwards. These posters feature bold typography, playfulness, vibrant colors, and collage-like compositions that blend large type, angled text, photographic elements, and some illustration. I really enjoy the slightly chaotic playfulness that the angled collages of typography adds to these posters and wanted to recreate this in my own poster.
I began my process for creating this poster by arranging the type in different sizes and angles to reflect the style of Scher’s typography in The Public Theater posters. I chose a simple, clean looking sans serif font, as this is what Scher used in all of these designs. I then separated the different sections of type with lines as Scher often does. My choice to make these lines dotted was in order to add more of the playfulness that The Public Theater posters have. I added the grayscale cutout of the cyclist, as this is also a common element in Scher’s designs. I ultimately decided to add extra outlining around this cutout as I enjoyed this playful element in some of The Public Theater posters. I chose the vibrant red as the background as it reflected both Indiana University and Scher’s inclusion of bright colors. Lastly, I changed some of the typographic elements to be black, as Scher often includes different colors in her typography.
Overall, I would say I am happy with my final design for this Little 500 poster. Finding a balance between using the influence of another designer and still developing an original design was both challenging and fun. I feel as though my inclusion of large, clean, and angled typography reflects that of Paula Scher’s work for The Public Theater. Looking back on my process of developing the typography, I would have maybe tried to add extra text about the Little 500 bike race because Scher’s designs typically include a bit more text than this. However, I think the typography is still recognizably the main element in my design. Additionally, I am happy with the photographic element I included as well as my choice in the vibrant red.
For my influence I chose Georg Olden. Georg Olden was the first African American to design a postage stamp and also to hold an executive position at a network. I picked him because his life was interesting to learn about. I also liked his art style. I enjoyed the bold lettering and unique ways of adding the text into the illustrations. When doing research I saw that he also did a graphic for CBS about Big 10 basketball. This made me decide to go with Little 500 because it’s a little closer to sports.
My process for this was to find as many pieces of his work and study them for a little bit. Once I did that I closed the tab and wrote things I remembered from each one almost as if I was explaining to someone else his art style. From that list I brainstormed what to use for my poster to ensure I didn’t fall into mimicry.
I had a couple different ideas of how I wanted to display my text, having the bike spokes say men and women, but it didn’t read well. Then I tried a regular tire and it’s spokes as lines for each part of the information. Lastly, I tried handlebars and this is the one I ultimately went with. The handlebars are recognizable for bikes and putting men and women into it makes it feel like an Olden design. I decided to do this horizontal because it read better and added a grain texture on top to emulate the tv grain from that time period.
In class we went through the history of graphic design and were introduced to different graphic styles and several influential designers. I found a real interest and liking of the late modern period and more specifically the Swiss International which is why i chose Josef Müller-Brockmann as my influence for this poster project. Müller-Brockmann was a swiss graphic designer who pioneered the International Typographic Style, often referred to as the “Swiss Style.” That being said, his work is easily recognizable based on his use of clean sans-serif typefaces, which have become my favorites to use because of their modern looks. He also established the use of grid systems or grid-based layouts in graphic design, creating very visually balanced works. Müller-Brockmann is widely known for his iconic poster designs, his most famous being three posters from the Zurich Town Hall Concert Series (1950s–1960s). However some of my favorite works of him came from the posters for the Swiss Automobile Club in 1955, which was my biggest influence when it came to creating my poster.
I loved the use of the large and small imagery creating a foreground, middleground, and/or background within these posters and I knew I wanted to include this concept within my own design. To create this poster I used Adobe’s Photoshop. I began by searching and deciding to use an image of a little 500 race winner as the main image to represent foreground image in my poster. I then looked for an image of racers biking forward on the track (the same direction as the first biker), to create a sense of dimension within my poster. I first thought about just pulling a side shot of several bikers to follow Müller-Brockmann’s design in the 2nd poster above, but I wanted to have a twist to his design rather than it being a straight parody. I edited this photo to have a screen of the red color hex code of the little 500 logo, and then messed with the hard light, linear light, contrast etc. until I was happy with the overall look of this middleground image.
As for the text for my poster, I followed his typographic style and found a Swiss-inspired font on Adobe fonts called, Neue Haas Grotesk Display Pro. I realized I was mostly inspired by his use of grid systems and the way he positions his text within his posters…Not particularly in the ones from above, but on one of his most famous works, the Beethoven poster for the Zurich Town Hall, shown below. I knew I wanted to incorporate this style and positioning of text within my poster, to really show his influence.
Overall, I am very happy with the poster that I came up with. I believe I was very successful in representing Josef Müller-Brockmann’s design style within my poster without creating a direct parody of one of his works. This was a very enjoyable project for me as I got to enhance my skills in certain areas as well as learn new skills within Photoshop, especially because I usually just stick to illustrating in InDesign, rather than working in this program.
When designing my poster for the Indiana University Dance Marathon (IUDM), I chose designer Nia Gould as my influence. Nia is a designer and illustrator known for her whimsical, art history-inspired work featuring cats and bold, graphic styles. I was drawn to her playful yet sophisticated aesthetic, her use of vibrant colors and textures, and her ability to create designs that tell stories in an engaging and lighthearted way. Her combination of digital illustration and experimentation with textures resonated with me as an ideal approach to capturing the energetic and heartfelt spirit of IUDM.
Looking at her background, Nia Gould is a British designer and illustrator who lives in the quiet seaside town of Budleigh Salterton, Devon. After graduating with a First-Class Degree in Graphic Design from Falmouth University, she spent ten years working in the arts industry before deciding to focus on her own creative passions. Her work is known for its playful blend of art history and animals, particularly cats, which she often uses as the main characters in her designs. In 2015, she launched her brand, Niaski, where she combines her love of art and animals to create unique illustrations, prints, and products like pins and stationery. Nia’s work is both fun and educational, and her characters bring a lighthearted twist to classic art. Today, she runs Niaski out of her studio in Devon, where her business continues to grow.
The IUDM is a 36-hour event dedicated to raising funds and awareness for pediatric care at Riley Hospital for Children. It holds a special place in the Indiana University community, as it was founded in memory of Ryan White, a student who passed away from AIDS. Since it’s a celebration of life and resilience, I wanted my poster to feel approachable, fun, and full of movement—qualities that resonate with Nia Gould’s art.
In my design, I incorporated several elements directly inspired by Gould’s style. Gould often uses a one-color, bold background color in her designs, so I used bright yellow as the background color to convey energy and optimism. I also added multiple textures to the background, without overpowering the poster, to reflect Gould’s use of texture in her designs. For my font choice, I chose the font “Shantell Sans” which I think reflects Gould’s use of fonts that look handwritten, have thin lines, and are playful all on their own without directly using the same fonts she uses in her works.
The three dancing cats in my poster embody Nia’s signature style, each with a unique personality and pose. Nia almost exclusively uses animals in her works, the majority being cats. She designs the animals in her designs in not completely symmetrical, fun, textured ways, which is also what I aimed to do. One of the cats in my poster is dressed in the iconic Indiana University striped overalls, another in a “Hoo Hoo Hoosiers” shirt, and a third is lying down, waving an IU sign—a subtle nod to the university spirit. Gould also often uses hand-drawn shapes that repeat in the background around the subject of her designs, such as stars around a cat, so I recreated this element of her design using musical notes. The hand-drawn floating musical notes around the cats in my poster add movement and vibrancy, representing the lively dance marathon atmosphere and indicating that the cats too are part of the event.
I feel my poster is successful in capturing Gould’s influence. My use of hand-drawn cats, a huge part of Gould’s designs, has a playful yet endearing look that reflects her style, and the overall composition is simple but attention-grabbing. However, I think I could enhance the layering of textures, which Gould often excels at. I added a few textures to the background of my poster and used textured brush strokes for my drawings, however, I think I could have added more texture to the cats themselves. Additionally, subtle shading could make the cats feel more grounded and bring more depth to the design.
Overall, designing this poster taught me how to adapt an illustrator’s style in a way that respects their unique approach while still making it my own. By infusing Nia Gould’s whimsical spirit into my poster, I think I created an engaging design that aligns with both the joyful energy of IUDM and her artistic influence.
I chose Jan Młodożeniec as my influence for my IUDM poster because I’m drawn to his bright color choices and the whimsical quality of his art style. His work evokes curiosity, and I find myself captivated by the characters, places, and stories he brings to life. Born in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland, to father Stanisław Młodożeniec, who was a futurist poet, and mother Wanda, who was an artist, Młodożeniec was immersed in an artistic environment from an early age. After serving in the army, Młodożeniec went to art school at Wyższa Szkoła Sztuk Plastycznych. Here, Młodożeniec developed his signature painterly style – characterized by bold colors and lines that have a childlike simplicity and energy. With such a strong sense of painting, Młodożeniec painted most of the letters seen on his posters, contributing to the distinctive handmade feel. Once graduating from school, Młodożeniec focused on movie poster design, where he thrived. Among many posters he made, he designed one for “The Great Gatsby.”
In my poster, I aimed to incorporate several elements inspired by Młodożeniec’s style. His use of dark strokes and vibrant, varying colors influenced my choice of a whimsical, colorful aesthetic. I even created a dancing character to reflect his signature inclusion of unique, lively figures, adding a dynamic element to the design that also honors the act of dancing, central to the IU Dance Marathon. While I did not integrate a hand-painted font, I experimented with Serif fonts to evoke a similar feel, as Młodożeniec often uses Serif type in his art. I would still consider adding a hand-painted font to enhance the handmade feeling that Młodożeniec’s pieces often convey.
For the color palette, I chose oranges, purples, and blues, as I think they create an interesting combination that challenges traditional color pairings—much like Młodożeniec’s approach to defying color expectations. The colors also evoke a sense of joy, which complements the main point of the poster—to promote an event centered around dancing! These joyful colors create an inviting atmosphere that encourages people to join in and dance for a good cause.
When it comes to the shapes and lines on my poster, I feel they add a distinct Młodożeniec touch, as many of his works feature varying shapes that appear in different areas, creating a visually dynamic composition.
I think, in terms of difficulty, I struggled the most with the placement of text and deciding what details to include particularly the dates. I feel like my poster could benefit from including the times and weekdays, which would help fill some of the empty space in the poster and balance the layout. I would also like to add texture to the poster to give it a rough, papery feel, which would enhance the handmade quality and make the design feel more tactile and organic. Moving forward, I’d love to improve my time management for projects as that’s often what ends up being my biggest challenge.
Looking at my achievements, I think I succeeded in exploring the process of character creation, especially since I’m new to digital illustration. I’m proud of how I was able to craft a character that captures Młodożeniec’s style.
I really enjoyed the process of creating this piece because it allowed me to explore the work of a new designer. Although Młodożeniec has sadly passed, his legacy lives on, and I’m grateful to have discovered his art through this project. His work is incredibly inspiring to me, as his undeniable self-expression is admirable and encourages others to experiment and have fun when creating.