LOLz

Proposal

ok so i think it would be a good idea to get started on this proposal. thanks conor for getting it started. i re-read conor's post and i just don't want the idea of what we were originally intending to do slip away..... can we all start by agreeing on some of the changes we want to see?

i'll start...

1. the big problem is class size, and what we/the administration must do to fix this.

2. more theory (i.e. lectures, guest speakers etc.)

Ahoy

This firm does nice clean yet innovative installations.
Shoutout to Colin, Stef and Mike who saw this in Hyde Park, London.

studiomyerscough.com

images and links!!!!!!

my favorite sites are

formfiftyfive
ffffound
graphic hug
i love typography
it's nice that
smashing magazine
1983

i realize no one's really going to sit there and click through all of those, so i'm posting some images, too.

possibly maybe...

http://www.notcot.org/

possibly maybe my favorite site to check daily.

i'm sure you guys have seen this before though...but here it is just in case you haven't!

Me Likey

I'm sure a lot of you guys already know this one, but Non-format is one of my favorite firms. I love the stuff they do with type in magazines, cd jackets etc. Based in London and I think they just came out with a book. Check it ouuuuut....

Non-Format

pretty things

There've been a few people who have done designs using a graffiti style... so I thought I'd share a few collections of street art/graffiti:
www.woostercollective.com
http://www.streetsy.com/
http://ekosystem.org/
http://inspirecollective.blogspot.com/

and a few artists doing some cool stuff along those lines:
http://www.alexone.net/
http://www.kmdg.nl/art/
http://www.wimdelvoye.be/
http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto.htm

I've also got the book the Tate Modern put out this summer during their street art show, if anyone wants to see it.

Most of it's not 'graphic design', but still pretty cool

English Language

I love this poster, and I've shown it to some of you. As an aspiring linguist, I'm delighted by the type humor.

Poster can be found at http://www.mciancio.com/. Left column, under 2007, "English Language"

Networking and Self Promotion

Thank you Conor for setting this up. I know it will prove immensely valuable in guiding the organization of our proposal.

Networking and Self Promotion
This is an idea for a direction that the extra block could likely feature. Although I acknowledge that networking is largely personal and involves some luck, I feel that the school could do a better job on our behalf in terms of networking and teaching us how to self-promote. I did enjoy when those alumni groups talked to us, but I think we need more of that. Additionally, as some of us mentioned before, sending out an email (four times...) of local job offers in my mind does not constitute networking. Last year we did develop a personal brand in Doubleday's class, but there are so many ways to promote ourselves than just a logo and business card that we aren't exposed to.

Scout Stevenson has a lecture in each of his classes called Pimpin and Primpin, a PDF slideshow of how to make a knockout portfolio. He offers a whole bunch of advice in this regard, and shows three of his portfolios. He also shows great resumes and other self-promotional items. I have uploaded the PDF to my website, and it can be downloaded at http://www.mattconvente.com/lectures/grooming.pdf.

Indeed we have chosen, for some reason or another, BU as our institution of higher learning. And the harsh reality that faces us come May no matter where we would have attended college is workforce competition. Indeed the onus is on us to finesse our presentation, working to achieve Frank-like AC craft. Believe me, I want an increased focus on networking and self-promotion more than anything, but let's also look to each other for solid advice.

I have two books, one called How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul, and the other called Becoming a Digital Designer and I am more than willing to let people borrow them for tips on networking, self-promotion, and just because you want to.

We can make this happen. I was really energized today, and I want to make this program the best it can be. With all of us together, we'll be able to succeed.

For Kirby

Thought of this today when I saw Kirby's cut designs. Great Minds.  There are a bunch more on this guys blog. 

Proposal for Change

Ok so for those of you who weren't at the group meeting after graphic design today, we basically discussed the pro's and con's of our program and deduced that most of the class would be on board for a good deal of change. 

That being said, we are looking to put together a full proposal to present to the professors and the administration. Since no one person should have to take on this task, it would be helpful if we could all just post our comments and ideas here, either in new posts or in the comments section. 

I'll go ahead and start off the discussion with a basic outline. Please add to it. 

The root of all our problems lies in class size. 

Currently we are split into two sections, each meeting for at most an hour and a half. Unfortunately that hour and a half isn't going to be enough for the amended class model that will include lectures, guest speakers, etc. 

Even if we all did attend class for the designated three hours, the space in room 357 could not accommodate us all. 

In order for us to get the quality three hours we all want, we need to be able to have three hours of class. 

In order to have three hours of class we need smaller class sizes. 

Smaller class sizes can be obtained by adding another 3 hour section to the Graphic Design program.  This could be with Craine or a new professor. 

I feel like it is up to the administration to figure that one out. 

Class should consist of more than critiques.

Critiques are great. They help us get valuable feedback on our work from our peers. No one is arguing that critiques are useless or should be done away with. The issue is that when you have only critiques, the once intended three hours of learning becomes about 10 minutes. We only stay in class for courtesy to our peers. 

Granted we can learn from each other by observing each others work, but we all know each other pretty well, and this becomes stale. Furthermore we only really need to observe each others work to gain from it, so wasting time huddled around a computer screen each week isn't teaching us much. 

We could be learning so much from each class. So much more than simply observation can give us. 

For example, assume we have just been given the Gather.com assignment. Along with the assignment could come a lecture discussing the differences of website design to print design. We could learn about logo design as well. This would be more than just examples of existing websites and logos, but rather an explanation of what should be achieved by this assignment. Researching gather.com and other sites would still be up to us, but we would have a better framework to work in, and would waste less time on off target designs. 

Ok no one wants to read a tome here, so I will leave the floor open for addition ideas and comments. Ideally this will blossom to the point that putting our proposal together will simply be a matter of copy and pasting. 

-Conor

The GAC lives

Welcome to the newly revived Graphic Arts Council. Hopefully this blog will serve as a forum for us to show works-in-progress for quick suggestions, share links, and generally come together as a community of young designers looking to get the most out of their education. 

This should work better than the long thread of emails that have been clogging our inboxes.

So Contribute. Write. Share. Debate. Discuss. Read and feel inspired.

-Conor