Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Design-In-Flight

A little change never hurt 'nobody

I recently got the chance to do a second cover for Design-In-Flight — the April 2005 issue. Many of the articles revolve around the theme of 'Change'; exploring change in job, changing the way you market yourself, changes in design trends, and changes in how to protect your work.

So I set to my brainstorming tasks, which involves a lot of cursing, crying, and sometimes arson. But — as always — ideas came. They were then bounced off the usual advisory board, and the concept of design as play-doh was approved. So, from there I just worked up a couple sketches, and then moved on to a watercolored ink drawing. The piece was finished in photoshop, and then sent off to DIF.

Six-Penny Anthems

I also contributed a comic to this issue; and what's more, each subsequent issue will feature my comics under the shiny new name 'Six-Penny Anthems'. So look for me in future issues, unless I anger DIF management with my frank depictions of nude Batmen and such similar themes.

This issue's particular Anthem is an eight-panel piece titled The Designer's Aptitude Test. The idea for the comic actually came when I was talking to a schoolteacher friend; I was trying to explain the frustration of dealing with design clients, and I used an 'educational' metaphor so he might better understand. Then he let me grade a couple tests. I drew a couple smiley faces, some stars, and a snoopy giving a thumbs down.

So... it's a magazine about airplanes?

Haha...no, silly reader. It's about design! This issue has some interesting articles on designing grids with the golden section, some solid font reviews, techniques for marketing yourself, and an excellent article on successful interviewing. Intrigued? Well, visit Design-In-Flight and pick up a copy for yourself (or, if you're a little wary, feel free to just download the sample), and make sure you check out my contributions. It's a damn good read, chockful of advice — and if I do say so, it's a mighty slick-looking publication to boot.