here is hazel

Last semester work for my Communication Design 2 class. My professor asked us to redesign an existing paper currency or create one for a fictional world, so of course I made one for the Wizarding World! There are a bunch of security features in my design such as serial numbers, microtext, gradient colouring, and ornaments to help prevent counterfeiting.

The colour choices were taken from traditional Gryffindor colours where Dumbledore belonged to as a student. When you fold the bill, both sides connect to create the Deathly Hallows symbol.

To a muggle’s eyes this bill is static, but to wizards the smoke actually billows out from the train and Dumbledore waves at you and comes and goes as he pleases, just like in the Chocolate Frog cards.

I came across this list called Tips for Learning, which was originally published in the YCN Student Awards Annual. The title sounds rather dry but it’s actually quite helpful and includes things like tip no. 5 – “Remember that ‘common sense’ is a cultural construction” and tip no. 6 – “Have conversations with people who aren’t like you”. Each tip is accompanied by rad illustrations done by the fantastic Dan Woodger.

My favourite has to be tip no. 8 – Keen is better than cool:

Cool doesn’t care. It doesn’t get involved. Cool is unflappable and unemotional. Keen cares. Keen is passionate and nerdy. Keen will laugh and cry and own one’s emotions. Keen rules the world. Care about what you do and you’ll see the difference.

Feigned passion destroys morale; your own and other’s. My advice: if you really don’t care about it – any of it – you’re probably barking up the wrong tree. Find a new job or a new project that you’re passionate about. Money follows passion because eventually and with practice, you’ll get really good at doing whatever it is you love.

Here is the graphic design activity book I was talking about earlier.

I had the privilege of collaborating with a handful of other very talented classmates to design and build this 20-page book for our final project and it ended up looking incredible! It was so enjoyable to do, mostly because my group worked extremely well together and were all pumped about the project.

The idea was to create an activity book for those just getting into graphic design. As you go through the book, you get to learn about the elements of design through the different activities we created.

We invented a mascot named Steve (he’s the dude with the glasses) who is also learning to become a designer and is present in every page.

There are lots of fun aspects of the book, including a pair of glasses you can wear and design yourself, a fully-functional colour wheel created by Raina, as well as a certificate done by Brandon congratulating you on finishing the book.

There’s even a “Graphic Design Pledge” you have to recite once you’re done, which goes like this:

I am a graphic designer, see me kern! I will only use legible fonts. I will know the right time to use serif and sans-serif fonts. I will respect the difference between a font and a typeface. I will understand that there are many colours in the world, and with that understanding, I promise to pantone each and every one of them to my best ability. I will use negative space and never fear white space.

Good design is a privilege, not a right, therefore I will never under charge and I will stand by my compositions proudly. For as long as I design, I will never forget my mission and goal as a graphic designer to improve the world visually for the benefit of mankind. Finally, I shall never stop trying. If I can think it, I can do it!

Muchos gracias to my teammates Ali, Erin, Zachary, Brandon, Raina, Caleb, and Jimmy. it was a blast working with you guys!

Welcome to another edition of What Did Design School Make Me Do This Time?! where we take a peek at some of the shenanigans Hazel gets up to inside that place that resembles a pixellated cow on stilts.

In this episode, we have a cynical hole puncher, a hand created to look like a lowercase N, a design about design, and a dissected computer.

Well, that’s it for today! See you in the next episode of What Did Design School Make Me Do This Time?! Cue applause.

Advice to Sink in Slowly is an ongoing series of posters designed by graduates for the purpose of passing on advice and inspiration to first year students.

Although illustrators and designers are the people creating these posters, a lot of the posters also apply to those outside of art school, such as “Eat Breakfast”, “Remember to Breathe”, and “Casual Sex is Overrated”.

One of my favorites is Frank Chimero’s advice zine which you can print out to keep in your pocket for when you’re in doubt.

(via Brain Pickings)

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Here’s more first year work from my Communication Design 1 class! We were tasked with redesigning the logo of an existing print shop called Print & Graphic Depot. In addition to that, we had to show how the new logo would be utilized in things such as business cards, exterior signage, interior poster, envelopes, and invoice forms.

In creating this logo, I thought of conveying the idea of a depot or a depository (a place where things are stored) by having the letterforms essentially “hold” the colour ink used for printing (CMYK). I modified the counter of the ampersand to look like a droplet of yellow ink.

I wanted a logo that, when repeated, could make a nice pattern and be used as a design element for the business card and the envelope.

In my last post, you can see a shot of some of the process work I went through to reach this solution.

Aside: I’m not totally happy with what I did with the envelope design, invoice form and interior poster just yet so I’m going to do a bit more fine-tuning and then I’ll post the updated version up here.

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When people ask me how design school has been, I tell them that it’s been tiring. Some days I feel inspired and grateful to be at OCAD studying graphic design, other days I feel frustrated and I question whether this is all worth it. But mostly I’ve been tired.

It’s hard to feel enthusiastic about school when it’s so draining. But I guess this is all just part of the transitional period from high school to college. Here’s hoping that by second semester I learn to cope better!

This illustration by Jeff Hamada is so apt because my sister actually pointed out how dark the bags under my eyes are getting. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry…

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