“Desiree Palmen, a 44-year-old Dutch artist, uses a method that requires a huge amount of effort and attention to detail.
She makes cotton suits and paints the camouflage on by hand, painstakingly matching it to the chosen background. Either she or a model then poses in the suit in the chosen place.
The scenes are photographed and filmed and then put on display.”
to John, Inva and Monica: didnt we see this in Jeffery Ramsey’s presentation?
This is really good.
http://www.stepinsidedesign.com/STEP/Article/28830
I always have the hardest time photographing posters or three-dimensional work for my portfolio. Do you have any tips how to get a professional looking picture when photographing work?
Inva Cota
Hey Inva, you should Invest in a high quality digital SLR (around $500 these days) and a quality flash (around $200). It’s best to shoot indoors at night or somewhere where you control the lighting. White balance the camera to the flash and whatever lighting you are using. When shooting, point the flash upwards so that the light bounces off the ceiling. Have a computer near by to see the photographs and adjust settings like the white balance and ISO to get the best results. It’s also nice to mock up work in the actual environment. Take street photos of posters and billboards and Photoshop your designs as though they were actually on the street. That will give your projects more legitimacy.
Are there certain types of internships that are more beneficial for students, other than the fact that they involve you more in the design process?
John Lui
Internships are a very personal thing John, so it’s hard for us to say what is best for you. But they are a great way for you to test the places you want to work and the types of projects you are interested in without a huge commitment. The more the merrier actually because you will see what works and what is a bore, while learning how different sized companies are structured and operate. Then when you graduate you will know what you want out of your dream job. Or you can stay at one place and work your way up through the ranks. By all means if you dig a place stay on board because people love to hire their interns. They are checking you out just as much as you are checking them out.
What’s the difference between thinking too big, and thinking too small as far as concepts go?
Matt Rappo
This is an interesting question to ponder matt. Thinking too small can be lame — the expected solution or doing what everyone else is doing. Thinking too big can lead you to a great idea, but it might be too hard to execute on time. Deadlines and budgets play a huge roll in the creative process when you get out of school. So it’s all about coming up with the best solution within the constraints that are given or rethinking or reframing the problem so it fits within new ones. Think big when you have lots of constrains to try and push the envelope of what is possible within the parameters and limit yourself when you have nothing holding you back or else you might get lost in a sea of options.
A lot of times, people talk about graphic design being “commercial art,” but there are lots of projects designers do that aren’t commercial or necessarily marketable. The question that a lot of students ask is whether something that’s not commercial is still considered “graphic design,” or if it starts to become “art.”
Nelson NG
Nelson, to me art is when I am servicing my own agenda and there is no client involved. Graphic design or commercial art is when I am doing a project for other people, I can still have an agenda, and most often do, in graphics, but the end product is for someone else and they give us money, opinions, or a pat on the back. To be honest the art versus design debate doesn’t concerns us much. We try to make good work and hopefully make ourselves laugh, no need to put a label on it. Milton Glaser and Stefan Sagmeister have both written on this subject and are much smarter.
