Field Guide to the Design Student
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FIELD GUIDETO THEDESIGN STUDENTby Mel Woodard
PREFACE
GUIDE TO THE GUIDEDesign school is a curious time in the life of the designer. Learning new con-cepts, developing and changing styles, making constant mistakes, fighting post-pubescent identity crises. These all come with the territory of being a student. But how does the rest of the world come to understand such creatures and their ways? That’s what this handy guide was made for.
Aside from being a practical handbook for understanding and identifying this peculiar breed, the Field Guide to the Design Student also highlights the particu-lar atmosphere of the Design Department at Western Washington University. It serves to give a greater understanding of who we are, what we do, how we work and what we like. The goal of this book is to be informative, enlightening, and more than a little tongue-in-cheek, while eradicating the incorrect assumption that all design students are made the same.
THEPRODUCTIONVIXEN
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
The Production Vixen is your shining example for well-practiced design produc-tion techniques. Upon opening her 17” Macbook Pro (with careful color calibra-tion), you’ll find her folders and files meticulously named and organized, with her Time Machine set to backup every 24 hours. Her attention to detail reaches all areas of her life: a spotless desk, various sized cardboard tubes organized hierar-chically in her locker, houseplants on a strict watering schedule, and a full set of Uni-Ball Signo .07 pens. But don’t mistake the Production Vixen for being socially stunted; she can talk her way into anything, particularly excellent Comcast deals.
Vodka cran Dark chocolate M&M’s
m m
7 AM
to
2:30 AM
Waking hours Vices
Website
Craigslist
Other
School
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
4
TYPE LOVE
Cardboard tubes of various sizes.
Top 5 typefaces Transportation
Bus
Franklin Gothic Book Regular Helvetica Neue Ultra Light
Georgia Regular & Italic
Arno Pro Semibold Display Futura Condensed Medium
“Take a vacation, get cultured.”
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
5
The Art Director is intelligent, sarcastic, outgoing and idealistic, all contained in one explosive person. He’s on top of the latest trends in social media, inform-ing everyone he knows that he is using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Wave, Google Buzz, Google Reader, Tumblr, Digg... even if he doesn’t really know what all of them are for. The Art Director waves proudly his quasi-geek flag with a constant stream of references to Star Wars and the latest posts on Gizmodo and Lifehacker. He’s excited about life and he’ll tell you what’s on his mind, and not surprisingly, his biggest aversion is people like him.
7 AM
to
1 AM
Waking hours
Other
Urban exploration & reclamation
Vices
Apple juice Dried mango
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
LEISURE ACTIVITIESWebsite
Digg.com
THE ARTDIRECTOR
6
Helvetica
Courier New
Top 5 typefaces
8 pairs of sunglasses.
Transportation
Yellow 80s Peugeot road bike
ODDS & ENDS
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
“It’s about breaking stuff and fixing stuff.”
7
DESIGNER MUSIC
Brothers THE BLACK KEYS
Classics RATATAT
Comort Eagle CAKE
Contra VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Crystal Castles CRYSTAL CASTLES
Every Direction is North EL TEN ELEVEN
Feels ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
Introducing THE SONICS
Junior ROYKSOPP
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Kala M.I.A.
Manners PASSION PIT
Poses RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
Raw Power THE STOOGES
Seventh Tree GOLDFRAPP
Takk... SIGUR RÓS
The Reminder FEIST
Veckatimest GRIZZLY BEAR
Wonderful Rainbow LIGHTNING BOLT
9
THE PAPERPUSHA’
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
8 AM
to
2 AM
The Paper Pusha’ seems like your typical edgy, future snowboard designer, but he’s also zen to the core. His interest in electro-jazz and passion for cooking help to maintain his friendly personality. In fact, the Paper Pusha is one of the few designer types who regularly eats three square meals a day. He’s an easy go-ing guy, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s sloppy; his love for geom-etry and secret fascination with Magic the Gathering are borderline obsessive.
Waking hours Vices
Lagunitas IPA Late night fast food
commercials
Website
Other
Publicly: cooking, frequenting bars Privately: Dungeons & Dragons
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
10
Wood burning tool for making my own wax seal.
Top 5 typefaces Transportation
White Peugeot road bike
ODDS & ENDS
Univers Condensed
Alte Haas Grotesk
Franklin Gothic Courier
Helvetica Condensed Bold
“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.” - Jimi Hendrix
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
11
CS CHIC
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
9 AM
to
12 AM
Who says the computer savvy can’t also have a sense of style? CS Chic (pro-nounced the French way) has come to save the future of computer science by fi-nally marrying form with function. Her substantial knowledge of asp.net, MySQL and more is on par with her excellent design style and fashion sense. Her smart, Upper East Side boy cut perfectly matches her well organized, methodical, and accessible approach to design.
Waking hours Vices
Midori sour Chocolate milk
Website
Youtube
Other
Reading abnormal psychology case studies
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
12
3 packages of Fimo clay.
Top 5 typefaces (web safe, of course)
Transportation
‘93 Geo Prizm
ODDS & ENDS
Verdana Tahoma Georgia
Arial Palatino Linotype
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
“Let love be your energy.”
13
SO, UM...Making conversation with a design student can be difficult. Their complete obsession with all things aesthetic can make them less than the life of the party when it comes to broader subject matter. If you’re having trouble connecting, here’s a few helpful conversation starters to get the word flow going.
“Did you see the TED talk about the OK Go music video?”
“Can you believe Avatar used Papyrus?”
“I got featured on LATFH yesterday!”
“Check out this stop animation video I saw on my Google reader today.”
“Pantone 122 C” DESIGNER
TALK
14
“Have you used Photoshop CS5’s content-aware filter yet?”
“Did you BitTorrent the new Ratatat album? It’s sick.”
“Have you seen my Pantone swatch book anywhere?”
“Can I borrow your bone folder?”
“I found some old manila parent sheets today. Sweet.”
“My Cargo just got 3 more followers!”
15
THE OLD GUY
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
11 AM
to
4 AM
He may not look it, but behind those thick plastic frames lies an old soul ap-proaching thirty. The Old Guy prides himself on having “real life experience.” He constantly brags about seeing Death Cab for Cutie at house shows BEFORE they were famous (and when his classmates were mere infants). He uses his age to an ironic advantage, feigning ignorance of the Internet and occasionally mentioning his graying hair. The Old Guy bodes well with the DIYer, making crap at its finest.
Waking hours Vices
Whiskey & Ginger
Karaoke
Website
Websites? What?
Other
Making dioramas that light up
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
16
A bumper sticker signed by Andrew W.K. Love that man.
Top 5 typefaces Transportation
Race bike
ODDS & ENDS
Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed
Pablo Skinny
Caslon Alte Haas Grotesk
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
“Make crap. It’s fun. And make friends with people who make even awesomer crap. Make
make make. Yeah I’m being repetitive.”
HEY MAN
17
THE GREASER
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
8 AM
to
1 AM
The Greaser has never been able to give up the nostalgia of the “good old days,” even though he never lived them, and never thought they were that great in the first place. Nevertheless, the pomp and bandana persist, along with the alluring mystique of being a “musician.” Besides appearances, you may be able to identify The Greaser by his frequent and mostly lost references to “The Outsiders.” He believes that most things look better with thick rimmed glasses and pompa-dours, and that the only tools you really need are ink and a screen.
Waking hours Vices
Olympia beer
Cigarillos
Website
I can’t talk about that publicly
Other
Playing blues guitar Drawing pin-ups and/or monsters
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
18
A tiny monster who collects food donations.
Top 5 typefaces Transportation
Vans New Eras
ODDS & ENDS
American Typewriter Bodini Poster
Bodoni Poster Italic
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
“I will never grow a goddamn dirty mustache, shut up you fucking hipster.”
19
DESIGNER CINEMA
FILM IS TRUTH
20
Despite popular belief, design students do occasionally have time to watch a good flick or two. After all, a little cinematic exercise is good for the designer brain. Film is a great way to escape the constant exposure to a MacBook screen, and gives a rest to those tired fingers sore from executing endless key com-mands and scrolling through design blogs.
21
Star Wars
Japanese Horror
Rom-Com
Kung-Fu
Comedy
Bad Action Movies
Cult Musicals Wes Anderson Tarantino
VIRAL MEDIA MAVEN
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
9 AM
to
3 AM
She may seem a little rough around the edges, but don’t be fooled by the Viral Media Maven’s external features. Although her design style is wickedly abrasive, the Maven possesses an undying love for all things cute and/or bizarre. Her ver-satility in illustration ranges from anime to smiling stars to zombies to tugboats. Her ironic fascination with adorable things even stretches to flowers, chocolate milk, and even baking. But don’t be too disarmed by all this cute talk; the Maven still packs a punch, so be on your guard.
(nap from 12-2 AM)
Website
FFFFOUND!
Other
Baking
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
Waking hours Vices
1000 ml Asahi super dry
Coffee (6+ cups/day)
22
A hair tie. Weird.
Top 5 typefaces Transportation
Fuji Royale road bike
ODDS & ENDS
Futura Rockwell Extra Bold
League Gothic Alte Haas Grotesk (my handwriting)
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
“Make more art.”
23
THE INTELLECTUAL GAMER
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
Not to be confused with the regular gamer, The Intellectual Gamer prides himself in being cultured in a number of arenas. His unusually large vocabulary and expansive database of trivial knowledge makes him a commodity at house par-ties, and a sizable distraction to classmates. Speaking of sizable, The Intellectual Gamer’s towering stature over other designers is a constant reminder of his ironic ineptitude at sports, unless of course they are played in the arena of the PS3. Typical activities include watching kung-fu, browsing Wikipedia to expand on useless knowledge, and inputting random text into a QR code generator.
Waking hours Vices
Sailor Jerry’s & Coke
Little Caesar’s $5 pizzas
Website
Wikipedia
Other
Playing tiny instruments
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
8 AM
to
1 AM
24
Inflatable Japanese pastry mascot punching bag.
Top 5 typefaces Transportation
Huge road bike
ODDS & ENDS
Helvetica Franklin Gothic
Caslon (my handwriting)
Arial (for web)
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
function worldStatement ( ){document.write (“<h1>Hello World!</h1>”);}
25
DESIGNER OPINION
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
IN THE POLLS
26
Computer Model Browser
Mac
PC
Custom
Pencil
Firefox
Safari
Chrome
All
The college years are a great time for forming individual opinions. For better or worse, many students come out of school with a pretty solid set of beliefs, pref-erences, and favoritisms. But for the design student, it isn't just about choosing political affiliations, religious preferences, or television shows. There are critical matters of taste at stake directly relating to what makes up a designer, and these are undoubtedly just as important as the rest of the world's "big issues."
27
The iPad
Workspace
The 90s
Critique
Awesome
Irrelevant
Clean
Messy
Are back
Aren't back
Dull
Educational
Annoying
Strategic Mess
Prefer not to answer
An outlet for pent-up
aggression
THE DIY-ER
OVERVIEW
VITAL STATS
The DIY-er, a close relative of The Old Guy, has a love for all things cute. Although she fully embraces her MacBook Pro (slightly outdated so as not to seem too tech-obsessed), her real love is the handdone. A lover of the ironic, the DIY-er balances her androgynous dress code with her daily tumblr updates of cute animal vector illustrations. And if you touch her 250 mesh screen, she’ll kill you.
Waking hours Vices
Coffee An old fashioned
Website
My tumblr
Other
Scouting free piles in my Honda
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
10:30 AM
to
2 AM
28
A car jack.
Top 5 typefaces Transportation
My feet
ODDS & ENDS
(my handwriting) DIN
Trade Gothic
Fette Fraktur
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESK?
“I don’t do crafts, I make shit.”
29
THE END
OR THE BEGINNING?As students, we've learned a lot, but once we have our diplomas in hand, we'll re-alize the daunting truth. We'll realize that the past four years of late nights, early mornings, failures, successes, emotional breakdowns and triumphant break-throughs are merely a taste of what we have coming. We'll realize how much we have yet to learn, but hopefully that motivates and excites us, instead of discour-aging us. So when the appetizer is finished, we need to choose whether or not we want to commit to the meal, and it's our task to prepare ourselves as best we can.
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