COMD 3503 Oct 3, 2018
Prof. Marianna
Miguel Santos
Reflection 3
During each class, students learn something new that is currently at the moment. We personally learn of ourselves as well because as designers our work represents who we are. In other words, we should know our strong suits, what we enjoy, and what’s the message we are trying to deliver because our personality will go with it. During this class, we learned a lot about the American graphic designer Chip Kidd who is best known for his book covers. We learn from Kidd two techniques that designers use in order to communicate immediately. Equally important, we learn to give a good visual first impression.
As I said, we learn to know ourselves as designers that we are. My work will say a lot about me, telling the viewer what kind of graphic designer I am. Grids are one of the best support for a designer because no matter how well done the work is if the presentation is not good enough then everything is lacking. People judge things by first appearances. Therefore, as a designer, I need to know how to communicate visually right away. I learned that I need to use a new variety of typography that is currently to this days, and I need to make choices when I need to do an emphasis. Also, I learned to keep consistency and when is needed to use repetition. I really enjoyed this class session that reminds me to keep up with my work ethics.
Chip Kidd is a specialist designer that has a great imagination. According to him, clarity and mystery are two techniques that are very important to use. Clarity is sincere which means it has to be really clear for us to see it and understand it. For example, Kidd points out the Urban Clarity of the stop meter on the street. As we all know, the meters on the street corners show really clear the message. On the other hand, mystery demands to find out. This means to be attracted to what we don’t understand yet but we are feeling attracted to find out. For example, we see useful mystery in the redesign of the Diet Coke can. However, only when mystery is used right, we want it. The adverting of coca-cola with this piece of art of the can was a big mistake. I learned that when clarity and mystery are mixed up together it is a confusing design. One of the example that I really love that Kidd used as an unuseful mystery is the information of the subway design of the 4 train. After Kidd redesigned it for fun, we can see useful clarity.
As Chip Kidd, I also celebrate useful pieces of design. I delight in the inside view of the trains. It feels like being in a design gallery. In other words, there is not a more satisfying time for me than receiving a message through visual arts while traveling. I always see the information design of the train 4 for the update of delays or other routes options but I always have a hard time reading it. I am rushing and the design is just hard to read as Kidd said. However, I’m never bored on the train. There is a lot to look at and learn from we never pay attention to that. For example, advertisements, new movies promotions, new job opportunities, and more information to be aware of what’s going on in our society. Every time I see a new design on the train, I get inspired thinking that one day I want to see my work out there too. The way information is given to us is fun, entertain, colorful, and attractive.
