Design Briefs
Have a news item you’d like to share? Have you read a good book or blog lately? Would you like to see your work featured in Designer? How about an office or department profile? Your contributions and feedback are welcome. Let us know what you think. designer@ucda.com
FIVE ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR YOUR REMOTE TOOLKIT
If you’re new to working remotely, or even if you’re a regular teleworker, you may not know all the tools and hacks that can make virtual work a little simpler.
As you get used to working remotely for possibly the first time in your professional life, you might find that communicating mostly through Slack or videoconferencing isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. But don’t fret, because there are lots of lesser-known software offerings that can make life easier when working out of the comfort of your living room.
These tools can boost your productivity, make conference calls more bearable, and even improve communication with your team. You might want to give one or two of them a try.
See list of tools: tinyurl.com/ucda-remote-toolkit
UCDA DESIGN AWARDS—NOW FOUR COMPETITIONS
Changes are here for the UCDA Design Awards!
The former photography, illustration, and student categories are now stand-alone competitions that will be held earlier and reviewed separately with each having their own set of judges. Also, we have streamlined the entry process for these three to allow for a complete online entry process. The Print and Digital Competition process remains the same, with some reorganization of categories.
www.ucda.com/ucda-design-competition
Photography Competition
Early bird: March 13
Standard: April 3
Late: April 10
Illustration Competition
Early bird: March 13
Standard: April 3
Late: April 10
Student Competition
Early bird: March 13
Standard: April 3
Late: April 10
Print and Digital Competition
Early bird: April 24
Standard: May 29
Late: June 5
MATERIALS MATTER: THE BELL MUSEUM CASE FOR SUPPORT
The Bell Museum is Minnesota’s natural history museum and planetarium. For almost 150 years, the Bell Museum has been on a mission to ignite curiosity and inspire wonder by exploring our connections to nature and the universe and creating interest in bettering the future of our evolving world.
Having recently moved into its beautiful new building on the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, The Bell Museum needed a new case for support from the public. To do so, they asked Woychick Design and copywriter Diane Richard, 2 Below Zero to help them create a brochure.
Right: Woychick Design awakens a sense of discovery with colorful and awe-inspiring photography on tactile uncoated papers.
HOW TO HANDLE A CROWD:
The Art of Creating Healthy and Dynamic Online Communities
by Anika Gupta
Don’t read the comments. It’s advice that feels as
old as the internet, yet more relevant than ever. The tools we once hailed for their power to connect people and spark creativity can also be hotbeds of hate and harassment, and platforms like Facebook and YouTube are under fire for either too much or too little moderation—even though most people aren’t even sure what moderation means. What we do know is that creating and maintaining healthy online communities isn’t easy. Luckily, Anika Gupta is here to explain what makes some online communities tick—and others explode. Available this May.
ADOBE SIGN
Easily collect signatures. Anywhere and on any device.
It’s time to simplify the signing process. With Adobe Sign, you can get documents signed in minutes, not days. It provides a convenient, tamper-proof way to sign documents—for you, your customers or clients, and teammates—just click, tap, or swipe.
A PHOTOGRSAPHER’S PARENTS WAVE FAREWELL
In “Leaving and Waving,” a portrait series that doubles as a family album, photographer Deanna Dikeman compresses nearly three decades of these adieux into a deft and affecting chronology.
tinyurl.com/ucda-wave-farewell
POINT, DON’T POINT
The pointed finger must surely be one of the oldest human gestures. In deep prehistory, long before the evolution of spoken language, and when we were considerably hairier, it is not difficult to imagine one
of our primitive human ancestors pointing to a lion,
a landmark, or a lemon.
CELEBRATING OSCARS WITH REIMAGINED MOVIE POSTERS
Shutterstock has launched its eighth annual Oscar Pop! poster series to celebrate the best picture nominees in the 92nd Academy Awards. Each of the posters features photos, vectors, textures, and illustrations from Shutterstock’s collection of over 300 million images while drawing inspiration from world-famous pop artists.
The artists selected to serve as an influence for the designs range from contemporary to classic, and chaotic to minimalist. With distinctive elements such as the oversaturated colors of Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama and iconic imagery like the unmistakable swimming pool from influential British artist David Hockney, each design is a retelling of a best picture nominee. The vibrant and sometimes playful colors, styles and techniques of pop artists offer fresh and unexpected perspectives on this year’s top films, which tell a variety of powerful and captivating stories.
shutterstock.com/blog/oscar-pop-movie-posters
Right: 1917 poster by JC Moreno; Ford vs. Ferrari by Alice Lee; and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Ian Calleja
REMEMBERING GORDON R. SALCHOW
UCDA was saddened to hear that our friend and honorary UCDA member Gordon R. Salchow passed away peacefully at home on October 4, 2019 with family by his side. Gordon published his acclaimed book, ABOUT DESIGN: insights + provocations for graphic design enthusiasts in 2018. He was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Cincinnati where he was appointed, in 1967, to develop a new curriculum and a department of graphic design. Its initiatives and its success quickly established UC as one of graphic design’s most respected educational institutions. He directed that academic unit for many years, continuing in a full-time teaching role, and then retired in 2010. Previous to Cincinnati, Professor Salchow taught at the Kansas City Art Institute. He earned an MFA from Yale University and a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and
Design.
Gordon will be deeply missed by family, friends, and thousands of former students. His unconventional and quirky perspectives will live on.
Teaching Process, Not Product, a past interview with Gordon Salchow appeared in Vol. 3, No. 3 of Designer magazine. You may read it online.
ucda.com/gordon-r-salchow
STUDENT POSTER DESIGN INITIATIVE
Design educators have the capability to help students get civically involved, and student designers have the power to inspire the public to register to vote in the 2020 local and general elections.
This year, the Vote 2020 student poster design initiative helps promote civil engagement by enabling students to design an original, nonpartisan poster for print or social media use. We welcome entries as part of a class assignment or done independently by students outside of class.
More info