D
esigners
)
Page:70
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:71
068-073_13937.indd 71068-073_13937.indd 71 8/25/09 6:05:41 PM8/25/09 6:05:41 PM
Text
Coralie Bickford-Smith 71
Senior cover designer
at Penguin Books,
Coralie Bickford-Smith
has a lot of experience
under her belt. She
has created several
acclaimed series
designs for Penguin,
including the Hardback
Classics and the Gothic
Horror series, both of
which were selected
to feature in the 2009
D&AD annual, and the
Boys’ Adventure series,
which won the 2008
British Book Design and
Production Award for
Series Identity. Coralie
studied Typography at
Reading University and
recently she has been
sharing her experience
with students at
London College of
Communication,
encouraging a sense of
play in the process of
design. She has a love
of all things typographic
and textile-based, and
can often be spotted
day dreaming on London
buses in search of new
ideas. Much of her
spare time is taken up
by collecting books,
reading books, and
thinking about books.
Coralie Bickford-Smith
www.cb-smith.com
D
esigners
)
Page:70
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:71
068-073_13937.indd 71068-073_13937.indd 71 8/25/09 6:05:08 PM8/25/09 6:05:08 PM
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:72
068-073_13937.indd 72068-073_13937.indd 72 8/25/09 6:05:43 PM8/25/09 6:05:43 PM
Text
171 FIRST THINGS FIRST. To start
developing ideas for a project, I set up
mood boards of visual ideas—texture,
ornament, objects, colors—all inspired
by themes from the stories or by the
period, or just the atmosphere of the
project. Ideas often come to me at
the cinema; it seems that while I am
watching a movie, some part of my brain
is working out design problems.
172 I
NSPIRATION AND RESEARCH. In
terms of formal research, The London
Library and St. Brides printing library
are great for immersing myself in the
history of typography and bookbinding.
I try to begin off the computer when
possible, just going out and sourcing
ideas, colors, and textures. For
inspiration I cast my net as wide as
possible—books, objects, websites, etc.
I love interior design as inspiration—
I’m always making notes of color
combinations I see, as color is really
important to me in my design. A big part
of the process is getting away from the
desk, going out and absorbing all sorts
of visual information.
173 L
OOK FOR VISUAL INTERACTIONS
WITHIN YOUR PROJECT. For example, I
designed a series of ten well-loved
classics: cloth-bound, jacketless
hardbacks with a single matt foil
stamped into the cover. In this case,
the interactions were more obvious
than others in terms of their connection
with the text. I’m very keen on
Crime
and Punishment
. There’s a nice tension
between the rigidity of the lines and
the deconstruction of the grid that
makes for an interesting parallel with
the breakdown of Raskolnikov’s moral
certainty. There’s also a Russian
infl uence on the design, though from a
later period than the book.
174 O
NE BIG VISUAL OVERLOAD.
The Art of Looking Sideways
by Alan
Fletcher has given me an enormous
amount of pleasure. It’s the book I have
picked up the most and there is still new
stuff to see every time.
175 G
O THE EXTRA MILE, PRODUCTIONWISE.
Cloth-bound hardbacks with foil
stamping are a particular love of mine.
It’s taken a lot of work with the printers
over the years to get right, so it’s really
good to see that effort pay off. My
fi rst cloth-bound book (Hans Christian
Andersen’s
Fairy Tales
) has been in
print since 2005, and last year’s
Poems
for Life
is on its sixth edition. Going the
extra mile in terms of production can
make commercial sense, and it led to the
recent series of ten hardback classics.
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:72
068-073_13937.indd 72068-073_13937.indd 72 8/25/09 6:05:08 PM8/25/09 6:05:08 PM
D
esigners
)
Page:72
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:73
068-073_13937.indd 73068-073_13937.indd 73 8/25/09 6:05:47 PM8/25/09 6:05:47 PM
Text
Coralie Bickford-Smith 73
176 TO GRID OR NOT TO GRID. For the
Hardback Classics I had the grid quite
quickly as this was how I was going to
slot in the different ideas and retain
a consistent series style. Dealing with
titles and author names of different
lengths needs careful consideration
to make sure the series style remains
consistent and confi dent. For anyone
interested in learning more about grid
systems, I would recommend Josef
Müller-Brockmann’s excellent book,
Grid
Systems in Graphic Design: A Handbook
for Graphic Artists, Typographers, and
Exhibition Designers
.
177 C
OLORS. My design often
has a limited color palate, consisting
of only two colors. This has been a
useful way of creating a strong series
identity while allowing individual titles
within a series to have their own color
schemes. Blue and yellow combination
is a current favorite of mine—I used it
to design a horror book series. I like
the way it breaks away from the colors
conventionally associated with horror but
still has the visual impact appropriate to
the genre.
178 FOLLOW THE PROJECT FROM START TO
FINISH. I try to go to the printers when I
can and when it is a special project. In
a publishing house you most likely have
a production team that deals with the
printers so you have to make sure you
communicate well with them as they are
the message carriers. I prefer speaking
to printers face to face and seeing things
on press, it enables a designer to keep
more control over the fi nal product.
179 E
LECTRONIC VERSUS REAL
PORTFOLIOS. As a designer I have an
obsession to create beautiful, timeless
artifacts for people to enjoy, cherish,
and pass on. So when I present my
work to clients, I like to be able to let
them get to feel the real objects. This to
me is much better than a PDF and it’s
my preferred choice. Obviously that isn’t
always practical, so websites and PDFs
are invaluable and very important in
getting work seen by a wider audience.
If showing work electronically, I at least
like to use photographs or scans that
represent the physicality of the fi nished
book.
180
S
TOP DESIGNING, START PLAYING. Recently I have been working on projects with
students at London College of Communication with Wendy Chapple, passing
on the principle that underpins my own work: “Stop designing, start playing.”
That philosophy is a way to get the students to free up their creative processes
and really explore as widely as possible around a brief before focusing in on a
particular solution. The temptation is always to take the constraints of the end
product as a starting point as well as an end point, and that shuts off so many
avenues of exploration. What Wendy and I are trying to encourage is a period
of free association almost, of having fun with ideas and processes, and getting
comfortable with the idea that, although 90% of what you produce in this period
will be discarded, it will lead to places you wouldn’t necessarily have reached
directly, and the fi nished product will benefi t as a result.
D
esigners
)
Page:72
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:73
068-073_13937.indd 73068-073_13937.indd 73 8/25/09 6:05:08 PM8/25/09 6:05:08 PM
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:74
074-079_13937.indd 74074-079_13937.indd 74 8/25/09 6:15:30 PM8/25/09 6:15:30 PM
Text
181 STAY HUNGRY LIKE BIGGIE ON HIS FIRST ALBUM.
Success can satiate hunger and blur the line
between confi dence and laziness. It’s best to remain
critical and be open to the criticism of others. By
staying hungry you prevent yourself from inhibiting
your creativity. You’ll not only continue to grow as a
designer, but you’ll keep things fresh and exciting for
yourself. What kind of man would Bob Dylan be if he
had just continued to do the same thing album after
album? He would be Donovan I guess. And you
don’t
want to be Donovan, man.
182 N
UTS AND BOLTS VERSUS BELLS AND WHISTLES.
It’s not called breaking the rules when you don’t
know that you are—it’s called making a mistake.
Our buddy Modernism was nice enough to lay down
some ground rules for us way back when and we
are well-served to learn them and follow them, when
appropriate. But at the same time, you did go to art
school. Throw a couple lasers in there or something,
dude.
183 C
ALL YOUR MOM. Just because she doesn’t
completely understand what you do for a living
doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to hear about it.
184 S
UCK IT, YOKO. There are two types of
designers: Lennons and McCartneys. As a John
Lennon, you create work that is message-driven,
stark and serious, but you run the risk of seeming
pretentious and/or naïve (in John Lennon’s defense,
he was unfortunately married to the world’s worst
art director). To be a Paul McCartney, on the other
hand, means creating beautiful, meticulously crafted
graphic design pop music, heavy on style but light on
content. While either can be successful on its own (I
love
Wings
), the best design employs both ideology
and style (see popular music group
The Beatles
).
185 P
RO BONO = GOOD ; U2 BONO = BAD. Do
something for free! It will make you feel good and
you’ll have more creative control. Build your portfolio
doing what you want to do. Employers can smell the
creative musk of a portfolio grown with passion.
186
L
ISTEN TO POWERFUL 70S ROCK AND ROLL.
Nothing makes me question the
authenticity and integrity of my work
like listening to Bruce Springsteen.
Trust me—but if you don’t trust me—
then trust The Boss. I quit my fi rst
job out of school because I listened
to my
Born to Run
LP every day after
work, and I am much happier since.
And now, on job applications, in the
“Reason for leaving” section of my
employment history, I can write:
“Last chance power drive.”
74 1,000 Ideas by 100 Graphic Designers
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:74
074-079_13937.indd 74074-079_13937.indd 74 8/25/09 6:15:17 PM8/25/09 6:15:17 PM
D
esigners
)
Page:74
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:75
074-079_13937.indd 75074-079_13937.indd 75 8/25/09 6:15:32 PM8/25/09 6:15:32 PM
Text
187 COPY. This is a dangerous idea, because,
well, the world is already completely saturated with
derivative horse-puckey created by knucklehead
boner farmers with no taste. It’s okay to bite another
style, as long as you don’t swallow the whole thing.
Use it as a jump-off point and don’t emulate it.
Nobody is simply conjuring ideas out of ether and
pixie dust. Be aware of your infl uences and use them
to your advantage. If you have talent, intelligence,
and integrity then your unique style will show
through. I truly believe that.
188 E
DIT EVERYTHING. Sometimes saying goodbye
is the hardest part. Making something you love isn’t
nearly as diffi cult as letting it go.
An argument could be made that the real talent in
design is to see and realize why something is ugly,
not pretty. Designers, like the rest of the creative
world, have a tendency to over think and over
design. A more effective tactic is to fi nd out what’s
not working and get rid of that. It’s rough, but your
mom never liked that one anyway.
189 M
INE THE DEPTHS OF YOUR COLD BLACK HEART.
Graphic design isn’t as dry and emotionless as it
sounds when you explain it to girls in bars. If you
get a visceral response to something you make then
there’s a good chance it will stir up similar feelings
in other people too. Get those guts out as much as
you can. If nothing else it will be interesting.
190 B
E FREE TONIGHT. Unlike the controversial
atmospheric electrical phenomena known as ball
lightning, which can exist in a vacuum, design is
married to commerce, and thus cannot. Being
visually versed and technically profi cient isn’t enough
to create successful engaging design. It demands
that we draw upon history, pop culture, advertising,
psychology, and a whole arsenal of non-design
things to arm and inform our work. The best way to
stock up is to get away from the computer and go out
and live your life. Have some laughs, take a road trip,
make out, barf on the subway platform, and throw
something off a roof. Whatever it takes. Go out there,
punch life in the neck, and steal its wallet.
Daniel Cassaro 75
D
esigners
)
Page:74
(RAY)
08-13937 Job:08-13923 Title:RP-1000 Ideas x 100 Graghic Designers
#175 Dtp:160(P) Page:75
074-079_13937.indd 75074-079_13937.indd 75 8/25/09 6:15:17 PM8/25/09 6:15:17 PM
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.