Critique: Mini-portfolio

I've been spending some time on my mini-portfolio this week, and this is what I've come up with for the cover.

A friend of mine told me to think of it like a cover letter, so I thought I'd use it to lead into the fact that I bake a lot and don't mind sharing with the newsroom. It also can serve as symbols for the two different things that are going into my mini-portfolio: the infographics and the design work I've done.

I don't particularly care for the illustration of the cake because I think it looks like a toilet paper roll, and the cookie doesn't really fit. So I think I'm going to repeat the images of the cupcake and the pie.

Response: iPad design

It was a lot of fun seeing what other's had designed for the iPad. One thing I noticed throughout was the sort of formatted designs that Mag+ has kind of forced us into. It's all about finding photos that it's okay to put text over and forcing the text to one side.

I also think that it works better for certain types of publications that use photos and illustrations that you can do with this. It also shows that there needs to be emphasis on the extras you can throw into the iPad app, which isn't something we really have time for. But it's been fun to learn, and I'm planning on figuring out some of the different things I can do with it over the summer.

You Can't Miss: Illographics and Funny Overheards

There was a cool example of an illographic posted at Charles Apple's blog the other day. I like how they were able to liven up a fever chart for a story that could be easily passed over for it's kind of boring nature. If you read down in the blog post, it says that this graphic, which is from the Omaha World-Herald, was originally slated for the Business front, but I'm happy it ended up on the front page.

At Made By Many, they decided to post some Overheard at Made By Many, and it's kind of fun to look at as the semester wraps up and I'm going a little bananas.

Critique: Feature Design

I designed this week's feature, which was originally Faces of the Force. It changed a lot from the draft I turned in Sunday and what's being published, but overall I'm pretty happy about it. I like what I was able to do with the photos, which gave the cover designers a lot of problems. I think I was able to make them less criminal looking, at the very least.

Response: SSND judging

It was a lot of fun being at SSND judging all day on Monday. It was interesting to see what the judges thought about all of the work that was submitted. The thing that I found most interesting was that they wanted a little more text on photo pages. They wanted more than a headline and photo captions. They wanted some poetry to remind people about how cool the event so that it became more of keepsake piece that people could look at years from now and still remember being there.

You Can't Miss: Videos about design and things to never say to a designer

This week on Made by Many, they posted three videos about various types of design, including t-shirt design. My favorite was on data visualization. The last video is pretty important for any of us looking to freelance because it's on working with clients and making sure you get paid.

And on that note, Ron Reason, a newspaper design consultant, posted this list on things to never say to a designer or art director. I think my favorite is probably the second, "This story is 74 inches long and there's only a mug shot."

Critique: Does this look like a lightbulb?

This was my cover for 30 under 30, and I kind of like it. However, when newsroom people saw it, it took them a while to realize that it's a lightbulb. That confuses me, because it seems obvious to me, but I'm clearly biased. So, I'm taking a poll. Does this look like a lightbulb to anyone else?