072108: Call for models

Looking for a model again for a new piece.

Once again, this one has some requirements that might make some uncomfortable.

I need a woman between the ages of 21 and 27 (unless you look young) willing to pose nude or in underwear. Your breasts and other naughty bits will be covered in the final piece (this is a photo manipulation). If posing in underwear, you will be wearing a strapless bra and thong panties that won't cover too much of your hips (you will be providing said wardrobe).

The piece isn't fully conceptualized yet, but if you are seriously interested, I will share details to you (I won't make you sign an NDA, but I do ask that you keep it hush hush until the piece is released). This piece will be sold in print form as well as be available on DeviantArt and my other art promotion resources. It may or may not be displayed in a brick & mortar gallery. The face will be pixelated, so if the model wishes to remain anonymous, that would be fine.

Models who wish to do some portfolio/headshots whom are applying will get such services free of charge (aside from printing costs if prints are requested).

If you are interested, e-mail me at wfl@classicwfl.com. Must be a resident of the Hannibal/Quincy area or be able to get here on a weekend before the end of August. Please send reference shots (you can be clothed, but bathing suit shots would be preferred).

Thanks.

-WFL

Spaghetti design: How to do graphic design in the newspaper industry

The world of graphic design isn't always glamorous, doesn't always include wild parties with rich clients, and certainly doesn't guarantee much money. This couldn't be more true for the newspaper industry.

The goal of this post is to help you get comfortable with flying by the wire, designing using your first instinct, and getting effective designs cranked out in 15 minutes or less.

Some of you may be coming from a background of college-educated design, which is perfectly fine. You'll have a leg up on some people, because odds are, you'll have done promotional design and some layout/cover designs for mock printed media. If you don't have that experience, though, fear not; you don't need it.

I myself am completely self taught, and spent my time focused on art before I took the burden upon myself to become an artist for a newspaper.

The key thing to know with designing for a newspaper is you rarely have the luxury of time; you've got to go with your first idea quick (assuming you are given any creative freedom - in my experience, sales reps like to think they are designers, as do the clients), whether it is perfect or not. The question you probably have on your mind right now is probably something along the lines of, "but what if I don't HAVE an idea?" No problem.

The best way to build good ideas is to grab a national newspaper, a local/semi local newspaper, and a few magazines (not too industry specific; Women's gossip magazines are great, or even Playboys). Skim through those, look at the typefaces, colors, and layout; this will be what you build from. Go over it again later, but look at the ads you found most striking with a little more attention, studying the content. Pay special attention to the header, and how the body text/information is cut down to fit in the ad space. Do the same for cover designs.

You'll need a little experience in logo design, too, so if you don't have any, just hit a site like Brands of the World and start looking at what is going on there (this will also be a great resource for vector logos for big-name products advertisers may be selling). Once again, study the branding style vs. product and the overall image.

Now that you've built a little background for yourself, you can start building ads quickly - but you aren't ready yet. First, you need to prepare a core set of typefaces to use. I myself have 3 sans-serif fonts I use regularly (Univers, Grotesque, and Helvetica for good measure), plus a few others. Always have at least one of the following; a Didone (Bodoni or Didot), a serif font that you like the all caps/small caps variations on, a good light sans-serif, a script font, and a heavy/black serif (slab or otherwise). Of course, you'll want a few good serif fonts, too - you could always go with the standards (Garamond, Sabon, Minion, Poynter), but don't be afraid to look elsewhere. Another decision you'll need to make is for the people who want a "Comic Sans" style font. There are a few out there - Chalkboard is used regularly in my office (I hate it, personally). To be honest, I'd recommend you instead choose a nice rounded font. VAG Rounded would be my recommendation, in that instance. Most people won't notice the difference between a rounded and a comic-style typeface.

Finally, if you've seen a typeface you like but aren't sure what it is, there is hope: WhatTheFont. I've made liberal use of this site, personally, and will attest to it's usefulness. You'll also want this for advertisers who want you to run something from a slick that you'd rather reset rather than scan and print (when you have the time).

Lastly, you'll need a good stock photo/art resource. If you've got the scratch, I seriously recommend StockXpert, but Jupiter Images has a number of lower-budget (or free) resources, too.

Now, you're set. Go forth and design as quickly as you possibly can, because while the newspaper industry is in this state, it can't afford to waste money on you spending hours on a single quarter-page ad that is only running once.

Fanning the flames: the death of the printed newspaper

Why, oh why, can't the industry itself quit lamenting over layoffs and job cuts, the role of blogs and online news, dwindling circulation, and start moving foward in the industry?

I want to fan the flames as much as possible. Of course, being someone who will still have a job (as opposed to sales reps, press crewpeople, and delivery staff), maybe even a better one after the changes happen, the sooner the better.

I don't mind waiting, but the longer I wait, the more stress I have to deal with as sales reps push meaningless advertising in a product with little metrics other than coupon clippers. Perhaps that's why sales reps fail so miserably to maintain online advertising sales with local advertisers; the model used for so long in print doesn't exactly show itself to be effective online, when we see hundreds of thousands of impressions but can count the number of clickthroughs on two hands (maybe including a few toes, for the really obnoxious advertising that forces a user to click a skip button).

Lets rejoice at the evolution of the medium, rather than lament the shedding of well-worn skin.

I'd like to close by linking to a number of blogs and articles by my constituents, who have words more eloquent than my own on the topic.

-WFL