I have a number of things to share this morning, but I'll start at the beginning. It's pouring outside (or as my friend Sarah says "It's pissing it down"--one of my favorite phrases from our English friends over seas). We're talking torrential rains. I started my walk to work thankful for Joe's over-sized umbrella and my rainboots, but half way through realized that neither could save me from a thorough soaking. So here I sit, with drenched thighs (how unpleasant are wet jeans? ick!) trying to dry out next to my space heater, but instead just finding myself getting over heated and dried out...ugh.
Surprisingly enough I'm still in a rather pleasant mood. The office is quiet today and I'm feeling productive--check back in with me in a few hours on the latter half of that.
On another note, I've been thinking recently about starting another blog -- don't worry, I've decided against it -- but I've been finding all sorts of exciting artists and projects online and have no where to store them for later reference. I thought creating a second blog as an "idea storage space" might be a good idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the main problem I have as far as art is concerned is finding a way to balance and integrate it with my every day life. So why not start by integrating it into my every day blog? Seems logical to me. My last post was a bit of a trial run...to see if I felt completely weird posting something I didn't create or photograph on my blog, and I'm feeling okay about it. So why not continue!? I don't know why I feel the need to categorize my blog into separate "personal" and "art" categories, but I think it's time I work to stop that.
That having been said, I'm working on a secret project at work which I'm rather excited about. As everyone knows, I work for a newspaper and newspapers are in a curious position right now. I find myself thinking more and more about what role a newspaper plays in a community and how to keep that role relevant. I've also been doing a lot of research into advertising and layouts as a way to better my ability at creating effective advertisements. I've been doing a lot more on the web lately and I'm finding myself taking note when an ad appears on a random website, realizing what catches my attention and what is able to actually hold it.
Basically, there's a lot going on here...at least on my end. As I said, I've been doing a lot of research, both into other newspapers as well as magazines. I'm finally thinking about what draws me to a particular paper or magazine and why. Here's a few of my favorite covers I've come across.
When looking at these, I have to keep in mind that part of what draws me to them just won't translate to a newspaper. The images themselves are a huge part of the appeal of a magazine, and there just isn't that kind of flexibility in a newspaper - not to mention a difference in printing quality. But the use of text, in both font choice and lay out, can definitely be applicable in both ads and the newspaper as a whole. The interaction of text and image as well as the use of space and brevity to convey the general message are particularly useful. These designs aren't anything radical, but the nuances are important - and the simplicity actually makes them more applicable to newspapers.
With that...I think it's time I get to that productivity I mentioned earlier! Wish me luck with drying out my jeans!
