Resume Design

So I'm currently serving on a search committee at work for an open position within the university (I'd give more details, but HR is very strict about keeping all search materials confidential!). Anyway, after going through over 100 resumes this past week for said position I have come to the conclusion that ...

1. People don't proof read. (I kept hearing Stephanie's voice in my head saying "Have someone read over your work before you turn it in.")
2. Just because you're applying for a position with the University of Maryland doesn't make it OK to color code your resume with red, black and gold. (True story.)
3. Centering your cover letter is not OK. (I stopped reading it after the first sentence. Clearly they went into my "No" pile.)

Granted this is not a creative position and I shouldn't be basing whether I move someone along to the next round on their typeface choice, but come on people! Use some common sense.

This whole experience/rant leads me to 40 Stunningly Creative Resume Designs.

Here are a couple of my favs (the last one is in honor of infographs) ...

Fonts to Last a Lifetime

Last class while we were going over our project 6 infograph comps typeface choice came up a lot. There are my trusty favs that I always turn to ... Univers, Bembo, Gill Sans ... and I was happy to see they made Jacob Cass' 30 Fonts to Last A Lifetime. I found this list to be super helpful, so I wanted to share. He notes what each typeface is best suited for and gives a little preview shot of each. Typography is a huge part of design, and something that every designer should know how to work with. It can create a sense of hierarchy and even be worked with to create a visual element. I'm one of those typeface geeks, so anytime I see something about typefaces I always take the time to learn more.

Sidenote: Cass' blog Just Creative Design is pretty fun too. Check it out.

Show & Tell: Freebee

A job I always joke that would be fun to have for a day would be to stage shoots for catalogs like Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel. Random, I know, but if you've ever really looked at those catalogs you wonder why they thought it was necessary to put 75 limes in a bowl on kitchen table or a pile of sticks under a bed.

Anyway, I thought sharing Catalog Living would be perfect for this week's Show & Tell. Molly Erdman posts to her site, Catalog Living, a new catalog scene daily. She captions each image reflecting the lives of her fictional characters, Elaine and Gary, who live in these meticulously designed rooms. The captions are witty and fun, and are a great example of tying together words and images in a creative way.

This Just In ...

Honeysuckle is the color for 2011. Plan accordingly.

Check out what Pantone Color Institute Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman has to say about it ...

Website Design

I have been working on a redesign of the Alumni Association's website since the beginning of this year and it FINALLY launched this Tuesday! The big upgrade with this site is its usability. We were constantly getting feedback that our old site was hard to navigate through, so that was our main focus. We also wanted to brand the Alumni Association by using images that resonate with alumni and copy that ties in the university's overall campaign massaging. We are still working out a few minor issues, but I'm super pumped about it and thought I would share. Click here to check it out.

Google Me

Business card designs seems to be a popular topic on our blogs, so what do you guys think about this one?

Although pretty clever (lets be honest, we've all Googled ourselves or people we know), I'm not exactly sure this is how you would want to promote yourself. When searching my name it actually does pull my work contact information (and my blog!), but there is also a bunch of other random stuff that isn’t related to me at all. This has the chance of benefitting a few people, but for some it could air some dirty laundry!

Show & Tell: Video

I'm doing a little reposting for this week's Show & Tell. A couple weeks ago I posted the new admissions video for the University of Maryland and I still love the work done on this video, so I figured it deserved a little Show & Tell action. Click here to view original post ...

NFL Infographic

I saw this graphic posted online last week and instantly thought about our infographics. Starting with the Steelers you move clockwise to read the graph. The Steelers beat the Falcons, who beat the Buccaneers, who beat the Browns, and so on. It's a pretty simple concept, but it's kind of interesting to see all the teams presented this way. Check out the full article ...

We've Got Big Type & We're Not Afraid To Use It

After taking Typography last semester I learned to better appreciate pieces of work that are heavy in typographical elements. I found this article on the rise of using big, bold type on website. Since I'm a fan of clean design, I'm liking the look and feel of most of these site. Here are a couple of my favs ...

Show & Tell: Information Graphics

I'll be honest, infographs confuse me. I know the point of them is to present a plethora of information in one fell swoop, but the more info that is piled on the more turned off by the piece I am. Anyway, below is my example of a good infograph ...

This graph is explaining the largest bankruptcies dating back to 1987. The key at the bottom is labeled perfectly and explains everything you are supposed to get out of the graphic. Plus, I think the use of the sinking boats/ships is clever.

And here I present you with what I consider a bad infographic. It hurts my head to look at this, and half the time I can't even figure out what number is supposed to go with what because it's all a jumbled mess.

What Will You Do?

To piggyback off of a post I did a couple weeks ago about the new University of Maryland campaign, I thought I would share the admissions video that will be supporting the campaign. I think this does a fabulous job of interweaving images, video, text and music to relay a powerful message. Stephanie and Amy have said it a million times in reference to our narrative projects ... the right music/images/copy will hook your audience. The buzz on campus about this video is that even if you didn't go to Maryland this piece sucks you in. I'm a Towson grad, but having worked at the university for the past 3 years I have a strong connection to the university, and I feel like this is one of those piece that makes you want to get out there and do something. This video will be one of the first things newly accepted students for the Spring semester will see, and I think it’s a great way to get them pumped about becoming a Terp.

Check out the website for more info ...

A Life On FB

A friend of mine sent me the link to this video a couple days ago, and I thought it was worth sharing because of its relevance to our narrative project. No dialogue was used in this piece, just a little Rolling Stones, but a story is definitely told. Pretty clever if you ask me ...

Show & Tell: Story Telling Packaging

This week I decided to switch up my usual breakfast of choice, Honey Nut Cheerios, for some Honey Bunches of Oats. Little did I know that decision would become my Show & Tell for this week. It took me until Thursday morning to notice the ridiculous amount of text on the back of the box. How I missed it all week is beyond me. Anyway, the story of how Honey Bunches of Oats came to be is described on the back of the box through a detailed timeline. It's a bit cheesy at points, and overall is a little too much text for my liking, but I guess you could say it's the perfect little read while someone is enjoying their morning breakfast. Click on the back of the cereal box to get the full story.

Nice Package

So I finally upgraded to iLife '11 this week in preparation for some movie making magic (well kinda ... ya'll can judge on Saturday). Anyway, I had the box sitting on my desk at work and the more I stared at it the more I grew an appreciation for Apple's packaging. If you haven't discovered by now I'm what you might call a clean designer. I like structure and white space. Some might say that style of design is boring, but I think Apple does a great job of making this kind of design interesting and visually appealing. A great example is the packaging done for iLife. They represent the features of iLife in a simple, classic way, and I love the colors used on the new upgrade.

I found an article that goes into more detail about why Apple's packaging works so well in branding the company. Check it out ...

Color Inspiration

I'm in the brainstorming stages of designing the print materials for my works awards gala that is taking place in the Spring. It's hard to break away from the red, black and gold that defines most of the pieces that I do for the university, especially for signature events like this. I went to Pantone.com in hopes for some ideas, and what did I find ... Pantone Fashion Color Report for Spring 2011. Pantone got inspiration from designers at New York's Fashion Week to compile the next big color trends. Exotic travel seems to be the designer's inspiration for their Spring collections ... think bold, rich colors. The selection reminds me of the Caribbean islands, and Beeswax and Silver Cloud might just be my new color combo for our Spring gala.

P.S. Who wants to go to Belgium? Apparently there is a Pantone Hotel there!

Show & Tell: Narrative

I think AT&T's Rethink Possible campaign is great, and this commercial just so happens to be a perfect example of narrative. It's not set up in your typical fashion though ... it starts out "sometime in the future" and flashes back through time. Great way to hook an audience, and maybe suck in a few new customers.

Click here for another great one from AT&T.

Life's Little Instructions

I've never really been much of a procrastinator, but as we've come to the halfway marker in the semester I feel like I've hit a wall. My inspiration is lacking, and I'm fully supporting any sort of distraction from schoolwork. I spent last night cleaning my office at home instead of working on any assignments for Words & Images or Creative Concepts (something I know I'll be kicking myself for on Friday night). Clearly procrastinating is in full effect. Ironically, something I keep finding myself saying a lot these days are there are not enough hours in the day. Too my surprise I found this quote that I had ripped out of a magazine ages ago tacked up to my bulletin board (obviously it was covered by a million other things) ...

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein." -H. Jackson Brown Jr.

If that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is. Now I guess I better get back to work ...

Picture This

Incase anyone wants to forever remember the tragic story of the candy snatcher that Meredith, Jenny and I created here you go ...

Coincidentally, yesterday's Google doodle was a similar tale, and it was set up like the assignment we did in class ... a 5-panel storyboard. I think the illustrations tell the story well, and I love how the G and the E randomly appear to tie it all back to Google. Here's the sequence ...

Fear the Turtle

The University of Maryland is launching its revamped Fear the Turtle campaign this fall, and I’m a HUGE fan of it. All the marketing materials feature the red shell logo and what I think is some pretty catchy copy. The push for this campaign is to declare to world who the University of Maryland is, and what we represent. I love the structure of the language. Short and direct. It works perfectly because it hooks the audience. Just to give you a little taste ...

Here, great gets greater. Theory becomes practice. Thinking turns into doing. Power becomes action. We’re not satisfied with beginnings. We need to set things in motion. Start movements. Shift behavior. Break new ground. Step forward. Challenge convention. Jump in. Stir the pot. See things others miss. Enter through different doors. Embrace impossible. Raise expectations. Build communities. Move boundaries.

We are provocateurs. Perfectionists. Entrepreneurs. Curious. Empathetic. Active. And hungry. Our path will be ongoing and will not be summed up by a single slogan. We have a mighty spirit inside that will not be denied.

We are no longer 'on the path' to excellence. We're there. And we need to start thinking and talking in that way. It's okay to brag. We've earned it.

Let us stand together and chart our course. Let us capture imaginations. Allow the world to see our genius, our talent, our heritage, our future. We are the University of Maryland. Fear the Turtle.

Find Your Beach

I saw this Corona ad while watching a very unfortunate Cowboys game last night (sigh) ... anyway, it reminded me how much I enjoy Corona's advertising. You can always tell when it's a Corona ad ... picturesque beaches, the sound of waves crashing, attractive people lounging, and of course the Corona bottle. Their ads always hook me, but the switch up in the beginning of this ad was pretty clever. Simple concept, but very effective, and somewhat timely since most people are not hitting up the beach this time of year. Their print advertising follows this same structure. It's amazing how many ways they can come up with positioning a bottle of beer and a lime! Add in a couple clever words ... genius.

Here are some of my favs ...

Show & Tell: Fav Words

I'd have to say that my most often used word is raging. I use it to describe everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. Other personal favs include (apparently I LOVE descriptive words) ...

Absurd
Bananas
Concatenate
Delish
Doodle
Genius
Google
Hoopla
Lush
Raging
Rambunctious
Raspy
Savvy
Scrappy
Snarky

Dizzy and Google

Today's Google doodle is honoring Dizzy Gillespie's birthday. I think they got it right with the colors used and putting emphases on the big cheeks and trumpet that he was known for. Aside from all that, it reemphasized to me what huge fan I am of Google's doodles. No matter what it is, I click on it. It's one of those things that when I catch a new one I kind of get excited to try and figure out what it's supposed to be representing before I click to learn more. Not to mention how much it contributes to the loads of useless information I know ... famous people's birthdays, random holidays, anniversaries of historical events ...

It also makes me wonder what would a Google doodle honoring me look like ...

The Art of Non-Conformity

A friend in my Creative Concept class was telling me about the latest speaker they had come to her Perspectives in Communication Design class. His name is Chris Guillebeau, and his vision is pretty interesting. He's all about breaking out of the mold that is expected of you and experiencing life the way you want to. I got a little bit of the self help vibe while I went through his website and blog, but there were a few interesting things that stood out to me ...

First, he describes why he started writing ... 1) I felt I had something important to say. 2) I wanted to transition from helping a few people on an individual basis to helping more people through a broader platform. 3) I wanted to sleep at night.

#3 is the one that gets me. I think some of my best ideas come to me while I'm trying to fall asleep. I've learned to keep a notebook close by for those very moments.

Secondly, he wants to visit every country in the world by April 7, 2013. He's got 43 more countries to go. I have a goal of visiting all 50 states (I've been to 28 so far), but maybe I should up my ante.

Third, he interacts with his readers. He posted the following two questions and has asked people to send in their answers on a postcard. What do you really want to get out of life? What can you offer the world that no one else can? It's pretty interesting to see what others have to say. What would your answers be?

Another Great One from The Oatmeal

I'm currently working on a website redesign at work, and my coworker who is working on the project with me sent me this today. I can't tell you how much I relate to this scenario right now ...

How A Web Design Goes Straight to Hell

Show & Tell: Call to Action

The call to action in this Operation Homefront piece is to send a text message, which automatically donates $5 through your cell phone company. I think this is a great way to promote donating. There is no fumbling with getting your credit card out. With all the advancements in technology, we live in an age where we thrive on instant gratification. I think more people would be inclined to donate with this feature. They have also provided a website and Facebook page to go to for more information. The cute family picture adds a little aww factor to the cause.

Snapple Real Fact #809

I got a Lemon Tea Snapple today at lunch and thought this was an appropriate Real Fact to share with you all: "French author Michel Thayer published a 233-page novel which has no verbs."

Pretty crazy, right?

After a little search on Google I found out the name of the novel is Le Train de Nulle Part. Thayer believes "the verb is like a weed in a field of flowers. You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish. Take away the verbs and the language speaks for itself."

Fall Into the Gap

I'll admit it ... I worked at the Gap for 5 years during my high school and college days. I always supported the logo the company had. I thought it was classic, just like the brand. This whole logo redesign threw me for a loop. As we discussed in class, Gap could have gone about this change in a completely different way that didn't alienate its customers. They launched the redesign without saying a word and created a lot of backlash. As a result, Gap is returning to their tried and true blue square logo, just a week after the redesign attempt. Any chance of a redesign now seems far fetched. Hopefully people won't freak when the logo turns red for the holidays.

Click here for the full article.

Wordle

Someone showed me this site ages ago, and I just happened to stumble across it while I was searching for something else. It's pretty fun to play with, so I though I would share. Wordle creates these cool typographical cluster of words from a block of text or a link to website that you provide. I put in the link to my blog and this is what was created ...

I thought it was interesting that "concept" was one of my larger words. I wonder if Wordle is trying to tell me something ...

Click here to create your own.

Show & Tell: Campaign

LOVE this campaign for Sherwin-Williams. I couldn't decide which ones I liked the best, so I had to post them all. I think someone mentioned their TV ad last week when we were discussing concept. Also great advertising ... check it out here.

The idea of taking something like paint samples and turning it into something else to showcase color is genius. If you take a closer look at the ice cream cone one it looks like they strategically pick out certain paint colors that could relate to the object they were trying to reference ... "Mint Condition," "Lemon Twist," "Creamy" ... now I want ice cream.

Missing Person ... by Mistake

One of my coworkers that I work very closely with does the majority of the writing for the alumni association, and on the side manages all the social networking sites that we have. Yesterday, an alum sent a message to our Facebook account saying that he missed walking around campus during the fall because of all the trees changing colors (I know what you're thinking ... who says that?! But people who went to Maryland LOVE this campus and can't express to us enough how much they do). Anyway, in response to this message, my coworker posted on our FB page a very nostalgic photo of campus with this line of text: "This photo is for Kick, who is missing walking on campus!" Two minutes later another alum commented on this post saying that they "hope he is found soon." I almost fell out of my chair when she told me this story, and then I began to give her a lecture on sentence structure ... mind you she’s the one with the journalism degree!

Conjunction Junction

A little throw back to School House Rock ...

One of the chapters we have to read this week in Sin and Syntax is on conjunctions. I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one who starts humming this song when they pick up their book. I'm horrible when it comes to spelling, grammar, parts of speech, sentence structure, you name it. For me, it brings me back to trying to learn the periodic table in chemistry. Or, attempting to learn a new language in high school. Tragic. Anyway, School House Rock is awesome in the way that it visualizes what for some people (me) is a hard concept to grasp. I love it.

And incase you’d like to sing along … click here.

Smile on the Mind

I believe Andrea brought this book in last class and it reminded me how much I love the cover. Smile on the Mind is the required text for my Creative Concept class. After taking Amy’s book design class this past summer, I have grown a new appreciation for books. I could wander Barnes & Noble forever. I love a book cover that strictly uses typography in an interesting way to convey its message, and Smile on the Mind does just that. Just by rotating the "D" at the end of the book title the designer created a witty nod to the aha moment you have when you figure out a cleaver piece of work. It’s so simple, but I think this is great use of typography.

Show & Tell: Concept

This ad campaign for Crate & Barrel uses the idea of concept. I’ve learned in my Creative Concepts class that concept involves some type of wit. Wit, also associated with creativity, is the idea of combining two existing ideas to crate a whole new idea or concept. Using comparisons is just one way of doing this. By either focusing on unexpected similarities or significant differences, you are able to establish this level of wit. These Crate & Barrel ads use the idea of unexpected similarities by juxtaposing an individual to a piece of furniture. Great concept, however, the execution could have been thought through a little better. The copy that is supposed to be describing the individual and the piece of furniture doesn't match up quite as well as it could.

We Feel Fine

A coworker of mine passed along this website (www.wefeelfine.org) to me because they knew I would instantly be intrigued, and I was. It took me a while to figure out what the point of the site was, but the creators, Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar, promote it as "An exploration of human emotion, in six movements." Essentially, what this site does is search newly posted blog entries every few minutes for posts that include the words "I feel" and "I'm feeling." From there it records the entire sentence that "I feel" and "I'm feeling" appears in, and identifies the feeling expressed. Information about the blogger is also pulled (age, gender, location), along with the time and local weather conditions. The We Feel Fine database then displays these findings it a pretty interesting way (click here to get an explanation of each of the six "movements"). The interface allows you filter through the postings via demographic pieces of information to see who is feeling what, and where.

This was found on the sites Mission page: "At its core, We Feel Fine is an artwork authored by everyone. It will grow and change as we grow and change, reflecting what's on our blogs, what's in our hearts, what's in our minds. We hope it makes the world seem a little smaller, and we hope it helps people see beauty in the everyday ups and downs of life."

It’s a pretty cool concept, and definitely something you can get lost clicking around in. Who knows, maybe something from one of our Words & Images blogs has been pulled onto their site.

Where Good Ideas Come From

We watched this video in my Creative Concept class last week. It’s a great question: Where do good ideas come from? One of our first assignments in that class was to get out of our rut, to spend an entire week doing things differently. I took different routes into work. Used my roommates guest pass to her gym. Ate lunch at different places on campus during my work day. Switched from my go to the Today Show to Good Morning America. What did I learn? That Ed (Gold, our professor) was right. Even if you do this task for just a day you will be exposed to new things, because you’re doing things out of the ordinary. You pay closer attention to what you are doing and begin to notice different things, which if you’re lucky, will inspire your next great idea. It’s a simple concept, but it’s genius.

Show & Tell: Visual and Verbal Explanation

Visual Explanation: This ad for Fage Greek yogurt visually represents the line of text that accompanies the image ... "Ridiculously think yogurt. Classically low in fat." I also found the ad Stephanie was talking aout for this same campaign (pictured right). The line of copy that occupancies this image is "Ridiculously think yogurt. Fashionably low in fat." In both cases, it's such a simple line of text, but it says so much about the product.

Also part of this campaign is another cool set of ads that partners Fage with watch and jewelry companies to promote both products. It’s pretty genius ... you're flipping through a magazine, and on the left you have an ad for a watch and on the right is an imprint of the watch in yogurt. Again, this visually depicts the selling point of this yogurt, that it's ridiculously thick. It also showcases the other products fine details. Click here to read more about the campaign.

Verbal Explanation: After our discussion in class, I guess this piece is more of a description, as apposed to a definition/explanation. Although, I still like how the article, "What It Feels Like," allowed actual Ravens players to write their first hand experiences. Whether you're Joe Flacco getting sacked, Ray Lewis coming out of the tunnel, or Ray Rice outrunning the opposing team, this article allows readers to be in their shoes and see what it feels like to experience the biggest moves in football.

Hi, my name is Michelle and I'm Verdana.

We all have one. That go to typeface that we use for everything. Bembo and Univers are the official typefaces for the University of Maryland, College Park (where I work), so they are my go to's by default. Don't get me wrong, I like them. Bembo is classic, and a good typeface to represent the university. And what's not to love about Univers ... there's a million weights to choose from. The possibilities are endless.

Outside of specific pieces I'm working on for the university, I use Verdana. It's my default email typeface. I even set that to be my blog typeface without even taking a minute to think about it. According to an article posted on Ragan.com the typeface Verdana classifies me as "tech-savvy, quick to measure your company's ROI on its newest social media efforts. Your message is always clean and legible." I’d have to say that only half of that statement is true for me. Yeah, I see myself as a pretty tech-savvy individual, but I don’t really hold up to social media standards. I’m not even on Facebook. My work is always clean and legible (well, for the most part), so at least they got that right.

A couple other fun things I stumbled upon …

Font Conference

Typeface Inspired by Comic Books Has Become a Font of Ill Will

Show Me the Money

"Our great 'rival', the Euro, looks so spanky in comparison it seems the only clear way to revive this global recession is to rebrand and redesign."

Not sure if a redesign of the dollar will actually help the recession, but it certainly will make our wallets look a lot prettier! I'm a fan of the bright colors, and it certainly is a nod to the Euro. Research has also showed that most people handle money vertically (think about it, it’s so true!), so why not reflect that in the new design. Sean Flanagan’s submission is a more subtle redesign, but I think it’s just as suitable.

View the article at ...

www.news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/721294

Show & Tell: Food

Bad food photography: Too much meatloaf and mushrooms for my liking, and I don't know who decided it was a good idea to take a close up shot of this!

Good Food Writing: Not a fan of the layout and design, but I like how the writer made fun of the ridiculous drink menus that are at restaurants and bars these days. She discusses how up and coming bars are making delicious drinks with a single liquor and some herbs ... something that can easily be done at home too. And her witty one-liners throughout the piece kept me reading on.

The Power of Print

I was thumbing through the October issue of Vanity Fair and came across this ad for Magazines, The Power of Print. Typically, when I see a bunch of text in an ad I keep on going, but the headline and logo pulled me in. Being in the design field, of course I support print. I love flipping through the glossy pages of a magazine, and call me old fashion, but I like storing the books I love on a bookshelf (even if they sit around for years collecting dust). I’m a believer in the fact that the Internet only enhances the mediums that came before it ... radio, film, television, print, etc. Yes, the Internet is fast and easy, and pretty much allows you to do any and everything, but I think what built it is what came before it. There’s always going to be something new and exciting on the horizon, but people always stand by their tried and true favs, and I’m one of them.

Here's a link to an interesting video about the ad campaign ...

www.magazine.org/NEWS/magazines-the-power-of-print-campaign.aspx