Kutztown University | Communication Design Department | Art & Design

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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of…

Excellence.

I’ve mused how the lowly pencil can be revealing of what kind of quality its user produces. If the pencil gets sharpened shorter and shorter while the eraser stays long and square, it means the user doesn’t have many mistakes to correct. While, of course, a pencil that’s still too long, yet has its eraser worn down to nothing would imply very little is produced before it must be corrected by erasing!

I’ve often told my Communication Design seniors, about to embark upon their professional careers, that there’ll not always be immediate supervisors who’ll control their accuracy and quality: they’ll be their own quality control. Add the pressure many jobs have to work quickly, and you often have a climate that bends toward compromising the accuracy and quality in order to get the job done fast. And, think about the education profession where there’s much autonomy and the product is only as good as the chooses to make it each year.

The Japanese, who learned U.S. lessons about quality control after the Second World War, find that workers favorably identifying with the product they produce can help immeasurably to create an accurate and quality item with zero defects. We in art professions should have little difficulty identifying with our products!

Ah, speed and accuracy. Good goals to attain whether you’re on the pit crew at Indy or in the bullpen in Philly. Strive to have your pencils get short while their erasers stay long.

The Old School Tie

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Rich Tu speaks to KUCD students

Rich Tu is a first generation Filipino-American and award-winning artist residing in Brooklyn, NY. He is the Vice President of Digital Design for MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo at ViacomCBS. On Thursday October 15th, he spoke to Kutztown students about his work and the creative industry. Rich reminded us all “don’t forget the stuff that you love” while sharing his sneaker collection, basketball knowledge, and long-time love for music and pop culture. He lets his personal work get rebuilt and recycled into professional projects and works on what he loves. Rich was incredibly generous with his time and allowed students to ask questions about his creative process and work with clients in the industry. Overall, it was a great night filled with genuine kindness and endless passion for art and design.

Watch the recording:https://kutztown.zoom.us/rec/share/lrnf0T1kcnqBNKjTODJI1KDqa80aL31lchLa4nsJG7imkAezb7vNtYAgTxxUUCJK.efZQ9RLSNhEBkMuu

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High tech, high touch?

A real transition is in the making for me. This is the first issue of By Design ever created on a Macintosh. Letting go of the traditional ways is not easy, so I’ve created only the body copy on the Mac. I know PageMaker the best; and I’m not sufficiently satisfied with my abilities to control kerning on the screen, so I’ve still reverted back to setting heads in Stymie Bold on our Varityper Comp/Set 3510.

In starting my current Production Processes class on a desktop publishing assignment after ten full weeks of traditional mechanicals with T-square, triangle, and X-acto, I asked them to philosophically discuss several statements about computers and art. One statement said “It is important to learn to design (and do production) by traditional means first, before you work on computers.”

Everyone agreed.

Now, a few philosophical questions for you…Psychologists tells us that the more we get high tech, the more we need high touch. Should students set “foundry type” (simulating the way metal type used to set up) the cut it up by X-acto to kern and improve letterfit before they manipulate it electronically on a computer screen? I think the answer is “yes.” I adopted this assignment, developed by David Bullock, for the first time last fall in my own Typography class. Can the beginning student in the graphic arts “get the feel” of type without ever touching individual letters…like indicating them on a rough or tight comp? Perhaps not. Can you proofread copy on the screen as easily as printing out and reading a hard copy? I know I cannot. Will my production classes always do some assignments by T-square and triangle before moving to electronic means? Yes, most likely.

The more I feel comfortable with this additive new medium, the more I will convert some aspects of my own design work to it. But, I’m still going to do some work by traditional means both now and (probably…) in the future. I like touching artwork; and I’ll always make sure my students have the opportunity to do it, too.

-John K. Landis

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Work In Progress

Art Educators listen to guest speakers as part of Dr. Julia Hovanec’s course; Extending Literacy: Visual Thinking & Learning in Art & Beyond Workshop at Sharadin Art Building, July 18, 2019.

A few months ago, I had a particularly bad case of twenty-four-hour virus…you know, the kind during which you feel so vile you can’t understand why you don’t just die. In my dark mood I visualized my death, a small headline in a local paper “K. U. prof dies suddenly,” but I especially reflected upon everything that would be left undone if I really did die…

The lunch dishes weren’t washed. They lay strewn about the kitchen, too far from the sink full of soapy water to keep food from hardening on plate and pot and making it doubly difficult for my survivor to clean. There was a manuscript for a magazine article in my typewriter; the power was on and the carriage was even set at an indent tab, waiting for the beginning of my next paragraph which would never come. I was on sabbatical and taking nine graduate credits. Three professors would wonder what happened to me—I’d be a phantom to them, like I call some of my undergraduate students when they just disappear from class. A blister-pack cassette able for my specialty audio producer client in Washington would be deserted midway through production. My wife, nineteen-year-old daughter, and thirteen-year-old son would have to divide up chores of collecting trash, bringing in mail, and replacing a dead smoke detector battery. The family dog would not even have his late afternoon ball throw that he lives for each day. My life was a series of works, however humble, in the process of progressing towards goals.

I’ve been particularly conscious of the process of art as opposed to the finished product. When I returned from sabbatical, I began teaching a course in Visual Thinking, during which finished products are minimal or nil, but the successful process of how to think is the goal.

Life is a continuing process: a trying, doing, striving, failing, succeeding. As sorry as I felt for Olympics participants who traveled all that distance to end up in 32nd place, having made the Olympic team should’ve been enough (yes, I know, try telling the 4th place finisher that!). But perhaps more important was just the fact that they participated in the sport of Alpine skiing or luge or boxing or swimming.

Once in a while, back off from believing you are judged by your achievements. The very word implies a conclusion, a finality. Enjoy the process along the way. The greed of today often suggests we should achieve the goal by any means possible; but remember the legendary advice that it’s far better to compete, getting dusty and bloodied in the arena, and lose the contest, than to sit in the stands and watch.

I guess it’s evident that I recovered. There was no obit, the article got typed, I finished my courses and even the dishes. But I decided when I do go through the pearly gates, it’s going to be at speed. I want to be make blurred action on the negative so that you’d have to set your camera at a high shutter speed to stop me. I want to be fully involved in the process of whatever I’m doing, and that’ll make my life a successful product.

-John K. Landis

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It Just Wouldn’t Work, No Matter What He Did.

The high tech laser printer wouldn’t put any image whatsoever on the left end of a #10 envelope, even though the second semester senior ran it through time and again.

Everything on the screen showed all systems normal…positioning was well within live area, the envelope was fed into the right tray properly and a new bottle of toner awaited whatever images would be demanded.

So, he came to me, first asking if I knew what was wrong (no, I didn’t even know laser printers could print on converted envelopes without jamming), and if I knew of any other place that could print his self-promo logo on the end of an envelope, one for this Wednesday’s class an about 49 others for use in resume mailings for a job search.

Several calls to trusted service bureaus produced nothing. Screen process printing was a considered option (he had Serigraphy this semester), but we both knew nine point type would plug the screen after just three or four prints. Photocopying on a piece similar colored paper to be pieced on seemed…well, pieced on.

And, he just wouldn’t go away. It was as if he sensed I had some solution I hadn’t yet given him. It was one of those times I just wished I could hear the successful bottom line to the problem in a few weeks when I’d be looking at a handsome comp and hearing how he had resolved it on his own and learned a tremendous amount in doing so.

Finally, a light came on in my brain when he said he needed that small production run in addition to the supercomp. Letterpress—the oldest form of printing, whereby a raised, backward-reading plate can print on a smooth surface—sounded like a solution. I sent him to an Allentown printer who still ran letterpress jobs on an ancient platen press. Custom photoengraving, a zinc plate mounted type-high on a block of pine, could lay its image on the envelopes, one for supercomp needed in class, and 49 others to invest in job-getting. And, letterpress would make a reasonably low unit cost for the very small printing run.

The moral of the story…? Sometimes you need to know when to pick up a pencil or an X-Acto knife instead of a mouse. And, as a late 20th Century visual problem solver, you sometimes need to step back 100 years instead of the usual and expected forward.

-John K. Landis

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Virus causes festering creativity

By Ann Lemon

As my graduate school professors constantly reminded us, designers are “artists, first.” Our intuitive response to life is to observe it, imagine it, and record it visually.

Around the world artists, musicians, writers, illustrators and designers are responding to and documenting the Covid-19 pandemic. These artifacts are accumulating as a collective journal and will become part of our American (global) historical record.

I wanted to give our students in Historical Survey of Graphic Design (B) a chance to process and express their thoughts, opinions and emotions about the crisis we are all living through.

For their final assignment I asked students to collect facts from credible, scientific sources such as the C.D.C. and W.H.O., and identify a favorite specific piece of design discussed in the course. They then replicated their chosen artist’s style to create a poster that deals with some aspect of the pandemic.

The practice of trying to dissect and match a designer’s style (I call it “match the hatch” – as in fly fishing) gets students to discern small differences in typography, color, and other design elements, and discover the principles used by their predecessors. Dissecting and then replicating the elements of another designer’s work expands our design vocabulary.

I believe that if a student REALLY understands and identifies with the work of just one or two artists they hadn’t heard of before this class – really deeply integrates them into their consciousness – the course is a success.

A designer friend says she will never forget the exact place she was sitting in a classroom when she first saw the work of William Morris. I still remember the student project I did as an undergraduate, about Alexey Brodovitch. To this day, when I come across his work, or a reference to it in a contemporary piece, I feel like he is “my” guy.

The resulting posters delighted and amazed me. I honestly did not expect this level of ingenuity and creativity. Some of them are funny, some are deeply insightful, others convey important facts in surprising ways.

I hope that by “standing on the shoulders” of these design giants, these students will never forget the spring of 2020, or the artist they learned about in the middle of the strangest semester in history.

See if you can identify their references!

 

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HERE IT IS! Your KUCD Yearbook!

A giant THANK YOU to Rebekah Fair for her hard work. She designed the cover and many of the interior pages. Thank you to her internship mentor at First Generation, Liz Harer (KUCD) for overseeing the project. Thank you to the faculty and students who contributed pages. It has certainly been a labor of love.

Download Yearbook!

If you would like a printed copy, there are two options available on Blurb, a hard cover version (https://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/8685454/b535709638c28f1bdef169856d663ab8632d0aac)
and a soft cover version (https://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/8685443/c68e69d778987d3a674fc0f10cadb900fc623b25).
We are making $0 on this.

Congratulations to all of you who are graduating!

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Meet Rebekah Hanover Pettit —MFA student

Hello. My name is Rebekah Hanover Pettit.

After a previous life in audio visual production, I went back to school to become a designer. I’m an obsessive learner, and now work as a senior graphic designer at a D.C. cultural site and non-profit.

Why I decided to go back to grad school…

I decided to go to grad school for two reasons. I’ve taught as an adjunct and LOVE it. But I also believe in design and designers. Because design is experience and perspective and interaction it has the potential to bring positive change to individuals and communities.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the chance to pursue my MFA. Most programs require you to go full-time, uproot your family, or take on astounding amounts of debt. Finding KU is helping me fulfill a dream I didn’t think would ever be possible.

Tell us about/describe your KUCD MFA journey thus far…

So starting, actually starting, has been and emotional rollercoaster. I already had a full life with work and family, and the week before I started I was given some big, additional responsibilities at work. So I really questioned if I should perhaps delay another year, but I decided to not let circumstances and surprises derail my plans. It’s going to be a lot of work, and I’m carving out every minute I can find. I’ve also discovered a lot of support, from coworkers who share research or offer to assist with editing to artists I’ve commissioned who just provide that extra boost of encouragement and reassurance.

Honestly, Journey Week might be a little bit of a blur. It’s a lot of work. It’s exhausting, and it’s a bit of a shock to the system. But it’s also about getting your head in the game at the level you want to be and pushing each other to dig deeper and go further. I just need to remember to bring a much larger refillable mug for my coffee refills.

What has been your favorite project to date? Please tell me why.

I’m currently examining how experiential design can include or exclude cultural diversity, as well as taking a deep dive into non-Latin-based typography. Both are topics that are important to me and immediately relevant to my day job.

Fun fact about you.

  • I can’t whistle. Although I try, frequently, when working out a problem. I’m surprised none of my co-workers has complained…yet.
  • I have far too many interests for any one individual: I like to pretend I have a green thumb, and so far the blueberries have survived to year 2. I’ve tried to make most everything from scratch at least once. The crackers still need some work. I’m great with bread. Yogurt continues to be a complete failure.

  • I also play or played several instruments. Although those skills have been getting a bit rusty prepping for this program, they have served me well. I am able to make up silly songs for my preschool daughter on command.

  • And I don’t care what anyone says, the “old fashion” or “cake” donuts are the BEST. I consume a fair amount of coffee (don’t we all!). I prefer it black and keep a remarkable amount of equipment at home to make it…none of which require electricity.

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Meet Jen Pepper—MFA student

Hello my Name is… Jen Pepper!
I am a graphic designer and wedding stationer living on the coast of New England with my husband and our corgi. I’ve spent my design career branding small businesses, designing catalogs, creating a line of home goods, and illustrating crazy-cool wedding invitations.

Why I decided to go back to grad school…

I decided to pursue my MFA in design so that I can pass on my skills and knowledge by becoming a college professor in graphic design.

Tell us about/describe your KUCD MFA journey thus far…

I am thrilled to be on the MFA journey, and it already has made me look at life a little differently. There are only so many hours in a given week, so what I choose to take on has to be worth it. Finding a work-life balance has always been a little tricky. Add school into the mix, and it has forced me to think more about what I can fit on my plate, and what I can feel good about declining.

Journey week is the first week of the semester, and it’s a little bit of a mystery coming into the program. Will I be the oldest person there? (our group is well balanced with those who are starting their design careers and those who have been in the business for a while) Will I be intimidated by other people’s design skills? (everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, don’t compare yourself to other people. Stretch your abilities and yourself!) Will I survive this? (Yes. You may be exhausted, but you will love it!) Think of it as a process that will guide you to what you will ultimately be working on for the rest of the semester.

Throw caution to the wind, let your guard down and get to know the people who make up your crazy little pack of grad students. You’ll laugh, you might cry (totally cool if you do!), and you might end up telling these people way more about yourself that you ever thought you would! It’s kind of like starting a secret club with a random group of strangers who end up having way more in common than you thought possible. There will be late nights, there may be early mornings, but most of all, it will be a process that you need to trust.

What has been your favorite project to date? Please tell me why.

During journey week, one of the concepts I ended up exploring was the overwhelming popularity of making products pink to appeal to women. I don’t like the color pink and it got me asking, why does this happen so often? The history behind the color pink being for girls and blue being for boys is a contrived one. At one point it was dependent upon which department store you shopped in. This semester I’ve been writing an article that showcases a few additional ways women are often marketed to, why they don’t work, and what could be done to correct this behavior. I’ll also be examining the packaging of body products that are sold to men and women with different packaging. I hope to determine that gender-neutral packaging would attract more consumers.



Fun fact about you.

When I’m not stuck at my desk working, you might find me at a local bar hosting pub quiz or playing Ms. Pacman. I wear flip flops until it snows. I am also mildly obsessed with…Polar Seltzer (Yes, to Cherry lime-ade, and a hard pass on plain lemon). Walt Disney World (if you ever need an unofficial tour guide, I’m all yours). Those cheese and meat gift trays that appear during the holidays (who designs those geometric arrangements, and can I please shadow you for a week?) And binge watching repeats of Parks and Recreation.

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