Portfolio

Erick YoungGraphic Designer

For this project I created my own publication. After

going to local bookstores and scrolling through many

different magazines, I decided to go with a more

contemporary style that would make my publication

resemble a book more than street magazines. I

wanted the publication to be one based in SF and

to be a monthly free magazine that would showcase

new fashion, festivals, local free events or days,

restaurants, and bars/club -- thus giving the publication

the name: San Francisco Living.

San Francisco Living

San Francisco Livinga contemporary magazine ISSUE 1 February 2011

Inspirational artist of the month

Ryan McGinleyFashion Choices · Resturants & Bars · Free days in the city · Festivals to save for

I used the Baskerville Family for the typetreatment. This font has a very contemporary look that I felt meshed with my use of overall white space and vibrant imagery.

I went with a different look for the page set up: rather than the usual concept of having page numbers on the bottom corners, I put them in the top middle following “Magazine 1”.

Within the magazine I quoted famous artists such as Ryan McGinley, Jo Metson Scott, Marc Jacobs, and Stendhal as well as featuring famous festivals such as Coachella and Burning Man.

I wanted to showcase two free events per issue that occur in the Bay Area for San Francisco residents including anything from street shows to free admission at local museums. Rather than simply advertising the event, I wanted to touch the reader by explaining the history and underlying concept of each event.

I chose to go with full justification for the body paragraphs to keep an overall clean feel and an elegant look. I made all of the type the same size and emphasized each photographer with Italics.

The type for the Table of Contents in the beginning of the magazine is pulled throughout the whole publication and re-represented before each topic is discussed.

I used this method to exude a European feel and make the publication appear more upscale. I felt that the use of overall white space would give the structure of the words more character.

In each issue the magazine would showcase two major “festivals” that occur outside of The City that can include anything from a rock concert to wine tasting. This would suggest fun events that the reader may save up for or plan a vacation to in order to get out of San Francisco for a bit.

Every issue would exude a similar look and feel. The basic layout, type, and overall design of the magazine would remain constant from issue to issue; of course, however, the cover art and body copy would change.

For this project, I created a new menu for Pisco Latin Lounge in San Francisco. I took photos of the space and checked out the menu myself over dinner in order to get a feel of the atmosphere. Utilizing the information that I gathered and how I felt in the environment, I put together this menu intended to represent the establishment as a a cute but classy cocktail lounge with a “tapas” style menu.

Resturant Menu Redesign

For the exterior of the menu, I chose a dark-brown leather material and canvas over a cardboard structure that exudes a classy look while maintaining the fun Latin feel of the restaurant. I utilized an 80% recycled “tan” colored paper for the pages of the menu-not only because using recycled paper is good for the environment, but also because these papers have a fibrous texture to them that I feel adds more dimension. I bound everything together with regular paper glue, both exterior and interior.

I went with the Helvetica type family for the type treatment for the menu because I felt that it tied in with the “simple, yet classy” concept that I had inadvertently created. I wanted to create a well-structured logo design that would match the overall layout of the whole menu, so I used Helvetica Regular and Helvetica Light for the typeface choices.

The menu was created with an “up and down” method so that the guest will look at the page for a longer period of time and generally follow the planned menu order. My overall goal is that a guest should be able to easily read the menu and smoothly scroll through the selection.

Re-Designing and branding three local events in San Francisco. Crystal Castles / The Black Ryder / Lykke Li

I created a gig poster for one of my favorite bands,

Crystal Castles. I began the process by taking images

out of magazines and creating collages; at some

point through the process I created my own diamond

illustration in Adobe Illustrator. I created tons of small

collages, and at the end chose one main image and

began to play around with different elements and colors.

I attempted to interpret the band onto it’s advertisement

with words like vibrant and loud in mind. I wound up

with a bright pink background that seems to match the

colors that shine out in their shows, and went with a bold

typeface representing the bold sound that Alice Glass,

the band’s lead singer, emits on stage. The faces of the

women give the poster a retro feel with the choice of a

bold color background. For the smaller informational

text, I chose the Helvetica family to give the quote, “You

must work in symmetry, you must earn their empathy”

both meaning and symmetry. On my free time, I also

created two more gig posters for the bands, Lykke Li

and The Black Ryders. Both of these bands have a

dark feel to their music, so I wanted to portray that in

each poster’s design. For Lykke Li, I went with a mirror

imagery design (a favorte in her music videos) and edited

pictures of an amazon woman to represent the strength

that she projects as an artist. I used the triangles to show

the effect of being hypnotized by her edgy voice. For the

Black Ryders’ poster, I went with a more gothic feel to

incorporate the echo sound and dark tones that radiate

throughout their tracks. The bats represent a similar

concept as to the feel of the music, and connect with the

name of the band, The Black Ryders.

Gig Posters

SFSL

LIGHT ONE UP WITH MORNING BREATH

Although this was one of my first publications, I chose to

design and create my very own local magazine called SFSL,

San Francisco Street Life. SFSL is a meant to be a weekly

magazine that could be found at local shops around Haight

Street in San Francisco and throughout the city in many

different locations including coffee shops and clothing stores

or boutiques. SFSL is an eye-catching, educational-yet-hip

publication that reaches out from ages 18 to 35 years of age

in the San Francisco Bay area by spreading knowledge of the

street art movement currently occurring in San Francisco!

San Francisco Street Life

In each issue, the front cover would showcase the main artist of the week who would also be featured in four pages within the magazine.

The beginning of the magazine introduces three events that occur within the issuing month. SFSL would also present the readers with interesting upcoming art shows and releases at local galleries featuring local artists from the bay area.

Featured in the centerfold would be major artists that have become inspirations to the bay area in general—such as Sam Flores, Mike Giant, Blaine Fontana, and Jeff Soto.

I used Myriad Pro for the type-font throughout the magazine. I stuck with a two-column grid and used a lot of white space to bring attention directly to the images.

The task for this project was to choose an alcohol bottle (wine or

liquor) and create a new product and logo utilizing the Linocut

technique (when you use a sheet of Linoleum as the relief surface).

I created my own illustration and printed it onto a linoleum

block, carved it out with the essential tools, and printed that

image onto paper. Using the programs Adobe In-Design and

Adobe Illustrator, I edited and created my own logo design for my

own Vodka liquor. I chose Vodka because it is a major product

sold in the San Francisco Bay area and also has a high market

throughout the world. I created the product quote, “Rather

than pour your Vodka over ice, pour it over Diamonds—and

class it up with Diamond Vodka”.

Diamond Vodka

This logo concept would have been established in 1987 and comes in 3 f lavors: Lemon, Apple, and Peach. It would be 45% alcohol by volume, or 90 proof.

For the typeface treatment, I went with Helvetica Bold to exude a contemporary look and to stay within the Vodka label genre. For my smaller cases, I used Edwardian Font to give the whole product a classic feel.

For each flavor, the colors of the Diamonds as well as the color of the outline of the Diamond Vodka label changes to match the flavor.

The background is black in order to make the neon colors of my Diamond illustration and the Helvetica typeface stand out well.

For this project I created an illustration card series meant for people to send to

friends or family. I chose Albert Einstein as my inspiration out of respect and

because I thought it would be different and unique. The illustrations on the

cards represent concepts or inventions put forth by Mr. Einstein. These include

science, time, the atom, electricity, the nuclear bomb, and the Mass-Energy

Equivalence (E=mc^2). I chose to combine his theories with my own illustration

design, which is represented by a skull with enormous eyes (the symbolism is

that you are actually seeing through his eyes into his mind), I illustrated these

with pencil, copic pen, prisma markers and regular illustration paper. The cards

are meant to be appropriate for any circumstance or occasion as an up-lifting

card series that can match to any event. Albert Einstein was a remarkable man

and this series showcases his amazing contributions to the world.

Card Series and Packaging

I constructed the packaging using spray paint and hard card stock to keep a regular box sized feel and Helvetica for the typeface.

The goal for this project was to make the two most important things in my career

captivate an audience and to help further their knowledge on the importance of type

and design. I created a poster that incorporates two of my favorite principles in the

graphic arts: design and type. After long deliberation, I decided to incorporate two

quotes from a couple of my favorite typographers into the design itself. I used a

triangular approach rather than a box or circular dimension. I designed the triangles

with a bright pink color, but the rest of the layout and design was black and white so

that the elements would stand out and connect better with the type-face. I chose to

go with one of my favorite type-faces, Helvetica; which is also mentioned in one of

the quotes. I envisioned this poster as one that could be found in city streets or coffee

shops. The poster is intended to give special meaning to type and design and to

show the viewer the importance of both. I wanted the viewer to be captured by one

simple color choice and then be hypnotized to read what the poster offers in context.

I used Adobe In-design and Photoshop, dimensions are 18”x24”.

“Typographical designshould perform opticallywhat the speaker createsthrough voice and gestureof his thoughts.” ‒El Lizzitsky

“Wouldn’t it be interesting if there were only one typeface in the world? Designers would really have to think about the idea behind their designs instead of covering it up with fancy typefaces. One, universal typeface would really strip away all the flashy emptiness in design. And, of course, that one typeface would have to be Helvetica.” ‒Erick Kessels

“There are five virtues: accuracy, literacy, a strong hand, industriousness, and the perfect writing utensils.” ‒Mr. Ali Khoravi

DESIGN

“If you see beauty in everything, you are an artist.”

Typography Poster

“It stays with you and keeps vibirating and echoing”

- The New York Times

Theresa Dunn was a young teacher by day. But when the sun

went down, she was restless and dissatisfied and prowled the

singles bars, going home with men she’d never seen before

and wouldnt see again. Afraid of real attachments, she took her

chances on men who didn’t want them either, and learned that

going to bed with a stranger was only the beginning.

LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR

“LOOKING FOR MR.GOODBAR makes us care....

becuase we know there are Theresa Dunns in our lives, in our offices.”

- The wall Street Journal

LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR

BY JUDITH ROSSNER

JUD

ITH RO

SSNER

LOOKING FORMR. GOODBAR

For this project, I re-created a book cover for the book, Looking

for Mr. Goodbar. In order to make the images on the front

cover and spine “pop”, I utilized an all-white background for

the entire book cover. I also used the concept represented in

the book of, “the difference between day and night” for the art

and typography. To tie everything together, the title includes

black typography on a white background and white with a black

background, as well as a lipstick/knife on the spine, and a half

teacher half seductress cover image. I went with full justification

and Helvetica type font to continue the type-font pallete.

Book Cover