KatieMacLachlan

I'm Bad at Blogging

2009-12-17T23:11:00.002-05:00

I just can't seem to find the time to write posts. I've been super busy lately with freelance work and an exciting new website that I came up with and am now in the process of designing/coding (it's going to be AWESOME). Of course this means that updating my website (design and content) will have to be put on hold for the the time being. I did recently put up some new-ish stuff and I reordered my navigation. I should have a few more pieces to go in soon so keep checking in for the next two weeks.

Logo process

2009-09-22T21:34:00.003-04:00

For all of you who think that coming up with logos is a quick and easy process, I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. A lot of work goes into coming up with the perfect mark for a business, product, etc. Think about how much that one symbol, icon, logotype must say and how efficiently it must say it. I could go on forever about the intricacies of this process, but for now I am just going to show you a screengrab of a day and a half's work on one logo including color palette tests, font exploration and icon development.

Keep in mind this is extremely zoomed out (it had to be to get it all on one image). I'll keep you posted on the progress on this logo and the future development of the website that I am also designing for this client.

Nuggets of Wisdom

2009-09-01T22:17:00.004-04:00

Someone once told me that for every speech/presentation/conference there is at least one nugget of information that makes it all worth it. So far, I have found this to be absolutely true. There is always that one point, once you sift through the not-so-modest portfolio display (most of which you could have seen online for free) there is at least once tip or trick that makes it all worth it. This is also usually the case with design books, especially one in particular. Michael Bierut's 79 Short Essays on Design is quiet possibly the best book out there for valuable nuggets of wisdom. It's filled with more than just fluff about design. Here is just a little taste from "On (Design) Bullshit":

"Bullshit is not designed primarily to give its audience a false belief about whatever state of affairs may be the topic, but that its primary intention is rather to give its audience a false impression concerning what is going on in the mind of the speaker.' It follows that every design presentation is inevitably, at least in part, an exercise in bullshit...In discussing design work with their clients, designers are direct about the functional parts of their solution to obfuscate like mad about the intuitive parts, having learned early on that telling the simple truth – 'I don't know, I just like it that way'–simply won't do".

In short, you should buy this book.

Internet Persona

2009-08-31T12:54:00.005-04:00

We live in a world where everyone is constantly obsessed with how they are viewed (if you are one of those people who says they don't, your a liar. You care. Even if it is just a little.) This is especially important to note when it comes to the internet (hello social media). We create endless profiles for each sector of our life in order to create something like the window shop display to our personal store, a glance of what we have on the inside meant to draw outsiders in. Like a store, usually this is all for some sort of benefit to us whether it is networking, socializing, selling something, etc. With each of these sites, there is a format that inherently dictates the framework (the window, if you will) for what we want to put out there. With sites like LinkedIn, the frame is professional, while Twitter is informal and friendly. People use this aspect to their advantage in a effort to control their display. But what becomes of all this effort? How do people see me via the internet?

Well (in classic, cheesy infomercial tone) there is hope! ... Sort of. Aaron Zinman of MIT has created a program called Personas that upon entering your name will spit out not only an evaluation of your "display" but in doing so will give you a display of pretty colors and information on where you stand out on the internet.

While I see the intrigue and was myself compulsed to try it out, I definitely have questions and critique on the whole thing. I'll start with the questions:
1) What happens to those who have very common names? What is the accuracy? Can it even be calculated?
2) How were the categories decided? Why are religion and religious two seperate categories?
3) How is the order of the categories arranged? Is it arbitrary? By importance?
4) Where are the sources pulled from?
5) How many categories are there?

Now for some critique on my own persona search. My name is Katelyn MacLachlan, but I have always gone by Kate or Katie. When I searched for my full name I got the message "No Digital Traces Found". hmm. Ok so next I tried Katie. This worked better...in the sense that I got a result. There were 10 sources, some of which were definitely me, and some which I think were about some woman in a legal battle with my same name.

Ok, so how about Kate?

KATE MACLACHLAN IS A PRECAMBRIAN PROJECT GEOLOGIST WITH SASKATCHEWAN MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND RESOURCES
^this popped up as the one and only source.

As you can see, the accuracy might not be quite there (good luck all you John Smiths), but it still is kind of fun to see what comes up and I can see it being used as a sort of google analytics/web optimization tool. Couldn't hurt right?

If you want to try it yourself, check it out here.

Hurrah!!

2009-08-04T21:51:00.003-04:00

So I have been interning at Bad Feather for one month now (two months to go) and I just moved into a new place in Boerum Hill. We are in the process of wrapping up my first project (labels for a farmer's goods) and hopefully I will have some stuff to post soon. I have also been trying to sketch (well for those of you who know me, it is more like doodling...or drawing things that look like they should be tattoos) so maybe when I pick up my scanner from home (next weekend?) I will post some of that too.

I want this...

2009-07-28T10:58:00.003-04:00

It's like Polaroid and Diana+ had a baby. I want to steal said baby (or get someone to buy it for me). Check it out.

INSPIRATION #2

2009-06-30T22:10:00.003-04:00

Beautiful video. I love the concept and the execution of the stop-motion. I particularly love the moments with the scarf and when she starts leaping from "cloud" to "cloud".

Old Typeface. New Discovery.

2009-06-22T19:17:00.004-04:00

So I found this old project from experimental type where I made a modular typeface. At the time, we only had to make it in illustrator. Since I just discovered Fontstruct I thought I would turn it into an actual typeface. The program is a little confining (I couldn't adjust the gap within the letters based on the letter or size of the font among other issues) but it was fun to play around with it.

NOTE: I'm not sure what the mysterious dot is over the "Z" and I couldn't get rid of it. It doesn't show up when you use the font.

Inspiration #1

2009-06-22T13:17:00.005-04:00

So I've decided that since I haven't been producing much of value lately, I would post some sources of inspiration. I generally go through phases where I write down a bunch of ideas and just absorb new experiences in order to "jolt" my creativity. What usually ends up happening is that I get overwhelmed with new ideas and then it takes a little while before they manifest into projects. Since I'm in one of these gathering phases right now, I will try and post some of the sources of inspiration.

found on one of my favorite sites: thearchive.org>>

I love watching the old cartoons, home movies and commercials.

Interviews

2009-06-18T18:22:00.002-04:00

I have to say that despite how nerve-wracking they may be, I really do like to go to interviews, which is good since that is all I have been doing lately. I like to see what kinds of questions different firms ask and what their offices are like. The traveling is nice too. What is your favorite question to ask interviewees?

I have an interview tomorrow in Brooklyn so wish me luck!

Back in Business

2009-06-02T21:26:00.004-04:00

So the lack of posting since I created this blog was due to complications with my website (i.e. I strongly dislike IE. It just can't understand code like Firefox and Safari can). Anyways, since this is a blog to document my process, you can check out my brand spankin' newly coded website, complete with newly documented work to see what I've been working on for the past few weeks. In looking at my portfolio, I found some work that I decided I want to redesign. I feel like a second round would really make the difference and could be lots of fun. I will be posting sketches and such from this "new" project in the next couple of days along with some work on my business cards-to-be.

oh, right. The picture...my dad made a friend in the back yard and decided to feed him. Apparently bunnies don't like the weird stringy lettuce that comes in the Arugala Blend either.

Some Stuff I've Been Working On

2009-05-02T21:33:00.009-04:00

Artwork for a spread in my thesis brochure. All the coins were arranged by hand and then photographed.

And some older work...just because I've been photographing everything.