Creation and Discovery

2010-03-01T01:33:00.006-06:00

These are the different layers of my screen print. The design is based off of my advanced graphic design project, in which i looked at the square and different textures. For this screen-print, I used rubylith to create my design in a reductive manner. The top image shows 2 layers: the first was a yellow square, the second was blue strips... creating more of a green. The next image down is an experiment of turning the same second layer, for more of a checkered look. The third image down cut away more of the rubylith and is printed in purple. The fourth image down again uses the experiment of turing the layer. The fifth and sixth images show my final screenprint. It has the final layer of red added to it.

I had a lot of success with the rubylith and hope to continue using it in the future.

Newest Version

2010-02-25T21:55:00.001-06:00

New Version of the last post.

2010-02-25T16:57:00.004-06:00

Been trying to revamp some old pieces for my portfolio, in between everything else I have to do. Here's an updated version of my systems poster. Assignment: Deconstruct a photo and put it back together , in an alternative way, using information gathered from photoshop.

This is just a screengrab, so sorry about the not so great quality.

Hot off the Press!

2009-07-07T16:42:00.010-05:00

A project that I was working on at my internship for the Minnesota Zoo just came back from the Press today. My job was to design the text side of the brochure/map that people would pick up at the zoo entrance. I also had to choose appropriate imagery. The map on the other side (not shown) was done by Brian Magnet

This project was a lot of fun and forced me to deal with different variables such as: a set size, a set fold with 5 panels, to be kept simple and readable, images must be next to attraction descriptions, everything in english must have a spanish translation.

arabic mark on bill????

2009-07-07T15:31:00.004-05:00

I found this mark on one of my $5 bills recently. I am wondering if anyone knows what it means. It appears to have a calligraphy writing of either persian or arabic. Not sure if the object has any symbolism either. Cool find either way. I would love to hear from you if you know what this is. Thanks!

Black Forest

2009-06-11T20:22:00.002-05:00

Coaster from a recent visit to a local German restaurant.

A Home for Papyrus???????

2009-06-11T20:10:00.003-05:00

I have been meaning to post this for awhile, but forgot... so here it is. I got this church bulletin during an Easter Sunday service this year. My parents couldn't understand my disgust at seeing drop shadows and papyrus.... on the same page. I don't know though... maybe papyrus finally has a place as an easter font.... it is a bit thorn looking.....

You be the judge.

Summer Photography

2009-05-26T13:55:00.003-05:00

Back in ideation class I started taking extreme close up pictures of food and other items. I really liked how abstract things looked from that perspective. So I recently had a bit of spare time and have continued the project a bit. I will post the original studies in the future.

MCAD senior show exhibition

2009-05-26T13:47:00.004-05:00

Above: Shots from the recent MCAD senior show from graphic designers: Colin Trechter, Liz Plahn, Aimee Gauthier, and Dylan Lathrop.

The show looked fantastic all around this year and gave me a lot of good ideas for my senior project next year.

Typographic Fiction Video

2009-05-19T20:42:00.005-05:00

Short performance showcasing some of my typographic fiction studies from the semester.

Music: The Faint, "The Geeks were Right"

My Website!!!

2009-04-20T05:22:00.002-05:00

Yea! My website is finally up! Go check it out! www.sonjarostad.com

Ken-Tsai Lee

2009-04-12T19:54:00.003-05:00

I recently came across designer, Ken-Tsai lee while doing research on self promos. I thought his self promotion project was really interesting. He has his name written on a board in several different languages, then takes a picture with the board covering his face in each different location.

I also found his flag projects really interesting. A lot of them were collaging together 2 different countries flags to create a new flag. In this bottom image, it's interesting... because the way the u.s. flag is covering the other flag is less of a combined collage.. and more of a forced presence on top of everything. I like it.

Karlsruhe Graphic Design

2009-03-21T00:17:00.004-05:00

I just found this great page on from Alki1's flicker page. It features work from the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe. It looks like many of the images are from Rambow Studenten - 5 Jahre Grafik-Design an der Staatlichen Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe

(Rambow Students - 5 Years of Graphic Design at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe)

I really like Gunter Rambow's design work and seeing work from his students is really interesting. Their work is really inspiring to see. The top image was designed by Julia Hasting. I like her image because of the look of the cutup imagery and the texture that creates. There's a lot of hidden information to find.

The bottom image was designed by Holger Jost. I like the clean look of this piece.

new typographic fiction studies

2009-03-19T11:55:00.004-05:00

This project is a lot of fun and I keep finding new ways to explore it. For this set, i was using the stamps I made but with colored inks. I also made photocopies of many of my previous experiments and reprinted in both black and color on some of them (the one on the bottom for example). I want to continue to make more pattern designs like the top one and also experiment with more color overlay combinations... but keeping it simple.. like 2 colors.

More collage experiments to come soon as well......

no sleep yet

2009-03-17T10:29:00.003-05:00

Here is the single sheet folded book that I finally finished this morning for my books and broadsides class. It contains newspaper headlines from the past few years dealing with the economy. There are also my own 'personal headlines" in the mix. I then put them together to create the shape of the stock market graph. This was all screenprinted... the type was SO hard to do. I am happy with the project though.. eventually i may add an image on the back side.

typographic fiction

2009-03-12T08:46:00.003-05:00

Here is a look at my current typographic fiction explorations for my graphic design class. On the top two images of my notebook, the left pages are made from stamps, the right side from various pens. The newspaper also incorporates 3 stamps. My goal with this project is to focus on this 2.5 x 2.5 inch square and the texture of how it can be shaded/filled in. How it looks next to a similar square. How it looks on top of something completely different. Basically just a lot of experimenting.

Sonja Rostad Designs

2009-03-11T18:10:00.011-05:00

I've been doing a lot of work on my own personal identity in my professional practice class. Here is a rough idea of where my logo/identity are headed. I like the clean look of it. More to come soon. Comments/Suggestions are always appreciated.

Gauche Illustration

2009-03-11T17:57:00.004-05:00

I thought that I would share some recent illustration work of mine today. Currently I am in an Intro to Illustration class. I've never really taken the time to draw a lot, but I've found that I really enjoy it. The lady image, is done in gauche. It is part of an assignment to illustrate a recipe. When I was doing this piece, I was referencing 30's martini girl posters. I kind of wanted to have a not so sexy food item (meatloaf, specifically mexican meatloaf).. and place a 'sexy' girl with it in the same spirit as those old martini posters. I still need to change the type of the actual recipe for the final, but when I do i'll be posting it. Hopefully my new found love of illustration can work its way into my graphic design work.

Teresa Schebiella

2009-03-10T12:13:00.003-05:00

Also Via Typo/Graphic, I found Teresa Schebiella from Germany. I really like her collage style of mixing illustration into photography for some of her designs. It seems like she has done a lot of work already: designing websites, many logos, posters for events, ect. I feel like using illustration with both type and image for a design makes the end result feel so much different from straight computer generated type. There's more care in the work it seems.

Hey Studio

2009-03-10T11:48:00.005-05:00

Via Typo/Graphic Posters, I have found Hey Studio, a graphic design studio in Spain. Their work feels very symmetrical and fun. It looks like the do all sorts of projects: identities, posters, bags, ect. I think that I like the work because of the bright colors used, the symmetry and patterns, and the clean type. Personally I think that the bottom image that I've posted is especially awesome.

Sunsets

2009-03-09T16:01:00.009-05:00

I came across this really cool page that plots pictures of sunsets on a graph. I found it on Jim Bumgardner's flicker site. He also has many more mosaic collages that he's done on his blog. His description on flicker is that these are:

"Photographs mapped by time. An attempt to use photographs as datapoints in graphs(which in turn tell you something about the photos)."

I think the idea of using photographs in a graph is neat. It allows there to be another layer of information within the graphic map. This must take so long to do!

John Cage

2009-03-09T15:49:00.008-05:00

Lately I've been busy trying to get inspiration for my typographic fiction project and came across John Cage. His musical compositions have been extremely inspiring to my process. From my research of him, it sounds like he left his compositions up to chance. It didn't matter what they sounded like. It was very experimental. In his most famous piece called "4'33", he sat down at a piano and didn't play anything for 4 minutes 33 seconds. He wanted it to be more about the environmental music that was going on. Really interesting ideas.

More Info Graphics!!!

2009-03-03T15:02:00.005-06:00

Since I've been obsessed with infographics... I decided to post more because these relate to my typographic fiction project. Via Ministry of Type, I found Stefanie Posavec on Notcot.com. The images posted are for her posters on Sentence Length. The top image shows sentences she highlighted in a book. I think it's so interesting and beautiful at the same time. Here is Stefanie's website to check out the work in more detail.

Anders Bergh Photography

2009-03-02T14:05:00.010-06:00

A screen grab of the first page of Anders Bergh's Photography site. It was hosted on the DesignCharts Weekly Top 40 Website Design Charts for the week ending Sunday March 8th. I like the look of the website and the transition between the first page and viewing single images. Anders images are also amazing! He uses lighting really well. I would love to get more into photography.

Andrea Desiato

2009-03-02T13:42:00.003-06:00

This was found on the Behance Network: Andrea Desiato's Memento piece. It's an infographics piece done about the movie Momento. I have really been into infographic work and systems lately. They are so complex with information, but the forms they make can be simple and beautiful.

MCBA Letterpress Visit

2009-02-26T22:25:00.004-06:00

Today my graphic design class visited the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and got to make some letterpress prints. Our goal for the day was to just experiment with the type.. no restrictions. Everyone stuck with the same 3 colors of black, red, and a yellow square background, then at the end we all traded our prints.

Above is the final product of my collaboration with Andy from class and a picture taken by Erik Brandt off of Geotypografika. I am very happy with the results. Can't wait to work with letterpress some more in my broadsides class!

Sketchbook

2009-02-25T22:27:00.004-06:00

Speaking of Niessen and DeVries........ I just saw that this book is coming out in May. It's by Timothy O'Donnell and includes work by lots of cool designers: Niessen and DeVries, Marion Bantjes, Michael Bierut, to name a few...Here is the description of the book right from Timothy's website:

Sketchbook: Conceptual Drawings from the World's Most Influential Designers

Sketches provide a truer reflection of a designer's thought processes, preoccupations, and problem-solving strategies than can be had by simply viewing finished projects. Highly personal and idiosyncratic, sketchbooks offer an arena for unstructured exploration — a space free from all budgetary and client constraints. Sketchbook aims to elevate these books — visually arresting objects in their own right — from mere ephemera to important documents that provide valuable insights into the creative process.

Life

2009-02-25T18:50:00.006-06:00

A 4 color screen print done for my Books and Broadsides class. My goal with this piece was to really experiment with color and how they affect each other in different layers. I wish that the yellow layer had been less transparent but overall i'm happy with it. Top is done on yellow paper, Middle is done on Vellum, and the bottom is done on blue handmade paper.

The copy on the piece is my own personal manifesto that I've been trying to live by lately.

Life

In the end, the only opinion that matters is your own.

You are the one who decides, whether or not to

let someone else's judgement bring you down.

They don't like everything about you? So what.

You are yourself. You are not perfect.

You made a mistake? Learn from it and

change things if that is what you desire.

Don't dwell on the past, when there is absolutely

nothing you can do to change it. Only look forward.

Also, don't let your tasks and burdens bring you down.

It's just life. Don't take it so seriously.

Live your life, and everyday...

LAUGH, SMILE, PLAY,

AND HAVE FUN

Design from Amsterdam

2009-02-25T18:40:00.004-06:00

This piece called, "Dicht bij het IJ", was made by Niessen and de Vries for a poetry event. I love how the type feels like a texture and pattern of this 'quilt' but also serves the purpose of providing information. Kinda what I was trying to do with Pixel System 26... hm..

Oh wow, I was just in the library looking at Grafik Magazine and see these guys featured in it!! Crazy.... Good stuff. One thing that was interesting from the magazine was when the guys talked about going to school at the Rietveld.. They said that their teachers told them to basically expect not to make money doing graphic design... and they better be doing it because they like it. interesting.......

Space 150

2009-02-24T10:37:00.004-06:00

Via Ffffound, I came across these great cards for local design studio Space 150, printed by Studio on Fire. I've been really into geometric shapes lately, so these really caught my eye. The colors are great too. The little detail of the cut off corners is also pretty sweet. Getting inspiration for my identity system/stationary set.

Yes! They have it back up!

2009-02-23T13:41:00.006-06:00

Norm has finally got their sign generator back up! It's so amazing... You choose a number of different lines and then the generator creates these different combinations based on those lines. Maybe a bit of influence for my own typographic fiction project.

If you dont know... you should.. and now you do.

Tarek Atrissi Design

2009-02-23T13:07:00.005-06:00

While looking through my bookmarks, I rediscovered this amazing design studio from the Netherlands, Tarek Atrissi. I can't remember how I first found them, but I love the work.

It is really cool to see the combination of arabic and english for much of their work. Here is a logo they made for the country of Qatar. The entire identity system is pretty awesome.

pixel system 26 revisit

2009-02-19T17:11:00.005-06:00

This piece was found on Don Relyea's website about his Hilbert Space Filling Curve Abstract Geometric Art Program. The forms look quite similar to Erik Brandt's Pixel System 26. The coolest thing is that Relyea has created a space generator that fills up the computer screen area with these square shapes. So Awesome! Great inspiration for my typographic fiction project.

The Shape of Song

2009-02-19T17:03:00.004-06:00

A great website I just found yesterday called The Shape of Song. It creates these great graphs of data from each song played, showing the different notes that are occurring. So beautiful.

8 Hour Day

2009-02-14T15:19:00.003-06:00

I am already getting super excited to visit 8 Hour Day in April with my Professional Practice class. This image is from 8 Hour Day's work for interactive agency Atomic Playpen. I absolutely love the geometric shapes and overlapping going on here. Can't wait to see their studio and how they work!

2009-02-10T17:33:00.004-06:00

I was so excited when I found Pascal Zoghibi's blog because he has a post about Lebanese Graffiti. Graffiti can be so beautiful, but has such a bad reputation.

2009-02-10T11:46:00.004-06:00

One of my letraset experiments, inspired by the great Ansel Adams. Sometimes I get my ideas from very random places.

Andrea Tinnes

2009-02-09T13:55:00.008-06:00

While working on an assignment for graphic design, I suddenly remembered this project from Andrea Tinnes that I found last year. This was her poster for Type Jockey, 26 characters designed for Playground. This typeface is so crazy. It is based on a grid of 1000 by 1000 em units divided by 40. Tinnes said that the face is based on the notion of playing. I love that it has so much energy to it. I'd love to apply this level of grid thinking to my typographic fiction project.

Rapheal Vicenzi

2009-02-08T21:39:00.003-06:00

I just discovered illustrator Rapheal Vicenzi, thanks to Ffffound, and I absolutely love his work. I love how he mixes color with simple black and white lines. He also seems to do a lot of hand rendered type in his illustrations. I would like to incorporate this style into my own work.

Pixel System 26 Poster

2009-02-08T20:49:00.005-06:00

These are a few trials of a poster assignment for my graphic design class with Erik Brandt, using his own typeface Pixel System 26 (available through Fontshop). The assignment was to convert text from President Obama's Inaugural Speech, typeset in a previous assignment, and rework the poster using the Pixel System 26 typeface. Original poster size is 24 in x 36 in.

This was a lot of fun for me and I would like to continue exploring these designs further.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-07T15:14:00.006-06:00

As promised I am now writing about the really great movie Slumdog Millionaire. It was directed by Danny Boyle who also directed Trainspotting, 28 days later, to name a few. The story was good, acting was good... and the soundtrack... was absolutely amazing.

To give a brief synopsis of the movie: It involves a boy from India, who is being questioned by police about his recent appearance on the Indian version of 'Who wants to be a Millionaire?'.

There has been controversy about using the word 'dog' in the title, according to BBCNEWS. Here's a short interview with Boyle. It talks about how Boyle set up trustfunds for two of the child actors, who actually come from these 'slums' that are depicted in the movie.

Go See It!!

Influence on the letter A????

2009-02-03T11:29:00.018-06:00

Yesterday I went to the movie Slumdog Millionaire (great movie, I will talk about it later). I looked up at the movie theater and saw the AMC logo, which I've seen many times before. This time, however, the 'A' seemed really interesting to me. When I looked at it, it felt like something else I've seen recently. I immediately thought of arabic calligraphy. I really don't know much about arabic writing, but I thought I remembered this 'A' shape in one of the arabic letterforms. The letter at the top is the medial form of 'meem'. I'm still not sure if this was the letter I was thinking of or not, but the A could almost be a reversed image of this 'meem'. Either way, I think that this is one gorgous looking
letter A.

My First Blog Post Ever!

2009-02-02T14:43:00.001-06:00

So I have decided to start my own blog so that I can share my findings and art with everyone.

To start off my blog, I thought it would be appropriate to post this beautifully complex way of visualizing information. I found this courtesy of Visual Complexit y.

This project is based on visualizing information flow in science. It is a collaboration between The Eigenfactor Projec t and Moritz Stefaner. The project uses a set of 4 interactive visualizations based on the Eigenfactor Metric s and hierarchical clustering in order to explore emerging patterns in citation networks. A subset of the citation data from Thomson Reuters' Journal Citation Reports 1997-2005 was used in this endeavour, which encompassed, at the journal level, approximately 60,000,000 citations from more than 7000 journals over the past decade. Wow!