Class is finally done. Hoorah! Pat yourself on the back, boys and girls, because we’ve made it. Enjoy your holiday and winter break. Before you know it, it will be January and the start of a new semester. I hope  we’ll all keep in touch. For those of you going to the Sketch Crawl, I’ll see you out in the cold!

As I work on the revision for the instructional booklet, I’m testing out various colors for the hands in the instructions. Below are three options. What are your thoughts?

No Color Option

25% Black Option

25% PMS 4535 Option

Here are some of my favorite spreads from the next issue of Marinalife. I am pleased with how the Florida Keys layout turned out, and the San Diego layout started to grow on me.

Ever wondered how you can bind your own book without outsourcing the job to a bindery? Here’s a wonderfully excellent guide from No Media Kings on how to do just that. The guide breaks everything down from supplies to step-by-step instructions and everything in between. Happy binding!

After three all-nighters (Thursday, Sunday, and Monday), it is time to send the next issue of Marinalife magazine to the printer. The files are ready; the disc sits anxiously on the desk. All that is needed is the final OK from the client tomorrow morning. Once the files have gone to print, I might have to spend some time reintroducing myself to my mattress.

A bubblegum ad created by Leo Burnett in Sao Paulo for Arcor bubble gum. A great find by The Cool Hunter.

I worked at a movie theatre during college. I was a manager there, and managed to score a few movie posters. The posters were printed on translucent paper since they were posted on lightboxes and hung on the wall. They are rather large, and I’ve been keeping them rolled up in the corner of my closet.

I’m working on a story spread for a magazine layout right now. Searching for a nice pull quote to help fill the page, I ran smack dab into this monstrosity:

Late fall and winter brings windy conditions to the region and offshore action slows considerably though you can expect to find glass-calm conditions offshore during the prime months of May to early November when you’ll have the best chance at catching blue marlin, striped marlin, black marlin, sailfish, dorado, wahoo and yellowfin tuna.

Would anyone like to apply the methods used in Sin and Syntax to decipher what the writer of this sentence is trying to say?

By now, everyone has seen the spoof on YouTube teasing Microsoft’s packaging habits, and mocking the company using a fictional redesign of the Apple iPod box. If you haven’t seen it, here it is:

The spoof above is over two years old. And in that time, I think Microsoft has done a better job at packaging their product. Just take a look at their case for Vista. Microsoft has slowly, over time, gotten to this point.

I don’t think the casing is bad, and I rather like it. It is much cleaner than their earlier brands, and that’s a good thing. I’m not sure if I’m liking the big ol’ Windows Vista icon though. It looks like it was an afterthought.

Another issue of Marinalife magazine is underway. This will be my second issue designing the magazine, after tackling a complete redesign the first time around three months ago. San Diego is a featured destination in the upcoming issue, scheduled for delivery in early January.

I’m headed out to San Diego shortly after the magazine arrives, so this story greatly interests me. Below is the opening spread of the current design.

I’ve also included a two-page spread for a featured marina in the magazine. Hawk’s Cay, somewhere in the Florida Keys.

I’m not sure what my thoughts are on either of these designs right now. Pretty straight-forward. The type is very difficult to read in the San Diego image, but it shows up fine in print. I like the Hawk’s Cay layout, but it isn’t anything exciting or original. The client likes it, and that is the most important thing.