UAB Design Graduate Awarded CORE77

Last week, Alyssa Lauren Mitchell was awarded a Student Runner-up award in the Packaging category for the Core77 2012 Design Awards program. The project, Split Milk, is for the Earth Fare milk products made of French Paper Company’s Smart White line to employ the mill’s commitment to conservation. The concept highlights a growing trend in America’s eating habits. The cows that appear across the packaging rotates so that the cartons form a shelf stable system and also encourages the consumer to interact with the product.

Recognizing excellence in all areas of design enterprise, the Core77 Design Awards celebrates the richness of the design profession and its practitioners. In 2012 there were 17 categories of entry, providing designers, researchers and writers a unique opportunity to communicate the intent, rigor and passion behind their efforts. From client work to self-initiated projects, entrepreneurial to pro-bono engagements, the Core77 Design Awards embrace a wide diversity of enterprise: commercial, cultural, social, environmental and discursive.

For more information about the full awards program please go to Core77DesignAwards.com

UAB Designer Teas featured on Project Splash

One of UAB's Introduction to Graphic Design projects is featured on Project Splash this month. The project titled, "Designer Teas," is an introductory project where design students are paired with historic designers as a way to interact with and build their own aesthetic. Student research other designers such as, El Lissitsky, Art Chantry, David Carson, Paul Rand, Lester Beall, etc., and use there work as a collaborative spring board to inspire their own work.

The project also requires considering the work in 3D and building a box from a template, using those all important craft skills!

UAB Design Graduate Crafts New Magazine

UAB Design student graduate, Courtney Kyle spent the last three months art directing, creating and crafting her first major publication. The premier issue of the craft magazine "Stitch, Craft, Create" hits the newsstand this month with 130 pages of fantastic crafts and holiday ideas, all from right here in Alabama. Kyle worked on the magazine for Hoffman Media, LLC. an Alabama company. She lent her talents to typesetting and laying out pages as well as designing several of the craft projects herself. She was even responsible for creating directions for subscribers to follow to successfully create the crafts themselves. Courtney told us she loved all the hands-on opportunities that designing and creating a large-scale craft publication entails. On the newsstand October 18, 2011.

UAB Design Student in the Big Apple!

UAB Graphic Design student, Cana Grooms, spent the summer in the big apple interning with home design guru and bon vivant Jonathan Adler. She worked for 3 months on everything from basic patterns and color palettes to a redesign of the Adler product tags that will be used in all their stores. Talking about her experience Grooms said, "I was given tons of freedom. I would be given a basic idea of what the project was and the concept, and then allowed to ramble through designs and present the strongest ones at the end of the day." Cana was given free reign on many of the projects she touched, including the design of the 2011 Holiday Look Book. Talking about life in NYC, "Its crazy and wonderful at the same time, there is so much creative inspiration in the city. There is an energy that constantly renews your creative spirit."  

I want!

Yet another feature I must have on my own card!  Local design student, letterpress owner and bon vivant Patrick Masterson showed me a sample of his latest work. The effect, called "edging" is done by stacking 200 cards together, then airbrushing the color, by hand, on the edges. Apparently the rage right now with the "in" crowd. It is really striking in person! I asked if there was anything stopping him from doing it in GOLD, and his answer.. in perfect Patrick tone "good taste?"

These are printed on Crane-Lettra, letterpress paper by Crane. http://www.cranepaper.com/lettra/home.html