Michael I. Johnson

For this project, I was tasked with picking a designer from a list spanning a large set of disciplines. After reserachign their work and impact of their field, I was supposed to create a work, or set of works, that would educate others on the significance of their career.  The designer that I chose was Tobias Frere-Jones, a type designer based out of New York. The length to which his work interested me, as some of the typefaces were used by companies that I interacted with almost daily. With that in mind, I created a series of nine posters that detailed the three distinct eras I had noticed in his career. I had taken inspiration from promotional mailers that some type foundries used to advertise their typefaces. I did this with the goal of both bringing more visual interest and more information about each type family. 

The primary task for this project was to redesign full 96-page composition of Johns Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity, while utilizing one of the design concepts outlined in the reading. For this project, I primarily focused on the utilizing the second law, Organize, as I felt the overall structure and readability of the book would be the most important. One of the obstacles that I encountered while working on this project was creating a consistent type language across all the entirety of the book. I wanted ot add variety without visually tiring the reader out. I accomplished this by adjusting the how the columns sat on the page, making usre to add variety as the reader went through the laws.

For this poster project I was taske to create a set of two posters that complemented each other. I created a conecpt stament that tied the message behind each so each poster made sense individually, as well as when they were shown next to each other. After finding some visual inspiration at a local bookstore, i created a series of physical and digital collages. I experimented with multiple methods of distorting type and cutting out images that felt connected to the concept of listening and being able to communicate. I decided to use the idea of how the music industry has changed when it comes to how music is shared now compared to the 1960’s. I used imagery that represented the technology used to consume music at that time, as well as prominent figures of the industry at the time. I’ve always had a deep connection to music, so this project allowed me to really dive into a very large part of my personality.

This project centered around creating a set of 12 double-sided card set surrounding a fictional or nonfictional character of my choice. While using a method called the Surrealist Game, I was tasked with using visuals and language that were analogies surrounding he characters personal traits and story  The character that I selected was Harley Quinn of DC Comics. She was character that I many people would be familiar with, yet might not know much back story about. Additionally she fit the Jester archetype, one of the archetypes described in the research method. While designing  this set, I wanted the aesthetic to be grungy and worn, paying homage to her upbringing and environment. I also wanted make the imagery interact with the type, so I made each card do so in a different way. I felt it gave more personality to the card, as I used a similar type treatment on most of them. One issue that I encountered while creating these cards was conveying a both vivid yet grungy aesthetic. I found that by using a gritty texture filter for the imagery on the and adding color over it, it allowed me to achieve both contrasting themes.

This project’s goal was to create an application or website for a nonprofit organization of my choice. In doing so, I had to consider the target audience who would use this app and how it would aid the organization in the future. The organization that I chose for this project was The Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art installation on Detroit’s east side that was created by Tyree Guyton. It was created in hopes of bringing awareness to urban decay that he was seeing in his own community. The organization now strives to continue the revitalization of the community by inspiring others to be more active inn their community through their art. In my research, I found that one issue that’s present is the ability to easily find and donate to local organizations or projects. Even if there is a way to donate monetarily, some organizations don’t make it clear what they are using it for. I decided to create an app, named DONO, to streamline the process by showing community events in your area. Additionally, you can also create event for people to either join or donate to. This allows for more people to be aware of community building in their area in a more concise and involved way.

This project focuses on contextualizing and organizing a collection of roughly 20 items I have into a easily navigated website. The goal was to design it with the game collector audience in mind, providing information from my experience with the collection that they should know about the games. I chose to do a collection website and app that organizes my video game collection for my Nintendo 64, Xbox 360, and PS4. I chose them specifically because they were systems that I played the know the most information about.I decided to create a carousel showcasing each game and, when selected, it inserts into their respective consoles.