Ellen Flaherty

The Line: Bound

ellen — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:11:08 +0000

Yuca’s Business Cards

ellen — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:02:40 +0000

About a year ago, way back in my first term at Art Center, we had to make up an identity system for a Los Angeles eatery. I picked my favorite taco stand, Yuca’s, which is famous for its Yucatan-style cochinita pipil—they even won a James Beard Award in 2005. The stand is very tiny and a little ramshackle, but it’s been standing proud for more than three decades. For my redesign, I kept the retro flair (the color palette is very similar to what they’re currently using) but added some contemporary elements—and triangles (here standing in for pyramids) never go out of style.

We did the entire project in a few weeks, so it was a quick and dirty exercise. This weekend I cleaned up the logo and redesigned the business cards to see if I could salvage the project to include in my portfolio. This term I’m going to start going through my old stuff with fresh eyes as I prepare my official online portfolio.

Final Bombay Poster

ellen — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:37:45 +0000

Bombay Original Semi-Final Logo

ellen — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:51:21 +0000

What Makes Gin Gin …

ellen — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:19:16 +0000

Art Center Cookbook 2.0

ellen — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:35:50 +0000

I sent in my revised layouts to Blurb for a perfect-bound soft cover treatment with matte premium pages (less than $40, shipping included). This is part of my ongoing experiments with online publishing; I want to find out what projects I can send off and what projects I should print and bind myself. I really gave my cookbook a makeover (makeunder?). I’m pleased with most of it, but there are a few weaker spreads that just don’t pop.

Here’s a blindingly bright RGB preview of my book:

Great American Writers

ellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:30:28 +0000

I still need to photograph the printed booklet, as screenshots are a poor simulation of the actual object, but for now they will do. The assignment was to create a 8.5×11-inch pamphlet about a famous American writer. I chose Saul Bellow. I used an article from a 2003 issue of The New Yorker for my text and produced a layout, with images from photographers Irving Penn and Walker Evans. We were allowed to use any color of paper stock, but we were limited to black ink. For typefaces, I juxtaposed a classic font, Bembo, and with a more contemporary font, Knockout. For paper, I used yellow coverstock and white laser. This project was a little rushed, but I’m pleased with the end result.

Communication Design 3

ellen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:53:19 +0000

My process book. The layouts are filled with white space and bright colors, belying the sense of frustration and exhaustion I felt trying to please myself and my instructor. This process book only took about 5 hours to design, which is a testament to how much I’ve learned this past year. I’m a more confident designer, and I’m more aware of what I’m good at and what I need to improve.

Final Type 2010 Conference Form/ID System

ellen — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:26:25 +0000

The basic premise of this assignment was to make a usable entry form that established the essential identity for the entire conference. This included organizing unsexy information and using very small type comfortably. Our design dictate was to appeal to both traditional and more contemporary typographers and designers. In the end, with this project, I went with four different two-color systems, with one color constant throughout (a dark gray-green). Here’s a smattering of what I’ve done.

Materials • Week 1

ellen — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 20:53:49 +0000

We were asked to take five photos of an everyday object stacked. The POV had to be the same in every photo; only the lighting scenario varied. The point of this exercise is not great photography, but rather … I don’t know what the point is yet. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow in class. It’s very suspenseful.