[art_director]

doesn't anyone on this effing site read communication arts? i've treid repeatedly to start up discussions about the annuals but only zookie has replied.

NOTE TO STUDENTS, PROSPECTIVE ART DIRECTORS AND DESIGNERS: if you want to be taken seriously in the advertising and design business you best pay attention to communication arts. it's the bible for the best in the business.

[godzookie2k]

I actually haven't gotten the most recent design annual. Mainly because it appears that my office's subscription has lapsed, and I haven't gotten around to go to barnes and nobel. but yes, CA, ESPECIALLY the annuals is a great mag to pick up, it shows you what everyone else is working on, whats selling, whats "cool" and who the movers and shakers in the industry are. Not to mention the great articles both about design theory and design/illustration/graphic arts "business" stuff that every designer should know.

A/D: Maybe in the spirit of xmas shopping I'll make it to B&N at some juncture so we can do our annual rundown of the issue.

[art_director]

looking forward to it.

[RedStar]

The library at my college took forever to get the design annual in so I broke down and bought one at borders. It is actually pretty intimidating to look at some of the work in there. I was especially impressed by the letterheads. These people have incredible talent. The scariest part is that I will be competing for jobs with these people in less than a year.

[art_director]

redstar:

first let me say that buying the book was a good move. you will never be able to get the depth of understanding you need from a library copy because you'll only have limited access to it.

when i was in design school that book was attached to my body. i read it during slow times at the bars i worked in, while on the bus or stuck in traffic and between classes. i literally wore the books out.

while the talent of the people on those page may be intimidating you must remember they were once in your shoes. they worked hard and maintained focus on the end goal and rose to the top of their game.

ca displays the best of the best, sure, the one show, d&ad, art directors annual, print and archive all show off some great work. but ca is limited to fewer pieces per annual and it gets at the heart of what's happening in the design and advertising world. we all strive to get into ca and the first time you do it's the best feeling in the world. imo it's better than winning a one show pencil.

pay close attention to what's happening with typography, photography and composition. it changes from year to year � sometimes in small increments, other times in big ways. once you get the flow and progression you'll be better suited to anticipate where design is going.

one thing students often do is copy design treatments, styles and compositions from the annuals. this is a good way to understand the design but it does little in terms of getting them beyond what was done last year.

good luck and enjoy your ca annuals.

btw, subscritions are cheaper than just buying the annuals. i used to ask subscriptions for christmas.

[godzookie2k]

Its really awesome if you keep them and look back on years past and to see the styles change from year to year, and what styles remain timeless. So now that you're buying em, keep em!

[himself]

While there were some really good pieces in this years ca design annual, you can tell it was a pretty slow year. This is my opinion, but there were more than a few peices that probably should not have been there. I just didn't feel it this year like in most. It seemed like one of those years where the good work was really good, and everything else was mediocre at best. But, I otherwise enjoyed it. Hell, I always enjoy it.

[art_director]

Originally posted by himself:
While there were some really good pieces in this years ca design annual, you can tell it was a pretty slow year. This is my opinion, but there were more than a few peices that probably should not have been there. I just didn't feel it this year like in most. It seemed like one of those years where the good work was really good, and everything else was mediocre at best. But, I otherwise enjoyed it. Hell, I always enjoy it.

glad you threw your 2� in, himself.

what did you like?
what did you dislike?

[zubro]

America as the center of the world...
Sorry guys but we live without your bible around here in Europe..
Check some magazines, shops and supermarkets banks (specially the thuna in oil tanks) here it is, the REAL stuff! ;o)

[art_director]

Originally posted by zubro:
America as the center of the world...
Sorry guys but we live without your bible around here in Europe..
Check some magazines, shops and supermarkets banks (specially the thuna in oil tanks) here it is, the REAL stuff! ;o)

ca is an international book. this year has a lot of work from your beloved europe, asia, south america and yes, the u.s.

as for the center of the world, well, our marketing is used to teach all around the globe. it's the engine of the world's strongest economy, baby.

granted the brits get to do much cooler work because they don't get focus grouped to death.

[LightWaver-67]

about 3-years ago... I tossed about 7-years-worth of CA and I.D. Mags. I just had no place for them and would NEVER get-around to opening them again.

It was a bitter-sweet day... loss of so much inspiration, 300-lbs LESS I had to move to our new place.

Some day I will re-subscribe... for now... too-busy.

[art_director]

Originally posted by LightWaver-67:
about 3-years ago... I tossed about 7-years-worth of CA and I.D. Mags. I just had no place for them and would NEVER get-around to opening them again.

It was a bitter-sweet day... loss of so much inspiration, 300-lbs LESS I had to move to our new place.

Some day I will re-subscribe... for now... too-busy.

bummer...i did the same with a big stack of archive magazines � would never toss my ca collection.

[graphicpush]

would never toss my ca collection.

me neither. i jut moved mine across the country. anyway, i think the new annuals are okay ... conservative advertising, as I see some of the same ideas used over and over. i thought the most recent interactive annual was especially weak.

I really like CA's articles, but they have been annoying me lately. The "advertising" column wastes a page railing against the industry with nothing to really say, and "design issues" constantly harps on this ambiguous theme of socially responsible design and finding yourself. again, with little to say.

[dadder]

I wouldn't be intimidated by the designs. Most are doable by anybody with a lot of time and a monstrous budget. These clients exist, their just hard to find.
Or, somebody had a sister, friend, cousin, uncle, twin or past office hanky panky-ite who needed a logo, annual report or brochure and spent all their free time on it and didn't charge for it.
The mag rocks, but this year was not trend setting - thanks to the economy.

[chris.p]

I feel bad but I've never heard of this mag/book- sorry, its just not that big in London- It's all D&AD ( for awards, annuals) over here; Creative Review, Design Week (for the mags)- And its a shame because I've been doing this for quite a while, and feel like I'm missing something.
It's our loss, and want to find out what the craic is- any points of interest (wed sites) to show me before I buy this?
BTW, do you have to pay to enter work?

Thanks chaps,

Cheers,

Chris

[chris.p]

dp

[godzookie2k]

yeah you do chris, I don't remember how much it is off the top of my head. Its not rediculous iirc.

[art_director]

Originally posted by chris.p:
I feel bad but I've never heard of this mag/book- sorry, its just not that big in London- It's all D&AD ( for awards, annuals) over here; Creative Review, Design Week (for the mags)- And its a shame because I've been doing this for quite a while, and feel like I'm missing something.
It's our loss, and want to find out what the craic is- any points of interest (wed sites) to show me before I buy this?
BTW, do you have to pay to enter work?

Thanks chaps,

Cheers,

Chris

interesting.

over the years bbh, o&m, saatchi, bozell (now gone), mother, legas delaney, etc., etc., etc. have all participated in ca � and that's just on the advertising side of the game.

have you heard of archive?

[Baphomet]

Okay. I'm not sure how credible my take on this issue is. Honestly, my background in the design world is minimal. I have an associate degree in Graphic Design that I recieved in 2000 and I can't say I learned much in those two years due to a poorly run design program at the school. After that I was thrust into the "real world" where I have been slowly working my way up the ladder starting in the non-creative world of digital pre-press. I'm going to list what I feel is the strongest work in the different sections. Please, some of you more experienced people, let me know if I'm on the right track at recognizing good design work. I really want to grow in this field of work and your input will really help me out.

Annual Reports

pg 13, 2 Ameristar
pg 15, 2 Entravision
These are the only two annual reports I felt were worth mentioning and I don't feel either are excellent works. The Ameristar report seems to do its job of 'tempting and captivating' (according to the description in CA) with a good choice in color scheme and fonts plus a nice simple layout. Regarding the Entravision piece, I like how they broke up the nine letter words into different colors and rows. It's very eye catching.

Posters

pg 24, 2 Literary Cafe
I think this is a visually nice, simple poster that gets the point across quickly.

pg 27, 5 Volante
This is my favorite of all the posters. I think it's excellent.

pg 28 & 29, 1 various bands
pg 30, 1 Steppenwolf Theatre
I like all of these posters, my favorite being the Norma Jean poster from the various bands batch; but I think they are all very strong mostly due to their simplicity.

Packaging

pg 44, 2 Queen Chocolates
a nice, unique look inside and out.

pg 45, Apple
excellent work by Apple.

pg 47, 5 Tiger
very simple and straight forward. I really like this packaging idea.

Product Brochures

pg 63, 2 Lida Baday
very nice photography and, again, strong due to simplicity.

Trademarks

None of these are very good logos in my opinion, but if I had to choose one, 9 Tequila Mockingbird would be it because I feel the musical note as the bird's feet is a great idea.

Corporate Identity

pg 69, 2 Donald Ellis Gallery
I like it for the same reasons I like the Lida Baday brochure, above.

Catalogs

pg 70, 1 Anni Kuan
pg 74, 1 Buckle
I love the look of these two. Very creative and visually pleasing.

Miscellaneous

pg 85, 2 Cactus & Tropicals & 3 Audubon
Both of these show type, graphic elements and white space working together very nicely. I think both are really good, however, I think the Audubon book is the strongest of the two.

Editorial

pg 99, 2 Spin (Beck article)
pg 102, 2 J. Reuben Clark Law School
pg 105, 3 Coupe
The Beck and Coupe pieces are really good. The "Escape..." piece is excellent, I feel.

Books

pg 115, 2 Fat Possum (Darker Blues)
I actually bought this book after I saw it in the CA Design Annual =)

Miscellaneous

pg 140, 1 Univ. of Great Falls
pg 143, 2 HOPE

Self-Promotion

pg 155, 3 AIGA Minnesota
pg 167, 2 Univ. of Illinois


Well, that's my list. Thanks for any comments you guys might have.

[art_director]

Baphomet:

don't have my annual here now but will check out the stuff you like.

regardless, your opinion is your opinion. it doesn't matter if you're a pre-press person you still have a point of view.

thanks for posting.

[Baphomet]

Originally posted by art_director:
Baphomet:

don't have my annual here now but will check out the stuff you like.

regardless, your opinion is your opinion. it doesn't matter if you're a pre-press person you still have a point of view.

thanks for posting.

Thanks, art_director. I look forward to hearing what you felt were the strongest and/or weakest works in the annual, too.

[Baphomet]

Did you ever get a chance to look through your Design Annual, art_director? I'm still curious to hear what a professional in the industry has to say about some of the design in there. I'm sure your analysis and comments of the work will be helpful to less experienced designers like myself.

Thanks

[godzookie2k]

hahahaha I think art director and myself are both in the "I swearrrrr I'll get around to it soon" phase.

[grayware]

CA is the definitive accompaniment to ad and design work and messaging. Been reading it for about 20 year now.

What's up with all the Minis in the Ad Annual?! Sheesh.

And if you do ad work, let me endorse Luke Sullivan's book: Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. I read and reread that and learn/remember something new all the time.

[art_director]

Originally posted by Baphomet:
Did you ever get a chance to look through your Design Annual, art_director? I'm still curious to hear what a professional in the industry has to say about some of the design in there. I'm sure your analysis and comments of the work will be helpful to less experienced designers like myself.

Thanks

sorry, i'm in the middle of producing a huge campaign and keep forgetting my copy of ca when i travel. bummer because i'm looking for **** to do in my hotel room after the bar closes. don't worry, i haven't forgotten....

[kulverse]

Originally posted by grayware:
CA is the definitive accompaniment to ad and design work and messaging. Been reading it for about 20 year now.

What's up with all the Minis in the Ad Annual?! Sheesh.

And if you do ad work, let me endorse Luke Sullivan's book: Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. I read and reread that and learn/remember something new all the time.

Those mini ads where very clever. I enjoyed each one. Though there was a lot of them.

I really liked the WonderBra ad. Very clever stuff.