Free Magazine Subscription/We Draw The Line

Graphic Design USA is a monthly news and information magazine for and about the professional design community including graphic design firms, corporate and publishing inhouse departments, advertising agencies, institutions and non-profits, and other creative businesses and organizations.

I first heard of GD USA through an art community on livejournal. The subscription was free so I thought I would give it a shot. Well now I am hooked on this magazine. Whenever I'm in a funk I pull any copy of this magazine out for some kind of inspiration. GD USA highlights product designs that you've probably never seen before but once you see it you can't stop thinking about how amazing it looks.The designs featured in these magazines will remain in your mind forever.

"Hot Guy" by Sukle Advertising & Design

"Gas Mask" - by Sukle Advertising & Design

One of my favorite features is from the September issue of 2008. Wyoming and Sukle Draw The Line is about Wyoming's Department of Health finding a new way to reach its citizens. The Department of Health in Wyoming created this campaign (We Draw the Line) in order to prevent deaths/injuries due to smoking and drinking. Sukle Advertising & Design helped to make this campaign possible using many techniques. My personal favorite is the poster of the "Hot Guy," which uses simple design concepts to pull an audience into the message. I think the simplicity of the design emphasizes the campaign. Too much clutter would distract viewers but the simple bright green line stands out enough to provoke audiences. Sukle Advertising & Design also made tv/radio spots and put up posters and installations all over Wyoming. The creative director stated that  "the line between good decisions and dumb decisions can be thin, veiled and deceitful. [And that] we're just asking people to think first." I love the idea behind this campaign and I especially love the way it was designed. If creative marketing can prevent people from being irresponsible with drinking and smoking, then more artists should be encouraged to help with a cause. These posters and installations are sure to capture a young adult's mind which is the target audience.

GD USA provides its readers with stories like these. I would have never found out about this campaign, because face it...when does anyone hear about Wyoming unless they live in Wyoming? They also offer many samples for different kinds of paper which usually have different textures and colors. I usually use these samples to make birthday cards, but the possibilities are endless. GD USA also has annual reports for corporate design businesses and color forecasts. They also release issues for American Inhouse Design Awards. For more design coverage and news, sign up for your own COMPLETELY FREE subscription to GD USA.

Lazy Designing

The likelihood that you have been to a Nugget Market is highly probable if you're an UC Davis student. I'm just going to assume like me, you all were in love once you step foot into the store. Everything about this grocery store is amazing; that is, everything but the prices. Would you believe me if I said you could buy the same exact over-priced produce at another grocery store? 

I got the mail this week and like usual I received advertisements, coupons, and catalogs. I started to look at the local grocery store advertisements for some deals, only to stumble upon a huge coincidence. Nugget Market and Food 4 Less had the same exact advertisement. The only major change was to their company names. Of course this made me curious so I looked it up online to find out that they are part of the same chain. While there is nothing wrong with two drastically different grocery stores being from the same chain, couldn’t they at least change their advertisements?

This lack of creativity is uncalled for. By not changing the look of the ads, customers will see the obvious similarities. Why shop at Nugget Market when I can just buy the same products discounted at Food 4 Less? Nugget Market has been perceived as selling over-priced products. Claiming that the perception is untrue, Nugget Market has been trying to steer customers away from this thought. Nugget has a Price Challenge Survey available for customers. Customers choose 25 items from Nugget to survey for prices then compare those prices to their competitors’ prices. For a company that is trying to get away from this bad reputation, you’d think that they would consider the effect of publishing the same advertisement as their discounted grocery store. I for one would not be convinced to shop at the Nugget knowing that I can get the same items for much less. 

While the price comparison is a few cents according to those ads, repetitively looking at the same advertisement only emphasizes how a mere cents can really add up to a lot more. Although these advertisements could cause a drop in customers at the Nugget, it can also drop customers at Food 4 Less. Questions could arise to why some produce at Food 4 Less are cheaper than Nugget’s produce. Who decides which produce goes to which store? Does that mean that produce from Food 4 Less is rotten, not yet ripe, or unable to eat? Why is the produce cheaper? 

Are designers becoming lazy? I understand that the stores are from the same chain; therefore their sales are going to be the same for their produce in season. However, the photographs for each produce item are the same exact in both advertisements. The placements of the photographs are also the same. Either the designer is exercising Michael Bierut’s “Lazy Designer’s Guide to Success” word from word, or the client just doesn’t know what they’re doing. I’m going to bet on the second option. However, when you look at these advertisements…they do in fact follow Bierut’s guide. 

Keep it simple. Check.
The advertisements are relatively simple. Nothing fancy or abstract.

Don’t reinvent the wheel [Part 1]. Check.

Instead of starting a project with a clean slate, take the MacGyver approach. “I come on the scene and think, there’s got to be something around here I can use,” says Bierut. Each advertisement reflects one another, the artist used the same slate.

Don’t reinvent the wheel [Part 2]: Rotate the tires instead. Check.
Keep what the client has, just tweak it. The advertisements are very similar but there are adjustments for the different companies.

Do as you’re told. Check.
Simply following the client's instructions will yield wonders. I’m assuming the designer of the advertisements just followed the wants of Nugget/Food 4 Less. 

Steal.  No check.

Once you come up with something, never let it go. Check.
If the idea isn’t working, don’t come up with a new one. Obviously the same idea was used for both advertisements. 

Make other people do the work.  No check.

That’s 5 out of 7 of Bierut’s steps. Although I think these steps are great when your mind is blocked, I wouldn’t exactly use this as a formula for great design. Lazy designers lack the passion and objective that a designer needs to create a great piece. If designers today continue to follow Bierut’s steps instead of just using them as a guideline in times of trouble, then design is going to the dumps. So do I think the designer of these advertisements is lazy? Yes. Although he may be following his client’s wishes, there had to be a way to have set these advertisements up so that they didn’t look like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Can you tell them apart?