RYAN RIEGNER

For the sheer amount of feedback that I’ve gotten on my new shoes, I deemed it only necessary to write a post about them, and explain these monstrous rubber skin frog feet.

For anyone who is interested in these shoes, they are called Vibram Five Fingers, and come in a variety of different models purposed for different activities. I walk anywhere between 2-5 miles a day in Manhattan, and walk 6 flights of stairs at least once daily. Because of this, I began to pay close attention to the foot and how it reacts to the ground in repetition, especially with concrete. After a lot of research, I chose to purchase the classic model, as they are designed to function best suited for walking, running, yoga, and bouldering, activities that I am either heavily interested in or plan to begin soon on a regular basis. Let me explain further.

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I finally reached a long awaited milestone this past weekend, one that I’ve been been dying to learn for a while now: the seemingly simple common knowledge art of screen printing. Yes I know, I call myself a graphic artist? How dare you Ryan, why don’t you get back to the Adobe hobble where all graphic designers belong? But to defend myself, I have always been fascinated by the printmaking arts, and after dabbling in mono-printing and lithography, I convinced a good friend to show me the ropes. A special shout goes out to the amazingly talented Gelsey Maslanka for taking the time to show me the process. I would have been a dazed and confused mess without your whip cracking, not to mention you answered all of my questions flawlessly.

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Today is the official launch of Type/Code, a collective blog that I co-founded with some really amazing fellow designers. We are all extremely excited to begin this new digital adventure, and I welcome everyone to become a part of the experience. To get a better idea about Type/Code, our press release words it far better than I can. Drumroll please, here it is.

Type/Code is a collective of similar-minded, emerging designers, developers, and artists that came together after a series of collaborations while studying at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Each member holds their own set of specialities and interests ranging from custom lettering and graphics, to creating compelling experiences, all the way to writing efficient server code. As a group we work to realize the possibilities created by the seamless integration of technology and design.

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In true Albino Rhino fashion my business partner Alex Levin and myself have created a fun interactive placeholder on our website for you all to play with and experiment. As a substitute before our official website launch in the coming weeks, anyone and everyone is encouraged to enjoy poking fun at our website logo and turn it into something new. Destroy, erase, create, scribble, write, doodle, no wrong can be done, and the more weird the better. Since this flash based interactive media launched, I have been completely blown away by the flow of ideas and executions in which many of my peers have already manipulated the logo. Keep the fun images coming everyone, and be sure to spread the word to all those uber creatives out there!

As a jumping off point, below are some of the most interesting and hilarious renditions that I’ve received so far. Please take a moment and see what you can create with our logo from the homepage of our website, so that we can add more images to the gallery. After you have completed the design, take a screen shot on your computer then email us the file! To take a screenshot on a Mac, the shortcut is Command+Shift+4, then just click and drag and it will be saved on your desktop! For Windows XP the screenshot shortcut is to press the “Prnt Scrn” button on your keyboard, then paste and save in Microsoft Paint.  Emails should be sent to (ryan@albinorhinodesign.com) includung the jpg, with your name (first and last). Also if you have a personal website, submit the url, as it will be linked with the credits. Don’t be scared off by this part, It’s not as difficult as it sounds, and I would enjoy seeing what everyone has up their sleeves when free reign is given over a logo design. Also, a special thanks for the great works so far below. I am looking forward to seeing what other treatments lie in wait for our little baby rhino.

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Today in Jan Wilker’s Topic studio we explored different possibilities on the use of typography in Graphic Design. We covered a lot of ground,  including the experimental pop-grunge of M/M (Paris), a rather embarrasing documentary by Erik Spiekermann on Typomania, and (most importantly for me) a Design Matters episode featuring International renown Graphic Artist Marian Bantjes, which I have embedded below.

Frankly have always been floored by Marian’s experimental typographic works, and spent the better part of my Wednesday night exploring her personal website and articles. Her massive body of work is simply outstanding, and her obsessive perfectionist influence is obvious in her masterful visuals of typography and image. I hope to one day produce work comparable to the caliber of hers, and to maintain her wonderful outlook on life found in her bio page. I took some time to pull together the most inspirational images from her website to share with you all.

On a side not, if you enjoy her work, she has an insightful Q & A on her website which I found very helpful by leaps and bounds. Also, check the bottom of the post for a little bonus snip it of some of my favorite type foundries (I just had to do it). Alright, let those creative juices flow!

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As a continuation of the Fine Artwork Series, this week I’ve compiled this gallery of my color drawings and illustrations, ranging in mediums from prismacolor pencil to watercolor and Adobe Photoshop coloring. Many of these artworks were created in Dennis O’Laughlin’s Commercial Art program, which stands as one of the most accomplished high school programs for Graphic Design in the United States. The collective student body in less than a decade has earned more than $1,000,000 in competitions and scholarships, and the great instruction of Dennis has helped send students as well as myself to some of the best design school in the country, including Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, CIA, and RIT.

From the knowledge that I learned about color theory in the Commercial Art program, these illustrations are the result. I find it extremely crucial for every design to learn about color theory, and to experiment with it as often as possible, taking into consideration different artistic medium choices, such as dimensionality, texture, style, concept, and material.

IMPORTANT: See the end of this post for a call for entrees about showcasing your work on the site! View More

This is really the biggest paradigm shift in innovation since the Industrial Revolution,
– MIT professor Eric von Hippel, specialist in innovation management

As a designer who is hopeful to one day become successful within the field of graphic design, I am very aware of the way in which the profession is increasingly changing and developing everyday. Technology has become a primary driving force of change, as the Macintosh has revolutionized type setting, and the ipad ebook may soon eliminate the physical book. Of these shifting economies, crowdsoucring has become a highly debated topic within design, as it will fundamentally change the advertising, illustration, marketing, and photography industries.

This content of the following article is extremely important for all designers to be aware of, as crowdsourcing in one way or another will effect the career of every designer, established or emerging within the field. Recently I attended an open discussion on the topic at Pratt Instutute in brooklyn NYC, which brought together eight of the most important figures in the graphic design community, to openly and critically discuss the heated topic of crowdsourcing. The audience of the discussion was primarily Pratt students (after a poll I found that I was the only design student attending a school other than Pratt), and the panel did a wonderful job in relaying the content to the relevance of the design student, as well as the professional designer. The diversified panel, who I was honored to hear speak, consisted of:

David Carson – Graphic Designer and founder of David Carson Design (He was absent due to a late flight).

Craig Kanarick – Consultant in Digital Technology, founder of RazorFish

Ric Grefe - Executive director of the AIGA

John Winsor – Chief Executive officer of Victors and Spoils

Mike Samson – Co-founder of CrowdSpring

Chris Clarke - Chief Creative Officer of LBi

Ben Malbon – Founder, BBH Labs

Adam Glickman – Founder of IdeaLists in Tokyo

For this discussion, my purpose for this transcription is to remain completely neutral on the issue, and my aim is to purely relay the thoughts of these inspiring figures within the graphic design community to you, the audience, and the effected. As a result, the following consists of major points quotes directly from the discussion.

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In the spirit of the fine artist within, I will be posting a series of my personal ongoing side project artworks based on a variety of artistic experimental topics, ranging from but not limited to graphite/colored pencil, watercolor, digital, and animation.

This post focuses on my collection of graphite pencil drawings, that have served as the primary trigger for my artistic drive. As a designer, I often find it most relaxing to embark on drawings stripped free of color and concept, and only work with a limited number of graphite ranges. As a result, most of these drawings with pencil are taken from life as casual experiments of rendering form and value. They have immensely improved my conceptual thinking as a graphic designer over the years, and serve as an undeniable testament to the power of the pencil. Here is a gallery of my drawings resulting from this kind of thinking, ranging from landscapes to portraits.

IMPORTANT: See the end of this post for a call for entrees about showcasing your work on the site!

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The following collection is consists of some of the most creative and inspirational poster designs that I’ve ever seen created by primarily students. Parsons School of Design recently held an exhibition within the Keller Archives in Manhattan showcasing a limited selection of vintage art posters designed by both graphic design students and faculty that date primarily from the 1970’s – 1990’s. The content of the school’s poster prints varies from invitational event promotions to affiliate program fliers. Mostly all of these simple posters were created by students, and all convey amazing concept and execution. I find observing designs of past decades to be one of the best ways that I’ve found to learn about composition, typography, and use of color. Assembled here are some of the best examples, which I’m sure will leave you inspired.

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Recently, through Zago I was given an amazing opportunity to work with the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conferance that ran earlier in December. The event was the largest international political conference held in Denmark, with 192 countries represented, and over 15,000 participants engaged in an open dialogue about the global climate crisis. The conference focused on the current misuse of global fossil fuels, with the goal to develop and implement an immediate course of action to redirect climate change. As a designer, I found it engaging to become part of the dialogue in relaying this message of urgency and hope for the future of our planet.

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