The Story of a Young Designer Who Made It- Beckett Asselin

MADE IT

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BONNIE SIEGLER The creative personality behind the television ads, logos, and tv books that everyone knows and loves

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aturday Night Live (SNL) has been airing since 1975. From the 1996–2009 Siegler has been working on both the logo designs and the intro scene, using her love of motion graphics to excite the audience watching every week. From this connection to SNL, Siegler had branched out and kept contact with Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. Siegler has since designed both of their logos and Meyers title sequence.

SATURDAY NIGHT WITH SIEGLER

Siegler dates her love of design back to her childhood. Watching the title sequences of her favorite shows excited her to the point of needing to watch it every time it came on. A time where you had to be there to experience it, with no back play or recording, she was in awe. Siegler is one of those designers who know what they love far before they know what design is.

Saturday Night Live Set, n.d.

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EVERYONE HAS A START

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onnie Siegler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1985.

Her first design job was at a small design studio, until she landed her first big design job at MTV in 1989. She worked at both MTV and VH1 from 89–93, becoming the creative director at VH1. In 1993, Bonnie Siegler and Emily Oberman opened up studio Number 17, while working at this studio, Oberman and Siegler took both individual clients and partnered projects, to keep their business growing and keeping their individual skills and interests in mind.

In 2012, studio Number 17 closed its doors when Oberman and Siegler were offered a position at a larger design firm. Oberman took the job while Siegler didn’t. Luckily at that point they had both been primarily working with their own clients. Twentyfour hours after the closing of studio Number 17, Siegler opened her own studio, she ironically named 8 1/2.

Brooklyn Bridge, 2015

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“Oftentimes, we are the audience, and we know how we want to be spoken to”

Dear Client, Bonnie Siegler, 2018

Signs of Resistance, Bonnie Siegler, 2018

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iegler often compares her motion graphics work to a book. She says how the designer is in control of the story, how viewers see the time line, and in what order. Siegler mentions how she believes that there truly aren’t many differences, a reader or viewer can see just how Siegler uses motion throughout her books. They way that Siegler paces her work, leads the eye, and plays with information is the reason why her clients keep going back to her. She has worked with several TV shows, magazines, and brands to create a printed experience for the audience, as well as writing two books of her own, both published in 2018.

TV IN PRINT

“We really are just fans of pop culture in general. And nothing is more fun than getting to do a book about one of your favorite TV shows.”

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Sex and the City, Title Sequence, 1998

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SOURCES

Bonnie Siegler: Designing her Career, Lynda.com How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer by Debbie Millman Women of Design by Bryony Gomez-Palacio 8point5.com

BROOKLYN BONNIE

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ADDENDUM PAGES 2 – 3

PAGES 6 – 7

2 Sex and the City 2, Book, 2010

2 MTV Logo Animation, n.d.

3 Bric TV logo, n.d.

3 Number 17 logo, n.d.

4 NBC 75th Anniversary logo, 2002

4 8 and 1/2 logo, 2012

1 Desperate Housewives, Book, 2005

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onnie Siegler has been and always will be a Brooklyn based graphic designer. She works primarily at home while raising two sons. She teaches classes on Linkedin and runs competitions that allow for many opportunities for the future designers of the world, such as exposure, scholarships, and internships.

5 Newsweek Magazine Cover, 2009 6 Saturday Night Live logo, 2006 7 Sex and the City, book, 2002 08 The Olympics on NBC logo, n.d.

9 ABC DAY logo, n.d.

10 Look TV logo, n.d.

11 Late Night With Seth Meyers logo, 2014 12 Two broke girls title sequence, 2011

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13 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon logo, 2009 14 Park Pictures logo, n.d.

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PAGES 10 – 11

1-3 Sex and the City, book, 2002 4-5 Sex and the City 2, book, 2010 6-8 Desperate Housewives, book, 2005

PAGES 12 – 13

1 Brooklyn Library, logo, 2013 2 Its Kind of a Funny Story, book cover, 2006 3 Newsweek Magazine Cover, n.d.

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4 Official Comedy, logo, n.d.

1 Bonnie Siegler and Emily Oberman, 2010

5 Air America Radio, logo, 2004

2 Saturday Night Live logo, 2006

6 Broadway Video, logo, n.d.

3 Late Night With Seth Meyers logo, 2014 4 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon logo, 2009

Bonnie Siegler, n.d.

1 A Brief History of Awesome, VH1, n.d.

Designed and written by Beckett Asselin Composed in Helvetica Neue typeface designed by Max Miedinger and Georgia designed by Matthew Carter Printed from a Canon Image Runner onto 60# Hammermill Copyright Š 2019 Beckett Asselin; Portland, ME, Maine College of Art

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