XINRAN GAO
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Copyright @ 2019 Xinran Gao All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission.
Doing ordinary things well is not ordinary. Doing simple things well is not simple. The typical understanding of what design means to many people is the way something looks or feels, the look of packaging or poster, furniture or everyday appliances. Some design is visible, some is not. Every decision I make as a designer I make in my design. It is part of my design. At a micro level, designers turn abstract concepts into concrete visual systems. At a macro level, designers work with a variety of tools to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. From a marketing standpoint, a seemingly simple design contains strategic diagnose and decision making. The objective is to simplify the message to be transmitted easily and without degradation. Less can be more complex and for a designer. Less means more work. As Hillman Curtis said, “The goal of a designer is to listen, observe, understand, sympathize, empathize, synthesize, and glean insights that enable him or her to ‘make the invisible visible.�
Contents. 013 I Chapter 01
O ut o f t he box . 033 I Chapter 02
Clo s e r lo o k a t wor l d . 049 I Chapter 03
Be aut y o f balan c e. 065 I Chapter 04
D ar e t o dr e am. 081 I Chapter 05
Take a go o d r e s t . 099 I Chapter 06
L i ve in t he mo m e n t .
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P R O J EC T Conference Design
COURSE Type Systems
I N S T RUC T O R John Nettleton
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Out of the box.
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O B JEC T I V E Design a holistic visual system for an actual conference. The goal is not only to challenge a designer's ability to demonstrate conceptual and visual design skills but also to demonstrate typography skills, all in a flexible design system which fits the needs of a design conference.
B A C K GR O U N D The conference will be attended by influential brand marketers and package design teams who understand the vital role that packaging plays in delivering a brand's message and connecting to consumers. The objective behind the project is to make clear concepts and then make them lead to design decisions. Providing the opportunity to interact with the industry's most influential brand marketers and package design teams.
SOLUTION My concept comes from three key words: form, material, and agile. Form is the basic problem of packaging. Materials are extremely important. Color and texture are able to formulate a first impression. An agile definition is able to influence a design quickly and easily. The inspiration for color comes from CMYK, the four colors used in printing. The visual expression uses repetition and geometrical figures, mixed with collage textures. A spatial continuum represents a strong feeling of mobility, which coincides with the conference keynote and can help the public understand the ideas of the conference.
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P R O J EC T Book Design
COURSE Type Composition
I N S T RUC T O R Carolina De Bartolo
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Closer look at world.
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O B JEC T I V E Redesign a photography book and create promotional materials for it. The photography book underlines the medium’s potential as a storytelling tool. As a book, it needs to have a rhythm and completeness that tells the whole story. There should be a flow to the narrative that the pictures offer. The book needs to construct a balance of images that will inform and engage the reader and pull them into the scenes.
B A C K GR O U N D Karl Blossfeldt is considered a pioneer of the New Objectivity in the history of photography. Blossfeldt developed a series of homemade cameras that allowed him to photograph plant surfaces in unprecedented magnified detail. This reflected his enduring interest in the repetitive patterns found in nature’s textures and forms.
SOLUTION My concept comes from three key words: structure, consistency, and classic. I tried to keep a consistent grid to express my concepts in a different medium. I placed text and images within given zones in the design to provide variation from page to page. Meanwhile the grid supported those design elements using alignments, proportion, and balance. I tried to design with a level of flexibility that provided the potential to alter the location of the content without confusing the reader as they moved through the materials. I used a consistent grid and constructed a design that had a stable, structural, classical and historical feeling, while keeping a concise visual sense.
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P R O J EC T App Design
COURSE Digital Design Studio
I N S T RUC T O R Bob Slote
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Beauty of balance. O B JEC T I V E Design an app for a mobile device. Understand what it takes to design the user experience following mobile design guidelines. Conceptualize, prototype and design an app to solve a personal problem for a target audience.
B A C K GR O U N D The modern hectic lifestyle makes more and more young professionals begin to take special care of their health, and pursue a healthy life style. Most people drink a lot of beverages every day. They get too much caffeine, sugar, fat, and so on in their diet.
SOLUTION
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My concept comes from three key words: health, balance, and modern.
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The conceptual idea comes from my daily life. The app tells the user of their total daily attritional intake. It helps them keep healthy. My target audience is young professionals. The app is a personal beverage plan, drink tracker, intake counter and health report. Tracking people’s habits can make them more healthy.
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7:23
7:23
PROFILE
FEED Notifications
John Doe San Francisco, CA
NOTIFICATIONS
Hi! My name is John, I’m a creative geek from
General PHOTOS Account VIDEOS
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178
65kg
Age
Weight
Height
PLACES Privacy
Block
Help
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Coffe
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John Doe San Francisco, CA
7:23
7:23
7:23
7:23
7:23
7:23
S"gar
Drinksum
Today Safe Intake Amount
Caffeine
Fat
Caffeine (mg)
S"gar 25 g
johndoe@mail.com
Man / Woman
Caffeine
Fat
300 mg
20$
Protein
Calorie
Age
Drinksum Drinksum
Carbo #drate
●●●●●●● M Protein
Weight
Calorie
1 g
S"gar
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T
F
T
W
T
F
Sugar (mg)
Carbo #drate
Height
T
Today 11/11/2018
1500 cal
●●●●●●● 30 g
Fat
Today 11/11/2018
Calorie
Search food or brand CONTINUE
Caffeine
Today Beverages list
CONTINUE
Protein
Coffee
500 ml
Coke
300 ml
Carbo #drate
M
LOGIN WITH FACEBOOK
7:23
7:23
7:23
Search food or brand
Scan barcode
P oto rac ing
Coke
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor Scan barcode
Adding to list S"gar
Fat
Calorie
Caffeine
Protein
Carbo #drate
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P R O J EC T Annual Report Design
COURSE Type Systems
I N S T RUC T O R John Nettleton
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O B JEC T I V E Design an annual report for company. An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance. All annual report projects start with questions and researching the history of the company, the industry and the target audience.
B A C K GR O U N D Urban Outfitters, Inc. is a lifestyle specialty retail company. The company operates through two segments, retail and wholesale. It is a portfolio of global consumer brands comprised of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, BHLDN, Terrain and the Vetri Family. They focus on creating unique retail experiences with an eye toward creativity and a singular focus on pleas-
My concept comes from three key words: creatively, energy, and funky.
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ing their customers. Urban Outfitters targets young adults, aged 18 to 35, who are culturally sophisticated, self-expressive and concerned with acceptance by their peer group.
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Dare to dream.
SOLUTION To design an effective annual report, there are lots of different things that need to be considered, but some of the most important are: concept, infographics and typography. The concept defines and presents a clear story throughout the report. The annual report title "create the life of your dreams" is related to the company's mission. Readers will engage with the report via distinctive and modern photography that delivers emotion. I incorporated infographics as a way to format the project. I keep a consistent visual language running throughout the infographics, making it easy to understand the data. Typography in annual reports needs to meet strict typographic guidelines. The layout used a flexible, but sturdy gird to make a creative experience.
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P R O J EC T Branding
COURSE Visual Thinking
I N S T RUC T O R Jeremy Stout
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Take a good rest. O B JEC T I V E Build a basic skill-set in typography, conceptual thinking, formal execution, and design process. Take the time to think about design through the lens of a single topic, and build the skills needed to define and scope out a thesis project. The topic I chose was to get young adults to have a better understand and diagnosis of the causes of insomnia, and select the treatment options best suited to them.
B A C K GR O U N D Insomnia can keep people from performing their best at school or work. Most young professionals want to pay more attention to getting enough quality sleep. But most young professionals don't know enough about factors relating to sleep.
SOLUTION My concept comes from three key words: soothing, mute, and balance. The project enhances the comprehensive understanding of insomnia, leading to better sleep patterns and an improved quality of rest. I focused on digital media and outdoor advertising to bring the materials created to a specified audience. My three deliverables here are a website, a mobile app, and a series of posters. The website focuses on relevant knowledge, and makes young adults have a better understanding of sleep, and it helps them self-diagnose their own sleep patterns. The mobile app focuses on products as a solution. The app is a sleep diary that can record sleep habits. Also, it is a music app that helps people sleep. By studying the audience, young professionals typically spend time on commuting. I created a series of outdoor advertising to promote the brand and raise public awareness of sleep.
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P R O J EC T Typographic Dream State
COURSE Type Experiments
I N S T RUC T O R David Hake
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Live in the moment.
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O B JEC T I V E This project aimed to explore typographic form in a new way. The dream state can be a terrific tool for generating unexpected results within a system.
B A C K GR O U N D My inspiration is drawn from Midnight in Paris. The movie is about Gil Pender, who is taken to touring the city alone. On one such late-night excursion, Gil encounters a group of strange— yet familiar—revelers, who sweep him along, apparently back in time, for a night with some of the Jazz Age's icons of art and literature. The more time Gil spends with these cultural heroes of the past, the more dissatisfied he becomes with the present. While escapism is the main theme of the film, two sub-themes merge from it—love and nostalgia.
SOLUTION My concept comes from three key words: dreamy, magic, and fantasy. The project strategies are based on my own creative impulses. I created my dream forms using water and tracing paper. It's like a magical dream world. The final three posters stayed consistent with different angles.
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Thank you. I would like to thank all my family, teachers, and friends for all the supports, encouragement, and love they have given to me. I wouldn't have been able to do this program without them. FAMILY_Dad, Mom, and Grandma/ TEACHERS_Mary Scott, Hunter Wimmer, John Nettleton, David Hake, Jeremy Stout, Carolina De Bartolo / FRIENDS, Guanyu Xiao, Yameng Li, Tenten and all the A AU Friends.
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W R I T T E N A N D DE S I G N E D Xinran Gao
WEB SITE www.xinrangaodesigner.com
EM AIL gaoxr918@gmail.com
C O N TA C T 415.519.8615
SCHOOL Academy of Art University The School of Graphic Design 79 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California.
I N S T RU C T O R Mary Scott
T Y P E FA C E S DIN Alternate URW DIN
PRINTER Blurb.com
PA P E R 100# Mohawk Text
S O F T WA R E Adobe Creative Suite Adobe Lightroom
PHOTOGR APH Y Xinran Gao
C A ME R A SONY 18-SSmm Lens Nikon 50mm Prime Lens
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