First of all, let me say ‘Thank You!’ for the compliment. We strive to design and produce the best marketing for all students and departments. We believe that any student (employee or otherwise) has the potential to create great design as long as they have the right skills and mindset!  We also think encouragement and group critique goes a long way. We’re a pretty open bunch, and everyone in the office gives pointers and ideas when needed.

We hope that every customer feels comfortable enough to ask us about some of our individual talents and some of the resources of the office. We’re always willing to work with people with whatever they need and with any crazy idea they may have about marketing or design!

Your environment effects how you complete your job and cubicles are definitely not conducive to creative working! These offices allow an open layout that develops a more community-style workspace. commonvision practices this same design aesthetic, allowing us to communicate constantly with our coworkers and encourage creativity in each other.

Did you guys know that it was Mini Art Week? Well, now you do! It’s a new week long event promoting the arts and Art Week 2011!

Come by The Commons tomorrow from 12-1 to get a Polaroid picture taken of you and then hung in The Second Floor Gallery. You’ll be able to come pick up the polaroid after winter break in commonvision.

On Friday we have a ‘Decorate Your Own Stickers’ event where you can win $20 to commonvision for Art Week 2011 printing for having the best sticker design! The Commons Mainstreet from 12-1.

Learn about the correct way to use the apostrophe, including in design! It’s an interesting read with lots of helpful visuals, not to mention an intriguing history of its misuse. Let us know what you learned!

So, we’ve all been there - it’s time to choose a typeface and we either search for something that’s really strange and unique online that maybe somehow relates to the subject matter of our design OR we just stick to an old standby. This infographic attempts to break it down a bit more to help make the most appropriate decisions for the task at hand. At the very least, it’s a starting point (But mostly funny) ;)

Interesting redesign of money. Click through to read about why designs selected were selected, why they have a vertical orientation, and lots more. What do you think? We think the design is great!

Hopefully you’ve checked out the Baltimore Book Thing before, but if you haven’t, you really should! Basically, it’s a huge space where you can both donate books you’re finished with them and take any books from the space that you like for free! There’s always something interesting, the books are organized by subject matter, and it’s definitely a project that you should help support! Visit their website for more information and to learn how to get involved. Their hours for browsing are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Typographeee. Design and typography for dummies, but in a good way. From their website:

Typographeee.com is the online incarnation of a book which was designed as a typographic primer for fledgling design students as well as a reference tool for all designers with a passion for typography . On a quest for knowledge, the book is also a documention of the typographic research expedition of three colleagues who were themselves students of design.

If you guys aren’t aware of UMBC’s IMDA program (the visual arts department’s MFA program), then you should be! It’s chock full of great artists, like Gary Kachadourian. Here’s a sneak peak at his current project highlighted on printeresting.com.

From their website:

Since 2008, the thinking person’s favorite online resource for interesting printmaking miscellany.

From “fine art” prints and limited edition multiples to xeroxed flyers and cheap inkjet printouts, we take a broad view of printmaking; all manner of printed matter has a place at Printeresting. Authored by multiple contributors, the site features regular posts on a range of print-related content, including artwork, news, reviews, technology, and critical discourse. While our primary goal is to highlight innovative print work, the site is also a place to keep abreast of developments in the field, and to take note when printmaking intrudes into popular culture.

Printeresting’s growing collection of posts form the web’s most comprehensive, searchable database of contemporary print.

Printeresting is for artists, designers, printers, curators, collectors, teachers, students, and the generally curious. As such, we welcome your comments and suggestions.

Take a look!