2008 NIU Visual Communication Senior Show Resume Review

Do The Girls Take the Cake?

There are always people secretly running around this show (Northern Illinois University's Visual Communications Senior Show) who are very powerful industry professionals, they don't talk to anybody, they look at everything carefully, and they leave with 0-1 resumes. Typically zero, or they never call the one they took. I think mostly they go for inspiration, to see some original thinking, some non-commercial based displays. Or they're there because someone told them about it, and they're just "checkin' it out". If only there were a way for the burgeoning professionals presenting at the show to tap into that sneaky-bastard creative director's head for the 1.4 seconds as they pass by. Wouldn't that be a valuable exchange for the future? It really is all about who you know, and the only way we have in life to know someone is to meet them.

In visual communications, you really have to reach out to your audience if you expect them to notice you. However, as you reach out to them, be careful what you say, and be sure to listen. When you get their attention (like in an interview), don't slap them in the face with too many words (over-eagerness) or a blank stare (lack of understanding of the purpose). This can be said for both human interaction and audience/media perception -the two themes running through the show.

Please keep in mind that I do not know any of these recent grads personally, and I have now conversed with a handful of them as of tonight. This review is strictly based on my perception of the resumes provided at the show.

01A

Meghan and Cindy both display a good grasp of layout, provide something interesting to look at, a good size, refined typography, and carefully selected paper -a formula for success. More than anything the paper catapults these two to the forefront. Cindy has the best paper of the show -cardstock with lots of texture and a little color. These two are similar typographically and I like them both very much. The resumes are elegant and seem serious in terms of being used for obtaining employment. No break-throughs in terms of uniqueness or originality, but tasteful communicators overall. Also, excellent color choices.

01B

Bold, and I don't mean the font style. Alison breaks through the pack with oversized form and type. Once you have this in your hands, you absolutely must find Alison to see who she is. That's effective. I still haven't attempted to pronounce her last name, but apparently that was intentional on her part. It's not just the oversized-ness that makes it stand out. The layout and typography would work at any scale. It's mesmerizing. If you have a stack of resumes in your hand, you see the word "Alison" above all the other resumes. Everyone was 8.5x11 or smaller, only one person imagined she could be bigger. It worked. People were talking about this resume, especially around the Table of Resumes, because it clearly stood out the most. The stacked type works well as a poster-like graphic. I was talking with a creative director from Whitman Hart and he was jumping in with suggestions on how it could have been done differently, with more variation in the last name, perhaps more or less weight than the first name, but I feel it sits pretty well on the page just the way it is. If it had been a more decorative font, it might not maintain that steady in-your-face impression. I also like the subtle use of full-bleed. I think this look will speak loudly to the type of folks who hire entry level designers.

02A

Natali's paper is extremely well-chosen. I think it's Strathmore by the watermark, very tactile and rich. (She must have a hook-up with UniSource.) You want to keep holding on, it wants to keep holding on to you. I was tuned into the "web + print design" at the top since I mostly work on web projects (keyword-me), overall it's pretty well thought out, similar to Meghan and Cindy, not Picasso, but sound fundementals. Awsome paper. And for some reason I'm not put off by the pink.

02B

Speaking of Picasso the next two use the page as more of a work of art. That can be risky for a resume, but if you pull it off, it can be transcendent.

Theresa combines the angled grid with the floating in of a fluffy cloud (which subtly breaks the grid). It all comes together that way with the blue creating a foundation for the angle which lessens the disorienting aspect found on resumes that are simply on an odd angle. Plus she turns the headlines another -90° so you really get to look all around and forget for a moment that it's an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. AH! Make that 8 x 11. Just enough to throw you off the ordinary track. At first I didn't notice that was a photo of a cloud and I think it might even be stronger as more of an abstraction. Clouds are Microsofty, plus it implies your head is up in the clouds, which some employers might daydream about. (The extra half inch must have been chopped to get the left and right bleeds.)

Jimi appears like Emerile the spicey chef with the signature dish. Happily self promoting. His signature itself is a reference to a work of art (instead of being a work of art and then being signed), mixes things up, works well in conjunction with the handwriting (which is rhythmic and friendly) but ...I keep thinking Emerile. I do like how everything aligns to a single axis. Not sure if the signature "happy face" under the first name is intentional or if that's just how Jimi signs things, but I was a little put off by that. I'm not a fan of happy face scribbles in any situation. Some people may disagree. However, there's so much going on here I find myself talking about it, which speaks for itself. My most recent resume (as of the writing of this review) actually ghosts a word in the background too, I use my tagline which connects to a marketing campaign (website, business cards, posters etc.)

02C

THE LITTLE ONE

Another unbelievably sharp paper choice. This year's grads must have read my previous diatribes about the importance of fine paper. This small resume is simple, cute (cute?), and to the point. The m in Meyer aligns with the text (more on that later) and it's just so simple and easy it looks great. It's mini-refined. The font choices show maturity. Says "Corporate". The page could get lost in a stack, or it may be moved to the top of the pile as it is the smallest form.

03A

THE THREE WITH THE ROUNDED CORNERS

I'll start with Ethan since I talked to him.

Ethan I hate to break it to you buddy, but you weren't the only one with rounded corners.

Ethan's posters were the most impressive single project that I saw in the whole show. I was standing over there drooling at the level of detail and the complexity of the layout. Great work. I highly recommend this designer.

A smart and charming resume, buy why is everything pushed over so far to the left? -Nice paper choice

Great size for Tatum, his rounded corners were my favorite of the rounded corners trio. Ethan needs to stick with square corners, we want him to keep all of his fingers. Leave the chopping to Emerile. My creative director friend didn't care for the distressed type in Tatum's name, but I like it. It's not just distressed. In tandem with the colors he chose, and the supporting line of information below, and the lower case and no-spaces it comes together in a handy package. You'll notice a little disregard for margins here, although with the precision cut-down page size it works.

Jorie completes our rounded corner person trio (only 2 corners this time). Seems a little truncated, as if this were an attachment to another piece which is absent. It could use a dotted line or I-don't-know-what else, something.

04A

Arguably some of the best typography of the group in Ben's hefty resemator. However, I was driven insane by the too-dark-to-read text in the black stripe that full-bleeds across the top. Here's the deal: if it prints out too dark, you have to go back and print it again. Ok? I print things out one hundred times to get the right levels for the particular printer in use.

With commercial printing you have to work with the printer-vendor to supply proofs so that you can test and test again to ensure that your client's piece is in fact going to be delivered as it was designed. I would have reversed out that text moreso. Remember Megan above? Ben also does a good job to align his D with his text, a convention wizely chosen by many of the grads. I noticed others who failed to grasp that should-be-instinctive-by-now grid concept. This screams Austrian-Swiss border industrial town, very matter-of-fact and determined. Could use one more iteration. The last name agrees with the presentation.

04B

THE TWO WITH THE ACTIVE PERSONALITIES

Phillip crosses the Hawaiian shirt with the skater skull and crossbones for some reason...

...and Dave puts his glasses on there so you can find him. If you look past those logo/brand elements they both pull off educated layout and type. However, I think they may have gone over the top in terms of kitch. You could argue this either way, but when you start to reveal that much personality (or thematic diarama), it might tip the scales against you if the viewer happens to not like that style, or in your favor if they happen to be on the wavelength (hiring managers are typically not on your wavelength, you have to be on theirs).

In a resume, while I myself have been charmed by a logo mark (Drew, second place '06), you might want to think about limiting the bling. A business card can get away with more bling, a resume is supposed to be a little more formal. On a more positive note, Dave was inclined to reach out and talk to people as you might infer from his design. Thus, while it may appear kitch in a vacuum, it actually represents the person quite accurately.

05A

THE OTHERS NOT IN THE GARBAGE CAN

Claire and Matthew were similar, ok, and the rest are in the can.

Matthew had a logical explanation for the boxes merging, he said that the boxes represented him and the company coming together, beginning their crossover. Nice explanation and sound reasoning, but there's no way anyone could have figured that out by looking at it alone. It just looks like a pattern you might find on a drinkin' shirt on Steve Dahl in Phillip's Hawaiian Surfer Bar in Florida. I was happy about the red line at the bottom, so cut and tiny which can only be pulled off well by a skilled hand, but the overall look has reinvented the default design template. There are opportunities for more of the page elements to align with one another. Presentation graphics? There is value in having meaning, but the audience needs to be able to pick up on it somehow through context clues or text.

Clare's paper has tiny textural pinstripes that run vertically which is reinforced by the line she uses. Ok colors, fairly interesting layout, good size.

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Last years review ('07)

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