D. Collins Graphic Design Company: I help book publishers, magazine publishers, non-profit organizations and corporations by building unique, effective and meticulous graphic design.
D. Collins Design Co. was hired to art direct and redesign Dinosaur Magazine. The magazine looked at culture and what has taken place in the past, what is taking place in the present, and where that trajectory is arcing into the future, all from the perspective of “generation x” (loosely speaking, those of us born between 1961 and 1981). This generation is interesting because it is the last generation to see an analog era wane to that of the internet age; this generation has the clearest understanding of what has been gained and lost within this transition. The idea for the “mirror image” logo was discovered in the rear view mirror when at a stop sign. An ambulance pulled up behind, and the right-reading image of the word “ambulance” appeared in the rear view mirror. And that’s when the visual metaphor presented itself. We often look behind us to gather information about the present moment and how to proceed in the future. This is not unlike how Dinosaur functioned as a magazine. Photos by Steven Miller and Greg Dohler. While redesigning Dinosaur, I was looking at quite a bit of magazine designs from the 90s, post-punk record covers, and music ephemera from the late 80s and early 90s—the stuff concocted by those who belonged to Gen X. I consciously made the attempt to capture the spirit of this era; I knew the attempt was futile. I came to realize that I didn’t want to replicate the past but did want to reinterpret it, reinvent it, and present it in more contemporary terms. Fred Woodward (creative director, 1990s era, Rolling Stone Magazine). The work done during the 1990s at Rolling Stone magazine is, in my humble opinion, the pinnacle of magazine design. After a seemingly more regimented “invisible” design approach practiced at Rolling Stone during the 1980s, Woodward had made the magazine relevant and fun again. https://lnkd.in/gXikz7YB Vaughan Oliver I bought His Name is Alive’s Livonia" album. I never heard of this band or of the now seminal 4AD record label before this. I found myself mesmerized by the ghost like black and white photo, badged by a formal postmodern script typeface stamped in gold upon a dried-blood burgundy rectangle. The timing was ripe. After a good ten years immersed in punk and hardcore, I was beginning to get of my “give me punk, er gimme nothin!” screed. I had been preaching the tenants of an open mind in defense of punk, but ten years on, I found it was time to open my own. https://lnkd.in/gpqcna7w
Nice work Dana!
ART | ILLUSTRATION | MOTION GRAPHICS | CREATIVE DIRECTION | PJFIDLER.COM
1moLove reading about the design decisions and influence! Nice job Dana!