» marisa_glick Bilingual: Language, Image and Typography in Design

For the semester long project I am going to focus my efforts on Cuban design.

I would like to practice using spanish style typography and specifically would like to create packaging design for perfume. I think scent and music are universal languages and I would like to further explore branding in a cuban style for a perfume scent. I will research Cuban style art, architecture, etc to become inspired. For my final delivery I will have a brand identity- logo, packaging for three different scents, and a poster (advertisement of perfume). The reason why I am also interested in this topic is because my grandmother was Cuban and I have yet to travel there so this will allow me to familiarize myself with Cuban styles. I am really inspired by Bond no. 9 in NYC- their packaging is beautiful.

This week I’ve focused my efforts on communicating with the AIGA Director who is Cuban. He connected me to research sites and other designers to talk to. I’ve been keeping a personal journal of images and emails to designers in Cuba. It’s nice to have the first-person interaction. I’ve scheduled a visit to the AIGA archives which I’m excited about.

Turns out the AIGA program director, George Fernandez, whose been there 16 years is Cuban. I introduced myself to George and asked him if he could recommend any resources. He shared with me a collection of Cuban posters from the 1960s-1990s. George connected me to his dear friend and Cuban design expert Santiago Pujol.

Here are a few of my favorite contemporary Cuban inspirations thus far:

For bilingual graphic design class I created a set of seven postcards that were inspired by a trip to Chinatown Manhattan. The audience I had in mind for this collection was children. Each card has a unique character/animal that I drew using a Wacom drawing pad. I used illustrator to develop the characters. On the back of each card is information regarding the animal and it’s significance in Chinese culture. Every card has the luck symbol on the front because my last name (Glick) means good luck in German. I really enjoyed drawing for this project and exploring color options.

To view the full project download this PDF. It includes the front and back details of the postcards: postcards-v1-d2-17-12mg