The Magnetic State Blog Dept.

Tons of New Work!

Dan Redding — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:57:56 +0000

I recently doubled the size of the portfolio at Magnetic State to include lots of exciting recent projects. There are now two categories of work: Web Design & Development, and Graphic Design & Branding. Special thanks to the awesome freelancers who have assisted me with recent projects at Magnetic State: freelancers like Monica, Raju, and Hannah. As always, if you’d like to work together, I hope you’ll send me an email. Thank you!

Blogging at Command C

Dan Redding — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:50:13 +0000

Hello! I’ve been writing blog posts recently for my friends at Command C, a fellow web design studio in Greenpoint. Check out my recent post about whether or not to include social media buttons on your website, or view all of my articles! Thanks for reading.

Case Study: FFANY Directory Cover

Dan Redding — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:32:31 +0000

This design by Magnetic State appears on ads and book covers for shoe association FFANY. The layout was done by myself, and the illustration of the shoe girl was a collaborative effort between designer Pina Iannuzzi and myself. Here’s a look at our process.

Final Product

The design was originally inspired by an advertisement I came across during my art deco research for the project (see below). The client liked the concept of a woman holding a large shoe (they often like designs with visual puns or shoes in exaggerated scale), so I requested that Pina create an illustration based on the idea.

Inspiration: Art Deco Ad

Pina’s original illustration (below) shows her drawing talent and her natural skill for fashion illustration with a feminine touch.

Pina’s Illustration

New Website: Peyton Yoga

Dan Redding — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:20:43 +0000

Check out the WordPress site I designed for yoga instructor Peyton Biederman.

Dude Food

Dan Redding — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:07:43 +0000

I’m really happy with this illustration I did for the Men’s Health site Guy Gourmet. Illustration was my major at Parsons and I use those skills in design projects daily–but it’s rare that I publish a straight-up editorial illustration. I love this one.

Art Deco Inspiration

Dan Redding — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:27:55 +0000

Images scanned from books at the Gimbel Library, Parsons School of Design.

Photos: Greenpoint and Governor’s Island

Dan Redding — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:22:00 +0000

Beard Flyer

Dan Redding — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:16:01 +0000

Here is a flyer I made for the Beard Ball, which is an event hosted by my friends at Build-A-Beard. One friend recently described my design work as ‘minimalist,’ and I think this design was in part a response to that. I have never thought of myself in those terms, but here are some things that run through my head often: 1) the Swiss design dictum that you should keep removing things from your design until you can’t remove anymore, 2) In its simplest terms, design should ‘say what it is.’ Kinda like how writing professors will teach you “show don’t tell.” In other words, I figured that a silhouetted beard with ball gown would not only be funny, but it would also say ‘Beard Ball’ in simple graphic language.

Logo and Website for Shannon Grey Williams

Dan Redding — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:51:14 +0000

I am proud to present an awesome new project I just wrapped up: the logo design and responsive portfolio site for makeup artist Shannon Grey Williams. Visit shannongreywilliams.com

Shannon’s logo reflects her love of royal and regal imagery (both monograms and crowns emerged from our research of historical references). Shannon’s request that we create something “historical with a modern twist” led me to modernize the logo into the sleek, streamlined simplicity that’s evident in the finished result.

When it came time to design Shannon’s portfolio site, I chose to use WordPress to accommodate the large number of portfolio items (60+ images) and allow for easy updating in the future. The site is responsive – it will correspond to the screen size of your tablet, iPhone, walkman, abacus, or whatever else you display it on. And most importantly for a portfolio site, it puts the beautiful photographs of Shannon’s work in the spotlight and gives them the room to shine.

Booty Shirt

Dan Redding — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:30:48 +0000

Last week, I received a bundle of Planet Booty loot including this shimmering, outrageous t-shirt I designed for the San Francisco funk purveyors and old friends. Nathan requested a ‘wireframe’ booty design to correspond with the geometry of their handmade disco ball booty. I designed the image and decided that it wouldn’t be complete without an appropriately obscene and over-the-top execution in dazzling metallic silver ink. Oh and yes, that’s a Booty sweatband.