I LOVED spending the morning with our clients at James River Air Conditioning while Nikki Dee Visited for her segment: Nikki Dee, Can You Be Me? It really is inspiring to be around someone so joyful. Look out for the episode coming soon!
Here’s James River’s Social Media Manager, RaShawn Hairston. PS. Check out his blog, Clazzy Styles.
In this post, TFB’s newest team member, Camden Dechert, will take us through the ins and outs of material design -Christina
I heard about Material Design for the first time a few months ago from my coworker at VCU Technology Services. Together, we had been developing a new designed campaign for Technology Services that would give our brand a facelift. I began exploring Material Design as a new way to approach our new brand. It lent me the freedom to stay within our university brand guidelines, but also add that extra oomph.
I was interested in learning about this new language because it is starting to revolutionize the way we design. Companies are beginning to implement Material Design into their logos, graphics, websites, and apps. The differences are subtle, but they make a huge difference once you notice it.
So, what is it?
In 2014, Google developed a new design language called Material Design, otherwise known as Quantum Paper.
Designed by Matías Duarte, Material Design makes more liberal use of grid-based layouts, responsive animations and transitions, padding, and depth effects such as lighting and shadows.
Google announced Material Design on June 25, 2014, at the 2014 Google I/O conference, but it is within the past year that it is being noticed by people other than designers. As of 2015, most of Google’s mobile applications for Android had applied the new design language, including Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Google Maps, Inbox, Google+, all of the Google Play-branded applications, and to a smaller extent the Chrome browser and Google Keep. The desktop web-interfaces of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Inbox have incorporated it as well. More recently, it has started to appear in Chrome OS, such as in the system settings, file manager, and calculator apps
Duarte explained that, “unlike real paper, our digital material can expand and reform intelligently. Material has physical surfaces and edges. Seams and shadows provide meaning about what you can touch.” According to Google, their new design language is based on paper and ink but implementation will take place in an advanced manner
Why use it?
Material Design is revolutionary because of how amazingly well thought out it is. Success in implementing Material Design comes from following a type system, a color guide focusing on bold, but subtle, limited color, three-dimensional environment qualities focusing on surfaces, shadows and depth, and a meticulously gridded layout.
Material is the metaphor. Material Design is inspired by the physical world and its textures, including how they reflect light and cast shadows. Material surfaces reimagine the mediums of paper and ink.
How should I use it?
Check out this guide for all the information you need on Material Design. https://material.io/
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My first job out of college was at the Martin Agency as an assistant media buyer. At the time I didn’t own a TV, but I learned so much about how ratings and advertising work, the importance of “sweeps week”. Each spring, the television and advertising industries gather in New York to debut the new Fall TV lineup. They call it the Upfronts, and it’s a big event. Our whole team didn’t get to travel for the event, but the sales reps at local stations would send us DVDs of the pilots. We’d watch one or two at a time with popcorn during lunch and try to predict which shows would last and which would be canceled.
A consultant I work with for my clients sent out a list of the new shows for Fall 2018 and I thought you might like to check them out:
Our friends at Richmond SPCA needed some fresh photos of their newest baby cats for their social media, so we stopped by last week for a Kitten Photo Shoot. Ayasha Sledge, a PR professional with a photography side-business, joined us for the shoot. She’s finishing up her master’s degree in Strategic Public Relations from VCU and getting in some internship credit hours with TFB. Here’s some of the behind-the-scenes action:
I bought this Geode art from Target ($64.99) after seeing it at my friend Judi’s house. It looks especially pretty when sunlight hits.
I just discovered that Elemis mini/travel-size versions of a lot of their products, so I ordered a few things I’d been wanting to try. My favorites so far are the Rehydrating Rose Cleanser, the Skin Nourishing Shower Cream, and the Herbal Lavender Repair Mask. The cleanser is similar to the one I use from Eminence, so this one will be perfect to sub-in when I visit Vegas next month.
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