david ristau's portfolio

Designed and Written by David Ristau

The work that fills the pages of this book is a collection of my designs. Each of these pieces have been thought through and created with great passion, time, and energy. This body of work is a visual representation of who I am as a person and a designer. Not only do I take pride in these finished pieces but also in the method that was taken to get to the final product. I believe in simple design to clearly communicate meaning. I enjoy the creative process and all of the many steps that go into making a piece complete. It is my desire that one day my graphic design will have a positive effect on others. My hope is that viewers enjoy each piece as much as I enjoyed creating them.

David Ristau

Statement from the Designer

ImperativeKeepers of the Coast

Lattice WorksRefuge

International Justice MissionBlue Cross Blue Shield

Paceline MagazineDr Pepper

Toy CameraIs He Dead?Light Series

Revelare Design

- 6 -- 12 -- 16 -- 20 -- 22 -- 26 -- 30 -- 36 -- 40 -- 42 -- 44 -- 48 -

Fundamental Design Put Into ActionFlorida’s Sea Life Need’s ProtectingNetworking Technology and InformationPower Through KnowledgeHelp Fight Human TraffickingHave a Backup Plan for Life AccidentsA New Look for Professional CyclingUnique Flavor is What We AreA Moment in TimeA Question That Needs an AnswerBeauty in a Whole New LightA Simple Way to Communicate

Content

Gregg Berryman’s “Notes On Graphic Design and Visual Communication” was a collection of fundamental graphic design concepts. Although concepts described in this collection of notes were very applicable in their teachings, these concepts were not represented well visually. The challenge was to redesign the visual layouts and illustrations of Berryman’s book. It was important to visually represent the concepts Berryman wrote about, so that they were not only communicated in writing but also through the design. I wanted to take his fundamental concepts and use them as my inspiration to create visual examples of his work. The use by which typography was implemented was the key. In addition, the goal was to visually represent the words that were written in order to make the book a more relevant guide in graphic design literature.

Imperative

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Keepers of the Coast is a non-profit organization who’s goal is to help preserve northeast Florida’s sea turtle population and other wildlife. Keepers of the Coast was an unknown company that needed to establish themselves in order to build support and community to enhance their efforts. The challenge proposed was to create an identity that would represent the company’s goal and commitment to wildlife preservation. Due to their past concentrated efforts on sea turtle preservation, it was important to use the sea turtle as the organization’s trademark. It was equally important to portray the sea turtles as fragile and in need of help because of the increase in wildlife destruction. The goal of the identity was to invoke people into action to support Keepers of the Coast’s mission and communicate to the viewers that nature needs help.

Keepers of the Coast

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Lattice Works is a networking company that uses resources such as GPS, telephone directories, and the internet to supply people with information they need. Lattice Works was an unknown company in a rapidly growing era where information is quickly distributed via various forms of technology. For this reason, this company needed an identity that would make them recognizable and marketable and that would enable them to compete with other companies that offer the same services. When designing the ads, it was important to let the public know that Lattice Works helps supply information to them through devices that they already own. This logo was created to depict interlacing elements that denote the connection between information and technology.

Lattice Works

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Refuge is a non-profit organization that is committed to helping young high school students reach their potential and achieve their dreams through the power of learning. Refuge was in need of an identity because they were a new and unknown organization. It was important that this identify appeal to students, so they would be attracted to this program. The purpose was to attract high school students to this organization through a simple, yet edgy logo. The focal point of the mark is a book, as the organization’s primary mission is for students to learn and achieve.

Refuge

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International Justice Mission is a worldwide human rights agency that seeks to secure justice for victims of violent oppression. The purpose of this advertisement campaign was to make people aware of the human sex trafficking occurring in the world and to seek their involvement with this cause.I chose to depict the horrible injustices that occur in sex trafficking, especially among underage girls. The approach to these advertisements was to emotionally strike the reader and effect them into action. Images of young girls were strategically used to impact readers and leave them with thoughts of these heinous injustices.

International Justice Mission

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Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers. Because the company’s smallest subgroup of members is in the age range of 22 to 30, they were in search of an advertisement campaign to target this population of people. Through these advertisements, it was important to communicate to this demographic that health insurance is both important and affordable. Another main concept that I wanted to portray is that Blue Cross Blue Shield is able to supply reliable and dependable healthcare services. Images that depicted a more adventurous and thrilling lifestyle were chosen in order to target this specific audience. Doing so will hopefully reach these young adults and reveal to them that they are in need of a backup plan.

Blue Cross Blue Shield

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Paceline Magazine is a professional cycling magazine. The purpose of this magazine is to be an informative publication that appeals to young fans of the professional cycling world. The challenge was to make Paceline standout from other magazines that compete for this same demographic. The goal was to break away from traditional gridlines and predictable layouts in order to create a more contemporary look. The desired result is to appeal to a younger audience through the use of more visually engaging and sophisticated designs.

Paceline Magazine

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Dr Pepper is a popular soft drink that many people are familiar with. Although it is the longest running soft drink company in America, it is always in competition with other major soda manufacturers. The challenge was to create an advertisement campaign that would attract new customers to this popular soft drink. The solution for this advertisement campaign was to focus on Dr Pepper’s unique blend of flavors; this uniqueness sets the soft drink apart from any other sodas on the market. Because this soda is so different than others, the purpose of these advertisements was to reach out to a variety of viewers from all facets of life, interests, and personal styles.

Dr Pepper

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In these photographs, I wanted to create a series of images that were reminiscent of past memories. There is little evidence of detail in these images, as they are simple and remind us of some distant, vague memory. However, they present enough detail to be recognizable. The feel and desired effect of this series was captured through the use of a black and white disposable camera. This type of camera was specifically used in order to capture the simplicity of a moment in time.

Toy Camera

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toy camera 41

Mark Twain’s play, “Is He Dead?” was being put on by Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre. In this play, an artist fakes his own death in order to increase the value of his work. Due to his questionable death, there is doubt that he is even dead; as a result, there was chaos among the people who were frantically trying to answer this question. The challenge was to design a poster to advertise this play. I wanted to use the question (is he dead?) as a repeating element throughout the poster, as this is the underlying question throughout the play. My intentions were to visually represent the chaos that was apparent in the play. I also tried to visually depict the whispers of the people who were in search of the answer to the mystery. Since this was the focal point of the play, I made it the focal point of the poster.

Is He Dead?

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is he dead? 43

These photographs were taken in places where one would not typically stop to admire the view. In these images, it was light that brought life and new meaning to these over looked locations. Using only the light sources on location, long exposures were used to capture all of the detail; the pictures were taken at night, when these places were left alone and unoccupied. Through this technique, the audience is more likely to pay attention and appreciate something that was once disregarded.

Light Series

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Revelare Design is a new design group that needed an identity that would embody their methodology of revealing true meaning through simple design. The significance of the group’s name, Revelare, is rooted in their desire to reveal and communicate meaning through graphic design. This particular mark and color scheme was chosen in order to communicate the design group’s simplistic style of design. The stair stepping effect was created to represent the many steps of the design process; it also denotes the idea that many facets are thought through before the piece is designed and the message is communicated.

Revelare Design

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