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Interviews with Christina Ullman
Designer profileDesign Interview
1 May 2024 · Discovering Vienna Libro Storico da Tavolo
This book is a visual coffee table book with a focus on the City of Vienna’s history. The body text was minimal to allow the visuals and accompanying captions to have greater impact.
This unique book provides a visual history of the two primary families who settled in and ultimately founded the City of Vienna in West Virginia in the late 1700s. The book is filled with historical documents, maps, and other artifacts that provide context to the actions of both families in light of events in the American colonies and Europe at this time. The ancestry of both families is also documented, tracing their roots back to the English monarchy and Viking warriors.
The book is part of a larger campaign called Trek Vienna, which includes large format exhibition panels with information about the history and heritage of the City of Vienna. Given the amount of research that I uncovered for this book, I may write and design a second volume.
The book took a year to research, write, design, and publish.
While researching information to include on the Trek Vienna exhibition panels, it became apparent that there was enough content to develop a book to tell the story of the city's first families. The publication was commissioned by the Friends of Vienna, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the City of Vienna in West Virginia.
The publication was commissioned by the Friends of Vienna, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the City of Vienna in West Virginia.
I have been a publication designer for over 30 years so designing a book is part of my professional expertise. I also love history so that just made the project even more interesting to me.
The design of the book was inspired by vintage typography in the late 1800s combined with decorative lines and border frames implemented in historical and photography books and vintage maps from the early 1700s.
The book was intended to communicate the city's history and heritage to the community as well as the geographic region in an effort to create awareness about the city's origins.
Unlike other history books, this book takes a visual narrative approach, linking text with historical images, documents, and artifacts.
Discovering Vienna is the title because it summarizes the nature of the story of the book.
I used Adobe Creative Suite applications including InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
The most unique aspect of the design is the custom typography that is incorporated on the cover and the chapter divider pages.
Jonathan Ullman served as the copy editor for the book.
The research was very difficult for this book since many of its resources were discovered in various libraries and archives around the world.
I am very proud of the book since I researched, wrote and designed it. It became a very personal project for me. I believe it is one of the best publications I have created in my career so far and it deserves to be recognized.
I learned to become a resourceful researcher and how to verify information from multiple sources efficiently.
Designer Interview
29 April 2024
I have been interested in art since I was very young. I would paint and draw and write poetry. My interest in art and written content was a natural segway to a career as a graphic designer. I was formerly a university professor and taught graphic design, publication design, and illustration. During that time, I had many clients for whom I would design various publications and promotional materials, as well as scientific graphics and illustrations. Rather than taking a sabbatical from teaching, I decided to take a leave of absence and devote my time to starting my design studio. That was 17 years ago. Needless to say, I didn't return to teaching.
Ullman Design is a boutique design and illustration studio located in the historic downtown area of Marietta, Ohio, that specializes in promotional design, branding, publication design, as well as graphics and illustrations. What the studio offers is unique because of the convergence of visuals within design materials.
Design is about creating an organizational balance that guides an audience through content. It is a unique combination of visuals with text in a design that creates a unique, engaging narrative, capturing a sense of place, telling a story the audience can relate to on many levels. It is about creating solutions for clear and effective communication.
I love publication design because of the synergy between written words and visuals.
My favorite design project has been the "Discovering Vienna" coffee table book because I researched, wrote, and designed the book.
I believe it was a logo. I don't remember the client.
While I primarily work in the Adobe Creative Suite applications, I enjoy acrylic painting. I also love to take landscape photos.
I tend to be most creative at night. I have spent many late night hours developing illustrations and concepts.
While aesthetics are important, I believe making things clear to the audience is the most vital aspect. If something is not communicated clearly, the message is lost.
I feel challenged, which provides an adrenaline rush in some ways. I am always trying to develop new and better approaches to designs to continue to perfect my craft.
Like any other designer, I feel a sense of pride that what I have created is appreciated by others.
A design is successful if it communicates the client's message clearly and effectively.
Typography is #1. Poor typography can make or break a design.
I had a solo landscape photography exhibition two years ago. My images are landscape silver prints. I would love to have more soon but do not have anything planned at this time.
I love to travel. When I do, I make notes of scenes, architecture, patterns, and other things that I encounter that provide inspiration for my work.
A designer is not creating for themselves, but for their client.
Listening to clients is vital—taking time to listen and to understand a client’s needs in order to translate them into solutions.
Adobe Creative Suite— InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator are the primary applications.
I am a habitual planner. At the end of each work day, I write out all of my tasks and meetings for the next day so I know what must be done and can mentally prepare for the coming day.
It depends on the scope of work. Some take a week or two while some take months.
How do you come up with your ideas? That seems to be the most asked question. Honestly, I am always thinking about design concepts and approaches and write them down in a notebook so I can reference them later. That's where the ideas come from.
Teaching design to college students was the most valuable experience because it helped me to develop communication skills that were vital when explaining concepts to clients or explaining why something works or doesn't work without bringing in personal bias.
My clients vary from institutions and nonprofit organizations to universities and hospitals.
I prefer design projects that allow me to blend my illustration skills within a design or my writing skills within a design.
I would like to do more illustration and photography and perhaps publish an illustrated children’s book.
Right now I work solo.
I am currently working the first issue of a magazine for which I developed a full redesign for the publication.
My email is tina@ullmandesign.com. My studio phone number is +17403732400.
