Grids

I found this image from the web and it is a poster for a clothing company called Uniqlo. The peoples' images are in a grid while they are modeling t-shirts. There are clearly defined margins and rows separating the images. Even the logo is is a grid, it is separated by a strong color and is a part of two rows in the grid.

grids

This is a good example of a design using grids. By aligning the pictures in columns the grids and margins become visible. This technique allows for a clean design. The pictures touch the same line making the margin visible even though there is still white space present. I really like this design because of it's simplicity.

Grid layout

This is an example of a grid lay out. It uses the rule of third; as you can see from the photo, Obama represents the 2/3rd of the picture, and the words wrapped in a box above Obama make up 1/3 of the photo. The areas are also divided into a specified number of rows and columns. Obama's face and the word Change above is lined up together vertically in the middle to define each other.  

Artists for Obama

Here's a link to the "Artists for Obama" post on Font Feed that Professor Taylor was talking about.

It's worth checking out - there's some interesting original work here.

http://fontfeed.com/archives/artists-for-obama/

Getting your business cards printed

In case anyone wants to print their cards professionally so that they can start to use them "in the real world" here are a few options.

Sherri points out this site: Plasticprinters.com - Apparently they can turn your card into clear or frosted plastic. Very nifty, but I couldn't find prices on their site.

I personally use Vistaprint. They have templates for InDesign and Photoshop that you can just drop your design that you made in class right onto. I've had the most success when I order a set with one of the sides glossy; Some of my classmates ordered without a glossy side and the printing quality was notably worse.

Staples is also a good option for low-volume printing of your cards. Their non-glossy seems to be better than Vistaprint, if you are going that route.

Marina's awesome stationary and envelope.

ReSume REdo

Changes made:
I added information to the activities that i am apart of. I aligned my wordmark with the body of my text. I made the x in my wordmark bigger to give it a bigger emphasis.

Logo!

Keeping it simple

Professor Taylor asks you to take note of how simple a logo can be in this example of Bloomingdale's Web site:

Logo Project

The logo represents who I am and what I love to do during my free time. I've been playing the guitar for over six years now and even had a band back in high school. I always wanted to be a musician so for this project, I decided to choose my favorite instrument to represent me. The gestalt principle is applied here. By looking at the logo, even though picture is not complete, the reader can form the complete picture in their mind. I stretched the letter "G" to form other half of the body. 

The logo is intended for people in music or entertainment industry. I hope that someday I could work for a recording studio and use my musical talent to produce songs for artists. 

I kept the logo fairly simple because I know that simplest logos are best logos. 

logo project

Design Strategy:
I couldn’t think of anything creative to use in my logo that had to do with newspaper journalism so I decided to design one for my name instead. My logo is comprised of my initials KRK. The butterfly wings are a mirrored image of capital Ks. The antenna is a lower case r. Thus my initials are presented KrK.
I feel the butterfly represents a free spirit with the flying off the page. It also represents change, which is something I’m open to. I like to try new things. The butterfly is also is a happy image and I am generally a happy person.
I chose to do a watermark for my stationary because I really liked my image and wanted it large and I didn’t know how else to put my logo on the page. I didn’t want to put it in the top left corner with my contact info because I didn’t want it to resemble my envelope. I didn’t want the logo in the top right corner because then it would be too much like my business card. I put my contact info at the bottom of the stationary because I felt it was the most appropriate place. I used the pink Apple Chancery Option 8 bullets to separate the information so that it connected the text to the image.

Choice of Typefaces:
I drew the letters in the logo because I couldn’t find them exactly how I wanted them to look from an existing font. I decided to use the fonts in my text to imitate the ones I drew for the logo.
I chose to use Charme Std. Roman for the capital Ks because I felt it resembled the Ks I drew for the butterfly’s wings. I really liked the font but it was too hard to read in large amounts so I also used Apple Chancery. I chose this font because the r resembled the r I drew for the antenna. It also complimented Charme Std. Roman font. I felt the font portrayed the characteristics classy and girly, both of which I feel describe me.

Color:
I chose to use the color scheme of black, white, gray and pink (PANTONE pastel coated .9324c). I felt that black and white is a classic color combination that will never go out of style. I added some gray in the wings to add dimension to the design. I chose pink to accent the color scheme and make my designs pop. Pink is also a girly color that fits with the theme I wanted to portray. I wanted to fade the pink on the business card because it’s like the butterfly is emerging from it into the unknown. It also adds dimension to the card.

Paper:
I didn’t choose a special paper. Anything special I wanted, I designed on the computer.

Kelina's Stationary Set

Design Strategy:
My dream is to work for a music magazine. I wanted to somehow incorporate writing and music in an image while still representing myself accurately. I created a record using layering concentric circles each treated with a gradient. The label was created by another circle. Using the knife tool on two circles, I created the lines around the red label.

There is something about records that modern MP3s or CDs have and although it is an outdated technology, they are classic and hip. After finishing the record, it looked like it still needed more. Somehow I had to still incorporate writing other than writing “journalist” on the record. I then decided to create the arm of the record player. Rather than using the regular needle tip, I used Live Paint on the tip of a fountain pen to create the needle. I connected it using simple lines to create the idea of a full record player without all of the pieces.

I wanted to keep the letterhead and envelope simple. I continued the color from the label as the background.

For the business card, I chose to do a different size 19p square because the logo would be compromised if it were too small or cropped too much. The square shape is modern. I also chose to do a two-sided business card to accommodate both the full logo and all of my personal information.

Choice of typefaces:
I chose a modern sans serif font in caps for my name. Veranda is used in all text on the business card, letterhead and envelope. The font is slightly stretched in order to emulate the fonts used on real vinyl records. Using the Paintbrush tool in Illustrator, I made a ‘K’ and ‘I’ and created the small initials on the record.

Color:
The color red was chosen for the label and background because it is an attention grabbing color. It is C- 15%, M- 100%, Y- 90%, K- 10%. It is not a Pantone color because it was taken from Illustrator.

Paper:
All pieces were printed on the normal 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper from the labs.

My Logo Design

Logo Design:

 I wanted to create a design that had both strong and soft colors because I wanted the design to show strength and femininity. I wrote my initials with the paint tool and drew a fan like design  next to the initials. Next to each other it reminded me of a butterfly/flower on blades of grass. I like that it can be seen to be both, it just depends on perception.  I I choose to have the back of my business card a different color to have another contrast between soft and strong. 

On my envelope I put my main image at 70 percent of it's original scale from Illustrator on the back flap. On the front I put the main image at 35 percent next to my address. I think it gave uniformity to the envelope.  My stationary also has my main image at 35 percent scale

Choice of typeface:

I choose Palatino type for my logo project because it was simple and easy to read. I did not want the text to overpower the design. I wanted my illustration to stand out. I made my name is all caps and put it on the top and bottom of my card to utilize the vertical space I choose. Also I used white text in 14pt for my name to stand out against the background. My email address and phone number are in 10pt.

Choice of Color:

I used black as a base color because it was strong and draws the eye. For my illustration I used green (Pantone DS 278 C) for the blades of grass and pink (Pantone 148 5-C) for my initials that resemble a flower or butterfly. The illustration and the black background contrast each other well along with the white text.  On the back of my business card I have a white background with the main image.

Logo Design!

Design Strategy:

Originally, I thought that coming up with a logo for my name was going to be quite difficult, seeing as though my name doesn’t uniquely have even letters or my intitials don’t spell out an actual word. After playing with all three letters though, I came to a conclusion that it was a good thing that my initials were a palindrome because I could use one letter as the dominant, and the others would be able to uniquely fit with it. I would have loved to use just the letter “C” in my logo, but I discovered that idea has already been trademarked and is known worldwide.
I love music, so I wanted to play on the idea of having my logo represent the treble clef in a different way, with the dots on each side of the curvature of the letter “S”. Also. the two dots represent the separation of each letter in my initials, so I thought that was cool for me to use them as well. I didn’t know at first how I was going to convey my idea and how I was going to use font, but the paintbrush tool became quite the resource. The letter “S” is by far my favorite part because it looks like an “S” I would write to begin my middle name. I wanted my logo to be simple as possible, but still envoke class, sophistication, and who I am.

Choice of Typefaces:

The letter “C” in my logo is the typeface ITC Fenice STD, which is a serif font. I thought that this font was different in the sense that it uniquely resembled the letter “S” that I drew with the paint brush tool. Also, I wanted a versitle typeface family so I could stay in one typeface and still achieve contrast.

Color:
The color I used in my logo is R=210 G=99 B=161, which is the color pink. I love the color pink, and I also wanted to have a similar color that is present in my resume.

Paper:
I did not want to use a particular type of paper for my stationery because I thought that it would take away from the boldness of my logo, so I will just use reguarl white paper.

A note about posting your projects ...

For anyone having trouble with the colors not exporting correctly from Illustrator:

When you export to JPEG, make sure you switch your "Color Model" option from CMYK to RGB. It's defaulted to CMYK if you selected a print document for illustrator.

Also check the box to embed the ICC profile into the JPEG.

That should clear up any problems.

Happy posting!

Letecha's LOGO

Design strategy:
My logo is constructed from my initials (LCD). I got the idea to do a face from the LG logo. I thought that this was the best way to construct a design that represented public relations, which is the career I am interested in. This way it is conveying the message without being cliché. I think it represents public relations in a very graphical way. In addition, round shapes are very pleasing to the eye because they are placid shapes.

Color:
I used pantone 116 EC. This color is a golden yellow. I wanted to highlight the C, which represents the mouth. Public relations is all about interpersonal skills and communications, so I wanted to light the ‘mouth” part to symbolize my interpersonal and communication skills. When I thought about valuable, I thought about gold. Gold might not have the same value now as it did before; however, that’s the only color I can portray. If I were to use sliver to represent platinum I think people would read it as gray and not platinum. Also, yellow is one of the colors that grab your attention. Even though, it is not yellow it is a variation of it.

Choice of Typefaces:
My logo is made up of letters. I couldn’t use serifs because it wouldn’t of fit in because of the extra block that it has at he base and top of the fonts. Sans do not have these. Therefore, I could draw lines around sans fonts and it would appear as though I actually created the letters. The typeface I used in my logo was Ocean sans. I used type repetition to link my logo to my word mark.

Logo Design

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Design Strategy:
Again, I tried to design my logo to fit my personality, as well as the internships I will be applying for. Since I want to work for a fashion magazine, I designed it to appear chic and elegant. I played off of my last name, “Glass”, and the fact that I want to write for a fashion magazine and added a glass slipper. I found the “glass flashes” on illustrator and thought that they added a depth and a new dimension to my logo.
My stationary is relatively simple. Because my logo takes up a good portion of the top of the paper, I left my address at the absolute bottom. I wanted both to be centered and stack nicely on top of one another. I repeated the “glass flash” motif at the bottom, using two on one side and one on the other because a symmetry is more eye pleasing than symmetry.
Since my logo is so girly, I wanted my business card to be a funky shape, so that it would stand out in the fashion industry. Square business cards are becoming more and more popular and seem to be very en vogue right now. I got rid of the “glass flashes” because I thought that they distracted from my information. I used the purple to add more color and make it less boring. The back of my card is just my original shoe with the “glass flashes”. It is facing the opposite direction so that it still has the she of an “L” and appears to be the opposite foot.
I used just the shoe and my name for the front of my envelope because it was simple and elegant. I moved my return address to the back of the envelope so that the front was not overcrowded and I kept the “glass flash” motif on the back.

Choice of Typefaces:
I chose didot for my type family because I wanted to keep the continuity my resume and my logo. Didot is also a very fashion forward type family.

Color:
I stuck with the same basic color theme that I had used in my resume, because I wanted my resume to match my logo. I chose light purple, PantoneDS165-3C (C=35%, M=70%, Y=0%, K=10%) because not only is it my favorite color, but it is a color that is often equated with flowers and my first name, Lauren, means crowned with laurels. For the inside of the blue lettering, I used PantoneDS246-8C (C=20%, M=0%, Y=5%, K=0%). For the outside of the lettering, I used a slightly darker blue to accent the inside, and still give the lettering a glassy texture, PantoneDS230-8C (C=30%, Y=5%, M=50%, K=5%). I also used this blue for the shoe, which I traced in illustrator.

Paper:
I chose to use normal paper for my stationary because it is more economically feasible and the bright white color compliments the blue.

Effective Logo- Guess whose...

effective logo

I think that M&M came up with a simple and recognizable logo. Even if the characters were not in the picture, you can recognize the typeface that the company uses to symbolize the chocolate snack. They also chose a good name for the product because it could be easily marketable just with one letter. "m". The company has expanded the "m" symbol into two characters, one red and one yellow. They do commercials and ads. People around the world would recognize these two characters as representing M&Ms.

yummm McDonalds...effective logo

Take your time and guess???
Your right! It's Mcdonalds!!!

I chosed this logo because I think Mcdonalds did a every good job at creating an effective logo. It's timeless and probably be around for years to come. The colors automatically jump out at you and grab your attention. Everyone knows what the golden arches mean. If you were in a foreign country driving down a road and you seen these arches you would know it was Mcdonalds. This logo transgresses through all cultural and ethnic boundaries. It's very simple and easy to remember! And doesn't make you kind of hungry just looking at it? The arches to me looks like to french fries... I think it's time for lunch!!

I chose this one because I LOVE the colors. White, black, and that bright yellowish green, greenish yellow, whatever you would call it. The bright green/yellow is not used quite as often, and thus comes off as interesting in this logo. The designer just made three simple lines around the curves of the letter and numbers (simple, but brilliant). This logo speaks to me as fresh, spunky, and innovative. It's simple enough to look modern, and conveys its message well. I mean, you need to sort of know what this company is to get it, but it is still clever. The company is a Polish package design company. They literally put 2D and 3D together. Hence the logo: 2 + 3D. Get it? Designing in 2D and then putting those 2D designs onto 3D objects. I also like how the designed put in the company's name on top in a way that does not make the logo look over-done.

Effective Logo

I think the Apple Inc. logo is very effective. First of all, the logo is an apple, which is helpful in recognizing its association with the Apple products and Macintosh computers. More specifically, the metallic, silver color makes it appear more modern and technological which is most likely just the feel Apple is going for. It also stands out because it is designed with a 3-dimensional look, unlike most logos which are definitely only 2-D. I also find it interesting that the company name is nowhere on the logo since the picture fully represents the company and what the company does.

company logo

I think this logo is really effective because it incorporates many things into it that have to do with sewing and creating bears which is what the company is about. This is done with the bears making the bear and with the button and the spool of thread that replace the os in workshop. Another thing that this logo has is that it's displayed in a circle which is very simple and pleasing for the eye.

Effective Logo

I think that the Jamba Juice logo is effective because it describes the product that you purchase from the store. I am absolutely obsessed with Jamba Juice, and I think it works because it is so colorful, welcoming,and fun. The swirl of the logo makes the customer automatically think of smoothies, and I think the colors are also used well because it describes the fresh products that they use in their products. The logo reflects the atmosphere that is present in the store, which is fresh, upbeat, and light. It is very simple, yet gets the point across to consumers.

Effective logo

The Nike logo is simple and effective. If you judge a "good logo" by its ability to be internationally recognizable, exist at a variety of sizes and speak for an entire brand, this logo is perfect. Nike's swoosh elicits a sophisticated and clean design while incorporating a sense of movement. The swoosh is everywhere and Nike's brand recognition is probably up there with McDonalds' arches. Nike is known all over the world for well-made sportwear. I've been to the Nike campus in Oregon and the company is working hard to be sustainable on top of being fashionable. It's a company that you can trust, and with an effective logo, why wouldn't you support them?

Resume Redo

Design Strategy:
I designed my resume to fit my personality, as well as the internships I will be applying for. Since I want to work for a fashion magazine, I designed it to appear chic and elegant. Originally, I had a lot of information that I wanted to put on my resume and even once I condensed it, I had a significant amount of type, so I wanted to keep the design simple. I chose my fonts and colors to look both, girly and graceful, and at the same time funky and fashion forward. I added the colorful lines to keep continuity between the two colors that I used in my wordmark.
I changed my wordmark for the redo because I wanted it to stand out more. I played around with it a lot, but in the end, I felt like I had to take advantage of the “N” fitting so nicely above the “G”.
I got rid of my retail management job and organized my experience descending in the order of which I had the job. Luckily, my most interesting job was my last job. I used tabs and bullets to create a sense of hierarchy in my resume and I moved the bullets closer to the words. I also picked margins and stuck with them this time.

Choice of Typefaces:
For my redo, I decided to only use Didot because it gives off a funky, yet sophisticated vibe. I wanted a versatile typeface family for the body of my resume, so that I could stay in one typeface and still be able to bold my titles and italicize the dates and locations of my jobs. Also, serifs are easy to read. I changed my font to size 10 to make it easier to read, and once I eliminated my retail management job, I was able to fit everything that I wanted onto my resume. I used all caps for my wordmark, because I wanted my name to stand out. I wanted it to resemble a magazine cover’s name. I also used caps/lc for my body because I think it looks more elegant than all caps and less brash.

Color:
I switched to pantones. I chose light purple, PantoneDS165-3C (C=35%, M=70%, Y=0%, K=10%) because not only is it my favorite color, but it is a color that is often equated with flowers and my first name, Lauren, means crowned with laurels.
I chose the light blue, PantoneDS223-7C (C=30%, M=3%, Y=0%, K=0%) because, again, not only is it my other favorite color, but I was also trying to find a “glassy”, almost opaque blue to play off of my last name, Glass.

Paper:
I have decided to use regular paper for my resume, because I love how bright the white computer paper makes my colors look. Also, I did not choose a different type of paper, because I although I want my resume to stand out, with its brash, new and in your face wordmark, I do not want it to be too much.

Effective Logo

The Walt Disney logo is a very effective logo.  It is very simple, yet very direct.  Practically anyone can distinguish Cinderella's castle.  The castle also enhances the logos effectiveness because it forces the viewer to think about fairy tales and Disney World.  Kids especially are drawn to this logo and kids are Disney's prime market.  The simplicity of the line drawn castle helps the target audience (kids) distinguish this logo.  The funky, half cursive font is Disney's signature font that they use on most of their products and in their theme parks, thus it is easily recognizable and easily associated with the Walt Disney empire.  Just looking at the Disney logo puts a smile on people's faces because of all of Disney's fantastical products.

effective logo

The UPS logo emulates everything professor Taylor said makes a good logo - it's simple, it's unique, and it identifies the company's purpose. 

The simple placement of the three letters in the badge shape is an image that is recognizable for the customer. They see the logo on the truck, and then they see it on the uniforms. An instant connection.

The package on top speaks to just what the company does: ships packages.  It's incredible recognizable and there is NO question what the company is or what the company does. This logo presents an unmistakable brand. It just works.

effective logo

This is definitely an effective logo that is both simple and meaningful in design. This is a logo of a fast-food restaurant that modeled itself after typical fast food places like McDonald and Burgerking but they differ in that they serve chicken instead of beef. From the logo you can see clearly what the restaurant serves. The letter C makes the face of a chicken, and to keep the rest of the letters consistent with the chicken, they are written in cursive. The choice of the color is perfect; somehow the color seem to relate to chickens. Maybe its just me but I like this logo alot! oh and the foods awesome

here's the link to the website! check it! www.chick-fil-a.com

Type Challenge: McDonald's Monopoly Game

Here's this week's type challenge:



Name the font used for the McDonald's Monopoly promotion. Not the handwritten stuff about it being big, but everything else.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Effective logo

Now, I know very little about cars or their stereotypes--this is purely my interpretation!! But this is one of my favorite logos--Cadillac. I think this logo works because at this point, it's been used by the car company for so many years that's it's identifiable with their quality and reputation. I think the circular logo principle we discussed in class yesterday applies here--it's round and pleasing to the eye. I think this logo is extra fun because of how the inside of the circle is split up so much--especially with such bold colors like black, yellow, blue and red. The silver trimming around the colored circle adds a touch of sophistication, and makes the logo look shiny and impressive on the front of a car. I also like the Cadillac logo because of the mini flags that are created within the circle. To me, that makes me think very distinct adjectives about the company--powerful, luxury, worldly and a little diplomatic.

Poster Project

Design Strategy:

My poster is for my church’s youth benefit auction that is held every year. The proceeds all go towards the mission trips that the youth group takes. My youth pastor did not give me any limitations as far as design, and he was very flexible with content as well as long as the typical important information was included somewhere.

I felt that my headline would be a good place to start with this project. I came up with “from [the] auction block to [the] city block” to start out, so I tried to brainstorm images that could represent that. However, the ideas I came up with were too literal so I changed my route and instead used the headline “com-mission,” focusing on the verse from Matthew 28:19 that talks about the Great Commission, which is to do missions work. I thought the definition-style headline I made would help explain the whole idea behind the Great Commission.

I wanted to make the poster something a viewer could relate to; even if they aren’t able to go on mission trips themselves, they can still see ways to support those who do go on missions. I thought that photos of students on mission trips I’ve been on would be the best way to bring that idea home to the viewer. The scrapbook sort of theme was also an attempt to make the poster more “down-to-earth” and relatable.

Since my background is sort of a cardboard-handmade paper sort of texture instead of white space, I wanted to make sure that the printing margins didn’t make the rest of the page look out of place. To solve this problem I mimicked the Polaroid photo ideas to make the entire poster framed like a Polaroid would be.

I scanned in my background and the ripped white paper pieces.

Choice of Typefaces:

The only typeface I used was Constantina. I wanted a font that looked official since the top of my layout resembled a dictionary entry, but I also wanted something a little quirky since the theme of my poster is sort of like a scrapbook and kind of looks a little cut out and hand-pasted together. I did mix up the typeface sizes throughout the layout. I thought it added to the homemade feel of the poster by making the letters not a standard size. I used bold for the headline and the title of the event.

Color:

My poster is mostly “dry” tones – brown background, black text, and white paper. I didn’t want to use full-color photos because I wanted them to fit this theme, so I sort of spot-colored them and made the rest of the photo grayscale or at least dimmed. I really like how this turned out, with each photo sort of bringing out a different color. I also colored the word “mission” in “commission” with a faded red to make it stand out.

Paper:

I am using regular weight paper because of production costs.

Poster Project

*Sorry that this is blurry. I explained to Wasim I had problems uploading. Originally the image was truncated and now even when I selected high resolution it's pretty blurry. 

I decided to do my poster project on NY Cares Day because it helps make public schools more beautiful for students. On this specific day in October usually thousands of volunteers go to public schools in NYC and paint murals, plant flowers and organize libraries. It really helps these students look forward to going to school. I choose to play off the idea of New York City called "the big apple". I made the apple represent NYC and the hearts I drew inside the apple as the people/New Yorkers.  I did this to show that NYC is full of people with big hearts! Also I used Cambria as a font because it is easy to read and simple. I used blue as a background because it is a strong color but also pretty and white text to stand out in the headlines and info. The text at the bottom text is multicolored to be happy, fun and cheery like kids. I now notice that there is a red, white and blue theme that is also pretty patriotic. Overall I am very happy with my design.

Poster Project

Design Strategy:
For this project, I chose to make a poster for The Dougy Center, a non-profit organization from my hometown. The Dougy Center hosts group sessions where children, teens and adults can speak openly about their experiences with death. Personally, I attended groups at the center and I wanted to incorporate my personal experience in order to help the organization.

I started by brainstorming ideas and finally settled on the idea of fading photographs. To connect the visual to the headline, I partially grayscaled a picture of my father and myself when I was younger and placed the photo at a thirds point to create the most impact. I then framed the photo using strokes from Illustrator. I pulled the color of the drapes in the photo and used it as the background color. Overall, I wanted it to be simple with direct text.


Choice of typefaces:
The typeface family I chose was Century Schoolbook. I wanted a serif font with a level “e” and an interesting “i.” In the word memories, I transformed the letter “i” into a candle by creating a teardrop-shaped flame for the dot. Candles are used at the end of every program meeting to represent the thoughts, prayers and wishes of the participants. I chose to put “The Dougy Center” in small caps to differentiate between it and the headline.


Color:
I pulled the background color from the drapes. It is C- 3.14%, M- 5.49%, Y- 14.9% and K- 0%. The only other color used in the poster is the photograph and the flame of the candle, which has a lower tint.