Final Thoughts

I thought it'd be nice to dedicate my last blog post to what I got out of this class over the course of the semester. I got a lot more out of this class than I expected to. I knew absolutely nothing about Photoshop or InDesign before this class and now I feel like I have some good basic skills to improve upon. This semester, I took another class that used these programs along with Illustrator and it just didn't click. I was able to follow along with most of the skills that we learned. Aside from technical things, I learned more about myself creatively. I always felt like I had a good eye and was sort of aware of design, I just never saw myself as a designer. I really surprised myself with some of the work I accomplished throughout the semester. If I ever improve my technical skills and consider changing careers I'd possibly look into graphic design. It's nice to know that I can create things visually. I've always been a fan of do it yourself projects and now I can add onto it. For example in the future in a perfect world where things go my way  I make it as a writer, I'd totally be hands on and possibly try to create my own book cover. Perhaps this is because I'm a writer and enjoy reading but I've also discovered that I really admire typefaces. Weird right? I've always been slightly aware of design and its importance but I feel more aware of it now. It really is all around us and is incredibly vital to communication. Life would be less exciting without art. Overall I had a pretty good experience!

I even follow some graphic design-y related stuff on Tumblr now so I'll leave you with this.

 (P.S. Hope you all have a fantastic summer!)

Final Brochure!

 

At last! It's finally complete! This brochure separates me from summer vacation! Since it was our last project and we had more creative freedom, I wanted to do something fun. I figured I'd take some of the misery out of one of my finals. I ended up doing a fashion related tutorial. I learned this from one of my favorite fashion bloggers, Keiko Lynn. I changed maybe one or two steps to my liking. I took all the photos myself, thank goodness for self timer apps on the iphone. The idea is that this is part of a series of brochures (maybe I'll get bored and continue this idea over the summer) 

When I first started out, I just had a plain pink background. It just looked dull and a little corny with all of my other girly color choices and designs. I fixed this by picking out a wallpaper from the internet and using that as my background. I thought it complemented my color scheme and went along with the theme I was going for. I also originally planned to have 3 tutorials instead of one. I didn't go through with this because I realized the pictures would be difficult to see and wouldn't look as nice. The typefaces I used were Cooper Black and Futura. I can't remember the exact names I used for the script fonts. 

There were a few differences between how it looked on screen and how it looked on paper. I'm not sure if it was just the printer I used but the yellow font I used in part of my directions text box didn't come out. Luckily, I had the more important text in black which was readable. There were also some spacing issues that I had and this weird white border appeared out of no where when I printed a copy. Overall, I'm super happy with how my final project turned out! :)

Deliciously Dressed Needs a Makeover

After tomorrow it's summertime! Which means I'll be able to work on fun projects again, like focus more on my blog. (just wait until I finally buy my DSLR!)

The final thing I need for my blog to look more professional is a brand spankin' new fancy layout! I'm currently using one of the free ones offered on Wordpress. I was really diggin' it until I browsed around and found at least 5 other blogs in my category with the same one. If I want to be taken seriously, I need something a little more unique and personal in order to stand out. There are a couple things I need to factor in before choosing one. 

Issue 1: Money. The nicer the layout the more they cost of course. If I have to spend any money (which I probably will) I'd rather not spend over $40. 

Issue 2: Needs to complement both text and photos. My written content is just as important as my photos. While researching some layouts I realized that most layouts compliment one or the other. 

Issue 3: Mobile layout. A lot of layouts look much nicer on computer screens than mobile devices. I also update and check my stats from my phone pretty often. 

and most all look pretty, organized, and complement my personal style! :) 

Luckily for me, Amy sent me a few sites a few that had some awesome layouts that I like so far and seem to go along with 

 

 

Exercise 5

I don't know why but I went into this thinking that it'd be super difficult and that I'd be sitting in the library for hours and hours. It actually wasn't too bad! Out of most of the skills we learned so far I think I might find myself using this one again.

I'll admit, it's not perfect. I messed up at the very end (like I always do). I was following along pretty well and didn't get lost. I over did it when I was correcting the shading on her skin tone. Ugh Amelia Earhart why can't you just accept the fact that I'm trying to give you a make over?! But anyways - even though I said I'd use this skill again, I'm going to need a little more practice.

I realized you have to pay close attention to detail to perfect it. One little mistake and it'll pop out. This exercise made me realize how incredibly easy it is to doctor and manipulate photographs. I'm sure if I did this a little better it'd look more realistic. Everyone would be all "OMG we like totally found Amelia Earhart. Apparently she's immortal and has been assembling teams of lady pilots while we thought she was missing for the past century." On a slightly unrelated note, it helped me understand some photography terms, such as "burning" and "dodging". This will help me be able to edit photos in the future and make me sound like I know what I'm doing.

Practice makes perfect!

Gemma Correll

Gemma Correll is an illustrator, writer, and cartoonist. She went to art school in Norwich (England) and got a BA in graphic design, specializing in illustration. So far, she has designed greeting cards for Pickle Parade and illustrates a monthly cartoon for Open Skies magazine which is owned by Emirates Airlines. Correll's other past clients are Hallmark, The New York times, Oxford University Press, Knock Knock, Chronicle Books, and The Observer. In 2012, her book "A Cat's Life" was published. The following year her books "A Dog's Life", "A Pug's Guide to Etiquette", and "A Pug's Guide to Dating" were also published. Correll has also designed a few typefaces and some of her illustrations can be found on graphic t-shirts sold at stores like Urban Outfitters.

I've only seen some of her work on tumblr. I always thought her posts were humorous but didn't know the extent of her career until I did some research. I really love her work because it's very fun, cute, whimsical, and minimalistic which compliments her sense of humor. Her personality shines through her work. I think that's an important quality to have in graphic design. It's easy to get lost in the work you have to do for a client, so to be able to maintain your personality makes your work stand out and allows you to be true to yourself.

Go check out her portfolio, www.gemmacorrell.com! Brighten up your dashboard and follow her on Tumblr too.

Cosmetic Product Designs

Is anyone even surprised I'm making a post about make up? Probably not. As a consumer, packaging really does mean a lot to me. Cosmetics are intended to bring out your natural beauty. So of course I want my products to look as pretty as my face is going to be. I use these products everyday so I want something cute sitting in my make up bag or purse since I have to look at it all the time (and spend a pretty penny on). These are some of the products I love and use and some that I wish I could find and afford.


Kitty lipstick. I was obsessed the second I saw it on tumblr. I'm not sure if this is still sold at Urban Outfitters. Not only are the tubes decorated in quirky dainty wallpaper like designs, but the lipstick itself is shaped as a kitty face! The only downfall to this design is that the kitty face is obviously not going to last forever. If I ever bought this it'd probably end up being one of those purchases that just sit there because I don't want to ruin how pretty it looks. I'd feel a little guilty smooshing the kitty face onto my lips everyday until it becomes a regular looking lipstick.

Not only does this brand of perfume smell incredible, it looks adorable. This is an Anthropologie product favorite. I bought this bottle for my mother because she's a perfume fanatic. It's definitely the most unique looking bottle in her collection. The top is a pin cushion that comes with a few pins, more pins are sold separately. I believe the mini-solid version also comes as a push pin. I love this design because it's very vintage and even a little function-able. Don't tell my mom but I totally still borrow this fragrance every now and then.

Fairydrops is one of my favorite mascaras I've ever used (which reminds me I totally need to re-stock). The design is just as whimsical and unique as the product. It's shiny, who can resist shiny things? The cartoon-ish designs kind of poke fun at the ridiculous result you get from this mascara if you over do it.


Topshop takes a more minimal approach to their packaging designs. Everything is packaged in white and the typeface and graphic design they use look like everything was drawn on with make up. I think it's cute and doesn't distract consumers from the product themselves.

Creative Ad Awards

This site, www.creativeadawards.com, is an archive full of you guessed it - creative ads. Here are a couple that stood out to me.


From my guess, I'd have to say this ad deals with depression and how to get help. It's interesting because the copy is the smallest part of the ad when usually copy is just as large or emphasized as the visual part. What I like about the image is that it takes on a dark concept of depression, which is that most people who suffer from it have to go through life with a happy disguise on. I think this is very effective.


This is one of my favorite fashion ad campaigns of all time. I remember seeing this ad in an issue of NYLON a few years ago and thought it was brilliant. The typeface is bright, bold, and in your face paired with equally interesting, bright, and bold images. I think these ads really reach their target audience, which are young people, to remind them to live life to the fullest and be carefree. It's difficult to simply flip past an ad like this.


Overall I find this ad humorous, clever, and visually pleasing. They're obviously reaching out to photographers or photo lovers in this case by creating surreal images of fingers and DSLRs as romantic couples. Technically, replacing real people's heads with these objects is doable but these almost look too real. I love photography too but I don't know how I'd feel about people walking around with DSLRs and fingers for heads, getting married and making little DSLR/finger headed babies. There is little copy in this ad but I still think it's effective and gets its point across.

A Few of My Favorite Mad Men Ads

How have I not mentioned Mad Men once throughout this entire semester? It is one of my favorite things of all time. Not just shows. Things. And trust me I love a lot of things.

I love everything about the show. From the handsome Jon Hamm, the fabulous wardrobe, the classic cocktails, and all of that wonderful drama. It's honestly made me consider going into advertising as a career. Since I don't want to give away any spoilers and I need to keep it relevant to graphic design, I'll discuss some of my favorite ad campaigns throughout the series.

Also before I get into this, I'm fully aware that these are NOT the actual ads that were used in the 60s. I just really love Mad Men, sorry not sorry.

 

Probably my favorite from season 1. This was when my girl Peggy Olsen stepped it up and proved she could be an awesome copywriter despite her not being a handsome alcoholic guy and what not. This copy could only be thought of from a woman's perspective. It's clever and playful. Even though the main idea is to "mark your man" the focus is still on the woman. She's enlarged, pulled up front, and bleeds to the outsides of the ad. At a time where women were still hopelessly devoted to their men, the ad subtly reminds you that women do have a sense of control. 

 

Another Peggy Olsen creation. The original concept is based off of Jesus Christ breaking bread. The pops of bright orange bring out the most important parts of the ad: the mother/Jesus symbolism, the slogan, and the product. It's simple and easy to relate to. Most people probably remember breaking those double popsicles in half when they were younger. Inspiration comes from everywhere, even the most unlikely of places that may seem irrelevant. 

Don Draper weasels his way out of a tough situation aka the most perfect summary of Mad Men ever. I think this one goes all the way back to season 1 episode 1 when everyone in 1960s land starts to realize "oh shit hold up a second, maybe smoking is pretty bad after all". Instead of being compared to other cancerous cigarettes, Don downs some cocktails and manages to come up with the whole "it's toasted" line. They break out all the stops to make this product appealing and non-threatening: classic black and white, an close up of a pretty lady, and a clean typeface to match their supposed cleaner cigarettes. 

P&G Mother's Day Designs

P&G decided to make a special shout out to all the baby mamas on Mother's Day by giving some good ole Mom advice a makeover. They posted some designs called "Thank You Mom"  onto their Pinterest account. It's amazing what some good typefaces and graphic design will do to some sayings that you've heard a million times.

 

I love this one because it uses that whole puzzle/fill in the visual blank aspect of graphic design in a super duper cute way. It's bright and light hearted like the quote and is relevant to the late spring/early summer season with its choice of ice cream graphics. I should go make the best of my day with ice cream all day everyday.

I've lost count how many times I've heard this quote, but it is true, and was actually something I needed to hear right now. This approach is very obvious but I still like it. They could've picked any image of a road but this landscape has good depth and the road looks pretty endless. The way the quote is displayed reminds me of an old movie credit since it's in white and curved at an angle.

Before I moved out on my own I honestly thought laundry and removing weird stains was some type of weird Mom magic you get once you become one. I asked my mom what I'm supposed to do the first time I tried to do laundry on my own and she told me those exact words. I'm usually not a fan of this font but it works for this design because it's very fluid and flowy like water. I really love the distressed blue because it reminds me of a pair of dirty denim jeans going through the wash. 

Another simple concept that works beautifully with the quote. Again, it makes you work to realize the message. The use of the circle with the cursive type font compliments it well and just makes sense. The bright colors also emphasize that motherly positive tone. 

And this last one because I've heard a variation of this during many heart aches and break ups I went through . The typography is just beautiful and romantic. It's sweet and puts an emphasis on the most important part of the message to me, which is "you will love again". The typeface used for the second half goes along with its the calm suggestion that it is. 

Directors I Love and the Typefaces They Love

I read this article, 10 Auteurs and the Typefaces They Love, and I wanted to make my own comments. Oh and of course rant about 3 of my favorite directors who inspire my work the most.

Woody Allen and EF Windsdor Elongated/EF Windsdor Light Condensed

I remember someone mentioned that the font I used for my 3rd project reminded them of a Woody Allen and I TOTALLY see it now. Such a serious and elegant typeface displayed in black and white is ironic but makes sense with his films. Now that I realize this it makes them a little more humorous. 

Wes Anderson and Futura

Again, the use of typeface like futura brings out that serious and humorous tone in certain films. After reading this I decided to give this font a shot for my 4th project. The only exception to the Wes Anderson/Futura love affair is the gorgeous cursive typeface designed by Jessica Hische in Moonrise Kingdom. Now I'm trying to imagine that film with futura and it just doesn't work for some reason. Perhaps because romance is more of a key element than a side story unlike most Wes Anderson films. 

 

Sofia Coppola and Various Typefaces

She may not pick one type face in particular but she does think about how typeface compliments a film and its soundtrack. The random note font for Marie Antoinette goes along with the punk rock soundtrack that was incorporated in order to remind viewers that Marie Antoinette was a regular teenager who was forced to grow up during a difficult time. Sofia Coppola makes a similar soundtrack and film typeface choice in Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides.

It's Business (card) Time

What time is it? No, it's not adventure time. Not right now at least. It is almost summer time though! And summer time doesn't ALWAYS have to be lazy time. It can be business time too. Wedding crashing is soooo 2005. Go corporate crashing instead. Before security kicks you out just toss some business cards up in the air and tell them you're willing to work as an intern for a few college credits. Networking is a battle field.

 

Looking for summer lovin'? Don't just awkwardly take their phone and put your number in with some irrelevant emojis. Hand them your business card because you don't have time to put your number in their phone because all the time is business time for you. As some sassy lady meme I saw on the internet once said "Ain't nobody got time for that." 

(Tip: I suggest having a spare set of ones for the fellas and ladies you don't want to ever hear from again with false info. You look classy and aloof and if you unfortunately do run into them again, you can just be all "oh no I must've given you my OLD business card" and then you scurry away after you weasel yourself out of that situation.)

So let's get down to business. Not to defeat the huns. Mulan took care of that for us, thanks girl. But let's get down to business about what business card design I should choose. This is a very delicate situation. We've evolved past American Psycho days where there were only a million versions of white, 2 fonts, and watermarks. These little things can be as personable as you choose. However, information included must be minimal yet relevant.

This one site I've been checking is MOO. You can choose to either use one of their pre-made designs or use one of your own creations. I don't trust myself with such a big responsibility, plus the pre-made designs look absolutely fantastic! They have something that will fit everyone's personality. There's also other choices such as rounded or pointed corners and glossy or matte finish. I'm more of a rounded corner matte finish type of girl. The prices are pretty great too, $20 for a pack of 50 which seems reasonable for people like me who are networking newbies. 

Design: Fabulous Florals

Designers: Not specified

I really love this design because it's bright, colorful, but still minimal. Also it's a very neutral design because it works for any profession. Those who know me or are just pay very close attention to detail will know that I'm a lover of floral print. 

Design: Superior Interiors

Designer: Monika Koziol 

I really love the vintage wallpaper feel of this design. It's very sweet and elegant. I don't know if this is just me being nit-picky but I feel like people would assume I'm trying to plan weddings or redecorate their dining rooms if I handed them these. I mean yes clearly it would say what my profession is, but I don't want to confuse anyone. 

Which I suppose raises another question, do little symbols, pictures, etc. have to be 100% relevant. In some cases yes, but I think this design is on the fence. Perhaps interpretation is up to the individual on this one. For the record I would totally want this as wallpaper in my room, just sayin'. 

Design: Vintage Typewriters 1

Designer: Chris Baron 

I absolutely adore vintage type writers. It also comes in a variety of colors and uses a nice typewriter style font. What I like about this is that it would work for both of the careers I'm trying to pursue: PR and writing. No identity crisis here! I want people to instantly associate me with writing, whether it's professional or creative. 

Please please please give me your opinions because I'll probably just end up buying all three designs! Or if you find anything else send 'em my way.

Project Number 3

 

I eventually decided to go with the topic of depression for my third project because it effects my life and the lives of other people that are close to me. This experience made writing my copy pretty easy. I wanted the message to be taken seriously but still be encouraging and positive. 

The copy inspired the type of image that I wanted to chose. I was thinking something along the lines of a lonely person looking lost in a crowd. This wasn't my exact thought but I liked it so much better. The color of the girl's hair inspired me to incorporate it into my copy. To me, this color also kind of symbolizes some sort of sadness or melancholy which is relevant to the subject. 

I didn't think I had too many problems putting this together since I took a simpler approach. I thought the image looked better on screen than printed out. It could've been worse but still. During the critique it was mentioned that I should've reversed the sizing of the copy on top with the fact in the middle. I couldn't agree more. At first, I really didn't want to use that grey strip of background for the URL but after seeing it in print it looked a lot better. 

I'm glad someone pointed out that rubber ducky because it wasn't as noticeable on screen but hilariously noticeable in print. Perhaps she isn't as alone as I assumed she was. This has all the makings of an indie movie: a quirky troubled girl and her rubber duck conquering the world one roof top at a time. I'll get on that screenplay over the summer.

In all seriousness, I've been reminding myself of this new little saying and I hope it'll help someone else out too. But seriously, if you're feeling depressed  or know someone who is go talk about it. Go to the website I posted or you know what you can even talk to me if you think everyone else in your life sucks.