in the homestretch

via Aled Lewis. 

School enjoys shredding me apart. 

Assignment 17 – Brochure Reflection

This brochure is an example of a tri-fold brochure. It is a brochure for a band called The Notorious MSG. I’m assuming that this brochure is part of their media kit. The design of the brochure is very edgy and similar to graphic novel art. I think the photos could have been a little more prominent as well as the font. I think the background looks cool, but it almost takes away from reading the content of the brochure. The artwork is good and seems represented of the band, its comical and bold. I think the only improvements for this brochure would be to have better photos and a different background so you can read the words better. 

Assignment 16A – Advertisement Reflection

I found this print ad in a few of my mom’s magazines that she gets through the mail. Luckily, I found it online to show on here as part of my reflection. It is an ad for Fresh Step cat litter and it really has been an ad that always makes me laugh and its memorable. The ad plays off of pet owners sense of humor, because all cat owners know how smelly a litter box can get. The tag line is “Cats everywhere are having a hard time smelling their litter boxes.” It’s funny and personifies the cat, which also appeals to the viewer’s emotions. No one wants their animal to have a bad experience when they’re “on duty”. The ad uses a big visual (the cat) and uses small font, which is visible but almost hard to see. Since the picture is so funny, readers want to find the print and confirm the idea behind the ad. It’s actually a really clever ad and it looks realistic without looking too cartoonish. The ad achieves balance and symmetry; the images behind the cat really allow the focus to point to the cat, which is directly in the center of the ad. The only thing I would change about this ad is to probably make the logo and tagline a little larger, it doesn’t take away from the impact of the ad but it would make a difference in my opinion. 

haters gonna hate

Aled Lewis. 'Nuff said.

no more funny face

graffiti art inspiration.

sometimes cats can make things...eh...not so glamorous.

13A Reflection

From the tutorial, I learned that to distort text in Photoshop you could simply just play with the text effects to reach a desired look. In Illustrator you can use the warp tool and pick a shape and hold down the shift key while you pull from various places to distort the text. When using object oriented blend control in Photoshop, you can bring in an object and turn on the transparency to see how it will work within your photo. You can also save the PSD file and turn on the file as a smart filter in illustrator. Then select a shape and click gradient and use the gradient tool to see the control of blending within an object. The designer in the video also discussed helpful books for understanding graphics. He mentioned that the Logo Font & Lettering Bible is a great book to understanding some basic methods in building your own art.  I also learned that you could copy and object from illustrator and paste it into Photoshop as a smart object.  Another thing that I learned from the tutorial was that when you update your PSD file it will update into Illustrator automatically, but if you edit in Illustrator it will not update into Photoshop so it can be tricky. 

assignment 12B-Analyzing logos

This logo is an example of a text and symbol logo. It represents the World Wildlife Fund, which is the leading organization in wildlife conservation and protecting endangered species. The symbol (the panda) is used on various promotional products and even on t-shirts, it’s cute and it’s easy to identify what the organization is about. 

urban inspiration

Urban art has always been a favorite of mine. Anderson Augusto and Leonardo Delafuente started the 6emeia project, to liven up the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. These storm drains feature some awesome and creative designs. These are just a few, to see more check out their website:  6emeia 

dove photoshop makeover evolution

Woah.

vintage robin's egg

I've been in the process of moving. My room inspiration. 

wordboner

 {All images via WORDBONER}

This has quickly become a daily inspiration stop for me. I love what they come up with it and the typography is really interesting and fun. Check it out and be inspired, have a laugh, and be amused. 

avatar tutorials

I know there are tons of different tutorials showing how to do this, but these two videos show that there can be several different techniques to actually achieve the same effect. Either way, it would be cool to actually do this before the semester is over...the only problem is finding the time!

ideas

Really inspiring video. The art and the way he tells this story  is incredible. It kept my attention, which is really a feat in itself. 

jason wu-pre fall

                     

       

          

Jason Wu Pre-Fall 2011 collection   

Jason Wu has quickly become one of my favorite designers. His pre-fall collection was absolutely impeccable and I'm loving the tailored menswear inspired pieces. Throughout the collection there are beautiful and elegant dresses that ooze femininity. Not only do I love the collection, but the photography really allowed the clothing to shine through. They're simple photos and allow the viewer to focus on the beautiful garments. 

change shapes

I'm really into  simple graphics that use lines and shapes to achieve a certain look. It catches your attention and really draws you in. 

assignment two: capturing the cuteness

(All kitten photos found through Google images w/ keywords: 'kitten photos') 

What's the best way to brighten your day? Well cute pictures of kittens and puppies, of course! Seriously, try it...you can't help but be consumed by the overpowering cuteness of little bitty animals! 

Each of these photos were JPEG files and the quality of the middle one could have been preserved if in fact it wasn't so compressed by the file type. I think the first and last photo might have been raw files and in that case, they were able to edit the photos more and might have saved them as JPGs for usability. Clearly the quality of the first and last two photos are great and the colors are rich and focused. 

The first photos is a great example of the rule of thirds because the the kitten serves as the point of interest. While the kitten is one side of the image, it achieves a balanced image that allows viewers attention to focus on the subject (the kitten) and it adds a dramatic feel to the photo. 

The second photos was an example of framing because the cat naturally draws the attention because the box serves as a border, essentially making the cat the main point of interest. I think framing is a great technique because it emphasizes the focal point of your image and also makes it a little more interesting to look at.

The last photo is a really cute and interesting way to display leading lines in photography. It's not the expected leading line shot of a road or pathway. The lines of the leaves serve as a dominant direction to lead your eye directly to the puppy. With the rich green color of the leaves, you would think it would distract from the puppy but with the use of leading lines it succeeds in luring your view straight to the subject.

assignment one: the good, the bad, and the ugly

{via Oh Yeah Studio}

{via Nazario Graziano}

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{via Supastition}

After learning about the various design principles used, I found myself looking at images and illustrations completely different. I now find myself asking--Why does this work? Why doesn't this work? I stumbled upon several different designs, some that I absolutely loved and some that were definitely an eyesore. 

The first two designs were among my favorites for different reasons. The first one with the tyrannosaurus was such a great design because it was clean and was effective in telling a story. It was a great example of proportion--there is this huge dinosaur that takes up almost have of the layout and its about to swallow this tiny circle. In my opinion, I found this effective in creating visual weight of the image. It was also a great example of dominance. Although you would expect the dinosaur to have the most visual weight because of the size proportions, the blue circle achieves an almost 3D effect that makes it more dominant in comparison to the dinosaur. I think the colors and the space adds to this effect, because your eyes seem to be drawn to the calming blue (even with the huge chompers of the dinosaur)--which I think is so great. 

The second image is a good example of rhythm and interestingly enough, it has to do with music. The different lines and shapes achieve a flowing type of rhythm that gives the image a sense of movement, which almost serves as a way to show the sound waves traveling from the guitar. I also feel like this could be an example of unity and closure. Unity, in that the whole composition of the design shows that all the various shapes, images, and colors play off of each other to complete the wholeness of the design. And closure can be seen as an example because when you look at this design, our minds fill in the missing face and we recognize the subject as a man playing the guitar. 

Last of the designs that I found, was definitely one that was a really bad example. I don't even know where to start! It is an album cover, and you would think that the main focus that the graphic designer would try to achieve is the focus on the artist. Instead, the proportions are horrible--which also made the balance of the design very confusing. The bears and the colors seem so dominant that they completely weigh down the image and the focus is obviously not drawn to the artist.