Basic Design Elements

Basic design elements to keep in mind while making your layout design...

1.  Balance
      When making your design make sure to keep a balance throughout the entire page so it feels as a whole.  Make focal points to keep your viewer's eye looking around the page.  

From: jayce-o.blogspot.com

2.  Contrast
      Contrast can be done in a design in different ways.  Font can contrast from the page by using big bold letters.  Color can also contrast using bright colors against black or black against white.  You can also add contrast with an image and have it pop off the page by making it very detailed and clear against a blurred out background.

From: couchable.co

     
3. Alignment
      Having things aligned brings your work together making it look clean, connected, and finished.  Rather than having items randomly put on the page.

From: walsworthyearbooks.com

4.  Color
      Color can make all the difference in a design and you want to be careful to use the right color for the feeling your wanting to portray in your design.  For a calming feeling use blues and greens, for a large impact/attention grabbing feeling use reds, yellows, oranges and black, for a clean look use white. 

From: tripwiremagazine.com

5.  Repetition
      Consistency strengthens a design when repetition is used.  This can be done by color, font, shapes, images, or even texture.

From: google.com

6.  White Space
      Many people don't realize that white space can give a design everything.  You don't always need images and color that can make the page cluttered.  White space helps draws the reader to the areas where you want them to look and make them stand out.

From: jpdadchat.com

The difference between an Artist and a Designer

1.  Purpose

• Artists create something new to create/portray a feeling, opinion and is made for the viewer to learn, relate or be inspired by.

• Designers don't create something new but communicate something that already exists to usually motivate to buy a product or service.

2.  How the messages are interpreted

• Art is interpreted differently by different people and consists of more than one meaning, feeling, or viewpoint.

• Design has only one message that is being communicated and that is to "do" something.  If it doesn't portray that message then it was a flop.

3.  What makes it "Good"

• Art is judged by someones taste or particular likes and dislikes.

• Design doesn't have to follow someones taste to get them to do be motivated to do something.  But is all in opinion.

4.  Talent vs. Skill

• Artists usually have a natural ability/talent to create good work.

• Designers have to be taught the objectives of design.

What do you think?  Are you an Artist? A Designer? or Both?

Tips to gain ideas for your design

1. Travel
Seeing a new perspective, whether it's a new culture or city, opens my eyes to so many more opportunities.  It isn't always possible to just leave for a large trip, but take a weekend and go to a nearby city.

2.  Sketch
Letting my mind go and just drawing helps me come up with ideas better than forcing an idea into my head.

3.  Exercise
After I've been thinking for so long my mind just turns to mush.  When I let my mind go and do any sort of exercise sometimes an idea will just pop into my mind that I had never thought of before.

4.  Surf the Web
I find just seeing all the different web page designs and different content on each website inspiring, even if it isn't a design website.  Try some of your favorite clothing websites---they always have fun designs and photos.

5.  Watch TV
The same idea as surfing the web.  Commercials can be really 'out there' and sometimes help boost my imagination.

6.  Sleep
Your mind processes everything while you sleep, so taking a nap may help you process all the ideas that have crossed your mind and put it together into one amazing idea.

7. Take a break and take time for another hobby
I personally like cooking so I take a break from designing and will cook a large gourmet meal to ease the mind.  Plus it's tasty so it makes it just as rewarding.  You may not like cooking but take a break and do a hobby you enjoy.

What is Variable Data Print?

Most people already know what print is and all the ways it can be used: for posters, to billboards, postcards and packaging.  But what is variable data print?

Variable data print is used in marketing to target the wanted consumer market in a personalized way that generates response rate from the directed target 3-10 times higher than traditional direct mail does.  This is done through digital print technology and instead of printing 5,000 copies of the same document, that consists of the same exact message to each customer, 5,000 copies of different messages are sent out that is personalized for each individual customer.  This can consist or their name, text, pictures and offers.  This can be a great benefit as when you customize to a customers unique needs and desires your average order sizes improve, cost per response decreases, and repeat business increases.

In a class project I created my own postcard including variable data print for Farmington Ford.

  

In this example you can see that the variable data is included throughout the front of the postcard starting with the person's name.  Along with the person's name being customized we personalized it even more by adding in what car they currently have (2012 Ford F-150) along with a picture of that vehicle (in the bottom right corner).  To make it even more modified we added in a picture of either a man or women, depending on the gender of the receiver, in the postcard as well. 

On the back I also used variable data print for their name and address.
For more info

UNI Presidential Elections Logo

Well it's all said and done, and my campaign logo just wasn't enough for the win.....

I was asked to design a campaign logo for the student body president and vice president for the University of Northern Iowa.  I didn't know either of the candidates but I gladly accepted hoping I could help them come up with a logo that was professional enough for the political world yet popped out from the crowd with a unique difference from the norm.

The Process  

I started by going online to look at different logo designs that have been used in the past.  

Next, I used these ideas and put them into my own designs...

 I then came up with a few "Vote" logo pins...

Which they ended up not wanting anyways...but I thought they were fun to make!

They then made a decision on which one they liked the best---being the first one of the 6 above. 

I then made a few tweaks to this logo to really make it my own based off the ideas I had taken from the "Top 10 Presidential Campaign Logos" by raising/lowering the K, L, and A and incorporating the "vote" and their URL onto the pin design.

Election Week 

Election week finally came and pins, t-shirts, and posters with my logo were everywhere on campus!  There was 3 different candidate groups going for president and vice president so I knew it wasn't going to be an easy win, especially seeing one particular group's logo around campus just as much.  

The votes were in and after being counted we found out the election was not over as Kaleigh and Alicia had won--but not by 50%, with the tough competition right behind them being the other group that I had seen around campus.  Elections between Kaleigh and Alicia and the other strong group would be done again the following week.  The next week everyone voted again with there now only being 2 groups to vote for.  In the end the competition won by only 14 votes.  

But hey just a logo alone can't win an election, and the experience was well worth it!

The New Budweiser Black Crown

From: beerpulse.com

Budweiser has done it again, and come out with a new beer called Black Crown that has gotten many to run out to their nearest convenience store to purchase.  After their last success, Bud Light Platinum, Black Crown has made an impact and has kept Bud a brand to talk about and a must have at any social event.  It's been said that the mainstream same-old brews have lost their spark, and drinkers are looking for that new edged beer with a bolder flavor, and not only that but higher alcohol content.  With that being said, the beer that your father or even grandfather grabs off the shelf is just plain coming out of trend.  

With this being true or not the Black Crown bottle and packaging displays a modern look that is distinctive and sticks out from the shelf with the out of the norm look.  In the past Bud has used reds and blues to made their brand distinguishable, but the new look has taken a 180 and used contemporary colors and a simple design structure to promote the brand.  The black gives it a sleek look while the silver gives it that extra edge and accents the crown appearance.  The use of the  gold colors also gives it that warm feeling that portrays what you can expect to experience when drinking this smooth brew.  The high class look I believe is a great way to stand out in higher scale nightclubs and restaurants, different than their original brew's looks.  The whole look just gives it a different feel made for a  sophisticated setting or if you just want to feel sophisticated yourself.   Giving anyone who drinks it a feeling of royalty.  A great new approach for Bud to stand out from the crowd!

New Orleans New Logo

From: patheos.com

New Orleans has recently completely changed their look from the Hornets to the Pelicans.  Moving away from the fun colored and non scary look of the hornet to a more intense dark colored and aggressive looking pelican.  According to the team's website (www.nba.com/hornets/new-orleans-pelicans-logos-unveiled), the pelican was used because of its declaration as the state bird and is symbolized as a skilled hunter and loyal protector and possesses speed, precision and resourcefulness unmatched by others within its species.  As for the colors--the blue stand for the state of Louisiana, the gold represents the spirited life of the city and the red was used for fraternity, one blood or union. 

From: nba.com/hornets

From:  hornets247.com

I personally like the new logo as a logo in itself.  All the elements mesh together well into a single unit and nothing looks out of place.  But am slightly saddened by the complete transformation of the logo going from a fun cartoon to a serious and mean looking logo.  It gives the team more of a serious aggressive look that to me should be shown more through the teams performance than through the logo.  The colors also give it a more sophisticated look away from the bright colors used previously.  One thing that I personally would not have done is make the eyes of the pelican red.  I think that the look of the design in general gives the logo a sense of "be feared by me"enough that the eyes go a little over the top.  One great thing about the pelican though, is the way it can be incorporated so well into the fleur de lis.  I absolutely love this secondary logo and think it really would look great on any hat or shirt much better than the whole logo would.

Forever 21's Incredible Image

Picture by kilkus.com

Forever 21 has increasingly become big ever since I started college and I think that they are one clothing company that really gets it.  They have that unforgettable logo that not only is bold and straight forward but who wouldn't want to shop at a shore that they can feel young in for literally forever, being 'forever 21'.  Another aspect is they bring back the old in a way that makes it look easy.  I believe that they have made this accomplishment by showing its okay to just be yourself.  Be an individual, mix and match, and don't follow the crowd.  I think more and more that is everyone's dream is to be seen as different and Forever 21 does a great job at persuading more and more to follow this era.   

Picture by kilkus.com

They broadly show this in their print advertising.  Their posters are very unique and go out of the box with every frame.  They shoot models in outrageous mix and matched outfits doing an interesting pose or move.  Also, a lot of the time they will add in other objects giving it a little more edge.  At times it even seems that they are selling more of just a neat fun picture than strictly the clothing.  But I don't see this as a bad thing as being different seems to be their image and as long as that girl in the photo looks unique and edgy it brings you to their store or website, wanting to be that girl.  It also just makes every image that much more fun to look at!  Another great aspect that I love is in a lot of their images they give them an antique color scheme with more pastels and somewhat dimmed/yellow lighting which also I would assume more enhanced after shooting give it more of a retro look.  The area of the photo shoot and the items they pose with also help give that old style look.  I guess every look does come back!  And maybe its all here to stay for a while.

American Airlines New Identity

                             Picture from www.theatlanticwire.co

American Airlines has come out with a whole new look that has brought up a much controversy on whether it was the right way to go.  After reading usatoday.com's story I am a little torn myself.  I do believe it was time for a change with their logo, but the drastic change has completely changed their image and with a first glance at their new logo I wouldn't have any idea who the airline even was.  With that being said I think that in the end that could be something they regret.

Although, I see the new logo as fresh and modern overall I believe it is a decent at best logo.  It still incorporates the eagle which was smart but they brought in the image of a plane as the top and bottom pieces replicate wings of an airplane around the eagle's beak.  The only major problem I have with the new logos look is I don't particularly like the look of the eagle's beak.  It is very structured and doesn't give the feeling of an American eagle but instead of a machine.  I think incorporating the eagles actual head with a more soft look would give it more of that American patriotic feel.  It would also make it more of an abstract than the look they chose which gives the look of an obvious plane.  Yet, the new logo to me is more eye catching with the gradient in the red and blue and maybe with the fresh new look for the whole airline it will bring in more customers.  I guess only time will tell.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/01/18/judging-americans-new-look-readers-give-their-thoughts/1845691/

Pink's Edgy Comeout

 

                                          Picture by Popcrush.com

The unlikely face of Pink has covered the pages of Covergirl, a widely known makeup brand.  This comes to surprise as Pink has always been known to me as the punk rocker that went to extremes to make herself unique and stand out from the crowd.  In the past Covergirl has used the face of Drew Barrymore, Queen Latifah, and Ellen Degeneres to sell their various makeups, but to see Pink and her out the norm/extreme look cover the page is something completely different.

I personally find this a great change as it makes Covergirl stand out with a whole new look.  As other celebrities looked good on the page, Pink really stands out of the crowd and makes you take a second look at their ad.  It really gives the ad that "beauty with an edge" as the Huffington Post puts it.  I think it also works well with the quotes Covergirl uses such as "blast your volume!" and "volume superstar!" and the bold colors give the whole look of the page a sense of unity that just completely catches your eye.  This in my opinion is a great ad.  It catches your eye, makes you stare, and makes their product look as edgy and perfect as Pink looks on the page.