Week 11

This week we basically took the top four designs and created a whole campaign with the new designs that were created. The whole project was basically creating a brochure with a map design, website, bus design, and a design for the new Art/Design Department. This new design will be then a possible choice that the school will take on and be used throughout the new art and design department.
Andrew Bieganski another student in Graphic Design class had an excellent design for the art department. Other students took on the role of working on a creative team to develop the new art/design department designs. It was a blessing working on Andrew's team. His design carried out very well thoughout the whole campaign. The design was very urban yet still kept a Saint Xavier University feel to it. Reds, blacks and gold were very prominant throughout the different design concepts. The design translated well through each piece that was designed. My role was to design the new website for the Art and Design Department. This design was true to Andrew's original design. I kept the same font and brush strokes on the website. I feel that overall the team worked well to complete a great campaign. Each piece is designed in mind with what our school colors are as well as being considered an urban Catholic school.
Overall feel that this last project I had worked on pushed my talent. Since my Senior Project was an advertising plan, which consisted of learning how to market and brand, I felt that the campaign that I worked on in class and my senior project really helped me for the better.


CRAFT

Photoshop

CONCEPT/COMPOSITION

Using the program Photoshop to create this piece was a challenge for me. It was really hard working with each individual layer. Another thing that was a challenge that I had to overcome was working with the special brushes and strokes that Andrew had in his original design. Based off of the original concept, I wanted to stay true to his design which is an urban grunge look to the overall piece. By creating that, I tried to incorporate different brushes and layering them over one another. I also wanted to make the web page interactive which will make students want to scroll through it. As you can see, on the student work link, you cn scroll through different pieces of art work that the students make. Though the overall format of the web page is not standard, it brings a new feel to it which refects the boundaries that artists break with their art. Overall I feel that this is true to the original piece that Andrew created.

Week 10

This week we had to redesign the informational flier that Saint Xavier University school hands out to students. The particular flier that we had to redesign is the Art and Design Department flier. I enjoyed working on this project for many reasons. I think my strongest talents are held within designing brochures and fliers. With this new project I felt that I can really design a nice brochure.

I really wanted the feel of something very bright and colorful since most are has color.

CRAFT
Illustrator

COMPOSITION/CONCEPT
I wanted to create something that has less of a feel of a handout and something a little bit useful. So in this design, I wanted to create a couple of neat features like an easy to read layout of the class schedule, pictures that will grab the viewers eye, a strong consistent design that plays throughout the booklet and a sketch page that will let the potential incoming art students draw and sketch. I played alot with color and text. The text I used was called a college typewriter font and the colors I used were very bright and youthful. I tried to make the inofrmation brochure less formal and tried to make it youthful looking. Though the overall look of it in the end was too youthful. This concept did not make the final cut. But regardless I had a lot of fun designing the brochure. I took a lot of though in it when it came down to the whole look of the piece.

Week 9

This next project will be basically designing a logo for a new student organization on the Saint Xavier University campus. This new student organization handed us a worksheet based off of what they stand for. SODAH, Student Organization Deticated to the Advancement of Humanity are interested to teach the Saint Xavier University about creating world peace, solving poverty, advancement of the environment and adult literacy as well as becoming more aware of AIDS. This new organization came to the graphic design class for help to create a logo for the organization. This project was very easy for me personally.

There were three renditions of the logo that I created.

CRAFT
Illustrator

COMPOSITION/CONCEPT
For these logos I wanted to create something that would be easy to transfer onto different brochures, flyers, handouts that this organization would create. I also kept in mind that this organization may use the logo on mailers as well as t-shirts, etc. I wanted to keep the design very simple yet embody what the organization stands for. Though these three different designs are each different, they are all generic enough to be used on anything that they create. The hands and the world concept basically stands for everything that this organization represents which is caring and loving all of creation. The Peace sign with the tie-dye concept is not as generic, but still represents what the organization stands for which is creating peace. The last design is a soda bottle concept. Though this concept has taken form over other students in the class I feel as though my globe with the hands best represents SODAH. I also put each logo in a black and white version so that it gives the student organization more options. From previous knowledge, it is important to design in mind that not everything can be printed in color. It is more cost effective to print in black and white. I feel that eventhough they logos look great in color, the globe with the hands carries out well in both black and white as well as color.

Week 8

In week 6 blog I had talked about designing three labels for the Lipton Pure Leaf iced tea. I had briefly talked about the art design movement, this week I will talk a bit more about the movement as well as the history of Lipton tea.

Rococo

• Rococo is the style of 18th century French art and interior design.



• This kind of art has very ornate furniture, tapestry, and household ornaments.



• The word Rococo is derived from the French rocaille which means stone garden and the Italian Baroque style.



• In the 1730's Rococo art was at its peak in France.



• This style was very popular in the church designs around the alter.



• The look of the designs are very curvy and had very natural patterns as well as the tapestry being very ornate and lush.



• Some popular furniture artists at the time were Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher.
  
  
  
  
  
  Lipton Tea
  

• Lipton was created at the end of the 19th century by Sir Thomas Lipton in Glasgow, Scotland.



• He established a chain of grocers across Glasgow and then throughout Britain.



• The first slogan from his tea was "direct from the tea gardens to the pot."



• 1929, Lipton grocery stores merged with Home and Colonial which is another chain of stores.



• 1938 Lipton tea was then brought to Canada and the United States by the Unilever Company.



• Lipton tea comes from India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and China.



• Lipton Pure Leaf tea leaves come from Kenya.



• Lipton YELLOW label brand has been sold since 1890 and is sold in 150 countries.



• Iced tea became popular in bottles in the 1970's.

With this background and inspirations I had created a couple of labels for the new label for Lipton Pure Leaf Tea which is a new product of Lipton. This product predominantly has a variety of iced tea flavors and uses a variety of tea leaves to create black teas to white teas. The following labels are those that I have created for this new product.

The following labels are of my first design. Overall you will see that they embody the feel and look of the Rococo period.

CRAFT
Illustrator

COMPOSITION/CONCEPT
I basically designed the following three labels to have the feel of the time period. As you can see, the labels are very intricate and it took a long time to complete each one. I rendered these three labels in the graphic design program Illustrator.
I basically utilized a lot of the filters to create the look of a textured feel. Since the time period had a lot of patterns and uses of cloth, I wanted the backdrop of the label to have a fabric like feel. I also added gold/yellow colors as well as other rich colors to make the label pop out. The font that I used was also very ornate. In fact I used a font that was used from back then.

In this rendition, I wanted to keep it simple and safe. Though I did not experiment with the way that this label doe not look like from the Rococo time period. I wanted to keep it very true to its original style. The label is easy to read yet at the same time, gives the viewer little surprises in the details of the label. I also wanted to show the consumer that this label can be carried on into three different flavors which are original sweet tea, peach and raspberry. I feel that this version of the three labels truly embody Rococo.



This next version I wanted to play around with the concept. Though I did not like this version as much, it was fun working on it.






CRAFT
Illustrator

COMPOSITION/CONCEPT
In this version I wanted to think outside the box to design the following labels. I wanted to play around with color and bold texts. Though this design has nothing to do with the time period, I feel that it is a strong design because it carries out well through the three designs. Designing these labels I wanted to play around with color. I wanted a more youthful feel. From the previous labels, I wanted to heavily saturate each label color. I felt that this would make a more youthful feel. Though like I said the Rococo feel and look is from the previous design.

In the end I went with the first design. It best represents Rococo.

Week 6

This next project that I am working on is one that I am particularly fond of. My challenge is that I have to redesign a label for a product of my choice. This product can be of anything that I want. I feel that this should be my calling to design for a product that will enhance the presentation of the product to a "new" market.

I have always been fond of looking at commercials and print ads for clothing, accessories, and especially food. My favorite product design is Campbell's Soup. I don't know why I have always been fond of the design. The bright red and white label, the typography, and the feel of the can in my hand always just seemed right. The whole aesthetic of the product was perfect.

Now it is up to me to push myself a design a label for a product that I always drink on a daily basis which is Lipton Pure Leaf iced tea. The label of this product recently changed in the past year. The label used to have the traditional white, red, and predominantly yellow label on the glass bottle. Now it still has the Lipton feel to it, but it has upgraded to a more organic feel with images of organic tea leaves and shades of green. Personally I like the newer look to the label yet I want to push the limits and design a label that will get people from another market to drink Lipton's Pure Leaf tea.

The style that I chose is 17th century Rococo. This style has always been a favorite of mine. Anytime I go to the Art Institute of Chicago, I always find time to look at the ornate gigantic pictures during this time period. I also love the interior designs and ornate furniture that was made from back then. One thing that had really inspired me is the texture of these images as well as the patterns of the cloth they used. The rich colors as well as the detail that is used in the paintings from the time persiod has inpsired me to design these labels. With that said, I will design three labels for Lipton Pure Leaf tea.

~One label will be used for the original sweetened tea

~one will be for raspberry tea

~one will be for peach tea

The designs of these images will be posted on a later blog. So Stay tuned to see what the finished products will look like!

Week 5

Version 4

Craft

This information graphic I feel is the best rendition because the information is easy to read and there is a nice balance between graphic as well as information. This last rendition I used two programs to create this piece. I used Illustrator to draw the images and I then used Photoshop to render in the lighting style that you can see shining off of the text. This image took me about 6 hours altogether to complete. I spaced out this final version and worked on it in a period of 3 days. 

Composition

I took the same image from the 2nd rendition, I also kept the same information from the previous graphics. I wanted the information to pop out and be easier to read. I also think that the light I added in the image made the information pop out. The images in this rendition is not as powerful as the information which makes this more information heavy. 

Concept

The concept of this one is basically the same as the previous renditions. I wanted it to still have a somber tone but this one is a lot easier to read. I also wanted to give emphasis on what happened on each fact rather than the date. I am really pleased on how my last information graphic turned out. 

Week 4

I have been working on a project of mine that I am fond of as well as being frustrated. I am designing a information graphic with facts about Abraham Lincoln. Though you may think this assignment would be easy, it is very difficult to have a balance between art and function of the graphic.  On this project, I had collected information on Abraham Lincoln and his family. This information was then put into 4 variations of info graphics. As you can see the first info graphic is not as well designed that I wanted it to be. Gradually, my information graphics get better and it is more functional than a piece of art. 

Version 1

Craft

I created this piece out of Illustrator. I used basic tools in this program that creates vector art. It is simple yet doesn't have much thought put into it thus this piece only took me about 20 minutes to complete. In this version I wanted to get the information on a piece of paper and then play around with my concept. 

Composition

The composition of this version is basically an easy read. I have the information balanced out from one another based on the good times and bad times of Lincoln. I wanted these elements to be placed on separated sides so that the person looking at this piece can easily differentiate the facts that I have placed in this format. 

Concept

The concept behind this information graphic is to balance out the good things in Lincoln's life with the bad things that happened. I thought color can differentiate them. I researched that an blues or whites represent peace and purity; and that blacks and grays represent death and or sickness. I thought to myself that just by adding this color combination, it would help represent the facts that I am presenting. 

Version 2

Craft

This piece I worked on for a little bit more than the first one. Though, the information is still the same, I wanted to show my knowledge of the software that I was using to create this piece. I decided to take an image of Lincoln and make it into vector art. I then typed the information vertical this time and added one more piece of information which was a quote that Lincoln had said. This image took me approximately 4 hours to complete because I was conceptualizing on what colors to use as well as how I should set this information graphic up. 

Composition

The composition of this piece I feel is pleasing to the eye. It is more about the image and use of text as a piece of artwork rather than it's function. Throughout the photos of Lincoln that I searched through, I liked the profile image of him. I think that Lincoln's nose is so distinct and I think he has a handsome profile. These reasons are why I chose this image of him. Also I decided to use the text going vertical because it almost gave me the feeling that he is pictured in front of wallpaper. I thought that this version is eye catching but didn't do justice to the person reading the text. The information was basically lost in this rendition.

Concept

Though the composition of the piece is eye catching, the concept behind it was what makes this piece work as art not an information graphic. The colors I chose resembled that Civil War era. I liked the combination of the dark red, grayish blue and the beige. The font that I chose screamed patriotic to me. I chose to use the American Typewriter font. Like I said before this project that I worked on was supposed to give information about Lincoln. Though, I don't feel that this piece does the trick.

Version 3

Craft

This information graphic took me about 2 hours to complete. This time I decided to type the text on an outline going in a circle position. I also chose a different image of Lincoln. I made this image look more like death, so I made his face a bit thinner. I also played around with the smudge tool which gives the impression of smoke. All of the information stayed the same. 

Composition

The composition of it is a little bit different because the information surrounds the image in a circle which makes it more dramatic leading up to Lincoln's death. Still this version is not well balanced. This version is still image heavy not so much text and information heavy. 

Concept 

This version is a lot darker and morbid compared to the other versions. Also it is a lot harder to read because I decided to make the text really small and the last bit of information on Lincoln really big. I wanted the information to wrap around Lincoln which gives us the impression that Lincoln's life was spinning out of control. The red design coming out of his head represents when he was shot and killed in the Ford Theatre. I really enjoy this piece out of all three versions but it doesn't give the audience justice because it is not easy to read and it is more image heavy and not giving any recognition of the facts that are in it.