Final Reflection

What have I learned during this course is a long drawn out answer. There are so many things to say I won’t be able to say all of it in one blog post. Though I think this will subside:

Our class first went over the basics of Googles web integrating office services. Then we discussed marketing and the basics of company operation in the business aspect of design. Then we went over copyright, trademark, and the fair use policy. Lastly, we went over design elements and principles. In the conclusion of the class we combined these elements to make our logos and blog about them.

My design style hasn’t changed drastically but I have acquired many skills to help me create designs later on. Such knowledge is the evasion of infringement penalties and how to mix-up my designs with different elements an principles.

One suggestion I would give for next years course is too to make sure to complete homework and listen to teacher, because what she says is often on the tests or quizes.

Life Quote

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”

Why this Picture and Quote?

I chose this quote because it represents a similar ideology that I believe about myself and others. I feel that even though someone may be an expert at math they fall below someone who has the ability to create art.

I chose this picture because of the Grand Canyon’s beauty. Not only is the canyon an ancient structure that has been formed over thousands of years erosion but it fuels the growth of interesting and abstract organisms.

Design Choices

Why is the text white? : The text is white because it contrasts the background image, it is also the second most readable text color directly following black.

Why these fonts? : The font of the main quote was meant to be kind of curly, in that fashion informal. This was chosen because the font is not very formal represents being creative; expressing yourself. The secondary font was meant to be formal therefore representing Albert Einstein’s formality as a scientist.

Were anything changed throughout the text elements? : The only thing changed was decreasing the leading in the quote, making it flow more easily.

Hierarchy

Minor hierarchy can be seen throughout the quote and Albert Einstein’s name. The reader is guided from the quote down to the name below. This was done subtly so readers could relate the person who said its achievements to the quote.

Typography

What is typography and how is it used?

Typography the art of text and fonts. From posters to magazines, books to essays, typography is an extremely vital element to all written work. Typography simply is the way text looks and how it makes readers feel.

How is Typography used Today?

San-Serif font is a common sub-font element used today online and in print. The font is newer and more simplistic than Serif and appeals to a more casual read, perhaps something that does not require as much thought. San-Serif is also used in headings, for instance WordPress uses San-Serif for its website.

Do and Don’ts of Typography

Do – Acknowledge the main audience or your readers, also what type of text applies to the reading and to who is reading it.

Don’t – Pick fonts because they look cool, they must fit into the context.

Future of Typography

Typography will continue to play an important role as long as words are still read, even if the language changes typography changes with it.

My Logo

Every element of my logo represents either an interest of me or my personality. The green reflects how calm I am and my connection with what’s around me, Sage is also a shade of green similar to that above and my favorite color. The A has been replaced with a slice of pizza and my name hovers above half a pizza. This is because of my love of pizza, my life revolves around pizza, every time I get hungry I think about pizza and its beautiful cheesy goodness. The color scheme and design structure represent the simplicity of my life and the balance of my family, friends, school, and entertainment.

I sent an email to my classmates for feedback and received some replies:

– Q: Why did you choose the dark green inside of the light green? A: The light green represents crust while the dark green represents the cheese.

– Q: Very good design but, I got confused on the A replacement I thought it was a watermelon instead of a piece of pizza and also why the different shades of green do they mean something or is it just to make it look better. A: I don’t understand how this looks like a watermelon, a watermelon would have a significant color difference (Red and Green) while Pizza has a little color difference between crust and cheese. The different shades of green add depth to the design.

– Q: Everything is good but I don’t get why the pizza is green. A: I explained this in the email.

– Q: I think your design should have more meaning than just you liking pizza. If I were you, I would come up with a deeper meaning. A: Honestly my life is quite boring, but pizza makes it interesting there’s not much more I could do to improve this aspect except add other elements, which in turn would ruin the design.

– Q: Why so plain, why not show a little more emotion and bring people in more? A: My life is fairly simple I wake up, eat, go to school, come home, do homework, have a few hours of fun, and then go to bed. The simplicity of the design represents how plain my life is but the enjoyment of balance and serenity.

There where few changes made to the design as the questions posed challenged only a few similar aspects; meaning and color. To correct these I:

– Altered the color scheme to better display the depth of the design and look more like pizza (crust and cheese).

– Thought deeper into my love of pizza, the design’s structure, and the color green.

I also corrected a few positioning errors within the design.

Colorful Red-emption

How does this sentence look? Or this one?

How do colors affect our moods, decisions, and ideas? Throughout design colors play one of the largest roles in the balance of images. For instance, the above sentences standout… you most likely noticed them right away, though they don’t look “right” and fit this page’s black and white theme. Let’s think about how this color in particular feels. Does the first sentence seem jittery and excited, while the second is more relaxed and earth-tone? Or maybe the former is more modern while the latter is more old-fashioned?

CMYK VS RGB

So what’s the difference, I’ve heard the terms but what do they mean? Well CMYK is used in printing, it is subtractive meaning it lowers the intensity of white to create colors by layer different values of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black onto the print source. The difference here is that CMYK can create less colors than RGB and ends up looking less saturated on monitors and televisions then print.

RGB on the other hand is additive meaning it combines Red, Green and Red to create white. RGB can create more values then CMYK but becomes distorted when printed; though many printers convert RGB to CMYK before printing.

Color Resources

RGB / CMYK Converter

RGB Color Picker

Copyleft

Designers love simplicity. Though simplicity creates interference. How so? You might ask. Simplicity is … well …. just that simple and sometimes something that is too simple can be confused with something else that is too simple, this can result in copyright complications. Avoid these complications! They end in the loss of lots of money and lots of time. These easy two steps might just be the key, firstly always take inspiration (if needed at all) from multiple creators and secondly if your design is extremely similar or recognizable with the other, ask for the other designers permission in use. Then again free resources like those below will save you the hassle.

– Fonts

– Textures

– Photography

The Shape of Design

What are the elements of design?

Lines are another important aspect to almost all designs. Lines can be used to help sort and organize an image, or create one entirely.

Color is an extremely important facet to design world, color designates the direction, feel, and mood of a design.

Along with lines Shapes also can be used to define areas of a design or create an image entirely. They also are commonly used for patterns such as below:

Texture in addition to color can add to the feel of a design or help fulfill its atmosphere.

What are the Principles of Design?

Gestalt is a powerful design element that utilizes negative space to create images, it is a power tool to designers and can help mesh multiple pictures together.

One of the principles responsible for “holding a design together” is Unity. Unity is when an image feels as one and is not separable by its contents.

Balance is the placement of objects in a design. It’s represented by Asymmetry and Symmetry.

Hierarchy is a simple principle that uses dominance to help guide viewers through an image.

 Movement is just the act of visualizing motion in a design.The counterpart to hierarchy, Dominance is used to do exactly that, show the importance of design objects.

Lastly, Space, the principle used to help separate content and lead viewers into certain areas of a design.

My Canva Design (Link)

Analogous Colors and Unity

Modern Design Trends

One modern design tactic I see throughout the interwebs is the use of bright, brilliant colors. This is common on social media and many other websites. Here’s an example:

(Popular Motion Graphics YouTuber)

Thou art a Designer!

This week I have gotten my feet wet in a deep ocean of marketing, advertising, and other enticing business related principles. Who knew graphic design is such an essential element to branding? Well I’m sure most do… but I digress, it is quite the valuable aspect in insuring your company’s success. Having an image that consumers can recognize is incredibly important and one that a costumer immediately relates with, can guarantee a sale.

The McDonald’s Logo is one of the most recognized in the world

So where do designers fit into this elegant mess we call business? Well as mentioned above, designs help harness a company’s intentions. Therefore a designer is responsible for conveying these intentions whether it be a reliable service or efficient product, to its costumers.