Tall Tales & Falsehoods

Film posters serve a very distinct purpose. Not only do they tell when and where the fest is taking place, they also give insight about the location of the fest and the movies involved. It can be very hard trying to capture all of that into one poster. Sometimes it may be beneficial just to focus on one individual aspect that makes the film fest unique.

For your next project I want you to design a film fest poster for the Myrtle Beach International Film Fest. (More info can be found here and on their facebook page) This can be done in any manor that you wish as long as you tap into your creativity and that the poster can be duplicated. Main elements should include the location of the fest (can be as simple as Myrtle Beach, SC) when the fest takes place and how to find out more information.

Below is a few examples of different takes on promoting film fest therough the use of the poster.

We are now entering the third week of the design process. As you can tell sometimes it goes smooth and you get all the answers that you need and sometimes it does not. Based on the feedback that you have gotten it is now time to start to plan out your work schedule. I have some basic dates for you and you get to fill in the rest.

Lets take a look shall we.
Jan. 31 – Design brief due
Feb. 7 – Meeting with IT group to discuss both website and mobile applications. Need strong definition on how to tie in project with a database function.
Feb. 14 – Identity due. Mock-ups of websites functionality along with layout and flow of website.You will meet up with your IT groups for a presentation. This will be in Room 315

As you can tell it will become hectic really quick. I hate the fact that we are developing an identity at the same time as mocking up the website but that is the way the cards are dealt. I am sure you can pull it all together.

In the design world we get to explore with unique ways of expressing message and meaning. What one comes up with is not the same as someone else. By being able to look at a situation and come up with multiple solutions we are able to clearly identify new ways of expressing thought. In doing so we open design up to a wider audience with differently cultural takes on the same subject. However one has to be careful not to over simplify the thought process and send out the wrong message.

Sometimes it is imperative to tell a story through any and all means. A story can envoke emotion. Emotion can sway audience members to feel or act in certain ways. In most cases this is a positive thing within an advertising enviroment.

Assignment:

In 10 slides I want you to tell me a story. Choose one of the following “thoughts” to illustrate through various means. You may choose to combine many different mediums in order to achieve your goal. Sound, still photos, typography, and video should be explored in order to achieve your goal.

• Final
• Empty
• Unity
• Listening
• Hate

The project is Due Jan. 25th by 11:55pm in the 10 ways drop box.

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

• Talbot, Catherine
• Teer, Arielle
  
• Thornton, Heather
  
• Wasula, Jason
  
• Bryan, Marian
  
• Piver, Lindsey
  

Identity design final. Reflet overall message and tone. Please turn in final identity design including color scheme, font use, final design converted to outlines and rational. Treat this as if you were sending off the final logo to the client.

Choose one of the following:

1) Surf, Skate, Music, Culture
Local start-up has some bold ideas and an even bolder vision. Develop an identity that reflects that vision. A two to tree color logo design is needed.

Surf Skate Music Culture’s (SSMC) main goal is to generate a stronger heart beat for the surf, skate, music, and the cultural arts scenes. SSMC is made of several different talents such as producers, editors, artist, surfers, and skaters. We are here to support the artist of this era. It is also our goal to give artists, musicians, surfers, and skaters another outlet to express themselves. We support the local scenes.

Surf Skate Music Culture was formed in October 2010 and formed an official L.L.C in November of the same year. Surf Skate Music Culture has become a way of life for many as for it is forged from the four things that define our personalities and characters. This is the secret to how you stay young at heart. Take time and examine the lyrics in the songs. Examine the images and graphics and you will notice the mathematical efforts in the vectors in which we work to design. Deep inside you know this is how you feel. We know this because it’s our culture and it’s your culture.

Facebook

YouTube

2) Santa’s Selection
Local candy company wants to develop a line of candy that encompass the holiday sprit. They want an identity for a line of candy that Santa himself would be proud of. Santa has masterfully picked a few varieties of candy such as Peppermint Kisses and Candy Cane Chocolate and wants to brand them under “Santa’s Selection.”

Develop an identity design that is limited to three pantone colors (Red, Green, White) and reflects the holiday spirit.

That’s right folks, giving up all meat and byproducts. Straight hardcore vegetarian. Many reasons for this, but for the most part is that I am doing it for health reasons.

Ok now that I have gotten that out of my system, I am not going vegetarian. I am, however, giving an exam on client relations. Part of that is to constantly research your client and check for updates, especially right before a big client meeting. I am writing this to see if any of my students check out their resources before we meet-up. We shall see.

As a designer I have many opportunities to work on various magazine publications. Each one has thought me something new when it comes to the magazine publishing world.

It has been a little while since I had the chance to work on a new magazine product so I took the downtime to look into how the publishing world has changed.

As an owner of Apple’s iPad 2 I have been accustomed to some of the new user interface elements that are pushing the boundaries of the magazine industry. Pinch, swipe and zooming are all second nature to me so I was thrilled to see how it might be applied to a new hobby magazine of mine BIKE. The downloading experience was seamless and uneventful. BIKE magazine uses a service called PixelMag to do its subscriptions as well as what I can tell it’s overall digital experience. Having an account with PixelMag lets you download your subscriptions on multiple devices regardless of the operating system. My iPhone, iPad and (in the near future) my Motorola Zoom all have access to all the publications bought through PixelMag.

The nature of the publications leans itself to having a better experience using the iPad. Launching the current issue I have instant access to all of the publications content as well as a whole lot more. A quick flip through the pages makes me remember the whole crazy for the Flash stylized Page-Flip feature on publications I have worked on in the past. I was never satisfied with this option because I thought it could have done so much more. Based on my knowledge of the power that could be contained within a PDF, I always thought that Page-Flip was lackluster and very cumbersome. I spent more time trying out how to configure and optimize the Page-Flip side than I ever did with the design of the magazine itself. However with BIKE’s current issue the magazine in digital form has a whole new feel, something that is unique and fitting to the nature of the iPad.

I know this is a direct result of working with Apple’s SDK and building apps naively. While my coding skills are quite up to snuff in this arena I do believe third party companies such as PixelMag take a lot of the guess work out of it. Jumping from one section to the next, looking a full frame full resolution photos and the ability to search for key words gives the digital platform some very notable key points. I do, however believe that digital magazines greatest selling feature is a direct result of a need for both content and advertisers. The use of video within the BIKE publication make it well worth the price of admission. Advertisers can literally take their ads right off the page and showcase their products in action. Stories become alive with video interviews and a more in depth perspective can be had with outtakes and bonus features. Advertisers can also tap into impulse buying habits by providing a link directly to their online shopping cart, making the ability to view products in real time and purchase them without hassle.

While I enjoy all of these bonus features with a digital magazine there is one core thing that I am not hooked on, READING it. The articles themselves are not easy to digest with all of the extras going on. The layout of the magazine is superb, but having to pinch and zoom my way in to get the text legible makes the act of reading hard. I can immediately think of ways of making this better (such as a Reader mode) but I have to think of my interactions with a print publications before I can slam it.

Magazines are not like books. They are bite size chunks of information that is meant to be taken in over multiple readings. Looking at articles on individual basis (no matter digital or print) I see how I interact with a print publication is much in the same way I do with the digital version. Short controlled readings, is one way in which I describe my paper based reading habits. I think the digital version is much in this same manor. When I look at reading a digital magazine in this light I see that it can a the very least be tolerable if not enjoyable.

As I continue with both design and technology I can see a good marriage of my services into the digital magazine realm. I look forward to the future in which I can work on a project such as this especially if I can work on a publication that combines in yet one of my other hobbies.

• Strategic Planning & Program Management
• Email & Online Communications
• Design
• Video & Motion Graphics
• Content Strategy & Development
• Social Media
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Web Development & Production
• Analytics & Site Optimization
• Online Advertising
• Public Relations & Outreach