Tall Tales & Falsehoods

A nice video tracing the history of typography.

1. Read Chapter 2 in “Exploring the Elements of Design.”
2. Fine 3 awesome examples of the effective use of type in design
3. Design a movie poster of your favorite movie by the proper use of  type as design. Refer here for examples.
4. Poster should be 11×17, 300DPI, CMYK as a PDF uploaded to dropbox no latter than the start of class on April 11, 2013. Please also included your three reference examples. These can be jpegs.

• Font
• Type Families
• Serif Fonts
• Sans Serif Fonts
• Point
• Pica
• Baseline
• X-Height
• Tracking (Letter-spacing)
• Kerning
• Leading
• Alignment
• Flush Left (or Ragged Right)
• Flush Right (or Ragged Left)
• Justified
• Centered

Design for analytical minds, Method of Action, is a few courses aimed at making design understandable by rational people. Currently, it is in closed beta but they have a few pof their learning experiences available.

KernType
ShapeType
Color

Designers use imagery to grab an audience’s attention and to establish a connection with them.

In the design process it is important to distinguish between different image types and to produce/select appropriate imagery for each application.

Representational Imagery – (photos and illustrations) arouse curiosity, lure the viewer and elicit an emotional response.

• Use images that support your design concept.

 
Symbols and Logos – Images or words that have been striped down into simplistic forms.

• Ideogram – a pictorial image that represents an idea or concept
• Logo – a mark or logotype or a combination of the two used to symbolically represent a product, brand, company or group
• Logotype – letters, words or a name formed in a distinctive way and used to symbolically to represent a product, brand, company or group.
• Mark – a symbol used to represent a product, brand company or group.
• Pictogram – a pictorial image that depicts a simplified representation of an object or activity.
• Symbol – a letter or sign that represents an activity, idea or object that can be used within a cultural or commercial context. symbols are universally understood and transcend language and cultural boundaries.

 
Informational Imagery – guides and informs the audience in situations where words do not do an adequate job.

• Symbols and Wayfinding Systems
• Chars and Graphs

To establish a palette or color scheme, you must first establish the theme and content of design.

Designs should also function in black and white as well as color.

Color embellishes, shape, line, texture and type in a composition.

Color is used to classify, identity and code, helping to distinguish one thing from another.

Basic color theory:

• Purple is royal, sophisticated and cultivated.
• Blue is expansive, serene, and reliable.
• Green is growth, nature and life-giving.
• Yellow is sunlight, citrus and energy.
• Orange is active, appetizing and hot.
• Red is festive, exuberant, and romantic.

From idea to execution, design must be supported by rational reasons.

Visual Organization

• Format & Orientation
• Grid Systems
• Eye Movement
• Theme & Motif

Format – Shape, size and general makeup of design.

Orientation – Point of view determined by the designer to relate visually to a design.

Grid systems – Used to organize design elements to create visual appeal using alignments and intersecting points.

Eye movement – A rhythmic loop that takes the eye on a journey throughout a composition by  the use of design details and psychology.

Theme – Subject or topic being presented. The quality or character of a represented idea.

Motif – Concept related to theme. The inherent pattern or arrangement of the overall image.

Ads that worked for me:

1. Budweiser – “Brotherhood”
2. Audi – “Prom”
3. Hyundai – “Stuck”
4. Ram Trucks – “Farmer”
5. Taco Bell – “Viva Young”

Worth Mentioning:

1. Calvin Klein – “Concept”
2. M&M’s – “Love Ballad”
3. Oreo – “Whisper Fight”

Ads that didn’t work for me:

1. GoDaddy – “Perfect Match”
2. Wonderful Pistachios – “PSY”
3. E*Trade – “Baby”
4. Beck’s Sapphire – “Serenade”
5. Pepsi Next – “Party”
6. Budweiser Black Crown – “Coronation” & “Celebration”

Worth Mentioning (Bad):

1. Marvel – “Iron Man 3″

Publishing house HarperCollins is set to release a series of classic sci-fi and fantasy books in illustrated cloth-bound covers, in a hope to target a new audience with the books’ new looks. Take a look at them in hopes to inspire you on your own book jacket redesign.