Design Blog

Beta

2009-02-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

I think artists get too hung up on the conceptual aspect art sometimes. I think that concept is important, but without strong art principles, I really don't care how conceptual it is. In the end, if it doesn't appeal to me visually, I'm not going to look at it long enough to see if it's trying to tell me something or not. I think this work by Patrick Nichols is a good example of this. He draws you in with balance, color, emphasis, and contrast. That is what got me to stop and look at this. After he got my attention, then I see that "oh" maybe something else is being conveyed here. I think this is great.

Also featured in Communication Arts Interactive Annual 14

2009-02-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

I like ads that are clever, witty, and have a sense of humor. The ad below is an ad by Darren Elwood for a cleaning product. I think it is great how instead of displaying the product, he uses a little CAT machine to mimic the power of the cleaner. I thought it was very clever and fun.

This image was found in Communication Arts Interative Annual 14

Project 1

2009-01-27T04:38:00.000-08:00

I work for Great Planes here in Champaign. They design and manufacture radio control airplanes. They are part of a bigger parent company that you may have heard of"Hobbico". I have only been there a year and am not very interested in the hobby, but have learned about a how world of R/C that I didn't know existed. They sell to the public by mail order or online at their website www.towerhobbies.com. Tower Hobbies is Hobbico's sales department and is actually doing very well for such a bad time in our economy. However, I think that their website is very cluttered and hard to navigate. That is why I have chosen to redesign their home page.

2009-01-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

Well, here we go. Another semester and new things to learn. I still don't feel very confident about my ability to navigate around CS3, but I'm getting better. Just learned how to hand-tint with the help of the Photoshop WOW! book. I'm sure there are a lot better hand-tinting pieces out there, but I'm proud that I at least figured it out enough to get something to work for me. Pretty cool huh!?

Book Cover Ideas

2008-11-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well...here are the three sketches that made my top favorites. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm a little torn between the window piece and the fading math equations.

Good Book Cover Examples

2008-10-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

I think that biographies don't always have to portray an image of the person that the biography is about. In some cases, it seems almost necessary, but I don't think that is always the case. After scrolling through numerous biographies online, I found a couple that I thought were interesting and the best thing about them is that they don't necessarily depict an image of the person that they are about.

The image to the right is an autobiography by Maya Angelou. This book cover does have an image of the person that it is about, but that is not the main focal point. The dark imagery and vivid red object at the bottom of the cover is the eye grabber. I think it is great how the designer chose to push the envelope a little by making the cover NOT just a picture of Maya. She is still a significant part of the cover, but she is subtle and pushed to the back. I think that is great!

The image to the left is a fiction story about a young boy. This isn't exactly the same genre as a biography, but it is a fictional story about a particular person. I wanted to share this book cover because I think it is a great example of what a good biography cover could be. You don't need a picture of the person to understand what the main plot is to this book. If the story is center stage, then I don't think it is necessary to show an image of that individual. The book is more about the story than the person. I really like this cover. Good stuff!

The cover to the right is the cover of Eric Clapton's autobiography. I don't know anyone else on earth with the last name Clapton. When I hear the name Clapton, I automatically think Eric Clapton. I think it is great how he didn't incorporate an image of himself in this book cover. It is totally unnecessary and it is completely understood. What I like even more about it, is the fact that he didn't even put his first name first. I think that is great. It is dark and it is bold. It is simple and to the point. I also like the personal touch of his signature on the front. I wish more auto/biographies were like this.

Book Cover Re-Design

2008-10-29T11:15:00.001-07:00

"A Beautiful Mind" ia a biography by Sylvia Nasar about the life of John Forbes Nash. Nash won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994 despite his struggle with a mental illness. The book covers Nash's life from childhood through college and then into his adult career life. Nash begins to have hallucinations in the beginning of his student career at Princeton while studying economics and mathmatics. Nash's hallucinations are later diagnosed as schizophenia.

I chose this book cover to redesign because I think it is very cliche of the numerous biography book covers out there. I think it is very reasonable to have a photo of the person that the biography is about, but I think it is also boring and overdone. Not only is it frequently used, but I also think that the photo that was chosen is a very poor photo. It is a very grey toned, merky photo. I think a better image could have been used.

The cover was redesigned later after the film "A Beautiful Mind" was released in 2001. I have to admit that this cover is a huge improvement to the original cover, but I think it again is bad taste on the authors part. From a sales perspective, I'm sure that this cover helped boost sales of Nasar's book. People who saw the film will instantly recognize Russell Crowe on the front cover. It is a clever marketing device. However, I still believe that just because a book is a biography it doesn't have to show an image of that individual. In the case of "A Beautiful Mind", it seems that the struggle with schizophrenia is more of the subject than Nash himself. It is an interesting "story" and I think that is the selling point.

Color Schemes

2008-10-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

I think the whole idea of color harmony and color schemes is very bizarre. I understand it, but wonder where it started and how. Who decided that these are the color combinations that are harmonious? What makes these harmonious and not other combinations? When I paint I find it hard not to innately make these color choices subconsciously. It's amazing. Is color scheme something that is inherent within us as human beings, or is it a learned way of thinking. Either way, I think it is a great phenomenon and it is really fun to try to come up with color combinations that break these rules. I think there are color harmonies out there that are still waiting to be found.

Ad Redesign

2008-10-06T05:37:00.000-07:00

Kirby’s Firestone Tire and Service Center is a locally owned business in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The original service center is located at 303 W. Main St. in Urbana. It was built in 1920 and was originally known as the Flat Tire Company. The name changed to Firestone around 1931 and after several owners, Michael and Nancy Kirby purchased the garage in 1979.
Kirby’s Firestone is a tire and auto service center that provides several services including tires changes, oil changes, radiator work and tune-ups. Their business expanded and they established two more locations at 311 S. Neil St. and 101 S. Mattis in Champaign, Il.
Kirby’s Firestone placed an ad in the September 29 copy of the News-Gazette. I think it needs to be redesigned because of poor composition and content. Visually the ad looks as if it is two different ads. It is cut in half vertically by a line that seems irrelevant and unnecessary. Also, the ad states that they “lost their lease at Country Fair”. I found that to be poor advertising. This seems to be negative advertisement. I would be more skeptical to visit Kirby’s Firestone by reading this. I associate loosing a lease with lack of business, which could be the result of poor service, poor customer service, or other reasons for a drop in business.

Favorite Ads

2008-10-04T10:14:00.001-07:00

There were a lot of ads that I thought were very good on many different levels. I chose three to share with you and hope that you like them too. The ad to the left is one by Patrick Nichols. It is an ad that displays "Beautiful Violence". I though it was visually appealing. It has great color and emphasis and is also conceptually intelligent. I love the form and color of the fish against the dark background. I also love how the artist chose to show the surface of the water. In my opinion it is simply just great composition and use of the art principles.

The image to the right is an ad for SonicScrubber, a Powered Cleaning Brush by Darren Elwood. I think this ad is hilarious. I chose this ad not so much for its artistic qualities and use of art principles, but more for the conceptual ideas it implies. It is witty and funny. It displays a heavy duty machine cleaning a bathroom tile. It is conveying the idea that the sonic brush will clean as hard as heavy equipment. I thought it was just a fun ad over all. I got a good laugh out of it. Very clever and naive at the same time.

This last ad is by Keith Sanders for Bolo Footwear. I think its very raw and vulnerable. I particulary love the photography in this ad. It takes a mundane image, such as a pair of shoes, and makes them come to life. Importance is given to the shoes and it is almost as if they are given this sort of "centerfold" type of treatment. They are very seductive images. They are placed on very smooth flowing backdrops and are very provocative. I absolutely love it! I think this ad is by far my favorite ad out of the annuals I looked through. I love objects taking on human characterisitics. It's so obscene. Great stuff!

Color

2008-10-02T15:01:00.001-07:00

I think I must be starting to sound like a recruiter for art classes at Parkland College, but it seems like our Design Basics book is making me have flash backs from when I was working on my Associates in Fine Art here at Parkland. I have to say, one of the most interesting and beneficial classes I took during that time was Color with Don Lake. Don is an amazing colorist and instructor and if the soul is still around, you should take that class before he retires, if he hasn't already. Nearly no where else will you find a color class, not even at big ol' U of I, which didn't surprise me once I got into their painting program...trust me, it's nothing to brag about. Anyway, color makes a huge difference when it is applied to art, and it is very complicated. Which is why most basic art classes wont even touch it. It becomes emotional, loaded, and intense. Color changes everything. Embrace it and love it!

Here is a link to a really cool interactive color wheel. Check it out. It's pretty interesting and fun to mess around with.

http://www.paintquality.com/color/colorwheel.html

linear Perspective

2008-09-25T18:47:00.001-07:00

I don't know what it is about linear perspective, but it was one of my favorite things in Drawing I. If you haven't taken Drawing I yet, you really should. It will help you refine your skills as an artist in more ways than just drawing. Just knowing and understanding how linear perspective works is a wonderful tool to further your artist abilities. Maybe I'm an art geek, but I love this stuff!

Type

2008-09-18T17:49:00.004-07:00

I think type plays a very important role in graphic design and advertising. It can change the mood of a piece instantly. It is interesting how different types of typography can change the mood of a piece. The piece to the right is just the first couple of letters of the "Butterfly Alphabet" by Kjell Sandved. It may not be a great example of line, but I thought it was very interesting and was worth sharing. Sandved traveled the world in search of butterflies and moths that had marks on their wings that represented a letter in the alphabet. Very cool, and time consuming for the photographer. I think it brings an appreciation to nature when you view it. It gives me feelings of respect and pride for nature, as well as a feeling that we should stop taking the world around us for granted. It is truly an amazing approach at type. Hope you like it! If you want to see the entire alphabet go to: http://pzrservices.typepad.com/advertisingisgoodforyou/typography/

there is some other very interesting and artistic spins on typography on this site. Check it out!

Line and Type

2008-09-18T17:49:00.002-07:00

Line is a very useful tool when it comes to art. I think nearly all emotions can be translated into line. I did some experimenting and came up with the samples to the left. It's amazing how powerful line can be. I just thought of different emotions and tried visualizing how they would look if they were a line. I have examples of bold, flowing, edgy, angry, nervous, subtle, peaceful, hard and jagged. Just a small glimpse of the endless possibilities of line.

Emphasis

2008-09-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

I first saw this painting a few years ago at the Art Institute in Chicago. It is a painting titled Still Life by Pieter Claesz. It was painted in 1625. I think it shows extreme talent. When you approach it you are blown away by how good it is. So detailed and realisitic. I wanted to use this painting as an example of emphasis. It has some of the basic concepts at use here when it comes to ways to achieve emphasis. There is a play on contrast between the objects as well as placement. My eyes seems to immediately focus on the center of the painting, primarily the lemon. It is a nice warm color against a dark shiny surface. It is also placed directly nearly in the center of the painting.

What I think is more interesting about this painting is that I find the fine detail of the lemon to be a source of emphasis. This painting is amazing. Painting realism is very tedious and time consuming, not alone takes great skill. I was completely impressed at how well this lemon is painted. Painting a trasnparent object is very difficult. I absolutely love it. I think that is what is emphasised more than anything in this painting, pure talent.

Emphasis

2008-09-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

This is an ad I found online for a Hong Kong Yoga Center. It is really ingenious! It uses contrast between the white straw and the dark clothed figure to first draw in your attention. Also I think placement has a lot to do with its success. Everyone will bend a bendy straw, and that is exactly where they put the yoga girl. Very clever. Not only is it verbally advertising, but it is also demonstrating what is done at the yoga center. I love this!

Allerton

2008-09-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

I recently took a trip to Allerton Park. It's just outside Monticello in Piatt County and is really amazing. It is a large estate that was owned by Robert Allerton. He was a large art collector and donated his estate to the U of I. It is filled with gardens and woods and paths. It was really beautiful. I drew a quick sketch of one of the scupltures I saw there. There is a sunken garden that has these fish surrounding it. I really enjoyed them.