Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Final Project Product with packaging label

This is my product with the packaging label I designed.

Logo Design and Thumbnails for packaging label

Here is the logo design for my company along with an image of the letterhead that I designed for company use. The first and second round thumbnails for my packaging label are also attached. I wanted a clean crisp look, and I feel I have achieved that.










Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Graphic Design Project # 4--Packaging

The fourth and final project for this semester was to come up with a hypothetical company and a hypothetical product that would remove carbon from the air. We were also required to design a company logo and the packaging for the product.

My company's name is "Air Collection Technology Inc." My company produces a product for domestic use only. It is light weight and can easily be mounted to the roof or placed in the yard. It comes in a transparent green color (shown), and also in clear for mounting on the roof. The large turbines remove the carbon from the air, and pumps the purified air into the home through the heating/cooling system. The turbines are also used to generate enough wind power to power the entire home and itself. Through a highly technological process the pollutants (primarily the carbon monoxide) are removed from the air and processed into methane for use in the family vehicle.

Our Air Collection product is only four feet high and one foot in diameter. It is small but provides many benefits. With this product you can say good bye to allergies, asthma, the power grid, and high fuel prices. This is the product packaging label. My first and second round thumbnails will be posted soon.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Corrections in response to critique

Thank you for your input. I have made the changes you suggested.One of the critiques of my poster was that there was not a flow to the design. I thought perhaps if I lightened the background it would not distract the eye away from the fish in the bag and the question mark as much. Let me know what you think now.

The image of the goldfish has been replaced with a high resolution photograph rather then the image that I pulled off google, and I have dropped the opacity of the goldfish so that it looks like it is inside the bag. I have added some color to the top of the ziploc baggy, so that it doesn't blend in quite so much with the buildings. Although it was not suggested, I decided to slightly drop the opacity of the bag in order to make it look more realistic.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Project 3 - Sustainability Poster

This is my final poster design. The poster will be printed at 18 X 24.

Project 3 - Sustainability Poster

Here is the rough for my poster design.

Project 3 - Sustainability Poster

Here are the rest of my second round thumbnails.

Project 3 - Sustainability Poster




The next part of the project was designing the poster. I had an idea early in the design process which made it a little difficult to think beyond my initial concept. But by going through the design process (first round, second round, and rough) I was able to "see" what the design looked like on paper and tweak the design to make it more visually appealing. Here are my first and second round thumbnails.

Project 3 - Sustainability Poster




The objective for this project was to design a poster for a hypothetical not-for-profit organization advocating sustainability. It was a two part project. First, we had to create a name and a logo for the organization and then design a poster that would communicate sustainability. Here are my thumbnails for my logo design and the final logo design.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Postage Stamp Project - Final Comprehensive Design


I enjoyed this project. One area of sustainability that is not often considered within the topic of sustainability is the preservation of our American Heritage. I think that a series of postage stamps depicting some of the great churches, temples, and mosques of the United States would be highly valued among philatelists and enjoyed by the general population.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Postage Stamp Project - Rough


Here is my rough for the postage stamp project.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Postage Stamp Project - Second Round Thumbnails



Second Round Thumbnails-these are not very clear. But if you click on them you will be able to see them better.

Postage Stamp Project


Postage Stamp Project - First Round Thumbnails

Friday, October 17, 2008

Postage Stamp Pencil Sketch Illustration


This is my pencil sketch illustration of the First Presbyterian Chruch.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Revisions to Asymmetrical Design Final


I have put a white stroke on the words "degradation" and "decarbonization" in an effort to make them more readable from a distance. I have also slightly closed the gap in the large upside down "G" that I used as the letter "D" in an effort to keep things in line and make it easier to distinguish as a "D". I have brought the entire image down on the page to eliminate the top tension that was created in my original design by having the image too near the top. Let me know what you think of the changes. Did the changes impove the overall design?

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Just a sneak peak at some of the pics I am considering for my postage stamp design. I am considering using the First Presbyterian Church or the Binghamton Court House.





Postage Stamp Design Step 3-4

The next step in project two was to look for examples of historic design movements and choose one example of each style.
Art Deco
  • Geometric
  • Angular lines
  • Not realistic
  • Bold lines/color
Art Neavou
  • Romanticism
  • Rounded/Curvilinear
  • Soft lines/colors

Bauhaus

  • Use of negative space
  • Short/simple communication
  • Ordered use of content


Constructivism

  • Overlapping/Cropping
  • Symbolic Colors
  • Geometrical elements


International Typographic Style

  • Clear Design objective
  • Strong use of Grid format
  • Large legible San Serif font
  • Visual Unity



Modernism/New York School
  • Informal/less structured design
  • Symbolic Essence
  • Direct presentation of information
  • Bright/Bold colors
The following are my favorite stamp examples and they are most similar to the design I have in mind.


Stamp #1

Informational Elements
· Central Image: Historic View of New York City
· Denomination: 25 cents
· Country of Origin: United States
· Name of Land Mark: New York City
· Date (year) stamp was designed: 1988
· Significance: Commemorating New York’s Ratification of the Constitution

Design Elements
· Shape of the Postage Stamp: Vertical/Rectangular
· Color: Spot Color
· Type of Central Image: Architecture
· Typographical Layout: Horizontal Block
· Hierarchical arrangement: Street Perspective draws eye up from lower center to upper left corner of picture
· Position/Type of Balance: Asymmetrical
· Compositional Devices: The tree in the fore ground and the church in the back are on points of the grid
· Illusion of Space/Depth: There is an illusion of space created through the use of perspectiveThese examples are similar to what I have in mind for the stamp I will design for this project.










Stamp #2


Informational Elements
· Central Image: Washington DC-places of interest
· Denomination: 37 cents
· Country of Origin: United States
· Name of Land Mark: Washington DC
· Significance: Commemorating Washington DC, the Nation’s Capital

Design Elements
· Shape of the Postage Stamp: Diamond
· Color: Four color
· Type of Central Image: Architectural
· Typographical Layout: Border
· Hierarchical arrangement: The radial design of this stamp draws your eye to the center
· Position/Type of Balance: Asymmetrical
· Illusion of Space/Depth: There is an illusion of space created by the radial design of the stamp



Stamp #3


Informational Elements
· Central Image: James Hoban, Architect
· Denomination: 20 cents
· Country of Origin: United States
· Name of Land Mark: White House
· Significance: Honoring James Hoban, Architect of the White House

Design Elements
· Shape of the Postage Stamp: Rectangular/horizontal
· Color: Spot Color
· Type of Central Image: Architectural
· Typographical Layout: Horizontal block
· Hierarchical arrangement: Your eye is first drawn to Hoban in the fore ground and then back to the White House
· Position/Type of Balance: Asymmetrical
· Compositional Devices: Hoban’s head is on a point of the grid
· Illusion of Space/Depth: There is an illusion of space created by the placement of the illustrations.


Stamp #4


Informational Elements
· Central Image: Settlement of Jamestown
· Denomination: 41 cents
· Country of Origin: United States
· Name of Land Mark: Jamestown
· Date Landmark was built: 1607
· Date (year) stamp was designed: 2007
· Significance: Commemorating the settlement of Jamestown

Design Elements
· Shape of the Postage Stamp: triangular/horizontal
· Color: Four color
· Type of Central Image: Voyage to the New World
· Typographical Layout: Horizontal
· Hierarchical arrangement: Your eye is first drawn to the central image of the ship in the scene then travels to the outer edges
· Position/Type of Balance: Asymmetrical
· Illusion of Space/Depth: There is an illusion of space created by the placement and scale of the images.

Project 2 - Stamp samples

Step one of project two was to collect some stamp samples. Since the focus of this project is architectural sustainability most of the examples that I have chosen include architecture in some way.


Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Project 1 - Mounted Final Comps







My asymmetrical design is unified by its primary focal point, the large, dark, upside down, backward, letter “G” (for Green Living). I have used the letter “G” to replace the letter “D” that begins the terms related to sustainability, deforestation, decarboniztion, etc. The lighter shading of the center of the letter “D” and the use of white for the word “Deforestation” draws your eye to the focal point. Scale is also used to draw attention to the focal point and helps to convey the importance of sustainability. The outside curve of the letter “D” draws your eye around in a clockwise direction to read the terms; this creates the sense of hierarchy. Repetition is used in the font type and size that I have chosen. Variety is achieved through the use of different values of the gray scale for the remaining typography in my design. I believe this design employs the rule of thirds. The curved outer edge of the letter “D” is centered over the left vertical line of the grid of the rule.

My symmetrical design utilizes the element of hierarchy by varying the font size. Unity is achieved through the use of the white letters on the black background that creates the upside down coniferous tree. Repetition is also an important principle in this design. The phrase “Population plus Affluence plus Technology equals Environmental Impact” is repeated over the entire background. Scale is also used here to create the progressively smaller lines of the upside down tree. While symmetrical designs by nature have a sense of stability and balance, I believe that the wave of the black shapes in my design also creates a sense of rhythm and flow. This design uses the rule of thirds in the placement of the terms of sustainability.

Sustainability has many definitions, but can be defined simply as “maintaining or preserving what we have today for future generations to enjoy as we do”. Through the use of the upside down letter “G” in my asymmetrical design and the upside down coniferous tree in my symmetrical design (symbols of green living) my designs communicate that we have not been living in a way that maintains and preserves our natural resources. Our affluent population has depleted and in many cases destroyed much of our natural resources. The environmental impact of our population is severe and perhaps irreversible.

I have participated in class by helping other students with Photoshop, volunteering to talk about design principles and elements and answer other questions posed by the professor. I have offered my thoughts during critiques. I attend class regularly, and keep up to date on the assigned readings and homework.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Symmetrical Design Rough


This is my symmetrical design rough for project #1 - Typographical Design - Communicating the sustainable ideal. This is my favorite design. It is simple and clean, but I feel it communicates the concept of sustainablity quite well. The small lettering that fills the background says "Population plus Affluence plus Technology equals Environmental Impact. The impact that we, as a society, are having on our world is stated through the use of the upside down tree shape formed by the key words of the quote.

Asymmetrical Design Rough



This is my asymmetrical design rough for project #1 - Typographical Design- Communicating the Sustainable Ideal. I have used an upside down "G" in place of the letter "D" for the sustainability terms that begin with the letter "D". The upside down "G" signifies how our green earth has been turned upside down by depletion, deforestation, etc.

Frist and Second Round Thumbnails






These are my first and second round thumbnails for Project #1 - Typographical Design - Communicating the Sustainable Ideal.


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

Creating a blog spot

My First assignment for this class was to create a blog spot.