Surrey Festival

Considering that last week I showcased the Nanaimo Festival brochure, I thought I'd talk about the Surrey Festival brochure this week. The interesting thing about it is that its a dollar cheaper than the Nanaimo one even though it is overall more impressive.

The typeface is more interesting, has been both kerned and leaded and is generally more attractive. The dancer logo in the middle was very nicely done with the leg making the four and the five sitting comfortably beside it. Surrey festival was celebrating 45 years this year after all. The text at the bottom is easy to read and fairly well organized and separated. The brown colour can't really be said to be exciting but it gives off a comfortable, sturdy feel. For a simple time schedule brochure, its actually a very pleasant design.

Upper Island Musical Festival

I thought I would upload this horrendous piece of design because its all I've been looking at this weekend. This is because it is the programme for the "Upper Island Musical Festival" which is one of the competitions I have been dancing in this year. Honestly, it makes me wonder if the 'designer' has ever heard the word 'leading'. Funniest thing is, I think it has been the same design forever, or at least for as long as I can remember.
The only good thing to be said about this design is the readable type (other than the horrible spaces between the words in the title). Although, the border is also generally a good thing because it is the only thing that makes this a step up from the classic microsoft word document designs. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if this was made in that program.
I wonder if there's a place to apply for making a new one?

Coastal Community Logo

Sorry this post is late. I had dance rehearsals all day because I'm part of the opening act for a T-pain concert tomorrow here in Nanaimo. I'm home and fed now though, so here I am updating this blog :)




This logo appeared on a letter on my doorstep a couple days ago. I thought it would be a fun one to look at. I used to go to this bank when I was younger but I have since switched to RBC. However, I think the Coastal Community Credit Union has a very nice and clean logo. The word 'coastal' is implied by the little icon above the wording consisting of a very stylized sun, mountain and ocean. This simplicity allows for easy recognition of the scene.

"Coastal Community", just under this icon, is in a nice serif font that adds a bit of a classy, professional feel to this logo. Whereas the 'Credit Union" underneath, being in all caps and in a clean sans serif font allows for easy reading and understanding. They do not want the viewer to get lost in the name of the bank and misunderstand its meaning and therefore use the simple yet bold "credit union" to complete the thought in the viewers mind. The increased kerning between the letters allows for a balance in the logo. This is due to it enabling the text to be read as equally white values despite the fonts different styles. Finally, the logo can work in both black and white and colour. In this case, colour was used and well. The blue colour really can, and usually does, remind a viewer of the sea, and a calm, collected, responsible environment. The designer killed two birds with one stone on this one and portrayed the banks name as well as goal.

Overall, a nice piece of design I think.

Japanese Candy Boxes

I stopped by Man Lee's yesterday, which is an Asian food store at Terminal Park (there's another one by the woodgrove area). It carries a lot of interesting candies and I thought I'd compare these two that I bought to some of our better known candy :) I think one of the most interesting differences is flavor and variety. In Canada, things like Kit-Kat have flavors like dark, crunchy, white... and I think thats about it. In Japan, Kit-Kat could get a world record for flavors, some of the ones I've had include ramune, rose, green tea, apple, royal milk tea, sakura, sakura green tea, melon, gingerale etc. (http://inventorspot.com/articles/japan_kit_kat_chocolate_bars_5324) (http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/03/18/japans-strangest-kit-kat-flavors/) Besides Kit-Kat, many Japanese candies or chocolate bars come out with different flavors depending on the season and change by the year. If you miss one, you may never try it. This, in itself, is one of the best advertising schemes sadly underused in our culture.



For those who were unsure, this is PUMPKIN pocky. I had never tried it before, and who knows if I will again, but it was actually really good, surprisingly. About the package, I thought it definitely did the concept of pumpkin pocky justice. By using bold orange and green colors and the small pumpkins nestled by the corner of the label, it made it obvious what the flavor was. Pocky itself has a very distinctive logo, the baseline of the text following a subtle curve. I think it's important to note the inside wrapping of the pocky package. Unlike Canadian candy, the Japanese put a lot of effort on the appeal of the entire product and by not making the inside package silver it actually increases the experience. Floating pumpkins on a yellow ground really makes one think of autumn :) The little character of course appeals to the Japanese demographic specifically and probably would not be as effective in our culture.












This candy is called "Gummy Choco" (グミチョコ). It is small gummies encased in chocolate and, of course, you can get different flavors. The one pictured here is peach. The cases look fairly similar even if the flavor is changed. Obviously the fruits in the gummy changes along with the colour scheme, but that's usually it. If you buy strawberry however, the case can have Hello Kitty images. The cases themselves are cute and convenient (easy to open). Again, the little characters probably say more about the Japanese culture than ours ;) I especially like the little bit of squiggly writing to the right of the title (translation: From inside the chocolate comes punyo punyo gummies!). I think it adds to the fun of the design. Even the little character to the right of this saying is well placed, as it looks like he/she said it. The package overall is clear enough that there is no doubt left in a consumers mind as to what it is.

Harbour Air

After years and years of looking at this sign without a second glance, it somehow jumped out at me. I think it's because the "Charters and Cruises" font bothers me now. The handwriting font may look nice, but it really doesn't read well. Not to mention the stroke around the letter forms. It's harder to see but there is also a stroke around "Harbourside Adventures". I'm not sure why the designer thought it was necessary but I believe this sign would look fine, if not better, without it.
The best part of this sign is the dark blue strip along the bottom. It's simple and gets the message across very clearly. The use of the simple font and the icon on the right hand side help to make the clarity. I also like the shape of the design, it feels modern and friendly. I also really like that it is see-through, although I'm not sure that was the designer's choice or not.
Overall, its a nice design, despite the fact that some things bother me :)

The Crystal Goblet

Our task this week was to read an article called "The Crystal Goblet" by Beatrice Warde. In this article she discusses the importance of readable typography. She compares good typography to a crystal goblet and bad typography to a gold, jewel encrusted goblet. When it comes to book design, she believes type should only enhance the need to read the message and not be a distraction. However, this also means she disapproves of expressive type.

I think I am of two minds when it comes to this typographical argument.

I believe that yes, type can and should, in the right circumstances, be used as an expression filled element. However, I also believe there are times when this would only distract from the message. If one is advertising a high school dance or a children book it might be appropriate to use type in a fun way, however, if one was printing a brochure on the importance of not drinking and driving it may not be as appropriate. As a graphic designer, I believe it is important to know when and how to use type correctly. This will largely depend on the project at hand and the expectations of the client. In the case of most novels, I believe Beatrice has really hit the mark on its requirements. This is because, really truly, would anyone want to try to read a 500 page book set in Zapfino or Curlz MT, regardless of the content?

For my design I tried to convey my views. The headline was used to create contrast and interest in the composition. Being bold and a point of emphasis, I thought it was appropriate to use a more expressive type. However, on the body copy, I resolutely decided that this type of article called for a clear, concise presentation. Therefore, I focused on getting the quote's message across.

Hi Helvetica....

So there's this font called Helvetica...
.... and it's everywhere.




I thought I'd search for the said font on our home front. And, as I drive to school, one of the first things I noticed was the 'Pay Parking' sign in our lot. I think in the case of this sign, Helvetica actually works beautifully. There's nothing more neutral and uninteresting, albeit important, than a pay parking sign.
All genders, races and ages come to the VIU parking lot for either school or various events. This means it is important to appeal to everyone and yet no one, which seems to be exactly what Helvetica accomplishes here. It is also easily readable from a distance, which is another important aspect of this sign. The audience needs to clearly be able to identify the message from as close or as far away as they park. A simple bold font works best in this situation - all of which Helvetica is.
The actual Helvetica used was Helvetica Condensed Black, as we can tell from the shape of the "G". In regular Helvetica, it is more of a distinct circular shape.
It's interesting how much typography is ruining how I look at everything advertising. Has anyone else noticed seeing signs and thinking 'that kerning is awful...' or 'oh, they used Helvetica...'?

Futurism

This weeks assignment was to create a composition using, in my case, Futurism to represent a quote from a designer you admire (one also included in the Megg's Text).

I chose Andy Warhol because I have always enjoyed his works. There are many documented quotes from Warhol but I thought this one was really interesting. Although not directly related to design, it spoke to me.

"I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art".

I tried a variety of layouts and finally came to this. I tried to use only a few straight lines of text, including "land" because it is a sturdy word and I thought it would weaken it to tilt it. I varied the size of the letters of "ruining" so as to ruin the word itself. I also overlapped ruining on land to emphasize the function of it. I used a different font for beautiful because of society's perception of the word. Andy Warhol is in a circle to almost represent a flower or beautiful part of the un-ruined land. I also used the changing of colours over a shape or line I've seen used in the futurism style.

I think that about sums up my design for this week :)

New Efficient Lightbulb

This week our goal was to create a poster for an energy efficient light bulb designed in the style of William Morris and Peter Behrens. I created this poster keeping in mind the decorative style of William Morris' designs and the unusual shapes and sharp lines of Peter Behrens. Behrens house hold items design always seemed to have crazy designs and so I decided to change the shape of the light bulb to incorporate this look. I used the German for "New Efficient Lightbulb" and put the font in capitals so as to imitate the style at the time.

Done entirely in pencil.

Victorian Style

This week is the Victorian Era style Graphic Design. The Victorian Era was all about the fancy and decorative. Swirly, bold and drop shadowed letters were all are popular during this time. Decorative borders especially!











I chose this design from Nanaimo to represent the Victorian Era. Correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to remember the hand pointing is similar to the style of the washroom signs from this era. Also the "Gates and Gifts" sign has flourishes on the letter forms and beautiful wrought iron decorations around it. Overall I thought these qualities were a close match to the Victorian style in the modern day.











This is my "Starbucks from the Victorian Era" design. I was trying to play off the Victorian painting styles with the way I drew the figure, but it turned out a little, okay a lot, more in my style. However, I am happy with the swirls around the logo - it just reminded me of something that would be on a Victorian logo. I did choose a serif font because in the Victorian era they used a mix of any fonts available and I assumed they would have serifs somewhere in their collections. Maybe it doesn't match perfectly, but I tried and it was fun :)

(Artwork done in pencil)

Good Old Telus

I'm pretty sure everyone has, at some point, has seen a Telus ad, brochure, or commercial. I got one in the mail the other day and as soon as I looked at the cover I knew it was from Telus. It did not say 'Telus' anywhere on it but somehow I knew right away.


Telus is actually a perfect example of brand recognition. Like Adidas with its three stripes, Nike with its check mark (just do it!), Telus ads always have certain steadfast things that allow the audience to know it's their ad right away. A white background, an animal and a simple sans serif font are the trademarks for Telus. Whoever designed their ad campaign is really quite brilliant because they have found a true beauty in simplicity. Not only does the simplicity allow for easy brand recognition but also for easy transfer of information. It communicates extremely well - which in the end, is the true goal of any graphic designer. (Not to mention that animals traditionally have the "aww" factor)



*Sorry for the poor picture quality - they were bigger when I saved them :(
(I did some touch-ups in photoshop)

Magazine Ad Design

I was at Chapters recently and picked up a magazine called "The Wired". I thought it had some pretty neat ads, so I figured I'd post some. I also re-discovered a Japanese magazine (Street Jack) I had brought back from Japan a couple years ago and I'm going to share its amazing Adidas ad.


"The Wired" Ad 01






I thought this ad was pretty interesting because, although the image drew me in right away, I never would have guessed that it was an ad for Ford. After reading the caption it really connected the picture to the brand for me.

I was thinking that this was an interesting relation between something our graphic design principles textbook said and how the principles are used in real life. The textbook mentioned how type can forever alter the meaning of an image and vice versa. When you, as the viewer, see the text as a caption for an image, your imagination is harnessed by the designer. Two completely unrelated things (or somewhat related things) can become metaphors for each other or even create a connection between themselves that wasn't thought possible before the text was added. I think this advertisement is a good example of this.

I was also drawn to this advert because of the image. Personally it appealed to me. It's not that I particularly like the colours or anything - it just struck me as an interesting image. It also made me wonder what on earth it could be an advertisement for. Relating the words ghosting on the lips to the voice commands of the car was a brilliant touch in my opinion.

So does anyone else agree that if the logo and catchphrase were not present you would not understand what on earth this was an add for? :)


"The Wired" Ad 02




I chose this 'ad' (more like title page!) because I liked the typography used. I was also really fond of the coloured lines going across the page and containing the contents near the bottom! The wrap around the 'E' in the middle is one of my favorite parts.

This ad has particularly good hierarchy starting from the most important -the title- to the 'Test" font and finally to the contents and the written paragraph at the bottom left of the page.

What do you guys think? ;)

"The Wired" Ad 03


I just loved this: "Call China now for Just Pennies". There is a traditional Chinese building made of pennies above this phrase. It's really straightforward but I think that that's the best part about it. Before your brain gets too far analyzing what you are seeing, the ad tells you straight up that no analyzing is really needed! The 'trailing' pennies also manage to give it that organic feel that everyone seems to like so much. They look like they are placed randomly but you can see at the top they look like the stairs down from the building and turn into almost pebble type objects leading you down the 'path' to the phone at the bottom. The flow of the ad is well thought out and executed.

Honestly though, my favourite part is how small the conditions are on the bottom of the page :)


Japanese Magazine Adidas



So these are a couple of advertisements from a Japanese magazine for Adidas. I thought this was a good example of multiple pages carrying a layout and colour theme throughout. Adidas is such a influential brand that most people are likely to recognize the three stripes in relation to shoes and clothing almost immediately. I liked the playfulness of the first page with the paint being used to paint the stripes in front of the girl. This then follows through with the boy painting the stripes on the next page spread. It's also a good example on the first spread of using the middle part of the page in a way that enhances the picture without ruining its integrity or effectiveness.

The pages mostly use bleed but I liked the change on the third page with the blue box instead suspended in a thick white margin. It allowed the picture not to merge and create an awkward shape with the blue box on the right hand page while adding an 'exciting' and 'different' element to the layout.

I know people won't be able to read this one, but I hope you still enjoy it!







So that's my post for today. I hope I find some more designs that inspire me~
Hopefully the snow will end so I can go for some investigative walks :)

The Beginning

So, here I am, starting a blog project for my Graphic Design program at University. For approximately 12 weeks I will be posting a design per week. They will be designs that I feel are particularly effective and/or technically sound. I'll then write my feelings towards each piece.



So, here's to a productive 12 weeks :)