2nd Semester Graphic Design Final Blog

Designer Poster & Paper

1. The goal of this project was to research a designated designer and write about how he/she influenced the design world. I had Paul Rand, designer of the Ford and ABC logos. We also were to design a poster that would be displayed at the Nelson Atkins museum. 

2. The entirety of this project took quite a while. It was more or less two months.

3. Some of the challenges I faced were cutting out the image of Paul Rand in Photoshop and cutting out his logos as well. That was the hardest part of the project.

4. I was given feedback on the order of information on the poster, so I changed the hierarchy of the address, phone number, etc.

5. I got better acquainted with Photoshop and learned how to create an appealing poster for people visiting the museum.

6. I changed the fonts around a couple of times until the handwritten style matched the theme.

7.  I'm proud of this project, as it looks like an exhibit I would want to go see.

Typography Quotes

1. The goal of this project was to pick four of your favorite quotes and turn them into a design that you would put on your wall.

2. This project took around a month to complete.

3. I faced challenges on deciding what color combinations to use.

4. I learned more about illustrator and how to arrange typography in certain ways. I also learned to put emphasis on certain words in the poster.

5. I was given feedback on the color on certain posters; I needed more variety.

6. So, I changed the Steven Spielberg & Mel Brooks boards to resemble a more lively color scheme.

7. I'm proud of these posters as these are some of my favorite quotes and I feel that the typography matches with the tone.

Logo Rebrand

1. For this project, we were to find a small company whose logo could use some rebranding. I chose C3 Marketing, my aunt's company.

2. This project lasted from the middle of April until the end of this year.

3. I faced challenges regarding which black concept logo to rebrand in color and sometimes faced challenges in finding sufficient mockups.

4. I learned a lot more about mockups in Photoshop and how to design a letterhead, business card, and envelope in case I need to do that in the future.

5. I was given feedback on my color rebrand of the C3 logo, so I made it simple, sticking with two colors.

6. I didn't change much. The one thing I could remember for next time would be to decrease the margin in the letterhead.

7. Because I had a personal tie to the company, I really liked this project and the result that followed. I feel that C3 Marketing has some decisions to make regarding their logo!

Use of Time

1. I feel that I have used my time in graphic design efficiently, as I finish my work on time, turn it in to the right location, etc. When I'm done, I check with Mr. Mason for his opinion and then wrap up things from there.

2. If I finish early, like I said, I check with Mr. Mason and make corrections based on the feedback. After that, I upload it to Behance. I make sure everything looks coordinated and clean on bechance.

3. If there is a project that I cannot simply get done in class, I make sure to work outside of class. This wasn't the case for this semester, but last semester I worked on my vector outside of class.

Strengths & Weaknesses

I feel that my strengths and simplicity and cleanliness with designing a logo. For instance, I implemented these strengths while designing the Paul Rand poster and my C3 color rebrand. As far as areas for improvement, I could continue to get more familiar with Photoshop and the wide variety of tools in Illustrator. To improve this, I could work on other projects outside of class.

Summary

1. The project I loved most about the semester would have to be the C3 Marketing rebrand. Since my aunt is the head of the company, I wanted to design something tangible for her to look at and see what I'm doing in school.

2. I would change my typography posters (certain ones) if I had the chance. Changing the color schemes would be on my agenda.

3. I learned a lot more about graphic design and I feel that this class is valuable to what I will be doing later on. The number one thing I learned: DON'T use computer-generated fonts. Don't. Unless it's for a paper, don't. 

4. I would like to set a goal to implement my skills learned this year into my video projects later on. You know, the next movie to shatter the box office. Be ready.

5. Graphic design is certainly useful in all aspects, and I can use that to my advantage to make my video portfolio even better.