Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Logo Research Assignment

For the logo research assignment I chose to focus on the Royal Dutch Shell. The first logo appeared in 1900, was a mussel shell but then changed to a scallop shell in 1904 to give a visual representation of the brand’s name. There has been some evidence that the logo was taken from the Marcus Samuel, the founder, family’s coat of arms. Shell started as two separate companies that merged together. The Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and Shell Transport and Trading merged in 1907. They first used color on their logo at around 1915 when they constructed their first service stations in California. They used the red and yellow from Spain’s flag to try and create an emotional bond toward the early settlers that arrived in California. The logo became more simplified through the 1950’s. Shell’s current emblem was introduced in 1971 and was created by Raymond Loewy, a French-born industrial designer. Today, it has become one of the most recognizable logos in the world.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Logo and Branding Notes

What is a Brand?
*Brand is the "perceived" emotional corporate image as a whole, it is the reputation both claimed and perceived.

What is Branding?
*An organization brand or branding is essentially their public image.

*A designer can create the framework for brand, colors, fonts, artwork, style...but the audience completes the brand through an emotional reaction with it.

Branding Example
*Apple is an IT company that projects a humanist image, positive corporation ethics, and support of good causes

*When people use the products they connect to the brand emotionally.

What is Identity?
*Corporate Identity is comprised of the visual aspects that form the brand

*Close attention is paid to executing a consistant experience for the viewer.

What is Identity Design?
*The corporate identity includes strict usage of colors, font families, graphic elements and other guidelines, usually detailed in a corporate identity guide.

*The identity can include the logo, logo variations, business cards, labels, envelopes, letterhead stationary, advertisements, tv, commercials, packaging, etc.

What is a Logo?
*A logo is for identification

*A logo is the simplest way a company or organization can represent itself, through the use of mark or icon.

Summary
*Brand -The perceived emotional corporate images as a whole.

*identity-Visual aspects that form part of the overall brand

*logo-identifies a business in its simplest form via the use of a mark or icon

Why Vector Art?
*We create logo's as vector art because it is flexible, powerful and easily edited, this is important when clients want to make changes.

*Vector art can be scaled up infinitely without losing quality!

Pencil to Vector
*Creating a logo design requires many phases

*Many meetings and review sessions are required to arrive at a design that works.

*Converting a simple pencil sketch to vector art requires establishing graphic style, color, line shape and typography.

Final Art: Graphic Style
*Decide what your "graphic style" will be

*Will it be bold, simple and cute?

*Will it be sleek, technical, and sedate?

*Will it be high tech and 3D?

*There is a wide range of styles to choose

*Choose what fits your concept and market

Fine Art: Line Quality
*Line Quality refers to the smoothness and precise nature of your lines

*We use the Pen Tool to create perfect smooth lines

*Take your time with this part, if it doesn't look right try again

Final Art: Line Shape
*If you have line art in your logo your line shape is important!

*Do you want an artistic look to your line? Try a custom "Art Brush" from the Brush Library

*These line shapes are all created with the stroke Palette in AI

Color Matters!
*Color males a huge difference, use colors that are appropriate for your design

Logo Design Rules
*Describable

*Effective without color

*Memorable

*Scalable

Design Styles
*Style 1: Typeface focused. This style relies on a typeface to create the logo design, creativity is utilized in the proximity, contrast, color customization of the letter forms.

*Style 2: Mixing Typefaces. This style uses 2 different type faces to create the logo design. Strive to create a balanced design, typefaces that are too similar will lack contrast in style.

*Style 3: Typeface plus graphic element. This style uses simple graphic elements in addition to the typeface to create an emphasized and balanced design. Graphic elements remain abstract.

*Style 4: Typeface plus shapes/symbols. An even balance between art and typography is achieved in this style.

*Style 5: Graphic focused design. In this design the graphic elements are the focus or dominant aspect of the design, the typeface plays a supporting role.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Writing a Resume

ROP Career Skills

How to write a great resume

Your ROP portfolio
*A portfolio containing three or more of your best work samples and a written explanation of each piece

*Letter of introduction

*Resume

*List of references

*Letter of recommendation

Use the ROP Portfolio Handbook as a Guide

Job Seekers Trifecta
*A solid well written and well designed resume

*An equally well crafted list of positive references

*A flawless handwritten job application

Your Resume should have:
*Who you are and how you can be contacted

*Your job objective

*Your level of education 

*Your work history or experience

*Your special skills and abilities

Edit and Refine your Resume
*Take time to write your resume

*No typo's, use spellchecker

*No mistakes, look for double words, grammar errors 

*No misleading information

*Format your text for easy reading and researching

Resume Writing Tips
*List most recent job experience first

*List most important skills first

*Leave out the obvious

*Avoid negativity

*Go with what you got: summer jobs, volunteer experience, clubs, relevant hobbies

*Dont have a degree or diploma? State your estimated date for completion, class of 201X

*Proofread! Ask at least 3 people to read your resume in detail to spot mistakes. Catch them before your interviewer does!

Style Can Vary
*Just keep it professional, well organized and easy to read

ROP Portfolio Handbook
*Contains tips and guides for all aspects of your portfolio

*Has 2 sample resumes and a resume template to fill out so you can get started

How to get started
*Find a program to write your resume with, such as Word, Google Docs, or Pages

*Think of what your ideal job might be this summer or in the future, align your resume info and objectives to that job.

*Use Resume Template in the ROP Portfolio Handbook and list all your important details.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Color Theory Writing Assignment


The three primary colors are red, green, and blue. Secondary colors are created when you mix two primary colors together and if you mix together the secondary colors or one primary color and secondary color, you get a tertiary color. The difference between subtractive and additive color is that additive color is color that is "pure" for example a red light looks red because it emits red light and for subtractive color is "impure" for example you perceive a red pigment to be red because it reflect red light and absorbs everything except red light falling on it. Color can affect our perception by the intensity of its surroundings, when a red is surrounded by black or white the red looks more red than it being surrounded by orange or purple.





Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Design

Design
Typography

Serif vs Sans Serif
*Serif reads best at smaller sizes, can be complimentary 

Font variance
*Too many fonts  confuse the reader

*Fonts that are too similar cause ambiguity

*Use upper and lower case letters for optimum clarity

*Left alignment reads easiest, consider eye flow as it moves down a page

Use these tools with discretion and without disturbing eye flow
1. Italics

2. Bold

3. Size

4.Color

5 Typestyle Change

Integrity
*Avoid stretching or distorting type

* Strive for a sense of balance 


Thursday, October 8, 2015

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Design
color theory

Primary colors
*Pigment generated colors are derived from the primary colors: red, yellow, blue.

*Light generated colors are derived from the primary colors: Red, Blue, Green

Secondary and tertiary
*Mixing primary colors creates other colors. For example Blue + Yellow = Green Blue+ Red= Violet

Color Mixing
*Red, Green, Blue light generated model

*Red, Green, Yellow pigment generated model

*Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black print process model

Color Modes
*Monochrome: Tints, Shades, and Tones of a single hue

*Grey scale: Black and White only

* Web Safe RGB: Hexadecimal compatible

Color Modification
*Tints: Add white to a pure hue

*Shades: Add black to a pure hue

*Tones: Add grey to a pure hue

Color Properties
*Cool

*Warm

*Bright

*Dark

*Saturated

*Desaturated

Color Intensity
*Color intensity changes in relation to its surrounding color

Color Associations
*These types of color associations are universal to all people

Cultural and psychological color associations
*These color associations are generated from cultural and contemporary sources and may not be universally recognizable

Why color matters
*73% of purchasing decisions are mow made in-store

*Catching the shoppers eye and conveying information effectively are critical to successful sales

*Color increases brand recognition by up to 80%

Color affects: 
Appetite: *Blue is a rare occurrence in nature

*We have no appetite response to blue food

The Mind: *Pink is a tranquilizing color that drains your energy

*Used in prisons, holding cells, opposing team locker rooms

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Design
the principles and elements

What is graphic design?
*Design elements are the basic units of a visual image

*The principles of design govern the relationship of the elements used and organize the composition as a whole

*All imagery, art design, and photography alike, are comprised of elements that can be broken down and analyzed

What are the elements and principles
*Design and art elements are the basic units of a visual image

*The principles of design and art govern the relationships of the elements used and organize the composition as a whole

*All imagery, art, design, and photography alike are comprised of elements that can be broken down and analyzed by it visual components and the principle.

Design Elements
*Space

*Line

*Color

*Shape

*Texture

*Value

*Balance

Space
*Space can exist in two or three dimensions

*It can refer to a positive space or a negative one

*It can also refer to foreground, mid, or background elements

Line
*Line is a basic element, it can be vary in thickness, texture, and direction

Color
*Pop art

*Russian poster art

*Metal

*Earth

*Beach

*Flowers

*Fruit

Shape
*coke bottle

*tea cup

*airplane

*circle

*square

*triangle

Texture
*Rough

*Smooth

*Rich

*Dull

*Rubbery

*Scaly

Balance
*Balanced

*Unbalanced

*Symmetrical

*Asymmetrical

Design Principals
*Unity

*Variety

*Repetition

*Harmony

*Proximity

*Proportion

*Emphasis

*Functionality 

Variety
*Repetition

*Harmony

*Proximity

*Proportion

*Emphasis

*Functionality


Friday, September 18, 2015

Understanding File Format

File formats
*All computer documents, or files are packaged in different formats

*The format is determined often by the files origin, such as a software program like Photoshop, or a device such as digital camera.

*Graphic files such as photo, video, or artwork can be reduced in file size by using image compression formats

Lossy vs Lossless
*Graphic image formats fall under 2 categories of compression, Lossy or Lossless

*With Lossy, image data is "lost" or reduced for smaller file sizes but can cause poor image quality. Can result in showing "compression artifacts"

*Lossless retains image data for higher quality, but larger file sizes

Graphic formats
*TIF,JPG, and GIF are the 3 most common formats for common activities such as printing, scanning, and displaying images over the internet

*PNG is a common web format, is high quality and can contain an alpha (transparency) channel

*Each format has its own advantages, disadvantages

File Format: TIF
*Stands for Tagged Image Format

*Common format for desktop publishing, print, photo, and graphic design

*Is a LOSSLESS file format. It retains image data for maximum image quality

File Format: JPG
* Stands for Joint Photographers Expert Group

*Created for digital photography and works best for photo content 

*Is a LOSSY format

*Can reduce an image file size by 10:1 with out showing significant compression artifacts

*The level of compression is adjustable

File Format: GIF
*Stands for Graphics Interchange Format

*Is the best for graphic or images that have flat color or even tone, such as a cartoon

*Reduces image size by "indexing" color from 3 channels to 1

*Is adjustable by changing color bit levels from 1 to 8

*Contains no DPI (Dots Per Inch) data for printing. Not a proper format for print

Know your Pixels
*TIF and JPG are the best for images with pixels that blend in color, these are called "contagious pixels"

*Gif is the best for images with flat even tone, or "non-contagious pixels"