Good Design?! Monkey Business?!

Above is the cover for the Black Eyed Peas album "Monkey Business". While it's one of my favorites in my collection, I particularly love the design of the cover. None of the members is competing for space or attention, yet there is a clear hierarchical scale and I am able to recognize Will.I.Am as the leader of the group.

The lighter color of the text on top of the deep red background makes for easy readability even though there is texture in it. The combination of complimentary colors in general is also attractive.

I also get a sense of depth, which separates the members of the group from the background.

Creating a Newsletter ?!

Designers can use InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator to create a dynamic newsletter.

For images, you would use photoshop to edit and create artistic photos to put into the newsletter. For example, if there is a specific theme for the letter (like Fall), a designer could use photoshop to change the season of a photo or add a color filter to give it a certain mood.

Perhaps a nice border or graphic you've sketched on paper would go well with the flow of the newsletter. Use Illustrator to turn it into a unique, one of a kind graphic to incorporate into the overall theme of the letter.

Then finally, to bring it altogether, incorporate both the photoshop and illustrator elements into an InDesign layout created for the newsletter. Here, a designer will be able to figure out the placement of all the elements and the most effective and design savvy way to feature everything, while getting the point of the newsletter across to the target audience.

We Must Protect This House?!

Now of course it's always a GREAT decision to place a RAVEN in ANY advertisement. But it's even better given the fact that Baltimore is the home of Under Armour. 

We Must Protect This House?!

Under Armour is branded as a very rugged yet quality choice for performance gear given their endorsements by professional athletes. In their ads, they also include no-name models posed as athletes to represent the masses. 

Color Me Badd (and Good)?!

First is my example of GOOD color.

I really enjoyed the monochromatic aspect of this Vaseline lotion ad.

The skin tone of the model matches the labeling of the bottles in a non-overwhelming way.

And the vividness of the brown really pops out on the strip of black used for the background.

 Now for the bad...

Let's play the...."find the text game"

Again,

another monochromatic ad....

There isn't enough contrast here between the image of the ad and

the text at the very top of it. I think that the opacity of the

soap and silk(?) could be taken down more and it would work a lot better for me.

Age 50 years in 15 minutes? (Photoshop)

In class, we did a little work with taking blemishes and acne away from a photo, and whitening teeth. A tutorial that I found does the opposite and ages a photo of Katie Holmes, increasing wrinkles in her face and marks.

This is the image we're starting with. In order to add years to her, the author suggest using a candid shot versus one that's been touched up in a studio.

Reference materials (photos of older women) are used for the agign process.
Next, is to play with her face?! Subtle touches are best!

The best tools for the job are the Clone Stamp (from your reference material that we used in class) and the Brush Tool.

Use different layers to sketch out wrinkles



Here is a photo of Katie in the aging process.

Remember to zoom in and out to get a full grasp of your project?!

Don't forget about the hair?!

As we learned in class, use the saturation and hue tools to add gray to her hair. Take advantage of contrast and brightness too?!

Next, use the brush tool to add details like a receding hairline.

Our Final Product (drum roll please...)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Grid Example

When I was looking for a good grid layout, everything started to look the same, but I began to understand why they worked. I found this layout from Playstation Magazine, which is spread across two pages.

The C in CRAP is really what attracted me, but the grid helps with readability because there is no wall of text, yet the images don't distract from the flow of the article.

..and the day was saved by Type Man!!

I usually fly SouthWest #justsaying

Anyway, This SOUTHWEST airlines ad uses text only in a very informative, to the point ad. 

Instead of images, they decide to use a contrasting black and white color scheme (which is a one color job-two points for me) and a bit of humor to promote their service.

Quick head nod to my FAVORITE designer, Mr. Calvin Klein!

Ok, this ad is basically the Calvin Klein logo with the brand name spelled out in front of the initials in the background.

It solely relies on brand recognition being that if you don't know that Calvin Klein is a fashion brand, they could really be selling high priced tires. It's basically a reminder that, hey, don't forget to shop Calvin Klein. We carry, well...a lot of different products.