show and tell

Here is this week's show and tell, and unnecessary process. The article comes ftom Children's Health Magazine, and it lists steps you can take to ensure your children get enough sleep. Although they are listed as steps--like Step 1: Create a routine, and Step 2: Power down--the suggestions are really just a list of tips that don't have to be taken in any kind of order to be effective.

what I'm aiming for

This is kind of what I'm going for with my repackaging product. I like the black and white illustration and the typography used in these examples. I'm leaning towards the old Snake Oil Medicine tonic look. Kind of like this

I love the illustrations and the decorative (can I use that word?) scroll work and borders. 

This illustration is absolutely beautiful and is exactly what I was originally going for with my St. Vivian's Miracle hangover remedy. The woman is clearly a mother, which fits perfectly with the Pedialyte repackaging; who better to know the benefits of Pedialyte than a mother? If I could find a good quality example of this illustration, I would totally use it. Comments? 

Here is another great example. I love the font. I think I have seen it, or one like it, on DAfont. I also really like the embelishments and decorations, yes I said decorations, that border the text. There has to be a name for this kind of embellishment that was popular during the 1800's. It's bannery, planty, sometimes sculpturey, and it's almost always used to delineate or accentuate text. Does anybody know if this kind of illustration has a name. I think the use of this kind of illustration is totally acceptable and I don't think it violates any laws of graphic design like, Thou Shall Not Decorate, or something like that. Of course I'm probably wrong.

what most people fail to realize . . .

Here are some of the sentences and fragments that popped up when I entered "What most people fail to realize" in Google's search engine:

What people fail to realize is that I've been honing my wrong skills for a long time.

Why do most people fail to realize that an insult toward another is really only a statement about themselves?


People fail 2 realize that Pass Christian, MS & Biloxi & Gulfport, MS were directly hit by Katrina. N.O got storm surge.


But, what you fail to realize is that most clanless dont play it to win, they play it for fun.


"These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside.”


Most people don't realize how dangerous substations are.


I don't think that most people realize yet what a looming disaster this takeover portends.


Those who fail to realize the value of time, must pay the price


What most people fail to realize is that, after marketing to your existing clients for additional work, the least expensive marketing approach is usually to market to others in your industry that can’t hire you!


What most people fail to realize though, is that heating and cooling duct system repairs and maintenance are vitally important for all family members.


what most people also fail to realize is that 15 resil is roughly equivalent to 22 defense rating in terms of crit immunity...


However, what people fail to realize is that when humans domesticated dogs and cats, they took the animals out of the ecosystem and their population is no longer regulated naturally by predators and environment.


Many people fail to realize how their travel expectations can lead to stress.

Alot of people fail to realize that, in hard times like these rappers are prime targets, simply because they are so dam flashy and they really do have some money...

I think most people fail to realize that outsiders to Ole Miss are so impressed by our traditions (no matter how old or young), that they are not going to take the time to look for some possible indication of racism.

This was just a small effort to keep my brain happy

a sense of movement

This is one of a series of adds Toyota ran about eight or nine years ago. I really like the sense of movement in both the picture and the copy. I also like the white space at the top of the page. I think it compounds the feeling of open space found in the photo, and helps define the picture.

last semester's narrative project

This is my narrative project from last spring. As you can see, the project's format changed significantly from last semester. For instance, we could use sound, which was one of my favorite parts to this assignment. If I were to do it again, I would probably take better photographs, as a few in this video were blurry. I also would pare down the story and make it shorter. The show runs long, although much of that length stems from the ending song not cutting out soon enough. It could have been edited more effectively, but all things considered I was pretty happy with the results, especially considering I had to re-shoot everything after the first comp because my photos were entirely too dark. I hope you enjoy this foray into narrative hah hahs.

magazines

Here is the website of Mountain Gazette, the magazine I used to work for many years ago. It has undergone some format changes with its recent ownership change, but I get the sense that it still is essentially the same Gazette.

halloween toon

Here, for your holiday enjoyment, is the annual Homestarrunner Halloween Toon. I hope it brings some giggles maybe.

Here are my poster and magazine ad for project three. I need a better logo, but on the whole, I was happy with how they came out.
This is my advertising postcard. This headline is the best of the three. I think I'm going to play with the weight and positioning of the headlines a bit.

show and tell - favorite words

Here are some of my favorite words. I chose all of these words mostly because of their sound. Some have good definitions; others, like "pantiliners" denote things that fall far short of their glorious sounding name. "Pantiliners" may be the finest word in the English language. Unfortunately they are diapers for old people. I think they are even a made up name. By that I mean the Depends people coined the term. Fascinating that a corporation should for once be responsible for bringing beauty into the world.

Pantiliners
Chafe
Rot
Exacerbate
Murmillo
Expunge
Cistern
Tort
Emblem
Immense
Immolate
Effluvium
Argyle
Taciturn
Beatitude
Mirage
Eschew
Kith
Thither
Naught
Aught
Abscond
Caress
Fond

I could name many more fine words, but I think that is enough for now.

trogdor

Just thought I would provide a link to a classic Strong Bad Email in all of its narrative majesty.

narrative

Here is some funny michinima from Youtube. A bit juvenile, but the video fits the world of online gaming well. I never played Halo, but Arby n the Chief offers me a glimpse into that world while managing to be entertaining. The video is too dark, but I like how Master Chief's dialogue is written in the style of a twelve-year-old gamer, with it's alternate spellings and mis-spellings. That kind of juvenile treatment reflects Master Chief's intellect level and personality. I also think that the use of Microsoft Sam and Microsoft Mike for the voices is ingenious.

Here is a marketing manual I got for buying Starbucks's new instant coffee, called Via. I really like what the Starbucks graphic designers did with type and color here. The outlines are clear and stand out on the page. The stories that accompany each page are concise and pack a punch. It's an impressive leaflet, and the coffee isn't bad either, especially for instant. I am a little wary of the whole "beginner, intermediate, advanced" notion, however. I think it really works, but I just have trouble with a corporate giant pushing an outline of people's lives.

This is my postcard

This is my ad

Here are the roughs of my campaign. After last class, I feel I need more visual unification in my pieces to call them a campaign. By the way, the hiking emblem is just a temporary logo until I think of one. I'm leaning towards depicting different families in various circumstances. I like the image above with the family at Yosemite, and I'm thinking of taking that route. I would have pictures of different families doing different vacationy things all the while DANGER IS LURKING IN THEIR LUGGAGE! I just don't know, however, if that is enough visual continuity to make a campaign. Another important aside: this family is not named Anderson, and to my knowledge, they have never had bedbugs. I feel that is important to disclose, with these images being on the internet and all. I have the Attribution for the photo somewhere around my desk, and I will post it tomorrow.

show and tell, call to action on a rugby field

Here is the image I brought in for show and tell, or rather forgot to bring in. It's an add for Amnesty International, and the copy reads, "Thousands are held prisoner for their beliefs in places worse than this. Write until you free them all." I think that is a pretty bold call to action. I wish I was more affected by it.

Maybe I've grown cold and cynical, but I have trouble believing letters are going to convince a cruel regime to change its ways. I guess that is the challenge for Amnesty International advertisers: to overcome peoples' cynicism. I think this is a very cool add, but I have difficulty believing this will get people to start writing letters. I think I feel so because the man in the add looks too hale and hearty. Granted, he is very dirty, and his head is shaved. But he looks like he could be at the bottom of a rugby scrum. He needs to be skinnier and malnourished looking, with maybe some lacerations. Nothing so shocking that a viewer would be repulsed, but this guy looks like he could kick my ass in the forty-yard dash.

I believe I used "scrum" incorrectly. I should have said he was at the bottom of a rugby tackle. Scrum is where they lock shoulders and push eachother around.

Project two final

Here is my final for project two. I had to completely redo this one after the first comp was deemed insufficiently conceptual, a distinction I am having difficulty wrapping my brain around. I feel that this is a much stronger layout, however. I honestly thought that I could leave the question mark half in the gutter and it would look okay due to the thickness of the mark itself. I erred on that mark. I didn't take into consideration the importance of the question mark to the entire design. It would look noticeably odd and distracting with a chunk of the question mark lost to the gutter. When I revise this, I will just move the question mark completely over to the left side and significantly reduce the size of the title, as per Amy's suggestion. I think that will leave a lot of space in the upper right of the layout that I might have to do something with, or not.

Project one final

Here is the final for project one that I turned in last week. I think it turned out pretty well. I am very pleased with how much improved it is over the first comp. I have to agree that the cooked crab looks more appetizing than the live crab I used earlier. Although it was not a conscious decision, the color scheme is very similar to that of Old Bay seasoning, which is very appropriate.

Project Two Phase Three

Project One Phase Three

Here is my phase three comp for project one. I know this is belated, but now that I have a scanner, I will be much more punctual with these posts. Seriously, loving this scanner. It's scannerific.

Show and tell concepts

concepts

Hey everybody, the above link will take you to a website that has some pretty cool advertising concepts. I took the above ad from there. I thought the concepts on this site were pretty interesting. I hope this helps get some creative juices flowing for you.

More collections

Here are some covers from Harper's magazine. I have a collection of Harper's going back to 2005. Easily my favorite mag, Harper's always shows incredible images on its cover.

Show and tell

Okay, I just bought a scanner, so now I am totally going to catch up on all my posts. I know I have not been very good at maintaining this blog but that is changing TODAY! Here are some covers from my comic book collection. I came across these during my recent move. I forgot I had them.

Amazing Baltimore Website

This link is to a wonderful website that has information and pictures of various historical buildings in Baltimore and environs. The website is called www.kilduffs.com. It also has some cool old ads, movie annoucements, tickets, theater programs and other examples of graphic art from decades past that I found absolutely fascinating. I warn you, however, you can lose yourself for hours in this site, especially if you are, like myself, interested in architecture and history.