DESIGN APPROACH

Originally I wanted to create an invitation that will print in regular size paper. However as I came to understand the concept I realize that if my invitation was to small it could get lost in the mail. Therefore I decided to make my invitation a bit bigger to a size of regular mail so that when people get their mail they can easily grab their attention.

I choose to have the tittle at the front of the invitation and along with that I the address and the email. Once a person open it I figure my main point of interest will be the middle with the subtitle in a big picture that stands out. Towards the bottom since the eyesight follows down I put the date and the quote along with the picture.

The type of paper that should be printed will be soft white Feltweave by Mohawk weight 80t/118gsm. This paper will be with enough thickness that if its folded it will not creep at the marks.

The type of font I use was Bodoni strong and hevetica. The reason I chose Bodoni is because synce is a gallery event I though of putting it as a elegant clean look with the typefaces align. I use Helvetica to help get the information of the address and smaller text to be easy read.

Design Approach

I first began by folding and drafting a various amounts of brochure formats and found myself to enjoy the simplicity of the traditional three-fold brochure. Besides making sure I included all the essential elements, I also made sure to have some sort of theme to go string my invitation together. Since I was also only allowed to use duotone for the project, I chose my colors wisely and decided that black and red would work well together in contrast to the off-white background. This led me to creating little symbols and shapes in red throughout my invitation to tie a common theme together.

Typefaces

The typefaces used in this project are Verdana, creating a bold emphasis for the title, Baskerville, because it is an extremely elegant and legible serif, and lastly Futura, due to its geometrical and modernist sans-serif look that went along well with the other fonts.

Paper

Choosing the paper was probably one of the more challenging aspects of the project that I did not expect. Not only was I extremely indecisive and overwhelmed with the hundreds of different types of paper, I also had trouble deciding which white/off-white would look best for my invitation. As of now, I’m still undecided as to what paper to use.

What I Learned

What I learned most for this project was the importance of the technicalities involved in every step of creating the invitation. I learned about the measurements for the document size, folds, bleeds, as well as how to properly chose the right Pantone colors. I also learned more about InDesign as well as Illustrator from creating the symbols used on my invitation. Lastly, I learned about how different the color and format look on the computer screen versus when it is physically printed. It’s important to have the right measurements or else the project will not print exactly how you want it to or it may cut off some aspects o of the document.

Concept:
My concept for this project was a result of folding papers multiple times to come up with the purpose of the invitation. I wanted to gear the concept toward being simple, yet bold. The reason being is that the notion of sanitation workers going up and above to clean our environments is a bold duty, but to everybody else it’s so simple it never stays in their minds let alone rarely cross it.  Therefore the reason for just two folds simplifies the concept and the use of; abstraction, san serif texts and accent colors (blue and white) adds boldness. The diagonal design portrays the abstraction.  The paper I chose was based on the simplicity of the folds.

Font:
Gotham Book, Bold and Medium

Paper:
Mohawk ViaCool White 65 cover
Via vellum whites
Cool White 100 text

What I learned:
The project emphasized the complexity of invitations or folded printed material on a whole. These materials are usually deceiving in the sense that it makes you think making them should be a piece of cake. Moreover, it’s helpful to know how to design an idea for one but to also be able to know how to technically execute it or bring it to life is all the more helpful in developing oneself as a designer.

Design Approach: For this assignment, I am most in concentrated on the folding design of invitation card. I tried to be carefully to make the size of where I need folding when I print it out. For the design, I was use  only one quote to see it simple. And for two pictures, I used half are duotone and other half are in grayscale. I tried it as easy to compare grayscale and duotone picture. And I tried the sentences are fit in the place and tried to them to see well. And I used the color as pantone 571C as a duotone and some words.

Typeface: Bodoni Std-BoldItalic and Bodoni Std-Book

Paper: I would like to use vellum 80c/216 gsm in white. I chose it because I thought it fit with this assignment and that one is not very hard to fold it.

What I learned: When I put the sentences or address on the card, I need to be careful about leading. If leading space are too much, it need  more space. But if I change leading space to be smaller, it looks better and there will be more negative space. I think that work to be simple and easy to see.

Design Analysis

The first step of this project, designing the thumbnails was easier than reproducing them in    the digital design. I had to partially rethink the design in Indesign since it was very challenging for me to imagine how it would properly fold after completion. I misjudged the dimensions of my document a few times because I really had a hard time choosing the right paper size by looking at the invitation on the screen. Finally, I opted for the simplest version of the thumbnails – the envelope shape since it only has two folds. Repeating the first three images from the front of the envelope to inside of the first fold at a different scale, established continuity and a soft touch to it. My intention was to not make it too cluttered, so I tried to create a balance between images and text. Throughout the design process, I got rid of some extra text.

Typefaces

I used just one sans serif typeface, Avenir under different variations: medium, bold, and italic. Since the design is not elegant, I thought that a simple sans serif font would flow with the rhythm of the images.

Paper

The ideal paper that I would like to print the invitation on would be Mohawk, Softwhite Feltweave, 80t/118gsm. This canvas-like, tactile fabric would make the images look soft and warm. Since paper color is between white and ivory, it would complement the duotone images.

I’ve learned a lot from this project. For the fist time, I had to think of a design from a duo perspective: front and back of a page. Learning how to use guides, fold marks, and crop marks would definitely serve me a lot in the future projects.

Merissa Meadow

Design Approach:

My idea for this project developed after many thumbnail revisions. Once finding the fold i wanted to use, it helped me to understand the design i wanted. I decided to let specific pictures, which i chose, be the main theme of my invitation. I wanted a clean, balanced look so not to distract from the images inside. I also went with a color similar to the one used for the San Men uniforms. It started off as a blue from Adobe Photoshop, used in my duotone image, which was later mixed with black to create the color for the texts and the border.

Typefaces:

I decided to use the Century Gothic type family. It helped give my invitation the clean look i was going for.

Paper:

Initially i wanted to continue with the crisp look of the images, so i wanted a pure white paper. While searching for different ones, i decided on a Classic Crest paper by Neenah Paper. It is a recycled 100 Bright White with an eggshell finish and is 100C. I liked the idea of using a recycled paper for the backdrop of this invitation.

What I Learned: 

I am more aware of my document size on programs like Adobe InDesign and also knowing the paper size needed to print that document. I also understand more about digital printing and that the colors and layouts used can vary depending on the printer. Also learning how to use guides and dotted lines in InDesign to produce fold marks has been extremely helpful.

From the start i knew that this assignment was going to be challenging–and i was right. At first I wanted to do a complex fold for the invitation, but as I continued adding folds to the invitation I began to realized that it was not only going to be a much more complex job for me within indesign but also confusing for the reader to understand. Which is why I went along with a more classic fold. I used a paper size of 8.5 inches in height and 10.5 inches wide– made two verticals folds one measuring 3 inches and the other 2.5 inches leaving me with 3 inches in the middle. The smaller fold gave my design some difficulties since i had to take into consideration the one side of the invitation to complement the other.

I sketched a few thumbnails trying to figure out what felt right, these definitely helped me put my ideas into indesign in a focus way with out wasting time. My thumbnails also gave me a visual of how my design was going to look with the folds. I noticed that some of my thumbnails looked nice but when completed and folded it looked like a brochure.

The fact that this assignment had to be accomplished with duotone colors made it so much more challenging.  I used a Pantone 7737 (green) and a Pantone black 3 c, I wanted to use a green since white and green are the colors for the department of sanitation. I think that the helvetica typeface gives designs a modern look, which is why I choose Helvetica as my main typeface with some changes to the weight and colors to chosen words that i wanted to stand out in the invitation.

I used a .5 in green bar in front of the invitation to contrast with the duotone picture in the the front and in the inside I really blew up a picture so that we could focus on the facial expression of the worker. finally I wanted to give the invitation a more of a New York feeling to it which is why i made a skyline out of the picture using and adding a lot of squares. to the image.

I think i would like to use the paper Heaven 42″ 170g/m^2 11 lb txt, or 42″ 250 g/m^2 92.5 lb Cover. with a coated paper to give it a smooth feel.

Design Approach:

With this project my biggest problem was to make sketch, and figure out what will be in it (what pictures, information, quotes..) Because it is a complex project and you have to figure out how each side of the brochure will work separately and together with all other sides, it was challenging but interesting for me. I learn that you should experiment as much as you can to find the right solution in design for your brochure.

We also were limited in colors that we could use, this actually helped more then challenged me. Because when you work with the same colors it’s easier to make brochure work as a whole piece.

The typeface that I used for this project:

1. Copperplate Gothic Light – serif type

2. Helvetica Neue – san serif type

Paper:

I didn’t choose my final paper yet, but I thought about:

MOHAWK Manufactor paper – Sort White Felweave;

texture – uncoated

weight – 110c / 298 gsm

or

MAHWAK solution Linen Natural

80 cover / 216 gsm

Design Approach;

Creating sketches helped me figure out and visualize the type of invitation I was going to create. However, before starting the invitation I did a little bit of research about the postal office. Having to know the minimum size of the invitation helped me come up with the fold. On the other hand, from one of the lectures we talked about di-cuts and it called my attention. Which is one of the reasons of why I decided to create a circle di-cut in the middle. Also, it provided a sense of sneak peak, the audience will be able to see only one part of the picture until they fully open the invitation.
The font that I decided to use is Futura, which is a very simple geometry san-serif. The other font I used was Bodoni-Italic which I think it gave a nice feeling since it is a serif typeface.

The color I decided to use for the postcard was Pantone 335; which is a nice green-turquoise plus black. Along the card I used different tints and mixes to give certain effects in one of the photograph. Also, for the front photographs I used duo-tone with the same color.

Paper;

If I were to pick my own paper I would choose Natural 80C, Smooth by Gilbert. I really liked that paper because it felt thick which will be important for my invitation not to get damage while it is carried by the USPS or any other mail service. Also, the color of the paper was more like “bone” color rather than completely white. I believe with that color it will helped my design pop-out.
Overall I am very excited to have the final product in my hands rather than just a digital copy.