Design Approach:

Unlike the last project, for this one I really had to make sketches up. As soon  as the class learned about di-cuts I knew i wanted to use one. I had to in total make 3 sketches to visualize which images went where and how much text I wanted. After passing on the layout design to the computer I knew that before playing with the layout I had to make sure it would print properly. I have had to make brochures in the past so I knew that making sure it printed was extremely important. After this it was pretty easy. All I had to do was pass on the image and text I wanted and find the fonts that I would like to use. Franklin Gothic medium fit perfectly for the title and information and it really helped give my piece simplicity but a sort of drama. Then for the rest of the text I used Helvetica LT Std. After all of the came the color I would pick. I went with Pantone7543 C because i just like grayish and blueish colors. I would like to print this on Gilbert Realm brand paper. It has to be white, with 180c for the weight. Also I liked the super smooth for the texture style of the paper. It is a thick paper that would give my di-cut a more firm structure so that it doesn’t break off.

Harriet Koutsoudis

Design Approach:

For my design, I tried to keep it very simple and clean. When I was coming up with folds ideas, I thought that having uneven folds would be an interesting way to present an invitation. By having uneven folds, it gives the audience a sneak peak of what the rest of the invitation in tells. This was the main reason why I decided to place the images on the front of the invitation. To me, it gives the viewer excitement and leaves them wanting to see what is on the inside of the invitation. Also it gives the audience a correlation between the quote and a visual representation through images. I chose to use a serif font because I thought that it would correlate with the environment of the exhibit. To me serif fonts have a more sophisticated look and looks more aged as apposed to a modern looking text such as Helvetica.

Paper Choice:

If I were able to print my invitation on my own paper choice, it would have been Muscletone Construction pure white 18pt-140c-thick. I chose a pure white paper because it would give my images and text a crisper look to them. Another reason why I chose this type of paper was because of its weight and how it felt. I liked how it felt and by having a thicker paper, it gives it a more sophisticated look and feel like a true invitation.

Text Used:

Baskerville, Baskerville Italized, Baskerville Semi-Bold, Baskerville Regular

What I learned:

One major thing that I learned from doing this project was how unreliable the printer can be and how to work with it. Every time that I went to print out my project, my fold would always be off and to me, it made my text to look crocked. I know now that we do not have any say on how the printer prints, such as coloring in the pictures and in text. For example when I printed a test run to my finial final project the quote coloring looked fine, but when I went to staples to get it printed it looked much more lighter. This was probably due to the different type of paper that was used and the ink. Overall this project taught me how understand that it is out of our hands and that we do not have control into it.

Nancy Zhu

Design Approach
At first, I wanted a complicated folding system that would make the overall design more interesting. But I realized, if the fold had to be in the same direction, and the folds to be complex, it would be a really large piece of paper when unfolded and the information on the invitation could become very messy and unorganized. Therefore, I decided on a more simple look with only 2 folds, with one fold being a black bar that helps close the invitation. With that in mind, I didn’t want to clutter the invitation with images, especially with too many photos that will be displayed at the exhibition. I kept it simple with a blown up image on the front cover and likewise on the back cover. The title, “Chasing Sanitation” is placed in diagonal, and on the inside, I reflected that pattern in the two images. I wanted to give the images meaning (probably like the way the photographer was thinking”, so I quoted the text to explain the two people in each photograph to attract the audience to find out more about the stories behind sanitation men. I would have liked to have a bit more time to think about my design. I’m not sure how to change it next, but it doesn’t feel like it’s at it’s last step.

Things I Learned
I got to practice using Duotone and sticking to one type of coloring process. That was the biggest challenge for me; I realized that I had used Process Black ink for everything, instead of using a Pantone black, and I had to go back to the document and edit every single time I used black. That was a tough problem, and it reminds me of finding an error in a page of coding – which is like finding a needle in a haystack. I tried googling for the quickest method to find all the instances where I’ve used CMYK Black, and it didn’t help. I ended up manually pulling everything apart and putting it back together.

Typefaces
For most of the project, I used Avenir. For text, I used Baskerville.

Paper
Through the books, I liked Mohawl, soft white, 110 lb cover. However, at Staples, they didn’t give me many options for heavyweights.

Eileen Makak

My Design Approach:

I wanted a really clean and simple design. I ended up only using one quote: “there is something extra special about the women who take out your trash everyday”. I liked the way this went with the image of the woman flexing. I wanted that to be the center, and the focus from the beginning. Throughout the process of the design, I took out a second quote, and made the typefaces smaller. This really helped my design breath, and gave it the simplicity I wanted.

Paper I would Use: Mohawk, softwhite, 100lbs cover.

What I learned:

It was interesting to try and think of a design upside down, and really depending on developed sketches to guide that process forward. I also learned how inaccurate printers can be. Before this project, I had a lot more trust in printers and their ability to be precise. It is interesting how much work needs to go into making a printer as accurate as they need to be.

Typefaces Used:

Helvetica (Thin).

Through this assignment, I was exposed to new terms graphic designers use on a daily basis. For example, some black and white images are really halftones, a dotted pattern that gives off the illusion of tone. Also, I learned how to crop and use posterization in photoshop.

As for my design approach, I wanted my 1-color model to embody the essence of my word “grandmasboy.” That is why I designed this postcard as if it were addressed to my grandmother. I feel like when you are a grandmasboy you have that reputation for being the center of grandmother’s attention. So I placed the word grandmasboy in the center of my design. Also, grandmothers always want to see, grab, and kiss your cheeks like you are a baby. I cropped my baby picture diagonally, and placed the image into four triangles. I placed each one of the triangles into one of the four corners of the document to create a boarder. I used softer tints on two of the triangles opposite to each other for contrast. The tint complimented the pantone beige color I used throughout my design. Lastly, I used a script typeface to give the word an elegant appeal.

I made another 1-color model to simply fulfill the posterization requirement. I cropped my face in half and then turned the image into rectangular stairs. I used the stairs to form a staircase that spells out the word grandmasboy. I bolded every other letter to showcase a contrast of weight. Underneath the staircase I created a collage of letters to give it some more style. Later, I felt like it was to plain, so I added more details.

On the hand, I made a duotone image using the colors dark green and yellow. Unfortunately, the dark green tone overpowered the yellow tone in my image. However, I think it still accomplished my goal of creating a money green look. In addition, I posterized my image and cropped it horizontally to create boarders. In between my boarders I recreated the “moneygram” logo, which is also my word for my duotone. It was challenging creating the white arrow going through my tinted red dot. Overall the message I was trying to send is that money can be evil, and consequently, split families apart.

For my 4-color model I kept it simple. I thought there were already enough colors in the image. The word I picked for this design was “graduation.” I used the cut tool to crop out an abstract shape for my image. I added some black and light blue tinted circles to make the design look full. I kept the background white and added some horizontal lines and a postal stamp.

This assignment definitely gave me considerable insight into the use of color, understanding differences between a grayscale image and a colored image in CMYK mode. In addition, it was a great opportunity to review some Indesign essentials such as the bleed of a page and the use of the hollow arrow tool. It was a challenging but enjoyable project to bring to completion. Creating harmony between the typographical elements and the color design is not an easy task; I feel that I need to acquire more technical skills in Indesign to enhance that aspect.

The 1-color mode was my favorite one. I experimented a lot with the image size, cropping it or mixing small fragments of the same picture to get an edgier look. When blending typefaces and colors, I tried to pay more attention to typography than usual. My postcards are about The Ruins Of Pompeii, so I wanted to use adequate typefaces to relate to those ancient times. I used only serif typefaces: Palatino, Timeless, and Bodoni.

With the color-2 model, I incorporated into my design extra background elements and new color variations.The duotone process helped me pick better colors, playing more with the saturation of an image and the overall color mix. Bembo, Timeless, and Callula I used as typefaces.

The 4-color model was the most challenging one. I wasn’t happy with my color choices. Even though it consists of 4 colors, it’s blending modes aren’t as nice as those offered by the other 2 models. For typefaces, I chose FF Scala and Bodoni.

Tinting  colors and trying to create major differences in scale among letters I found to be the most compelling design elements.