Interface Design Project

For my interface design, I decided not to use the same non-profit event as I did for the poster, and I decided to do WEMA international Fashion Relief.  This is a non-profit fashion show event that raises money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  I decided to use a bold red line as the bar to hold all the different links.  I used different sketches of models to go on the right side of every page, and used high heels to act as bullet points for all of the information on each page.

Good Website

I decided to pick one of the pages on the NIKE website as a good website design.  I think that the way it looks like a bulletin board is very appealing to the eye and might cause a viewer to want to stay and play around on the page longer.  I think that the way the categories of sneakers are split onto different polaroids is also very visually appealing.

website

I did my website for an organization called K.U.R.E (kids using reading to encourage). I decided on the colors and fonts because they were kid-friendly and appealing for the event. The pictures loaded backwards so look from the bottom up. 

website

This is my website, I did it on an organization called the Holiday Express that helps out those in need every year during the holiday season. The group doesn't  have quality pictures yet from their actual events but I improvised and tried the make the website visual and exciting with images from the internet. I wanted it to be holiday-neutral so I based my website off the colors: red, green, blue and yellow. My toolbar is hanging ornaments and the side panel of each page has snowflakes. I tried to focus on the formats of each page, and incorporate the pictures with the information. 

Week 14 - Web Design Project

So this is my website. I used the same organization and event as I did for my poster. I predominantly used red, because it attracts the eye, and because my event is about Christmas. I chose to make my sidebar, containing my links, using the image of a tea cup, steam, and the tea bag string and tag. The steam brings the eye up the page to my headline, which is red. The Mrs. Clause on the right helps to balance out the web page. In each link, she is holding a different object, that corresponds to the link. To the far left and right, I made a "background" of tea cups and snowflakes. Similar to print images, I used gestalt principles and grids. However, it was harder to make the text interesting/appealing to the eye, considering that the fonts used online are limited.

website

This website has a nice visual hierarchy. It has two navigation bars that help lead your through the website. It is also very clean. Its not cluttered with advertisements or useless information. This allows your eye to flow freely through the information the site is presenting to you.

Website

This website belongs to a web technology company. It's very cool looking, the grid is also very clear. The dark brownish color with the white silverish color very well generates a modern technological-advanced feeling. And nice usage of the spot color!

Magazine Project

After trying countess times to put this up, it has finally worked.  This is my magazine spread, I took a floating redo which is why it's late.

I chose this story because I wanted to do a wedding story.  This story is all about color so I wanted to make a few spreads that incorporated color in a way that reflected the story.  I chose to make my typeface larger, 12pt, and increase the leading to make the spread look "fluffy." Often times text articles get lost in wedding magazines, so I wanted it to appear easy to read.

Week 13 - Website

So this is the website for my town's branch of the Lions Club. It is absolutely hideous. There is no visual hierarchy, and the attempts to visual hierarchy simply fail. The headline/title needs to be larger or bold in order to dominate the page ... and the text needs to be organized. Everything seems to be thrown onto the page in a random way. When you look at the page, your eye does not know where to focus or in what order, so it gets lost. This website does not interest me at all - I would not take the time to read about the organization because of this layout.

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I decided to choose the playhouse disney website as a very visually effective layout, especially to their audience. Since its geared towards young children who cannot yet read, there are large pictures instead of words for the toolbars. The large icons make it easy for children to navigate the website and the colors all work effectively with each other. Purple circles outline the characters on the toolbar and also continue to highlight the page as the arrow icon at the bottom connecting the top of the page with the bottom through color. 

Interface

As much as I love Topshop, the visual hierarchy on this page isn't very effective. It's quite busy, and the name of the store should be much larger-- it's the most important part of the website. I think that the garment types listed along the left side should be larger. It's also strange that they have different categories on the right, it may be less confusing if they were all together.

website interface

This website has a clean, user-friendly interface. The use of the bold orange leads the eye around the page. There's a lot of white space around the main content which gives the page readability and openness

magazine

For my magazine project, I chose to do a festival issue for a live music magazine. The title I chose is supposed to read "live for live (music)." The particular festival I chose to cover was Bonnaroo. I chose it for its setting in Tennessee, which I found pretty unconventional for music festivals, and its an event that would provide me with colorful, lively pictures. For the pictures throughout the magazine, I just chose pictures of the bands that played the festival. The cover is Radiohead in concert and though they didn't play at Bonnaroo, I felt their stage presence and lighting effects would be a good cover for the magazine. For the ad, I chose a M.I.A Marc Jacobs ad because shes basically an indie phenomenon, and her fans are likely to go to music festivals. The colors I chose, like the bright red for the title and sidebar, were meant to bring some excitement to the article.

Interface

I think this website is well designed. The visual hierarchy is effective in leading the viewer's eye to different points of interest on the page. When one first looks at this webpage their eye is drawn toward the top left photo. From here they are led horizontally across the top of the page with the pictures that are attached to the key links. Then the viewer is lead to the purple side bar which has more important links, information and the search tool. The color works to lead the viewer's eye around the page.

Website Layout

This is the website for the Indian fashion designer Anamika Khanna (www.anna-mika.com). I bookmarked this page the first time I went to it, just because I thought it had a really cool design.

The visual hierarchy is very clear here - you look first at the image of the model in the background (on the actual page this is in flash, so the picture keeps changing). Your eye then moves to the designer's name, because that's by far the largest and most dominant text on the page. From there, your eye moves to the other navigation text in the white bar, and then down to the sub-navigation links in the transparent box.

My favorite part about the visual hierarchy on this site is that it manages to be effective and original at the same time - a critical goal for a fashion designer.

Magazine Project

The fonts aren't quite right, but you get the idea...

visual hierarchy

The Whitman website is well designed through visual hierarchy.  The "logo" is placed at the top left hand corner, and since we read from left to right this is effective.  It is the largest font used on the page, and stays on the page for each link. The search bar is located next to this and is second in the hierarchy.  Search bars are important in sites for quick access to information and the placement of this search bar on the top right makes it easy to find.  The links along the top and side are third in the hierarchy and are directed at different students and searches.  The links are in smaller sized fonts which indicates this placement in the hierarchy. Since home is on the top left, it is indicated as the most important of the links. Less important information and links are presented in the middle and bottom of the page in smaller writing.

If someone goes to this page they will be able to access information based on what they are looking for immediately because the site is laid out effectively using hierarchy.  The links and are placed in the most accessible places on the page and are easily picked out as major links.  Less important information is smaller and placed in its own "container" away from the links and search bar.

Webpage Snapshot

I could only get a snapshot of the first half of the site.

I really have always enjoyed this site. The site really communicates to its audience, kids. The colors are very kid-friendly and warm. The navigation is easy to see and navigate through. There is definitely visual hierarchy. The blue rectangle has animation on the actual site. It is bigger than the rest of the containers below. They really grab your attention with it. Also, the site is very consistent. The fonts and colors really compliment each other. I love this site. The only thing I may change is to make the Build A Bear Logo bigger. Right now it is pretty small, compared to other things on the site. 

This is my magazine. I found an article about photography and used my own photos. I think my last page needs some work and maybe the cover. We'll see what Sherri has to say.

Type challenge - Mary Tyler Moore

This week's type challenge is from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

What is the typeface used in the title?


First person to e-mail Professor Taylor with the correct answer wins a Starbucks card.

magazine

I took a floating review on my magazine project.

PR student's survey

Professor Taylor passes along this survey from a PR student. Here's the message:

We appreciate you taking the time to complete our MAR 356 survey about our
Hookah Bar proposal for Marshall Street. The survey should take about
15 minutes to complete. Please be assured that the information you
provide on this survey is anonymous.

Here is the website:


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=RzsVcHdx47zFceHTo4WASg_3d_3d



Thank you for your time,

Scott Lepkofker
Lina Lisnere
Joanna Rivera
Viviana Rodriguez

Magazine

Back cover: 

Second Spread: 

First Spread: 

My Cover: 

My magazine wouldn't save as spreads, so I just have the individual pages, but I think you can tell which page goes with which. I did my main layout on a festival that I went to this summer in Tennessee called Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Basically, my deign motif was just that I wanted to bring the fun and free atmosphere at the festival to my design and make the reader feel like they are really there. My first layout tiles the pictures and bleeds them across the page to my headline "UnRooLy"- a play on the name of the festival, accompanied by the definition of the term bonnaroo. My second spread uses the colors from the festival logo and the font (Bauhaus) in it too. I used the same grid design at the bottom of my second spread. My sidebar is a Bonnaroo survival guide that I wrote- things I wish I would have known before going. My back cover is an Absolut ad because there are a ridiculous number of Absolut ads in Rolling Stone. Overall, I'm happy with my design because I think it's very eye catching since it's colorful and fun. 

magazine

I decided to do a dog magazine and call it Unleashed. I wanted it to be very modern looking and colorful. My cover has a black and white picture of a dog with coordinating colors. My first spread's title is "For the love of dog" playing on the phrase "for the love of god". I wanted the colors to play off the beautiful picture of the dog. My 2nd spread has a green background that I think works well with the dog pictures because grass is incorporated into two of them. My sidebar is titled, "Has your pooch packed on the pudge?" With tips to help dogs lose weight. I really enjoyed doing this magazine and I have learned a lot about design by doing it. 

Magazine Design

Here's my magazine project. I chose to do a sports-themed magazine called "Gridiron"

Clint Clemens

Better late than never, right?
I really enjoyed hearing what Clint Clemens had to say during his speech. I particularly liked hearing how he got some of his really intense shots. He is super innovative in his approach, especially the use of his friend's motorcycle with a sidecar to shoot other motorcycles. I also liked hearing about all of the perks of his job. How he gets to (or used to get to) fly all sorts of places around the world to take pictures, and how he gets to deal with things like the multi-million dollar Prada boats. It was nice to hear a photographers insight on the 'psychology of photography' and how you can either be an observer or a participant in an environment depending upon the camera angle you shoot at.

My Magazine!

This is a magazine that is for people who work in the media. It is supposed to be a monthly magazine that comes out with the latest information on new types of communicating. This is ideal for advertisers and marketers. 

Magazine

For my project I decided to do a fashion magazine called five.eight. I thought it would be apt to feature an up-and-coming model as the feature story.

Magazine Project

This is my magazine Shoecase, came from the idea "shoes" + "showcase." I like to white spaces, so I leave a lot of breathing rooms for the words. I love sneakers, and that's why I did a magazine on sneakers, and how I found this article. I found three similar pictures of shoes posing the same way, influenced my design. The second spread determined the color palette. Here it goes. 

Top ten typefaces

Here's a link to an article on Font Feed about the top ten typefaces used by book design winners.

I have to admit, I was surprised at number 1.

Mag Design: STOMP

I created a sneaker magazine for people around all ages of all genders and races. It is meant to be fun and energetic. The article I chose is about Nike, and I called the article "Welcome to planet Nike." I decided to make a spacey, inter-galactic theme for my first spread. I created a photo illustration with two different photos. The second spread is more classical. There is a side bar with Nike News that has the latest, most up-to-date information about Nike as a company. I used sans serif type to create contrast with the serif (Caslon) used in the body text.  To make the side bar more readable, I used the Nike swoosh as a bullet point. 

The pictures are in backwards order, so start from the bottom (the cover of the magazine STOMP) and work your way up to see how the real layout looked). 

Hope you like it!

Conspiracy

So i guess i missed the memo on how to post the magazine on the blog as spreads.. Anyhow this is my magazine "Conspiracy." I chose to use a dark theme throughout the magazine as the topics of the magazine usually correlate with shady, cryptic subjects. I'm kind of into conspiracy theories and thought this would be a fun and interesting magazine topic that many people could potentially enjoy. 2012 is a subject that has received much speculation and publicity within the last 10 years. My magazine design purposefully makes the reader feel as if they are being let in on a secret! Enjoy

Magazine Layout Project

For my magazine layout I decided I wanted to do a sort of beauty magazine that focused on natural, simple beauty.  I then decided to use Jennifer Aniston for the article and spread because she is the celebrity that comes to mind when thinking of these characteristics.  I picked an article that was from "Rolling Stone" magazine, which described how far Aniston has come in her life and that she is just like any other person.  I decided to do an extra spread because I felt it brought the entire layout together.

Type challenge: Jeopardy

This week's type challenge is from the game show Jeopardy.

Here's your answer:

This is the typeface used when displaying the answers on the monitors.

And here's a hint, in the form of a picture:


First person to email Professor Taylor with the correct answer wins a Starbucks card.

Magazine - Bridezilla

This loaded backwards, sorry. 

I chose to do a bridal/wedding magazine. I named it Bridezilla. I thought this name was a little more unique than most other bridal magazines. For my cover I wanted to have a lot of things going on to attract attention. I used fonts like Minion Pro and Myriad Pro. For the next spread, I created a headline, deck head, and image for the story I chose. The story I decided on was about top wedding trends of 2008. Because a lot of my pictures on the following spread were orange/red/yellow etc, I carried the orange color over to the feature page. For the third spread, I tried to do a traditional layout. I think everything really came together in the end and blended nicely. 

Week 12 - Mag

This is a Italian travel magazine. My main story is about the gondola, how it symbolizes the city of Venice, and how the boats are slowly dying because the younger generations do not have the devotion to build the boats that have been around for centuries. I used blue as a main color, which i took directly off of the gondolas, and also black to symbolize history/tradition/death. My sidebar explains the history of why the color of the boats is important (they must all be black). I chose the title, Perspective, because travelling gives people a new perspective of life. The picture on the cover is of a canal in Venice and it is "from the perspective" of a gondolier.

color

This magazine spread implements the use of color extremely effectively. The orange in the painting is very eye-catching but tranquil at the same time. the colors are also used in the headline with the image in the background. Also, by darkening the colors around the edge of the painting, the artist made the figure appear to be encircled in light or emerging from darkness.

Color in Magazine

I chose this magazine spread because I think that the faint colors are extremely effective.  The colors that were picked are not busy and are appealing to the eye.  I think that the text which is placed behind the mountain looks great as well as the text that is reflecting on the water.  I think that the choice of white for the typeface was great as well.

Type challenge: Bloomingdale's

Identify the type in the headline ADD A POP OF COLOR.

First person to e-mail Professor Taylor with the answer wins.

Fear the type

Here's a story about scary fonts from the font feed. It's a little past Halloween, but still a good read.

But please ... don't use any of these fonts for your logo designs in the future!

http://fontfeed.com/archives/halloween-scary-type/

Color in the Magazine

I have no idea why this is upside down. But please bear with me. 

This is from Metal Hammer magazine. This is a british magazine focusing on metal music. So the overall design of the magazine looks very gothic, very "metal." 

In this spread, the picture used a bronze metal tone, and this color became the spot color of this spread. It is used in the drop cap, and the title, and the call out quote. With the clear grid design, it works!

7 things I like about Clint Clemens

1. Observer/participator: Taking pictures with long lens will make the viewers feel that they are observers other than participators. 

2. An important thing in photography is to see the picture in your mind, in your eyes. Imagine different perspectives. So always go in with ideas prepared to shoot.

3. Continue reinvent, challenge, and educate yourself. 

4. Think energetically. 

5. Where is the subject, where is the photographer.

6. Do what you love, follow your passion.

7. Goodwill, talent, cost, access and education build your strength.

Week 11 - Color

Sorry it's sideways, I couldn't for the life of me make it stay the way I wanted it to.  I chose this spread as a good example of color use because of the photos they chose to use.  All of the colors on this spread are yellows or oranges and green.  The title of the article is in a green similar to that of the flowers and trees in the pictures, and all of the hot colors compliment each other very well.  The photographs have a sense of connection because of the similar colors and they tie the spread together

Week 11 - Color

This layout uses color in a really simple, effective way. Cleary there are four colors present: black, white, red, blue. I like how the woman in the picture is wearing a white shirt. It compliments the white stripes in the flag and the white background. The red is carried over as the deck head on the page. The black also really makes a statement with the large f, the body text and the handle on the flag. I know none of these colors are bright and crazy, but they do compliment each other and are all equally used. 

COLOR

This magazine spread is from Idealog which is a magazine out of New Zealand. I think the use of color here is very effective because it helps the eye move throughout the layout. The contrast between the yellow and black is very severe which helps to make the title stand out. Obviously the use of yellow in the title mirrors the yellow on the background of the photo, which is visually pleasing.

clint clemens

Clint Clemens was a great speaker and his beautiful photography that he showed the audience on Thursday night, spoke for itself. I had never gotten an in-depth perspective from a professional photographer so it was very interesting to hear him talk about the logistics of getting a good shot. Looking for light and looking at things from a different perspective were two main things that he always considers. Many of his greatest shots were taken when the unexpected happened and his subject was caught off guard. The trick to action shots is to limit the amount of variables to zero in on one thing and capture it. In a broader sense, he talked about sustaining a place in an industry that is always changing, especially with new technologies. He discussed a lot about the struggles of photographers to get paid for their work and the perseverance needed to become successful. I really enjoyed listening to him and looking at some of his best photographs. 

Week 11 - Color

This magazine spread immediately attracts the eye because of its use of color. The color green evokes a natural, organic and clean sense. The shades of green and the design work well together to draw the eye towards the text. The color also evokes the idea of innovation, a beginning or newness. I think the color of this spread works well to promote the car and maintain simplicity. The one weakness of the color in this layout is the center where the text is ... for some people it could be difficult to read.

color

Vogue magazine is synonymous with fashion and beauty. This cover, in my opinion, is beautiful because of its brilliant use of color. Yellow is such a warm color and the intersection between the wardrobe and the text colors make the magazine cover stand out. Also, the dark color of her hair, the black belt and the black, bold type combine the text and the picture in a very elegant way. I also like the use of white space, not only in the background but also in the type color of the headlines.  The simplicity of only using three colors and one being white, is very effective and appealing. 

Real life grid

We don't neccesarily think of it as a "grid layout," but the longitude and latitude lines on a globe actually form a grid. As in design, the grid lines here make it much easier to measure space and to standardize distances and locations. The meridian system has been around for hundreds of years, so it seems to be working pretty well. That probably has something to do with the fact that there are actually thousands of longitude and latitude lines, making the "grid" very flexible... it's more or less analogous to a magazine grid with tons of rows and columns.

My logo & an effective logo

So this is going to be two posts in one... I'm so sorry this is late, for some reason I'm totally unable to remember to post on here... anyways...

Effective logo:

I saw this logo for the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs for the first time the other day, and I instantly thought it was really good. It's very VERY simple, which conveys a sense of professionalism and makes it easy to understand. At the same time, there's a distinct visual element - the circle is not only a literal globe, but also a good expression of the institute's all-inclusive, international attitude. The yellow font is a good gestalt, too.

My logo:




My rationale is on the stationary, so if you click that it should pop up. Thank youu.

Grid

Here is a layout of Washington D.C. This is a prime example of a carefully planned out grid. In urban planning it is important to draw out plans to create streets and highways. To make transportation efficient in cities, grids or plans are necessary. Some people believe that grids hold secret meanings and create symbols. Humans tend to seek out patterns in various forms of grids.

Grid

This is a screen shot of a website called "Design by Grid." As its name, the website itself is a showcase of design by grid. The pictures and the columns divide the page evenly, and readers are very clear about where to go to find information. And I like that on the top of the website, it has a ruler over there. It's very neat.

Grid

Farmers frequently use grids when planting their crops, as shown by this farm in Laos. Planting crops in grid patterns allows farmers to keep organized and better care for their crops by using growing methods for each specific plant. Using grids also allows farmers to maximize their space by getting the most possible plants into their fields. Without grids, farmers would be far less productive and efficient.  

Grid

My example of a grid is a normal city block structure. Everyone knows that cities are built on a grid pattern- so when I saw that this week's post was about grids, I immediately googled "city grids." This is a city in San Francisco which uses a grid pattern in its city planning. 

I chose a computerized grid map to show an example of a real-life grid. The use of measurements aids the reader to understand the scaling on the grid and each square is the same exact size. Grids like these are very helpful in architecture when plotting land and planning to build new structures. Exact measurements are necessary and even the least bit of unevenness can make an outlined plan not workable. I think that gridmaps of land are very easy to read and they can be applied to many other things in daily life. The equal size and scale of the squares make it readable and the symmetrical to the eye. 

grid

An example of a grid layout in the real world can be seen in the layouts of cities. Grids are chosen to organize the city and make it more universal. This example is of the city of Granmichele in Sicily, Italy.

Week 10 - Grid

This is a screenshot of a Mac. The icons align with an imaginary grid. The grid is very useful because it organizes the icons, making them easier to differentiate. If the icons on the screen were randomly situated without a grid, there would be more confusion. The grid allows the person to quickly skim through the list of icons.