F & C: I <3 NY

This poster is so awesome I almost can't handle it. It is designed by David Klein for Trans World Airlines (TWA) and serves as a beckoning call for travelers to come visit New York. The color scheme is vibrant but not overwhelming and creates a fun, welcoming atmosphere about the poster. I'm particulary a big fan of the illustrated typography and abstract shapes. While the design is mostly type dominant, the playful illustrations add a wonderful dynamic. It is balanced mostly toward the upper half of the poster, which is achieved with the volume of words on the top half and also by the direction of the Statue of Liberty's arm pointing up. Although the words are all so different, they are united by a similar typeface, size, and repeating color. This poster says New York is a hip, fun, loving place and would definitely make me sing John Mayer's rendition of "in your atmosphere" in which he repeats: "I don't think I'm going to go to LA anymore."

All in all, I think this poster is very well done and successful. I got me a new city love :)

F & C #5

This design is a cover from a 2001 issue of the Ford Motor Company Corporate magazine. It was designed by Mutabor,Design, one of Germany's top 20 creative agencies. The company has a large clientele that include: Adidas, BMW, Panasonic Germany, and Universal Music just to name a few. "Mutabor Design is specialized in the evaluation of trends in terms of significance for product brand and media development--and in the translation of these trends into strategic design solutions."

For the above design solution, the group wanted to culture of luxury" to Ford employees and consumers. There are several natural elements in the photo that help make the design effective---the alignment of the trees creating straight lines, the horizontal lines of the building making a kind of invisible grid, and the repetition of the black-suited male models..these things create a good balance of harmony and tension in the design and they just make it feel right.

The proportion of the two trees creates a high contrast foreground, background and works well to organize the text and grad attention. It works well.
The choice of type is interesting because its not all the same and is sort of robot like.

The contrast between the softness of the wind blowing the palm tree and the cold, stiff type that mocks the male models could convey a message of peace and tranquility, like the wind, while representing the clean, crisp image of the Ford Motor Company. It works.

In closing, I just liked this quote from Mutabor. It says,
"Society constantly deals with corporative directions and trends that have influence on its visual and linguistic habits. Graphic design constantly deals with the transformation of shapes, content and points of view. The future of graphic design means bringing all of this together and transposing it into strategic design solutions that are relevant to their audience."

F & C #4: Postcard

This is a postcard size info ad for Campus Crusade for Christ. Its purpose is to promote job opportunities in several fields including accounting, finance, marketing, technology, print and web design, media production and administration. The concept is to "redefine" job options during and after college. On the back, there is a description of the opportunities in the redefine program including internships and overseas semesters abroad.

The seeming transformation from rectangle shape to square emphasizes the idea of "redefining" and the repetition of each element creates a deconstructing and building like rhythm. The color palette is simple but successful because it creates a clean balance between positive and negative space and also supports the psychology of color that describes green as a color of growth and renewal.

I think this design goes to show that sometimes less is more.

Form & Content # 3:Flyer

Although I've seen this piece around campus before, I found it in the February issue of "How" magazine. The "BUY USED BOOKS" flyers are distributed on campuses nationwide as part of the Build a Forest Campaign by Nebraska Book Co. and partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation. The flyer is designed for a college student population and intended to promote the ecological benefits of buying used text books. I think this design is successful for its audience because it is modern, simple, and quick to the point, so that students on the run can still get the message. It has a sort of grunge effect which plays on the idea of the "used" books. In both of the flyers shown, there is balance and repetition created between the image of the book, the slogan, and the image of the tree. This helps to get the message across quickly and efficiently. There is a sort of repetition and reflection of the animal shapes around the logo which creates a nice and interesting frame. For my current project, I may be working with some grunge looks so I really like this piece.

Form and Content: George Rice and Sons

The piece I'm writing about is included in the book, "Hot Graphics USA" by Madison Square Press. It is a promotional brochure for a company called, "George Rice & Sons." The company is one of the oldest operating printing companies in L.A. and their business has primarily been annual reports and car brochures. The promotional ad, designed by Pinkhaus Design of Miami (now acquired by "The Designory") is supposed to promote a new 8-color web printing press. IT is a book style brochure and included full color images and text on each page. The cover is particularly interesting with its blue water-like tones and layers of text. The motion of the words that is pleasing to the eye and very inviting creates a steady rhythm. I love the depth in this piece, created, again, by the layers of text and the balance of blue tones throughout. At first, I thought the cover was an ad for a spa or beauty company because the blue choice initially makes me think of water. I suppose in this sense, the form does not successfully connect with the content, however, after looking at each page more, I think the booklet contains a different color-themed page. If this piece were to be improved, I think the design could still work if a wider variety of colors were used. All in all, this piece is interesting and very well designed.

Form and Content: George Rice and Sons

The piece I'm writing about is included in the book, "Hot Graphics USA" by Madison Square Press. It is a promotional brochure for a company called, "George Rice & Sons." The company is one of the oldest operating printing companies in L.A. and their business has primarily been annual reports and car brochures. The promotional ad, designed by Pinkhaus Design of Miami (now acquired by "The Designory") is supposed to promote a new 8-color web printing press. IT is a book style brochure and included full color images and text on each page. The cover is particularly interesting with its blue water-like tones and layers of text. The motion of the words that is pleasing to the eye and very inviting creates a steady rhythm. I love the depth in this piece, created, again, by the layers of text and the balance of blue tones throughout. At first, I thought the cover was an ad for a spa or beauty company because the blue choice initially makes me think of water. I suppose in this sense, the form does not successfully connect with the content, however, after looking at each page more, I think the booklet contains a different color-themed page. If this piece were to be improved, I think the design could still work if a wider variety of colors were used. All in all, this piece is interesting and very well designed.

Form and Content: George Rice and Sons

The piece I'm writing about is included in the book, "Hot Graphics USA" by Madison Square Press. It is a promotional brochure for a company called, "George Rice & Sons." The company is one of the oldest operating printing companies in L.A. and their business has primarily been annual reports and car brochures. The promotional ad, designed by Pinkhaus Design of Miami (now acquired by "The Designory") is supposed to promote a new 8-color web printing press. IT is a book style brochure and included full color images and text on each page. The cover is particularly interesting with its blue water-like tones and layers of text. The motion of the words that is pleasing to the eye and very inviting creates a steady rhythm. I love the depth in this piece, created, again, by the layers of text and the balance of blue tones throughout. At first, I thought the cover was an ad for a spa or beauty company because the blue choice initially makes me think of water. I suppose in this sense, the form does not successfully connect with the content, however, after looking at each page more, I think the booklet contains a different color-themed page. If this piece were to be improved, I think the design could still work if a wider variety of colors were used. All in all, this piece is interesting and very well designed.