Flash presentation

Well I had a shit of a time getting this flash project to work that’s for sure. I gathered the work that I did during class and saved them all for web. I then used them in a flash presentation for something different. Well I did this a couple of times before but that was like ages ago. So I found some old notes tat I took which was a shit because I couldn't find the notes that I wrote down at first which annoyed me so badly because I like desperately needed them.

Well I found what I was looking for eventually which was a relief. I started experimenting with a couple of very simple background ideas in Photoshop and saved it for web to use in my flash project. I then opened all my work in illustrator and started saving that for the web as well but I did a fair bit of touch up work to my logo, cards and letterhead and all of that sought of stuff.

Then I opened a flash project and imported all of my images and put them into the key frames where I wanted them. Well before to long my next very annoying hurdle came along. I made some simple buttons and I got them to work fine but then I couldn't remember how to do the action script properly. This pissed me off for hours because I did it before and I had most of it right but there was obviously one or two simple steps that I just could not remember and it was annoying. After all of that drama I eventually figured out why my buttons weren’t working and it was something so simple of course.

In the end I had a working project but it's certainly not what I regard as a fine work of art because the technical difficulties that I had strangled my creativity. I actually think it turned out pretty crappie after all of that but I don't have any more time to work on it much between now and when it has to be handed in. OH well at least it works. I also couldn't remember the size that the project should of been so it's a little off the screen and looks dodgy. Some of the images pixilated a little bit too because I saved as them as jpegs which made them look shit. Well not everything in life turns out right.

Well below is my Photoshop background. With this I just used a coloured background and added a filter to get the clouds affect.

Reading for week 5 thinking with type

This reading was of particular interest to me because I personally find sometimes that in my own graphic design work that working with type can be the hardest and most challenging. I was always good with working with images because I’m an artist that sees the world very visually. It's hard you know because I can do a reasonable job with type but most of the time it is not as good as my images. It would be nice to do some really outstanding work dedicated to doing really cool stuff with type.

This site is one that I will bookmark for the same reason as it's purpose which is to help assist people with their design work. Text is sometimes overlooked in the way that it is looked at according to it's importance when in fact it does have quite a role to play which is equal to the relevance of images.

http://www.papress.com/thinkingwithtype/

I think it is good how this site has tutorials to work on such as working with different fonts and styles. It has handy exercises for working with type in a grid.

What got my attention were some of the posters which had a combination of brilliant imagery combined with type in an interesting way such as the ones below. I just think that the type in these images hasn't just been treated like words because it is doing allot more than that but in fact it has been treated like proper art forms and has been worked with to be made extremely interesting the same way you would with pictures. To me that is far from boring.

Logo on a car and bus

Here I did the exercise of putting the logo on the side of the bus and car. It was pretty simple considering what it was but I had fun with this simple task. I enjoyed using gradients to fill in the spaces and I just chucked the logo on but then I thought hang on that doesn't look great there and got pickier. Again I used the orange gradient theme with the blue to match the logo and stuff.

I started thinking of a way to present my work for the assessment. I think I’m going to do a flash presentation with my work in it and explain it to the class as I present the images. This saves the hassle of showing images separately and have it be a total pain in the arse by changing windows all the time.

I found a website that has murals and logos on the side of cars and stuff. I thought I would put the link in considering the relevance of it so here it is.

http://www.billygrahamscamaro.com/pages/2/index.htm

Finalizing of the logo

Well I had a look at my airport logo many times over and I think the final product is pretty much established. Although I went through quite a few different Ideas to get the one I have which turned out to be one of the more simple ideas in the end but more effective.

Below I have some images of how this progressed and developed over a period of time by doing the different exercises from class.

One of these images is a colour chart that I have used in my logo using pantone colours. I ended up using blue, black and white in the final product which is kept simple.

The second image is of my logo displayed in three different sizes Large, medium and small. The idea is simply a circle shape with white stripes that are joined at the base and branch out in different directions. This resembles international flights going to different locations of the world so to speak. The image is accompanied by text to match suitably to the image. As far as my final logo is concerned I am reasonably happy with this result as an end product.

The third image is a black and white one which I used in one of my earlier blogs. It is the evolution stage of my logo design before I added colours to the image. I experimented with different images and ideas to get a feel for a future idea that would develop.

The picture at the bottom is of experimental ideas in regards to type only. I was just looking at different fonts that I could use to gather ideas for the accompanying font to match the image. Most of the ideas I gathered with this are totally unfunctionable but I was learning about what I could do using some of the tools in illustrator and used the text as my target to experiment with.

Business cards in progress

Hi today I decided to upload some images of some work that I have done towards my assessment. I did more work in regards of the business cards and the letterhead I have pretty much come up with the final product for the logo which I have changed a fair bit and wanted to keep it relatively simple.

Below I have an image which is a group of business card ideas that I came up with I experimented with different images and background colours as well as looking at different ways of laying out the text and putting the logo in different positions. Some of these I think are ok but I think a couple of them are more effective than others.

I tried using different coloured backgrounds but for some reason the orange gradient seemed to have turned into a theme through experimentation.

I did work on the letterhead as well but I don't feel quite sure that I have resolved it really but this is an example of the orange gradient theme that I had in some of the business cards.

Reading for week 4-Brand X

Q: What is branding?

1 That thing they burn into cows
2. A logo or a trademark
3. A jingle or a slogan
4. I don't really know, but I'll look like a
complete idiot if I admit it.

Well it is true really when looking at the website about this book I kind of only semi knew what branding meant and I will admit something they burn into cows did come to mind in a very stereotyped fashion. And funnily enough it is actually the answer according to the multiple choice answer. Industry wise though it has developed into a far more detailed meaning and use and the whole idea of it is that it is a trademark that intends on being the best and most powerful compared to everything else. I personally feel that it has a important role to play in the selling and marketing of products and has a strong visual meaning when connecting people with products in the community for many years to come.

I do agree that even in my own work that when it comes to branding, logos, slogans, and some other design work It is important to keep it simple in order to get that fast affective response that is required to make a brand really successful and it also needs to communicate it's message quickly with some impact behind it.

I agree very much with a particular point that was made below.

3. Projects credibility: Sometimes it seems that everyone's been trying to sell me something since the day I was born. I don't mind that so much, except that somewhere along the way, their claims, language and promises became so ridiculously inflated that they actually mutated from non-believable all the way to becoming laughable. A few pages from here, I'll go into that more deeply. If I forget, remind me.

The statement about how it seems that they have been trying to sell me something since I was born. This is a true thing when you really think about it because when you’re a baby you are at you most vulnerable stage of your life including much of your childhood years. Children’s minds are much more flexible and open the change and everything is new and exciting to them. Industry wise I think they use this to there advantage. Kids just want toys to play with and eat ice-cream. This makes them very vulnerable targets for marketing it's like they say "hook them while there young" much of today’s industry target young children. Look at McDonalds for example. Although it is the parents that spend the money I think that companies like to encourage the nagging factor so the kids and the companies get what they want.

Introducing them to bright, Fashionable and colourful brands that kids will love is something that has a powerful impact to how they will respond and adapt to industry marketing over a long period of time.

Reading for week 3-sony Entertainment centre

Well hasn't Sony got enough Entertainment centres already. Well no because Sony owns the large majority of the music industry and not to mention everything else that there into such as computers mobile phones, electrical goods and all the rest. I do feel though Sony is so well known to the point that there is more freedom to experiment with making logos just as long as it would become easily recognized by the public. Sony is also a very rich company and has lots of money to play with in regards to advertising and marketing there logo design successfully.

Metreon is a pretty cool name to illustrate to I feel I found the logo Ideas to be pretty and colourful and very affective. There are some good ideas there. There are a couple of logos there I don't particularly like due to the simple fact that it hard to understand and is very hard to read especially when looking at it from a distance. What I'm trying to say is that the font probably won't be instantly recognizable and would be easily overlooked.

Reading for week 3

The Pittsburgh children's museum by Agnew Moyer Smith

With this reading I can relate to the information as well as the art and the logo because my mum used to own a childcare and had spent many years teaching preschool aged children and I used to work for her childcare myself even though what I just said is a little bit beside the point what I learnt from this was that what you can learn from the differences in children’s up bringing. It is important to appreciate the differences in culture, religions, family backgrounds and classes of people. Some times this can be a great thing but sometimes it can be a really traumatic and sad thing because you see children being raised in really bad, poor conditions where they are treated badly. The attitudes from there background shows in the way they interact with the other children at the school. Other kids and teachers can help them substantially but they can only do so much to help. The troubled ones can cause conflicts amongst other children and parents that have other children going there so they often need some further and more individual education when getting along with other kids. Some times conflicts can bring families closer together and sometimes it can tear them apart which is sad to see.

So I think the whole campaign is a great thing in the way that it brings families and community groups together and gives people with diverse backgrounds a chance to learn from each other.
It is also good in the way that it is fun for everyone. Getting them involved in practical activities and ideas involving creative arts and practical activities definitely keeps them entertained for the better.

In relation to design, I’m glad it is kept simple because I think that in this situation it is important to have a simple solution because it is something that both children and adults need to be able to recognize. Complexity will just confuse children and they might not get it. I think the logo definitely has a common theme that is known to society in relation to children being brought together by the community. The only concern I have with it though is that it could to similar to other common logos out there and could cause a trademark uproar.

In my own personal artwork things can get very complex but with logo designs it should be simple to understand so that it quickly reflects the message that is intended to get across.

Criteria for good logo stuff

Well im blogging it in the jack cross today before class. I had a look at my email looking for the next lot of readings and I did find something but the pdf wont open so I will have to ask about that one. I guess I will just have to blog about something else for today.

I found the file for the criteria of the logo so thats good and I emailed you my blog URL. below I have the information for the criteria for the logo this is pretty much just for my own blog reference at the bottom of the blog.

I had a look at some info online at some more information about the criteria of a good logo. The link to this site all graphic design online has much information about graphic design logos and consists of design tips and many tutorials that can come in handy when putting designs together here is the URL.

http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/graphicdesignarticles/logographicdesign/logodesignbrandingtips.html

Here below I also have my logo from last weeks business card exercise.












Criteria for good logo
Stand out - stand out from competitors, memorable
Usable - be able to be used in all uses - foil stamping, neon light, b/c. work in B/W and colour
Different - different from competitors
Simple/Universal - be able to be identified without over working
Memorable - playfulness, mental game, remember it
Descriptive - reveal the nature of a company
Timeless - Twenty year duration - not fashionable
Modular - how can the logotype and other info work with the logo

Branding/Marketing
1. Delivers the message clearly
2. Communicates quickly
3. Projects credibility
4. Strikes an emotional chord
5. Motivates the respondent
6. Creates a strong user loyalty

To capture identity and produce a great outcome for the company you must
Understand more about companies
Understand advertising & marketing
Understand how people think/ react to design
See design as a partner to business

One way to reach out to an audience is to project a promise with the identity.
Building a relationship & a loyalty
Project the credibility & marketing strategy
Identify us as the only choice

Conclusion
Logo responses may not need to be immediate but learned. It would it be great if logos were immediate.
Logos are a starting point in the identity - next topic's lecture
Logos are images to interpret - culturally, personally. It is hard to predict what people will think of your logo.
Choices of shape, font and colour may not be independent decisions for a product but a web of already established codes.
Briefs may not be able to be met.
Logos are hard

Internet research Blog

Well im in the jackcross centre having a blog before I go to my next class. I took my business card exercise home that I did in class in the last workshop but it took it as one big block of information so I couldn't do any more work on it but oh well I will just have to do another one.

I had a look at some logos of airports online so here are some handy links that you might be interested in as well as some information in the site that can be used as a part of my research to understand a little more about the topic and see what other people are using. This site below is about Orlando flight training and courses and what is involved.

http://www.oftgs.com/hired.html

This link below is an image of some logos that may give me some ideas

http://www.filipinotravel.com.ph/images/logos_airlines.gif

This next link is a website based on the history and attractions of Berrima I looked at this site because I felt that it is important to look at the area and what it offers to come up with some realistic ideas for the logo design. This site includes a map with the main key locations that are of importance. The site contains information that gives a run down of historical Berrima and the Berrima of today and it looks at things such as accomodation and facilities.

http://www.berrimavillage.com.au/history_attractions.html