Final Blog Post

Brainstorm:

1. I want my work to tell a very broad story, and represent an image that can be interpreted however the viewer wants. My image will not be representing a global issue, and it will not be political. People need a break from political posters, images, and actually look at an image that they enjoy. My transformation is going to be humorous, and funny when you look at it. Some topics I would like to explore would be, adding hidden figures throughout the image, adding an image that becomes the main focus point, and having several different images that are different to each other. Some other ideas that I want to explore would be to change colors of the image, change color of the illustrations to very different from each other, use several images in one. Finally, I would like to explore with size of illustrations, contrast between images, black and white, really colorful.

Explore:

1. After a long time brainstorming, I decided to create one main illustration that would be the main focus for the picture. The topic is having an enlarged superhero dog above a rocky structure located at a beach in Point Reyes, California. This topic is supposed to be humorous, it should be kind of random at the same time that it is funny. I chose this topic for several different reasons. First of all, I like to take some pictures of landscapes so I decided to go take this picture at Point Reyes. Furthermore, I have a dog, so I had him pose for me and I took a picture of him. Once I had these two images, I wanted to use the dog in the image somehow, so I made him into a superhero. I am also a humorous person, so I also wanted to make a humorous image.

2. My piece is supposed to be humorous so the story behind it can be interpreted however the viewer wants to. The story I am trying to tell can go deeper than a superhero flying dog. This image defies what is real and what isn't. Sometimes people stretch reality too much through certain images. This image tells a story that anything can happen, anything is possible, and you never know what is ahead of you in your future. The only difference is that my image is humorous while telling this story.

3. When looking at my image transformation, I would like the audience to think it is humorous. I would like them to smile and feel happy inside. I would also like my audience to feel curious in a way. This is because the image has a hidden story that the audience has to figure out, and further explore. Overall, I would be very much pleased if my audience found my image transformation humorous, and had a bit of curiosity.

Plan:

1. The main three ideas that I want to create are the following. First of all, I would like to explore the idea of adding an illustration that is the main focus point of the image. The second idea that I would like to explore would be adding more than one image, and have all of the image be the main focus point as well as the background image. Finally I would like to explore the colors of the image and illustration. I would like to add vivid colors to the background image to give the final image a "happy" feel to it.

2. The main principles of design that I am going to utilize to create this image are distribution of colors and objects. I would like to focus on colors mainly because they are a huge part of my image, and the way that they are distributed can severely impact the way the image looks and what it represents when you look at it. I would also like to work on the distribution of objects because even though there is only going to be one, the size, texture, and colors of the illustration are very important, and can further give the image the story I want to have it express.

3. Throughout the creation of my project, I will probably face a variety of many different challenges. Some challenges that I think I will face include the following. First of all I think one problem that I am going to face is getting the colors of the illustration that I create to stand out in comparison to the colors of the background image so that the illustration is a focus point. Another challenge I think I could face could be finding an appropriate balance between the background image and the illustration to not have them be completely opposite colors that don't go well together. In order to be successful the best and most important thing that I can do is try different combinations of colors until I found one that is just right.

Reflection:

1. The first Photoshop tool that I used and found very useful was the crop tool. This was because for the illustration that I added to my main background image there had to be some cropping done. Thanks to the cropping tool I was able to take only what I needed from an image instead of having to take the whole image. the second tool that I found most useful wan't really a tool but more of a feature. It was the smart object feature because it allowed me to move around the illustration that I created as well as adjust the size to a just perfect size. The paintbrush tool was also useful because it allowed me to color in my illustration and give it a unique look.

2. Overall, I think this project was successful because I achieved my goals, and in a special and unique way did what I was trying to do. I believe that the way it looks may not be the main reason for why it is successful, because some people may think that the image doesn't look that good. However, this image perfectly tells the story that I was trying to tell, which is that nothing is impossible, and you never know what can happen in the future.

5 Sketches:

Final Project:

Blog #8

1)  The company that I researched is called Dunlop. I researched this company because it sells guitar picks, as well as storage for guitar picks. It is one of the few that sell these sorts of products, and it is probably the most recognized on the field.

2) This company uses a lot of vibrant colors on their picks to attract the audience. The typography is somewhat simple but the size varies on each letter. There is also a design of a turtle in the middle of the pick and the letters act as a shell. These picks look like they are targeting a younger audience. The pick storage looks more universal, it is all transparent with no design on it, it has several separations to order the pick.

3) I would think that their brand personality is universal, and caring. They make simple products that satisfy their audience. They target all audiences that play guitar because of the simplicity and the colors used. The colors are amusing to almost everybody, there is a huge amount of color options. The storage is even more universal because it is transparent. Their personality is caring, satisfying, and trustworthy.

 4) The core values or the purpose of my brand is to make people feel comfortable, caring, responsible, and have some privacy. My brand is made to make people feel secure in some way, by being able to store guitar picks as well as other materials in a safe and private place. Privacy is very important in the community, and it is great for people to be able to have some privacy even with minimal things such as a guitar pick, or another small object. My brand also is for making people feel responsible since they are developing a habit of keeping things stored and in order. While this may not seem like a huge deal, as they keep storing their things in the box and develop a routine, the responsibility levels with other things will increase. 

5) There are several brand drivers to my brand. Some attributes of my brand is that it is very caring for our customers and try to make the best product possible for the customer to enjoy, and be able to use regularly. With our brand comes many benefits. For example, some functional benefits include being able to have your materials more organized, mostly helping with organization. Emotional benefits can be different for each customer. An emotional benefit is that our customers get to experience maturity and responsibility through using our product. When a customer buys our product and even uses it, the image that he/she is giving him/her self is one of a caring, mature, responsible individual who cares about their objects and about him/her self. 

6) Mostly, the images that I selected for my Pinterest art board were ones of landscapes and pictures taken out in the environment. For the most part, the pictures include vivid colors, some of sunsets, some of waterfalls. I chose all of these images because they were lively, and they made me feel happiness. These images represent the core values in a great way, mainly because all of the images express happiness. The environments these pictures are taken in are being taken care of by responsible people to be in such a beautiful condition further supporting the core values of my brand. 

Link to Pinterst art board: http://pin.it/v7oy7qc

7) Out of all the logos I made, the one that represents the brand the best is the last one I created, #1. I believe that this logo also represent the core values best as well. I believe this because the last logo contains a variety of picks, expressing variety and difference as well as organization inside of the box. I also think that the box looks very professional and trustworthy because of the color scheme and contrast between the navy blue and the white. Privacy is also expressed in this final logo because the box contains clean and nice picks that are privately kept inside the box itself, as well as having a professional look when closed. This final logo overall represents trustworthiness, responsibility, variety, and privacy. 

This is the final poster we created. The goals with my poster is to show to the Redwood community that achievement has no color, and just because you are of a certain skin color does not mean you are below another race. This poster creatively explores a serious topic like racism is by illustrating two people of different skin colors having a conversation, and there is a phrase in the center stating that achievement has no color. This poster is simple but very powerful so it is good to present to high school students since it is mostly illustrations it will engage them and catch their attention. The challenging part about creating our poster was to create something that would engage and catch Redwood students's attention. In order to solve this problem we thought of ideas until we decided to make our poster mostly based on illustrations so that it would be very appealing and catchy to the eye. Being mostly an illustration, it is easier to take in and understand. In the production of this poster we shared equal jobs of coming up with ideas that would catch students's attention by creating several rough drafts independently. In the end, we created this poster made of an illustration and a powerful phrase.

This design is my final logo. I think this logo represents me very well for the following reasons. First of all, the design uses my initials for my first and last name. It uses an H for Hugo that morphs into a C, the initial of my last name. This makes it feel like a more personal design. I also choose colors that create great contrast with each other. I used a green, and a gray to contrast with it, I used a light border that makes the logo look a little brighter. These colors make the logo look very unique and different, as well as bright, energetic, and happy. My design works successfully as a logo for the following reasons. First of all, it is a very simple logo, but it looks very amusing to the eye, and in my opinion it looks attractive in a way that would make you want to take a closer look at it. Even though it is simple it is still very effective. When you take a closer look at it, you can see that there is a mosaic pattern inside the circle. This mosaic pattern gives the logo a more "fun" look and makes it look very original. The piece of feedback that helped improved my logo the most, was that my logo was too simple. This was commented when my logo did not have the mosaic pattern in the back. However, when I added the mosaic pattern in the back, the people changed their opinions and thought that it now looked more complete. I think that overall this logo is very successful because of its simplicity, and its appearance to the eye.

1. This is the initial design that I created. Initially we had to create our logos in black and white, so the first logo is a basic black and white design, that due to its simplicity, doesn't disappoint me.
2. This is the second design, and I created it using Adobe Colors. This design is the required monochromatic design, which I actually was surprised by. I thought this design was going to be boring, but in the end the "cold" colors made it look very visually pleasing in my opinion.
3. This is the third design, and I also created it using Adobe Colors. This design is using a triad color scheme. Basically what this does is it uses three different colors on the color wheel. I had fun creating this design, and I think it is one of the most successful ones because of how different it is from the rest of the designs.
4. This is the fourth design, and I created it using a pixelated image that I liked. For this design I used an image that had a landscape in it so I decided to use green and blue. However, I am not sure about how the colors complement each other. Furthermore, blue being a sad, cold color and green being happy does not make sense. Overall I am not too happy with this design.
5. This is the fifth design, and I made it using a color palette from color lovers. The colors in this palette contrast with each other really well, and in my opinion it is the most appealing to the eye out of all of my designs. I think like this because the color of the border and the color of the circle are very quiet, while the green stands out a bit and makes it look energetic and happy.
6. This is the sixth design, and I made it by using an image that I liked found on Pinterest. What I like about this design is that it uses a variety of very different colors to make the logo stand out and look very energetic and ready. However, I think it looks a little bit too "aggressive" in my opinion, and not so much calm and subtle.
7. This is the seventh design, and I made this one by taking my fifth design and adding texture inspired by brands. Since I liked my fifth design so much, I decided to use somewhat of a similar color scheme, except using gray instead of green for the letters instead. Some brands give texture to their logo, so I decided to try it out with my favorite color scheme. The texture that I gave that logo gives it a mosaic kind of look that I am liking a lot. I like it also because it looks subtle and professional. Due to this modification and adding the texture, this became and still is my favorite design out of all the ones I created.
8. This is the eighth, and last design, and I made it by taking some colors out of an image of a sunset I once took. In order to create this one, I used a darker color like purple, and I brighter more fun and energetic color like orange is. I think the combination of these two colors gives the design quite a unique and interesting look. In my opinion it is one of the most successful designs I created because of the uniqueness behind it.

When we shared our sketches with our small group, I received several comments that helped me improve my design. One comment that I got on the word "Curious" was that the design would look better if it was more readable. Initially with the word curious, I wanted to make a design that included several fonts, different spacing, and different font sizes. This was because I wanted it to make it look like someone curious made the design trying out different things. However, when I got this feedback I adapted my design to the feedback more. With the word pessimistic, my peers said that my design totally fit the description of the word, so I made it look cleaner keeping the same design. 

I attempted to creatively create my designs in several different ways until I came up with my final designs. As I explained earlier for the Curious word design, I tried to make it look like a curious person had created the word. This was because of all the fonts used, the spacing between the letters, and the font size. The difference in all of these made it look like someone was curiously experiencing with different fonts, spacing, and size to create one word. With the design of the word Pessimistic, I had a clear idea of what I was going to do to make the design look pessimistic. I went online and researched a well explained definition of pessimistic. Someone who is pessimistic has little hope and bad thoughts about everything. For this design, I started out using a large font and as you read the word the letters got smaller trying to express little hope.

For this project, the I used one tool for each design, that was key to the success of each design that I completed. For the Curious word design, the tool that helped me the most, and was the most important for the success of the design was the pen tool. This was because with the pen tool I could create perfectly strait lines to create the letters, that no other tool on Illustrator can create. Furthermore, the pen tool helped me create very clean lines, and adjust the thickness of them to make the design more readable and amusing to the human eye. I think the design of the word Curious was very successful because I achieved the goal of making the word look Curious while at the same time have the design be pleasant to look at. For the Pessimistic word design I thought that it would fit the word a lot more if it was hand made. So what I did is I used the brush tool because with it I could create the design as if I was drawing it myself. This tool was definitely the most useful and helpful when creating this design because it allowed me to create the "Pessimistic" look that the word needed to feel Pessimistic. I think this design was also very successful because yet again I achieved my goal of "hand drawing" the word on illustrator to make the word look more Pessimistic. Overall, I really enjoyed this project because it made us the students think outside of the box to create a word design that will make it feel like the word itself.

The designer I researched, Joshua Brewer, has worked for twitter, and has created successful designs like the one below. This piece uses a Gestalt theory that in my opinion is the most effective one in any piece of design. This piece uses continuation because the branch is leading the viewers eye to the important information that the designer is trying to show. Continuation is when the human eye is drawn along a path, line or curve. This is very effective because it leads the human eye towards important messages that are trying to be sent by the designer. I believe this design by Joshua Brewer is very effective and successful because it appropriately utilizes the continuation method to create an effective and appealing design. This design also sort of includes some similarity because the circular shapes with the images inside of them, are all the same except for the image inside of them. The colors in the font also are very similar, meaning that similarity is also used here. Overall this design uses two of Gestalt theories in order to create a very successful graphic design.

A very common design that I know and like that follows a Gestalt principle is the Nike logo. The Nike logo uses the continuation Gestalt principle in my opinion, because you start looking at the top and your eye is drawn through the path of the Nike "swoosh". Obviously this logo is very commonly known and liked. I think the fact that continuation is used is the main reason for why the Nike symbol is popular and effective.