Everyday Inspiration

Wherever you go, you can find design inspiration. Something can catch your eye while you're shopping, cruising the internet, or even just driving through town. Here are a few things that got my attention just while I was out shopping around at Walmart, Bath and Body Works, Hibbett, Academy and JC Penney.

One of the first things I saw when I walked into JC Penney was this "Donut Shop" coffee in the kitchen appliances section.

I think what first caught my eye was the color combination. I really like the mint green color (it's the color I've been into lately) along with the red orange and light blue. I thought they all worked well together for the retro-looking theme the package seems to be going for. I also liked the fonts they used, and that they curved the lines the letters sit on a bit. The logo really looks like something you would see in an old fashioned coffee shop.
I think the target audience for this would be anyone who enjoys coffee, but the package I think would attract more women, or people who like the "retro" feel. The production process would include designing the piece and sending it to a printer would could print on the special thick paper for the box. The printer would also need a die cut so that the box could be folded properly. The call to action is to buy this coffee to enjoy, preferably with your donuts/breakfast.

My boyfriend and I left JC Penney and walked into Hibbett to look around. It one poster that seemed the most interesting to me in the whole store was this one:

I liked that the person in the picture was a dark silhouette against a bright yellow background, along with the orange and green pattern strip above the line of trees. I'm not really sure why, but I don't really like that "OUT" is larger than all the other text. I feel like "BLACK" should have just as much emphasis at "OUT" and they should be considered one. Other than that, I really like the design of this poster. I like the "COLDBLACK" logo at the top next to the Under Armour symbol. I think that's a really unique font and it fits well with the poster.
The target audience would be men/boys for this particular product, because they were men's t-shirts, and it would be for the men who are into sports or exercising. The production process would include the designer putting together the image with the text and creating the pattern on the poster, and then sending it off to print on poster board. The call to action is for you to buy this shirt and feel the benefits of its new design.

When we left Hibbett, we went into Bath and Body Works, where I was really tempted to buy a bunch of new stuff. My boyfriend doesn't help much when he keeps telling me to go ahead and just get something! Here I saw a lot of color combinations that I would really like to use when the time comes.

A lot of Bath and Body Works' designs are simple, and that may also be why I like them.

I like that they used different shades of the same color. My eyes were really drawn to the blue container. It's simple but still really pretty to me. I also thought the little designs on the coral containers were interesting and I liked that they were a little abstract. The logo is simple, all lowercase, and that is something else that I like. It also contrasts well with the dark blue.

I think these products target audience would include mainly women/girls. The pretty designs and colors are girly and would attract any girl that is interested in spending a little more on their bathroom essentials. The production process would include the designer designing the label, and they would need to include a bleed for these images, and then having the designs printed on a sticky label and places on the plastic containers. The call to action is to buy this to help relieve stress and feel more calm.

I had to make a trip to Walmart after we left the mall, so when we got there we decided to look around. We went to the electronics accessories area and I saw this iPod case that I really did not like.

I've never liked "glam" designs like this. I think it looks really tacky. The lips, stars and butterflies do not appeal to me. I think that some girls would really like this though, and I would imagine the target audience being mainly younger girls, such as preteens, and maybe some teenagers. The production process for this piece would include coming up with the design, creating it in Illustrator and having it printed directly onto the plastic. If you feel the case you can tell that there is not sticker on the case and that the ink is slightly raised. The call to action would be for you to buy a protective case for your iPod.


All information in this post is my own knowledge, and all of the pictures were taken by me.

Billboard Project

The billboard we are supposed to design will be an extension of the magazine ad we create. It will have the same content, only it will be designed for requirements of a billboard. The billboard requires RGB images and images with 72 ppi. You don't need to have high resolution images since the billboard would be seen from far away.

The purpose of this ad will be the same as the magazine ad. It is to get women/girls interested in a new girly perfume that is out by Vera Wang. The billboard's call to action will be for the people interested in the product to go to the nearest store (such as Macy's) to check out the fragrance.

The file will be set up to be 10 ft. 6.5 inches by 22 ft. by 9.5 inches. The finished product will be 10 ft. 5 inches by 22 ft. 8 inches. That allows for there to be a 1.5 inch bleed.

Here are my thumbnails:

Here are my rough drafts:

Here is my final image for the billboard campaign:

Magazine Ad Project

Our fourth project for Digital File Prep is a combination of a magazine ad and billboard ad. I decided to create an advertisement for Elle magazine, and I was able to find their ad specifications online. They offer a PDF download of all the requirements for advertising in their magazine. My ad with advertise Vera Wang's fragrance called Princess, and I will be using the photos I took of my own bottle of the perfume last semester in Studio Product Photography. I'm excited to see how this will all turn out! I'm also excited to use something I previously did in another class and apply it somewhere else.

My target audience will be females would enjoy girly things and are looking for a perfume that portrays that. This target audience will also enjoy reading about and finding new fashion, since that is what Elle magazine is focused on. The magazine ad will tell the audience to go to their nearest Kohl's, Macy's or other department store to find the fragrance. The magazine ad will also include a Microsoft tag, and I plan on having that tag redirect the person to a page online that advertises Princess.

Elle magazine requires a minimum of .125 bleed and .25 margins on a full page ad. The ad must be submitted to Elle in PDF/X-1aformat and CMYK color mode. The final ad size will be 8 by 10.875 inches. Live area size will be 7.5 by 10.375 inches. The price to have an ad in Elle magazine is $148,270. At first I thought that had to be a typo! I had to email the Group Production Manager from the Hearst magazine company to find out the price, because it is not included in their downloadable PDF of magazine specs.

Here are my thumbnails:

And my rough drafts:

And here is my final image!

Adobe Software Tutorial

 In this tutorial provided by Photoble I learned how to add a retro color effect to an image. Here is the Before image I used:

 

Here is my After image:

 

To achieve this look:

1. Open the image you wish to edit and duplicate the Background layer. You will now have a layer called Background and a layer called Background copy. 
2. Make sure you still have the copied layer selected and using the rectangle marquee tool, drag the tool across the left half of the image. 
3. Press "ctrl+backspace" to delete the image, and fill that space with a red color.
4. Now Choose Select>Inverse to select the other half of the image.
5. Repeat step 3, except fill the empty selection with a green color.
6. Choose Image>Adjustments>Match Color
7. Change the source to the original Background layer you started with, and choose the Background copy as the Layer option.
8. Now you can adjust the settings of Luminance, Color Intensity and Fade to achieve the look you want. (I mainly adjusted the Fade option.)
9. Now you're done! Save your work and have fun doing these effects to other images you'd like.

Tutorial link:
hhttp://www.photoble.com/photoshop-tutorials/retro-color-effect-photoshop-tutorial

Adobe Creative Suite Tutorial

I completed an Adobe Photoshop tutorial on how to mask layers with clipping masks. A clipping mask allows you to cover a layer with the one above it, but only show certain parts that you've drawn out to allow the image to show through.

Here is my Before image:

I will then add this picture with a clipping mask to make it look as though it is on one of the screens:

To create this clipping mask, first I had to cut out the screen that I wanted the flowers image to cover and paste in onto its own layer. To cut the image, I used the rectangle marquee tool, drew it around the single screen, cut the screen, created a new layer, and pasted the screen in place. So, the layers from top to bottom include: flowers image, the single screen (cut and pasted), and then the rest of the computers that the single screen was cut from.

You have to make sure that the image you want to show through is on top of the one you want to cover. To get your clipping mask to do this, simply press Option (Mac) or Command (Windows) and click the dividing black like that lies between the two layers in the Layers panel. You have now completed a clipping mask!

Here is the final image:

To use this image, save it as a flattened TIFF or EPS file and import it into InDesign. Make sure any image you import has a resolution of 300!

I completed this tutorial with this link.
All images used were obtained as copyright free images from iStock.com.