Graphic Design projects Options

[Joanne]

This semester, I had to do three projects for my IAT 102 Graphic Design class. I am in no way as talented or artsy as most of the members here, but I just want to get your opinion/suggestions/critique on them.

1. Redesign an existing magazine spread that contains both text and images. The text must have a ragged edge.

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(original spread)


2. Design a paper mock-up for a cylindrical container that will sit on a shelf in a store.

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(I don't know why it's showing up with the weird line around the tennis ball now...)


3. Using graphical style inspired by an art movement, design a 2'x3' Smart Poster advertisement containing RFID tags (cell phones can download information from them), for either an entertainment service or an eco-awareness service.

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Feedback and criticism is encouraged.
My TA hardly gave any of us any feedback. She only told me 1) I got an A, but she really hated the quote around the heads, 2) I got an A/A- (she hasn't decide yet) and she liked how the silhouettes directed people's attention through the object(?), and 3) I got an A/A- and she just "really liked the poster". Great, thanks for the input.

I want to know what you guys think... be brutal if you want. Just be honest.

[JonHMChan]

I am absolutely in love with the first one. The second one is pretty good; it's clean and it's definitely cutting edge, but I don't think it's eye-popping enough if it's supposed to be an ad of some sort for a product. The third one may just not be my taste - it seems a bit retro to me. But you're much more talented than you think, keep it up!

[Joanne]

Okay, I just went out and printed Project 3... holy crap it's huge. I think it looked better when it was tiny on my screen.

MORE FEEDBACK PEOPLE, PLEASE! I refuse to believe only one person has anything to say about them (thanks Jon).

[Harp]

first one is amazing. the other ones are good too :]

[schizo]

Someone criticized the text around the heads in the first one? That's my favorite part, actually. It makes the image look a lot more interesting.

The second one looks good, but the tennis ball bothers me. Is the name of the brand "Bounc," or does the ball represent an "E?"

I LOVE the third one. No complaints with that one.

[Gigi]

Your TA sounds like a stupid bitch. Anyonewho doesn't appreciate text on a path clearly has no taste. I love the first one!

[none345678]

I love the text in the first one too, I love everything about the first one really. :D

[Tomates]

The first one is awesome. I think that your page spread is actually better than the original.

[Mikeplyts]

I like the first one the most and the third one is pretty good too. Don't really like the second one but it's okay.

[Joanne]

Haha, thanks guys. My favourite one is the first too.

The second one looks good, but the tennis ball bothers me. Is the name of the brand "Bounc," or does the ball represent an "E?"

The name is "Bounce" haha. I tried to make the ball look more like an E with a line on it at first, but it turned out really ugly so I scratched that whole idea and just had a tennis ball. When I showed my TA and asked if she thinks the ball being the 'e' is fine, she said that people should just get it right away. =\

Your TA sounds like a stupid bitch. Anyonewho doesn't appreciate text on a path clearly has no taste. I love the first one!

LOL both her and Flora didn't like the text on a path, actually! They both told me it brought the entire spread down into a unprofessional look.
Mr Stanley liked the quote, but really didn't like what I did with the title; he said that people usually try to stay away from sideways type because it's hard to read. Everyone and their different styles/preferences.

[ForgiveTheSinner]

I love all three, especially the last one. I think the words around the heads look weird there but if it's removed it would look empty...so leaving it there is probably best.

[Gigi]

Yeah I'm actually not a fan of sideways text either for the same reason. It is a pain to read, so I guess that should come into consideration when doing a magazine layout.

I don't think the text on the path looks unprofessional, I just haven't really seen it done before in a magazine like that. Rarely done =/= unprofessional. w/e overall your first one looks really good.

[Joanne]

Okay, I got an A/A- on Project 3. My partner and I totally f*cked up on our presentation today, but the poster itself kind of bumped up our mark. Yay!

[lovescream]

For the first one, I also love the text around the heads. Very eye-catching. I think it should be a little bigger, though.. considering it should be like, EYE-POPPING right? For me, it's just eye-popping. Haha. Yeah, I guses it is unprofessional though.. I mean I rarely see it, but I mean, it is something that catches your attention.
Anddd, for the pics of the models, I'm not really digging where it's placed, honestly. It feels like it's uneven and slapped on. I'm digging everything else though!

For the 2nd one, I agree, very clean and simplistically nice. Of course, (and you probably notice this yourself), the ball can be cut out better.

The third one, I don't really like the font used for DT Cuisine, actually. It seems like I'm going to a computer place, if anything, haha.

[Joanne]

Haha thank you so much for your thoughts! It's greatly appreciated.

However, and I hope I don't sound like a total douche now, I feel like I need to explain some of the reasons why I did what I did:

• The models were purposely placed so that one picture would be on the left page while the other three would be on the right; both my TA and I thought that it would be a good way to tie the two pages together and indicate that it is a connecting spread. I guess it is kinda weird though, now that I look at it again... like the red model is isolated from the others.
• The actual print-out of the second project turned out okay... I don't know why the PDF and JPEG files show the tennis ball with that weird line on the side. =\
• Yeah, I was a bit iffy about the font at first too, but we stuck with it because it fit in really well with the whole De Stijl style (boxy, san-serif fonts). I totally understand where you're coming from about the whole computer thing though. =]

[markmejia]

Joanne. I like these a lot. I think they're all pleasing to the eye. My favorite has to be the first one. :D

[stephinika]

Well done Joanne! I took this class and it sucked so bad because I was the in the first group of it...godamn. Who's your TA?

[Joanne]

Thanks Mark! Thanks Steph! My TA was Angela Tomizu. She's alright, I guess... she just has major mood swings and she never teaches us anything. I was soooo happy after today's class - NEVER HAVE TO SEE HER AGAIN!!

[stephinika]

LOL I know who that is...and yeah she's okay. And its funny cause I'm in that lab room attempting to study and when we got here, she was here with all the 102 posters.

[1angel3]

I love the first one too. It looks better than the original. I don't see how's it's unprofessional, even though you don't see it a lot that don't make it unprofessional. not to me anyway.

[vogueXdirge]

Tyra has something to say about these:

[angeconda]

1. As I said in the draft and final feedback stages of Project 1, your layout design is very strong. I think what you did with the vertical type positioning on the title was very well done and the introduction of colour into the title added emphasis and was very effective. I also still feel that your use of colour to indicate which person was "speaking" during the interview component of the text was good, and carried the red through to the red of the model's dress in the lower corner and helped to tie the page together. I still think your positioning of the smaller images at the bottom was a good decision and having the one image overlap onto the lefthand page breaks up the overall "blockiness" of the layout design and adds interest and visual "pop". I also still don't think that the curved text around the heads of the main image adds anything to the work and actually distracts from the tone of the piece. I like what you were trying to do with it (adding an element of fun/whimsy) but I just didn't feel that it fit the piece and instead looked as though you were trying to do too many things at once. The elements of colour and the offset image at the bottom were relatively subtle additions of fun into the design while the text on a path seemed a little too overt in comparison. Remember, design is very subjective, and if you choose to work as a professional designer your art directors will always have their preferences whether you agree with them or not.

2. For Project 2, I still stand by what I said in the draft stages of this project...I think your use of the tennis ball in place of the "e" is clever and adds an element of fun and lightheartedness that you don't often see in the design of sports products which is why I encouraged you and your partner to go with that logo as opposed to the others you had proposed. I think the blue you chose looks better in print than on the screen (it's a bit darker and less teal). While I felt that the figures made it look a bit "dated" the way that they led the viewer's eye through the design was quite effective. I still think that the black text elements on the blue background tend to flatten out a little too much but really, I'm still not sure that white or another light colour would've been any better really. You would've had to have tried it out to know for sure. I also still find the black/grey shadow under the ball in the logo to be too much...I think it would've tied in better if it were a slightly darker blue than the main field of colour, rather than black. Black tends to flatten out when used with bright colours.

3. Project 3: What I said about your poster design still stands. I think your use of colour coding was clever, as were most of your design instincts throughout the course. Yes, it could've been confusing to the user as to which contact info belonged to which establishment, but I think that the way you followed up on my suggestion to colour code the interaction screens that went with the poster made the links very strong within the context of the interaction. I wasn't a huge fan of some of your font choices but your articulation of your choices in this case made me feel as though you had given it a considerable amount of thought and that my dislike of the "computer-y" title font and the somewhat messy handwritten font on the left, were very subjective and maybe not something that I necessarily wanted to impact your design. I also still feel that the illustrations and your use of them within the very rigid deStijl framework were the strongest element in your poster design and that is why the poster component of your grade for this project was very high. As I said at the time, the presentation wasn't great, but the overall high level of design work and the effective application of the deStijl principles in a contemporary design worked to "salvage" your grade.

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't feel the feedback was enough, but in future courses I recommend that you make use of office hours to obtain further feedback when necessary. When dealing with class sizes that are as large as 102 is, TAs seldom have enough time available to give really detailed feedback to everyone and as a result the feedback is often given in a sort of pared down, abbreviated fashion, focusing on the most obvious issues first. I personally try to balance my feedback with both positive and negative points because I think it's important that students be able to keep their own voice in their work and not just make changes to please me. In future I will definitely try to make this more of a defined process and will explain to students the limitations that I have regarding time and emphasize the option they have to speak with me during office hours for more detailed feedback if they feel they need it now that I am aware that my current methods are lacking. :-)

Angela.

[Joanne]

Wow... I'm kind of taken aback at the fact that you found this post on such a random forum, Angela.

Anyway, thank you for the extended feedback. Really, it helps a lot now that I know what I can improve on. I hope you're not offended with what I said... you were a pretty good TA despite the limited feedback we got. I actually found that I learned a lot more from you than the professor. I was just so happy I was totally done with one of my courses.

And since you're here, can I make a suggestion for future IAT 102 classes? I think the lab sessions should be longer than the lectures. That way, the TAs will have more time to teach the basics of the programs and give their students feedback. I didn't feel like I learned much at all in the lectures anyway.

[chuiee13]

Yeah I'm actually not a fan of sideways text either for the same reason. It is a pain to read, so I guess that should come into consideration when doing a magazine layout.

LOL I think I've experienced you attempting to read sideways :P


Except for the second one..(I totally blame your partner haha) I love them :D haha
Now I kinda understand the text on the path but It still looks awsome.. And I don't have a problem reading sideways LOL

[angeconda]

You're welcome. I probably should go back to giving my comments in written form rather than just verbally during the draft process as it's easier for students to refer back to later. I used to do that but then they cut back the hours for the 102 TAs so I stopped.

I'm not offended, don't worry about it. You can't please everybody. :-) And it's good to know what people see as shortcomings so you can hopefully improve in the future. :-) I don't think the moodiness will change much though. ;-)

I agree that the labs should either be longer or the lectures more relevant and interactive. The lecture actually used to be 2 hours and the labs just one hour long but we managed to get that changed for this semester and I think it worked a lot better. I revamped the course a little over last semester so hopefully when the new instructor starts next semester the lecture will be tied a little more closely into what's going on in the labs. One of the things I'm hoping to bring back that was lacking this semester is project presentations within the lectures rather than just the individual labs so students can see what kind of work is coming out of the other labs as well as their own.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions and good luck next semester! :-)