Week six

Craft: I wish to redesign the logo for Jiff brand peanut butter utilizing a futurism approach.

Composition: Since I am going with a futurism approach, I want the new logo to be sleek with a lot of color. I want it to have sort of a vintage movie poster feel to it. I googled several images of the futurism style for reference.

Concept: Since the current Jiff logo is pretty static and uninteresting, I want to approach this project with a more dynamic look in mind. If I could somehow find a way to print metallic colors that would be a plus. I'm going to start by making some sketches and doodles of my logo/label ideas then make some rough drafts in photoshop and illustrator. Whenever I approach any piece, it usually undertakes several evolutions before the final products, so I'm just going to throw as much s**t on the wall as I can, then see what sticks.

Week 3

Assignment-Business cards

Craft-I built the clown logo from scratch in photoshop. I started with a basic shape then I would warp or distort them to the general shape of whatever I wanted it to be. Then I went back and burned/dodged in the details. Once the clown logo was done the rest was somewhat easy. I just downloaded different brushes and fonts until I found ones that gave me the look I wanted.

Composition-I wanted to keep the composition equally interesting and simple, which is very difficult to achieve. I figured I would use limited colors except in the clown logo itself, and even then try to make it as un-complex as possible. I choose the name professional amateur because I am skilled in many different crafts but not skilled enough in any particular craft to consider myself a professional.

Concept-This is where it got tricky. I originally wanted the cards to somehow be interactive. My original idea was for the outside of the card to act as a sleeve where I would display my logo, and the inside of the card which contained all the information could slide out of the sleeve. This proved to be extremely difficult. After hours of measuring, cutting, taping, a whole reem of card stock, and about $25 worth of printing I decided I flew to close to the sun on this one, and will have to settle for a more simple solution. Unfortunately I spent entirely too much time on the functionality of the card and not enough time focusing on the design of the card itself. The design I was left with was week and the exact oppisite of what I hoped to acheive, so I took the whole project back to phase 1, only keeping the clown logo. I decided at this point that I would be willing to comprimise the "interactivity" of the card, but I refused to abandon my original idea of double sided printing. So after more measuring and printing I finally got the layout right, so after that it was just a matter of polishing it up. The end result isn't what I had originally hoped for, and if given the time I would like to revisit this, but what I'm left with is a functional sharp looking business card which still retains my personal style.

Week 1

ASSIGNMENT-Set up blog

CRAFT-I found a photo of myself on myspace, then followed the instructions given to us.

COMPOSITION- Why this photo? I choose this photo for two simple reasons.  It is a recognizable image of my face and it still has a bit of flare to it.  It's not just a random picture of me.  I actually use the original version of this picture for many of my projects because the expression on my face is almost indecipherable but still comes across as positive.  I choose this template again for simple reasons.  The main reason is just that, because it's simple and easy to read, but I felt a plain white template would be lacking ANY sense of style, so i choose the simple black background.

CONCEPT-Who are you?  I am many different things, but mostly I'm a design student who feels  he has something to prove.  There have been many obstacles between where I was and where I am now, and there are even more to come.  Don't get me wrong I am one of the most easy going people on the planet, but when it comes to what I want out of life and out of my future career, I will not settle for less until I get what I want.

What makes you the happiest? To create, period.  I cannot imagine myself in a career where I am not exercising my creative nature.  I have pursued several other possible occupations where creative expression is lacking and found myself unable to adapt to that kind of environment. I need to create.

Where did you come from?  I actually come from a heritage of artists on both sides of my family, creativity is in my blood.  I've been raised to embrace my creative nature.  Everyone has their talents and skills, and mine has always been my ability to think in a way that most cannot.

When were you last tested?  This might sound cliche, but I feel that I'm tested every day.  Life can be a competition sometimes, especially when you don't even know it.

Why did you get out of bed this morning?....To let the dog out....No, but seriously.  Like I said, for my own reasons I feel like I have something to prove, and the world of design is a very competitive place.  I don't believe I am ready yet to try to make my place in the world, I still have alot to learn, but I'm very anxious to learn it.

How do you get what you want?  I have adopted a recent philosophy.  Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you've worked for something. Sometimes it doesn't matter if you made all the right decisions.  Sometimes it doesn't matter if you're the best at what you do.  Sometimes all of that isn't good enough.  Sometimes if you want something bad enough, you just have to take it.