Course Summary

During this class I learned quite a bit. There was a lot of new material/ideas presented to me and I feel that I have been made a better designer because of that. I had never had freedom to pick my own content for projects. I had also never had to actually get a project printed before.

I liked all the projects that we did but I think my favorite was the final project. It had some challenges but I think it went really well, and I was very impressed with my classmates' final projects.

I also really liked how my variable data project turned out, but not the headache of a process to get to that point.

So, all in all, I enjoyed this class very much, and if it was still being offered I would encourage a friend to take it. 

Final Project

I decided to make a save the date as my final project. It includes a vector, a duotone, and a grayscale image. The final folded size is 5 x 3.5 inches and it is folded in 3 places. To print 2 off to turn one in and cut out and fold myself it cost $1.83. 

This is the price if I were to get a thousand printed: 

• $422.19 
• Hammermill 60# Color Copy 11x7 white 
• Front: Color 
• Back: Color 
• Digital Copies 
• Cut to finish size 
• Fold (hand fold) 

Screenshot of front and back

Screenshot of inside

Finished front

Finished back

Finished inside and partially unfolded

Finished inside all the way unfolded

Copyright: All images used in this post were taken by me, with the exception of the image I am in, that was taken by Pam Brisbin & I have permission to use it.

Lawsuit Summary: Apple

Apple recently sued a Polish grocery store, A.pl, for copyright infringement of their logo and because they have a similar name. Apple has sued many companies for similar things. Apple wants A.pl to change their logo.

I think this case is really silly, since they don't even sell the same type of product and the logo/name aren't really the same.

Here is the logo for A.pl:

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/apple-sues-online-grocery-store-over-its-logo-2012-09

And of course here is Apple's logo: 

Photo taken by me

Final Project - Thumbnails & Dummy

I recently got engaged, so I decided to make a save the date for my final project. I might actually use this design when we actually decide on a date for the wedding.

It is just going to look like a simple folded invitation card, but on when opened a circle will fold out from the middle. Closed the card will be 5 x 3.5 inches, and when opened it will be 10 x 3.5 inches with the circle being 6 inches in diameter. It will have to be die-cut to achieve this and I'm considering having rounded corners on the right side as well.

Thumbnails

 The front will have a partial dark green circle on the left edge and perhaps a light grey and white damask pattern as a background for the text. The inside will have either a duotone or greyscale photo in the circle and writing to the left and right. The back will also either have a duotone or greyscale photo.

Dummy Closed

Dummy Opened

Magazine and Billboard Final

Well, my magazine ad ended up containing a vector image, 2 full color rasters, and a Microsoft tag that I customized in Illustrator.  My billboard ad contains the same except for the tag.

Final Magazine Ad

Final Billboard

Copyright statement: Large smile photo downloaded from iStock photo. Colgate photo taken by me, Erin Brisbin. Vector hearts created by me. Microsoft tag downloaded from Microsoft and customized by me.

Everyday Design

Well, I'm going to start off with a design I see everyday, the Ron's Supermarket logo. It's not my favorite design, but I don't think it's bad either. The target audience is very wide, people that live in/buy groceries in southeast Kansas. The main colors of red and blue give it an All-American feel and the oval graphic describes what the store mainly sells: food. The two fonts in the logo are simple sans serif fonts and the main focus (Ron's) is a laid back almost hand written capitalized font. The process to create this logo would be to design it in a software like Illustrator or InDesign.

Source: http://www.ronssupermarket.com/ 

The Collegio logo or header is also something I see often. The target audience is PSU students, PSU Alumni, and Pittsburg area residents. The colors are very straight forward: red and black. I feel that logo is effective and the call to action is to pick up the newspaper and read it. The font choice is a serif font.

Source: http://psucollegio.com/ 

This one is a can of Monster Energy drink (Zero Ultra)  that I thought was interesting. The can itself is a flat white, but the silver designs on it are raised. The Monster logo is displayed prominently on the front. The target audience is younger people who need a low calorie/low carb energy drink. I'm guessing something like this would be designed in Illustrator.

Photo taken by me

This one is a flavor mix bag of Frito Lay chips. I think the color choices are really loud and the packaging is advertising something else so it is distracting from what the product inside is. There are quite a few fonts on this because of all the different products inside. The target audience is children or perhaps teenagers. This packaging would probably be created in Illustrator or InDesign and then printed onto plastic.

Photo taken by me

Microsoft Tags

A Microsoft tag is similar to a QR code. They are a 2D bar code that can be scanned using an application on a smart phone.

There is free reporting that lets you know how well a campaign is going. It uses engagement and ROI metrics.

To generate a tag you have to set up a Microsoft account.

Reasons to use tags are:

• They are free
• It connects print to web
• The design is more flexible than QR codes
• Free and easy to track  

Source:
http://tag.microsoft.com/what-is-tag/home.aspx

Magazine and Billboard Ad Thumbs and Roughs

The purpose of this assignment is to create an advertisement for a magazine and a billboard. I decided to make an ad for Cosmopolitan magazine. Their ad specs for a full page advertisement is:
Bleed: 8.25 x 11.125, Trim: 8 x 10.874, Live/Non-bleed: 7.5 x 10.375. The price for an full color ad is $244,100. 

I will be doing a toothpaste ad directed (target audience) toward women around the ages 20-35 that read Cosmopolitan magazine. The call to action of my ad will to be to scan the Microsoft tag.

Magazine Thumbnails

Add caption

The size of the billboard for Lamar Graphics is:
Live area document size: 10.412 ft. x 22.662 ft
Overall document size: 10.644 ft. x 22.894 ft.
Finished document size: 10.542 ft. x 22.792ft.
The document is to be built at 18 pixels per inch with a resolution of 216.

Billboard Thumbnails

Billboard Rough

Source: http://www.cosmomediakit.com/r5/showkiosk.asp?listing_id=4249741&category_id=27809&category_code=rate

Newspaper Ad Final File

After on-screen critique I decided to change the layout of my ad as suggested. My file contains two vector images and a bitmap.

The size of my file is 3.79 in. x 6 in. The price to run this ad in the Collegio would be $36. Here is the formula:
2 column inches X 6 inches = 12 column inches X $4 = $36

Copyright statement: Rings were created in Illustrator using symbols. The bitmap and other vector image was created by me, Erin Brisbin.

XBOX 360 Cake

Over the weekend, I made a groom's cake that was based on an XBOX 360. I planned to do the cake in a combination of buttercream and fondant, but after having some set backs, I ended up using all buttercream.

The game on top of the cake was made out of rice krispie treats and edible paper.

National Logo Redesign- eBay

 eBay recently redesigned its logo. They went from an overlapping and jumbled, non-uniform stroke sans serif text to a uniform sans serif text with the letters touching but in a straight line. The colors stayed basically the same except the red and blue are slightly different than before.

Old Logo (Source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/13/3326716/ebay-logo-redesign)

New Logo (Source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/13/3326716/ebay-logo-redesign)

eBay's reason for the redesign was "The changes we’re making reflect the new eBay and our evolution as a marketplace that connects the world to the things they need and love." The changes they are talking about are making eBay have a better shopping experience and what they call the "New eBay." The logo change was one of the first of many changes they are making according to their website.

They implemented this new logo on their website October 10, 2012.

Personally, I like the new logo better than the old one. It seems more modern and clean. One thing I would change about it tho is I would have kept the colors the same as the old logo.


Sources: http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/13/3326716/ebay-logo-redesign
http://www.ebay.com/new

Newspaper Thumbs & Roughs

This assignment is to create an ad to go in the Collegio. Our budget is $197, it cost $4 per column inch to put an ad in the Collegio. My ad is going to be 7.71(4 column inches) inches x 3 inches. It would cost $48, here is the equation I used to get that price:

4 column inches X 3 inches = 12 column inches X $4= $48

I plan to have my ad contain a bitmap and a vector image.

My ad is for a fictional jewelry store and the audience is younger people on a budget interested in getting married. The call to action is to come to the store, buy an engagement ring, and receive 10% off on a wedding band set.

Thumbnails

Rough (7.71x 3)

Direct Mail Final File

My final file includes two four-color (CMYK) flattened photoshop files that were saved as an .eps, two Illustrator files, a reverse, and a full bleed.

The Harvest House leaf logo was created by me, Erin Brisbin, in Illustrator. Flower photo downloaded from Creative Commons and was created by likeaduck. Tomato picture was downloaded from Creative Commons and was created by torugatoru. Facebook emblem Illustrator file was downloaded from the server, Share 1, in E104.

To print my 11x17 inch color proof it cost sixty-five cents. For 500 (250 of each design) four-color, two sides, with .25 inch margins, .125 inch bleed, 7x5 inch cards, printed on coated kromekote pt. white paper it would cost $141.10 for all and $.28 per card.

Front of flower audience card

Back of flower audience card

Front of vegetable audience card

Back of vegetable audience card

Monster Cakes and Cupcakes

Today, I made two double layer 8 inch round cakes iced and decorated in buttercream frosting. First, I flat iced them in the color the 'hair' was going to be, then added the eye(s) and mouth, then used a grass tip to create the 'hair.'

These are the matching sugar cookies.  They were iced with melted white roll icing and decorated with buttercream frosting.

Preflight Check List Process

Preflight is checking the job that will be submitted to the printer for any problems. This saves time and prevents the job from being held up on the press.

Here is an example of a preflight checklist:

• Package your file
• Make sure there are no missing fonts
• Make sure there are no missing links to any images, photos, or vectors used
• Delete unused color swatches
• Process colors should be CMYK 
• Remove spot colors, or if spot colors are necessary for your job make sure they are applied properly 
• Delete all unused elements
• Make sure all layers are correct
• Create a PDF of what your file should look like  
• Know what kind of files your printer accepts and make sure to submit the correct file type 

A preflight technician's job description is checking the customers files or proofs for errors, discussing with the customer that everything is correct, laying the page out with the material supplied, and running the job. Their salary rages from $39,900 to $60,300 a year.


Sources: http://www.onlinedegrees.org/calculator/salary/prepress-technicians-and-workers
http://inkd.com/earn/prepress

Copyright Basics for Designers

Copyright parameters are important to designers because when using someone else's work they need to know how they can use it and if they can even use. Also, copyright is important to protect a designer's own work from infringement.

Copyright can apply to images, content, intellectual property, and fonts. If you created it, it is considered copyrighted by you. Your permission is needed for others to use. If you post something online you can specify whether or not others can use it. You can delegate that it has some rights reserved and that they must attribute the it to you.

Fair use means that in some situations others can use your work without permission. Examples of these situations are educational purposes and using them in an article critiquing your work.

Everything you find online is not copyright free.

Sources: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/06/14/understanding-copyright-and-licenses/ 
Image downloaded from creative commons on October 2, 2012 created by PhotoMasterGreg http://www.flickr.com/photos/photomastergreg/3831379129/sizes/l/

Direct Mail Thumbnails and Roughs

Our direct mail project is to be two sided, 7 x 5 inches, have a .25 inch margin, and a .125 inch bleed. We will be using variable data. My target audiences are customers from ages 25-65 of a fictional garden/nursery called Harvest House. The customers will be sorted into two groups: flower lovers and vegetable lovers.

Thumbnails

Roughs

Notepad Project

These are the thumbnails for my notepad assignment.

This is the rough for my notepad.

This is my 5x7 black and white final notepad design. I think it is fairly similar to my rough. The cost to get the proof printed at PSU Printing Services was 5 cents. To print one notepad with 50 sheets on white hammermill with a chipboard back would be $3.34 and to print 100 notepads would be $1.14 per pad, $113.80 total.  

I feel this project went fairly well. There was some confusion with it being the first project though. My file is a 5x7 Indesign file with a quarter inch margin and eighth inch bleed. 2 vector files were placed inside it (the cupcake and black bottom) and the QR code was a Photoshop file. 

QR code was generated at qrcode.kaywa.com. All other images were created by me, Erin Brisbin.

QR Code Research

 

QR codes were created by Denso Wave in 1994 in Japan as an improvement on bar codes, they weren't able to be used by smartphones until 2002. QR codes contain much more information than a bar code and can be scanned more easily.

They could hold data such as url links, text, phone numbers, and coordinates. QR codes have an error correction capacity, so even if they are damaged they may still be able to be scanned.

Generating a QR code is easy. There are many websites that offer to create free ones. For example the QR code pictured at the top of this post was generated at http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and links to my other blog.

QR codes can be scanned using an application on smartphones. There are more than one out there but Kaywa also offers a QR code reader as well as generating them.

QR codes are a way to connect print to digital. They are very beneficial for a business to include in their advertisements and other printed material for customers to connect to the website.

Sources: http://qrcodeguide.org/14/qr-codes-%E2%80%93-history-and-technical-background/ 
http://searchengineland.com/what-is-a-qr-code-and-why-do-you-need-one-27588 
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Self Promotion Note Pad Thumbnails and Rough

This note pad is designed for self promotion, hence the title of the assignment. The audience is potential employers. The note pad is going to be printed black and white and be 5 in. x 7 in.

10 Thumbnails

5 x 7 Rough

As planned right now my note pad will include an eighth inch bleed, a reverse, and vector art (there is a very light cupcake in the middle of my notepad rough).

Butterfly Cake

I made a cake this Friday at work according to a customer's specifications.
They wanted the cake to look as much like the plate pictured below as possible.

And this is the finished product.

The customer loved it!