Post 13

While I was doing my brochure, which was for a summer camp that I used to work at, I was searching for the perfect typeface to use. I thought about using Comic Sans, but then I remembered Amy saying in class one day that she hates that font. Before taking this class, I had never heard anyone say they hate a typeface. This was interesting to me, so I googled it. I got 5,070,000 results. I couldn't believe how much was out there about a typeface.

As I am sitting here reading and blogging about Comic Sans, my friend Kristen told me that there is a poster hanging in her classroom that says, "Every time you use Comic Sans a baby gets punched". It's kind of funny to me, but there really is hatred out there for this font. One of the main reasons people didn't like it was because of its widespread usage, particularly dealing with serious or formal subjects. People's biggest complaint about it was that it portrays a childish and informal mood.

I started thinking about when I was in middle school and that was my favorite font to write in. I guess everyone is right, Comic Sans is a childish font. So maybe I was right too, and I could have used it for my brochure on the summer camp. I found another typeface called Rockwell, that I ended up really liking, so I used that one and I think it worked really well.

Something interesting I found while researching Comic Sans, was the "Ban Comic Sans" movement. Supposedly, it was started by Dave and Holly Crumbs, graphic designers from Indianapolis, after a job insisted they used the font in a children's museum exhibit. Their main point is that a professional designer would typically think about the overall impact a font would have on a project, and an amateur, would just pick something they like, disregarding the fonts impact on the final design. This is the main reason that people use Comic Sans, because they think its visually appealing to the eye.

Post 12

My Tuesday and Thursday's class schedules are by far my favorite. These days, I have a fine arts class, and then this graphic design class. I did not purposely make my schedule this way, but I love the way it turned out! I get a break from the 400 level classes, and horrid math class that I have on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. In the beginning of the semester, I had no idea I had any artistic ability at all, now I feel completely different.

Many things that I learned in my art class, have helped me in the design class as well. The first week in fine arts, we learned all about color. Primary colors, secondary colors, shades, and much more. I learned that yellow is opposite purple on the color wheel, blue contrasts orange, and red and green.

All of this information has been very helpful in creating powerful designs. When creating any sort of design, you have to think about the message you are sending, and to whom you are giving it to. All of this information is relevant to what you are going to put in your design. If you want something to POP, you would probably use two colors that go well together. Such as purple and yellow, or even the primary colors, red, blue and yellow.

We did two projects in fine arts using the element of color. The first, was a representation of a color wheel, including every color, and its shade and tint. Also, along with that assignment was to take the contrasting colors, and blend them together. The second project involved mixing all your basic red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and white, to create new colors that go well together. After we had our new colors, we had to dot them on a square 5 inches by 4 inches. This project helped me realize which colors go well together, and which do not.

I find it ironic that unknowingly, I had two classes back to back on Tuesdays and Thursdays that would directly correlate with one another. Even more surprisingly, I found out I'm somewhat good at art and designing my own projects! This opens up a whole new group of career options for myself. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to take both of these classes this semester.

Post 11

After seeing everyone's poster designs in class, I have a much better understanding on what works, and what doesn't work. There are a few different ways to make a successful poster. You don't need alot of information, to get your message across. All you need is a simple slogan, or design, and your point will be more than clear. Some of the best posters in class didn't even have many words on them. I loved the one about the slut walk. That was a relatively simple design that was created using indesign itself. She showed four different images, and had very few words. I believe it said, "the size of the dress doesn't mean yes". Very simple, yet very effective message.

Another poster that I thought had a very strong message was the one about lung cancer in response to cigarette smoking. This one, used words, but in the shape, colors, and form of an actual cigarette. Getting a point across to people is simple. Use words or images that will catch the attention of your viewers. All of these powerful posters, had some things in common. Many posters were black, white, and red. These colors go well together to stand out and catch someones eye.

Something that I noticed that didn't work so well, was a lot of text that is difficult to read. Although it may make someone want to get up and read what your poster says, it is not powerful enough to hang up on a billboard and hope that someone driving by will be able to understand your message. If all you're going for is the effect of many words, then this might work. But if you have a message you want to convey, make sure it is big and bold enough for people to read from a distance. Since this project, I have been critiquing all of the posters I see hanging around. I find myself doing this with many aspects of communication.

Post 10

Growing up in Queens, I was exposed to the art of graffiti at a very young age. Yes, I called it art. I believe that graffiti is a beautiful form of art. I'm not talking about what people "tag" their names on walls, although, I have seen some very artistic tags up on buildings, but throughout my years, I have seen some truly beautiful murals.

I started noticing graffiti in an artistic way in middle school. One of my friends, who still does graffiti to this day, painted me my name on a canvas for my birthday. It was so creative and beautiful, that I wanted to see more. I started noticing all the street art that is all over my neighborhood. There is one piece in particular that I've always loved. It's nothing special, but for some reason, every time I drive down Bell Boulevard, it catches my eye. It is a simple reminder to me that the simple things in life are beautiful too.

Many people think that graffiti is just vandalizing trains and bus stations, but there is much more to it then that. One of my favorite graffiti artists, is Caine 1, who is actually also from Queens. His work was done almost exclusively on the 7 train which runs through Queens. He paints in a cartoon like way, which makes for interesting images. One night, Caine was responsible for painting ten whole cars, which is one out of the two entire train cars ever painted.

Below are some murals in NYC that i love, I hope you will too!

Post 9

After taking this class, I've come to look at all aspects of graphic design in a new light. I find myself critiquing different ads and posters I see around me. For example, some of the posters I see hanging around campus really bother me. They don't look like they were created by anyone who has taken this class. What I mean by that, is that often the color schemes are all over the place, fonts don't speak what the poster is trying to say, or even as obvious as a horrible kerning job.

In the beginning weeks of the semester, we watched the film "Helvetica". At this point in the course, I thought this was a huge exaggeration. Turns out, its not! Helvetica is used more often than any other font out there. Many companies use this font in their logo, or even as the awning of their store front. Once you are aware of something like this, you begin to see it over and over again. This gets a bit repetitive. I get that there are many properties of Helvetica that make it a good font to use in many situations, but sometimes I'd like to see something else.

Personally, I've used Helvetica in only one project this year. By using InDesign, I was able to test out many different fonts, and find the one that best fits my objective. The project in which I have chosen to use Helvetica for was the poster. The reason I thought Helvetica was a good choice here was because of the bold statement I was making. "DRINKING AND DRIVING ONLY LEADS TO A DEAD END". What better way is there to make this statement, other than the infamous...

Helvetica!

Post 8

I'd like to take this time to blog about some of my frustrations in this class. As much as I enjoy working in this class and coming up with my own designs, I sometimes get rather frustrated while working in the programs I've never used before. The biggest issue I have is some of the exercises, more especially, the Photoshop ones. I have never used the Photoshop program before I started taking this class, so this is all still very new to me. When we are shown the exercise for the first time, I usually start out trying to follow along with the professor. As the exercise goes past the first few steps, I find myself stuck ten steps back past where the rest of the class is. This sometimes gets discouraging for me because I feel like the rest of the class can do something that I cannot.

I understand that there is a professor that helps us for a reason, but when you're one of the only ones in class who constantly needs help with completing the exercises, you shy away from asking all the time. I also feel like how can I be the only one who is lost? I wonder if I am the only one who feels this way. I don't understand how everyone else can be photoshop and indesign professionals. Maybe it would be helpful for the whole class if the exercises were explained slowly, in a manner that would be easier for the class to follow along.

Its also difficult to master the use of these programs because the only time I have access to them is during the two hour time frame we have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is really hard to get used to new programs in such a short amount of time. Although I have been having some issues with the exercises, I really enjoy the projects where we get to use our own creative ability to come up with designs. Even if its only using a few tricks we've learned, I can still make a pretty cool looking design!

Post 7

I remember when I first saw this poster on a bus stop in Brooklyn, NY. I live in Queens, and over winter break I was driving to my friend's house in Brooklyn. My first reaction was to take a picture of it. Just driving by, I didn't get a chance to read everything that was on it. All I saw were the big bold words, "Stop being black". This caught my attention because without knowing what else the poster says, you would assume this poster is racist.

After reading the poster close up, you then realize it is stating the facts about the percentage of times black people have been stopped by the police and the amount of times the police were in the wrong. These posters are on bus stops and billboards all over Brooklyn. It is part of a larger group called RISE or Racism Still Exists, which is an anonymous group whose mission "is to illuminate some of the ways in which racism operates in this country".

I definitely think that this is an effective poster because it catches your attention, and makes you read the rest. The group that created this design makes these posters every month, and displays them on the streets of Brooklyn. This is a convenient way for them to get their message out to the community, and people can take the information and do with it what they want. The people of Brooklyn have definitely been talking about these posters.