For assignment one I deiced to design a business card. In class on Tuesday I started story boarding ideas that could become possible designs. Doctor Rice informed me during class that I should make a card for a company I could see my self-working for. I thought about this for a while, but decided to use my idea for my resume design for this one. Pretty much the idea was to design something geared towards photography. I went with a freelance nature photography idea, something original where I could use one of my own nature shots.
Now when you are designing things, it never turns out the way you want it to. This is where the notion of having a few different drafts comes into play. The strategy that I usually use is making a few drafts, all with a purpose. With each draft I look at what works and what doesn’t work and improve on what I have. For this assignment I developed four different drafts. I believe using this process is very beneficial because you learn from experience and eventually designing becomes second nature.
As you can see from above this is what I came up with. The last image is my final design. From reading in the books and from past experience I could tell that I needed to align all my text in order to not confuse the user/reader of the card. I decided to left align because I wanted to capture my users attention with the photo before they noticed the text in order to add an unconscious question of ‘why is this photo here.’ I used a drop shadow on the photo to movie the users eyes towards the text. When the eyes move towards the text the reader notices my name. I used larger text and drop shadows on the uppercase ‘C’ and ‘N’ to enhance this movement. The next thing that is captured by the eyes in the text ‘freelance nature photographer.’ I used papyrus text because it is more rustic and connects visual to the word nature. I then added a line of slashes to inform the mind that this is the end of one section of information and that another section of information is about to begin. As you can see the slashes match with the slashes on the top and bottom of the card. A simple repetition that might not be noticed at first but adds to the over all design. I will explain the reasoning about the border aspect of the card later. The new section of information is written in simple text that does not pop out as much. I used a bold effect on the last line of my personal website in order to keep the users eyes moving back in forth on the card. This is a design aspect that I did not know about before this class, but I now see the importance of keeping the users eyes moving around.
The next part of the design was to incorporate a border to enclose the information. My thought was why not design a card that simulates an actual photo real. Although most photos are digital in this day and age, the imagery is not gone. Most people will recognize that the border is similar to film reels. Doing this adds a connection to the purpose of the card. A users mind will unconsciously think about photos before they read a single line of text. I also wanted the user to notice that the card itself is photo in a film reel it self.
For the border I started out with an orange gradient to correlate with the sun in the photograph. When looking at this first design, I found myself over whelmed with the amount of orange in such a basic design. I decided to change the borders to a solid black to represent an actual film reel and to add some sophistication to the card as well. As the “non designer’s design book” describes, if it’s not the same, change it completely. It is a simple contrast that adds to the appeal of the whole business card.
I used in-design and photo-shop for this assignment. Everything except the photo was designed in in-design. The photo was saturated in photo-shop to add more vibrant color to capture the users eyes.
I hope you enjoy what I came up with.
Colin Niebergall
Colin, this business card is very fitting to the purpose you are going for here. I am going to comment on the three elements that Dr. Rice has asked us to for this week's blog: rhetorical, cognitive and affective.
ReplyDeleteRhetorical: This card has a nice, clean design that effectively communicates information, not only from the text, but the picture, and even the design itself. I think that you combined all of those to make your message very clear, and in a unique way. Everything about your card says photography. The photo reel as the border will make your card stick out among others.
Cognitive: The alignment of the card was very nice and kept the information easy to find and read. I really liked that not only did you group information, but you put the dotted line in between the two groups. Sometimes on a business card, you do not have enough space to make a clear distinction between two sets of information that are in close proximity to one another. Here though, you have made the distinction very clear, along with using repetition in the line you chose.
Affective: Like I have already said, everything about your card says photography. I like the reasoning behind your choice of font for "Freelance Nature Photographer". I do think that there is a connection between nature and that font. I particularly like that font, and nature just so happens to be a big part of my life at this point. The photo reel was a great addition, as well as placing a sample of work on your card. A person who picks up this card will remember, if nothing else "Nature Photographer".
Lastly, it is clear that with everything you placed on this card, you made it a choice. That aspect is so important in design. Good job Colin!
Colin:
ReplyDeleteI have focused my comments on your last graphic here. I enjoyed reviewing your first re/design. This was a good first assignment for you in a number of ways. Might work to make more clear how you're addressing key points that I'm looking for, as discussed during class. I'll offer notes here, and a grade that can be accessed through Moodle by clicking on grades at the top of http://richrice.com/3369. Some notes:
- The four main concepts in the course include CONTRAST, REPETITION, ALIGNMENT, and PROXIMITY (see Williams page 13)
- Contrast refers to making things different on the artifact, not merely similar; with the color in the photo I have some questions--what will the cost of such a business card be? If you're focusing on too many contrasts, the images can be too competing. For instance, what about a design where you're not using the picture film, but the picture itself is highlighted, maybe on top from size to size in portrait mode, with content below. Fewer distractions; a very dark and heavy card
- Repetition includes repeating visual elements throughout the piece; the C N, unfortunately, while it highlights your name, does not say something about the company, which should be promoted more than you
- Alignment says that nothing should be arbitrary;
- Proximity suggests grouping and proximity for visual units; the x in TX should be capitalized; what happens design-wise if you put your phone number last? The information is make more primary, but all of the contact information then chunks together a little better, doesn't it?
If you have questions, please offer them via email so that I don't miss them, or in a future blog post. I may miss comments in your blogs. This is the first of five re/designs. You may choose to revise and resubmit any or all of them in your ePortfolio for a review assessment.
Dr. Rice