Project 1 - Final images

These are my final files from Project 1 - compare/confuse...errr, contrast.

Project 1- the revision / Class 3

Musings of Project 1

I think I overthought this project. More specifically, I think I approached this project as a marketing communications professional rather than a writer/designer/grad student (emphasis on the grad student.) As a result, my copy and design were more ad-like and less compare/contrast English paper-like. Obviously, this isn't supposed to read just like an English essay, but I think I took it too far over the ad edge and made it too conceptual, which resulted in less compare/contrast than Stephanie was looking for (in actual words, anyway.)

This is not a problem. I have a new (and more simple) concept that will accomplish the compare/contrast in the original assignment. I've worked on a new design that I actually think I like better and will work much better with a compare/contrast body copy. And it will still function well as a sign for fruit in a market.


Class 3 reflections

The first critique proved interesting, at least. I did learn a lot and noticed some things about my own project from the critiques of others projects and it helped reel me in from the ad agency world and back to reality. What I did find more helpful this time was the small groups- people seemed to have a better grasp of what to expect, probably largely because it was the second time around. But, I also think the profile assignment was more straightforward than the last one. At least I wasn't the only one who thought too much about compare/contrast.

Tweaking the concept - project 1

I'm definitely happy with my original idea, but I think, in order to strengthen the compare/contrast element, I need to add something. It was an idea that I tossed around originally, but decided not to incorporate it in my rough draft. I'm putting it back in the comp. The overall theme is Cinco de Mayo with a focus on salsa with the fruits and traditional vs. tropical. The rest of the ideas are staying the same. Body copy will be tweaked slightly, as it should be when it goes from a rough draft to a comp.

For the design, I've decided to use both Photoshop and Illustrator. This is typical of most of my design projects. I set up a file for each one in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. Any drawings that I want, I draw with Illustrator, then I import them (and any other images) into Photoshop and alter/design the final image(s) there. Then I drop that image into InDesign (if the piece is text-heavy) and finish the text there. This project will work the same way and I think by adding a small amount of illustrations, it will add interest to the design. I'm also going to add an additional image into the background for each sign.

I'm pretty excited about this project because I'm using (and expanding) a wide-range of skills for it - writing, design (all of CS3) and advertising. This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for in this grad school program.

A solid concept...I hope

Now that my rough draft (emphasis on the rough) is completed, I thought that it would be a good idea to put my idea into my blog. I hope I've gotten this concept right. Here's a summary explaining the assignment and my interpretation/execution of it:

We had to create two signs for a food market (I chose Broad Street Market in Harrisburg.) Each sign had to sell one kind of fruit. Of the two fruits, one had to be exotic (I chose mango), the other had to be ordinary/common (I chose tomato.) We had to compare and contrast the fruits (to each other) in our signs. One sign had to compare, the other had to contrast (that was the difficult/out-of-the-box part.)

The theme I chose was salsa- mangos for tropical fruit salsa (sweet!) and tomatoes for traditional salsa (spicy!) and went from there. I'm comparing mangos because tomatoes are the typical ingredient in salsa, but hey! - Mangos make good salsa, too! I'm contrasting tomatoes because while mangos are the most eaten fresh fruit all over the world, tomatoes are the most consumed fruit (because of all of the recipes they are found in.) And of course, this all has to fit on a 5x7 sign with tightly written ad copy. I'm including a few interesting facts about each fruit, along with (of course) a salsa recipe for each fruit on its respective sign. The recipe will be on a tear-off card that is mounted to the sign (I'm hoping that this is okay.)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm focusing heavily on typography. I've decided to go with a very clean look, using fruit glamour shots that I took myself. Overall, I'm happy with the initial design, but it's still very rough and I know I'll have a lot of tweaks for the comp/final phases. But I definitely think that I have a good start to this project.

Fruitastic

I like assignments about food. It gives me an excuse to eat. And I love to eat. So far today, I have consumed two pears, a mojito mango smoothie, a tomato and mozzarella panini and chips with tropical fruit salsa. All in the name of research and inspiration. I'm feeling a little full and I think I'm on a bit of a sugar high, but I've definitely come up with some viable ideas for the project.