Monday, December 3, 2012

Last Minute Details

Please be here at 8 am sharp for our final Critique!

• Follow the brief and bring all the necessary pieces of your project

• Bring your digital files (Organize them into Fonts, Final Files-(ai, psd and PDFs), Links and Thumbnails folders)

• Come ready to sell your product, and to question other products using elements and principles of design.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!


PS. I will bring breakfast!

BEFORE AND AFTER BOARD



Sunday, November 25, 2012

Getting ready for tomorrow

Hello! Hope you had a great break!
Please take a look at the brief's timeline (revised) and come prepared for tomorrow. I need to see your 3D package WITH digital design as refined as you can. I expect everyone to have a final package for Wednesday after tomorrow's feedback. Also, please don't forget about the advertisements thumbnails.

See you tomorrow morning!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Advertising Techniques

 A brief look into the advertising world...


The best psychologists and profilers in the world are hired by advertising firms to get into our heads. Nothing in an ad is accidental, and it is all designed to manipulate us, to mold our behavior and make us consume.  We’re manipulated by our very environment to consume. Advertising uses several methods to get into our heads. 

Appeals
Humans have certain needs that never go away, no matter the time. We have a need for food, companion ships, shelter, and many basic things. Advertisers study and exploit these needs. They appeal to our most basic psychic needs to make us want to consume. Below is a list of several basic needs we have; several things they appeal to

Appeal to Nostalgia/Shared Memories
• childhood memories: childhood television icons, older advertisements, and even old war propaganda. 

Appeal to Belonging
• We all want to belong to a larger social group and acceptance: large families or groups of friends come together to show off clothes, drink beer, eat McDonalds, or even have a soda.

Appeal to Love/Sexual Satisfaction
• Blues Brothers, “everybody needs somebody to love”:  happy couples,couples engaged in sex or suggesting sexual promiscuity.
          
Appeal to Status/Power
• We are all motivated by ideas of success: cars or luxury items such as watches, nice homes, or expensive vacations.

Appeal to Safety
• We all want to feel safe: SUV or set of tires will protect our family, or home alarm will save us from break ins and even terror itself. 

Appeal to Sustenance
• We need food: great photos of delicious food late at night!

Appeal to Feeling Attractive/Healthy
• We wan to be fit and attractive: Subway guy loosing weight, sexy people wearing clothes.
Devices
Many of the propaganda devices below sort of overlap with the basic appeals from above. These techniques have all been developed in the past century, and most of them were made during World War I and World War II in war propaganda. They were effective enough to get women to join the workforce and men to volunteer to die. If they are this powerful, they can surely get us to go get a burger or buy a coke from a vending machine.


Slogans/Jingles
•  “Just do it” slogan. This propaganda technique is amazing at fostering brand recognition.

Name Calling
• Coke attacks Pepsi, Tide attacks Joy, Crest attacks Colgate. They don’t prove how good a product is, but how bad another product is instead.

Glittering Generalities/Faulty Logic
• “Better Formula,” or “Improved.” These are incomplete comparisons. These are general and vague, but make us feel that a product is better or improved in a real way.
          
Transfer
• Celebrity: Michael Jordan’s Ball Park Franks or Beyonce’s Pepsi,
• Sex: Often, these are print ads for clothes, liquor, or smokes.
• Miraculous: "Running shoes which let you run on water." This basic technique lets you know that a product is more than good—it’s divine.
• Patriotism: American flag waving behind the CNN news logo, or a country singer praising Ford F150’s as being American. 

Mascots:
• Uncle Sam, Coke's fat Santa, Taco Bell Chihuahua and the Geiko lizard...

Comedy
• If something makes us laugh, it stands out over the hours of boring ads we digest. 

Eye Candy
• Sexy supermodels, bright colors, and interesting lettering in print ads.  If we are drawn to an unusual ad, we commit to it, take it in, and remember it.

Testimonial
• 4 out of 5 dentists recommend Crest, so it must be good, right? 

Sex Appeal
• Sexy people, sexy music, sexy cars, subliminal sexual images (picture Britney Spears being hugged by a giant snake…). Sex sells, and it’s everywhere. Either explicit or implicit, nude or semi-nude models of either sex will sell.

Final Thoughts
There are many other ways that advertisers get to us (Demographics, the VALS system, subliminal advertising, etc.), but this is plenty for this project's objectives. These techniques seem a bit obvious and over the top once you read about them, but they work. They work on us every day and every night. Millions upon millions of times each day, these basic appeals make corporate America billions of dollars.


Info by: J. David Moton


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yes... I know this holiday is a bit deceiving!
You are suppose to have this week off, but you also have all your projects due 1-2 weeks after that!!!! So much for relaxing!
Please feel free to email me your designs and pictures as you develop them... You will be behind if you wait for feedback until next class.

I will do my best to respond daily!


Project 4 Brief has been revised

In an effort to get more quality than quantity, I would like to slightly modify the requirements for Project 4. I have updated the actual brief, so you can refer to it from the link on the right.

I have requested ONE ad instead of three and also revised the timeline to match the revised schedule.

Please read the brief carefully and note the 3 boards requested.

Feel free to email me with any questions.

Updated Semester Schedule

Please refer to this updated schedule instead of the one currently on the syllabus:

11.19 & 11.21  –  THANKSGIVING BREAK - No class

11.26  –  Project #4 workday
              * Prototype refinements with 3D prototypes and 2D wrapped graphics
              * ≥10 sketches of your product advertisement

11.28  –  Project #4 workday
              * 3D models finalized
              * Ad photographs aproved
              * Ad refinement

12.03  –  Project #4 workday
               * Project #4 Pin up of Ads and 3D models
               * Refinements

12.05  –  Project # 4 due: Presentation and Critique

              * Statements and CD’s are due for project # 4

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

ABSENCES: a big issue

Please come talk to me next class to find out how many absences you have.

Two lates = one absence.
Three Absences = one letter grade lower than what you actually receive.

This is a college-wide rule and is implemented automatically. Please be mindful of your presence in class, as MANY of you will not have a grade that reflects your abilities. You don't want to explain that your grades reflects absences... It doesn't look good either way!!!

We are almost at the end of the semester (4 weeks away), so please make an extra effort!

:(


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Packaging Links

From Kirsten Taylor - Unique and creative packaging

Second try..  site may be down
http://www.thedieline.com/


Another neat site:
http://www.boredpanda.com/creative-product-packaging-part3/


From Michelle Parkos - 3D Shapes

http://www.korthalsaltes.com/


More General Visuals:

http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/

http://www.packagingserved.com/


Project 3 - Book Critique





Monday, October 15, 2012

Book List


Lloyd Parker
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

Pat Riley [pat.riley09@gmail.com]
Island by Aldous Huxley 


Tyler Merritt
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Nikiya Brown
 "The Magic Sneakers" by Robert J. Evans.

Brenna Morrissey
"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle, Julia Child

David Garner
"Their Eyes were watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

Kirsten Taylor
Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck

Aaronda Hargrett
The Kiss by Danielle Steel

Vy Vu
"The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks

Daniel Kim
The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny

Amanda Satrape
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Courtney Jackson
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Alice Chung
1984 by George Orwell

Woody trend
"Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

Kristen Williams
Trouble Don't Last by Shelley Pearson

Timothy Shaughnessy
Dune by Frank Herbert

Deseri Rice
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Rebecca leighprice
Matilda by Ronald Dahl

Michelle Parkos
Paper Towns by John Green

Zainab Ayaz
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

Cristina Galarraga
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Sydney-Sharrein Henry
The Black Dahila by James Elroy. 

Anthony Rundles
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Malcolm X, Alex Haley (As Told to)

Illustrator Tutorials from Michelle Parkos

http://webexpedition18.com/articles/20-superb-adobe-illustrator-tutorials/

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Resource and Book Titles!

Please don't forget to send me your book title! I should have had them by yesterday!


Here is a book cover resource:

http://bookcoverarchive.com/

Monday, October 8, 2012

Project 2 Results

Hello Students,

Overall, the main issues we need to improve is: following project criteria, process/work in class, and typography. To solve criteria, simply read the project brief! All the information you need is there. On process, if you work in class, refining your project, I have a chance to give you feedback and hopefully get you to a better place. No process = no feedback! Finally, for those of you who have not taken typography, I posted suggested readings in the beginning of the semester. We also had a couple of lectures on typography and hierarchy... I suggested you take some time to familiarize yourself a bit more with type, as it is a major part of design!

Here are the results for project 2:























Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Great Participation by most in CRITIQUE!

Yes!!!
I am very happy that participation was a major part of our critique today!! Thank you for those of you who came prepared. Keep practicing you elements and principles of design and your artistic vocabulary.

I appreciate your effort in following the project criteria and producing beautiful, successful posters!

Last Day to Withdraw - October 9th

Hello Students,

I was incorrect when I stated the withdraw date was the 5th. Thank you Zanaib for bringing that to my attention! In fact, this is great news as it will allow me to have your grades and all information you need before the withdraw date.

On Monday, we will stay with the plan of going over your records, thus giving you a better idea of where you stand with grades and absences.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Type Resource from Zanaib!

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1664719/infographic-of-the-day-why-should-you-care-about-typography?partner=homepage_newsletter

Reminders for Next Week

Hello students,

Just want to remind everyone what is due next week. If you have not turned in your mood boards and your Exercise 5 (Creative Process), please email me these files in PDF as soon as possible for partial credite.
On Monday, please bring a draft (color print) of your posters for the Pin Up and casual peer review. We will work in refining any details during the rest of the class. If I have not seen and approved a thumbnail from you as of yet, you need to email me your drawn idea by the end of the day friday, so that you can move on to illustrator.

On Wednesday, come ready for our critique! Get in class before 8am with your board and brief. Don't forget to also transfer your files to Shared S,pace that morning and to come prepared to participate and to use the elements and principles of design during critique.

Have a great weekend and see you Monday!