Dixie Cups - May 11 (Extra)

This is the logo and product design for the original Dixie cups. The function of this design is to give the cups a playful and clean feel. The Dixie logo was designed by Saul Bass, and he designed the cup design for Dixie cups shortly after. I used Dixie cups all the time when I was younger, and I found it interesting to find out that such a well-known graphic designer designed the packaging and logo for these cups. Since the main users of these cups are probably children, the cups have a very fun, bright, and playful theme to them. They also use smooth edges which make them look more appealing. I always tend to lean towards simpler designs, so these really caught my eye. I also liked how the cup design sort of implements the same flower-like pattern that is seen in the logo. It brings the two together well, in a very natural way.

I found this design in the book "Saul Bass: A life in film & design" by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham

Google Icons - May 11 (Extra)

This is a collection of the default Google app icons made in 2015. The function of these designs is to give a clean, contemporary feel to an Android device's home screen. Being an Android user, I am used to these icons, and I really like their simplistic, modern feel. The designer was probably trying to catch up to Apple in terms of simplicity. Apple has always had a cleaner design, and Android has always been better spec-wise. Google and Android decided to simplify a lot of their uglier, dated icons and give them a colorful, smooth, clean, and contemporary look. These helped Android have a much better user experience, simply by the way your home screen looks.

I found these in the GraphisDesignAnnual 2015.

Funny Design - May 9 (Extra for final blog)

This is an ad for "Nonuts" peanut butter. The function of this ad is to attract people to the product and show how desirable this peanut butter is. Nonuts peanut butter is a spread that tastes like peanut butter, but contains no nuts. The purpose of this product is to be peanut butter for those who are allergic to it. The designer does a great job creating a funny and attractive design with his use of an unrealistic situation. He shows a squirrel with the entire jar in its mouth to show how this squirrel likes it, despite containing no nuts, and couldn't resist eating the whole thing. I found this design very captivating - so much so that I had to view it just by the image. It also is a silly and kid-friendly design, which is useful because many consumers are likely children. The designer also uses colors that remind me of the color of nuts (tannish-yellow colors), which makes me a little hungry since I enjoy peanuts a lot. The designer is effective in showcasing the product in an appealing and captivating way.

Communication arts magazine

Bad Design - May 3

This is a photo of a "Full cream milk" box. I'm really not sure what the function of this packaging is, because it is super unappealing. To be sold in the present day would be a disgrace to packaging. The box uses an incredibly saturated green that messes with your eyes just looking at it. The illustration of flowers doesn't really have anything to do with the fact that the container is for milk. And the overall art style of the box, especially the illustration, is very retro and feels like a 1940's or 1950's box, not one that should be used (or seen) in the present.

Communication arts magazine

Retro Design - Apr. 26

This is an advertisement for a fabric brand called Perennials. The function of this ad is to show how long-lasting the fabrics Perennials sells are. The image shows a man who looks like he's just finished a war, standing on a pile of pillows made with Perennials fabrics. The whole design looks very rough and beaten down, but the pillows still look smooth and nice. The designer does a good job of showing how the fabric lasts a long time by creating the contrast between the pillows and the rest of the art. The pillows have a bright color while the image has a dull color, and the pillows look smooth and the image looks rough. I chose this image because it has a very retro feel to it. It uses post-war elements that remind me of the very early 1900's, like something you would see around WWI or WWII.

Communication arts magazine

Contemporary Design - Apr. 19

This is an ad for Oreo cookies. The function of the ad is to make Oreo cookies look like a unique flavor experience, where by eating them, you are "discovering". The ad is part of the Oreo "Wonder" experience. The goal of the campaign is probably to showcase all the flavors of Oreos and how you can have a great eating experience with them. What stood out to me, though, was the illustration. It is a great contemporary design that showcases an Oreo cookie, surrounded by a bunch of other circles filled with patterns. Through this great illustration, the designer gives off a very fun feel, which is probably very attractive to Oreo fans, especially younger children. I liked the simplistic and colorful contemporary feel that the design gives off, and it helped grab my attention with the minimalism. I'm not sure if the designer did the best job making Oreos look "Adventurous" or filled with "Wonder", but they did do a great job of grabbing your attention and making the cookie look very appealing.

Taken from Communication Arts Magazine

Identity Design - Apr. 12

This is an advertisement for Ziploc bags. The function of this design is to show the chaos that can ensue when you don't have proper containers to store things in - like ziploc bags. The designer captures your attention by creating a huge mess that instantly captures your attention. He then places the classic Ziploc logo right in the middle of the mess to show what the ad is about and what you need to solve the big mess problem. I found it really cool how the logo looks nice and clean right in the center of the giant mess. That probably can represent how clean things will be if you have the right containers to store things with many small parts. The designer does a great job presenting a large problem and the proper solution to the problem in a way that captures your attention.

Taken from Communication Arts Magazine

Digital Media Design - Apr. 5

This is a super bowl ad for Budweiser beer. The function of this commercial was to showcase the journey the company's founder took to start the Anheiser-Busch company and brew such a famous beer. I liked the short-film style visuals the filmmaker used. The entire ad also has a very historic feel to it, including the classic Budweiser logo (and text going along with it) at the end. The filmmaker wanted to give the ad an adventurous feel and show how tough it was for the founder to come to the US and start his company. Giving the film a dirty, gritty feel with the use of intense tones, fire, and darkness adds to the overall feel. The filmmaker does a good job of accomplishing the goal of showing how much work was put into starting this massive company. That also can help viewers realize how much work and thought was put into their products.

I saw this on TV while watching the Super Bowl

Foreign Design - Mar. 29

This design appears to be a French design. While I can't read the full design, the function of the ad appears to be showing someone being strangled by businessmen, likely referring to mail in the mailboxes he is by. I really like the photography and overall visuals in this ad. It has a very cinematic feel to it, and looks almost like it would be a movie cover or poster. The metaphor behind the design might be to show the man being consumed by advertisements and sales pitches from the mail, which is something that is common to everyone. People are always trying to sell us things, and the artist does a good job of showing that with the design. I feel as though he does a good enough job of sending the message across, that you don't even need to be able to read the text.

Taken from Communication Arts Magazine

Creative Visual Concept - Mar. 22

This is an advertisement for a special "Flexible" type of Band Aids. The function of this ad is to show how flexible and strong these band aids are. When buying band aids, people tend to want ones that will stay on and protect their injury, while not getting in the way and being uncomfortable. The designer of this ad shows the incredible Hulk with a band aid on. In the Hulk comics and movies, Hulk is a normal guy that turns into the big green Hulk everyone knows. Knowing this, a viewer would know that Hulk gets a lot bigger when he turns into the green superhero. The band aid in the ad looks like it's still on strong, even though it got stretched out a lot. I found this ad very creative because of the funny use of a superhero in the ad. I think the designer's work on this ad is effective in showing the strength of the product, which is what he was going for.

Taken from Communication Arts Magazine

Creative Typography - Mar. 15

This is an advertisement for a company called Jashanmal books. The function of this ad appears to be to show off either the company's simplistic book covers, or to show off the fact that they offer many classic novels. I selected this ad because of its creative use of typography. The designer manipulated the text to reflect something about the book (sort of like Chip Kidd does with his entire covers). In the Sherlock Holmes book cover, the designer turned the "O" and the "L" into a magnifying glass. In the "TKAM" cover, he made the "I" in "Kill" look like a dead person - who was obviously killed. And in the Moby Dick cover, he made the "Y" and "D" look like a whale. I found these simplistic advertisements very interesting to look at with the use of making images out of typography. I think that the designer is effective in both capturing viewer's attention and giving a glimpse into maybe what the book is about through his use of typography.

Taken from Communication Arts Magazine

Whole Foods - Mar. 14 (Extra for midterm)

This Whole Foods ad was pulled from the September - October 2016 issue of Communication Arts. The function of the design is to show that Whole Foods contains many fresh, hand-harvested, organic foods. The designer uses photography for most of the design, while only adding the Whole Foods logo on digitally. He makes the majority of the design green, to give a natural, lively, organic, fresh feel. The color green gives the feeling of life and freshness, which is what he wanted to show about the food you can find at Whole Foods. He also shows two women picking vegetables (or fruits) that would be found at Whole Foods. It gives the impression that their food is grown and sold with love, as opposed to commercial harvesting of foods, which can often lower the quality of the food. The designer uses emphasis with the logo being in contrast with the sky, and centered on the design, while having the viewer create implications on their own.

Canada Music - Mar. 14 (Extra for midterm)

I found this design in the September - October 2016 issue of Communication Arts. The function of this design is to showcase elements of the nature in Canada through music. The designer makes five lines with leaves placed throughout the lines to resemble music notes. In this design, he uses natural (green) colors to give a fresh, lively, and friendly feeling. It also gives off a good mood to positively represent the music and culture of Canada. The notes are made up of objects commonly found in Canada to show that the music is Canadian. The artist has a series of this design about Canadian music, and each one contains notes made up of different things you can commonly find in Canada (geese, mountains, flowers, etc...), and he writes on the bottom about how Canadian musicians create brilliant music. I found this ad cool, because my favorite band of all time, Rush, is Canadian, so I have a big appreciation for Canadian music.

Unity - Feb. 8

This is an image I took from the September - October 2016 issue of Communication Arts magazine. The purpose of this design is probably to give off a seductive, or sexy feel by the artist. This art was created using a bunch of small beads or colored balls, and put together to create a woman's mouth contrasted on a blue and yellow(ish) background. It shows unity by the wide variety of colored balls and the specific organization working together to create a large image. The design as a whole contains many small parts, but when looked at together, it is harmonious and pleasing to the eye. The designer did an effective job of creating a complete image with all the small parts, as well as making different parts of the piece, including the teeth, the lips, and the background which is in contrast to the mouth.

Illustration - Mar. 8

This is an ad that I took from the September - October 2016 of Communication Arts magazine. It is an ad for the popular musical Hamilton. I personally haven't seen the musical, but I enjoyed the illustration of the logo that the artist created. The function of the logo (as far as I can tell, based off of the plot summary) is to capture a viewer's attention with its bold design, as well as to show that Alexander Hamilton, a lesser-known founding father (compared to others like Thomas Jefferson or George Washington) is truly important to history, and is a "star". The Hamilton logo shows a silhouette of Alexander Hamilton standing on top of part of a star, as he forms the upper point of that star. The artist made the logo very simple by making it solid black, but also uses emphasis by making the star very large, compared to Hamilton himself, and contrasting it with the background - (in most ads too) a slightly-yellowed color to look like old paper. The illustration has a premium feel to it, which makes me more interested in the musical. It gives Alexander Hamilton a pedestal to stand on, making him a star, and makes him more relevant and important-sounding. This logo illustration also makes him look like a hero.

Simplicity - Mar. 1

This is the iconic Apple logo created by Rob Janoff. Its function is to show the name of the company off through a very simple illustration, while also showcasing the modern and progressive contemporary feel of Apple products. I found it on the Apple website while looking at my inspirations for the website mock-up, but I have seen it in countless magazines, billboards, and ads. The Apple logo is one of the most iconic and well-known logo designs of all time. Because of the reputation Apple has, the popularity of their products, and the quality of their marketing, the Apple logo is everywhere we go. It is always a solid color (no gradients or shading) - either black, white, or gray - and only consists of two simple shapes. It is set apart from any old apple shape with the bite taken out of the side. It is a logo that is recognizeable because of the reputation of the company. The logo gives off a friendly feel, and displays a contemporary feel, even though it is only made of two shapes and is incredibly simple.

Typography - Feb. 22

This design was taken from the Nov - Dec 2015 issue of Communication Arts magazine. The function of this ad is to capture the viewer's attention and inform them that kids are curious and will carelessly play with dangerous things if they find them. I am all for our rights to bear arms, but it is common sense to keep your guns in a safe, locked up place, since children could easily find them if they weren't in a secret place. The ad grabs your attention through its use of typography and through the objects the children are playing with - condoms. The designer places simple type, which contrasts with the background wall colors, across the center of the design, so that it's the first thing you see. The designer also uses bright colored condoms to look like toys that the children have found and are playing with. The designer also created more similar ads like this, all of which showcase children playing with things they should not be playing with. The designer uses simple text with effective wording to get their point across to viewers that makes you think for a second, but then realize the truth behind their message.

Emphasis - Feb. 15

This ad was taken from the Nov-Dec 2015 issue of Communication Arts magazine. The function of this ad is to spread awareness about sexual assault and to share (sad but true) statistics about this issue. The designer uses emphasis in this design through large, bold type and through contrasting colors. When you look at both images, the first thing you probably see is the large, red "X" in the background, which both grabs a viewer's attention, and gives the message that sexual assault is NOT okay. You also see the message very clearly, especially the eye-catching title in the upper ad which says "REAL MEN RAPE". It catches your attention and makes you ask "Why would they say this?", until you read the rest of the message beneath. The designer is very effective in using emphasis in this design, and the tone it gives off definitely gets his point across.