My Carton Design for Baby Cakes cupcakes (a fictional company):

Design:

Final Product:

Helvetica Assignment

Where does Helvetica originate from? What country? 

Munchenstein, Switzerland

What does the original name mean? What is it's translation in English?

Helvetica means "The Swiss Typeface"

What year was Helvetica created? 

1957

What is the design style that Helvetica brought to popularity worldwide? 

Clarity and modernness in art; getting the point across. Angular, simple design.

List the names of 3 different design styles or design movements that are discussed in the film. 

The Modern Movement, the Post Modern Movement, and Grunge.

Write about some of the insight about design you have taken away from the film. You can provide quotes if you like.

• Meaning is in the words, not necessarily the type face. (simplicity)
• However, organization and clarity of the type does not mean that it conveys the message. (emotion)

Where can examples of Helvetica be seen? Can you spot some examples on our own campus? 

Name 4 Designers that appear in the film. Look them up and show examples of their work, research and provide links to websites and any biographical information about them.

David Carson

        David Carson was born on September 8th, 1954. He graduated college from San Diego State University with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology. He was a professional surfer, and in 1989 was ranked 9th in the world. In 1983 he began experimenting with graphic design, and he subsequently attended the Oregon College of Commercial Art. He worked at several magazines: Transworld Skateboarding, Transworld Snowboarding, Beach Culture, and HOW, until 1992, when he became a design editor for the magazine Reg Gun. Just five years later, in 1997, he left Ray Gun to open his own studio, David Carson Designs, in NYC, which he has since moved to Charlestown, SC for personal reasons. His website is:  http://www.davidcarsondesign.com. 

Paula Scher

          Paula Scher was born October 6th, 1948 in Washington, D.C. She attended the Tyler School of Art and graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts. She worked at CBS Records and their competitor, Atlantic Records, for ten years designing album covers as the artistic director. In 1984, she co-founded Kopple & Scher, her design company. In 1991, she joined Pentagram, a London-based design company, an in 1992, she began teaching at the School of Visual Arts, as well as at other institutions. She has designed numerous posters for the The Public Theater and Shakespeare in Central Park. Her website is:  http://www.paulascher.com.

Michael C. Place

          Michael C. Place was born in 1969 in North Yorkshire, England, and he attended New Castle College. He first worked at Bite It!, London, before switching to The Designers Republic, Sheffield in 1992. While with these companies, he worked mostly on album covers. In 2001, nine years later, he opened his own design studio, Build, which is based in London. He works mostly in made-for-print design.

Lars Muller

Lars Muller was born in 1955 in the city of Oslo, Norway. He has been based in Switzerland since 1963. Between 1963 and 1982, Muller studied in the United States and Holland and worked at an apprenticeship. He returned to Switzerland in 1982, when he created his studio in Baden. In 1996 he has been a partner at "Integral Concept," an international, interdisciplinary design studio. Muller is also an educator, and he teaches at colleges in Europe as well as guest lecturing. In addition, Muller began publishing books a variety of design subjects in 1983 and has published some 300 titles as Lars Muller Publishers. His website is:  http://www.lars-mueller-publishers.com/en/.

Hand Lettering (I made these myself)

3 Point Perspective

1, 2, and 3 Point Perspective (left to right)

Design Principals and Elements

• building blocks of design
• design elements - basic units of a visual image
• design principals - govern relationships of elements and organization of the composition as a whole
• any art can be broken down into elements and principals

Design Elements

1. Space - exists in 2D and 3D, positive or negative - "white space"
1. fore-, mid-, background
2. Line - write, illustrate, give illusion of height/shape
3. Color - emotion, place, time
4. Shape - identify, create links in mind
5. Texture - implied texture
1. used for emphasis, depth, to pull people in
6. Value - illusion of depth, shading - difference b/t light and dark areas

Design Principals - guidelines, not rules (flexible)

1. Unity - creates sens of order, consistency, shape
1. often used w/ proximity - unity/ disruption of unity
2. Variety - similar yet different
3. Repetition
4. Harmony - things look like they're in their place, like they are meant to be there
5. Proximity - line things up, make it easy for the eye to follow
6. Proportion/ Scale

Functionality

• look good v. serving a purpose
• don't be artistic if it gets in the way of communication

Type Face Portrait

Sugar Skull Design

Design Typography

LEGIBILITY is key!

Serif v. Sans Serif

• Serif: little tails on ends of letters
• Serif - easier to read when little (10-12 pt)

Fonts

• too many spoil the design - use about 3 distinctly different fonts
• don't use fonts that are too similar - hard to tell emphasis (needs contrast)
• all caps = shouting, hard to read - use upper and lower case
• unless part of design

Paragraph Alighnment

• left, center, right
• newspapers - rags alligned, pushes letters out to edges
• center, right = hard to read, a little ok
• keep mostly to left

Emphasis

• italics, bold, size, color
• last resort - typestyle change
• avoid streaching/distorting type - ruins integrity 
• use shift key + scale

Balance

• symetrical or asymetrical - percieved

Miscelenious

• Headlines - Sans serif fonts
• Body/Content - Serif
• Don't write smaller than 6 pt font

Color Theory Lecture Summary

      There are three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. By mixing these colors, we can make secondary colors. For example, by mixing blue and yellow, we get green, a secondary color. The next color step, tertiary colors, is achieved by mixing either two secondary colors or a secondary color with a primary color. Following these models, we can create an infinite number of colors.
      There are two types of colors: additive color and subtractive color. Additive color is the process of creating colors by layering different colored light. This is used most commonly in electronic screens, where red, blue, and green (the primary additive colors) are used to create all other colors. The more colors of light added, the lighter the new color is (mixing all three primary additive colors creates white light). Subtractive color is the process of mixing something with pigment (e.i. anything that is not light) to create all other colors. If all the primary colors are mixed, they create black.
      Colors are everywhere, and they affect us in our everyday lives. Color can invoke a mood, location, or emotion. It can make a person feel angry or happy. Or in the mood to buy. On average, 73% of purchases are made in-store, influenced by the colorful packaging of products. Colors can also affect each other. Color intensity in particular affects color, causing the same color to appear lighter or darker depending on it's surroundings.

Examples of Images:

Greyscale

Monotone

Complimentary Colors

Rubber Ducks Swatch Pallett