MDMFA Design Challenges
Personal Logo
Original Logo Design
This was the first design project I attempted when I first joined the Media Design Master Degree program. This was completed in September of 2015. I've not worked on this piece since it's conception, but I look forward to revisiting the project as I'm completing my degree. I will look to my personal branding statement and seek to redesign the logo in a way that is complimentary.
Updated Logo Design
This is an update of my personal brand logo. I chose a pentagon shape as a connection to my time serving in the Army. I added depth with a subtle drop shadow on the brass foiled pentagon. I chose a design that was clean and award like to suggest quality. Finally, for the treatment for the typography I chose a typeface that was wider and had more curvature to offset the more annual geometric shapes.
Designer Infographic Project
Preliminary infographic design
This was preliminary solution for my Designers Infographic. Using in Adobe Illustrator I wanted a create a quick way to identify a designer and some characteristics about their work and influences. I associated each designer with a color and made an icon out of their silhouettes.
Final Designer Timeline Infographic
Expanding upon my initial design I wanted to affect a more mid-century style when I updated the infographic. The more industrial typography was replace with something less stark and greater flow. I added a slight cardboardesque underlay to give a vintage look throughout the poster. Examples of each designers work were added as reference. Color saturation was toned down and timelines added for each designer.
Updated Designer Timeline Infographic
I took this opputunity in reviewing my portfolio to rework my Graphic Designer infographic poster. I chose to opt for a more hand arranged look this time around. Switching to a landscape ratio over a portrait ratio allowed for a number of improvements. It is now easier to visually take in the totality of the piece. On screens it eliminates scrolling but in print it will be easier to see the hierarchy of the information displayed. More care was given to utilize negative space which lets the poster "breathe". Extraneous information has been eliminated which allowed reorganization that provides a natural left to right reading of the information.
Romeo and Juliet Poster
Romeo and Juliet Poster Rough Sketches
Three possible treatments were prepared as rough sketches for this poster. Its status as perhaps the most famous love story led me to chose the heart iconography as the base each of the three posters. The first example featured canted text with the names running perpendicular to each other to foreshadow the impending collision of the titular characters worlds. The third poster used the vertical text as a way to create maximum space between the characters names. This was done to give the impression of each side pitted against each other to represent the conflict of their families.
Romeo and Juliet Final Poster
The third concept was chosen to further develop into the final poster for The Royle Shakespeare Company's production of Romeo and Juliet. Black and white were chosen for opposite sides of the poster to reflect the opposition of the Capulet and Montague families. The heart was extruded to add dimension and in a way evoke the blooming of a flower to symbolize the budding love between Romeo and Juliet. The typography at the top of the poster was chosen to work well on both the black and white fields on each side of the poster. The reversed gradient contained within the heart itself points to the short mixing of the main characters lives.
Celebrity Testimonial Ad
Testimonial Ad Progression
In the first example testimonial copy was finalized for a direct mail postcard. After further examination the I realized I did not care for the position of the Arthritis Research Institute of America logo. The logo felt disconnected from the text and the call to action. Moving the branding of the organization to the other side of the post card gave it the prominence it deserved. I also made Hulk Hogan's catchphrase larger to draw greater attention. As I continued to revise the piece I caught a typo that was made in the web address. Had that not been corrected before going to print it would have proven devastating to the campaign.
Testimonial Ad Final Piece
The final version of the testimonial saw a few significant changes. The logo was increased in size providing legibility that was lacking in the original product. Hulk Hogan's catchphrase was given a dramatic increase in size as a way to instant garner the readers attention. Along with its in creased size the catchphrase was moved directly above the body copy. This decision solved two problems. First, it tied it more directly to the rest of the copy. It served to unite the stylized text to the body copy which was lacking in earlier versions. Second, it solved a visual issue that was created when the text was separated. While the final image has Hulk Hogan casting a more pensive look across the piece the earlier renditions almost made it appear as though he was trying to look though a tunnel created by the separate sections of text. Finally, the call to action was redesigned to be less wordy and more direct.
