I was tasked to create a gig poster for the imaginary band “Navie.” They are a girl band that writes country love songs. My goal for the poster was that the audience would immediately recognize that the poster is promoting a country band. My second objective for this poster is that it reflects a feeling of love and happiness. To accomplish this goal, I knew I wanted the colors to be warm toned and consist of primarily pinks, red, and oranges to represent love and happiness. When I thought about this band I imagined open plains, flower fields, and simple beauty. I thought about a cowgirl and the plaid shirt she might wear. I took all these ideas and combined them together as my inspiration.  

In the first drafting stage focused on using basic shapes to create the structure of the watch. I also was careful about using rulers and guides to ensure that everything in the watch was symmetrical. The rotate and reflect tools proved to be extremely helpful in this process. I also found a font that was similar to the brand Vincero. I did the roman numeral styles letters on my own using rectangles. I was very pleased with how my watch was coming together after the first draft. 

I tried my best to color match the knob from the watch photo and then added a gradient above it. This little knob took me a long time to do. It was difficult to add multiple different gradients on top of lots of little, tiny pieces. However, after reaching out to a few peers for help I was able to accomplish my goal.  

After hours of work and fine editing this is my final result. I am happy with the way it turned out and think that it looks like a photorealistic watch. I focused on using warm, rich colors and using multiple layers and masks to give the watch a subtle but realistic metal look. I was able to add highlights or shadows in specific areas by using the draw inside tool.  I gained a greater capacity to problem solve and feel more comfortable in Illustrator. I learned how to use tools such as masks, contrast, blurs, textures and gradients. I also really loved the texture I found and made the biggest difference in making it look photo realistic. There is obvious improvement from the first draft to the final and I am happy with the result. I cannot wait to continue expanding my Illustrator skills!  

When I think of a summer in Idaho one word comes to my mind- adventure! Because of Idaho’s large mountain range, national parks, and beautiful scenery I knew that many of my icons would encapsulate the outdoors in some way. I live in a small town in Idaho, where everyone is so calm, happy, and enjoys the simple life! Because of that I did not want to make the icons appear too complicated with lots of detail. My objective was to reflect happiness, simplicity and enjoyment of living in this great state. The process of creating these icons included sketching, designing, more sketching, peer feedback, and multiple rounds of revision. Let’s look at these steps in greater detail.

Program Used: Illustrator

I began with a brainstorming session. I listed a bunch of ideas that came to my mind when I thought about the summer. Then I sketched out 25 different variations of my favorite ideas from the list. During sketching I tried not to overthink or be too complicated with my designs. I wanted them to be simple and easily recognizable. I also did not want any overly sharp edges. Summertime to me means a worry-free state of mind. I did not want these icons to feel tight or trapped in, so I tried to avoid any hard lines or corners in my design process.  

Feedback & more drafting

After the first draft I received some feedback which included: simplifying the bark, changing the toasted part of the marshmallow, working on how the handlebar attaches to the paddle, adding thicker strokes to the paddles and changing all the other strokes so that the darker color was on the outside. A lighter stroke on the outside, like on the mountains, gives off a glowy look and that is not what I wanted. So, after some more work this is what the second draft looked like:

One icon that was especially hard for me to nail down was the roasted marshmellow. Here was my process:

The original ad is very dark. Everything has a black shadow around it except for the Converse in the center. The main colors that stand out in this ad are red, blue, and white. The color, darkness, and grainy look to the photo give this advertisement a very retro aesthetic. Although red and blue are typically bright, bold colors they are muted in the original ad. The bright white text pops against the dark background and makes the headline stand out even more.

All of the text in the original ad is in the same font. It is a Sans Serif type face because it lacks the extra stokes at the ends of the letters and is monoweight. It is very straight, clean and modern. However, it also has elements of a decorative typeface as well. The font looks like paint or a marker. There are parts where the text is more opaque. It is a very style specific font. I think that this was a specific design choice that contributes to the rough, street-style look of this advertisement.

The design principles of proximity & alignment work together in this advertisement. There are two large size lines in the center of the advertisement that make up the headline. These two lines are close together in proximity, meaning they have a relation to one another. And they do! The proximity of the two lines lets the reader know subconsciously that they are meant to be read together. The center alignment on this large set of text is bold and makes the text stand out. In contrast, the campaign title in the bottom right corner is small and does not align with the headline. The difference in size in combination with the difference in alignment signals that this information is less important. It does not stand out; rather it sinks into the background almost unnoticed. Furthermore, these two sections of text have a large proximity, meaning they are really far away from one another. This distance means the two sections are not correlated and should not be read together. The designer made the most important message (the headline) have the closest proximity, largest size, and gave it a center alignment to make it stand out and be the first thing that the audience reads.

This new ad I created is similar in color. This advertisement has a very rough look to it. The colors are not very vibrant and has an overall dark look to it. The brightest part of the advertisement is the Converse in the center. I tried to replicate that same thing. In the new ad the white, yet dirty, Converse are placed front and center to draw attention. The original ad contains three primary colors, red, blue, white, and then a darker background. The new image I chose also has many of these same colors contained within the various surrounding shoes. As you can see in the draw over the colors are not overly bright and is fairly simple. 

I could not find the exact same font for the new advertisement, however I tried to find similar styles. In the new ad creation, I used two different typefaces for the headline. The first line is a Sans-Serif font that is tall and thin like the original. However, the original typeface looks like it was written with a thick marker. There appears to be little brush strokes and parts where the letters are opaquer. That is why I decided to use a decorative font for the second and third lines. Part of the text is opaque, and it has a much bolder, rough-tough look to it. I think this different font helps draw attention to the message that sneakers are tough and cool. Then, for the small campaign title in the bottom left corner I used the same Sans Serif font from the first line, that is like the original ad.   

I also mimicked these same design principles of alignment and proximity in the new design. Like the draw over photo of the original advertisement, this new one has the headline all close together. Even though there are two different typefaces, it is the proximity that lets the audience know that the three lines are related and read together. Then there is the same campaign slogan that is far way away from the rest of the text. This large proximity creates a separate thought/idea. Finally, like the previous advertisement there is the alignment. Like the blue lines depict, not only is the headline aligned in the center of advertisement, but the Converse in the background are directly placed in the center as well. The main subject in the original Converse ad are the sneakers. The sneakers are given extra attention by literally placing them front and center. The product is the most important thing in any advertisement, and the creators want to make sure it is the main focus of attention.

In conclusion, the original ad design and the new design could effectively be in the same campaign because of how the elements of color, typography, and design work together. Both advertisements have an old retro feeling to the photo. Each photo has a pair of converse placed in the center. The converse are the center of attention in the advertisement and the brightest part of the background. The rest of the surrounding background is much darker. Then, the text is written in similar style typeface as well. Both body copies send the audience the message that Converse sneakers are for cool people. Finally, the same design elements of alignment and proximity are also used in both advertisements.