Week 5/6: Travel Brochure

During the last two weeks I've been working on a Tour of Italy brochure. The assignment was to create an 8 or 12 page travel brochure, using large photographs, and text. The only other requirement was that our brochure needed to include a map that we created. The photographs were edited in Photoshop, the map was created in Illustrator, and the brochure was put together in InDesign.  

The photographs are all my original work from my summer abroad program I attended in 2009. I planned the tour of Italy based off of the locations I traveled too. I kept a simple background by using a "rich" black, and I kept clean lines between the photographs and the text. For each title page on the left I used a photograph that represented that particular city, while using Edwardian Script ITC - regular for the city name. Then I used Garamond for the text discussing the tour of each city.

Week 4: Restaurant Menu

Here is the final menu for Pineapple Run restaurant and bar. After toying with several ideas I finally found a simple yet colorful menu. I created all the illustrations using Adobe Illustrator. I used Hobo Std Medium for the type in my logo and Futura Condensed Medium for my menu items.

Week 4: Restaurant Logo/Menu

Project 3; part 1: Create a name and logo for a restaurant/bar using Illustrator. The key to an attractive memorable logo is K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Silly). Meaning the logo should be type oriented and have a simple graphic, if any. It must be legible!  I took a previous idea from a color project in Graphic Design 1 (shown below). And created several ideas for a restaurant logo.

Here are some of my ideas for Pineapple Run Restaurant and Bar...

Week 3: Typography 101

The second project of the class is a two-page spread of a Typography 101 article. The idea of this project is to learn and focus on the presentation of type. We took the type from a PowerPoint presentation History of Type, created by Kirk Lyman, part-time professor at COD.

For this project we learned how to set up a document in Adobe InDesign using a grid and import text into a text box. Large areas of copy should be no bigger than a size 10. Also, I learned how to flow text from one box to the next. 

In creating my design I had several ideas to incorporate examples of type throughout the history of type. After becoming familiar with InDesign I altered my idea to a more modern look. I used Helvetica typeface for the word TYPOGRAPHY in the title, as-well-as the artistic design using the word TYPOGRAPHY. Optima typeface for the 101 in the title, as-well-as the artistic design using the numbers 101. Finally I used Garamond for the rest of the copy. I chose a modern format with nutrual tones for the background and blue and maroon shades for the title, headers, and typography art examples.

Week 2: Homage Piece

Our first assignment for my class is a Homage piece which is based on a famous graphic designer. The idea behind the project was to emulate the artists artwork. Our piece had to include the artist name, a small paragraph about their work or biography, and examples of their work.

I decided to complete my homage piece on Paula Scher an American graphic designer. She is well known for her MoMA logo for the Museum of Modern Art, her posters, and her map paintings. I felt a connection with Paula's map painting right away. I have always been fascinated with the idea of maps, and have been known used them in my own artwork. I started by researching Paula Scher and through that I learned that she started creating map painting when she was commissioned to create the annual cover for the IAGA Graphic Design USA magazine in 1989. Paula was given a one thousand dollar budget, and if she didn't use any of it she was able to keep the money for herself.

The first Homage piece I created was an emulation of her work but with a personal connect to my life based on the city map I chose. I used Adobe Illustrator starting with creating the map with the pen tool and then added the text little-by-little. The text identifies a specific area of Chicago by labeling street name, and various attractions in that particular part. If I could change this piece or do it differently I would change the colors I used in the map and mess around with the main layout of the piece.

Upon finishing my first homage piece I came up with a great idea for another way of creating a homage to Paula Scher. I went back to where everything started - the magazine cover of the Graphic Design USA! I used the map she created on the back. I took copy of the back-cover and loosely used the pen tool to imply the main outline of the United States. Then I used the knife tool to slice into my USA outline to create each state. Followed by the use of the paintbrush to label all the states and wrote Paula Scher's name. I filled the outline of the United States with my paragraph describing her work.

Week 1: Pen Tool

During the first week of my Graphic Design 2 class at College of DuPage (COD) we started by testing our ability to use the pen tool in Illustrator. Here is an example of my work. Throughout this class I will be discussing my progress with each program I learn and give a brief explanation about the project, and include examples of my work.