Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Longos Thank You Rewards






I'm back from my blogiday! And I have tons to talk about in the next couple posts...starting with the 'Logo's Thank You program'. Firstly, their branding is GREAT! Simple, two colours, to the point and fun! But the best part? The point system is like a game! '50 bonus points if you buy this product instead of that!' super exciting and brilliant on their part! You can use your points to buy cool stuff like electronics, home accessories etc. I don't know how fond I am about this one, there's a disconnect between the "prizes" and the grocery store goods, and I would rather get discounts on my grocery bill. Still terrific branding though and a great way to get consumers to choose one product over another.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Damask Again


More Damask! Found in Fashion Magazine. It's so in it's unbelievable, need to start using it in my designs, see it everywhere and LOVE IT!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Writing too much in an Ad

There's too much writing in this ad, so much so that I still haven't read the whole paragraph. I flipped through the magazine, landed on this page, looked at it for two seconds and flipped on to the next. This really shows the importance of good copy. Advertisements must cater to the people of today, the impatient. If the advertisement has just said "sure, preservatives were an option, but that's not who we are", they would have gotten their point across. Save the big paragraphs for your about page on your website.

Monday, December 20, 2010

You Say You Want a Revolution

For years graphic designers have complained about Internet Explorer. It doesn't deal with code, AT ALL, when reading a web coding tutorial online there never fails to be a clause about Internet Explorer, "outlines don't work in Internet Explorer", "IE interprets width as a minimum width", "IE shows a flash of unstyled content" and on and on and on. And yes, they have addressed some of these issues in Internet Explorer 8 and Internet Explorer 9 beta, but to be honest, anyone that's using Internet Explorer in this day and age, doesn't know how to update a browser...or even know what a browser is (sorry Dad!). Designers, you complain about it, you cry over it and you say you want a revolution but no one has put their foot down. So I propose a revolution! For designers to STOP coding for Internet Explorer, and force IE out of existence! Will it happen? Probably not...but a girl can dream.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

When will Grunge Design die?!



We've all seen our fair share of grunge design. You know, the designs that look like they've been beat up and battered, ripped apart then taped back together. I just want to know, WHEN WILL IT DIE?! I get it, it's cool, it's edgy, I've done a couple designs in it, but grunge design has been in style since I started design school, isn't it time for it to leave us, as grunge fashion did 30 years ago? I'm not talking about the little splash of a grunge brush, or grungey-looking swirls or flowers, I'm talking about taking a perfectly good design, putting a grunge vector on it, making it a selection and cutting the crap out of the design. I feel like this type of design is as beaten down as it looks. Though, as long as consumers continue responding to such designs and clients continue to ask for them, the style will live on, and I, along with all other graphic designers that aim to please, will be guilty of carrying it.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Damask Duct Tape










I just had to share a picture of this Damask patterned duct tape, look how beautiful it is! I have this thing for damask, anyone else? If only I had a use for the duct tape...

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Speak Up











I found this promo card on the streets of Toronto, it originally caught my attention because it was litter on the street, but then, as all designers would, I began to inspect its design. The logo is terrific, playing on its name by using volume bars. The white space in the speech bubble is also effective, putting across the idea that the student (their target market) can have their own opinion. I think the back of the card fell short with too much information. On cards such as this, a website URL will suffice because it has already caught the interest of the viewer.

Colour in Branding

It's common knowledge that colour is an essential part of branding, but this became hugely evident today when I saw these signs. Presumably, the owner of this plaza did not want to ruin the look of the buildings with colourful signs, so he/she insisted that every store in the plaza must have a white sign. It's astounding what a difference it makes in the connection to the brand. The first thought is, "that can't be Walmart" then... "is it Walmart?". Ordinarily a brand would not be able to afford this break in brand identity but my assumption is that this plaza is so centrally located that it doesn't matter. The fact is that, no matter if the consumer realizes it or not, a brand is remembered by, and associated with, its colours.

Monday, December 13, 2010

GMC vs. GNC



Who on earth let this happen?

Sunday, December 12, 2010

New Website

After slaving over my website, and dealing with all the hosting issues, it is finally up and running :)
Check it out at www.jaquelynkatzman.com

Friday, December 10, 2010

Hip Consumerism







Here is a packa
ge that contains all the "necessities" for hanging a picture. It is appealing to women, by using a picture of a beautiful, yet, confused woman on the front of the package. The consumer relates to this woman, thinking "hey, I'm just like her, I don't know how to hang pictures properly either". However, the most interesting is how it appeals to a younger audience by using the tag-line "The Right Tools To Hang Stuff". By dumbing down the language the product is viewed as hip, and humorous. This branding is a terrific example of hip consumerism. The product is self-deprecating, it is disinterested, it says "I guess this is what you should by if you want to hang stuff", it's not jumping out at you saying "buy me, buy me" and that is exactly why it makes it into your cart.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Wacom Drawing

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I really want to learn how to properly utilize my Wacom tablet, so I started doing tutorials. This is from the first tutorial I read, it's not quite done yet, needs a lot more shading, I'll put up the finished product when I'm done. Shading on a Wacom is so different than with a pencil but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'd really like to work on drawing with my Wacom because I think it will make my work a bit different than the competition because I'll be integrating my fine art skills. If anyone know of any other good wacom drawing/shading tutorials please let me know.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Feeling Calm Tea


Love the idea President's Choice used on these tea packages. They've branded each type of tea by feelings rather than just by flavours. It worked on me, I grabbed a couple flavours I wouldn't normally choose just because they were called "feeling calm" and "feeling soothed" and those were the feelings I was striving for. This was the only picture I could only find, if I find anymore I'll put them up. It's definitely a good approach, considering the fact that many people go shopping to enhance their mood and often buy products that will help them do so.

Monday, December 6, 2010

What should my domain name be?

My website is ready! I'm so excited for it to be live, but, I have one dilemma...I can't decide on a domain name. My choices are... jaquelynkatzman.com, jkatzman.com, or jkdesigns.com. Ideally, I want my domain name to be my full name, however, my name is very difficult to spell...you see, my parents forgot the "c" in Jaquelyn...and for some reason, even when it's written out right infront of them, people have this urge to add a "c" right before the "q". jkatzman.com is ok, but it just makes it seem like my full name wasn't available. The last one, jkdesigns.com, seemed like a good idea, although, then I have the issue discussed in my "My Logo" post, oh and I would have to buy that one from some creepy company that already owns it... decisions decisions...feel free to chime in.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Cleaning Product Packaging


I absolutely love the packaging of these cleaning products. It's brilliant! The words stand out in their bright colours on the white/transparent labels and the copy is so witty. Definitely an inspirational piece. Speaking of packaging, here is a great dieline tutorial for any designers that are interested (thanks again Clay!)

Saturday, December 4, 2010

What is Graphic Design?

I'm writing this post to explain what graphic design is and why it is important enough to create a blog about. Many believe that graphic design is just about "making things pretty" but that is not so. Graphic design is identifying a problem and solving it, it is capturing attention, creating understanding and finding the right methods to do so. When a design is created all of these goals need to be kept in mind. Often the client doesn't know the problem, the reason why their company is not getting enough attention or is failing to get across a point about their company. I think the most fun part about design is trying to get it to capture the attention of viewers. In a world so cluttered with advertising and design, it's so impressive when a designer is able to make their design pop. Those are the designs I'm interested in, they are the type that I take pictures of as inspiration to share on my blog and the type that I am striving to create. Now the journey begins to find what it is exactly that makes a design pop...

Friday, December 3, 2010

Shop at Home Ad


I saw this ad in a furniture store this summer. The main design element that drew me in was the title and how it breaks off into a floral design. I think it's beautiful, it balances out the ad so that there isn't just a stark grey box with some type in it, I think the design makes the ad a bit more interesting and gives it some "oomph" that it would be lacking without it. However, I'm a very swirls and flowers kinda girl. The question is, do YOU think it's effective, or do you think they've used the pathfinder tool one too many times?

Thursday, December 2, 2010

My Logo


ok, so the first order of business...
here is my new logo (minus the black box that blogger has decided to put around it)
the question is... should I keep the word "designs" or get rid of it
I've been told that it's possible that employers will think that I'm looking for contract work rather than a job if I keep the word "designs". Ordinarily I would just scrap the word "designs" and be on my way, however, that word plays a key role in my portfolio where, on every page, I have "jaquelynkatzman designs _______" (the blank is the word to describe what I design). For example, if it's the page that has a brochure on it it says "jaquelynkatzman designs brochures" and so on...it's actually quite clever although I'm butchering it with my description. Just let me know what you think :)

Hello World!

Hi!!! oh wow this font is horrible in such a large size
ahhh that's better, sans-serif, I feel so much lighter
anyway, Hi! I'm writing a blog! first time EVER! (as my Dad would say...he thinks he's making fun of people my age, but really he's just started to talk like us) So, I've been a bit nervous about writing a blog, but now, a year after creating this blog, I'm ready to write my first post....
For now I'll just describe the kind of blog that I'd like this to be. I'd really like to explore graphic design (and maybe other types of design) through this blog, I'd like to praise good design, beat down bad design and have discussions about all kinds of design. So start reading, comment, and send me the links to your design blogs so that we can hash out the kind of design that really catches the viewers eye.

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