Mc Donald's Advertising

Being one of the largest fast food chains in the world, Mc Donald's would be expected to have the best advertising. I have come across several clever advertisements from Mc Donald's that could entice almost anyone. 

In this first advertisement a lamp post was wrapped in brown vinyl to make it look like coffee pouring into a cup on the side of the street to promote free coffee. This was done in 2009 in Vancouver. It was important for Mc Donald's to promote their free small coffees because their biggest coffee competitor, Tim Horton's has their annual Roll up the Rim during the same time period.

The second advertisement doubles as a billboard and a sundial. As well as having the time the billboard shows what kinds of food you could get during that particular time of day. Designed by Leo Burnett with the help of an engineer this billboard was put into place in Chicago in 2006 in the perfect location so that it would work properly.

In Sweeden for the arrival of the new Big and Juicy Burger this advertisement was put into place. It is oversized napkins. The napkin in the ad was made out of actual napkin material. As well to promote the new burger, newspaper sized serviettes were also placed into new papers.

These last two ads promote the 24 hour store. The first advertisement is located in Australia and uses the refection of the glass and the second uses a bun to look like the moon. 

For more clever ads by Mc Donald's visit: http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2010/01/06/clever-and-creative-mcdonalds-advertising/

Skateboard Sculptures

3D sculptures take life from old skateboards. From toys, to sharks to fire hydrants, Japanese artist Haroshi. Through his teenage years Haroshi was an avid skateboarder and was very familiar with the different parts of the board. "Without skateboarding I am nothing," Haroshi says. It was only natural that he was partially emotionally attached to holding on to his old boards and took to collecting other peoples pieces of their boards as well.
The way that he goes about making the sculptures is by finding decks that fit together then cutting, shaving and polishing them. What stands out for me is the vivid colours and the fact that all of his creations are from recycled material. 
These are a few of my favourite pieces of his:

Click here to see and interview with Haroshi about how his boards are made: Interview
Information and pictures from: http://haroshi.com/artworks/

Language Book

The outline for the language book project was to create a 24page book, with a minimum of 12 illustrations. The book had to be in a language that was foreign to us and the pictures had to clearly depict the type. I decided to do a book in German using the illustration style used to make Dora the Explorer. Instead of Dora and Boots the main characters are Klara ad Klaus, a German girl and her pet rabbit. In their adventure they would wake up on a sunny morning and go to the zoo and see different kinds of animals.
At the beginning it was smooth sailing, I sketched out 12 drawings, this is an example:

The problems began to occur when I brought the sketch into the computer. Vectoring the sketch made it look flat and lifeless.

To fix this problem I decided to chose a colour palette and to first draw the illustrations in pen and ink, scan it in then colour it in Photoshop.

 This was getting more towards what I wanted my illustrations to look like but I still wasn't happy with the final result. The colours were too muddy and the style started to look less like Dora the Explorer with the outlines in ink. From this I decided to change the style completely. With the help of a classmate I came across a designer, Ty Wilkins who's style was very simplified using basic shapes and minimal colours. This is an example of his work:

I then went on to colourlovers.com and found a colour palette. I added and changed a few colours and decided on a palette of white, blue, dark brown and two yellowy mustard colours. Using basic shapes, circles, squares, triangles ect. I created simplified scenes and animals. These are some examples of the finished illustrations:

Installation Art

Installation Art is a large piece of modern art that can be indoors or outdoors that evokes emotion from the viewer. It can be interactive and involve more than just the sense of sight. It is most commonly absurd and makes the viewer curious.

I have come across numerous art installations that have caught my eye:

1. San Gennaro North Gate

Created for a festival by SOFTlab this art installation is created out of 4224 laser cut panels that together for a structure with two oculus'. It is held together with 6000 aluminum grommets and is suspended with wire cable to the surrounding buildings. It was made for this specific site and will only take its true for when attached to the proper buildings. The festival is called "The Feast of San Gennaro" and takes place in Little Italy. It is a celebration to commemorate Italian immigrants coming to America looking to improve their lives.

2. Waste Not

 

Over 10,000 everyday objects from one Chinese woman's life were displayed at the MoMa. This installation told a story of her 50 years of life and was spread over an entire floor. From empty toothpaste containers to shoelaces and everything else in between, these various objects show just how much we as humans use in a lifetime. "Waste not" was a Chinese Communist saying to encourage people to reuse things, this installation is also a reminder of how we treat our planet and how much waste we throw away.

3. RGB Wall

 

 

 In normal light this wall looks like a collage of animals in multicolours but in red, green or blue light the wall transforms so that only specific animals from particular time periods are seen. Created by Carnovsky, the lighting also triggers a different psychological state depending on the colour ie. red for wakefulness.

http://softlabnyc.com/news/?p=1541

http://dornob.com/rgb-wall-art-murals-shift-scenes-as-lighting-color-changes/

http://dornob.com/rgb-wall-art-murals-shift-scenes-as-lighting-color-changes/

Colour Report

Being in the midst of fashion week in New York, Pantone has released their fashion colour report for fall 2012. The one colour that has stuck around from last season and the trendiest colours of 2012 is Tangerine Tango. It is exotic and bold but yet works well with other colours and isn't too over the top. In the past few years the colour of the year has varied in colour, last year was Honeysuckle, an inviting colour of pink, and the year before that was turquoise, a soothing and tropical colour.

 From the past spring season of pastels mixed with neons comes neutrals mixed with brights and even a few darks. For men and women the common colours are honey gold, french roast, olympian blue, tangerine tango, bright chartreuse, titanium and ultramarine green. For men the one of the top fashion colours is rhubarb.

The common trend of this season in deep natural colours with pops of bright yellows, oranges and pinks. Fashion experts are predicting to see deep jewel tones in makeup, thicker more natural eye brows, disheveled hair and messy braids. The fashion experts have also said the fashion don't for this season is duck billed nails where the nails get wider towards the tip.

These are a few examples of outfits using Pantones fashion colours for fall 2012.

Missed fashion week this February? No need to worry, September 6-13th is Fashion week again for spring/summer of the following year.

Information from:http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=20948&ca=4

Criticism

After the completion of my first project, my beer logo I asked multiple people for feedback. Overall the conclusion that I arrived at was that it was not very strong aesthetically. There were a few positives such as the name that I had chosen was a good choice and the typefaces that I used worked. As well the larger beer bottle that I had chosen worked with the over all target audience of American men. The constructive criticism that I received was that the artwork looked to flat and wasn't visually interesting enough. To solve this I could add some crosshatching to the skull, over lap the text and the image or use a different picture of a cow skull. Secondly there were too many competing elements to the logo, the lines crossing in the background over the text, the colours against each other and the texture.

Since it seemed that there were more negatives than positives and many of my label elements weren't working I decided to keep the name, scratch everything else and start fresh. To connect my brewing company, Lone Star Brewery, and the particular brand of beer together I have decided to change the shape of the logo to a similar Texas ranger badge shape.

The colour pallet that I am now using is changing from blue, red and silver to white, black and red to give the label a more professional and sleek look. Half of the new logo is done by hand and the type is computer generated. In the back I added a texture so that the elements tie into each other better. The new final product looks like this:

I feel that this is a much more successful approach than my first. What do you think?

First Impressions

Being a designer has many different aspects to it including networking. Networking determines how many clients you get and how good of a relationship you keep with them. One of the main ways to get a client is to make a good first impression. There are many different things you can do to make sure your first impression is a good one including:

1. Arrive on time! Whether it be a meeting, an interview or a networking function, punctuality is always necessary to make a good first impression.

2. Body language. What you do says just as much about you as what you actually say. This means no arms crossed, no gum chewing, no slouching and make eye contact. As well a smile will go a long way.

3. Dress appropriately. Dress accordingly to the occasion and make sure that you are keeping up with your hygiene. On the same not don't go over board. Too much perfume or cologne could offend the person that your meeting for the first time.

4. Make conversation. Share something interesting about yourself but don't brag. Ask questions about the person you are meeting but make sure it is appropriate for the situation.

5. Remember names. Nothing says you care more than remembering the person's name, or even remembering something about them.
6. Exchange business cards. Make sure that they remember you and you have something to remember them by.

Here are a few examples of business cards that make an impression:

Pictures from: http://slodive.com/inspiration/showcase/40-cool-business-cards-to-enliven-your-creativity/
http://naldzgraphics.net/inspirations/29-creative-and-durable-wooden-business-cards/

Annual Solar Report

Click this link to see how the Annual Solar Report works
Annual Solar Report

The client Austria Solar approached the agency Serviceplan Campaign 3 with the project of creating their annual report for 2011. The solution that they arrived at, in my opinion was brilliant. At first glace the annual report looks like an empty book, at least if you are inside. Once outside, or in the sun the pages become illuminated with words because the annual report uses solar activated ink. Even the way the report is packaged, how it is comparable to a solar panel, adds to the overall feel of the report.

Pictures from:http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Solar-Annual-Report-powered-by-the-sun/2986075

Successful Portrait

 

A successful portrait gives you insight into the captured character's personality. This is a portrait that I have taken of my friend Stephanie Kipfer. This is a successful portrait because the lighting, background and way this photo was taken all gives insight into her personality. She is a very down to earth and kind hearted person. I believe that the soft lighting of the outdoors helps to capture this. As well with the background blurred there is less competition for you to look at it instead of her face. I have also made the composition ideal so that her eyes fall where the top third and second third meet. I used a white reflector to capture the highlights of her eyes, because eyes are the window to the soul.

When I asked for feedback on this picture I was told I could have reflected even more light into her eyes.