Greatest Strenght vs. Greatest Weakness

I believe that my greatest strength as a designer is my time management. so far, all throughout college I have been able to work at my part time job, approximately 25 hours a week, while maintaining decent grades. As well I have been able to keep strong ties to my family and friends. To add on top of that I have been able to keep my sanity by managing my time and allowing myself to go to bed at a reasonable time every night. In contrast I believe my greatest weakness is my knowledge of the Adobe Software programs. When entering this program I was told that no prior experience of the software was needed. Now looking back I wish I would have made myself familiar with Photoshop and Illustrator before college. Not being comfortable with the programs limits what I am capable of creating and adds time to how long it takes me to complete projects. To fix this problem and to benefit myself in the future i have purchased the Adobe, Classroom in a book, books to get myself more familiar with the programs.

 

Pictures From: http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/120/9/6/Adobe_Photoshop_CS4_Logo_PSD_by_iampxr.png

http://lssacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/stop-watch.jpg

My Summer Job

Not only is McDonald's going to be my summer job, but it is my job year round. Since October 2008 I have been working at McDonald's. When I started I was a cashier, then I become a Crew Trainer, showing new employees the ropes, next I become a Team Leader (manager in training) and now three and a half years later I am a manager. When I first started a lot of my high school friends worked there and it was just a part time job that made me some spending money. I took the job seriously and therefore was promoted multiple times. This, similar to the design industry shows how you start at the bottom of the food chain and little by little you work your way to the top. Secondly this is like the design industry because one of the first things you learn as a cashier is "the customer is always right." This could be translated to the client is always right. At the end of the day it's the customers that make the restaurant money and the clients that make the designer money. Next, working at McDonald's is like working in the design industry because it's all about communication. Almost every shift a customer has a complaint about the food, the store or an employee. As a manager it is my responsibility to make sure that at the end of the day the customer is satisfied. This means finding the problem, apologizing, finding a solution, making sure that it is prevented for the future and then wowing the customer. Lastly, my job is most like working  in the industry because of the people that I work with. There are roughly 110 people that are employed at my workplace, this means teens ages 15+. Some of these teenagers and I have conflicting personalities. Like in the design field, you don't get to chose who you are partnered with but are expected to work efficiently no matter what the case. Although it may seem like being a designer and a manager at McDonald's are worlds apart there are many more similarities than you would think.

Pictures from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c5/McDonalds-Brentwood.jpg
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-AX445_mcinsu_G_20100929181848.jpg

Elements and Principles of Design of a Chair

"His furniture is based on forms and colours which describe motion, 

giving each piece a sense of force and movement tightly constrained by the strong shapes and materials."

 

Anthony Hartley is a designer from the UK that hand makes furniture that is fun fresh and innovative. He was attending post secondary when his sketches of his furniture creations came alive.

In his pieces you can clearly see the elements and principles of design. This particular chair uses bright playful colours to draw attention to it's self which makes it a feature piece in any room. The colours that Anthony uses are warm yellows, oranges, sea foam green, cream, natural wood colours, and periwinkle blue. One of the reasons this chair is so successful is its use of line. The straight lines of colour the curve around the structure creates interest and rhythm. This chair looks different from all different angles, looking at it straight on you can see all the stripes but when seen from the side you can see the structure of chair and a dominant colour. From the side view you can also see the contrast in the curves in the structure, the large curve in the arm rest balances the smaller curves at the base of the chair.

Small Town vs. Big City

How I feel about being a small town girl.

Growing up in KW, and going to elementary, high school and college in KW I feel like I haven't been exposed to as much design related places and people as I could have been if I had gone to a school in the city. Although going to school in town has helped me with living accommodations, expenses and maintaining a job I feel like it has limited me in other ways. There are only about 3 museums in KW and less resources compared to living in Toronto (or any other bigger city.) On the other hand I feel like people here are more open and willing to converse and share. ie. Smaller design firms here will email you back and make time to talk to you in person compared to big design firms that wont make the time. I feel like this is the friendly environment that I would prefer to work in.

Taking to a city girl.

 My friend Melanie Mescudi is in graphic design at Humber. I asked her a few question of how she feels to be living in a big city compared to a smaller city such as KW. I also asked her about her living accommodations, class sizes, transportation and resources and networking. Since she is originally from here she knows the atmosphere of both places.

Living in a big city is more fast pace then Waterloo was, you wait in line at every store but I like it because this is where I wanna be. Waterloo was crowded enough you could see the same person a few times a month, chances here if u mess up there is a high chance you'll see that person again. Living in a big city has let me make room exploration and a different aspect creative wise. I have a class of 32 and they are probably the best type of people we are different but the same, creative people. I love it. We can bounce each other ideas and we understand the jokes others may not. I live in a house with 15 other students that attend Humber at both campus. I use the TTC everyday and have a 20 min bus ride to school and on weekends if I wanna go downtown I take the subway or streetcar down. it's hard to get a job down here but I'm trying. T.O is expensive but its worth the stay I love my course and I enjoy the friends I have made down here. I admit I miss home sometimes but I think I could live here for a while.

Designer from Australia: Barrie Tucker

 Barrie Tucker

Coastal Cooler Package Design

Marine Village Masts

Barrie Tucker has been a member of the Design Institute of Australia since 1979. He is also a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale, Life Fellow, Design Institute of Australia, Australian Design Hall of Fame and Australian Graphic Design Association. It's hard to believe that Barrie started his career in design with little to no experience in the design field and no formal education in the subject. When he was a teenager he started his long journey at Reust Propaganda in Zurich where he learned on the job. He worked there for three years and grew as a designer while working on his illustration skills in his off time. From this Tucker became recognized as a prestigious illustrator and traveled back to Melbourne to open his own design studio. At his studio Barrie Tucker Design he was commissioned for big projects with big name companies. Some of these companies include the South Australian Theatre Company, The Times, Penguin Books, Sanctuary Cove and Hilton International Hotels. Barrie also has numerous exhibitions, lectures, has won over a handful of awards and has had multiple books published. He is highly recognized as a bottle designer and showcased below are a few of his works.

Etched bottle for Barrie Tucker Bottle Design

Bottle Design for Pinot Geigio

Packaging of the Future

What do bamboo, sticks and banana leaves all have in common? They all are components used for environmentally friendly packaging. In Thailand this has been the norm for many street vendors for a long time. Meals, snacks and even desserts could be found served in containers made of leaves held together with sticks. Sadly as plastic became more popular and advertising became more important the use of green packaging diminished. Banana leaves make the perfect package for many reasons, these leaves are available in many places worldwide, they are flexible, they have a waxy texture to repell water and any other greasy substance and the most obvious reason, they are bio degradable and there for are eco friendly. Although this is more commonly found in the Asia and in eastern countries I believe this could have huge sucess in America.
Below is a picture of different packages made of of banana peels.

Information from: http://chezpim.com/pantry/green_packaging

Pictures from:http://www.loe.org/images/content/060331/hoebaitong.gif
http://stylefrizz.com/img/banana-leaf-sandwich-wrap.jpg

SusieCakes

Red Antler has taken on the project of redesigning California bakery SusieCakes identity. The company sells cakes, cup cakes, pastries cookies, pies ect. With multiple locations across California it was important for the company to make a strong impression so that existing customers would continue to keep their loyalty to the bakery. To make the brands logo Red Antler started by using icing and writing out the bakery's name to produce an identity that would be like no other. Below is an example of this:

To the left is SusieCakes original logo, to the right is what Red Antler has produced as the final product.

 

The end result got mixed feedback in my opinion the end result looks too much like something you would find in a grocery store. The brand loses their personality when you look at the type alone without any of the extra added elements. I like how they have gotten rid of the heart and unnecessary dotted line underneath of the logo. As well I like how the colours and symbols/added elements of the new logo give it the 1950's feel, which gives it a warm, home cooked feel to it. I also think they did a good job designing the female character that companies the logo. Altogether I feel like the company has been given an identity that has been polished and works as a system, but loses some of its personality on the way.

Other viewers had this to say about the new logo:

A definite downgrade in my opinion. The original mark has personality and I feel like the new one loses a lot of that. The application is wonderful though, and I love the Susie character. If they could utilize the old word mark (less the dotted line) with the new colors and applications, It'd be absolutely perfect. 

I LOVE it. The old logo had a 90's-ish diner script that was relatable, but the new 50's-ish script embodies Americana and shows a lot of love went into its design. Very deliberate and thought-out, but carefree at the same time. 

I loved the sweetness of the old logo - there is a warm, intimate feeling in the script. The new mark with the stencil feel looses that. Gives me the impression that the company went corporate. I would have loved to have just re lettered and updated the previous typography. 

Opinions from: www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/susiecakes.php

Pictures from: http://redantler.com/work/susiecakes