ART 321 Viscom II

I'm so full, I couldn't eat another bite.

OK, are you sensing a theme here in my assignments. This one is another food-based information layout. I'm choosing articles about food so you have subject matter readily available to photograph. Anyway, this layout is for Time magazine, so it has a different size than the How Safe layout in National Geographic.

This time, you again have to shoot your own photography, but this layout is more type heavy. Different set of problems to solve than the other layout. I'm mixing it up for you. You're welcome. I don't want you to get bored. You can find the copy (secretoffeelingfull.rft) in my public folder. Specs are in it.

Budget: 9 hours for layout, design, production and photography

Initial Proofs on Weds., March 14.

Proof my copy.

How safe could it be?

New assignment. Back to being a designer working in a publishing company. The publication is again, National Geographic magazine. You might want to check into some of their recent past issues to get a sense of their design aesthetic. You should be able to detect what type of a grid system they use throughout the publication. The specs for the assignment are in the copy in my public folder (howsafe.rft). This two-page spread is only the first two pages of a multiple page article. It is an informational type design and layout.

The challenge for you in this assignment is to produce you own photographic imagery. I have some mini-lighting studios if you need to do a controlled lighting set-up. I also have some big strobes for you to use if the mini studio just can't cut it. The intent for you is to produce "good" photography that you can use in your layout. So be picky about what you shoot, because I will be. Another challenge for you is that there really isn't that much copy to use in this layout. I will just let you ponder the implications of that. I will ask you on Wednesday, if you have any questions. Remember, the first thing to do in InDesign is to properly set up the Document Setup with size, margins, grids and bleeds.

Budget: 9 hours for layout, design and photography

I want to see initial layout proofs on March 14th (New Proof date).

Don't forget to proof the provided copy. 9FT

 

Midterm portfolio

Three weeks until mid-term break. Yippee! In preparation for midterm, start thinking and prepping to assemble your midterm portfolio - yes, the first of two grading opportunities you have for the semester.

Everything I have assigned up to and including the National Forest Service ad series are candidates for the midterm portfolio - total of 13 assignments with all their various components. From the 13 assignments, select 8 "approved" assignments - selecting just over 60% of what you have worked on to include in this portfolio. You make the selection - not me. Don't ask. Again, if I approved it, I can at least guarantee you a C. Your problem is getting at least 8 approved assignments.

Portfolio requirements

• 8 assignments with all the range of components (Print, webpages, web banners, animated banners)
• Post all 8 midterm submissions on your blog and title the post(s) in some manner that I can tell it is your midterm portfolio
• In your post, I want to see a budget analysis of what was budgeted verses what you actually spent to get an approval on everything. I have all the time sheets you have turned in so far, so if you need to review and tally up what you spent on each assignment - see me and I'll let you grab your timesheets to tally your time.
• Also, in your posts. I want a brief blurb of self-reflection. Give me something interesting to read.
• If you haven't been good at blogging all of your assignments (all 13) so far, then do so. I want to see all your efforts and attempts to complete all 13 assignments - approved or not. I will only grade the 8, but want to see all 13 assignments - check your blog to make sure something has been posted for each one.
• Select one assignment (print portion only) to turn in to me (live InDesign packaged files) in my public folder, so I can check your production art. This is a pass/fail portion of the midterm. Your production is either right or wrong. So don't do all the bad things that student designers tend to do in production art. Do you know what they are? Ask, and I can go over the bad, bad things.
• I want two assignments (print only), printed out and mounted on black foamcore with a 1 inch border. I want to put these up on the walls over midterm - proof that you have actually accomplished something this semester. If it is a brochure/pamphlet/newsletter, then I want it duplex printed and folded to the fold size specified. Magazine spreads should be printed on one sheet of paper at 100% (printed with "spreads" turned on in Print dialog box) and mounted as specified above. I will help you to decide what to print out if you like. I really don't want those nasty newsletters printed - but, if it is one of your best...

Anyway, start thinking about your midterm. I know there are a lot of the web components that haven't yet been approved. So get busy on them and push for 8. 8 is the magic number, yes it is.

I want your midterm portfolio done by the last class before midterm break (March 2).

So Classic. Book dust jacket, CD Audio book packaging and iTunes & iBooks cover art design

So, this assignemnt is one of our first gonzo assignments.You have been given the design responsibilites for a redesign of a classic book in it's various formats from tradition dust jacket for a hardcover book, packaging of an audio book and the digital versions that are now the rage.

You have the following classic books for which to design. I'm so nice, you get to choose one.

• Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (NEW)
• Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger (NEW)
• War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells (NEW)
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
• The Call of the Wild - Jack London
• Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
• The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Lord of the Flies - William Golding
• 1984 - George Orwell
• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
• The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane
• The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

For the print aspects of this assignment, you have four color process to utilize.The audio book packaging design can be for a single CD or a multiple CD set. You cannot use plastic jewel cases. The packaging must be printed/constructed/assembled to hold an actual CD (with label). I have templates in my public folder for you to utilize or go to discmakers.com and download templates. It depends upon what you want to do as to the type of template you use. You will need to dummy up the packing design multiple times to practice your assembly techniques. At each proof point I want an assembled dummy - rough to tight as we go along. Shelf impact again is a crucial element to these designs.

No Acquired images: You have to shoot or illustrate original art/photos.

As with everything you design, you should start with a CONCEPT.

Initial proofs on Weds., February 22 (Sorry ,I keep messing this up)

This is a complicated assignment, so get to working on this right away.

Budget:

Hardcover Dust Jacket: 4 hours

Audio Packaging: 10 hours

iTunes & iBooks cover art: 2 hours

16 total hours for all of this. You may have to breakout your overall budget to account for photography and/or illustration time.

I have placed in my public folder screen shots of the iTunes window and the iBooks window for your cover art to be used. Place the iTunes and iBooks designs into appropriate window and place into the iPad (horizontal only) screen grab image. This make sense?

Oh, if you have already done this assignment in Illustration class. Choose a different book to design.

Only You Can Design This!

New client assignment this time. The U.S. Government - big bucks, deep pockets, the sky is the limit. This awareness campaign is a long-standing effort by the national forest service to reduce forest fires in our national parks. So, it is targeting a broad audience range - young/old, male/female. These ads (series of three) will be published in National Geographic magazine. Wow, here you are, newby designers designing something for national publication for the better good of all mankind - with great power, comes great responsibilities: Ben Parker.

The specs are in the copy in my public folder: Series of three ads, 4-color, full bleed available. Develop a concept for this campaign series. You have to use the tagline: Only you can prevent forest fires. Rebuild the logos (probably best to rebuild them in Illustrator - save as an eps)- I am not providing logos this time. Also need an animated rotating banner for the Truman website banner space.

Budget: 9 hours for layout, design and photography/illustration for three ads. 3 hours for the animated banner.

We will look at initial layout proofs on Friday, February 17.

A new client / new design opportunity!

We have done so well with our most reliable client, I have snagged another educational institution to work with. This time is is University of Missouri. We are moving up the food chain. I have been talking with the MU Veterinary Clinic in Colombia and they need a new promotional pamphlet, a web page and an animated web banner. You can find the copy in my public folder. The old print pamphlet was really bad.  Your design will be better, right?

Print specs: 8.5 x 14", fold to #10 envelope, 4 color over 2 color

Budget:

• Pamphlet - 5 hours
• Web page - 4 hours,
• Animated banner - 2 hours

You can design (just the layout - not funcitonality) in InDesign too. There are standard web sizes in your document setup. You are designing the base page for the Veterinary Clinic. Webpage graphics are in RGB color mode. Print graphics are in CMYK mode (if used on 4-color side). Graphics for web are 72 ppi and 300 ppi for print. Right? You have 5 seconds for the animation in the web banner and check the mizzou website for the banner size on their homepage. I want some good imagery and graphics used in these designs - "buy", create or shoot what you are going to use. Don't forget to credit the creator of your imagery in the layout.

Initial layouts on Friday, February 10th.

Proof the copy - nine-finger typing again.

It's soo stressfull!

For next Wednesday...

Another magazine article spread design. Informational oriented. Yes, more typesetting. This one is fun because you are a newbie designer at Time Magazine. That's where this article came from. Cool, you are moonlighting at Time - who would have thought. So, we have gone from happiness to stress. Find the copy in my public folder (Stress.txt). Read the article so you know the content, so you can develop the appropriate imagery and design for this spread.

Specs: Magazine is 8 x 10" when folded. Four-color, full-bleed available. Shoot, create or "buy" (give credit to the photographer in the design somewhere) the visuals used in your design. Don't forget to use a structural grid in this layout. I want to see it on the printout.

Budget: 6 hours.

Read closely my previous post concerning the NAHM posters there is a surprise.

Native American Heritage Month Poster(S)

New design to work on. Concept poster to promote Native American Heritage Month and the campus events. Again, work from a strong concept and idea before committing to the design. You can use photography or illustration. Size is 13 x 19 with a bleed - 2 color (Spot and Black). One twist I didn't mention in class. I want this to be a concept and design that will support a series of posters (3 posters). That means imagery usage and concept statement should be flexible. Sorry, my bad. Now I will see who reads my blog.

Budget: 6 hours. We will look at initial concepts and layouts on Monday. Copy, logo and some images are in my public folder.

Also need a rotating animated banner for the Truman homepage.