Dove Chocolate Advertisement

I came across this advertisement in an issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and thought it used diverse elements to make it successful. The brand personality of Dove chocolate is reflected through the ad using design components.

The typography used is one of the most important aspects of the design because it reflects on the elegant and sophisticated image of Dove. The curly, cursive-like lines flow across the page to keep the eyes of the viewer moving to each of the components. It also appears as though the text is protruding from the page which attracts the audience as well. This type is important for Dove; using a font that appears as harsh or intense could diminish the delightful image. Chocolate is typically perceived as a delicacy or a reward, so it is important to find a fitting type.

A uniform brown color is one of the few colors on the page which works well to imitate the actual chocolate pieces. The red bag pops out of the page which stresses the product itself. Contrasting the colors worked well because the bag is the first thing you see before traveling across the font.

There is a lot of space present in the advertisement which is necessary to keep it from looking cluttered. Simplicity helps to emphasize the content such as the text and the bag. Considering Dove chocolates are usually plain and less known for flavors or additions, it connects to the chocolates again.

Overall, I think this advertisement reaches its goals. It is visually appealing and replicates the Dove chocolates through colors and type. Dove's use of design elements helped create a successful advertisement that even focused on typography.

Vita.mn Cover

Vita.mn is an entertainment and art guide for the Twin Cities area. Full of articles on music, food, fashion, and much more, it produces papers with very intriguing covers. The covers range from images to incredible designs that I cannot resist taking a glance at as I walk pass one.

This specific cover of Vita.mn contains all 7 design components to complete the illustration. The components were used precisely to create a visually appealing design for the guide. 

Space

The background behind the pins has a large amount of space that is not being used. This keeps the design clean and organized. There is no need to be placing additional images in the background because the utilization of the space is working well with the pins. Keeping the space behind the pins blank attracts the viewer.

Unity

All of the pieces of the front cover are in agreement. The pins are all overlapping each other as they would be seen if the viewer was actually looking at them down an alley. They also overlap the guides title "vita.mn" showing that they are related to the pins. Finally, the text on the lower right side of the design is overlapping the pins. All together the pieces are connected in some way.

Point, Line, and Plane

A point that attracts my eye is the orange dot located between "vita" and "mn" in the name of the guide. From there, the line of pins attracts my eye and carries it in the directions of the pins traveling backward. The pins from top to bottom represent the plane in the design.

Scale and Dominance

This is an essential component in order to make the pins seem more realistic rather than sitting flat on the page. The first pin in the middle is larger than the rest creating a more 3-dimensional illusion among the page. Also, the orange colors on the pin stand out among the other colors due to their bright hues and rigid shape. 

Hierarchy

The black boxes around the text appear as very important because they are bold across the pins and the remaining design. Due to the large pins and the amount of space they take up on the page they come across as the next most important elements. Finally, the "vita.mn" is behind the pins and is not bolded or colored in a specific way, therefore, being the last attractive point on the cover. 

Balance

Balance is partly symmetrical across the cover because of the repetition of similar pins across the middle. It is thrown off, though, as the "STRIKE' protrudes from the right side and the "vita.mn" on the left side. The mix of different elements on the page is appealing because it is consistent, yet only breaks the consistency for the text. 

Color

I really enjoy the colors that vita.mn used on the cover of this issue. They are not too vibrant which works well with a bowling theme. The destroyed look of the mint on the background is simple and easy to look at, from there the simple pins with a pop of orange works really well. The contrast of the black boxes ties all the colors together and makes the text stand out. Contrasting the colors helps bring all the components together to observe the different aspects and focus the viewers' eyes on specific parts.  

Panera Bread Logo

 

Taking a lunch break at the local Panera Bread, I was immediately intrigued by the logo. The type with the associated image and colors represents Panera Bread to a point. I was curious to look into the history and details of a simple logo that is able to portray a complete company image.

Going back a handful of years, Panera started in the 1980's as the image was transformed to be the restaurant it is today by Heckler Associates. While the logo has evolved over the years, the image above is the Panera logo today. Since the company has over 1,700 stores now, quite an increase since 1993's 20-store chain, I would say the logo is just a small part of the success. 

First, the colors could not be more fitting for Panera Bread. They are not bold and stick to very neutral and muted shades. Looking at the name printed upon the cups and bags, I would say it creates a calm feeling, actually the same I get when walking into the restaurant itself. Panera's locations are casual, yet nicer than just about any other "fast food" places I have experienced. The soft yellow highlights the woman in the middle, the dull green background keeps the logo simple, and the white behind the word "bread" is just enough contrast to attract the eye. Finished with a basic black for the text keeps the words standing out amidst the colors.

The font in this specific logo is essential to the creation of Panera's image. It appears as almost handwritten with rounded edges and contrasting widths throughout the word "Panera." The specific text used keeps the observer's eye traveling across the design, especially with the lines tucked behind the "Panera." "Bread" is in all capital letters at the bottom creating a strong contrast between the only words present. The diversity between the fonts makes the logo visually appealing. Personally, the font makes me immediately understand the quality of the restaurant and the same inviting and relaxing environment that the colors present are repeated with the font. 

Finally, the actual image design found in the logo is important to complete the Panera feel. It is intended to be a mother cradling a loaf of bread. This image actually reflects back to the goals of the company as well, "A loaf of bread in every arm." I also found that in baking terms a "mother" is a starting piece of dough used to make a loaf of bread. The different uses of symbolism construct a logo of value for Panera. 

(Sources: www.dinesh.com/ & https://www.panerabread.com/)

Conan O'Brien Typography Video

 

Remembering the typography video we viewed in class, I wanted to look into it futher. I think this video shows incredible talent and depicts qualities of Conan O'Brien himself throughout the animations. The text used and the effects between the pieces of his quote are essential in presenting his purpose and providing his farewell.

This typographic creation of O'Brien's goodbye was designed with the audience in mind. He was stating these points to show his appreciation for NBC as a whole and the opportunity he had with them. He includes his personality in the speech as he adds humorous lines, and these traits are portrayed through the typography. The video uses contrasting elements to reflect the content of his words.

This is the overall "storyboard" of the video and it is really interesting to see the pieces of the video without traveling through it virtually. The different turns and directions of the words all help the flow of the video itself. It turns with the type and loops around the board. Each of the word groups are separated by borders, or "walls."

It is also apparent that this overall layout of the type video is not in shades of grey and orange. The colors are key components to the creation because the consistent shades help keep the flow of O'Brien's dialogue. Orange also helps to highlight the images placed in the video. 

Diverse type included in the typography video helps convey the feeling of each word said. Above, the simple circle with basic type keeps the short sentence to the point and "matter-of-fact." It is not sugar-coated and does not need to be in fancy format. The context of the sentence is reflected.

This is another example of how the type is connected with the content of the speech. The bolded text in all capital letters portrays that he is speaking in a loud and distinct tone as if he is addressing an audience. 

 

This part of Conan O'Brien's announcement stands out because of the lines included. Each of the curls at the ends of the type and the lines leading out of the statement are light and can reflect the happiness that NBC and the Late Night Show has brought to O'Brien. It reflects on his accomplishments and uses a lively type to do so.

The video emphasizes Conan's emotions as he addresses his fans and viewers. Putting together the video, it is clear the creator, Justen Renyer, put great effort into presenting the talk show host's voice and personality by using type.

Designer Sean McCabe

 

I chose to look at the designer Sean McCabe who does a lot of designs dealing with hand lettering. The work I found on his page was so intriguing to me because I had not really thought about the process of hand lettering. His work has such strategic details that, at first glance, I would have assumed it was printed off the computer. The attention to detail that is required to create such professional pieces is apparent in the finished product.

The typography illustrations that he creates has different emotions portrayed within them. Sean experiments with bold and thin types and pays close attention to the spacing between each of the words so they are precise. I saw on his page that he begins with guiding lines to keep the type separated, then when the details are added, he removes the lines to come up with his finished products. They ensure punctual spacing.

Similar to each of the pictures above, he utilizes lines to create a distinction and separation between words, or boxes around texts. Some letters are thin depending on their purpose within the illustrations and others are bolded to attract the eye. Shaded shapes, as shown in the second image, emphasizes pieces of the creations. He consistently uses contrast in order to make his work more interesting.

I think Sean's designs have a lot to teach about typography. Their diversity in nature and the contrasting qualities of each of his creations seem to tell a different story. When I first looked at them I thought of them in a way where the words could be translated with voices and tones depending on if they had serifs or if they were bold. For example, the first creation puts "life" in cursive. This makes a simple word appear to be more thoughtful just because of the type. Also, the way Sean makes the third project appear to be a machine or science experiment makes the illustration more appealing.

His work is detail-oriented and even the smallest shaded corners complete the designs. Sean McCabe is an extremely talented designer that has experimented a great amount with typography.

Public Service Announcement Using Typography

I found this public service announcement while I was doing research online. It stood out to me immediately due to the use of typography in order to convey the main message. While many of the texting and driving ads or PSAs are difficult to observe due to their gruesome qualities, this particular design conveyed the message immediately.

The typography in the advertisement is crucial to the message as a whole. Using specific words, they are important because they are shown in "text message language," meaning they are shortened and abbreviated as many would find in a text message. Their arrangement across the windshield and lack of space contribute to the main idea. Due to the clutter of the words, the advertisement gives the illusion that the vision of the driver is construed. This design presents the message that texting while driving is extremely distracting.

Font within the announcement is very specific as well. While it is a simple font, it contrasts bold and condensed words in order to fill the spaces in the area. Also, the smaller and larger sizes make certain words draw attention more than others. The consistency of the black helps the words pop out among the green and blue background.

Overall, I really appreciated the typography used in the announcement. The creative use of typography helps create a memorable public service advertisement that proves a strong and important point. It is a lot different than most designs promoting safe driving. Below is an example of a very diverse design with the same agenda in mind.

Emory Douglas Soundslide Project

The designer I chose to research for the Soundslides project was Emory Douglas. He stood out to me because his designs were used in the Black Panther Party Movement in order to fuel the fire for change. His work was shown in pamphlets and newspaper that the party produced in attempt to gain supporters, and reflected the struggles of the time period. Douglas' art often ridiculed political leaders and challenged certain aspects of society.

Douglas used colors and cartoon-like designs that often contained leading lines. I chose to incorporate these aspects into my Soundslides project. Deciding on red and black for the master page colors, I thought these would reflect the theme of my project the most. The two colors together are powerful as was the movement of the time. The background black was a piece of old notepad paper edited on Photoshop. The red lines start on different parts of the slides. I then used a white font to make the key points prominent among the slides. I found the font I used on DaFont.com, labeled "Jungle Fever" because it was similar to the font found in a lot of Douglas' work. There are slide headings on the top of all the slides as well to introduce the subject and add repetition. Each of the pictures put into my project were pieces of his artwork that were designed to illustrate the revolution.

After creating the pages for the project, I placed them into Soundslides to compile them. In regards to the song, I picked the version without words because I did not want it distracting from the slides. "Lose Yourself" by Eminem had the perfect sound because it has an intense beat to it, which reflects the movement itself. The song needed to be powerful and "Lose Yourself" picks up in the middle.

 I enjoyed learning about Emory Douglas' works of art. All of his pieces have meaning and purpose behind them. Today, he even works for great causes to keep his passion going. He is a very successful designer and his work is a key part of our history.