Posts from the ‘Visual Comm’ Category

The infographic assignment for class was a good excuse to catalog the DVDs I’ve collected over the years. I created a bubble chart and a wordle based off of the different genres and film titles.

Film Genres

Film Titles

Surround a color with a less saturated color and it will appear more saturated.
Surround a color with a more saturated color and it will appear less saturated.

Color Settings (Hue, Saturation, Brightness):
Center Squares – 180, 67, 60
Left Outer Square – 0, 0, 60
Right Outer Square – 0, 100, 60

By altering the saturation and brightness while keeping the hue the same, it is possible to make the horizontal block look transparent. Keep in mind that there are actually 3 horizontal blocks adjacent to each other, each with a different setting for saturation and brightness.

The exercise this week was to try to come up with a logo for ITP. This proved to be rather challenging as our school encompasses a wide range of disciplines making it difficult to define. This is also why ITP currently has no official logo.
 
I wanted to incorporate our love affair with LEDs and electricity into a logo design. The purple one matches NYU’s color.
 

 
 
Here I use a light bulb for the letter ‘I’. The light bulb symbolizes having an idea or innovation, a theme that is prevalent within ITP.
 

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) born in New York City, New York created some of the most recognizable logos of all time. Though an icon in the world of graphic design, he is best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences on some of Hollywood’s greatest films. He also received an Academy Award for a short documentary film he created. Below are samplings from his prolific career.

Logo Designs

Bell, AT&T, United Airlines, Avery International, Quaker Oats, Kleenex, Exxon, Warner Communications, Continental Airlines, United Way, Minolta and Girl Scouts.

Movie Posters

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Vertigo (1958), West Side Story (1961), and The Shining (1980).

Opening Film Title Sequences

Vertigo (1958)

 
North by Northwest (1959)

 
Psycho (1960)
View Opening Sequence

 
Catch Me If You Can (2002) **
Not done by Saul Bass, but there is no question that it pays homage to his distinct style.

If you realize it or not, typefaces are used to convey meaning beyond what is written. Using the same words and only changing the fonts, it is possible to express things like fun, cheap, professional or classic. For this week we were asked to put our name in 6 different typefaces. We were also asked to create several expressive words. Click on the link below to checkout what I came up with.

Signs are an essential visual communication tool that help us navigate through our daily lives. Being in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, you can’t help but to be bombarded with signs everywhere you go. However, most people seldom stop to consider why some signs are better or worse than others. The assignment this week was to find signs around the city that do a poor job communicating their intended message. There are many types of signs, but for this assignment I decided to focus on store signs. Store signs are more visually complex and ofen try to have meaning beyond the written text. I started looking for bad signage in the upper west side, though had little success since the area is rather gentrified and most stores were large brand names. eg. Pottery Barn, Victoria Secret, Best Buy, etc. I then walked through the mid-town area where there are many more small businesses. Needless to say, I found some bad signs. Below are some examples of bad signs I found and my recommendations on how the signs could be improved.
 
 

Why this sign is bad?
- Sign doesn’t really make sense when you read it, “A Relax Me”
- It looks like some thought was put into the logo design, but it does not have a clear message
- There are 3 types of fonts.

How can we make it better?
- Have it be in proper English
- If you gonna have logo, try to tie in better.

Why this sign is bad?
- Why is ‘L’ and the ‘N’ separate ???
- Letter alignment is all over the place
- Color palette is dull
- Design behind the big ‘B’ is strange

How can we make it better?
- Don’t separate the ‘L’ and the ‘N’
- Make use of the grid in the lettering
- Have the sign be a little more dynamic
 
 

Why this sign is bad?
- Awful colors and design, looks like a kid’s art school project
- Using 3 or more fonts

How can we make it better?
- No need to put the word “Wine” on the wine bottle
- Pick more dynamic colors
- Keep the sign festive, since this is the intended direction, just don’t be gaudy
- Use a decorative font for the store name, use a simple plain font for everything else

For class, I was asked to select a website and analyze its success in terms of grid, colors, layout, typography, consistency and usability. I selected Ebay.com. Ebay is the largest and most well known online auction website. It is a silicon valley juggernaut employing over 15,000 people and generates billions in revenue a year. What’s also interesting about Ebay is that its service is vital in supporting “other” businesses all over the world. Many companies use its services to connect to buyers. This makes Ebay more susceptible to criticism as it is used by many people who have a stake in the design and usability of the site. I will discuss Ebay’s visual elements in class.