Brand and Identity Design:Art Director / Advertising

 

The two career paths I’m interested in is becoming an art director or something within advertising design. Being an art director requires artists to develop and create an overall visual appearance for a brand or company to bring in their target audience. I would like to go into Advertising Design or marketing communication to bring in the target consumer. One aspect I would like to experience in identity design is “branding” a company from the ground up.

 

When I took a semester off I went to different lectures within the Creative Design fields and advertising stuck out to me. I went to a lecture at SVA and seeing their work and how they developed a image that fit the brand so perfectly made me want to go in the field.

http://www.sva.edu/undergraduate/advertising

-Video/Images on page of advertising examples.

 

One of my favorite Graphic Designers is Louise Fili, who is featured in this months EYE issue. Within her work she has a common theme that many brands fit into. I would describe it as a elegant, old fashion, european (italian) with a simplistic design. She works off of old Italian Art Deco designs, which work with modern designs today.

http://www.louisefili.com/

-Different brands she has designed for and bio.

 

Publication Design: Art Director / Advertising

 

When working for an company an overall theme works better for me than doing freelance work. I need an object, subject, or common theme when it comes to my work or else it looks horrible. I realized I wanted to be an art director when I had an internship with a “Swag” Company. They resourced items, such as an bag, pen, or shirts, with the company’s logo and designs on them. So I was able to work with art directors and designers in creating, for instance, a BMW bag.

 

Art Directors are not always in the light as much as the artists and photographers are but I would like to become specifically an magazine art director. I love putting together and collaging spreads from an magazine. One of my favorites is Nylon Fashion Magazine. This small magazine has a great eye for detail and knows how to brand themselves on the web even better. Another magazine that is great is HOW magazine. There layout is clear and organized and looks almost like webpage itself.

 

This month’s issue of HOW is Adam Ladd.

http://www.ladd-design.com/index.html

-Great ideas on what Branding is, and what makes a good overall look for a brand.

This month’s issue of Nylon is Haley Stark.

http://haleystark.com/

-Website underconstruction, but great examples of how the magazine’s image is very consistent.

 

Research Photos:

Above are examples from Louise Fili.

Above work from Haley Stark.

Although there are many different types of graphic design, not all of them interest me to the point where I could see myself pursuing a job in that aspect. But on the other hand, there are definitely some that I am excited to explore as career options.

Package Design

The first and foremost is Package Design. Package design is a design which functions three-dimensionally on products around the world. This includes everything from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to carry out bag designs. I definitely notice when items are packaged in certain ways. If I was a package designer, the items I would look forward to designing would definitely be CD covers and booklet designs for record labels as well as food packages (although I might always be hungry) and more. This is of interest to me because not only do I enjoy designing flat things but I like to hold products and items in my hands. But not only do I have fun doing this, but I enjoy spending time on a design and making layouts. I also think that I can use both text and an image together in harmony.

This personal portfolio showcases some of Joey Campos‘ design branding and packaging design for Marvel, most recently for Man of Steel, as well as some of his other projects for big-name brands such as Hot Wheels.

Publication Design (Including book jacket and book layout design)

This brings me to my second area of interest, which is publication design. I have designed pages and covers for books before, and my work is mostly in the 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and the 2012-2013 yearbooks for Plymouth Regional High School. This is another location where working with text and images is enjoyable for me. It is also interesting to me because I enjoy reading, not only books, but magazines and newspapers as well. I think that this area could also be a potential career for me due to my organization, which I could use for both text and images when designing a striking cover or making a layout that is interesting and engaging. Also, this field is a good fit for me due to my love of reading, and I think without that, it would be harder to capture a good idea for a book or publication.

This personal website excepts some of the work that Ruth Ansel has done for magazines across the nation, including Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, among others.

Motion Design 

The third area of design that strikes my interest is motion design. Since I am less into the programming aspect of design, this would be a better fit than interaction design. I think visuals are a very powerful way to tell a story. I enjoy watching movies and trailers and have always been interested in the behind-the-scenes process. By combining certain elements, whether it is music or dialogue or visual, a story is told. This could be a good fit for me because I enjoy both movies (and other visuals) paired with music. I also enjoy trying new things and challenging myself.

Luke Harris has a different approach to his motion graphics. From party invitations to music videos, he has a large variety of work in his small portfolio.

Research

The book I researched was simply called Packaging. It was published in 1995 by Rockport Publishers, Inc. I enjoyed looking at the variety of designs, even if the book and designs are almost 20 years old. Some I recognized because they are still around today, such as the game Taboo (not pictured).

 

Designers from Packaging

Although Michael and Giovana Jager designed items for the Boston Globe Project before the turn of the century in the book Packaging, they have gone on to create their own business, JDK. Product design is definitely their forte, with clients like Patagonia, Virgin Mobile, Microsoft, and Nike.

Belonging to the international design consulting agency Pentagram, designer Paula Scher designed work for Oola Corporation in the book. She is known for her branding of the famous Tiffany & Co. and Citibank. Her focus is mainly branding and packaging.

He designed beer bottles and label designs in the book, but Primo Angeli now has an extensive array of work on his website. He does branding, packaging, and publication design, the latter mainly in the form of posters. Some of it you might even recognize, like Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream or Veryfine.

(I did not have the text guide to graphic design yet so this is me just writing about areas of graphic design that interest me as a career path.)

As a career I think working in packaging and advertisement is a good fit for me. To me graphic design is visual commutation that is eye-catching and gets a message and a purpose across. Graphic design can be used in many different ways such as media, posters, book covers, labels, street signs, tee-shirts, menus, almost everything you look at has been designed and is meant to draw in attention. When going into a food store for example if every box was plain white and just labeled “pasta” in a boring black font it still gets the point across of what it is, but if there are multiple boxes with the same product inside the average person would probably pick out the more appealing and interesting box. In marketing people want their products to be sold and when a customer stops and takes a moment to really look at the labeling it is more likely to stick into someones head. This seems like a good fit for me because it’s not just thinking in the box it is literally going out of the box to be so intriguing that someone chooses “my” product over other competitors products because they think my designs are more eye-catching and they want to try out the product.  This field of graphic design interests me because my entire life I’ve grown up seeing packaging, some amazing, some super boring but it is not a completely unknown field for me. I’m used to seeing it literally everywhere and I’m comfortable with it. I want to make a difference and see my designs on shelves and knowing it’s sitting in people’s homes. My goal is to have an object in such creative packaging that the customer does not even need to like the actual thing inside the box, they just want to purchase my design for the looks.

I looked at the books “New Design Paris” by Edward M. Gomez, and “Graphic Design Annual 2014” published by Graphis. In “New Design Paris” this picture really caught my interest because it is want I hope to do being as a career. And the second picture from”Graphic Design Annual 2014″.

This is dieline.com and it is a website of a bunch of great packaging designs.

http://www.thedieline.com/

This is the website for Lovely Packaging, which is another amazing cite of package designs.

http://lovelypackage.com/

And this is my favorite website of packaging design because it is literally so creative and unique.

http://www.boredpanda.com/creative-packaging-designs-2/

 

Chapter 1 Response

Through reading Chapter 1 in Guide to Graphic Design by Scott W. Santaro, I was able to explore the different areas of Graphic Design. Almost all of the different fields were interesting to me but a few of them stood out more than the others.

Interaction Design

The first area from the reading that I could vision myself doing down the road is Interaction Design. Interaction Design is a computer based medium which designers create final products which users interact with either on a computer, or with touch screen devices. This area is more commonly known as website design. The thing that interests me most about this area is the ability to customize virtually anything you want. Also you are able to make your graphics come to life with things like scroll over effects, and various animations.

Portfolios in Interaction Design:

William Beachy  (info page)

Ethan Marcotte  (personal portfolio)

Dan Cederholm  (personal portfolio)

Type Design

The second area, which interested me as a potential career path from chapter 1, is Type Design. I think type design would be an interesting path because you are essentially creating something that may be used by hundreds of others down the road. I think I would be a good fit for type design because it goes hand in hand with logo design, which is something I consider one of my more successful areas.

Portfolios in Type Design:

Sean McCabe  (personal portfolio)

Jordan Metcalf  (personal portfolio)

Logo Design
The last area from chapter 1 that I could see myself doing as a career path is logo design. This is an area that I’ve worked with quite a bit and can see myself doing down the road. This field is also essential to Brand and Identity design, which is what it is classified as in the book.

Portfolios in Logo Design:

Ivan Chermayeff  (personal porfolio)

Tom Geismar  (company website)

Here are a few logos that I personally have created in the past:

Book Research 

The book I researched from the library is called Designing Logos, by Jack Gernsheimer. The book shows examples of famous logos that have been created in the past, and talks about the process designers should take when designing a logo.

Chapter 1 Response
There are a variety of different categories and areas of graphic design. Motion design and interactive design are of interest to me. These areas physically bring what is created to life. This is so interesting to me because it adds so much more detail and interest to the original images and designs. It is also exciting to me because the viewer can physically interact with your design and creations. Some types of motion design are in the form of digital illustration. I would be successful at this because I enjoy creating illustrations through programs such as illustrator.

Book jacket design and package design are also interesting to me. The three dimensional aspect of these areas are very intriguing. I find it exciting how a single design can expand onto multiple surfaces. This can result in the design becoming broken up but at the same time it remains as one continuous design. These areas of design are also interesting to me because I would be able to hold or use the finished product rather than just look at it on a two dimensional surface. I would be successful in these areas because I am a very hands on type of person. I would be able to visualize physically holding a book or package and could successfully create a design to complement the surface of the product.

Publication design is also of interest to me, specifically in the form of magazines. I would be successful in this area because I enjoy organizing layouts. I would be able to create a visually appealing layout of ads and articles for a magazine.

I would be successful in any of the fields I listed because I have very good people and communication skills. I would be able to work with a customer or coworker and successfully express their thoughts and ideas through my work.

The book I researched is titled Communication Arts Design Annual 54. Below are sample images from this book in the fields of graphic design that I am interested in.

 

                                       

A designer who specializes in motion design and animation is Lok Neville Lee.  He works for a company called Unit 9.  He has a site titled as Lok Neville Lee.  This site displays videos and images of some of his designs.

Christina Ortiz is a designer who specializes in package design.  Her website contains both her portfolio and resume.

In the book I researched, Froeter design was listed in the category of publication design, specifically catalogs.   However, this company does not seem to specialize in one specific area of graphic design.  Their website contains sample work and information about the company.

Creative

 

Important. 

 

With the completion of the chapter reading from Scott W. Santoro’s Guide to Graphic Design, I gained a better understanding of some of the specific fields within the Graphic Design profession. With this understanding I know that a few areas interest me. From the fields listed in the text, Corporate design, Publication design, and Brand/Identity Design are appealing to me.

Corporate Design

This particular field interests me because I enjoy doing work that has what the text describes as a “consistent identity”. I think creating things and producing them amongst several different mediums for one general purpose or maybe a sub-purpuse within the same identity is something I would enjoy doing, because the more corporate clean purposeful side of design is something I’ve always wanted to work in, not to say that all graphic design does not have a purpose.

Publication

This type of design is viewed by the public every day, and is produced for the public to view weekly-monthly. By doing work within the publication field, gets your work to be viewed by the public consumers as a way to promote and get information across really interests me. I feel that I would work well in this field because I can usually adapt style in needs to market/ present information for the specific target audience. That is something i enjoy doing too, not just creating work for myself, usually I never create art for myself, I like to make things the way I believe works best for others and the reason it was created.

Brand/Identity Design

Brand and Identity design interests me for the same reason corporate design does. I like creating a logo or an image that represents something and having that be used every time as its identity. In my high school graphic design courses, we had real clients come in and we interviewed them the worked on logos, brochures, websites, whatever they needed. The clients would work with us until we created something that they wanted to have represent them, then they would actually use our design if chosen. So in high school i sort of got a experience of what this field is like and I enjoyed working with clients, even if they don’t agree with your work all the time, it’s about them and their purpose.

Books

The Graphic Language of Neville Brody,

Graphics Design Annual 2011

Sites

Yona Lee is a studio designer, who works a lot with advertising and brand identity.

Neville Brody is a graphic designer that specializes in corporate design, swell as a mix of advertising. there are some pictures bellow of some letterhead and business cards that he designed.

Saatchi & Saatchi is a design firm that specializes in logos. They keep their work very simplistic and clean.

Freedom

 

Areas of Interest: Design Careers
Identity is key in each of these career paths, but the identity can change from book to book or slightly from issue to issue, whereas in advertising design the identity is the same for every design made for a specific company. Not centering your designs on a single identity keeps designing interesting and allows you to explore more avenues and styles of design.

With publication design, many facets of graphic design must be taken into account when making a design. Typography, images, and web design are all crucial elements in creating a good layout on screen and on page. This makes it so designers can use all their skills often, instead of focusing on one area of design for too long. There would be some consistency when you are working for one magazine versus needing a new identity and brand for each project that comes along. This field would be a good fit for me because it would still allow me to work with literary ideas and people, but it would let me have a more consistent, established work environment and process.

When it comes to book jacket design, every book has a different style and a different message that needs to be conveyed to the potential reader. If the message on the cover is too vague or unappealing, nobody will want to pick it up and the book will collect dust on a shelf. This is how the cover design contributes to the success of the author. As a writer myself, helping other authors through my preferred medium would be a rewarding experience. Also, working for the company may give me an edge in getting my own work published. Book jacket design would be a good fit for me because I wouldn’t just enjoy creating the cover, but I would enjoy learning about the book through reading it and talking to the author about the novel. I would love the entire process of making the book, not just my contribution.

Research
The book I researched is called “Graphic Design Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design”.

 

Designer Links

Helen Yentus
On her portfolio page, Helen Yentus shows the book covers that she herself has designed and also book covers that she was the art director for.

James Marsh
James Marsh has many different mediums of art on his portfolio page. He includes studio art, illustrations, book covers, as well as prints. His book covers can mostly be found under Illustration: Publishing.

Rodrigo Corral
Rodrigo Corral displays his magazine designs as well as book cover designs and studio art. His art can be viewed together as tiles, or lined-up vertically and individually.

Doylepartners.com
Doylepartners.com shows the different designs and companies they have worked for in tile form. They have many different types of designs showed, like motion design, print designs, and packaging designs.