August 28,2013: Got Milk Ad

This is my "Got Milk?" ad for Digital Photography. I really enjoyed doing projects with creative freedom. Since we got to have fun with this project I decided that I didn't want to do the typical updated style. I love the style of old posters so I went and had the idea that I wanted to do a Pin-up poster because I wanted to make one for some time now. Of course I tried to keep it as clean as possible but step out my comfort zone just a little. This came out almost the way I wanted, but I didn't want to overkill the picture and the lighting I set up with so many filters. The background was a green screen so the edges around me would be sharp and clean after I refined the edge. Its a balance issue that you can tell that I have to fix, or maybe you didn't notice. I have gotten lots of feedback about this ad on how quote "awesome" it came out and was asked if this was even a photo of myself as it is rare I dress a particular way. If I could change something, it would be the tilt and some of the reflections. I would put this project as one of my favorites.    

August 28, 2013: 5 Image Progression

Here is my progression piece. With this project we were instructed to create an interesting 5 image progression to show what we have learned in Photoshop class. Here I'm only showing three. This turned out to be one of my favorite pieces. When it comes to creating a concept relating to me, I try to let people in my world and show how I'm feeling because people don't see it. Just like any other person, I suffer from bad anxieties, and I'm overly nice to others, which I love being but it ruins me. I tried to show in a fairly creative way on how I feel or the way any type of artist may feel when over stressed. everything in the progression photos mean something. I'm dressed in my favorite blazer with my skates representing my life and what I love doing. Growing up I had this social anxiety and liked to be alone and that is represented by me sitting on the floor alone in the dark. As the photos go down, you see a tv representing control placed on my head and you also see a bomb representing people and "all" my personal issues. Mid way down it shows that I lose control and all my creative thoughts, ideas, hobbies and worries explode out my mind with paint representing blood. Even though this is how I feel sometimes in two different ways (my life and a designer), it also in general takes on the lives or the frustrations of a graphic artist who understands the nagging of others who want handouts and don't understand that even though we enjoy designing, it runs us crazy when it's not understood that it's not fun and games, it's a living just like any job. If I could change anything I wouldn't. The photos have nice lighting and I personally think the concept was daring. I like to tap into my viewers mind and hear what they think my work is about. My teacher of this particular class loved it with a response "WOW" and a grade in the high 90's. I also received great feedback from supporters. Even though my program director thought it was pessimistic, he liked it as well. Art is art in my eyes because things can always be worse than graphic expression.   

August 7, 2013: Photography

Other than being a Graphic Designer, I also do photography. I'm asked more to take photos than doing design most of the time. Even though its not my main focus, I get recommended to take someones special moments and capture them from previous clients. When it comes to photography I try to make the photos interesting as possible by getting point of view, close ups and of course candid shots. Most of my photos are group, family, maternity, parties and just for fun. I also have experience in themed and partly nude photography. I love natural lighting when it comes to photography. I only use the flash when needed and I shoot in manual most of the time to give my photos different styles and looks. If Its for a party where time is not great, I shoot automatic as long as my clients are happy. I try to take great photos where editing is not needed unless requested to do so.    

August 7, 2013: Black History Month Poster.

Here is my Black History Month poster I created as a South University employee. I was instructed to design a interesting poser to grab students attention about the upcoming activities on campus during the month of February. I had no clue how I wanted to tackle the poster idea.  So I went searching online for inspiration and how other designers went on coming up with a design. After some searching I began to work. I decided to put some important figures in my piece but I didn't want the figures to be over powering to one another. I had an idea to have a simple color scheme of only three colors which were light brown, brown, and black. Contrast, balance, and interest was what I was shooting for and I accomplished that by putting all the figures in brown to convey unity and put them all on one side to create a conjoined flow. I put the information on the poster and did a little type design for it's my strong point when it comes to graphic design. After that was done, I wasn't sure if I was completely done because the balance seemed off. To fix the issue, I went on an added circle designs in the negative space (which would be the light brown area) making my design feel more complete. I have received lots of complements for this poster by staff and friends at South University and I also think it is one of my best and strong pieces I have done. I was very proud of myself and got lots of praise for this one informative poster.     

July 24, 2013 Saeco Ad (2 Page Spread)

For this project for Ad Design, we were instructed to design for whatever product we pulled out of a bowl. While some didn't like who they had and asked for a re-pull, I went on with who I pulled the first time which was Saeco, a coffee and espresso making machine company. As a graphic designer, even if you don't so much care for a product, that doesn't mean you shouldn't come up with a great ad for it unless it's really against your values. I'm not a big fan of coffee, but I had ideas for it. I will say the first ideas were cliche, simple, and boring because I was thinking basic. The designs the first time were just advertising the machines. I was trying to go for classy because it's about drinking coffee and espressos. After a few tries of failure and input on them from the teacher, I gave up and did what I do best, act silly. When it comes to coming up with ideas, it usually involves humor or silliness. So I scrapped the classy prep look and went with classy and funny. The two ad designs shown above are out of the three I came up with. I tried to show the funny things that happen to people who drink espresso with whip cream or foam, but tried to have a clean classy look, which is on the left of the two page spread and the humor on the right that showed old time looking people jumping over the page to try the product. The teacher liked the second round of ads and so did I because they came out well and I stuck to what I'm best at which are designs that are targeted for humorous audiences.     

July 24, 2013: Baby Shower Truck, Tags, Water Labels, and Spoons

Besides being a graphic design artist, I'm very skilled at other tasks like constructing, innovation and coming up with last minute things for clients if the time is on my side. For this client I was asked to do water labels and invitations. Since this was a baby shower event and the client and the mother to be are in my family, I really wanted to do more because lots of people never ask me what I like to do and what can I really do or create that's original and eye catching. I love creating other things out of reusable objects that some take for granted. I made up my mind that I wanted to construct a truck so I could display my takeaways for the guest instead of them just sitting on a table. The truck is made up of mostly Avon boxes, small noodle boxes, one car sun window visor, construction paper, ribbon,  plastic wrap, wire, toilet paper rolls, foil, plastic coins and packing paper to wrap the truck. Once I have an idea for making something and I visualize how I can achieve it, It usually looks exactly how I want it. The truck took a total of two days but 6 hours time. Along with the truck The host wanted to give away popcorn bags and spoons with kisses. The spoons had custom thank you tags while the pop corn bags had "It's a boy" label wrap. The water labels featured thank you tags and custom "It's a boy" information with nutrition facts. I got lots of compliments about my set up at the shower and asked how could they get a display for future events. I had no complications with design for the gifts or setting up the truck. I got a couple of hot glue gun burns here and there, but it usually happens when I'm very into a project that involves craft. I enjoyed doing this baby shower and if I could add or change anything, I would have maybe added a few clouds made out of balloons and cotton to hang over the truck from the ceiling.    

July 17, 2013: Spntane91 Designs Logo

Here is a design of my updated logo for my design business Spontane 91 Designs. I came up with the new design because the old design didn't feel or look that interesting. This is actually the third design for my business. What makes this one different is that it is more interesting composition wise. The first logo I made was more type design driven and the second one was more picture logo driven. With this one I combined the first two design ideas and came up with this set up. It has type design and variety. I tried to get more creative by substituting my actual logo in the name of my design business. If I could change anything I don't think I would. This logo is set for a while. The only thing I do change is the color from time to time to incorporate them in my designs.        

July 17, 2013: Kids Cook Book

I've always had a thing for doing work that involves working with kids. For this collateral design project I made a child's cook book. I tried to design book covers that represented what was inside that particular series. Since it was designed for kids, I tried to keep it simple, but I may have made it a little too simple for the fact most kids don't like simple designs. Kids are more into fun detail. I'm not saying I don't like my design, but if I could change something it would be to add more detail like shadows and more implied texture since it's an illustration. With this design I also made a box cover mock up to put the books in that turned out very well. I designed a box that looked like a oven with an open and close front with a look through opening. The look through was designed so you can see the book numbers which made it feel like an interaction just like cooking in a real oven.      

July 8, 2013: Capstone Project: Converse

Logo Re-Design

Fun Shirts and Socks

Shirt Designs for Converse

Socks / Bags / Shirts / Hats / Drink Labels

Socks for Converse

Drink Labels for Converse

Billboard for Converse

Poster/ Ad

This is a personal project that was done for my Capstone class where we had to put together everything we had learned about design and brand it. I decided that I wanted to do my project as if I worked at Converse since that's my dream job. Converse has a style targeted for creative, skater and rebel individuals and also regular everyday people. I first started with creating a whole new logo. In the process I came up with 4 designs but didn't like the other 3, so I was left with the best one (first picture). In this logo I had everything that represented the regular Converse logo and I was going for a "future" look but something simple. So I came up to let the block shapes form a C to represent Converse and of course the star to keep their traditional symbol. Converse sells more than shoes but apparel, so I designed bags, a shoe, hats, labels, and shirts. Converse has many sides to it. They have playful (comic, custom and neon) and they have the serious side (original and special addition) when it comes to shoes, so I represented those sides with the shirts, labels and socks. For example with the shirts for the design of one of them I put the logo in a custom comic shape bubble instead of the regular circle. In this project I also made a poster design to target roller skaters because Converse is targeted for skateboarders and snow boarders, but not something that makes more logical sense (they specialize in sneakers).       

July 8, 2013: HiRiz Water Labels

In this entry I decided to discuss the custom made water bottle labels I designed for the music group out of Atlanta, GA named HiRiz. I was contacted to help come up with party flyers for the group at last minute due to some issues with the person that were originally supposed to tackle the project. I was asked what else did I know how to do that could be a give away to the girls, so I mentioned that my water bottles were popular. I did some research on the group and saw they had a edgy style and had a bold look as well. The logo was supplied to me so I fed of that as well too. I decided to go with a black background, change their logo to hot pink to be focal point and decided to put their names on the bottles and the tour name they were on (#1Girl Tour). I didn't want it to be to busy but didn't want it just to be a black background, so I decided to duplicate the logo and incorporate it in the back ground. If I could change anything it would be the type under the logo because the type gets lost a little. But they loved the product and the manager wanted more prints to give away to others and to have a keepsake for the groups first official after party.