Final Work

These are my final designs for Merrimack’s 75th anniversary exhibition. The main elements I used throughout my work is the circles and the pattern I made using the cross and “river” from the Merrimack shield. The circles reference the circle logo that was created and used for the anniversary. I chose to make a pattern using the cross and the “river” because Merrimack is a Augustinian school and it is located near the Merrimack river. I made small adjustments keeping the critiques I received in mind and I think my end product is successful. I was able to incorporate white space in almost all of my pieces and I was able to reduce the use of my pattern so that it was interesting to look at yet not overwhelming. I was able to let my self have more fun with design work than I have in the past I think it worked out well since my work is both visually interesting and different from what my peers produced.

Final Class Critique

This was the last official class for Advance Brand Identity (Graphic Design 3). In the class, everyone printed out everything they had so far and posted them on the walls. This helped so we could see if everyone’s work looked cohesive and see if any adjustments were necessary. Again, my main critique was the dial it back. Even though I struggled to let white space be and not flood the page, everything I produced looked like it belonged together and all the necessary information was where it needed to be. I just needed to make a few small tweaks, like reduce the presence of my pattern in one space.

Exhibition Posters

These are my first round for designing the exhibition posters. I used a colored background at the top that alternated between blue and yellow to make a connection to my final catalogue design. I also used a circle with a pull quote inside to draw attention to it as well as make the layout more interesting. The pattern that I have used throughout my work for the anniversary exhibition is also present to help it feel consistent. The main critique I received was to consider how many of these signs would be physically present. Since there will be many of each, my design may feel overwhelming. My main challenge is to utilize white space and “dial it back” a bit.

Class Discussion

In this class we were deciding what elements were needed for signs that will be inside the actual exhibition. We had a discussion where we all gave our input on things like font size and necessary information. This varied because there needed to be four in total because there were four different sizes. Whatever we agreed upon was written on the board to help us keep track.

Class Critique

In this class, we presented our initial ideas for the catalogue. We shared designs we made and explained our reading behind our choices. We were able to receive critiques from each other in order to further develop our ideas. We didn’t have images or text so we had to use placeholders. There were requirements we all had to use in our catalogues but we had creative control over the layout and any graphic elements we wanted to include.

Catalogue

In my catalogue I played with the opacity of the Merrimack yellow and blue colors. I used a diagonal layout on the cover and tried to incorporate it in the layout of the pages. After critiques I know that while the cover is interesting, what I have done in the pages doesn’t work. The table of contents and the index can also take up less space. I will redesign it to incorporate more patterns as well as somehow include circles so make it relate to the banners. I also want to utilize more white space in my designs.

Roger’s Banners

I designed these banners with the main appeal being the patterns. I used the cross and the river graphics from the Merrimack College shield to make 6 different patterns. I place the 75th anniversary logo in the center so it could be the main focal point. I also placed 6 different shapes behind the logos to help them stand out and add more variety. I didn’t have specific visuals in mind. I just tried different “funky” shapes and placements to have fun with the design.

32-33, 136-143, 182-183

On page 136, Wheeler gives us a quote by Blake Deutsch that says, “Look into a microscope with one eye and a telescope with the other.” This tells us that whenever we create something we need to look at both the details as well as the overall picture. You need to make sure the necessities are there but you also need to make sure everything looks the way you intended and it looks cohesive.

Later on page 182, Wheeler discusses advertising and how it requires many skills. She reminds us that advertising needs both strategy and creativity. You need to know who your market is and what their needs are as well as what design would be appealing to them.

Structural Forms & Devices

On page 65, Bringhurst discusses headings in a layout. Headings are important to section out the text and let the reader understand what they will be reading. He also explains that since they are important you need to make sure they are formatted in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the overall layout. He gives us a few ideas, like placing the heading t=in the margins to help separate it from the body text.

Bringhurst tells us, “Use as many levels of headings as you need: no more and no fewer.” This stood out to me because it is easy to overdo things. We can get carried away in design since we rarely have anyone to remind us of the necessities. This makes it extra important that we check ourselves and make sure that we aren’t doing more than what’s needed in things like headings.