Marceline Pamphlet Thumbnails

Even though I didn't use any color in these thumbnails, they still took forever. I'm not too happy with the layouts of a couple, but some have good layout design. The top three are to the left and I will most likely pull the strongest parts of these three designs to create the marker comp and final design. The process of choosing the best comp was more difficult this time because there are so many different ways I could go with the particular designs in these thumbnails and with other ideas I have. I am a bit worried about the copyfitting process, not only because I'm still not 100% sure how to do it, but also because there is a lot of copy that has to be squeezed into this pamphlet. 

Final Jeep Poster

Making the final poster was a lot easier than coming up with the concept and creating the marker comp. I had all the information ready and all I had to do was enter it in to the computer. I did have trouble inserting the Jeep into the final poster. As a result, I learned how to save the Jeep graphic as an EPS file while still in Illustrator, then export it into my InDesign document. This way it is still in vector form, it is a better quality image because it is not in bitmap form, and it can be resized easily without loosing quality. This is a really helpful tool to know for future reference when inserting graphics from Illustrator into InDesign. As far as the effectiveness of the final poster, I think I could have been a bit more creative with the use of the four colors available. I do like how I kept it simple overall, though. I believe it conveys the message effectively. If I had more time, I would have gone into AI and added mud to the graphic to further add to the mood of the event being advertised. 

Jeep Poster Marker Comp

This marker comp was a bit faster in the sense it's not a full size comp, though it was just as frustrating, but for a whole new set of reasons. Adding color was a challenge because I was only able to choose 4 colors to apply to the Jeep illustration. This will be a challenge to translate these colors into the final poster because I may have to delete some color from the original Jeep. I also had a fight with the pen I chose to use to write the informational font. It smeared very easily and took a while to dry. That was my stupid mistake, and it added time to the project because the ink had to dry. It also ruined the final comp when I went to put it onto the foam board. I smudged the text when I pressed down on it, which was very frustrating. 

The process is becoming a lot more clear as far as what I have to get accomplished before moving to the final comp on the computer. The original thumbnail that my "client" chose from had BlairMD font, but in my notes I specified that I would prefer to work with the font until I found a more suitable one for the particular event. I chose Cracked font and my client approved it. I also had to choose the informational text font and it had to be simple and easy to read so I chose Helvetica. When translating this design onto the computer, I have to use a grid, most likely a 7 column, I have to fix the text and header orientation and I also have to resize the Jeep. 

Final Chili Poster

Creating the final chili poster was a lot easier than the thumbnail and marker comp process. I believe it was easier because I knew exactly what I had to do and went about it in an efficient manner. The graphic was drawn by hand and took a little over an hour to complete, but it took less time than the marker comp did because it was a smaller scale that I was able to scan into PS and resize. The text was much easier to work with because all I needed to do was to type the information in. It also came out looking a lot better in the particular format. There were less gaps and negative space within the text so it became much more efficient in this final process. Like a few others, I wish I could have added to the poster with the effects available in the software, but I stuck with the original composition and I think it is successful overall. 

Jeep Poster Thumbnails

This is the thumbnail comp that my "client" has chosen. She liked this comp the best for its simplicity, the balance the image and the text create, and its overall effectiveness at sending the message to the viewer. She said this comp stands out the most for her because she can recognize that the car being shown is a Jeep and it connects to the headline and the purpose of the poster well compared to the other comps, which sometimes don't show enough of the Jeep for it to be completely recognizable (ie the distinctive hub caps, grill and lights that most Jeeps sport), but also because it is asymmetrical so is more interesting than the comps with the full Jeep centered on the layout. The text is also successful because it is a flush left, so reading and comprehending the text will be easier for the viewers. 

Overall, this process took a lot more steps than I first thought necessary. Creating the thumbnails and their various layout styles was what took the longest and was most draining. I wanted to create 10 good layouts so there would be less work later on. My main goal for this layout was to orient the car and the textual information in a simple, straight forward manner so the basic details of the event can be easily understood. During the "meeting" with my "client", I was critiqued on various elements on her top three layout choices. She gave good insight to her personal taste and made me understand why the comp she chose fit her specific "needs." It gave me a good idea of what a meeting in the real world could be like. I think it wouldn't be as laid back and a bit more unforgiving and cutthroat, but that is understandable because things are much more fast paced and competitive in the real world of design.  

Chili Poster Marker Comp

This marker comp was a challenge to organize, but once I was able to visualize the way in which I was to go about designing the layout, it was much easier. Once started, I realized it was going to take a lot longer than I thought it would. Rendering the header font was difficult, as was drawing the graphic. It took a really steady hand to make sure the marker had a straight edge. The text block was the biggest challenge. I had no idea how the text would turn out once typed in InDesign, so to get a better idea, I used Microsoft Word to get a feel for the spacing in justified text format. The spacing I portrayed as a result from observing that in Microsoft was not successful because of the many large, unsightly spaces that create those "rivers" through the text block. Once I'm able to work with InDesign, I'm positive this will not be an issue in the final layout of the poster. I'd also like to point out that the image that I scanned into PS, to the upper left of this paragraph is crooked, especially the graphic. I had to scan the image in four parts and assemble them in PS because the original is too big for the scanner. The end.

Copyfitting

Copyfitting is definitely a lot more difficult that I first expected. I was ready to dive right in and draw the fonts without doing any sort of copyfitting before hand. I proceeded to stare at my marker comp for a while before I figured out that copyfitting is very necessary to make the poster compatible for designing on the computer programs. The largest issue I had was due to the fact I was working with Microsoft Word. I was not able to visualize the many different spacing options I have available to me on InDesign. Because of this, I'm almost positive the text block in my marker comp will be different from that of my final layout. There are still many spacing issues with my marker comp because I typed out the text in Word to get a better idea of what the text block would look like on a computer. The text block has large spaces in some areas, which are not very visually appealing. I hope I will be able to address these issues when translating this design into the final on InDesign.