Web Design as a 'new language'

Graphic Designers today in general should be aware of the fact that web design has become a subset of graphic design. As a student graphic designer I feel I need to take action in learning web design because it will help you have something on the side when times are tough. I have been approached by several people (including myself through thought) that I should be cautioned in becoming a graphic designer. Graphic design has been a field that has become very popular and competitive to say the least. Also, know web design has become a field that is synonymous with graphic design. While job searching for reference I could not help but notice the requirement of proficiency in web design. So I took action and the advice of my friends to learn web design. I currently am taking web design, but have missed two class meetings due to health and personal reasons. It worries me that graphic design know has another branch that not only competes with print but has become a part of graphic design altogether. Web design is a beautiful thing, but it also is a challenge to learn a "new language" as noted by Steven Heller from the AIGA Journal "Web design as a foreign language". I am struggling as a graphic designer to think of my art moving on a different page with such fluidity and crispness required in making a website. The notion of graphic design moving from page to page such as links to get to the next page has become a bit of challenge for graphic designers a like because of the often ignored technical aspect of things rather than the static aesthetic qualities of the piece that speak to the people as one common language. Web design should be a subject or field in which we all as graphic designers should learn about. Web design should has and know should be a "real estate" degree of sorts because if you are not versatile in today's day and age it's going to be tough to find a job. Graphic designers now are looking over your shoulder constantly to see whether there is a more versatile version of themselves looking to snatch the job you have been so accustomed to all these years. Therefore I feel that I myself and others should look into learning the basics of web design in order to better ourselves as graphic designers. Great sports players such as Kobe Bryant strive to excel in what they do by constantly adding to their game, why not do the same.

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/web-design-as-foreign-language

 

Bus ad

Also guys don't forget to check out my revised stationary two images below this comment. I do know that the gradient on the envelope and letterhead may need to be lighter. And a vertical envelope did not please me, so I'm gonna stick with the horizontal envelope. 

Billboard

As you can see the colors are off, the left side is supposed to be a darker green and the right is supposed to be red instead of blue. And the sky blue obviously and yes the document is rgb. Also, the bus wrap template did not load up successfully on my laptop. I started downloading and the file wouldn't download onto my computer. Anyways, here's an idea of what my billboard will look like.

PMS Logo just in case

I was looking through some graphic design news but I could not find anything that appealed to me. However, I am going to rant about the new pepsi logo. I think the new pepsi logo looks worse than the old pepsi logo. The first time I saw the new logo I thought that it was a generic form of pepsi. While I was trying to buy my sister some pepsi months back I was confused because of the change. I immediately started to look for the old pepsi bottles and I couldn't find them, only cans. I thought that it was a joke or something (not to be judgmental) because the new logo looks like a sailboat instead of a classic flowing pepsi logo. I know that pepsi was going for the modern look and feel with the new logo and typography, but I still do not like the new logo. The brand identity is off kilter now because of this change. Pepsi has been consistent with their logo designs almost every decade, now they totally changed their identity. I hope that they go back to the old logo, because sometimes a classic is better than the new thing.

Photoshop Stationary w/ Final Logo Comp

stationery comp with logo

Graphic Communication in Ads

I came across a website www.allgraphicdesign.com and was blown away by the skill that these graphic designers displayed through these funny advertisements. As we all know communication is equally important to the look and feel to a design more than ever before.  In advertisement design, the consumer will more often than not choose an ad that communicates a certain ideology rather than a design that looks aesthetically pleasing. After all, we are all not graphic designers or artists to see advertisements in a different light. The consumer will respond to the advertisements through the effectiveness of what the ad is communicating to them. Does the ad make them want to try the product because of the look and feel? or because the ad speaks to them?

There were several ads that caught my eye because there was a harmony between look and feel and effective communication. The first advertisement I came across was a pantyhose advertisement. The ad effectively showed how the product was transparent not only by the artistry displayed by the graphic designer, but through  graphic communication. Another ad that displayed effective harmony was the land rover ad. The ad displays more graphic communication through the contrast used between the size of the land rover itself and the action evoked from the product itself. The product (land rover) may not look intimidating in this ad, but what the artist is displaying is the power and torque manifest through the ad itself is truly magnificent. Although there are several ads displayed on this website worth analyzing; there is one ad that evoked a serious issue and that is the easy access of guns in countries like South Africa. This ad displays a man purchasing guns through a vending machine with the message "This is how easy it is to purchase a gun in South Africa". In my opinion, this ad speaks volumes, however it can do without the message. 

Therefore, the harmony in art and communication continually is paramount in the twenty first century. This website of advertisements is a effective study tool because it successfully inspires me as a graphic designer that is constantly trying to balance design and communication. After all communication in art is seen more through an underlying message rather than something that is put right in front of you.

Logo

Sorry guys for just showing one logo, I tried all night to load the others up, but they came up as corrupt even by changing the file from jpg to jpg 2000 to jpf to png for hours, didn't work. But I truly like this one, because the logo at the bottom of this comment is the one I'm pleased with. Thank you.

This is the logo I am pleased with

torino work in progress 2