Williams Printing
About a month ago I was able to go with my class on a tour of Williams printing. It was quite an eye opening experience. We started of by being introduced to the company; Bubba Williams presented us with an informative PowerPoint and also had samples out for us to look at. Bubba then took us on a tour of the print shop; there was so much to see and so much to learn. Not only did we get to see the actual printers and that whole area, but we were also able to see every other aspect like the Graphic Designers and Die cut areas among many more. There is so much that goes into making the files go from the computer to the paper. Everyone that worked there was very nice and very helpful. Even when we were on the tour, the graphic designers took time to answer any questions we had, as did just about anyone we asked. I was amazed how nice and helpful they were to us. This whole experience was amazing and very informative.
Design Elements
Embossing and debossing
~One example that I brought in of embossing is a perfume box. At first I thought it was Thermography but then realized that you could see where it had been embossed. The perfume box is red and black and 99% of the black is embossed.
~I also brought in an example of debossing. It is a bar of soap that is in the shape of a heart from Valentines Day. The soap has Be Mine debossed in the center of the heart and the debossed section is also a different color to make it stand out even more.
Die Cut
~One example that I brought in was of a CONAIR hair tie holder. This has a circle cut in the top so that stores are able to hang it on the shelf and it also has a small rectangle cut in the bottom where there is a security tie run through to keep people from opening and taking the hair ties before purchased.
~The second example I have is a Memorex CD & DVD sleeve case. This cut allows you to see verify what color the sleeves are. It is placed well on the box also, it is on the right center which also keeps the sleeves from sliding out of the bow.
Foil Stamp
~I am showing this box that I got a few years ago for Christmas that had perfume and lotion in it. I kept it because I liked the whole appearance of it. There is a silver foil stamp centered on the top of the box. There is also some foil stamping on the side.
~When I was younger I had a portrait done with my two sisters and Olan Mills has a gold foil stamp on the bottom right of the picture where there logo is.
Thermography
I have two different business cards that show what thermography is. One of the business cards is yellow with red type and all the ink on the card is raised. The second business card is white with Black and Red ink. The ink is raised on the whole card and the raised ink also gives a shiny effect.
Binding
~I found this sketchbook that is wire bound with a medium size ring. Both the front and the back are of a heavier weight and the interior is an average paperweight. I think that this binding technique works well with this because the heavier cover and back help hold the book together. This binding is good if you have a lot of information because it allows you to be able to flip through the pagers with ease. It is also nice because if you need to write something the cover gives you a harder surface.
~Another bounded option I got is this business card holder. It has a string running through the center of the pages and through one of the two layers of the cover. You cant see the binding from the outside which is one thing I really like
Packaging
~I found this box at a store called Sephora in Memphis, TN. I feel like this is a very successful packaging design. The small box has a small viewing window, like it is giving you a peek inside. The print on the box allows the design to flow from the top and then down the sides to make it look very unified. Instead of the box lid coming all the way off, it actually opens to the left, which is very nice because then you don’t have to worry about keeping up with a lid. I think the design of this box is well developed.
~Phase 10 is a game that I have, and I love the way it is packaged. There is a tin box inside of the paper outside. The outside also his die cutting done to is so we are able to see the tin can through it. It is presented very nicely.
Duotone
~ I have a cd insert that represent duotone. It is printed in all black and white. It looks like there are more then two colors but it is just that the levels of black and white change to allow for different shades.
~ I also brought took a picture of an oversized postcard. It uses black and green to give tonal variations.
Fold
~ I brought in a Rollin’ on the River brochure for the folds because I found it very interesting. It is a simple tri-fold, but there is also a flap that folds up from the center and allows for more information without it being too bulky.
~ I brought in a Rock City brochure that has four folds to it. I like it because it reminds me of they style we are using for tasetbuds. It has four folds and a fold that flips down, but when up it does not go all the way to the top. It actually goes about 3/4th of the way up.
Scoring/Perforating
~96.5 bumper sticker has been scored on the back to allow for the protective cover to come off so that it will stick to the car or wherever you choose to stick it.
~I also brought in movie tickets. They have been scored so that it is easy for the ticket takers to pull them apart.
Varnish
~ I have a journal that has the word Hope on it, and the varnish is over the word Hope in addition to some on the flowers on the left side.
~ I also have this Radiocult flyer that has a full varnish over the top.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
This past Thursday my Process and Materials class went on a Field Trip to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. It was amazing to say the least. There was so much information to take in, in such a small amount of time; but I loved every minute of it.
It was really interesting, first of all I have driven past the building several times and never thought anything about it, or what all was going on inside of the building.
Not only was Frank Anthony an amazing tour guide, who was ready to share tons of information, but also the information he gave us made it obvious that he was truly passionate about it. He was extremely enthusiastic from the time he was talking about the floors of the building to the hard workers and massive machines in the factory.
There were several things that I learned on that field trip. On thing that is very important is that they have back up “spare tires” for all their machines. The reason this is so important is because this is a daily paper, there are people working 24hrs. a day and if a machine was to break, there would be nothing for the newspaper to do there on site. Having the spare tires allows that sense of security and comfort. If for some reason the power was to go out or something was to happen where Chattanooga times free press couldn’t print they do have an agreement with a few other paper, that they will print there papers. We were informed that this has happened once. At the same time, there are also some printers that have had to use Chattanooga Times Free Press as a last minute backup. I think the “bond” between these papers is a good one to have, showing support for each other. All in all I was highly impressed with everything at Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Wire Frames/ Grey Box
Wire Frames are a new concept for me. I do not know much about setting up a website, but am learning little by little. The most recent thing I have been informed of is wireframes. From what I understand is like a chart/layout that I would make up in Photoshop or Illustrator to show the way that I would want the website I am designing layout. This allows you to see some possibilities before actually spending all the time creating the website.
The Wire Frame method is also known as Grey Box. The reason you use grey boxes is so that when you show this layout to a client, they do not judge the actual layout by the color. Say you were to make three very successful designs. If you were to use black and red for the boxes and your client does not like red; more then likely they are going to tell you they do not like any of the choices because something in there mind was triggered to automatically not accept them because he/she saw the color red. When choosing grey it is such a neutral color that it is easier for people to understand that, that is not actually the color it will be.
Even though I have never done a complete website by myself, I am learning little by little and finding and being given different websites has really helped. Other then my classmates informing me on what Wire frame/Grey boxing is I also looked at this web site below, which really helped.
http://v3.jasonsantamaria.com/archive//2004/05/24/grey_box_method.php
Paper Plus Field Trip
Last Thursday, as a class we went on a field trip to Paper Plus in Chattanooga, TN. It was very informative and very exciting experience. I had never been to a paper distributor before and there was quite a bit I learned. One thing that I found out that I really found interesting was how when they but there paper, they buy it price per foot where we buy it per sheet. This allows the prices to be more affordable because they are able to conserve their paper by only cutting what they need. They can cut out all eight and a half by eleven or eleven by seventeen. I thought that was so interesting because I just assumed that they bought the paper pre-cut and then we were able to go buy it from them.
Everyone that worked there was very nice, and very helpful. Paper Plus even allowed everyone to take all these different paper samples. It didn’t matter if we had three or thirteen. When we got there, we were able to look at and get some of the examples and then we had one of the employees briefly show us around and explain to us what exactly it is that they do. He also showed us this tool they use to measure the weight of the paper, but he was telling us how he has worked there long enough that he doesn’t even have to use it, that once he feels the paper he can tell what it is. I thought that was so interesting, because to me I can tell when paper is thicker, but not much else. I guess that is why he is the one that works there!
1308 E. 14th Street
Chattanooga,TN 37404
Phone: (423) 629-1558
Fax: (423) 629-0297
CreateHere (PR for Entrepreneurs)
About a week ago, I went to CreateHere in Chattanooga. They were having a PR for entrepreneurs workshop. It was actually the first time I had attended any event held there. I was very impressed with everything. Not only did Janis Hashe do a good job speaking about PR but the whole event went very well. Since I have never been to one of their events, I don’t know how many people they tend to expect, but I thought there was a pretty decent crowd there. The people that were in attendance were not only students, but there was also quite a few individual business owners. There was so much new and very informative information that I learned in those two hours. One thing that really stood out to me was right at the beginning when Janis Hashe talked about how important it is to create a strategy. Knowing who it is you are wanting to reach, what it is you are wanting to achieve and also how you are wanting people to receive it. You must set goals to make your plan successful, and keep them realistic. Another piece of information I found really helpful was how she informed us on different ways of getting in touch of different people. You don’t always have to have their email address; there are ways to figure out contact information. Overall the PR workshop was very helpful and very informative, and there was so much new information I learned in such a short amount of time.
http://createhere.org/
Image Pairs
I have been working with two opposite words, trying to come up with interesting photo visualization. “My” words are strong and weak; when I think of this, the first thing that came to mind was a few of my friends that are very muscular and it is obvious just by looking at them. Then I would also think of a small-framed person. I really didn’t want to do something so obvious for my image pairs. I have been trying to focus on keeping my eyes open to the world and trying to see what it is to be Strong or weak. Is it someone vs. something or even a person with big muscles vs. a person who does not have profound muscles? A glass of strong tea or coffee vs. a glass of weak tea or coffee; A tree that can withstand a storm and keep standing strong or a tree that has fallen and not able to stand as a whole. Is it a family vs. a single person standing alone? There are many ways to be strong or weak, it is not just a physically visible even though that is what tends to come to mind first. After looking into different possibilities I am thinking that I want to explore more with the not so obvious. Taking a picture of someone with a six pack and someone with a “healthy gut” is very obvious. I guess I will have to see what evolves from my research.
Logo’s
There is a lot of work that goes into creating a logo. For the past few weeks, as a class we have been working to come up with a successful logo. There are many things you must take into consideration. At the same time, there are multiple designs that could work; the important thing is to find the one that will be the most successful. When designing the logo, you must think of multiple things. One being your audience; you wouldn’t want to design a childish logo for a law firm. You must also consider color and lack there of. Not everything that your logo will be on will be in color. When designing the logo in color you will want to make sure there is a nice grayscale transition. If you do not take this into consideration, you run the risk of you logo looking like a big black blob of ink. I have not had a lot of practice designing logos, so this recent process has been fun, but very stressful. I sometimes feel like I am doing everything wrong, but then once I go to class and am able to talk about my stuff and other people’s logos it really helps give me ideas and further my “research” with logo design. It is all a learning process and I feel that the more practice not only I get, but that anyone gets the better he or she will be at designing logo’s.
assignment synopsis
The button and postcard assignment that we did was really enjoyable. I decided to take multiple routs in my concepts. With one of the postcards I worked with an image that I took, and some of the postcards were made out of indesign and illustrator. I really enjoy seeing a since of movement in the work, and since it is for a celebration I thought that the buttons and postcards should portray that.
The buttons are small buttons; only one inch in diameter but even such a small surface space can hold a lot of information.
one button (the black, white and green) I really tried to focus on the 10 years, but I didn’t want it to be too obvious. I tried working with the ten in more of an abstract manor.
Another button I did (The Really colorful button), I tried to emphasize more on the celebratory factor. I wanted there to be a lot of color and have somewhat of a streamer effect.
With the othert button(Black w/ 3″boxes/ones), I wanted to do something different, but when I started I thought about the 10 again. This time I worked with multiple number 10’s they are more abstract and are portrayed more as boxes.
There is an example of one of the postcards that I did. This one is based off the button that I did with the reference to the number ten. I added the lines to give the postcard more visual interest and I like the feeling of movement it gives.
As much as I enjoyed this, it was really disappointing to find out after the fact that everyone in my class had been disqualified. It was a good experience that did not turn out the way we wanted.
Image manipulation
I absolutely Love Photoshop; At times, I get so aggravated because I have trouble trying to figure out how to do everything I want. I will have an idea and try for hours to portray it from my mind to the computer screen and then be just as successful printed out as it is in my head. This book, The Production Manual has become one of my favorite books to look through. It contains so much new information, that I love it. I have been working through the book, trying to figure out how to do everything. The problem I seem to be having is I will do it once and then move to another page to try something new and after doing a few other things, I can remember how I did that first one. I have tried doing it twice in a row and I still can’t seem to remember everything step by step. It seems the more I do it the better I get and the easier it is for me to remember. I am not anticipating know everything because I do not feel that is humanly possible, at least at this point. Working with the different filters has been a lot of fun and quite a learning experience, being able to see how each filter reacts to my image, and I cant wait to further my knowledge.
