Angel Larson Design

Tag: design

  • Design Development – Chromatic Interaction

    Chromatic interaction has to do with the way we perceive color and the effects that occur when different colors interact. One common tool to help organize and understand color relationships is the color wheel. A color wheel helps to show the differences in hue and saturation among a variety of hues. The primary colors that all other colors can be created from in the system of light are red, yellow, and blue. The color wheel shows these primary hues and some of the main color combinations that can occur from mixing them. When it comes to these hues on the color wheel, blue has the darkest value, while yellow has the lightest value. It’s important to know that color relationships can only occur when two or more colors are interacting together. This doesn’t apply when only one color is used in varying degrees of value and intensity in a composition.

    Colors on the color wheel that are close together have similar wavelengths, so they are perceived more similarily and create a harmonious feel when used together. For example: red and orange, orange and yellow, yellow and green, green and blue, blue and purple, purple and red. These are considered to be analogous color combinations. Complementary colors are those that are opposite on the color wheel. For example: red and green, yellow and purple, and blue and orange. These color combinations have the highest amount of contrast. Complementary colors can be used successfully in a composition to create a point of interest and aid in visual hierarchy. Triadic color combinations occur when three colors are 120 degrees away from each other on the color wheel. These color combinations are more highly contrasting than analogous colors but less contrasting than complementary colors. These are good combinations to add interest without being too in your face.

    Value can be used within a composition to create contrast, movement, and depth. Value takes a hue from the lightest possible to the darkest possible version and reflects nature. We perceive in the real world that light comes from above and darkness is below. We can see this with the sun and ceiling lights being overhead. The way the light comes down from above creates shade from different angles. We also perceive that light is closer to us and darkness is farther away. This is also a reflection of the fact that things that are closer to us are easier to see and understand, and the farther away something is from you, the harder it is to see the details. With these relationships exhisting in nature, this is also what we will naturally perceive within a composition. You can, however, play with these relationships and alter the expectations of the viewer as long as you do it effectively.

    Temperature relationships among colors are based on nature and have an effect on the depth, mood, feelings, and atmosphere within a design. In the real world, the sky is blue. Because of this, water also appears blue because it is a reflection of the sky. Blue is considered a cool color because the elements that contain it in nature are considered to reflect a cool, crisp, refreshing nature. Colors that are closest to blue, blue-green, indigo, and violet are also cool colors because of the close association with blue. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the sun represents warm colors. Warm colors include magenta, red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green. Warm colors represent heat, passion, and food. Warm colors appear to pop out more than cool colors and appear in the foreground. This is because warmer colors tend to be brighter and more saturated than cool colors. Brown can be either cool or warm because it is a combination of multiple colors at once.

    Depth and heirarchy within a composition can be created using various color combinations. When there is a white field in a composition, cool colors appear to recede and warm colors advance. More saturated hues and hues of darker values also appear to advance. When there is a black field in a composition, hues of lighter values advance. When the field of the composition is a color, the relationships change. The greater the difference of contrast between value, saturation, and temperature among colors, the greater the distinction between elements is for viewers.

    Overall, it’s important to consider color relationships within a composition and how they will affect your message to the viewer. It is critical to create a plan for what colors you will use in a design and the reason you want to use them. Consider the natural color relationships that occur in nature, but also when it is appropriate to subvert the viewer’s expectations of how these colors function.

    1.) Complementary Colors

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement for Nintendo uses complementary colors in the headline to draw you in. In the word “GLOVE,” which is the largest word in the composition, there is a distinctive wavy orange shape on top of a blue background. Blue and orange are complementary colors, so this combination stands out and catches your eye right away.

    2.) Analogous Colors

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement from McDonalds uses a mostly analogous color scheme to tie in with their branding and create a sense of unity. McDonald’s colors are red and yellow, which are reflecting in this composition with the use of red, orange, and yellow at different values. The brown is also warmer and is closely related to the red. The only color that stands out is the green lettuse and the silver nozzle.

    3.) Value Relationships

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement from Absolut Vodka uses different colors with different values to place emphasis on certain parts of the composition. Because a black background is used, the colors with lighter values stand out more than the colors with darker values. Yellow has the lightest value, so this is used behind the brand name, emphasizing it the most. Red and green are the second colors noticed because they have the second lightest values. The colors then fade from blue
    to purple. Because of the way the colors are placed with each other, it creates a sense of rhythm, movement, and fading from the background to the foreground and then back again.

    4.) Saturation Relationships

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This Dior advertisement uses saturation to create a sense of depth and emphasis within the composition. The less saturated color recedes to the background, while the highly saturated gold color pops out to the foreground. Her skin tone is more saturated than the background but less saturated than the foreground, so it appears in the middle.

    5.) Temperature Relationships

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This magazine cover uses temperature relationships to create a mood as well as establishing depth. The photo emphasizes this perfectly, with the cool blue ocean in the background gradually becoming a little warmer as it approaches the warm landscape. The title, “HAWAII,” is a very warm orange, contrasting with the cool water and giving a mood of a warm sunny vacation. The teal circle behind the words, “20+ PLACES TO DISCOVER ON MAUI,” is a cooler color that contrasts well against the land.

  • Design Development – Putting Stuff into Space

    Angel Larson

    Space on its own is neutral or inactive until it is broken up by form. Just like a document starts as a blank white rectangle, the addition of type creates new shapes and blank spaces that change how we as viewers see and interpret the information. Usage of space must be handled intentionally by the designer to aid in the message and make things easier to interpret for the viewer.

    When designing 2D layouts, it is important to create a sense of depth and movement with shapes and forms, so that the composition appears more dynamic. When arranging forms, a designer should consider using a symmetrical or asymmetrical layout. Symmetry occurs in a layout when both halves reflect over a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal central axis. Symmetry can occur around a single axis or multiple different axes at a time. Symmetrical layouts may not always be the best course for a design, as they may come off as static, boring, or too repetitive in many cases. Asymmetry relies on proportional relationships in shape and space to balance out the composition. Asymmetrical designs may appear more natural, as many forms in the natural world are not symmetrical.

    The structure of forms in space affects the viewer’s perception and meaning that they interpret from a design composition. There are many different structural relationships that you can achieve by placing forms by each other with consideration to the space between them, the angles of the forms, the sizes of the forms, and the shapes they are creating. Arrangements of forms can be perceived as geometric, organic, rigid, or irregular. Very complex layouts can have hundreds or thousands of different individual shapes, forms, structures, and meanings. For example, in a magazine cover, there might be a person on the cover. We recognize a person as a person, but they are also built up of thousands of different smaller shapes and parts that create a whole that we can visually understand. The same could be said about type. Each letter and shape holds its own meaning, and when combined, letters become words that we can understand when certain letters are placed together.

    Proportional relationships have to do with controlling eye movement through establishing recognizable, repeated intervals. The rule of thirds splits the space in a composition into thrirds, vertically and horizontally. The rationale is that our eyes will focus on the points where the composition splits into thirds. Musical logic establishes different repeated intervals that can be used to make a layout make more sense to the viewer. For example, in this paper, the space between the lines of type is all the same. The height of the ascenders of the letters to the decender of the letters is also the same.

    The margins are also the same on each side. The height and width of a capital T in this paper are all the same. This creates a logic that makes the shapes and sizes make more sense across the layout. Mathematical logic creates a fractional relationship between elements in a composition to each other. For example in zoo maps, the shapes and sizes of the elements of the map are shrunken down from the real world but are still proportional. The paths are more narrow than the buildings, and the spaces the aimals are in are much larger than the buildings. Having this sense of forms being proportional to each other makes the map more realistic and understandable to the real world. The golden section creates a point of focus by breaking down a composition proportionally. The composition can be broken down repeatedly into a larger section and a smaller section. This appears to create a spiral shape downward.

    Depth can be created in a composition by using varying sizes of shapes, overlapping shapes, using transparency, and making shapes bleed past the constraints of the format. Depth in a layout mirrors the real world and creates a more dynamic composition that appears more 3D. We can create the illusion with shape and space that we are looking off into the distance, that some shapes are popping out at you, that the shapes on the page are part of the real world, or that we are looking through a shape to see another. Movement can be created with shape and space to create a desirable eye flow and give life to a composition.

    Using a large amount of blank space around a shape can actually be helpful to direct your eyes to the shape faster, show contrast, and emphasize a form. It’s very insightful to learn so much about shape and space and how we as designers can use their unique relationships to our advantage. Shape and space are a natural part of the physical world and can be reflected into our designs to communicate the message we would like the viewer to interpret in our designs.

    1.) Symmetrical

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This ad is symmetrical across the horizontal and vertical axes. It is not a completely perfect reflection, but the elements across from each other take up about the same amount of space and are about the same shapes as well, with exception to the orange background. The symmetry of the elements helps the ad to balance out the space. Because the elements aren’t exactly the same across the horizontal and vertical axes, it helps to keep the layout from being too boring or repetitive.

    2.) Asymmetrical

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This ad is asymmetrical but is a well-balanced composition. Top Felton is not looking at the camera straight on; his head is tilted to the right. His head being tilted to the right balances out with “Beyond the Wand,” being tilted towards the left. It is also balanced out by having larger text on the left,
    “THE MAGIC & MAYHEM OF GROWING UP A WIZARD,” while the quote on the right, “A brilliant memoir about growing up playing an iconic role,” is much smaller. This is because the way Tom Felton is positioned in the frame, there is more open space on the left than the right, so the text must be different sizes so that they fit into the space better.

    3.) Structure

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This ad has a few different structural relationships that I noticed right away when I saw it. The first is that the colored boxes are stacked on top of each other. They are not touching, but all the boxes are the same size and shape and have the same amount of space between them. This helps to lead your eye down the stack of boxes from top to bottom. The colored boxes also correlate with the multi-colored wheel. The colored sections of this wheel form a circular structure. This helps the viewer understand that the different sections are all part of a whole circle and that they represent a numerical fraction of the whole. The overlapping structure of the color wheel and colored boxes being on top of the map in the background, also ties in the idea that the DNA is measured from different parts of the world.

    4.) Depth

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This ad uses various methods to establish depth within the format, including overlapping forms, transparency, varying sizes, and bleeding past the bounds of the format. Most of the depth comes from the picture that was used, but there is also a sense of depth created with the use of the text. The text appears to be in the foreground, closest to the viewer, because the red rectangle that the text sits on is in front of the picture. The picture bleeds off the format on the left and right sides. The picture could have had a border or space left around it, but because it goes all the way to the edge of the ad, it is as if you could image the rest of the studio that we cannot see. The lady in the middle is bigger than the ladies on the sides; this tells the viewer that she is closer to you than the other ladies. You can also see through the windows in the background, giving you a view of the world beyond the photo. This photo exhibits how we can create shapes and forms in space to mimic the real world. In the real world, we are always seeing depth, so it is only natural to recreate this in our designs.

    5.) Proportion

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This ad utilizes proportion by using the rule of thirds, mathematical logic, and musical logic in the composition. The composition is split vertically into three sections when it comes to the visuals and information under the visuals. “Joan of Arc,” “Richard the Lionheart,” and “Marco Polo” are all on top of boxes that are the same width. This composition uses mathematical logic with the graphics of people by making their heads and bodies the same size. Because they are at the same level of depth, it makes sense for them to be proportionally the same size. Musical logic is used in this composition by the established repeated sizes of the shapes and spaces in-between shapes. The rectangles behind the type are all the same distance from each other from the bottom to the top and from the left to the right sides. The names are all the same size, and the information about the people is the same size of type. The text is also inset to the same amount within each box with text. This musical logic makes the composition easier to read and makes more sense to the viewer.

  • The Elements of CopyWriting – Headlines

    While headlines may seem like only a small part when writing copy for an advertisement, the headline makes a big impact on if the viewer will go on to read the rest of the text. There are multiple different ways you can go about writing a headline and some ways will be more effective than others depending on your product or service and your audience. I have highlighted what I find to be the most effective methods when writing a headline.

    1. Use direct headlines when writing about straightforward offers and high-interest products.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement for loft tours in downtown Sioux Falls is very direct with its headline. “Loft Tours” is the headline, and right away you know that this is for people who are seeking to move. Having a place to live is essential for everyone, so there is no need to offer deals or display the prices because people will need to find a place to live no matter what. 

    2. Make headlines and visuals work together.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    The headline “MUM FEST” directly relates to the chrysanthemum flower image in the ad, showing you what the ad is about even if you only read the headline. The background also shows lots of chrysanthemums and has a heavy orange color over it. It is good to show the flowers in this ad because some people may be confused by the word “mum” in the headline. Mum can also be another word for mom, so it was a good idea to show the meaning of the word visually. 

    3. Draw the reader into your body copy.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    The headline, “Manage your social media workflow with Canva,” offers you a solution to managing workflow and prompts you to read the other text of the ad to see what they mean by this. I was personally interested in what they meant with this headline, which prompted me to read the other text, “Design, plan, and schedule your social posts, all in one place. Simplify your workflow with Canvas Teams. Try it free.” 

    4. Appeal to your audience’s self-interest.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This headline, “Open doors to your wealth’s full potential,” or even just, “Wealth’s full potential,” appeals to the audience’s self-interest by promising the reader a way to reach their full financial potential. This is appealing to many people, as most people are trying to find more ways to make more money to get the things they want, be financially secure, and invest for the future. 

    5. Speak directly to your audience.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    The headline, “Get back into dance with a supportive community,” is speaking directly to an audience of people who are interested in trying dance classes for the first time or for those who used to be in dance classes when they were younger but stopped going. This headline makes it so that the people who are not interested will not read any more than the headline and will move on from the ad, while the target audience that this ad is meant for will stay and read the rest of the add to find out more details.

    6. Deliver a meaningful message.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    The headline, “The anti-stuck-in-bed program,” sums up what this app is about and who it is made for. You will remember this app for what the headline offers. If the headline speaks to you, you may want to try this app and see if it really lives up to what the headline promises. Even if you do not check out the app right away, you may one day discover that this is something you want help with, and “The anti-stuck-in-bed program” headline might stick with you. In that case, you could look up the headline, and it should take you right to this app.

    7. Get your audience’s attention.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This headline, “What will baby actually need?” gets the audience’s attention by asking them a question that they may have trouble answering. If you are expecting a baby, you may be considering this question already. Especially if you are a first-time parent, you may not know what your baby will need, and require help and assurance to make sure you are fully prepared. There are also things that people say you will need but end up being a waste of money, so for parents who want to save money, this is an even more important parent.

    8. Use appropriate appeals.

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This headline, “Treat yourself,” uses proper appeals by showing the product in a very pleasing way. You could go with an image of someone eating the ice cream or something completely unrelated, but by showing the ice cream shakes in extreme detail in a very appealing manner, you are playing on people’s appeal for sweets or sugar by making the product look as appetizing as possible. The headline encourages the viewer to give into their sweet tooth and get someone very sugary and calorie dense as a treat for yourself. 

    Other methods of making a headline more effective include:

    • Inject news into your headline.
    • Offer to teach the reader something useful.
    • Use the “reason why” approach.
    • Tell customers what you want them to do.
    • Express your sales proposition in a fresh and compelling way.
    • Use a provocative question.
    • Avoid being clever for the sake of being clever.
    • Put the headline in quotation marks.

  • The Elements of Copywriting – The Essentials to Creating Copy

    Copy is the text that you use in an advertisement. No matter what kind of advertisement it is, there are fundamentals to follow in order to make more interesting writing. There are lots of elements that go into writing body copy but I will only be discussing the elements that I find the most important.

    1. Gets attention

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This Scooters ad gets attention by featuring an offer. Immediately, the line “$1 COFFEE” is the first thing that many people will notice about the ad. As someone who enjoys coffee, this offer is very attractive, as a typical cup of brewed coffee from Scooters would be around $3-$4.

    2. Focuses on the customer

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement is doing a good job of being customer centric. This advertisement promises that the consumer will gain a sense of “Belonging, Purpose, and Hope” by participating in their events for young adults. It also makes sure to say, “You’re invited,” as if speaking directly to the consumer.

    3. Stresses benefits

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement from Audible stresses the features and benefits of this particular book. The proclaimed feature of the book is to learn “Effective Co-Parenting or Parallel Parenting with a Narcissist,” while the benefits of learning this are to “Set Boundaries, Eliminate Conflict, Protect Yourself, and Raise Emotionally Secure Children.” The feature helps you to understand what the book can mean to you and why its worth listening to. 

    4. Differentiates your product from the competition

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement stresses that it is different from the competition because you don’t have to brush your retainer. It does not specifically mention the names of the competitors but alludes to the fact that this product is very different than what else is out there. It stresses the benefit that you will never have to brush your aligner again like you have to for many other brands that also offer a retainer.

    5. Proves its case

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement proves its case that you should listen to this book because it is the “#1 New York Times Bestseller.” This shows that many people already enjoy the book and have listened to it already, so you should too. People can be skeptical to try a product if no one else has tried it, because they don’t know if it’s worth their time or money, and they want someone else to take the risk if it ends up not being worth it. This ad also has a quoted review about the book from Buzzfeed, so if you like Buzzfeed and respect them, you would probably trust their opinion about the book. 

    6. Establishes credibility

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement establishes it’s credibility by stating that “MyTrueAncestry compares your DNA to real arcaeological DNA samples: our database includes 140+ ancient civilizations and 10,000+ years of history!” This helps to prove that your results will be accurate and worth using this service to look into your ancestry.

    7. Builds value

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement builds value by stating that after using their laser hair removal services, you will never have to shave again. The treatments may be expensive, but the extra value is that they would save you money in the long run from not having to buy shaving razors, razor blades, or shaving cream anymore. It would also save you value in terms of time in the long run.

    8. Closes with a call to action

    (Photo screenshotted from my Instagram. I do not own this material and am using it for informational purposes only.)

    This advertisement closes with a call to action by encouraging you, “Don’t delay again! Try it Now.” There is also a “Learn more” bar at the bottom that you can click. This encourages you to act on the ad while you are interested and requires minimal effort to learn more about the service being offered. This is essential in ads so that the consumer knows what to do easily to pursue the product or service.

  • What’s Involved in Marketing?

    Marketing is a term used to define how businesses go about pricing, promoting, placing, and producing their products and services to consumers.

    Marketing encompasses every aspect of a business, including brand identity, organizational culture, internal processes, financing, strategy, etc. With this in mind, it is a very vast field, and everyone working within a business or managing their business deals with one or more aspects of marketing. If you are a cashier at a store, you are on the front line of customer service. You are promoting the business with your interpersonal skills and affecting the customers’ experience buying a product. If you are a hair stylist, you are affecting the customers’ experience by the level of service you give to the customer. If you are an accountant, you are directly helping to track the expenses and incomes of the business. This guides decisions in how many products to produce, how many people to hire, and if the business can expand. 

    I am very interested in the creative aspect of marketing—how businesses can communicate a message to their target market through text, images, colors, videos, feelings, and sounds. It all comes down to communication. We are receiving hundreds of messages daily from businesses. “This product will help you do X.” “Try this product and you will feel like Y.” These messages are attempting to offer a solution to a perceived problem. No one wants a useless product that won’t do anything. We want something that will fulfill a need, help us do something better, make us feel a certain way, and solve our specific problem/problems. I think it is essential to understand the functions of marketing and how every single job in a business is a crucial piece of the whole. Especially if you want to have your own business, you may want to think about how effectively you manage these various aspects and if you need to start outsourcing jobs to other people. 

    I hope that this gave you a better insight into the marketing field and how it encompasses all areas of the business. As well as how marketing is broken down into specialties and specific functions.

  • About Me – Angel Larson Artist Bio

    I have completed a semester of graphic design at the USD Community College for Sioux Falls, an associate’s degree in marketing, an associate’s degree in business administration, and now an associate’s degree in media design technology. I am very happy that I decided to extend my marketing education to designing because that’s where my creativity really shines. I enjoy being able to bring ideas to life through the use of different technologies and mediums. I am passionate about planning, organizing, and executing effective designs. I love exploring the areas of storyboarding, filming, photography, photo/video editing, layout, typography, web design, and print production. I thrive when I can be part of a creative team that will challenge and enhance each other. 

    I have spent a year interning in marketing communications at North Central International. My role involves working closely with the marketing manager to perform the various tasks required for in-house marketing. I have gained experience creating ads for various mediums, creating flyers, creating signage, creating trade show banners and displays, performing market research, planning advertising campaigns, and coordinating various events. The internship has been very challenging but rewarding, and I have learned so much by taking on every new project that has come my way. 

    For fun, I have been taking adult beginner ballet classes once a week. I enjoy the ballet classes and that I am pushing myself to learn new things and go farther than I ever thought possible by going outside of my comfort zone. I also deeply enjoy drawing, coloring, and painting, where I can turn my inspirations into reality by envisioning my idea, planning the materials, researching, sketching, and then executing different techniques to achieve the results I desire.

  • The Importance of Math in Design

    Design is a very creative field, but it also uses math, logic, and reason to aid in designing. For example, a flyer, advertisement, banner, poster, etc. will all be designed within the dimensions of a page. A common dimension for a flyer would be 8.5″ x 11″ (8.5 inches wide and 11 inches tall) This is the common size of a sheet of paper. Print advertisements and posters are more likely to be in custom sizes that require a more specialized printer.

    You can also have dimensions of design in terms of pixels. Pixel sizing is used when you are creating a design that will be displayed on smartwatch, phone, tablet, TV, and computer screens.

    Sizing and math is important in terms of the photos you use in your design, the font size, and the sizes of shapes. From small to large sizing there are different challenges you will face with your designs.

    Designing on small dimensions means that you will have to make sure your design can still be read and noticed. You may have to have less elements in your design, because there is not as much space to work with. Larger designs mean that the elements must be much larger. You also have to take into consideration how close the viewer will be when looking at your design. If they are going to be looking at it from close up (1-2 feet away) you can get away with making the text very small. If they are going to be looking at it from a far distance and for not very long (for example a billboard on the side of the road) you will need to make the elements very large and easy to take in at a glance.

    Sizing is also very important to consistency in your design. You must develop a method to the sizing of your type, shapes, and images. For example you may have a specific size to use for the main heading, sub headings, body copy, and captions within a single design that you will want to stick to.

    If you want an element of your design like an image to take up 1/3, 1/4, 1/2, 2/3, or 3/4 of your design space, you can figure this out easily by taking the total length or width of your design and applying the fraction to it. For example, if a graphic you are making is 400 pixels tall and you want the image to take up 3/4 of the space, take 400 divided by 4 (100) and than multiply that number by 3 (300). So to for the image to take up 3/4 of the space vertically it would need to be 300 pixels tall.

    This is how you can use a basic understanding of math to help aid you in your designs.

  • From Inspiration to Creation

    To develop creative ideas, it can be useful to find inspiration in movies, TV shows, songs, images, and other creative works that you enjoy. Without copying something that has already been created, there are many things you can learn from the creations of others.

    I used to love to create fan-art, based on TV shows that I enjoyed. The shows inspired me to develop something new, based on a creative concept that already existed. Especially when It comes to drawing people or creating things based on real life, it is good to do your research to make sure you are accurately portraying what you want to portray with your own twist.

    Creativity is about having a spark of an idea, planning out the idea, and executing it.

    1.) The Spark
    In my Motion Graphics class last year, we were tasked with creating a kinetic typography video based on a movie quote. The first thing that popped into my mind was the iconic scene from Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, were Obi Wan is having an emotional speech directed at Anikin. I felt that this scene would be perfect to use as it has so much meaning and emotion to me. I instantly had ideas on the type of fonts, backgrounds, and effects to use to aid to the heavy emotion of the scene.

    2.) Planning the Idea
    The next step after the spark of inspiration was to plan out my idea. I created a storyboard to help me visualize what i wanted to happen with each phrase. Planning out what fonts, colors, and imagery you will use in your project is essential to aid you in executing your idea.

    3.) Execute the Idea
    I created the video using Photoshop for backgrounds, dafont to find fonts, and Adobe After Effects to create the 2D animation and bring everything together. I do not own the rights to the sounds used in the video. It is for educational purposes only! This project was still fun and rewarding though, to bring one of my favorite quotes to life with my ideas. You can watch the video I created by using this link to view it on Youtube.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9NJSSQwVFE

  • How to Get Free Fonts Online at dafont.com

    When you are working on a project involving typography, the art of using type, you may want to search for a specific font to fit with the project you are working on. I have found that dafont.com is a great resource to find fonts that you can license to use as well as 100% free. It is important when you are working on personal projects to make sure that you have the full rights to use a font that someone has spent a lot of time and effort to create.

    Fonts installed from dafont can be used on Mac or Windows and can be used across all Adobe apps. Dafont has every kind of font imaginable, making it easy to search for what you need in a project.

    Step 1.) Search for dafont.com

      Step 2.) Find which category of fonts you are looking for

      Step 3.) Click on the more options button and select 100% free.

      Step 4.) Select download on the font you want and open up the file in your downloads.

      Step 5.) Open the .ttf files that you want and select install. On Mac this will automatically add the font into your font book so you can use it in Adobe apps.

    1. Designing an App with Adobe XD-Part 8

      Now that you have created the content for your app or website in photoshop and created a shared library with your assets, you can bring everything into Adobe XD.

      Adobe XD is used for designing, prototyping, and sharing app or website designs.

      • Designing
        • With Adobe XD, you are able to have all the different screens (pages) of your app or website all in one place.
        • From the sign-in page, profile, settings, home page, etc., you can have a clear view of all the content that will be on your app or website.
        • You are able to design the content of the pages within Adobe XD, or you can design your content in photoshop and import it into XD as layers. Designing your content in photoshop and then importing it into XD can save you time.
        • Adobe XD works similarly to other Adobe apps in the ways that you can utilize properties, layers, effects, and share libraries.
        • You will want to create a separate page for every button that is clicked in your app or website and every option that is possible to the users.
        • In XD you are able to gain ready made assets or look at examples of other layouts by going to file > Get UI kits. Here you can download already made examples of apps and websites in XD to help to gain icons, and ideas for text sizes, and what pages you will need.
      • Prototyping
        • What makes Adobe XD special is that you can link your pages together to see what button will lead to what outcome. For example, if you click next on an app or web page, it may lead you to a new page, a new box, or make something pop up.
        • You have freedom to decide where the buttons will lead to give your users options while using your app or website or create navigation.
        • You can also press the play button so that you can press the buttons for yourself and make sure they are having the desired effect.
      • Sharing
        • In Adobe XD you can share your website or app prototype through a link. This will allow a potential user, employer, or developer to see your idea and comment on it.
        • Because you are sharing a link, if you update your website or app prototype after sharing it, you can press update link and the link you sent will be updated without having to send a new link.
        • If you send the link in developer view, they will be able to see what assets where used on each page. (colors, font family, font sizes, shapes, images etc.)
        • Adobe XD is perfect for bringing your idea to life so that people can see it before it is coded, and to help make the coding process faster and easier.