This is the culprit artifact.
My redesign of the card
My redesign of the card is based off the four basic principles given in The Non-Designer's Design Book: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity.
Contrast: In the first card, there is no contrast, really. There is merely white with the logo and two lines given for written information of the salesman. So to create some true contrast I inserted the red corners. They are not the actual tips of the card but they act almost as boundaries almost. Also, for some color contrast I made those corners red.
I also put contrast into the words of the card. I completely overhauled the logo with a futuristic font and also made it completely red because underneath it is a separated slogan in black. The slogan is also contrasts the info below and above because I italicized it some and made it slightly smaller in font size than the logo but still bigger than the address information I included.
Repetition: There is repetition throughout the card but it starts with the color scheme. There are three colors: white, red, and black. I chose to make two elements red (logo, corner tips) because if there were just one element, the red might seem out of place. I also made sure to make the corners all identical so there is no deviation in size, they're just flipped. The font style, outside of the logo, is exactly the same. The contact information and the slogan are the exact same because more than two font styles may make reading the card slightly irritating. As well, there are two lines in this card just like the last one, but one is for a name and the other is a separater.
Alignment: The alignment of the card is very consistent and no component of the card is out of rhythm in terms of alignment. I just bought Adobe InDesign the other week and the beautiful thing about that software is that the alignment tool is always exact and helps the user dictate where to put a certain component.
For example, all of the red corners are aligned perfectly due to the software. Also, the separater line between the logo and slogan acts almost as a boundary as well because all of the components below are aligned perfectly with its outside. The software also helped put every centered component in the exact center of a proceeding graphic. For example, the name line has a "Agent Name" tag directly below that is perfectly centered. And the slogan, as well, is perfectly centered under its separater line.
Proximity: The book indicates that proximity always implies relationship. When information is grouped together, there is always an assumed correlation amongst them. In my business card's case, the slogan and logo are very close so that they are very easy to identify. An easily identifiable slogan and logo have a higher chanced of being recognized in the future and because they are both marketing tools they deserve to be grouped together as such. Below is the contact information. All of the contact information is very close together so that it is discernible from the other elements. The agent name line is just slightly to the right because it is kind of its own solitary element but still not too far from the contact information.
Stylistic Choices: The red corners, as I have stated, are almost like bounder lines. What I mean when I say that is that they are there to keep the readers' attention within their alignment immediately. It is almost like I put a cross hair on the card and the information with the red corners is like the bulls-eye.
The logo has been completely redesigned because the other one was a little misleading. In its background there were mountains and the first letter was encapsulated in a red square. A regular person would not know at all what that business is based off aesthetic design. I remodeled it into a sleek, sharp futuristic version. There isn't a graphic to give hints of the businesses products but there also isn't a chance of distraction from a graphic at all. To remind what the company is, a slogan is used instead of a distracting graphic.
WOW! Your redesign looks much better than the actual card. Rhetorically, the way you put the white circle in the middle of the card resembles light. It seems sort of like a spotlight shining in the middle of the card which suggests that the company can keep the client safe by maybe keeping their property well-lit. Cognitively, the necessary information is clearly presented in an efficient way (much better than the original). It gets the job done. It is particulary affective with the slogan being italicized the opposite way. When text is italicized, it usually leans to the right; however, you made the slogan lean to the left, which adds a nice dose of surprise and draws the audience's [potential customers] attention to the company's slogan of safety. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteChristopher:
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reviewing your first re/design. You do a good job of the analysis, and there is room for improvement with the design. This was a good first assignment for you in a number of ways. Might work to make more clear how you're addressing key points that I'm looking for, as discussed during class. I'll offer notes here, and a grade that can be accessed through Moodle by clicking on grades at the top of http://richrice.com/3369. Some notes:
- The four main concepts in the course include CONTRAST, REPETITION, ALIGNMENT, and PROXIMITY (see Williams page 13)
- Contrast refers to making things different on the artifact, not merely similar; you write that there is no contrast, but there is ALWAYS contrast, such as the difference between white and red. Why not include some contrast, like you have here in your blog post with some bold?
- Repetition includes repeating visual elements throughout the piece;
- Alignment says that nothing should be arbitrary; hard to see the P in the logo now, perhaps even one might read this as Dinnacle; why use unequal spacing with the fonts you have in the address? Unusual slant with the italics. Hard to read. Is centering the best way to go with your title? What does the book suggest? Perhaps chunk information better by putting some space after the address
- Proximity suggests grouping and proximity for visual units; why not include a visual element different than the typical line for a name, like a shaded box, for instance; I think what's important about the red corners is that they're like an alarm, not a bull's-eye
If you have questions, please offer them via email so that I don't miss them, or in a future blog post. I may miss comments in your blogs. This is the first of five re/designs. You may choose to revise and resubmit any or all of them in your ePortfolio for a review assessment.
Dr. Rice