Summary: For my logo design, I wanted to connect the Monterey Zoo with something that represented the local area and environment of Monterey. I liked the original logo’s idea of a lion, but I wanted to create something more up-to-date and creative than the original design. I decided to focus on the face of the animal and composed the lion’s mane out of kelp and seaweed. I felt that this tied the non-native animal to the ocean and coast of Monterey. I was inspired by the kelp forests of the pacific ocean and by local attractions such as the Monterey Aquarium. I used a simple font so as to not distract from the icon of the lion, and I used bright aquatic colors to catch the viewer’s attention. I feel that this design is more unique and modern compared to the previous zoo logo. I believe I have created a flexible design that can easily be transferred and altered to fit future attractions, products, or advertising directions of the Monterey Zoo. The designs of the business cards and flyers are fairly minimalistic, drawing the focus of the viewer’s attention to the information and logo of the Monterey zoo. The simple layouts create a clean and easy-to-follow design.

Appraisal: I enjoyed the process of this project. It was a challenge for me, but I am really happy with the end result. The research and sketching process really helped me solidify my ideas and concepts and my process of experimentation led me to my final design. While there are areas of improvement, I feel I have implemented a good use of symmetry, balance, alignment, and proximity in my designs.

Summary: This was one of the more challenging design projects I completed this semester. Each business card took me a long time to complete, and I made many iterations of the same designs. Sketching out my ideas did help in the ideation process, but I spent the majority of my time experimenting in Illustrator. I reused a couple of my logos and icons from Assignment 6: Negative Space and branched of my designs from there. I played around with the idea of center alignment and symmetry as well as right and left aligned elements. I used Sans Serif type for legibility and clarity. I chose a Helvetica typeface because it was easy to change the style and weight of the type in order to create a sense of organization and hierarchy.

Appraisal: While there are areas of improvement, I feel I have implemented a good use of symmetry, balance, alignment, and proximity in my designs. I believe I have organized the information in a clear and understandable manner and I worked hard to create a sense of hierarchy. The most important words and phrases are displayed in a bolder font while the lighter fonts are used for less important information. I also used alignment and letter-spacing to create clear margins within my design as well as a sense of symmetry.

Summary: These album covers are based off of the song "Aawake at Night" by one of my favorite bands half • alive. I struggled for a long time deciding which song to choose for this project. I inevitably chose "Aawake at Night" do to the sentimental value I hold for the song as well as the contemplative and interesting tone of the music. I drew inspiration from the song's music video which involves scenes of traffic and streetlights all taking place, as the name implies, at night. The music video also relies heavily on blue and red lighting which I wanted to incorporate in my pieces. I sketch out my designs with the idea of negative space in mind. I wanted to create a sense of depth without going into too much detail. I eventually landed on a center-focused design in order to create a clear focal point as well as a sense of symmetry. The "h" and the "a" displayed in the traffic light represent the commonly used initials of the band name and draw the eye of the viewer down towards the song title. Once I finalized the structure of the design, I created two versions of the design, one with limited color and a full color version.

Appraisal: Overall I am quite happy with the final design of the album covers. I feel I have created a sense of symmetry and balance within the design and I like the feel of perspective and depth I created. I also believe that my color choices accurately represented the tone and message of the song. However looking back, I do feel that some of the elements of the design are rather simple and cartoonish and not as elegant as I had planned them to be. Also I feel the full colored version of the design is not as cohesive and looks a bit rushed. The design is rather busy and not as finished as the other two designs.

Summary: This project forced me to be creative and think outside the box. By only using letters and text elements I was forced to think of new ideas to draw the attention of the viewer and create an interesting design. Sketching the different layouts for the posters really helped me visualize the layout and direction of my project. In my poster designs, I used the Helvetica Neue typeface. Helvetica was created by Swiss designer Max Miedinger in an attempt to create a clear, versatile, and neutral typeface that could be used for a variety of different purposes and projects. Helvetica Neue is a 1983 redesign of Helvetica that is said to be more unified in width and height than the original typeface. I chose Helvetica Neue for my designs because it has a consistent stroke weight and because it contains many variations and font options. I felt it was a clean, simple, and linear choice that still caught the eye of the viewer.

Appraisal: I am happy with the final design of these posters. I enjoyed creating different iterations and manipulating the style of the text in different ways. I feel have created a sense of information hierarchy in a creative way and catch the attention of the viewer. However, I do fear some of the designs may be too simple and do not effectively communicate the message of the posters as well as some of the other iterations.