Evaluation

PDF Problems

The brief states that the final image must be exported as a high quality PDF file. Adobe Illustrator supports this. 


Once I exported the image as a high quality PDF, I noticed issues with the image. The stroke around the F was smaller, the colours changed, and there is a very annoying line on the splash at the fishes tail. 


PH


I was confused when I saw these, as Illustrator was not showing this in the program, and when opening the AI file, neither of these problems are there. I then saved the image out as a JPG, and in this version none of the problems were present either. I'm not sure why this is occuring, as I have tried to save it out as a PDF many times, using the highest quality options, and it is still happening.


PH

Image Final

Here's my final image. Time to export and save. 

Splish Splash

After Crit, I decided to add a splash. I traced around the splash in the original image, and then added gradients. When tracing the original, I had to remove some of the more detailed water drops, as it made the image too complicated, and when placed on the final image, this detail clashed with the simplicity of the rest of the image. Using lots of blues and whites, and the gradient/live selection tool I was able to create this effect. I'm happy with this work and it really adds to the final image. 

Let there be colour!

I coloured this in using a lot of gradients, live selection, and live painting. One of the main issues I had was that I didn't know how to use the gradient tool, and it took alot of getting used to. Once I had mastered the gradient tool, I found another awesome tool, the Live Selection tool. This allowed me to just click in the center of a closed path and it would be selected, ready for a gradient. This made putting the gradients in very fast. Another problem I ran into was the scales on the fish. As the paths were closed, the live selection would only select outside of them, and not inside. This meant that each little scale had its own start and end point of the gradient. To counter this, I selected a solid colour, and filled each scale manually. This was a little time consuming, as I had to get the colour as close to the outside as possible. Doing this had an advantage though, as the final result of blocked colours over the gradient brings a sense of texture and sort of makes the image "pop" I believe, which makes the image better. 

After playing with adding texture, I decided not to. For one, My skills in Illustrator aren't fantastic, and by trying to add texture I nearly destroyed the image, several times (I was using non destructive editing, so it would have been okay anyway). When I eventually did get a feeling of texture, It just didn't look right. Using the colours and gradient styles I did, a texture didn't blend well, and as I said before, I would have to texture the Facebook "F" aswell as all the text also. As of this, I have decided to leave my image untextured. This gives it a very modern feel, whilst still representing propaganda posters of the past. 

Editing "H"

Upon receiving feedback from the crit, I have decided to manipulate the text using outlines, rather then a whole new image. This means that the text is using the same font, whilst being edited to make it different.

I added the letter H to the slogan, and then created outlines of the text. This allowed me to use the white arrow tool to grab an anchor and move it. I repeated this on both sides of the "H". I did attempt to add points to the bottom aswell, but it made the H feel heavy. Also, when modifying the bottom is squished all of the text, sort of like a perspective drawing. I couldn't figure out why it done this, but luckily it looked better without the bottom points anyway. 

Crit

The image I submitted for crit was not completed so the feedback I got was limited, but very useful none the less. The image I submitted had all the text with the custom H, the hook, the fish, but very limited colour. I had flat colours on the image, but no gradients, so I could not get feedback on the colour.


However, I received positive and negative feedback for the image submitted. 


The positive feedback was that my idea was strong, and instantly recognisable. The image represented the WWII poster that I had chosen well and it was obvious. The layout and overall feel of the image was praised.


The negative feedback that was mentioned was for one, the lack of colour (due to incomplete image). It was commented that the custom 'H' I designed was too heavy, unnecessary, and quite frankly didn't fit. I shall experiment with other ways to create a 'different' letter without it being too distracting. It was also commented that my image had alot of empty space that needed filling. The fact that there was no splash, nor 'water trails' made the image look static and misplaced. This is a serious error that needs to be fixed. I shall fix this by adding trails and a splash, to give a sense of direction. 

Text

I implemented the text and added a curve effect to it, which has worked out quite successfully. I have left space next to the 'ooked' to add the custom drawn H which I wish to use. 

I have started creating the H in Illustrator ready to impliment. 

Development

Development and creation of the image is well underway! Fish has been implemented, along with with hook, and the Facebook 'F' attached to the hook as bait. I decided to use the logo as a 'bait' instead of a hook, as to create a hook I would have to manipulate the image in a number of ways (flip it, mirror it, change the end to a point) and it distorts the image too much. I chose to have the bottom of the F hanging over the grey block, to create an image that looks "whole", not just 3 separate images stitched together. 

Pitch

Today I pitched my design idea. Using a Keynote presentation I went through my research, design decisions, colour schemes, font, special characters and a final mock up. Overall crit from the group was positive, with good comments on my design choice and ideas. A few people raised concern about the upside-down 'F' being misleading, and questioned whether I would be using a texture or not.


I feel I have justified my choices well regarding my design choices, and will try and look at using the Facebook 'F' as bait instead of a hook. I am still undecided on texture at this moment. I shall give it a go in illustrator and see how it looks. 

A Fish

Work in Progress - Fish drawn in Adobe Illustrator. Lots of use of the Arc tool. (It's wicked)

Design Ideas

Upon researching propaganda posters, the image that I would really like to recreate is the WWII "Don't be a sucker" poster.

http://vintagraph.com/picture/uwii-0047_500.jpg?pictureId=11248470&asGalleryImage=true

I particularly like this image as it's vibrant, bright, and somewhat comical.

After looking at the other propaganda posters, I want to create a real sense of opposition, so I plan to use social network giants Facebook and Twitter. I want it to be promoting Twitter whilst making Facebook look "bad". To achieve this, I plan to use the Facebook logo "F" as, or part of, the hook. By turning the F upside down and pointing the tip I may be able to make it a hook. However, there is a very high chance that the upside down F may look like the Twitter 'T'. If the idea of using the F as a hook doesn't work visually, I would like to make the F as bait on the image. I plan to use a similar font, and making an individual letter stand out (like the 'S' in "sucker") 

I would like to use a colour scheme similar to this image, so that it's recognisable. The colour scheme will consist of reds and yellows (body), blues and whites (water), and gray and black (text)

In regards to texture, you can see that this original has very textured gradients on the mouth, body, fin, and tail. Whilst I think this effect works in the original, it may prove hard to recreate. For one, there may be technical issues. My other concern is that by texturing the fish, the Facebook 'F' will look out of place, as it will be a solid, modern object. A way around this would be to texture the Facebook 'F', but this may make it not as familiar and it may lose impact and effect. 

Web 2.0

After looking at propaganda I decided to research into Web 2.0. 


Web 2.0 is essentially new web sites and applications that allow and facilitate user participation. This can be in the form of uploading videos and photos, to blogging. Main Web 2.0 services are Social Networking and Media Sharing.


Take a look at two of the largest Web 2.0 sites available at the moment. Facebook has over 800 million active users, 50% of which log on every day. 48 hours of video are uploaded to Youtube every minute (resulting in nearly 8 years worth of content a day!) with over 300 billion Youtube videos viewed every day. Web 2.0 services are popular.


Technically, Web 2.0 isn't a "brand-new internet", it's just a term used to describe the modernisation and technological advancements that are changing the internet. 


A few examples of Web 2.0 services, and their Web 1.0 "equivalent" that I thought of are listed below.


Ofoto > Flickr
Britannica Online > Wikipedia 
Personal Websites > Blogging
Having friends in real life > Facebook ... (just kidding)




Facebook Stats taken from http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
YouTube Stats taken from http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics

What is Propaganda?

Upon reading the brief, I decided to research what propaganda actually is. After browsing the internet and researching, I have come up with an understanding of what Propaganda is. 


In its simplest form, Propaganda is a form of communication. It's designed to influence an audiences attitude towards a certain cause or group. The way propaganda posters are designed are to usually make one side of an argument "look bad" and the other "look good". For example, showing one side crushing the opposition, or mocking the opposing side. As of this, most propaganda posters are biased. A neutral propaganda poster wouldn't really be propaganda at all, it would just be showing the reality of a situation. This would allow the audience to create a view or opinion of their own, which destroys the purpose of propaganda. 


Propaganda is also designed to evoke an emotion, rather than a rational response. If a poster makes the audience feel happy, sad, angry, excited, or even upset, it will have a stronger effect on the viewers. 


However, Propaganda is not always used to belittle a certain group. It is most popular for this but it can be used in other forms, such as persuading people to report incidents to the police, or to go and get tested at an STI clinic. 

Project: Propaganda

The brief for our new project is to create a poster promoting an aspect of Web 2.0 Social Media that can be printed at up to A1 size, and the design must be based on propaganda posters from a period of the twentieth century.


This is quite an interesting brief, as using an old photograph / image and adding a modern twist can generate odd and striking effects. I think this is because the styles, colours, and textures used are that of an older era, and implementing modern characteristics can create a juxtaposition between the old and new. 


After generating ideas, there will be a pitch to put forward the design ideas, characteristics and styles. Feedback from this pitch can be used to enhance the product.


Finally, after the product is created, there will be a group crit evaluating the final image.