Assignment 2: Brainstorming and Concept Development

By Thursday, January 21, 2010, complete the following design exercise and post to this Discussion Area.

1. Decide what your client will be advertising this week, a product or service.
   
2. Who is the target market? Give a specific age range and economic status. What information do they need to have in order to make a decision to make a purchase? What images appeal to this demographic?
   
3. Find three ads in the real world created by “competitors” of your client for a similar product or service. Describe what you like and do not like in each one.
   
4. Make a list of 20 words that describe how the product or service will be seen by the target market. For example, if my client is a travel agent who provides luxury tours to the Caribbean, my list might look like this: luxury, warmth, adventure, safe, pampered, sun, fine dining, shopping, relaxing. The words can be nouns, adjectives or verbs. The point is to begin by actually describing the message your finished piece will communicate.
   
5. Prepare at least 40-50 pencil or marker thumbnails of standard and unique newspaper ads. Be certain to use the information in the Washington Post’s recommended Web pages.
   
6. Select three distinctly different ads and ad sizes among the 40-50 thumbnails. Redraw them as Rough Layouts in InDesign or Illustrator to scale with the SAU chart. Layouts can be a mixture of design and styles. They can be centered or not. They can be headline-heavy, image-heavy, logo-heavy, or body copy-heavy. Their look can be solid (heavily filled with information) or open (lots of white space). Their tone can be light hearted or quite serious. Save a working file in InDesign or Illustrator. (You will come back to these documents in a future assignment.) Then save a copy of the file as a PDF or .eps.
   
7. This ad will be printed in black and white. Show your work in black and white to the class. You may use images in this ad, but take into consideration the thin, porous nature of newsprint, and how photos look when printed in black and white on newsprint. Focus on typography.

Sheri Gruver Week2 Assignment 2

Service: Baby Shower and Engagement Cakes

Target Market:

• Ages 20’s through 40’s
• Middle to higher class

Images that appeal to this market:

• Champagne
• Flowers
• Cakes
• Designer dresses/accessories

Information needed on ad:

• Average price per slice
• Contact info

20 Terms:

1. Delicious
2. Butter cream
3. Wedding
4. Light
5. Fluffy
6. Engagement
7. Sugar
8. Extravagant
9. Party
10. Icing
11. Elegant
12. Love
13. Cake
14. Diamonds
15. Couples
16. Ring
17. Champagne
18. Celebration
19. Beauty
20. Presents
21. Save the date
22. Baby
23. Fun
24. Laugh

Competitor’s advertisements:

For all of these ads I can tell that having a picture to showcase my cake skills is probably the number one priority.  It needs to be something to immediately tell my clients what skill set I have available for their specific needs.  I also like how the first add lists the cake flavors that are holiday specific.  I love the elegant font of the second add.  I also like how simple and clean it is.  I really like the layout of the last add, but wouldn’t choose the same font for the body of the text.

http://www.ddcakes.com/images/Advertisement/christmas.jpg

http://www.weddingshow.com/images/2010_Magazine_Ads/Morfeys-Cakes.jpg

http://www.weddingshow.com/images/2010_Magazine_Ads/Safeway.jpg

FINAL DESIGN:

admin Art Institute Online - Graphic Design, electronic design

ELEPHANT BABY SHOWER CAKE

Whew! I’m exhausted!

I did a few adjustments and new techniques with this cake.  I’m using higher quality (albeit more expensive) ingredients, and I’m taking much more time and mental effort to make sure my cakes are straight and the highest quality covering I could do.  I think it paid off, because I’m extremely proud of this cake! The bottom tier is covered with handmade pure vanilla butter cream only at the client’s request.  I usually don’t do butter cream without fondant; but paired with the upper fondant decorated tiers, it still looks balanced.

CAKE BREAKDOWN

Bottom tier: Marbled french vanilla and devil’s chocolate cake. Hand made pure vanilla Butter cream frosting only.

Middle tier: Marbled french vanilla and devil’s chocolate cake.  Hand made pure vanilla Butter cream frosting.  Fondant with fondant decorations.

Top tier: Hand carved to unique diameter. Marbled french vanilla and devil’s chocolate cake.  Hand made pure vanilla Butter cream frosting.  Fondant with fondant decorations.

Elephant decoration: Rice crispy treat, dowel rods, fondant.  Hand painted and sculpted.

Amount of time on cake: 8-10 hours including baking.

Amount of supplies: $50-$60 (not including cake stand and pre-owned decorating/baking tools.)

PLANS

The invitation on the left hand corner shows the color scheme.  Originally, I planned to do both elephant and girl decorations at the top of the cake.  I settled on the elephant only because it turned out so darn cute and I wanted her to be the main focus.

THE FINAL PRODUCT:

TROUBLESHOOTING

I had a bit of a rough time with the fine lettering.  My first try was to use a small tipped icing bag with black tinted piping gel.  I couldn’t get the piping as small as I needed, so I went ahead and hand painted the lettering with a gray piping gel.  Figured black would be too high of a contrast since there is no other black on the cake.  My newest goal is to learn how to do very fine piping.

admin Cakes

I live in Ocala, Fl.  There’s not that many reputable cake companies where you can walk in and buy a cake.  Actually, the only one I can think of would be Publix.  Do you know how much they charge?!?!?!!?

That’s right, $381 – $900.

And that’s why you should always buy your cakes from me.

admin Basic notes, Cakes

admin Cakes

For linda’s daughter’s wedding tomorrow.

admin Cakes

I originally wanted to do a bowl of spaghetti on a table, but it ended up being a pizza instead. haha.

admin Cakes

I made a few of these custom necklace pendants / key chains as holiday gifts for friends and family.  I figured a few of my viewers might be interested in purchasing one or two.  This would be the perfect gift for someone who has everything already and you don’t want to get them a lame giftcard.

Each pendant is custom made by soldering bits of old jewelry as well as wire, silver, feathers, and whatever else catches my fancy.  Because of this, each piece is totally unique and will never be exactly recreated.  Most of the pendants you see in the pictures below are no longer available, but if there is a certain style you like I’ll be happy to make something with the same feel as that piece. The pendant will not come with a chain, but it will be easy to find one or a ribbon would do as well.

$40 a piece, simply because they take so long to make (about 3 hours each.)  It will come in a hand dyed cotton wrap with signed instructions for care.  Usually, I’ll wrap it in brown paper and tie it with wire and a feather.

Contact me (tab up @ the top of my site) if you are interested in ordering a custom piece.  If you need it by Christmas, I need to know right away!

Thanks, everyone!!

Love,

Sheri G

admin Handicraft

I know how expensive canvases can be, especially if you don’t want ugly staples on the side.  Figured I would share a cheaper way to make custom canvases.  Not only is this method EXTREMELY CHEAP, it also gives you the feeling of creating something from conception.

SUPPLY LIST

• stretcher bars (whatever sizes) these range from $.39 to a couple $ for the long ones
• scissors
• cotton sheet
• heavy duty staple (i prefer the easy ones that don’t require a lot of pressure)
• heavy duty staples (any size)
• hammer or mallet
• gesso (you can buy this at a craft store- get the biggest and cheapest jar you can find)
  
• large paint brush (the kind you use to paint your house is fine, the tougher the bristle the better)
• fine sandpaper (optional)

1. Your stretcher bars will come in whatever sizes you choose.  They should be very, very cheap.  You can get a set of 4 stretcher bars from only a couple dollars.  First, you want to match up the grooves and hand slide them in:

2. Using a hammer or soft mallet, you are going to make sure all your angles are flush and angled at 90 degrees.  I do this by eye, but I would suggest a square ruler if you are unsure of your angles.   It helps me if I stand my stretchers up and lightly tap on your grooves.  DON’T HAMMER HARD OR YOU WILL DAMAGE THE WOOD!

3. After you have your angles at 90 degrees, you are going to reinforce them using the staple gun. You want to put at least 3 staples per corner.  Make sure your staples are securing both stretcher bars. Note:  You will be putting this staples on the back side of your canvas.  You don’t want to see the staples through your painting.

4. Now take your sheet or large piece of cotton fabric.  The thicker the fabric, the better your final canvas.  If you are using a sheet, it needs to be a higher thread count.  Otherwise, the fabric may easily rip or sag.  Lay your frame on top of your fabric.  Remember, you want to leave enough fabric along the edges so you can staple them down.  Give yourself a few extra inches to play with.

5. Here come the technical part.  After you have your fabric cut and your frame positioned with about 4 inches of play on all sides, you are going to start stapling.  It’s extremely important to follow these tips:

1. ALWAYS START IN THE MIDDLE OF EACH EDGE!
2. ALWAYS PULL TIGHT BUT EVENLY TO THE OTHER SIDES, WRINKLES ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND!
3. DON’T GET SKIMPY WITH YOUR STAPLES, PUT ONE DOWN ABOUT EVERY 1-2 INCHES.
4. DO ABOUT 3 STAPLES PER SIDE THEN SWITCH TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE!
5. TAKE BREAKS, THIS WILL START TO HURT YOUR THUMBS AND HANDS!

This pic is to show you how far along I put my staples.  One every few inches. IT’S VERY IMPORTANT to put your staples down at an angle.  The reason? Your fabric runs in lines and if you put a staple that runs along this line, the pressure of your canvas will rip your fabric.  Putting down your staple at a slight angle will distribute the pressure and decrease your risk of a ripped canvas.

Here I show you where to start.  Start in the very middle of a side.  Put about 3 staples down, and THEN SWITCH TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE!  Make sure you are pulling your fabric very tight and securing with about 3 staples.  Remember, you do not want any wrinkles.  Pay attention to your fabric.  If it feels like it needs to be tighter, pull it tighter.  You need to switch from side to side many times.  This will guarantee equal pressure to all your staples, as well as no wrinkles and a lovely final result.  This does take a very long time, and your thumbs will get tired.  Take breaks as needed.

Just another pic showing how it should look with the staples slowly being applied from one edge to the opposite edge:

Notice how I work from the middle to the edges, pulling the sheet tight as I go.  Don’t staple the edges until you have every side stapled up the the edges.

6. THE BEST PART: THE EDGES!

This is my favorite part of stapling because it means you are almost done with the hard part.  Now that you have all your sides stapled (not your corners) you are going to trim off any excess fabric.  Leave the square ends of the corners, so you can tack them down when you are done.

7. After you have all the fabric trimmed off (which you should keep for later projects, such as adding texture to your canvas) you are going to staple the edges.  There a couple of different ways to do this, but basically you want to secure the fabric while creating a nice angle on the sides of your canvas.  Here’s some pics of how I do it, but do whatever works for you.  Secure your corners with about 3 staples.

You want your final angles to be smooth and wrinkle free.

8. NOW FOR THE BESTEST PART EVER!! You will need a clean space that you can dirty up with gesso. So clean off your table of all watchers, candy, cell phones and things you don’t want covered in gesso.

Prep your gesso, paint brush, and water.  This is going to be very messy, so if you are a wussy you can wear gloves.  I suggest doing it bare handed though because it is SO MUCH FUN!

Pour your gesso on the front side of your canvas.  Don’t be finicky with your gesso.  The more the better.  Use a hard bristled brush to spread the gesso to all of the canvas.  The gesso will create a waterproof surface for your paint to stick to.  It will also tighten up your cotton canvas, but don’t rely on it to tighten it if you have a lot of sagging or wrinkles.

Completely coat the front side of your canvas followed by the sides and even the backside of your canvas where the staples are. The pic below shows how the gesso is absorbed into your sheet.  This is a good sign if you can see your gesso through the back side of your canvas.

The last step of making your canvas is to let the gesso dry.  If you want a smooth canvas you can use a fine sandpaper to sand away any rough brushstrokes that were created.  Just repeat applying the gesso at least one more time if you do this though.  Followed by another fine sanding.  Personally, I love the brush strokes created in the gesso but if you are creating a painting that needs a perfectly smooth surface, use the sandpaper rinse and repeat method.

Your canvas will take a few hours to a day to dry completely.  The more humid or less sunny it is, the more time it will take to dry.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! Let me know if you have any additional tips or questions!

admin Handicraft, Paintings, tutorial

started advanced typography.  so far it’s been a lot of research and thinking, but the last assignment was to take a well known document, tear it apart, and remake it.  I took the 2nd amendment and made this:

it’s really more or less a quick rough, but i like the idea of it.

i’m so super exhausted.  after 4 or 5 weeks of overtime (don’t even know how long) and not having a weekend off during that time has really just worn me down.  i was super excited about the checks… but taxes took out about $300+ of it, so it’s not that exciting.

i’m just so darn sleepy!

on the good side, i have my christmas tree setup, most of my presents wrapped, and some lights on the front of my house (even thought they don’t work.)

looking forward to the holiday season.  Christmas will be here, at the new house, and I want to make amazing food!  Anyone know of any AMAZING recipes?

admin Art Institute Online - Graphic Design, typography

Bree’s baby shower cake was due today.  I found out as I was kneading the fondant that I’m really weak today.

Concept:

Final design:

admin Cakes