Texas Tech Typography

I really like Tech’s recommended typography, and I especially like that the university has a pretty strict style guide to enforce its selected typography (among other design elements). As a paying student, I’d like to think my money is going to a professional institution. The selected typography, Charter and Helvetica Neue, help present a professional front to viewers of Tech’s printed and online material. It also helps Tech maintain its control over the content, organization, and design of the information provided on behalf of the university.

It works out well that Tech’s color scheme is red, black, gray, and white. These colors work well in combination and in contrast to each other. They’re all pretty strong colors alone, so together they create a fairly unified design. I also like that Tech has specified which colors are used where and when. I know style guides can be a pain, but it’s a set of rules just like anything else. All the university is trying to do is reinforce its appearance to internal and external audiences.

The font selection is good. I like the use of Charter for major headlines and some paragraphs and Helvetica Neue for subheads and body text. Both fonts are clear and easy to read, but they offer enough contrast to work well together. The choice of an oldstyle font for larger text and a sans serif for smaller text enforces the contrast while maintaining the integrity of clear type. I don’t think anyone would have a hard time reading any print or online publications using Tech’s style guide.

I also like the fact that Tech considers font replacements in some instances. Font replacements such as Times New Roman and Arial are so much more accessible than Charter and Helvetica Neue, which require purchase to use. Plus, there’s a good chance that most people would never notice the subtle differences between the two fonts unless placed side-by-side, so the replacements are logical and appropriate. They are also free and pretty standard.

It’s nice that TTU has also specified a script font for use in special occasions and for material that requires a touch of fanciness. I’ve seen Edwardian used on graduation announcements, and it’s a lot easier to read than other script fonts which almost seem TOO script. This font is used only in rare cases, but it’s essential in presenting a nice, elegant design.

What I wish Tech would consider is adding a decorative font to its style guide. There are a ton of decorative fonts to choose from, and the university wouldn’t even need to consider an outrageous font—just something a little different for fun material. Adding such a font might broaden the possibilities for Tech’s print and online documents.

Overall, I really like Tech’s typography and the considerations given to replacement fonts. I also like the fact that Tech is ensuring its identity by reinforcing the way other elements of design—such as emblems, seals, and signatures—are used so as not to give the wrong impression of the university.

Graffiti Garden Brochure

Introduction

This project consists of a marketing brochure for an up-and-coming venue. The business makes its money as an evening bar/lounge that features live music throughout the week. However, the unique attraction to this venue is that it allows people to come in during the day and create their own graffiti on a section of wall for free. Then, once the walls are full or after a certain amount of time, the sections are disassembled and sold the public, and all the proceeds are donated to various non-profit organizations. The idea is to let people come in and express themselves through graffiti and then sell that graffiti to the growing sector of art collectors who value that genre.

(Note: This is a made-up business, so that’s why the text is the typical Lorem Ipsum filler text. Cool idea—just not fully developed, and I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with the business details. I wanted to focus on the design.)

Design Principles

Contrast

My primary contrast comes from the pale yellow/gold text on the black background. I realize the purple on the cover isn’t as much of a contrast as white would have been, but I was attempting to utilize different colors. I’ve used white before, and although I like it, graffiti is notorious for appearing in bright colors. Although purple and yellow (and even the blue “shadowing” effect on the cover and back) aren’t exact contrasting colors, I played the warmness of the yellow against the coolness of the purple.

I also utilized contrast in my font selections. I am a font freak; I could spend hours looking for just the right font to compliment a design. Luckily, I found a decorative graffiti font for my covers, but I contrasted that with a simplistic font for the headings and main text. I’ll get more into my type later, though.

Repetition

Repetition is used by using a black background on all pages. Also, yellow, purple, and blue are the only colors used (except in the photographs in the interior spread).

Overall, the grid and eyelines within the document are repetitive. The interior left-hand page mimics the design of the right-hand page in that the columns and sections are broken up identically. “The Mission” lines up with “The Nightlife,” and the same goes for “The Atmosphere” and “The Experience.” I also made sure that each section began with the word “The” and that

“The” was a smaller font size than the word it preceded. (That was actually done by accident. When I realized the font sizes differed, I actually liked the way it looked, so I changed them all to be the same. It was my attempt at a concordant relationship with my fonts.) Another attempt at a concordant relationship was that I chose to place the address and phone number in all lowercase letters unlike the headings on the inside spread. It’s the same font and color; it’s just a different case.

I also used the two yellow dots from the cover on the back, as well. This was a very subtle attempt to tie the two pages together.

Alignment

I actually used two different vertical alignments, but I used them on different pages. The cover contains a right-alignment of yellow text, but the interior spread uses a left-alignment. I thought mixing the alignments would be okay since you’re never looking at the different alignments at the same time.

All the columns of text also line up horizontally across the spread. The photos I used also fall into one column of space.

Proximity

On the cover, the name of the venue is located at the top. Although the words are not in the same font or color, one can see that they are related because they are close to each other. You know to read the word “Graffiti” first because it is farther left than “Garden,” and “Graffiti” also appears higher.

It was important to include the address and phone number on the cover for quick reference. Those are grouped and isolate at the bottom right-hand corner of the cover. All of these are right-aligned.

Each section on the inside spread is also grouped together so the reader knows where he or she should move to when the column ends. This is done by creating blocks with the headings. For instance, the first section, “The Mission,” is two-columns. When the first column ends, the reader knows to move to the next column on the right instead of farther below because another heading appears below the first column. It’s a break in the section without explicitly saying that a break exists.

Perception

My overall goal of this brochure was to establish a hip, young new thing to do while contributing to a good cause. Although the good cause part would be something someone would have to read about within the text, I wanted to portray something a little edgy and artsy while maintaining a professional image. I think the decorative font does a good job representing the artsy and edgy aspect and that the clean lines of the main text appeal to a more professional perception.

Culture

Much of our society perceives graffiti as being bad (especially since it is illegal, after all), but there is real expression and artistic quality to a lot of it. Graffiti can be some of the easiest and most accessible art to do since it really only requires a can or two of spray paint. Maybe by taking something illegal and turning it into a fun activity, people can express themselves in a way that they never could before. It could be pretty therapeutic.

The cultural impact of this document is to appeal to someone who wants to experience something different. The name “Graffiti Garden” alone sort of strikes up curiosity. Is it an art exhibit? Kind of. Is it a cool name for a bar? Sort of. What is it? The design peaks curiosity, which opens up possibilities.

Rhetoric

As mentioned, this design is supposed to appeal to people looking for something different. Most of these people will be young. Many young people hang out in bars, so if they see something like this and read about how they can contribute to the graffiti art that will eventually be sold for a good cause, it actually makes the time they spent in the bar productive and beneficial.

Hopefully, the document says, “Hey, look at me, pick me up and read me. I’m cool, hip, a little cheeky, and definitely something you’ve never heard of.”

Color

I chose the black background because black is usually thought of as a dirty color (in contrast to white which is pure and clean). Graffiti can also have that perception, so I thought it fit the overall design really well.

As mentioned before, I tried to use the typical bright colors in graffiti. After all, people who graffiti things aren’t trying to subtly blend their work into the environment. No, they want it to stand out, so that’s another reason why I simplified the cover with the purple, blue, and yellow text.

I also tried to choose photographs that utilized the same colors as my font since I’d chosen the font before the pictures. Had I found a really cool photo first, I would have pulled the colors from it and used those.

For added emphasis, I put a yellow border around my pictures to tie them in with the text.

Something that may not be entirely obvious is the really ghosted word “graffiti” in the background throughout the document. It’s definitely a lot more obvious on the cover than elsewhere; I didn’t want the ghosted text to interfere too much with the text on the interior spread, so it’s hardly noticeable at all. This effect isn’t so important in an online document, but I thought it could be really cool in a printed brochure. My idea was that the brochure be printed on glossy paper but the ghosted text be printed in a matte finish. This, however, is costly, but cool usually is. The effect still works well in the online document.

Type

I used a definite decorate font sparingly for attention grabbing. I made sure that the font wasn’t hard to read because, had it been, it would have defeated its purpose. I would have found a different one to use instead. However, this one (Grand Stylus) worked really well and fit the theme of my document design.

I also wanted something that was easy to read for my body text. I didn’t want a serif font because I thought that might look too amateurish for the document. It’s not hard to pick a cool font for a title, but finding another one that works well with the cool title font can be tricky. I didn’t want someone to think I only paid attention to the title, so I also spent some time looking for just the right sans serif font for the body text. Since my title was sort of wide and elaborate, I wanted a sans serif font that was a little taller and simple. The font I chose (Orator Standard) fit just what I was looking for.

Conclusion

I have to admit that this wasn’t my favorite project, but it turned out okay. I typically do a lot of my work in Photoshop because I’m so much more comfortable in it, but the free trial on my laptop expired. So, I was forced into using InDesign—which isn’t horrible since something like this would be created in software like that anyway. So, I had a little learning curve involved in this, but nothing too bad. I’m interested in learning more about InDesign and about how I can use it better.

Significance of the Gutenberg Press

It's difficult for me to personally quantify the significance of the Gutenberg Press. My life has known technology far beyond the limits of the Press, but I am capable of appreciating the path that was laid by the early technology.

Oral communication was the first method of documenting history. As we all know, however, stories can become altered over time with various storytellers adding their own twists to history. Once a written history of events was established, a little more lasting solidarity was ensured. But the reality of old, written histories was that writing took so much time that only one copy of anything existed. Eventually, armies of people were enlisted to begin scribing and copying texts for preservation.

When the Gutenberg Press was introduced, a revolution occurred that changed the course of written history. The Bible was the first mass-produced book by the Press and the first mass-distributed book throughout European lands. Now, various texts could be printed and released to audiences everywhere.

Advantages and disadvantages exist regarding the introduction of the Gutenberg Press. Most people undoubtedly argue that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, and there was a time when that was true. However, with increased Internet accessibility and increased globalization, some may see the initiation of mass-printing with the decline of the sacredness of books.

When there is less of something, that something automatically becomes more valuable. That’s simple economics. But people also want information, and that’s what the Gutenberg Press provided. Information was being spread world-wide, and people had the same access to information as his or her neighbor. Therefore, people were no longer just being told what was written in the Bible or other texts—they were actually getting to read and interpret it for themselves.

Today, the Gutenberg Press is a thing for history books. Our technology has far exceeded what the Gutenberg Press could provide, and now the spread of information no longer requires printing. The Internet spreads information much faster than any printing press ever could—without using a single drop of ink. This has major implications to printing worldwide.

As mentioned earlier, the demand for something affects its value. When only one book in the world exists, the value of that book is immeasurable. But when additional copies are introduced, the value goes down because that text is now accessible by everyone. And then when the same text is available online and accessible by multiple people simultaneously FOR FREE, the value of printed text practically no longer exists. Information is so readily available that people can take that information and rip it off to their own advantage.

Obviously, the positive significance of the Gutenberg Press is that it allowed the flow of information across the world, but it also decreased the value of printed information over time. With recent inventions of electronic book readers, the value of printed information is almost nonexistent.  Eventually, the value of a printed book will once again be immeasurable because that book will reside in a museum. People will no longer hold multi-page books in their hands. Rather, they will possess a single electronic device that relays the information to them. Books themselves will be history.

Substitute re/design

I've decided that I want to substitute one of my original designs (the employee handbook) for a website design. Obviously, I'm not redeveloping a website; I'm just proposing a new design. The reason I want to substitute is because the employee handbook I was planning to redesign really didn't include a lot of color. The website redesign, however, opens a lot of doors when it comes to color.

The website is Alexandra & Company, a manufacturer of novelty sorority items and a division of Stephen Joseph, Inc. Right now, I don't think the website looks like it caters to sororities unless you read some of the text. I think it looks like it caters to young teenage girls. The color combination is lacking, and the text is hard to read. Plus, the menu is on the right side of the page, and that's my biggest issue with the site.

I think a lot of this site can be cleaned up to produce a look that caters to its intended audience while keeping a little playfulness. It just needs to be cleaned up.

Meaningful Weekend Photo

I noticed some new growth this weekend on an ivy that I've maintained for ten months now. I got the plant last April when my mother was in the hospital; I guess it was my way of coping and nurturing something since there was only so much I could do for my mom.

I use this plant as a symbol of hope for my mom's health: as long as the plant is healthy and continues to grow, then my mom's health can remain constant as well.

Utilizing the Principles of Page Design

I used various principles of page design in my re/design submitted Thursday night. My primary design goal was to utilize the entire page, even if what I was covering it with was simple and basic. So, I began with a blue, gradient background in an effort to tie in different elements (i.e., the company’s colors and design). Then, I developed a white area for my text so that I could utilize the best contrast possible. Although it was a simple business design, I think it was well planned to deliver the most impact.

One of the most important principles I used was enclosure. You can see right away that I have framed my text into a plain, white environment. This provided for great contrasting of the blue text from the blue graphic background.

The design was balanced with the contrasting colors of blue and white. I went from a graphic blue background to a completely white text area, so the contrast between the two helped define the overall balance of the design.  

Since this cover set doesn’t include a lot of text, it doesn’t require readers to focus too much on what it’s saying. Therefore, this design works well for readers who like to skim or scan.

I’ve also connected all the elements on the pages by staying true to a color scheme. Obviously, the blue gradient background stands out, so I pulled the same dark blue into my text. I also inserted two horizontal blue lines into the text area as well to help frame the text.

The sequencing is also important because I listed the title first and then followed it with the subheading of the company’s name and date.

I also utilized Z-patterning. I left-aligned the title of my proposal cover but then right-aligned the supporting text to keep the readers’ eyes moving from left to right. I used the power zone concept for the main title as well, and then another power zone was the subhead on the cover page.

My design is also quite asymmetrical, and that was done on purpose. As I stated in my original blog post regarding this design, I wanted to make sure the text was positioned higher up on the page rather than centered on it. Therefore, I placed the text area where readers eyes might naturally fall—in the upper half of the design, leaving the bottom majority left to encompass the graphic background.

I incorporated some negative space into my design as well to help boost the contrast. Some might think that I left too much negative space in the text area under the main heading, but I would disagree. I wanted the title to stand out above everything else, so creating negative space around it will help accomplish that goal.

I did not use a grid system for this design since it was so simple. However, I do plan to utilize one and incorporate some visible eyelines into my next design. My plan is to do something a little more complex and intricate—maybe a poster or a flyer instead of a business document as my last two re/designs have been.

Design 2: Business Proposal Cover & Back

Introduction

This project presents the cover and back pages of a business proposal. Ideally, these pages would be included in a comb-bound proposal package with front and back clear sheet protectors—much like a report.

The purpose of this re/design is to present a more professional front to potential as well as existing clients. The company that would utilize this proposal design is an environmental, safety, and engineering consulting firm located in Lubbock, Texas. Ideally, when people think about the environment, they think about a blue sky or green trees or recycling bins. Likewise, when people think about safety, they think hard hats and yellow caution signs. Lastly, when people think about engineering, they think blueprints and construction equipment.

Because the consulting company is small (comprised of nine total employees), it must streamline a proposal package that can be used for all of the services it offers--but not all at one time. A company might be interested in safety services but not in environmental services. Plus, I'm hesitant to put a picture of green grass and blue skies on the cover of a proposal for an area where trees are rare and the sky is more likely to be brown. A pretty picture would be representative but not realistic; and instead of creating an image of something that a potential client may not relate to, I'd rather just use a simple but bold graphic.

Therefore, I went with a design that was universal and that could serve as an identifier for the consulting company. The blue is the company's signature cover, and the lines in the design incorporate the company's logo on a grander scale.


Contrast

I chose to utilize a dark blue graphic background for these business proposal pages. I chose the color and graphic for specific reasons. First, blue is the consulting company’s signature color: it’s incorporated into the company logo that appears on the back cover. Secondly, the shape of the graphic—the perpendicular lines that comprise the structure of a globe—is also in incorporated into the company’s logo. Therefore, these two elements combined tie the consulting company to the document itself.

The contrast comes into play where I have broken up the dark graphic background by including a clean, white area for my text. However, I didn’t just go from dark blue to white. I transitioned the contrast by bringing in a dark blue horizontal line to border the white top and bottom edges of the text area. Therefore, I have a type of divider from the graphic to the text. The dividers convey the message that the viewer’s eyes should be focused on what is between the lines.

Additionally, I utilized the same dark blue color into my text so that it jumps out from the white. The title, “Proposal for Environmental Compliance Management” is a 30-point Cambria, bold, for added emphasis. The subtitle where the client’s name and address is located is set in the same typeface but in a smaller 14-point font. I wanted the subtitle to be less emphasized than the heading because, mainly, the client knows what the company’s name and address are. They should be more attracted to what the proposal is than to reading where their company is located.


Repetition

I have a few forms of repetition throughout this document. First, my repetitive use of color is evident. My thematic colors are blue and white because, again, those are the consulting company’s signature colors. I have repeated the dark blue graphic background on both cover pages, and I also incorporated the same white text area with the two horizontal dark blue divider lines. Additionally, my font selection has remained consistent on each page: dark blue Cambria.


Alignment

My alignment remained relatively elementary throughout the document design. My placement of the white background for the text was intentional. I chose not to center the text area in the center of the page because of the existing color gradient in the graphic background. You can see that the background contains lighter shades of blue toward the lower right-hand edge of the page. Putting the white text area in the center would have saturated the document with lighter colors and would have made the document heavier in certain areas. Plus, American readers’ eyes naturally gravitate toward the top of a document since that is where text typically begins. Obviously, I didn’t place my text area right at the top, but it is situated higher up than the center.

Another factor for the placement of my white text area was because of the lines in the graphic background. The dominant downward sloping line would theoretically intersect with the title. I wanted visually to match these two elements up so that the graphic and the text meshed well.

I placed the background image on the document so that the dominant downward sloping line would also meet up at the right-hand corner of the page. American audiences tend to flip pages of documents either at the top or bottom right-hand corners. The original graphic was much larger than the 8 ½” x 11” space I was working with, so I really had my choice of positioning the graphic in the most effective way. Therefore, I chose intentionally to have the dominant downward sloping line intersect with the bottom right-hand corner of the page as an subconscious cue for the reader to flip the page.


Proximity

Just like repetition in this design, I maintained simple proximity as well. Again, I positioned the graphic background so that the dominant downward sloping line would intersect with both the first word of the title on the cover and the right-hand corner of the page. And, I positioned the white background above the center horizontal axis of the document so that the eyes naturally begin in that area.

The title, "Proposal for Environmental Compliance Management," is the most important textual element on both pages. Therefore, it has been set apart from the rest of the text. Although the title technically has been left-aligned, the title is long enough that I was able to also center it on the page. Then, I grouped together (but set apart from the title) the customer's information.


Perception

Overall, my intention for this document was to present a clean, clear, and professional front to potential clients. Additionally, I wanted a design that would work for various sectors of the business without overstating that it belonged to one sector versus another. In other words, I wanted a streamlined proposal cover set that needed only updates to the text in order to be usable for every proposal prepared by the consulting company. 

Another underlying aspect of perception regarding this design is branding. My goal is for people to automatically think "Benton & Associates" when they see the colors blue and white with a resemblance of a globe attached to it. Eventually, people might not even need to read what the text says to know what an artifact is attached to. 

Culture

The hope of consulting companies is that they don't accidentally market to too-small of a potential client base. Designing individual proposal covers for each proposal could be costly in terms of overhead since the company could potentially quote up to 30 different projects. Therefore, efficiency was key when thinking about the company's needs. 

Moreover, taking on a very generalised design doesn't exclude any particular sector, and it doesn't highlight just one area of our services, either. We're not only marketing to safety clients but also to environmental and engineering clients.


Rhetoric

These documents say professional, and they will be used by various project managers to solicit business. They will also be used by potential clients for information purposes. The important part of these proposal pages is that they let the customer know that we are a serious, professional company capable of taking on whatever their needs are. Plus, and as already stated, they relay a persona of the company without much text: the colors and graphics work together to represent the company.

Conclusion

This project produced a realistic concept for proposal presentations. It works for the consulting company because the text on the cover page can be easily manipulated to fit any proposal needed without compromising any professionalism in the design. It also works for the client because it provides the introductory information about what the package is about: title (what the whole thing is), client (yes, we've prepared this thing for you), and the date (because all parties need a reference date). Plus, the back cover page indicates who prepared the entire package, and that is important because a company marketing its services always wants to be reached easily.

This may not have a really cool design, and it may not present a ton of information--but it's not supposed to. It says exactly what it needs to say: that it's professional and that the consulting company doesn't hide behind false advertisement.