Job Search Analysis 2

 A brand identity designer is one of the many job options for those in the graphics field. Basically, what a brand identity designer does is coordinating all of the visual (and implied) aspects of the identity of a company to make the desired outcome. Every company has a certain identity they have and want to portray. Proper use of logos, signage, advertising, social media, etc. helps to convey that effectively, while at the same time, promoting the company.

Having education (usually a Bachelor's degree) and skills experience in the graphic design field is a must for this position. Even if you are managing, it is still important to have a background and understanding of the basic concepts of design and communication. Without that knowledge, you cannot effectively convey the proper messages with the branding of the company. Most positions will require a working knowledge of software in the Adobe Creative Suite, including Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.

Salary for this position varies a great deal, as there are several different levels of the job. There may be multiple employees working with brand identity, or one person in charge of it all. Salaries can range from around $30,000 per year up into $60,000-$70,000. The average is around $54,000 per year.

                                                                                                                  

Sources:
http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/articles/brand-identity-designer.htm
http://www.freelancer.com/work/brand-identity-design-average-salary/
http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Brand-Identity-Design-Manager-l-Cincinnati,-OH.html
http://www.studydiscussions.com/advance-your-career-as-brand-identity-designer/

Adobe Tutorial #4

Today, I did a tutorial over cropping with the perspective function in Photoshop. Check out the video here. It discussed how quickly and easily you can crop an image of a subject taken from an angle to appear to have been taken from straight ahead.






Here is the before image from the sample files provided by the tutorial: 

After you open the image, simply click on the crop tool and make a rough selection of the painting. Then, go up to the control panel and click the box labelled Perspective.












With this function active, you can now move each corner of the crop selection independently to make it fit the trapezoidal shape of the distorted image.











 Now, all that's left is to confirm the crop by either clicking the check mark or hitting Enter on the keyboard. That's it! Here's what you'll get!

                                                                                                                  

Sources:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/visual-design-cs5/gs03-correcting-perspective-with-the-crop-tool/

Job Search Analysis 1

I discussed Preflighting in my first blog post. For this job analysis, I'll provide a few more details about Preflight Technicians.

A preflight technician would be in charge of reviewing files prior to printing/output. He/she would thoroughly check the file(s) and compare them to a preflight checklist to ensure the pieces would be printed/output without issues.

The education level, skills, and experience for this position varies somewhat from company to company. For the most part, an associate's or bachelor's degree in graphic design and/or a vocational certificate in prepress technology would be the minimum requirements. Familiarity with graphic design, page layout, and composition are extremely useful in this job. Also, preflight technicians will need to be trained and familiar with whatever software the company in question is using (i.e. Adobe Creative Suite, etc). Experience of 1-2 years in the industry is preferred for many companies. The salary range for this position ranges between $30,000 and $50,000, depending on the company and area. On average, technicians receive $17.21/hour.

                                                                                                                  

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-flight_%28printing%29
http://www.jobsonamap.com/surrey-jobs-pre-flight-operator-printing-position-minuteman-press-surrey-job-Z1292496-zELueY
http://www.careerbliss.com/salary/alphagraphics-printing-graphic-designer-and-preflight-specialist-salaries-189592/?q=Graphic+Designer+And+Preflight+Specialist
http://diplomaguide.com/articles/Prepress_Technician_Career_Overview.html
http://www.campusexplorer.com/careers/B19C7DE5/prepress-technicians-and-workers/

Final Project

The final project is....dun dun dun!....designer's choice! While it's nice to have (mostly) free reign over what to do for this one, I was overwhelmed by my options. After quite a big of debating, I decided to do something business card related, so that I might be able to use it for myself.

As you would guess, the purpose of this business card, like all others, would be to supply my contact information for others. In my case, a business card would be used when meeting possible future employers and/or clients for business (if I were to do freelance design work). Thus, the call to action would be to contact me via phone, email, postal mail, or to visit my blog or Facebook page.

I decided to do something a little different from an average business card, and not just because we were required to design a project with a fold in it. I wanted to try and balance make something interesting and different, but quite simple and striking.

Here are my (super quick) thumbnails:

And here are my rough sketches of two of my designs:

I'm still unsure if I'll do a bi-fold or tri-fold design at this point. I need to get some things on screen and see how they look before I make my decision.

Update!

Here are some quick pictures of my folding dummy:

My final piece unfolded will measure 2" x 9.875". This also includes the die-cut, which I changed to a "}" like shape. I also can make a version of the piece without the die-cut, since it's more of an additional element and isn't essential to the piece. I used a 1/8" bleed and 1/4" margins. I considered using smaller margins since it's such a small piece, but the 1/4" worked because I didn't have a lot of content to fit on there.

It would be a full color, dual-sided tri-fold. I chose to print my proofs on what I think was around 70-pound book weight paper. I wanted a bit thicker weight since it is a business card and needed to be a fairly sturdy.

I talked to PittCraft to get my price quote for 1,000 of these with the die-cut. The printing cost for 4 color on cover stock is $119.00. The pricing for the die-cut and score is $254.00. I forgot to ask what the cost would be to fold without the die-cut, but that was just something extra on top of our requirements for the project.

Here's a screen grab of my final PDF and some photos I took of my final mock-up.

There it is! All finished. I'm super happy with how it turned out, and I'm actually considering getting these made (without the die-cut, of course).

                                                                                                                   

Master Image List Elements: The last Master Image List requirement I needed was a screen tint, which was fulfilled by the inside color block.

Copyright statement:

The hand and grunge element (front -- behind logo) were both vectors taken from the course syllabus.

The two paint blocks were from a free grunge paint block vector download on WeGraphics.

Both instances of the logo were created by me.

The brackets on the inside were also created by me.

The textures on the outside of the piece were both free downloads from WeGraphics.

Adobe Tutorial #3

When I was going through trying to find a tutorial to do, I decided to check out one on using the Vibrance slider.


I've recently become a pretty big fan of bright, saturated colors in photos, so I thought this would be an interesting video to watch. It's less of a tutorial and more of an explanation of what the Vibrance adjustment does (as opposed to the Saturation adjustment) and when to use it.

Here's a link to the video: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-photoshop-cs5/saturating-selectively-with-vibrance/

This is my example photo with no adjustments added:

The photo doesn't look bad as is, but it would be nice to brighten up the purple of the sweatshirt and the orange of the kitten to emphasize the contrast of the colors.

The first thing showed in the video is the effect of the Saturation adjustment. Here's what a photo looks like with the Saturation level all the way up (100):

This is obviously a very dramatic look, but I've done that to show how harshly the saturation change appears. Even at low levels, the skin tones of the subject appear too orange/red. The purple looks pretty good here. We could go in and mask out the skin areas, leaving the purple saturated, but the contrast between the old image and the new adjustment would look a bit odd.

Instead, we can adjust the vibrance on the image. Here's what the photo looks like with the Saturation at 0 and the Vibrance at 100. I've also shown the original (top right) and the saturated (bottom right), so you can easily compare the different settings to one another.

The brightening of colors here is much more appealing. We can still see the purple sweatshirt is close to that of the overly saturated image, and we have warmer colors in the skin and the kitten, without over-doing it.

So, the Vibrance adjustment, used in place of the Saturation adjustment, or alongside it, can provide nice, bright colors in an image, without the harsh effects on skin tones. Try it for yourself!

National Logo Redesign

There are dozens of successful logo redesigns that have been done with some of the most recognizable companies in the world. I had plenty to choose from to discuss.

I decided to talk about Sprint's recent logo redesign (to try and find something positive to redeem them despite their awful service).

Here is a before and after image of their old logo next to their new one:

Image from here.

As a kid, I clearly remember seeing commercials for Sprint almost every day of my life. I vividly remember their tagline that the quality was so clear, you could hear a "pin drop". So, when Sprint combined with Nextel, and decided to re-brand the company, I was one of few youngsters who understood their new logo. It calls back to that "pin drop" they talked about for years. Also, Sprint dropped their gray and red color scheme, and took on Nextel's black and bright yellow. Finally, they opted for a more modern looking sans-serif typeface.

Sprint did a lot of advertising to promote their partnership with Nextel and re-branding of a company. They did an excellent job of getting their new look out there.

I think it is a much nice, much more modern look for them, and I like it a lot more than their previous logo. Go Sprint! Now that I've been nice, can I get a discount on my cell phone bill? :)

                                                                                                                   

Information Source: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/successful-logo-redesigns-improvements/