Color Police

Color Police

Good Color Usage

This photo shows a good use of color mainly because the choice of color, and its placement draws the viewers eyes to what the artist wants you to focus on. The use of contrasting chroma, and the brightness of the device and lemonade against a mostly gray background draw the eye to the object being advertised so that you pay attention to what the image is trying to convey, and that is what this device is and what it does.

Bad Color Usage

This image shows us an example of bad color usage, as the color does not give anything for the eye to focus on. A very limited palette is used, which can be effective, but in this case just leaves a very flat image with nothing to really stand out. 

There is a lot of grey in the image which makes the image seem very sullen, and as the picture is an advertisement for an eye cream this gives off the wrong kind of symbolism. While the words are easy enough to read on the grey, they don’t stand out at all against the background color, and are sort of lost as a jumble to the overall feel of the poster. 

Design

Cube Tube

Let me introduce you to the "Cube Tube" "Chill without the spill!"

This is absolutely brillant and I can't wait until it is produced so I can get my hands one. Say goodbye to dropping ice cubes as you pour them out of a tray, or trying to pry them out of those damn spaces with your fingernails!

http://www.quirky.com/products/274-Cube-tube-ice-tubes

Colour Bandits

A little video about colour... kinda :)

To The Beginners

There is so much I like about this video, the message, how it looks, the typography, and color! Definitely a recent source of inspiration!

Preliminary Poster

The preliminary poster....

Alright, not gonna lie, not my favorite thing I've ever made. But, before I go any further, you may be looking at this thinking "it's not even finished!" Yes that is right, this is actually a process photo... and I'm not gonna show you the final because I messed it up a little in that open middle part. While this still isn't my favorite, to me this is at least presentable.

But let's get to the poster itself. First the positives!
I really like the colors on the poster first and foremost. To come up with this color scheme I took the picture you see in the middle right of the poster and put it in to the adobe kuler app to see what kind of colors they would suggest. Of all the color themes it came up with, I found that the schemes that utilized the most white black and red created the most interesting and clean look in regards to the object itself. The color scheme helped to make the poster easy to look at while not overwhelming the object itself.

I also like the idea for the font (although my handwritten stuff doesn't quite cut it) utilizing a sort of brush stroke type to pay a sort of tribute to the japanese origin of the teapot, while a bold but simple type provided a sort of contrast that kept things clean.

Also, I really liked the layout of the pictures, but honestly haven't quite figured out why exactly.

What I don't like on the other hand....
First the japanese writing. I really like the japanese writing on top, and the idea of using it in my final poster but here it simply looks to cluttered. I thought writing it in gray and lighting it up might help, but I'd definitely have to play around with that a bit and find out what works.

Also, to me there is simply too much white on this poster. While I really like the open white blocks that create nice open space, the amount of white everywhere on this poster makes it feel sort of bland and off putting to me.

Lastly, The lines I added on the side. I'm not gonna say much about those, because I simply had an idea, tried it out, and it just didn't work.

Any thoughts or suggestions? This is definitely just a preliminary poster, and there are gonna be some major changes, but opinions are always a great place to start if you want to make something really good right?

Fuku Japanese Cast Iron Teapot!!!

Seeing as this blog is a place for me to simply share my thoughts and inspirations as they relate to design, I thought what better way to get my blog up and rolling then share my object of design for the first project! Exciting I know!

So let's start with what this thing is and why I chose it. Hopefully just by looking at the picture you realize that my object is a teapot, but it isn't just any teapot... NO! This teapot is a Fuku Japanese Cast Iron Teapot! It already sounds awesome I know, but just wait it gets better. This teapot was designed by Ken Okuyama! You don't know who Ken Okuyama is? Oh, well he is just a simple guy, doing simple things, while also designing Porsches, Ferraris, and Maseratis!

Yes, you read that correctly. The man who designed this little teapot is the same guy who designs some of the most expensive cars you can find on the market (if you knew how much this teapot cost me, you probably wouldn't be quite so suprised that he designed it anymore). I spent a pretty penny buying this teapot, and while I still think back and question what exactly got me to shell out the cash for this thing, I'm glad I did as it was certainly worth it.

Now that you know a bit of the backstory on my teapot and why I bought it, let's talk a bit more seriously about why I chose it for the project. The main reasons I chose it come straight from "Dieter Rams: ten principles for good design" When I read through these principles, this teapot came to my mind instantly as it fits almost all the principles.
•The product is useful: The cast iron body holds your tea perfectly, while keeping it warm longer
•The product is aesthetic: it has a very simple beauty that is very complimentary to the tea drinking experience
•The product is understandable: I think this sort of explains itself... it's just a teapot
•The product is unobtrusive: It's small and simple, taking up absolutely no more space then it needs to
•The product is honest: Again, it's a teapot... just a teapot
•The Product is long-lasting: It's made of cast iron so this little guy was made to last a lifetime
•The Product is environmentally friendly: cast iron and tea... let's not make this more complicated then it is
•The product is as little design as possible: Just look at it!
And honestly it probably fits into the two principles I didn't list as well, just not as prominently.

So more or less that's a sort of overview of my teapot and why I chose it as my object of design. After hearing a few basic things about this particular teapot I personally find the rest kind of speaks for itself (another reason why I chose it)!