Ali Horton's Computer Art Blog

The Advertising Concept Book, Blog 1

2011-04-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Think Hard, Sell Soft

One of the topics I was previously unaware of from "The Advertising Concept Book" is the idea of Hard vs. Soft advertisements. Hard ads are those that display a product or special offer in a very straightforward way. Soft ads are ads which are creative and conceptual in nature, and are not nearly as direct.

I had not yet made this distinction between the two types of ads. If I had a subconscious distinction, it was that there are good and bad ads - soft ads being the "good", hard ads being the "bad". But even when creating ads for classes and other projects, I would concentrate on the design for hard ads. Then I would wonder why I hated the work that I was producing! It always seemed boring, no matter how much I liked the design work.

I'm very excited to work towards creating soft ads. It's going to take the designs to a whole new level.

End of Quarter Notes

2009-06-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

To Do List:

Locate the following images:
Assignment 3 - B and C (Otterbein Cards)
Put them in Burn Folder

Edit the Following:
Assignment 2 - replace Erin's image with mine

Print the Following:
Assignment 4 - A and B
Assignment 2
Assignment 6

Burn CD with all finished work.

Matte EVERYTHING.

And buy a portfolio.

Dear god. This weekend will hate me.

Computer Art Assignment #6 P.3

2009-06-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

Updated version of the Tale of an Idiot assignment. Added a gradient to the background to distinguish it a bit more and widened the movie theatre screen.

Computer Art Assignment #7 P.3

2009-06-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

The third and final image for our series project. I decided to do a back cover advertisement rather than two articles from the magazine, so that I could have front, middle, back.

Computer Art Assignment #7 P.2

2009-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Above is the progress on my series of three. I created a magazine cover, and one page from inside the magazine. I am trying to link articles to the cover page (see the blue shape for Ancona Design on page 11 on the cover, and then see actual page 11). I have yet to decide on the theme for the last image. I will probably be doing something with the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

Computer Art Assignment #7 P.2

2009-05-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Intent Statement:

My intention with this project is to create a series of three images that resemble a cover of a fashion magazine and two inserts from that magazine. This project will be largely photo based. The magazine will be titled "K.Vogel" and will feature equestrian-themed apparel. Photography and horse riding are my two biggest interests, and so I plan on combining them in this project. My intention is to create images that would interest both fashion-oriented consumers and equestrians.

Computer Art Assignment #7 P.1

2009-05-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

Final assignment is a series of 3 (12"x18") due June 2 that is entirely the subject of our choice. We need to submit a 1 paragraph intent statement. We can use Photoshop, Illustrator, or both.

I'm thinking something along the lines of a magazine cover series, since I love photographing people.

Computer Art Assignment #4 P.4

2009-05-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

Edited version of project 4, because I didn't end up liking the snapshot idea.

Computer Art Assignment #6 P.2

2009-05-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Above is my finished version of my "Tale of an Idiot."

Computer Art Assignment #6 P.1

2009-05-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

This project is titled "Tale of an Idiot." It is a comic with a minimum of 8 frames. My tale I actually found on FMyLife.com, where a girl was supposed to be home from a date by midnight. She came home and saw that her parents looked upset. She had made it home by midnight. However, her shirt was inside out. =) My comic will be made of stick figures. Adorable stick figures.

Computer Art Assignment #5 P.3

2009-04-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

Featured are my thumbnail images and the final products for Assignment #5, the art festival poster project. We were to create a series of three posters for the imaginary art festival of our choice. I used two background textures, one a plaster wall and the other red brick. I used spray paint and splatter brushes (originally my color palate was yellow and red, which made my posters look more like a crime scene than spray paint. Very BAD for an Urban Art poster, haha.) I brought the saturation down and added blue to give it a cool, grungy look. These posters are very busy-looking, with hardly any negative space. Generally I like negative space, but graffiti art doesn't generally have much, so neither do the posters. I think these posters would appeal to the crowd that they are trying to reach.

Computer Art Assignment #5 P.2

2009-04-28T06:20:00.001-07:00

The above images are textures that I took photos of. For the next poster project, I'll be needing different worn-looking textures such as brick, maybe the side of a train, a broken sidewalk, an old bench, etc.

Oooh, thought. Pigeon. Don't ask =)

Computer Art Assignment #5 P.1

2009-04-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Above are my current thumbnails for project 5, which is an arts festival poster project. We are to create a series of 3 posters for advertisement. They'll be 12" x 18". The series I've decided on is the "2009 Urban Arts Festival" in Ridgewood, NJ (Friday, June 26 - Sunday, June 28, 2009).

Computer Art Assignment #4 P.3

2009-04-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

This is the final image for my social issue project. The snapshots are from NYC and St. Croix and are supposed to show what the world looks like now that people are gone and the world is ridiculously hot. Kind of like a magazine. I would have liked to add text with the location of each photo and the date, but text wasn't allowed. Considering the time we had (a week) I'm pretty happy with it.

Computer Art Assignment #4 P.2

2009-04-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Above is my conception of how the world would look after global warming killed all of us off. Happy, right? I created a map of the world (bottom image) and tried my best to make it Mars-esque. The next step is to create snapshot outtakes (probably just a couple) of how deserted the world is, almost like an image in a National Geographic or something. Ironic how no one would be around to read it. Except the aliens O.o!

Computer Art Assignment #4 P.1

2009-04-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

And it's time for Project 4. This project will be 12" x 12" at 300 dpi about "a social issue that affects you directly". We can't use any text. FML =)

Some themes that I'm interested in using for the project:
Global Warming, Drug Abuse, Drunk Driving, Alcoholism, Eating Disorders, Mental Illness, Teen Pregnancy, Suicide, Domestic Violence

The ones that affect me directly:
Global Warming, Drug Abuse, Alcoholism

The thumbs are posted above. I think I'm going to do Global Warming. I can come up with an entirely digital image of planet earth, except colored like mars and emanating heat like the sun. My other ideas would have to be mostly photo based, and this isn't a photo class. So I'm going to start creating earth.

Computer Art Assignment #3 P.3

2009-04-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Last but not least, the wild card. This was supposed to focus on Otterbein's "Going Green" obsession. However, the card itself doesn't refer to Otterbein at all. The girl was created from a photo of my sister in Central Park. The city was created from a photo of NYC taken from the Empire State building. Maybe I can play with the colors a bit to try and get more "Otterbein College" across.

Computer Art Assignment #3 P.2

2009-04-16T06:44:00.001-07:00

This is card 2 out of 3. I did a photo shoot with some friends last year to make promotional images for their film, which they never finished. I wasn't too happy, because I spent two hours in zero degrees taking photos for nothing. Then I remembered that I took a bunch of them in front of Towers. This photo worked out perfectly for this project. The girl, Claire, is an Otterbein student. She's actually facing where graduation takes place, right in front of Towers. I think it's a great "looking forward" image, which is great for the new Prezi's inauguration.

Computer Art Assignment #3 P.1

2009-04-16T06:39:00.001-07:00

This is the first of three cards created for the inauguration of Otterbein's new President. In this card I played with perspective. In the background is a photo that I took of Towers Hall last year, which is Otterbein's poster building.

Computer Art Assignment #2 P.3

2009-04-09T08:03:00.001-07:00

After critique, here is the updated version. I took the colors a little darker, softened the focus a bit and tried to smooth out the line between the jaw and hair. Before the end of the term I'll either switch out Erin's photo for one of mine or change the mouth to look more like mine (that's the biggest recognizable difference we have).

Computer Art Assignment #2 P.2

2009-04-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

Above is my Artist Self Portrait. I created a grunge background using a photo that I took of an old fort in St. Croix. The paint was old and chipping, which made a great pattern to use for this image. The photo is of my sister, Erin, because we look similar and I did not have many of myself. I desaturated it and layered it over the background using "Pin Light." The resulting image is elegant, and the distressed background gives it a dark (but not too dark, more of an old, classic) quality. I set it on a bold border to give it a bit of structure considering the busy background. You can see my logo faded into the bottom right hand corner. I believe it successfully communicates the goals that I set for this portrait (previous post).

Computer Art Assignment #2 P.1

2009-04-07T06:27:00.001-07:00

Artist Portrait
Image Size: 12" x 16"
Resolution: 300 dpi

Well, today in class I had a counseling session because I didn't know who I was, which made this project extremely difficult. Impossible, actually. Apparently I am "Outgoing, Elegant Gothic, Dark, Nice, enjoy Fashion Photography, Animal Photography, respect Digital and Graphic artists, and have a wild side." Basically I'm a bunch of randomness. No wonder I couldn't settle on a theme. But now that I have something to go on, hopefully this project will turn out successfully. My intention will be to demonstrate my personality in this portrait: Bold, dark but elegant, and my love of fashion photography. Since I have may more photos of my sister, and people say we look alike in photos (though I don't think so at all) I will be using an image of her on a distressed background.

Above are the thumbnails that should have come first. The first two images (left) are the first failed attempt because I had done neither thumbnails or an artist statement. The second set (center) came a little closer, but I got stuck because I hadn't thought it out and ended up botching it all together. The last set (right) is the final set that I created after writing my artist statement. While I should have drawn out more thumbnails, this piece still worked out and is the final version.

Computer Art Assignment #1 P.2

2009-04-05T17:22:00.001-07:00

Above are two updated versions of Assignment #1. Version 1 (left): I used the Rockwell font, transformed the A to make it taller, and split it in half to make two separate letters. Added simple shapes to mimic the font for the A. Left the H without two bars on top to make it less busy looking. With the bars was too much for a simple logotype. I'm satisfied with the result, because the lines are clean and the two strong, broken diagonal lines keep it interesting. Version 2 (right): Removed the serifs on the A as suggested. Now I simply have to decide which to use.

Computer Art Assignment #1 P.1

2009-04-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

Artist Logotype (trademark)
Can be reduced to B&W and read the same
Very simple
First and Last initial
This logotype will be used on all remaining projects

Image size: 3" x 3"
Resolution: 300 dpi
Mode: Grayscale

Came up with a plethera of concepts for the logotype project. Finished three drafts, none of which I can upload to this site from this computer because the Otterbein network is retarded. Instead I've uploaded two quick drafts created in paint. Screw windows. Initials used are A and H, combined into one. Of the two versions posted, V.1 (left) is simple and spiff, but because I like things more complicated than they need to be I gravitate towards V.2 (right).