Marks and Symbols

Marks and Symbols

     Marks and Symbols are very important to Graphic Designers. It is very important for Graphic Designers to know the diverse spectrum of marks that are available to help them solve visual  problems. The basic knowledge of marks will also help the graphic designer know how to put multiple "positive" marks together without creating confusion for the public eye. It is very important to note that even if two marks have positive features, when putting them together does not always look right. There are six basic ways to classify marks;  Pictographs, letter marks, logos, combination marks, trade marks, and symbols. Pictographs are seen everyday were ever you go, they are symbols used to replace words. Anyone, can understand a well designed pictograph like the sign for the bathroom, which is an international sign. However, Pictographs can cause cultural confusion with the use of corporate marks. Letter marks are used to identify a company. These marks are abbreviated company names and are easier to read. Logos are like letter marks but they are not abbreviated. Logos are used to identify  brands, projects, a group, and companies. Logos can be legally protected.  A combination mark, or a signature, is a logo and a symbol put together. Combination marks are good for labeling effectively, as well as being unique. However, combination marks can be very complex and redundant. Trademarks are legal names for unique marks, they protect the marks from getting stolen or copied. Trademarks are protected by the law and can be sold if the creator wants to sell it. Symbols a  type of mark that does not use type to identify a corporation, brand, an institution, or an agency. Using a symbol in a design creates an unique, quick, and simple impact. The downside to using symbols is that it can be costly to promote and can sometimes cause confusion.             







 Pictograph Examples:                                                         
                                                                                                       corporate marks
                                                        

Letter marks example:










Logos:     

What is the difference between a symbol and a logo? What is it called when these two things are used together?

     Logos use type and words to establish a brand, company, or group. However, symbols do not use any words or type. Logos can use two or three colors.  symbols usually use only one color. When you put a symbol and a logo together it is a combination mark that is also called a signature.     


Combanation mark:

Three key facts and why they are important? 

     The first key fact is that negative spaces are necessary when you are designing a symbol. Having negative spaces or white spaces. The second key fact that I think is very importent is metering and color is good. Less is more is very importent to keep in mind when designing symboles because when you limit vocabulary and unnessesary lines you can get a nice clean simple design, having only one color can help with this too. The last key fact has to be combanation marks. When using a combanation of a logo and a symbole, it creates an effective, unique lable. 

What was your favorite thing you learned and why will it be valuable in the future?

     My favorite thing I learned has to be the combination marks, the combining of logos and symbols together.This will help me,when I have any future branding projects.    

General thoughts & conclusions.

     I cannot wait to apply this new found knowledge over marks and symbols, to future projects. I will use the tips to making "good symbols". The tip that involves using negative spaces will be helpful with future branding projects. 

Sq4:Ball Bounce Animation

Ball Bounce Animation

Summery

For this animation I was assigned to model a Tennis ball, a Golf ball, and a Bowling Ball in Maya. The first step was to film a real life Tennis ball, Golf ball, and Bowling ball, each dropping from 5 feet in the air. Once all three of the balls were filmed, I loaded the videos onto my computer. Next using photoshop, I marked the frame number each time the balls hit the ground and the highest points were they bounced back up to. I recorded all of my data into an excel spread sheet and got started with the modeling process in Maya. The balls were all spheres with the appropriate bump mating needed on each one.  Once the Tennis ball, Golf ball, and Bowling ball all were finished, I started animating them in the timeline. I looked at the excel sheet and at the frames listed I set a key frame at the right height. Once all of the key frames were set I went into the graph editor and edited the graph so that the models would not ease in and ease out. Next I made a poly plane under the balls. I added three spot lights;the key light, the fill light, and the back light. Finally I had the lights were I wanted them to be I added a background image to use as background.       

What did I learn?

I learned now to add an image to the background in Maya. I also learned how to edit the graph editor.

Conclusion 

I enjoyed making this animation so much. I can not wait to use what I learned in future projects.   

Sq4:Can of Marmalade Animation

Can of Marmalade Animation

The can animation was divided into 2 parts. The first part of the project was to make a label for the can. I sketched my ideas for what i wanted my label to look like. After I settled on the sketch design i liked the most, I used photo shop to color and digitized the sketch. After the label was finished in photoshop I saved it as a jpeg. Now on to part two, I made a can in Maya using the CV curves tool. Once I finished making the model of the can, I selected the faces I wanted the label to be on. Then I added a Lambert, file, and my label. I selected the top of the can and I added a blinn. The rest of the parts of the can are just a pong E with the transparency turned down.  I then I made marmalade by manipulating a cylinder and added an orange phong with a cloud texture. Finally I added a background, a floor, and three lights.        

Typography

Typoegraphy 

Typography is an art form that uses type to convey a message through the style, font, size, spacing, and color. After watching the video series on Typography, I learned that the font of a word can effect the five senses. In one of the videos there was a TED speaker who was talking about the effects of typography. One of the effects the speaker talked about was, she had ran a small experiment. In the experiment the people involved were given a jellybean to eat and were told to look at the word "eat" in a more smooth and simple font. She then had the group eat another jellybean but the font they had to look at still said "eat". However, the font of the word this time had very sharp corners and very aggressive like. The people said that the first jellybean tasted sweeter and the second jellybean had tasted more sour. The videos also taught me the importance of  hierarchy. When using hierarchy in a design there is always primary and secondary type. The primary type is the boldest or the most eye catching, this is what you what your audience to see first. The primary type can be a name of a company, what you are selling, or an important word.  The secondary type is normally a simpler font. Secondary type is always smaller than the primary type.There are many types of type thiknesses inside a font families. I learned that type can be "a mater of life or death," this is like type on road signs and warning signs. Type is all over the place in posters, trafic signs, logos, names, and many other places.   

What was the biggest take away from the videos for you personally

I personally will use the rules of hierarchy in future projects. I will also try to start practicing how to convey different messages, through different fonts, spacing, and weight, when doing any type of branding or title pages in any future projects.            

Summarized what you learned from the article 

After reading the article, the 10 Golden Rules You should live by when combining fonts, I learned ten very impotent typography rules: choose complementary fonts, establish a visual hierarchy, consider context, mix serifs and sans serifs, create contrast, steer clear of conflict, avoid pairing fonts that are too similar, use fonts from the same family, limit your number of fonts, and practice. I learned that different fonts have different moods and personalities like elegant, fun, playful, sad, or serious. I also learned that it is good to mix a word or phrase that has a large,creative, and wavy font, with a word or phrase with a more San-serif font, this creates great balance within the graphic. I learned that primary and secondary font plays a role in astablish a visual hierarchy. Another thing I learned from the artical was that you should think about the mood and voice of the text you want to relay to people.  

San Serif   

  Serif :

 

Discuss three key points you learned and why they are important in typography 

One of the key points of typography I learned, was how to establish visual hierarchy when using typography on things like  newspapers, bottles, or magazines. According to the 10 Golden Rules You should live by when combining fonts,  when establishing a visual hierarchy adding or subtracting "weight" from letters/words to allow the eye to navigate the design smoothly. Another key point is choosing complementary fonts. Choosing complmary fonts is important in typography because it helps give different moods or personalities to fonts in a graphic to deliver the right massage you want. Createing contrast is also a very big key point in typography. To create contrast is important in typography to distinguish what is needed to be seen first or second and how the diffrence between the fonts size is on the graphic.   

    

  What was you favorite thing you read and why will it be valuable in the future

My favorite thing to read about typography was the rule on how to limit your number of fonts. This will be helpful for me to remember in future projects to make them look more organized and easy to read. This will be valuable for me in the future when I have to design any posters for any future projects. The rule of limiting fonts will also help me think more critically when I am designing a graphic that includes type.         

General thoughts and conclusions

I cannot wait to apply what I learned, from the videos and the article, to future projects. The information about what hierarchy is, has helped me a lot to clear up what it was and I will definitely apply it to my future projects.   

Sq3: Snowflake Animation

Snowflake Animation 

This Animation process taught me how to set key frames in Maya for each snowflake. I also learned how to make the snowflakes turn as they fall by rotating in diffrent directions. Then after every difrent rotation I added a keyframe. I also learned how to make snowflakes using the create polygon tool. Then I mirrored and duplicated the polygon. I then used the extrude tool to make the snowflake pop. I also learned how to make a window by just extruding it.

Sq3: Ice cream Animation

ICE CREAM ANIMATION

           

What did I learn about textures and bump maps?

I learned how to add  a cloud bump maps to the scoops of ice cream by first creating a Lambert. Then I learned how to add either pink, brown, white, or green for the color. I also learned how to add a gravel texture  for the cone texture. I then made the depth and visibility changes in the bump map edit section. The color is tan. 

What did I learn about setting keyframes on the timeline?

I learned how to edit the timeline by using the time slider. In the time slider I changed the playback start to end, to 1 to 120. I also changed the animation start to end, to 1 to 120. Next I pressed enter, then I selected frame one on the time line. Then I pressed "s" to set a key frame. I clicked in frame 120 in the time slider as well and pressed "s".  I went into the channel box and changed the rotate Y to -359 degrees. I pressed enter to set the y rotation in place. I right clicked on the y rotate text and set key selected tool. Finally to make the lazy Susan to spin linear, I right clicked the first key frame and selected Tangents>Linear. I then did the same on the 120 key frame.  

SQ3:Red Pen

THE RED PEN 

The pen model was modeled off of one of my red pens I selected from my pencil pouch. 

How it was made

I started with a poly cylinder and duplicated it. I then shank and lengthened the duplicated cylinder. Then using Boolions- differences, this made the original cylinder. I added a phong E to the cylinder. I made the color gray and turned up the transparency. I duplicated that cylinder and made it smaller and lengthened it. That cylinder was put in side of the first cylinder. I added a phong E to the cylinder and like the first cylinder, I turned up the transparency a little but for the color I used a more white color. I used rotating on the rubber part of the pen( were you hold the pen). Once I lofted the shape I added a binn and a bump texture. The bump texture is a grid texture, with no horizontal lines. I made the color red as you can see in the photos. The tip of the pen is just a cylinder with one division and the vertices's on the end scaled in and moved up to form a point. The clip on the pen was made from Nurb curves then making the curve a polygon. Once the curve was extruded I added a phong with the color red. From that polygon it is extruded up. The part of the pen that you push down was made from a stretched and manipulated sphere. I added a phong to the sphere and made the color red. The end of the pen was made by lofting. The final part was to add ink, I made a long cylinder and added a bin to  it with the color set to black. For some texture I added mountain rock texture to give it a grandee look. That cylinder is hard to see but is in the middle of the pen. Finally I added 3 spotlights to light up the model.