Viiibrrrattting Desiiignnn

I first flipped passed this ad for a design show and I thought to myself, that's not right! I had to go back and take a second look at it. Well I as right about that. The ad goes one step farther than most and makes the reader feel uncomfortable because of the cropping and even worse, with the so called terrible cropping the flowers have still somehow managed to get centered. What a creative way to create balance! Although the focal point is the flowers, I think that the randomly cropped chair legs at the top of the page have a bit more emphasis along with the bold words on the edges of the page. The colors are attractive to and don't weigh down the ad at all. Although the ad does look like it vibrated off center at printing press.



Design Graphics magazine

Design Through Ideas, Emotion, Facts and Motion

I saw this design in Design Graphics and was immediately attracted to the simplicity and dead on accuracy of it. The Simplicity of the ad unifies it with the simplicity of the idea conveyed. In this design it only took a black marker to communicate a strong idea. The emphasis really isn't in the piece but is the idea that the piece conveys. The Usage of seconds in the message speeds you through it quickly but leaves an impression that these original, creative ads always leave.

Motorola in Pink!

This is an ad from the New Yorker and I was tickled pink when I saw it. I found that this monotone ad popped out right away out from the surrounding boring black and white pages. The white, pink and black colors unite the whole ad together along with the camera and Hollywood unifiers. There is a large amount of implied and psychic line created by the tvs, cameras and even the model's body. Each one emphasises the new phone's name, Cinemoto, which is in bold large letters smack dab in the center of the page. The ad is symmetricaly balanced which really works for this piece.

National Geographic Image Collection

This ad caught my eye mostly because of the fluidity of the colors found in each individual picture. Each color works together to unify and ballance the whole ad. The black background also helps to emphasize each photo but mostly helps emphasize the green box. The green box is in balance with the thumbnail pictures. The ad is very busy but organized which I think helps catch the eye.

Paper You Can Trust!

This is an add for Productolith that I found in How magazine. Right away I was attracted to this add's wit and humor. I also like the composition of the piece, it's more entertaining and personal from the birds eye view. The emphasis is on the large sheet of white paper that's smack dab in the center. The values of the colors are attractive and pop out. This add also has a great use of scale with the firemen being smaller than us. There is a great use of lines with the hose, side walk, and the corners of the building. The firefighters even have a psychological line leading from their eyes to the viewers.

HOW magazine, June 2006, p43 Productolith

No Words Needed!

When I saw this piece I immediately knew the meaning of it before I read the bold letters at the top. To me, children walking walking around with guns the size of there head is just horrible! This was a design for a controversial issue, what a striking image it is too. The yellow and red pop out and attract your attention, and then in between the two inferior colors is the boy holding a gun that has a yellow glow around it. Not only are these to colors noticable they also are yelling like street signs "hazardous! Stop!" Then way at the top is the word "CONTROVERSY" isolated from the image that is meant to be understood faster than the word is read.

"Controversy" Gene Brooks, Design Graphics portfolio 102 Feb 2004.

Elektra by Christos Magganas

This is a piece by Christos Magganas called "Elektra" for ATI Technologies Inc. There were several pieces by Magganas in DG that caught my eye, but this one was the most impressive. Mostly it is the brilliant colors that he uses mixed, with soft and sharp lines of the image. It is also very well balanced and her body's gesture is interesting and holds a lot of power. She is both organic and abstract. The sharp abstract form that caresses her back looks almost like wings, or possibly a black bird. Whatever it is, the suggestion of transformation is very strong. Whether this female is the Greek mythological Elektra who helped her brother avenge his father, or the supervillain from Marvel Comics, the mystical aspect is captivating. This piece is incredibly amazing and shows some great skill using Photoshop, some day I would like to do something like this, that would be amazing.

Christos Magganas, Elektra, for ATI Technologies Inc. Photoshop, 3ds Max. Design Graphics portfolio, Sept 2006. p 89

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