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Art Patrol – Cholesterol
May 13, 2011
Before:
After (click to enlarge):
Time spent: 46 minutes
Notes: First of all, I should comment that the original postcard looks like it was printed on a digital printer (color laser), which makes no sense to me. There are online printers that will print 5,000 postcards (full color, UV coated, one side) for under $100. This relatively modest expense gets you a superior looking product—at least from a print quality standpoint.
As for the design, if your pitch question starts with “are you concerned…”, then using photographs of smiling, happy people is counter-productive. If you’re going to market the emotion fear (which is exactly what “are you concerned…” is designed to do), then show me concern. The other marketing option would be to market hope (as in “after treatment, these people’s problems went away! Look at how happy they are now! This could be you!”). In that instance, the pictures would work, but the copy is all wrong. I chose to go the fear/concern route (it is Friday the 13th, after all), and spent the bulk of my time looking for the right image to present that.
As a rule, pictures and words should compliment and support one another. They didn’t. Now they do.
Art Patrol – Please turn off the lights
May 12, 2011
Before:
After:
Time spent: 48 minutes
Notes: This is an example of a design I would never expect to be paid for, because hiring a designer to make a “please turn off the lights” sign is kind of ridiculous. Taking 30 minutes to look for and clip the “right” light switch image (which I did) is also rather silly. That said, I do like the finished product.
Did the original need to be redesigned? No; It’s functional and does what it needs to do. Making it look nicer isn’t likely to change light-switch behavior. But the redesign does change the tone of the message, and adds a visual component to reinforce it.
Art Patrol – Earth Day Flier
May 11, 2011
Before (click to enlarge):
After (click to enlarge):
Notes: It’s a shame this event has already passed, as it would have been nice to take a crack at this before the event started, because the before is terrible. There are four or five different fonts being used, not counting the logos, which is a huge no-no. There’s also a ton of wasted space. This is one of my main issues with Microsoft Word use in a professional setting—it’s not a layout program! (Grrrrr!)
In general, I cleaned up the spacing and typography, removed elements that didn’t make sense to me (the map to Bastyr is so small it’s useless, and the native dancer didn’t make sense either. I get that there will be native dancers performing, but who are they? The flier doesn’t say…), added some background color and got the entire piece down to one side of one page.
Art Patrol – Rhino Distributing, LLC
May 10, 2011
Before:
After (click to enlarge):
Time spent: 52 minutes
Notes: In the interest of full disclosure, I own a Kirby vacuum and love it.
That said, I’m not a fan of the “before” piece their distributor is using to promote the product. In addition to the overall boring design, the phrase “for the new millennium” has been overdone for a while now, and should be retired. Also, what’s wrong with using the word “free?” I’m guessing they went with “no charge” for vertical spacing issues. I chose to rotate the piece horizontally instead of vertically and add a picture of the product they’re actually selling (the free shampoo is a tactic, not a product, though Kirby’s carpet shampoo is a nice product with a pleasant, clean smell). I also moved the fine print up to right under the offer, rather than burying it with the scheduling information. Other than that, I kept most of the design elements from the original and just, well, cleaned them up a bit.
Art Patrol – Bexar.com
May 9, 2011
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Before (click to enlarge):
After (click to enlarge):
Time spent: 57 minutes
Notes: Bexar.com is the website/portfolio of artist Christopher Olivier, who uses the two names to distinguish his sculpting work (as Bexar) from his photographic art (as Olivier). Using the museum motif presents the work as “Art” (instead of merely “art”), even though it’s technically inaccurate, as the Bexar side should be represented with a sculpture rather than a framed piece. I debated whether or not the tagline should read “please touch the art” instead of “please click the art,” and though I went with “click,” I still think touch would work, and may even have been the better call.
Art Patrol – Bothell United Methodist Women
May 6, 2011
Before (click to enlarge):
After (click to enlarge):
Time spent: 1 hour
Notes: It’s interesting the effect that paper quality has on the “before” scans. The original was printed on standard inkjet paper (and, from the looks of it, with a standard inkjet printer), which isn’t ideal for double-sided information as the text bleeds through (visually) onto the other side. A thicker sheet of paper would solve that problem. Other than that, this was another project that benefits from better spacing between columns of text, improved font selection (something more formal and more feminine), and a splash of color. I love the effect a full panel of solid color has on trifold brochures.
Art Patrol – Duke and Duchess Barbershop
May 5, 2011
— 1 Comment
Before:
Notes: Barbershops, I discovered, are hard to design for, particularly those that (try to) cater to both genders. So I opted to design a double-sided card to try and capture that dichotomy. The shop still uses a straight-edge razor for final clean up work on the men (as well as hot lather shaves!), so I opted to use a photograph of a razor on the front, coupled with more salon-style shears on the back. Although it’s hard to tell from the pictures, the barber pole motif lines up on the edge(s) of the card.
To get the full effect, though, you really need to see the card front-to-back, like so (click to enlarge):
Art Patrol – Washington School of Dance
May 4, 2011
— 2 Comments
Before (click to enlarge):
After (click to enlarge):
Time spent: 1 hour
Notes: Here the clock got the better of me … this is definitely unfinished. Both panels still need work, but I have fixed the spacing around the bullets and I’m happy with the updated “grown up and me” type treatment (which is not, technically, a logo). Also, I really disliked the way the mom and her daughter were cut off at the waist in the original; it looks very unnatural. Having the image bleed off the bottom removes some of the choppiness, though at the expense of the school’s information. I hadn’t figured that piece out yet. I’m also missing the tagline under the address information on the back (center) panel. Here again, I simply ran out of the allotted hour time limit on the design (see artpatrol.com for more details on the “rules” of this project).
Art Patrol – Troop 610 Scout Committee
May 3, 2011
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After (click to enlarge):
Time spent: 1 hour
Notes: The original was functional, but not particularly exciting. It’s an agenda for a meeting, so it doesn’t need to be fancy. However, the agenda is handed out to every committee member, and frequently has important take-home information or assignments on it, which don’t always stand out. Plus, there’s no room to take notes. The trickiest part of the redesign was making sure it was still user-editable, as information changes meeting-to-meeting. My solution was to make an editable .pdf form.
Art Patrol – Uma Thai menu
May 2, 2011
Before (click to enlarge):
After (click to enlarge):
Time spent: 1 hour
Notes: More of a clean-up than a redesign, I changed the typeface to make it both easier to read and more upscale. I also increased the space between columns to better accommodate folding into thirds. Also, I was grateful their existing menu was online as a .pdf file, so I didn’t have to retype everything. Thank heaven for copy + paste! It gave me more time to work on font selection and spacing…
