Putting it together

I was talking to my the head designer today at work about which programs she uses the most. I honestly was pretty surprised to hear that she uses them all pretty evenly. Sitting on the other side of her desk, I could have sworn that she spends more time in Illustrator and Photoshop and InDesign, but she wasn't about to lie to me.

I work for a company that makes dozens of monthly investment advice newsletters. We plan the entire layout in InDesign- import text and all other images from the other programs in there. We use Illustrator to create any graphics we use- like this one!

We also make any fun text, logo images, and text side bars in Illustrator.

We edit photos or manipulate any charts or other images in Photoshop- like this cutout!

So while this isn't an example of our newsletter, we make this page in the same way. I can't post any paid material here, but hopefully this long page can show what our designers do. I can probably also bring in some print copies to pass around next week so anyone who is interested can see it then!

https://www.fool.com/shop/secure/order-01.aspx?dc=eb6b5222-c272-4913-a105-86622398fe29&sf=0510_hybridshort&source=ipesittph0000002

Best Campaign Ever

That's probably not true, but it's one of my favorites. I have a ton of these images hanging on my wall over my desk. They're the Louis Vuitton "Journeys" ads. Each feature a different iconic group of people or individual. Here I have one of their more recent ads- this was out last summer during the World Cup- mostly in mens interest and fine living print publications.

I also wanted to show another favorite- this one is Mikhail Gorbachev. I just love how unexpected, and therefore impactful this one is. Amazing.

Iconic Logos, Ironic Logos

Hey there gang. I'll start it off with one logo that really fills me with good feelings and makes me all warm and gooey inside...

Alright, now seriously. I'm assuming there are a lot of Yankees haters around, so put your personal feelings aside for a moment. There is a reason that this symbol is the most recognized baseball logo worldwide- and while I'd love to believe it's due to the sportsmanship and skill of the team, I'm sure it's not. People look at this, and whether they know it's a baseball team or not, the connection is simple. NY- New York. Once you know it's a baseball team the connection's that much easier.

Another good one- and one maybe as controversial (if we have any PC users in the house)- Apple

The more I think about this, the more I realize that some of the most well known and longest lasting logos are ones that describe the product or brand instantly. Say out loud what the image is- Apple. There you are. I think other logos like this are Target, the NY Yankees one above- even the McDonald's arches refer back to the name of the company.

Some bad ones-

My personal grudge is against Safeway. Don't ask why. (And not because there's a juicy story or anything, it's just illogical. Although one of my first jobs was at Superfresh's New York store- Waldbaums- so maybe that rivalry is coming through.)

No, I don't think any feelings from my high school days as a checkout girl are bubbling up. Pretend the name wasn't there. Here, wait- I'll do it for you.

Hm, what brand is this? You don't know? Me neither. Maybe some sort of feng shui/ yin yang company? A sideways ripoff of Pepsi? The logo means nothing in the context of a supermarket, other than the easily passible S. Lame.

Alright, now this one I saw on a truck when I was driving home on 95 the other day, and part of me actually feels really bad about pointing this out as a bad logo since it seems like a small company. But I'll do it anyway.

Okay, first of all, driving behind this guy, it took me forever to see the "C" in the CD and I kept trying to figure out what Lassy Production means. Do they specialize in Irish women? Dogs? What does the production part mean? Then I finally saw the C and felt jipped, because a truly Classy Production should never have to announce it like that.

 It's outdated- who uses CDs anymore? I'm pretty sure they need to find an S, Pat Sajak, unless they only have one classy production. That CD is really bugging me. If they were really sold on that name, they should have really had the logo look a little more... elegant? Classy? Yeah, that's the word. A reflective CD doesn't really trigger the idea of pure class. 

Sorry Classy Production. I love supporting the little guy DJ and I'm sure you do an awesome job, but... the logo should really represent how awesome you are!

PS- I feel like a huge jerk. Hating on Safeway was one thing, but CP is another. 

colors

So I found it really easy to find examples of good use of color, but one really stand out in my book. I love Tiffany's yellow diamonds ads.

Those are two facing pages in a spread. The Tiffany's blue is expected- it's their trademark color and it's immediately recognizable. Facing it is a page with huge yellow diamond rings. The colors are simple but pure, and facing each other, they really contrast in a lovely way. The reflected yellow is almost tinted slightly blue green. It's not as visible in the scan- or maybe it's just the facing page reflecting. Either way, I'm sure it was intentional, because it's beautiful.

For my example of a bad piece, I have a Revlon ad. I don't know why, but their ads generally annoy me.

I'm sure this color usage isn't the worst in the world, but it's just too much. Too many vivid hues and the pink lips next to the yellow/orange inexplicable background just gives me a headache. Are they standing in front of a giant neon color wheel? I guess that's an awesome place for romance... It kind of looks like an elementary school picture background. 

Yeah, that's hot.