For the first week back for spring quarter, we did a photoshop exercise. Using our own faces as inspiration, we put images as replacement squares on our portrait.

It was a fun exercise that taught us a bit about photoshop. I also used photos that I took while on vacation so it was fun to sort through them and see what fit.

In our blogging module today, we talked a little about the importance of banner ads. With print slowly dying, web advertisements are becoming even more important. I’ve had a little bit of experience designing flash ads in the past and know that it can be difficult to make them look good. It is something that you know everyone is annoyed by so you are always balancing eye-catching and obnoxious.

With this in mind, I approached Chateau Ste Michelle’s banner ads with simplicity. These ads are meant to be on “The Stranger” website so we could use a little humor.

So here is the screenshot of what the website would look like three different-sized banner ads. I noticed that the larger ad looks a little disjointed because of the stacked images, but I didn’t mind it. It looks more like content and less like an ad, which I think is good.

Here are the individual ads:

I would never say I am a “photographer” for fear of offending real photographers. However, I do enjoy putting whore-ish makeup on my friends (preferably after we have been drinking) and photographing them in various outfits and places. Then over-photoshopping their photos. It is a fun way to let loose and get out of my creative routine.

Here is an early example of photoshoots with friends. We were celebrating a girls’ weekend at our friend’s family’s beach house in Longbeach, WA filled with wine, tarot cards, and windy beach walks. I remember I had just watched a retrospective on Judy Garland’s life and became really interested in vintage photographs of actresses. It was amazing how much the actress’ appearance could change in a time before photoshop.

Another time at my place we did a more hipster-inspired shoot. I mean, anything is better with antlers right? I live in a loft with old wood floors so I made them just lay down and used that as the backdrop. We used some of my jewelry and I tried to get a little jesus-y with the light. It also didn’t hurt that I had happened to buy peonies, which worked themselves into the shoot.

As you can see, my models/friends Angela and Heather usually come in a pair. Another time though, it was just Angela. Angela is an awesome model because she can really work her angles and isn’t afraid to take some risks. I call the one below a ’70’s porn star look.

On another shoot with Ange, I was really feeling a wood nymph photoshoot with magical beings frolicking in the forest. Ideally, she would be nude but with sunsetting we didn’t have time to get to a more secluded spot. It is definitely another theme I would like to further explore.

I have done impromptu photoshoots like these since I was young. My sister had a darkroom kit and we would do photoshoots and develop the photos together. It is something that I will always try to incorporate into my life.

Hand Lettering is not one of my strong suits, at least compared to the many wonderful hand letters of our class and the world.

That’s one of the reasons I’m so attracted to Marian Bantjes’ work. She does these insane, ornate letterforms and designs but they are still marketable and can be applied to different companies. I often refer to this Sak’s Fifth Avenue display she designed because how it achieved the difficult balance of artsy and marketable.

I also thought of her today because she is known for her Valentine’s Day cards, every single one unique. Here are a couple from a couple years ago. She used vintage postcards and did some hand lettering on them.

I like her interest in making the ordinary extraordinary, as with her macaroni art.

Here is her TED Talks video from a few years back. It’s a bit long at 20 minutes, but definitely worth the watch. In it, she discusses the balance of individuality in corporate work.

For Jill’s type class, we got the chance to practice some custom letterforms. I chose to make a package design for a fictitious “Pastor Will’s Soap” company, the other choices being chocolate or a cigar box. I really focused on the religious aspect this and referred to old, intricate bible covers with dark colors and Celtic manuscripts. What I like about these biblical references are how the ornamentation is so well integrated with the type. That is what I wanted to emphasize in my final design.

It was a really great project since we were not allowed to use illustration, really just simple ornamentation. I like mixing old musty colors with new fresh ones, bold sans-serif with squirrelly script.

I subscribe to around 150 blogs and am therefore inundated with a metric crap-ton of content. They are mostly graphic design and art based with a sprinkling of fashion. I don’t actually visit the blogs individually, I use feedly.com which keeps all of the RSS feeds in one place. (I used to use Google Reader which was unfortunately murdered.) Therefore, it does not really matter to me what the blog looks like, other than how the individual posts are laid-out, because I’m looking at them all through feedly.

My home screen on feedly.com

Anything I enjoy and/or want to refer back to later usually ends up on my Pinterest of which I am also quite addicted to. It’s a sick, never-ending cycle of feedly to Pinterest, feedly to Pinterest . . .  It is great as inspiration, but I sometimes find it’s best to put it all away and get inspired by something that has nothing to do with design.

I have noticed that I pin images from some blogs more than others. Some are more obvious, like the ones we went over in class — Designspiration, Brand New, etc.

Along the same vein, I am fond of Designtaxi.com. I especially enjoy photos of branding identities probably because I would love to end up designing them.

For instance, I am obsessed with this identity for “Osso,” a butcher shop. It is refreshing when companies take risks with their designs. Plus, this design is simple but bold.

plus they have a fun gif…weeeeeee

We also mentioned ffffound.com in class which is great because it is just one image per post, without any explanation or text. Sometimes the images are random and fun, other times, they are just great examples of design.

Other times they are funny gifs. And once in a while there are just random tits. I have to admit tits are great and all, but now whenever I see tits on ffffound, I’m like ohh . . . big tits . . . again. But it’s designer-y because it is in black and white. Maybe it’s just my closet feminist ideals, but it frustrates me because I am reminded the blog is so obviously from a male’s point of view. It frustrates me that in general, many of the “rockstar” graphic designers are male even though in graphic design programs, it is disproportionately female.

gratuitous tits for who?

Sorry about that, sometimes that inner feminist breaks through.

Another blog I like is FPO: For Print Only. In a design world where print is becoming more and more obsolete it may seem silly to focus on print. But what is very cool about it is the details of the printing job.

This gorgeous, almost over-the-top stationary design is broken down by cost, time it took to make, and process.

It is a rare look into the production side of something and grounds you about how realistic a design is to produce.

So those are few of the many blogs I find interesting.

6 Ways that Uniqlo can encourage story telling:

1. Focusing on Furoshiki wraps, explain how to do it and encouraging people to post their Furoshiki creations
2. Sending in personal photos of Uniqlo styling
3. Customers could design the graphics for a Uniqlo key chain with red, white, and black. Then people could vote on their favorite and that would be produced
4. Incorporating a hashtag in the design of shirt which would make an interesting graphic while advertising Uniqlo
5. Allowing users to design mannequins on their website in an interesting way on a flash website. The winner would be able to style the mannequins in the store
6. Photobooth in the store that will upload to a large wall of screens in the store

We decided expand on the first one, encouraging users to wrap packages and presents in the style of furoshiki. This is a fun, eco-friendly way of wrapping gifts or packages which a Pinterest audience would love. Users could also take photos or videos of their furoshiki creations and use the #uniqlo to make it searchable.

Lou demonstrated a Furoshiki wrap and posted it in on Instagram. Here is her creation:

Mameshiba is a cute personified bean or nut that comes to life. In these short, Japanese animated blips, he offers unsolicited trivia to the nearest person, seemingly unaware that his strange knowledge puts people off.

We chose to use Mameshiba for a short video as a spokesperson for Uniqlo socks. Our idea was to have a businessman put on an old sock with a hole in it. His big toe sticks out of the hole and becomes Mameshiba who exclaims, “Did you know… your feet are very stinky. Uniqlo’s Heat-Tech will keep your toes cozier and stink-free.”

This is a fun way to interact with their audience, which is very much what Uniqlo consistently does. It also brings a Japanese character into American culture. We love the way Uniqlo takes chances on advertising and we wanted our short video to reflect that.

Uniqlo is a fun and trendy Japanese clothing company, reflected in their quirky and innovative ad campaigns. They are masters of social media and interact with their audience through fun but cutting edge technologies. Some projects include online games you can play to win discounts or prizes: (also see my last post)

a pinball type game to win a discount or special prize

They are always using technology in fun ways like putting a Magic Mirror in their stores — people trying on outerwear can digitally change the color or pattern of their jacket, for instance, saving them time and giving them a new experience.

Magic Mirror

They also use new social media like Pinterest and Tumblr to reach their young, tech-savvy audience. This is the niche Uniqlo is filling. They leave traditional advertising to more traditional clothing companies and instead blur the lines between advertising and games.

Uniqlo’s customers’ challenges are finding affordable, high quality clothing that speaks to the millennial generation. Uniqlo is solving this problem through their unconventional campaigns which set them apart from competing labels such as H&M, Forever 21, and Zara. Their global and social responsibility also differentiates themselves, whether genuine or not. Forever 21 in particular went under fire a few years back for forcing their LA workers to suffer in sweatshop conditions. They have since moved manufacturing to China where it would be surprising if conditions were much different. Uniqlo acknowledges that the youth of today are more socially and environmentally aware of the impact manufacturers are making, while still realizing that they can’t afford boutique, made in USA prices.

The content their audience consumes are definitely social media and digital applications, probably even more than television. They even created an calendar app that you can download on your iPad, other mobile device, or even view in your browser. The tilt / shift video on the calendar changes depending on your location. It is a sort of passive, subtle advertising which explores how to be present to their audience without obnoxious tactics.

Uniqlo creates interesting yet consistent content that attracts new customers through their use of different digital media. Even though they use many different venues to be present to their audience, they are all in the same style and contribute to the Uniqlo personality. It is also with their ever-changing techniques that they keep themselves fresh, retaining existing customers and encouraging adoption of a Uniqlo lifestyle.

Of course the main objective a business wants is sales. But Uniqlo appears to want more than just a bottom line. They are creating an experience unique from other clothing companies. They have built and are still building a Uniqlo global community, evoking friendship and fun instead of distance with their potential and existing customer base.

For even more Uniqlo advertising methods, please visit my Pinterest board.