Simply Lemonade

I am going to redesign the label for All Natural Simply Lemonade.  It also happens to be a favorite of mine.  The design seems simple enough to recreate.

The assignment this week is to bring in 3 rough drafts.  All words that appear on the existing label must appear on the recreation.  

I started by going to the web and looking at images relative to the Arts and Crafts Movement.

I made my choice and downloaded to Illustrator. 

 From here I used the pen and the pencil tool to recreate the image adding a little of my own touch.

Through trial and error I am finding my way to around the layers pallet.  It is still taking me a while to accomplish my assignments. 

 What took me 7 hours to do, could probably be done in 15 minutes by someone more familiar with the operations of Illustrator.  It might not show in my art work, but each week I am learning a new technique.

The shapes used the most in the Arts and Crafts Movement were very basic; squares, rectangles, triangles, etc.  The design of the image contains those very  basic shapes.

I could not remove the funny colored image.

Arts and Crafts Movement

I chose the Arts and Crafts movement for the next assignment. I had no idea until I did the research of this historical design that it was my favorite since the décor of my house contains materials described below. I am happy with this choice.

The Arts and Crafts movement initially developed in England during the latter half of the 19th century and lasted well into the 20th century. Eventually, this style was adopted by American designers, with different result. In the United States, the Arts and Crafts style was also known as Mission style.
These terms are often used interchangeably, especially in reference to furniture, but the arts and crafts movement includes light fixtures, stained glass, pottery, wall coverings and textiles.

This movement challenged the tastes of the Victorian era and was inspired by social reform concerns. The support of this movement came from progressive artists, architects and designers, philanthropists, amateurs and middle-class women seeking work in the home. They set up small workshops separate from the world of industry, revived old techniques and revered the humble household objects of pre-industrial times.

Their notions of good design were linked to their notions of a good society. This was a vision of a society in which the worker was not brutalized by the working conditions found in factories, but rather could take pride in his/her craftsmanship and skill. The rise of a consumer class coincided with the rise of manufactured consumer goods. In this period, manufactured goods were often poor in design and quality. Many proposed that it would be better for all if individual craftsmanship could be revived. The worker could then produce beautiful objects the showed the results of fine craftsmanship, as opposed to the shoddy products of mass production.

The goal was to create design that was “for the people, and a source of pleasure to the maker and the user.” Workers could produce beautiful objects that would enhance the lives of ordinary people, and at the same time provide decent employment for the craftsman.

The Mission style, as it was known in the United States, was a blending of arts and crafts rectilinear forms with Hispanic and Native American architecture, furnishings and accessories of the American Southwest. The collecting of Southwestern artifacts became very popular in the first quarter of the twentieth century.

Common design includes items made of natural materials and earthy organic colors. The design incorporates clean simple lines. The use of earthy organic colors—mossy greens, mustard, terra cotta, warm brown and amber reflect the warm, earthy feel of the period. The forms were typically rectilinear and angular, with stylized decorative motifs reminiscent of medieval and Islamic design.

Tree of Life

Here is the final image of my assignment.  I like the way it turned out considering what I started out with.  I learned a lot of new techniques.  I have got to keep on using them before I forget what I did.  I took about 3 1/2 hours to come to this final point.  The easiest part was gathering the images of the Lincoln family from the web.  Reducing the image to fit was a new experience.  Well not new, I just had not done it for 3 years therefore I forgot how to do it. 

I used the paint brush tool a lot and Prof. Peck showed me how to vary the width of the stroke.  I played with that a while trying to my the log look as wood like as I could.  I even added some extra branches to the trees using the paint brush tool and varying the width. 

I learned some things about Lincoln unknown to me before this project.  I knew nothing about his family. 

Abraham Lincoln was the son of Nancy Hanks Lincoln and Thomas Lincoln who later remarried Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln who became Abraham's stepmother. 

Thomas and Nancy had three children, Sarah, Abraham and Thomas, who died as a child.  In 1818 Nancy died of milk sickness, so Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston.  Sarah was Lincoln's older sister and there was no image available for her.

Abraham married Mary Todd Lincoln and together they had four children; Robert Todd, Edward, William, and Thomas.  Robert Todd was the only one of Lincoln's children to survive to adulthood.  

 

Week 4

The assignment this week is to chose and perfect the information graphics of Lincoln.  Prof. Peck was kind enough to meet with me and Rachael on Saturday to go over the main steps used in Illustrator.  It was very helpful.  I have spent at least 18 hours on my illustration of Lincoln.  I have referred to books, looked at the videos and got frustrated.  I'm not there yet.  I will still keep clicking, moving, and trying.  I have done a lot of things that I don't have a clue how I did it.  Didn't think this project was going to be so difficult for me.  Practice, Practice, Practice.

This picture of Lincoln is what I am attempting to illustrate.  I'm doing his family portraits on an oak tree.

Week 3

I am having problems uploading my image.  I will try later.

The assignment for this week is to work on my information graphic that I chose.  I am doing Abraham Lincoln's family.  I pondered on how I would get this info across and I have concluded on using the usual family tree style.  I will start with the roots underground (mom and dad) and continue upward, branching out into Abe Lincoln and his siblings, branching out again with Abe beginning his own family.  I decided to use actual images of the Lincoln family.  I went to the web and research the family downloading the available images.  This took me about 2 hours.  I will now open illustrator and start to draw my conception a sprouting family.  The image I wanted to download with this blog refused to open so I went to the web and chose this one.  This one might even work better considering the assignment.  Here we have the entire Abraham Lincoln family excluding his father, mother, and stepmother, all of whom I am going to include in the information graphic.  I am currently trying to see if there is a eye pleasing way to include a little info about each member of the family.