Individual artifact

For my individual artifact I was in charge of creating and designing the menu for Warmhouse Coffee. The colors that we chose were black, paper bag brown, and burnt orange. For the menu I chose to have the background to be a lighter colored paper brown bag, with the logo being in black as a watermark, and the items on the menu in burnt orange. In creating the menu I went for a simple three column design, its simple and easy to read. For the items on the menu I went with simple and easy. Our target market is made up of a young girl in grad school coming to write papers, or read a book. A reporter for the local newspaper who comes in and writes his stories, or read a book with a good cup of coffee. The third is a woman with grown children out for a day of shopping, and having a lunch/chat date with her friends. The menu allows our target market to consume our main item, which is coffee, but also gives them the chance to sit and stay awhile. One of our communication objects is to be a home away from home, therefore, we want people to come in and enjoy not only a great cup of coffee but also to stay awhile and enjoy the mood and atmosphere that we have created.

The website nor my blog will let me insert the menu the way that I want it but here it is on a very simple level. without the watermark logo of course.

Coffee
REGULAR	3.25
Black, w/cream, w/sugar, w/cream & sugar
MACCHIATO	4.25
Caramel, hazelnut, raspberry, mint caramel
LATTE	4.50
Cinnamon, vanilla, Dolce de leche,
CAPPUCCINO	4.75
Vanilla, chocolate raspberry, brown sugar
Hot Chocolate
REGULAR	3.50
With a dollop of whip cream
SPECIALTY	4.50
Vanilla, raspberry, mint, candy cane, white chocolate, caramel. Hazelnut, mint chocolate, peanut butter, dark chocolate with a dollop of whip cream

Cookies, Muffins
COOKIES	1.50
Sugar, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, chocolate w/ white chocolate chips, powdered sugar, cream cheese, snicker-doodle, heath bar,
MUFFINS	2.00
Blueberry, poppy seed, apple cinnamon, chocolate, bran, red velvet
Beverages
FOUNTAIN DRINKS
Coke products                                           1.50
ITALIAN CREAM SODA
Vanilla, chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry, strawberry	2.75

                                                                                               

Salads
CHEF SALAD	6.50
Spring mix, cheddar, provolone, ham, turkey, boiled egg, red onion
CHICKEN RASPBERRY PECAN	7.75
Spinach, grilled chicken, fresh berries, candied pecans, feta cheese, raspberry vinaigrette
CHICKEN BOWTIE SALAD	7.75
Bowtie noodles, celery, grapes, chicken
Sandwiches
APPLE CHICKEN	5.50
Chicken, apples, pecans celery
HOMEMADE	4.50
Turkey, pastrami, black forest ham, roast beef w/ lettuce, tomato, w/ cream cheese spread and bakery bread
Tuna salad	5.50

Compose Frame

I chose this photo to portray the rule of thirds because it falls directly within the parameters. The sun is very close to a grid intersection and therefore it becomes the focal point of the photograph. The vectors of the plateau draw your eye to the sun and away from the sun at the same time. The negative space of the sky is also highlighted because it gradually changes color as it moves away from the sun. There is also a bit of figure/ground perspective. The rock in the center is the figure that places you on the side of the hill where the plateau, sun and sky are the ground that could either stay the same or be changed around the rock and change the meaning of the entire picture.

Axioms of web page design

http://www.birchbox.com/ 

How the Birchbox website fits the axioms of web design:

Business/Communication Objectives – When you first get to the landing site everything you need is right there. If you have never visited the site before or even happened upon it the objectives are clearly stated.

Strong Grid – The grid on the webpage is very simple and strong. The lines separating the different aspects of the page are even and uniform.

The Lower Right – On this webpage the call to action is right underneath the objectives. Therefore when you are done reading exactly what they want you to get out of the product, you can immediately do exactly as they want you too.

Continuity – The continuity of the entire webpage is not having the same picture on every landing site, but in how all the products are laid out and on display, continuing with the idea of the website of getting to choose the products in your box.

Intuitiveness – The landing site is very easy to navigate. The top headline directs you to each different page within the site very easily. There is no confusion on where to get exactly what you want.

Affordance – This website is fun because you get to try many different products without the commitment of buying an entire bottle, all from the convenience of your own home.

Greatest Contrast – The biggest contrast is that wherever there is writing the background and the font color are contrasting. Making it easy to read and know exactly where to go and what you want to get.

Good Looking means Easy – Because the website looks nice and is pretty means that it is easy to use and navigate.

Converts to Aspect Ratios – When you get on the website on a device other than a computer the site is just as easy to use, it converts very easily.

Design Evaluation

In this design evaluation I will attempt to explain how one particular company had good design; however, a recent campaign shows a great digression in design.

Physician's Formula is an organic make up company specializing in a cheaper alternative to Bare Minerals. Their original product design was simple in depicting the product:

This product design showcases the natural aspect of the makeup. 

Design: simple, clean, straightforward.

In a later campaign they have seemed to abandoned the idea of natural and gone with a flashier design that while catches the eye is not indicative of the product it's self. 

With this product design the message is that it is more important to be sexy than have healthy skin. 

Design: flashy, to much competition for attention, 

confusing in what product actually is.

Contrast, Harmony and Balance

You showed this picture as an example in class and I loved it. I don't often find pictures of scenery beautiful especially one taken of a bridge; however, this picture seems to capture the beauty of a man-made structure in the natural beauty surrounding it.

The most striking part of this photo is the bright orange of the bridge against the dark sea and sky. The bridge seems endless as the light on the road reflects the orange of the bridge on the ocean below. The orange is made more pronounced by how dark it is surrounding the bridge. This comes together to form a nice contrast in color. Very dark and yet a bright spot of orange.

This contrast is also what creates the harmony. The clouds above the bridge seem much more ominous with the bright light under bridge casting shadows. The dark ocean beneath along with the dark mountains mixed with the clouds paint a picture of strong storm that has either run it's course or will be coming in. The light is there to offset the darkness. On a philosophical level it's a physical representation of the saying "silver linings".

The balance comes from having the bright orange bridge on one side and the faint lights of the city in the background. It is very asymmetrical but because the lights catch your eyes you are not just focused on the bridge and the mountains.

Visceral Response

Starry night has been and always will be my favorite work of art. There is something captivating about the sky being so large in comparison to the town and the bush that is in the forefront of the image, also being large and almost unreal in it's size.

Because the stars are portrayed as being large and so close I can imagine myself being able to reach out and touch them and know exactly what they feel like. The sky doesn't seem as if it is far away, in fact it feels like you could simply step from the steeple of the church onto the clouds and then onto the stars. 

When I was a child I always thought that the brown cone shaped thing in the corner was a mountain, like Mount Olympus; however, now that I am older I see that it is some sort of bush and it is painted at the perspective of someone looking down upon the town. Because the things of nature are painted so large and imposing you get the feeling that the perspective that it was painted from was meant to show how insignificant a person is in the larger world. 

However, at the same time the lines of the clouds draw your eyes down to the village. At first the lines seem chaotic, then once you see that each painted line is there to show the depth and texture of each object they come together nicely. 

As a child I also thought that the main part of the beauty was how well the colors complimented each other, that is still an integral part of the beauty but only a small portion.