Demo Reel Tips

I was talking to a Project Management class about Demo Reel creation, and remembered a great tutorial that a coworker had shared with me. This is a four part instructional video on demo reels done by an animator for PIXAR.  Click the image to start the demo.

Creative Logo Design

"As designers, we are always in constant need of inpiration. Whether it be Web or graphic design, other work to fuel our creativity is essential. Logo design requires the most amount of inspiration, however.

Below we present a showcase of 50 beautiful, clever and creative logo designs that will hopefully inspire you. If you take a closer look at the showcase below, you will notice many trends. Some of these include the usage of simple shapes to create something complex, origami shapes, coloring and transparency trends, and many more." - Matt Cronin

Creative Logo Design

Realistic Vector Art

Vectors vs Rasters is an argument that is most often quickly solved. Are you designing with photos or simple graphics? Are you creating a poster or a business card? Do you like using Photoshop or Illustrator?
All of these questions are related to the Vector vs Raster debate, and deal primarily with style preferences. If you're designing a logo, business card, or clean edged graphic, then most likely, you'll want to use vector based software like Adobe Illustrator. If you want to use photo-realistic images or need advanced layering and filters, most like you'll used raster/pixel based software like Adobe Photoshop. But... what if you want to photo-realistic quality you get from Photoshop, with the scalability and clean lines of vector art? This is where realistic vector art can help.
Using the Gradient Mesh tool in Illustrator, you can assign colors to points on an object that will automatically blend together, creating a customized and detailed gradient. The more time spent color each individual point on your object, the more realistic the final outcome will look. Results have the potential to trick viewers into believing they are looking at a photograph rather than a vector image, and the image can be scaled as large as desired without losing any quality like a rasterized image would.

Description: Vector graphic containing a highly detailed gradient mesh that resembles a photograph
Advantages: Vector graphics will never look pixelated, can be scaled infinitely larger, and will preserve a clean, crisp feel

The link below shows a variety of samples of realistic vector art. Click on the "Outline" option to see the mesh.

Realistic Vector Art Samples

Sample Art above by Adalynn Martinez, a Multi-media student in my Digital Illustration class

Chick-fil-A

It has been a subject of conversation several times since I've moved up north. In Florida growing up, Chick-fil-A was always a treat during trips to the mall. Eventually the fast food chain branched out with individual drive-thru restaurants all along southern highways. (I've actually held out for hours on road trips just to find one) Anyone I've met up north who has visited a Chick-fil-A, always remembers it fondly as "The bet fast food ever!". While the food stands alone, the advertising the company uses also proves very effective and memorable. Most people who have visited the restaurant are sure to remember the black and white cows promoting "chikin" as an alternative to the burger chains. Humanizing the cows with their "Eat Mor Chikin" signs immediately conjures the smell and taste of a Chick-fil-A sandwich, or waffle fries. The branding works and is immediately identifiable to anyone from the south, or to anyone who has ventured off the highway. Another thing that I have noticed, is that while the advertising has changed over the years, the original logo has not been modified. It remains a red beacon signifying wholesome, southern food on the go. The style of the scripted logo is reminiscent of a 50's diner, or maybe a neon sign. It works alone or is effectively placed into all of the company's modern advertising campaigns. Recently, the Tropicana orange juice company tried to recreate their branding and logo. They met with vehement complaints and emails in response to the new campaign. While the new packaging was pleasing to the eye, it did not retain any of the former elements that the public had associated with the brand, such as the orange with a straw in it. Perhaps their campaign would have been more successful if they had kept some of the classic elements of their brand similarly to the Chick-fil-A logo positioned along with the cows.