Negative Space

PROJECT #2 UNDER THIS ENTRY!!! SCROLL DOWN~!!!! ^^

This was a fun exhibition. I have been waiting and dying to see the pieces that are in the gallery. As Svet puts it "Waiting so badly that you forgot about it". haha. Yea, I kept thinking the opening was next Friday for some strange reason. I only found out because Svet and Mari were staying late at the office and talking about it. *phew* Didn't want to miss that.

It's held at the mini gallery, not the main one. While exhibition space was limited, there were an amazing amount of pieces in there. I saw some of those lettering works from Jim's class in there and it hit me.

I should have submitted this one too! Damn. =x It's just sitting under my bed cuz I can't bear to throw it out lol. Since it's mounted. And I'm bad at mounting.

Anyways. The Bao Bao Bakery styleguide I did for Barbara's class is in the gallery. :D My roommates Chad, Jahaira, Jenny and M@ (plus honarary roommate Randall -__-) all went as well! :D Which was great since Jenny and Jahaira had pieces in there too! We hovered over the tiny mac screen for a LONG watching ALL the MGs on display that Magdy's class did. They were all amazing. My mind cannot think in motion so they were all just brilliant!

I'm very glad the production pieces from our class are in there. Those were really fantastic. Terry, I loved the redesign of the logo. It's adorable!!! I was so happy I saw yours in there! ^____^ hehe. I am also super in love with the Tokyo posters in there. The superb one by err... Pui? Pum? -_- One of them. lol. They're both fantastic. lol. And the loved the other ones with the crane on a ski lift for Hokkaido. I loled.

Food!!! I'm so glad they were able to work out the food situation. @_@ What's an opening without food dammit?! Delicious croissant sandwiches, great hummus stuffs, veggie dip, cookies blah blah. So after perusing the whole gallery we all sat outside and ate. I went back in for more food and suddenly Jahaira runs in and scares me half to death. Followed by Jenny. They apparently discovered FRUIT PIECES unopened under the veggie platter when peering in from the window outside. The three of us freaked out and rearranged the platters so we could open up and access the fruit. lawl. Good thing too. Strawberries! Pineapples! Grapes!!! Oh my. :D We were like vultures! >:D Before I left I had Magdy open up the new box of cookies since I felt bad after our shenanigan with the fruits. lol.

Great artwork. Friends. Faculty. Food. Beat up the pillars holding up the art department. Found out Magdy can kick really really high. It was great. ^_^

Health and Beauty Project #2

For my project I am looking into redesigning the packaging for Robitussin Cough & Cold Medicine. Joe mentioned that we cannot do anything that is food. This is something you consume however I am hope it is okay since it falls into the health drug category. Not to mention over consumption of several tablespoons can take you to the hospital so it can’t be considered food. :D

the product

ROBITUSSIN COUGH & COLD

CHILDREN COUGH & COLD (CANADA)

This is the current Robitussin line. Not very exciting. It's clean. But as I child I wouldn't want to drink any of those. Especially when we compare them to our competition.

the competition

When placed along side with competitors like Triaminic, Dimetapp, Sudafed, and such Robitussin doesn't stand a chance. Our competition is fun, colorful, pretty and "yummy". Children are attracted to that. Children and parents should be the main audience in all this. Children are the ones who get sick the most often and parents will catch it from their kids. Getting children to drink medicine is a battle in itself. Parents will do anything. If a child is attracted to a certain product, you can bet the parents will buy it. Aiming it towards adults will most likely not work as well. Adult cold medicine are pretty much between Tylenol, Sudafed and Nyquil capsules. So let's not go there. The syrups will usually go towards children and a younger audience.

the company & redesign

The Robitussin company has been around for about 50 years. They were originally produced by AH Robins of Virginia however Wyeth bought them out. So technically Dimetapp isn't a threat since they are part of the same company. But as a child, I would still rather choose Triaminic or Sudafed.

Robitussin has been around for a long time their logo is well known for the plain black strip with white type so we will keep that. We want customers and parents to know that our packaging changed, but not the company and product. We're still the same medicine they have grown up on and trust. The same medicine that worked wonders on them when they were a child while still attracting the attention of their children. While we can keep a cleaner look on the adult version of the syrup, the children's definately needs a lift. It needs to convey fruity, tastey, fun! Lure children into drinking it because medicine is a parent's biggest battle and a child's worst enemy. Let's make it so that Robitussin IS the competition. >:)

I like Pocky.

Pocky is one of my favorite food snacks. It's convenient. Easy to take around. Fun to eat. Tastes good. When I told my roommates one of my classmates are redesigning the packaging, everyone's first reaction was... WHAT?! WHY?!?!?!

Anyone that knows Japanese culture knows Pocky. It's a very famous brand that's been around for decades. I'll admit the graphics could use a lift, it is getting a little outdated. A girl in our class did a FABULOUS job with the design. It looks fresh, new and very delish. I The only problem I have with it, is the package design. She made it long and cubular. OMG. NO. -_- My number one pet peeve with a package is that it doesn't function as it is supposed to. Pocky packaging is flat and rectangular. You can easily pack it into your bag with the rest of your crap and you are good to go! :D We don't have cubular cell phones, tissue packets or cube wallets for a reason. Everything is usually flat because it's easier to fit places and take around. Even rounded and cylindrical would have been better. At least it would fit nicely and comfortably in your hands... T_T That's my only qualm about that.

Gomen ne. Hope I didn't offend anyone. =/ For that is not my intention. Well. This is my blog. I like to talk about the things that I like, or things that bother me. :D Overall I really really did like the design.

Hooray! I'm in the paper!

haha. I'm only in the picture though. ^^;; Thanks Joe for alerting me to the awesomeness. :D Yay!

Awww. I miss Chris already. T_T

The Ford Focus commercials the students did were really spectacular. Read about it [here]. And watch the video of the winning commercial. It's very well done. I so many favorites that it was hard to choose.

My absolute favorites were the one with Nir in it and the one Chris made himself.

I like this picture. ^_^

Blog Layout?

Still no layout Christine? What's the deal?!

Well. I started. -_- But my boss gives me a lot of work. So I don't have time right now. =( I'm working on websites right now. I'm just taking a short break. AT TWO IN THE MORNING. -_- No plans to sleep tonight. =(

Right now my main priorities are

• Finishing the website comps
• Finishing imagery for another website
• Finish costume for MikomiCon (Sept. 19)
  
• Catch up on logos for Paula's class

Personal things like this blog will have to take a very back seat. T_T boo hoo hoo. Growing up sucks.

LAWL.

So I've decided to redesign Hostess Fruit Pie Packaging for my project. As I was doing my research, I stumbled upon this beauty. It made me laugh out loud.

http://blogofbad.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/bad-marketing-hostess-fruit-pie-ads/

I don't like Macs.

I'm a PC person, through and through. I do not like Macs period. For production, the screen of a Mac is superb. The colors are very spot on as opposed to the monitors on PCs. That's the only thing that would make me want a Mac. And then I remembered, I'm going into web. Well nevermind then. Macs are gorgeous and sleek, which seems to be the number 1 factor to why people like it. The magnetic AC adaptor is real cool too. But sometimes it makes me feel like the people that buy it are superficial, only going for looks and never for what's on the inside. When I see a computer, I drool over it's internal specs, the amount of RAM, the latest GeForce vid card, the speed of the CPU and the thought of how smoothly my games will run. That's what makes the machine truly sexy, for me anyways. Apple should know this too. They're trying to sell the computers to a specific audeince who obviously values looks more than anything else. Just look at the packaging of their products. The style of their stores.

It's laughable when I hear professors (well so far only one of them have done that) telling me to "get a real computer". That is the most uneducated comment I have ever heard. You are setting a bad example for the rest of the class to become as ignorant as you are. I have people tell me that as a joke, and you sir are not a friend of mine and I know that you are not joking. I never seriously tell people not to get a certain type of computer unless I weigh the pros and cons. Macs are in no way superior to PCs and while I love PCs I cannot say that PCs are superior to Macs either. You would know this if you had any knowledge on computers you biased pig. Professors I respect have told students to consider purchasing a Mac due to the field that they are entering, not under the false conclusion that Macs are "superior".

MY OWN PERSONAL BELIEF is that Macs are inferior and that is all due to my own computer gaming interests. In no way are any of the games that I play (all 1987249 of them -_-) are ever going to be Mac compatible. While I could bootcamp, why should? Why should I when I don't even like the Mac OS? It's just not my cup of tea. And isn't Bootcamp the same as Mac admitting defeat and inferiority to the Windows platform? It makes me laugh out loud when some of my Mac supporting friends shout senseless dribble about how PCs suck, and then they proceed to dual OS Windows. -_- That's just retarded. If Macs are as superior as you say, then why the fck are you using Windows? You would think that if you can bash Windows, your pride shouldn't allow you to use anything but OSX. Same deal with Mac users plugging in the USB dual button mouse. You never see PC users plugging in a 1 button Mac mouse, because it is inferior. Mac users utilize the PC mouse all the friggin time, because the PC components are easier to use, it's just smarter.

Also, the PC OS is much easier to use IMO. OSX has it's perks too, like f10, f9, the finder and those types of things. Built in mic and webcam is fun. The webcam doubles as a my mirror! :D But personally, I like to be able to press delete, and have things end up in the trash without me having to draggy draggy. I'm a webdesigner. I don't like it when people view my webpages in Safari. Safari is by far the worst browser I have ever seen since Netscape. I would fcking rather use Netscape. What a PoS. -_- Even when the coding is validated, I've seen Safari mess it up and throw a wobbly in the viewing process somehow, someway. -_-

Anyways. I'm not a great graphic designer, but I would like to think that I'm not bad either. I've seen some HORRIBLE work produced from students who just bought the latest, newest and most expensive Macbook models. As long as I can produce good work, why should it matter which system I use (unless I'm in production).

I'll have you know, that I am planning to get a Macbook eventually, but just not now while I'm in school. I don't have the money, but that's mostly a lie. While I'm in school I would rather use my money to purchase other things that I want. The mac is very VERY not on top of my priority list. The Macbook is going to be used purely for work and to look professional, while I do everything else on my PC. I surely do not need you to tell me to buy a mac in such an offensive way, second rate professor. There's a reason why you're part time. -_-

I was a little offended when Apple came out with the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" commercial tidbits. They're trying to make fun PCs in a gentle and subliminal way. To me, it felt like they can't advertise and sell their computers without bashing the competition. I like justice. I don't like it when people don't play fair. It's a personal peeve. Same with political candidate bashing each other. "Unlike him.. *I* on the other hand will do this and this and this, which makes me the better candidate." stfu. >_< This is why I hate politics and politicians. =( I believe that if you have a good product, you don't need to step on the competition. You'll automatically rise up without underhanded tactics. Quoted from the Safari website "Safari. The world's best browser." WOW! Really?! THE WORLD?! The world is a pretty large place. So how come I've never heard of THE WORLD'S BEST BROWSER before until I tried out a mac? Where are you basing your statement from? This is the load of crap and brainwashing they are feeding their audience who don't know any better. -_- Exaggerate much?! Geez. Ever heard of modesty? That pisses me off more than a little bit. Firefox *IS* slowly working their way up to being the best browser in the world and not once have they ever made such an unfounded statement. Wtf Apple?

Humans and the business world are really really despicable. =\ Ok. I'm done ranting. I need to... finish my cube. T_T