COMPUTER-DESIGNED ADVERTISEMENT
Graphic artists use the computer to create product package designs, brochures, advertisements, and company logos. Today, art applications are easier to use and artists may work directly on the computer or begin with pencil and paper sketches. The computer makes some tasks easier because it can retrieve, reproduce, recombine, and alter images with ease. Some software programs simulate textures and appearance of traditional art media, such as watercolors and oil paints. Artists combine photographs and scanned images with textures and collage effects. Commercial illustrators use a combination of media including computer graphics applications, clip art, and traditional art materials to create exciting images for product marketing.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
You will design a product package or advertisement on the computer using a variety of fonts, styles, and sizes. Choose a theme and select hues to emphasize the mood. Decide whether you will draw objects or import and combine clip art images. You will then create harmony by using repeating colors, textures, shapes, and letters. Add variety by changing the size or rotating the shapes. After you design your package, you may wish to include a frame or border to create unity.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- Pencil and sketchbook
- Computer with art application
- Mouse or graphics tablet with a
stylus or drawing pen
- Floppy disk to save work
- Color printer (for black-and-white printer, add color with pen, pencils, or markers)
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Choose the kind of product or promotion you wish to represent. Design a package cover or an advertisement representing a product or products.
- Make pencil sketches of the layout. Include fictitious product names, images, or symbols that represent your product and illustrate the message of the advertisement. Choose simple shapes and colors.
- On the computer, begin with the letters of the product name. Select the Text tool and choose a Font, Style, and Size. Use a Selection tool to manipulate the letters by stretching, rotating, or distorting them. Add shadows to give perspective or emphasis to the letters. Title and Save your work at intervals, so you can return to different points of the design process. Try other tools, menus, and designs.
- Draw symbols or objects with the Pencil or Brush tools. Combine with Clip Art, if available. Add color directly with the Pencil or Brush tool or use the Bucket tool to Flood-fill spaces with color and texture. Title and Save your work again.
- Examine the words and images you have created. Select, Copy, and Paste words, letters, shapes, or objects to repeat images and create harmony through repetition. While objects are selected, add variety with changes in color, size, or position. Try overlapping images. Fill the page.
- You may wish to make a frame or border around the design to create unity. Make a frame using lines, shapes, letters, or objects. Draw an object with a Pencil and then Select, Copy, and Paste image at regular intervals around the perimeter.
- Retitle, Save, and Print your work. Try printing on different types of paper for different effects.
Evaluating Your Work
Describe |
Identify the products in the package or advertisement. Point to your color choices and the use of images in your design. |
Analyze |
Discuss the layout. Explain how the advertisement is organized and the sequence you followed. Tell what you drew first, what you added next, and how you organized the design. |
Interpret |
Describe how the choice of font, style, size, and color help to emphasize the message in your design. Explain which elements and principles you used to organize the layout. |
Judge |
Did you use the principles of unity, harmony, and variety in your design? Did you manipulate fonts, shapes, and colors to make a successful product design? |
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