Journal 20: Product Design

I love this product design! It's a salon hair product, so it's pretty expensive, but I love that it has a very simple design. It's simple in a way that looks sleek, not cheap, so it's obvious that it is a higher end brand that's just not over doing things or trying too hard. The use of a monochromatic color pattern with just the pop of pink adds interest.

Journal 18: Computer Generated

I chose each font to go with the word to describe what I think the word should look like. For energetic I chose a font with tapered edges and a light feel to give it movement. For focused I chose a heavier, more deliberate, font. For creative I chose one that is kind of cliche but I think it fits, the light color says creativity to me. For bored I chose Times New Roman 12pt because I think that's the most boring font. For peaceful I chose a font that seemed calm and light, with a relaxing green color.

Energetic

Focused

Creative

Bored. 

Peaceful

Journal 17: Handwriting

The right side of the ad got cut off, but it explains that it is advertising Texas as a vacation spot. I think the handwriting is effective because it fits with the look of the ad and adds to the laid back feeling of the page. It works to create a casual feeling and lends to the idea that Texas would be an excellent place to relax and get away.

Journal 13: Great Inventions

Of course the light bulb is a great invention, and electricity in general actually, 

I can't imagine having to live by candlelight.

The camera. As a photojournalism student and a photography lover

 I am so glad someone thought of this one! 

I don't necessarily mean the iPhone here, just cell phones in general. This is my first nice cellphone and before that I've always had ones that couldn't do anything except text and make phone calls, but I am very attached to my phone and it would be a major adjustment to be without it!

A refrigerator is something I take for granted. I would not want to go to the store everyday which is what  we would be doing without these. 

My automatic dog waterer. This may not be as serious as a refrigerator but it really is a convenient thing to have. My dog goes through a regular dish of water in about an hour so I would not want to fill it up that often.

Of course, the computer. This is one I really don't know what I would do without. I was thinking about everything I do online; from school to work to banking to email and probably a lot of other things too. Not having a computer would be a serious blow to my way of doing just about everything I do.

The handbag is a simple invention but what would we women do with our things if

 we didn't have one of these?

A dishwasher is not a necessary invention that I couldn't live without. I didn't have one until I was a teenager and then since I've been in college I've only had one about half the time. But it really is a nice convenience! 

A hair straightener (could also be a curling iron). As a person with unruly hair, if it weren't for hair styling tools I would look much different!

Last but certainly not least, my car. I have had a car since I was 16, but when I did a study abroad semester in Australia last spring I found out what public transportation was and I don't like it. Cars are expensive and annoying to own but they represent a sort of freedom that I would be very reluctant to give up.

Journal 12: Advertisements and Jefkins

Frank Jefkin's three basic principles for effective advertisement writers are that the ad be of interest and value to the reader, be concise and be precise (getting to the point). This ad is part of an anti smoking campaign. It is of interest and value to the reader because it is about a health concern that is often publicized. It is concise and precise because it contains no words to convolute the message or distract from the attention of the image. The image speaks for itself.

Journal 11: Myth

This ad uses myth to appeal to women who want to lose weight. The connotative value of this ad is that taking Hydroxycut will give you the body you always wanted, you'll be in great shape and feel confidant in a bikini. The denotative value is that Hydroxycut is clinically proven to help people lose more weight than dieting alone. This is very different than the myth that there is a magic fix for weight and self esteem problems. In reality Hydroxycut is meant to be an aid to weight loss and to be used with dieting and exercise. The ad doesn't work for me because I see right through weight loss ads. However it would work for some people because it shows before and after photos, has statistics, and features an in shape model to show women what they could look like. It's trying to sell a weight loss supplement but it's actually trying to sell a body image, saying you will feel great and improve your life if you purchase this.

Journal 10: Advertisements and Color

This advertisement uses the color blue and the contrasting warm golden color of the model's skin and hair. The color blue was chosen because the name of the perfume is "Light Blue". The ad features a model with blue eyes in front a blue water-like background. By using a blue background the color of the model's eyes is accented. Her blond hair and tan skin also serve to highlight her eye color and the blue in the background. It seems fitting that the ad relies so heavily on color to get it's message across since the product is named after the color.

Journal 9: Logos and Color Meaning

These three logos are for similar companies, all are large national banks. The Chase and Wells Fargo logos are fairly monochromatic, while the Bank of America opted for the red and blue color scheme that obviously represents the United States of America. This fits the name, Bank of America, and conveys a certain amount of patriotism and familiarity as this is a very common choice of colors in this country. All three logos keep the color choices very simple yet recognizable, which is something a bank wants to be. A bank wants to come across as simple to use yet reliable and recognizable to it's customers.

Journal 7 & 8: Advertisements

       The first advertisement I chose is from the March issue of Cosmopolitan, it’s a CoverGirl ad with Drew Barrymore for their Lash Blast Fusion mascara. The denotation of the photo is first of all Drew Barrymore and secondly the product itself, an image of the mascara in the bottom right corner. The connotation of the main part of the ad (the photo of Drew) could be different depending on the audience. This ad is meant for a woman, whose reaction might be jealousy or admiration. This is what was intended because if women admire the girl in the ad, they will want to look as beautiful as she does. This could make them want to purchase the product if the ad can convince them that the product is enhancing the model’s beauty. The photo is fresh looking with the hair pulled back, even lighting and a white background. It’s subtly sexy, appealing to the female audience. The one thing about the photo that really jumps out is her eyelashes. Her eyes are the main focus and the eyelashes are very bold, making the audience think that the reason the photo is so beautiful is because of her eyelashes, and the mascara. The myth in this ad is the notion that this type of beauty is attainable in normal life. People don’t think about Photoshop being used to smooth the skin, enhance the eyes, shape the nose, etc. They don’t think about the false lashes that Drew is wearing and the hours spent on getting the lighting just right, not to mention the professional hair and makeup artists. Of course this is one source of a lot of self-esteem issues and eating disorders in our society. This ad plays off the desires of women to be beautiful and to purchase a product that will make them more beautiful and desirable.

            The second ad is for Weight Watchers from the March issue of Women’s Health. It’s for their coffee cake dessert product, which is 3 “points” according to the ad. The photo’s rich colors, warm light and close up detail of the cake make the cake look delicious. It has connotations of warmth, the taste of cinnamon, and a rich, delicious dessert. However, when the viewer sees the Weight Watchers brand name attached to this image, the connotations suddenly change. Now the cake looks like it’s low calorie, low fat, won’t make you gain weight, or is even good for you. Now we are looking at diet food that looks delicious. This invokes the cultural myth that you can “have your cake and eat it too”; that you can eat foods like coffee cake and still lose weight. In reality this diet dessert will not be as satisfying as a coffee cake that is not considered a diet food. This ad plays off the audience’s desires to lose weight, be healthy, or maybe be more attractive. But most importantly it plays on the desire to eat sweet foods like coffee cake. I have a huge weakness for desserts and just looking at this photo makes me want to eat coffee cake. By invoking that craving and at the same time offering a diet friendly option, Weight Watchers has created a convincing advertisement. Placing the ad in Women’s Health magazine seems like the perfect audience. Readers of this magazine might be trying to lose weight or get in shape, or they might just be women who eat healthy and would be interested in a diet dessert. 

Journal 6: Cigarettes

I used a photo of a cigarette and created my own graphic of blood dripping from the tip of it. Obviously this is to represent an anti-cigarette view. The blood is in some ways an index for death and in some ways a symbol. Blood is present sometimes when death occurs, just as the book's example of smoke is present when a fire occurs. However not every instance of blood involves death and not every instance of death involves blood, so the blood is also a symbol that people have learned to associate with death, suffering, and illness. I chose to keep the background white because I wanted the focus to be the color red in the blood graphic. 

Journal 5: Metaphor

This advertisement for the iPhone is a metaphor comparing the phone to the world. The point they want to get across is that if you have the iPhone you have the world at your fingertips, and I think this ad is effective. It's very simple, the black background with the black on the phone creates a message that's easy to read. The first thing the viewer sees is the blue photo of the earth, then the phone. The simple message is effective in communicating that the iPhone can do anything you want it to do, without actually talking about what the phone does.

Journal 4: Arrows

I found all of these arrows within a few blocks of my house. I grabbed my camera and got in my car expecting to go on a drive to search for them, but I immediately began spotting them everywhere and only made it a few hundred yards before I was finished. It made me wonder, if there are more than twenty arrows clustered in this small area, how many were there in my entire town? Why do we use this symbol so much? 

As the article "Setting Sights on the Arrow" by Phil Patton said, the arrow is one of the most basic and universal symbols and has been around since at least the 18th century in a graphic form. The bow and arrow dates back much further, and arrows appear on the earliest compasses. The article discusses how the arrow has evolved from it's early uses to being used in art and everyday graphics used to communicate. Only a symbol with a strong meaning would have survived this long. 

So what does the arrow mean? Of course it communicates direction, and it is associated with war. The article also observes that it can have connotations of "energy, effort and spiritual yearning." I'm sure this ancient symbol will continue to evolve over time.

Journal 3: Walking the Dog

I photographed 15 symbols or icons that I came across while walking my dog around my neighborhood this morning. I hardly made it out of my driveway before I was almost done! There really are symbols and signs everywhere around us. We are so desensitized to their presence that we walk by them everyday without really seeing them. I had no idea how many symbols I could find just getting ready to walk my dog, before we even left!

I took this photo as I was putting my shoes on in preparation for our walk. That's my dog Hemi in the background, he obviously hasn't figured out he's going for a walk yet. The symbol in this photo is the logo and brand name on the shoes, "HI-TEC". I find this a fairly ineffective design because I had no idea that this was the brand of shoes I owned until I took the photo. Maybe because it's not a well known brand like Adidas or Nike, or maybe because the logo blends into the design of the shoe too much.

I found the next symbol after I put Hemi's leash on, as you can see it has an American flag pattern. This is a symbol, not an icon, because it does not resemble that which it represents. The American flag is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world, and it has different connotations to different people. It's obviously a symbol that represents this country, and it can also mean freedom, pride, sacrifice, and many other things. However, when this symbol is on a dog leash it's meaning is not so strong.

The next symbol is the same one but this is actually an American flag rather than a dog leash, so I think the symbolism and possible connotations are much stronger. As a soldier's wife, the flag hanging out front of our house is pretty standard, but it still means a lot to me to walk out and see it. This is one symbol that doesn't just blend into the landscape for me, maybe because of the Army or because I spent a few months living abroad on my own. Both of these things have really contributed to my interpretation of this important symbol.

Now that I've got my shoes on, got a leash on my dog, and stepped off the front porch, the next symbol I see is the Jeep emblem on my car. This symbol obviously identifies the car as a Jeep, but it could have deeper connotations. When most people think of Jeep they think of a Jeep Wrangler 4x4. Although I drive an SUV, the Jeep name might stir up feelings of being rugged and tough. 

Then I noticed another symbol on my car, the license plate, specifically the words "Arizona Grand Canyon State" and the cactus and landscape in the background. This is considered an icon because it resembles the Arizona desert. This represents the state of Arizona very well, the sunset, the cactus, the mountain, and the large stretch of sky. Since I'm living away from Arizona, this also has connotations of home.

One more symbol before I leave my driveway, this is the sticker that symbolizes my car is registered with the Army base. This means that I have the privilege of driving on post and I have access to those resources. 

At the beginning of our walk I noticed a satellite dish with the DirecTV logo on it. I think this is a well designed logo, simple and almost imitating the shape and design of the satellite dish itself.

The next symbol is the stop sign. It's well known as a traffic sign signaling drivers to stop at an intersection. It also symbolizes a danger, cross traffic, that requires the driver's attention.

This is a mailbox I came across that is shaped like a school bus. This would be considered an icon because it represents a school bus and it looks like a school bus. It also symbolizes children, meaning that the family probably has school aged kids.

A little further down the road I found a Beware of Dog sign. This has connotations of caution and possibly fear for some, and can be a strong deterrent for possible burglars. The design of the actual sign is red with block letters, reinforcing the message of danger. Of course, the Rottweiler standing next to it is a pretty good reinforcement too!

Another symbol of caution is this ADT sign. Most people would recognize that this is signaling the house has a security system in place. This means different things to different people; to the homeowners it's probably a symbol of safety. To a possible intruder it would symbolize caution and probably cause them to target a different house. I think that the color, placement, shape and size of the sign are all characteristics that make people think of a security system.

Just down the road is a symbol with two meanings: the speed that is legal to drive on this road and a more personal motivator to obey the law. The speed limit sign is communicating the legal speed limit, and the children at play sign is appealing to the driver's emotions in an effort to convince them not to speed. The figure representing a child is an icon and is supposed to motivate people to be more cautious to avoid hurting a child.

  

This sign is one that I hadn't noticed before, it says "sewer line crossing." I'm not sure if this is supposed to warn people from digging in the area or warn them to stay out of the area completely. Either way it was effective for me, I don't really want to be messing around in an area marked with a sewer line crossing sign.

This is a sign we see all the time to symbolize that a house is for sale or rent. In this case it looks like the owner is looking to either sell or rent the house, since this sign has both phrases. The shape of this sign is what makes it commonly recognized as some kind of realty company's sign.

This symbol is attached to a mailbox post for a newspaper carrier to put the daily newspaper in. The newspaper's name on the box signifies which paper this family subscribes too, and serves as an advertisement for the paper. Since it is a bright color it is noticeable and easy to distinguish from the actual mailbox.

That was the end of mine and Hemi's walk this morning, I had no idea the number of signs and symbols I would run into. I'll probably notice them all a little more from now on!