Greeting Card Design Folio 2010

IB Design Technology

Design Folio

Essential Question:

How do we capture someone’s

attention?

Ms. Tomlin and Mr. Wang

Thurgood Marshall Academy

Name: Class:

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 2

Table of Contents

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREETING CARDS ........................................................................ 3

10 TIPS FOR ILLUSTRATING MARKETABLE GREETING CARDS ............................ 4

ESSENTIAL QUESTION .......................................................................................................... 5

THE TASK ................................................................................................................................. 5

AREAS OF INTERACTION (AOI) ......................................................................................... 5

OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................. 5

ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................................... 5

THE HOLIDAYS ....................................................................................................................... 6

BLOG ENTRIES, CLASSWORK AND HOMEWORK ......................................................... 7

ADDING AN ILLUSTRATOR FILE TO YOUR BLOG ...................................................... 13

STARTING YOUR GREETING CARD ................................................................................ 13

OPEN SWATCH LIBRARY (ILLUSTRATOR) ................................................................. 13

CHANGING THE BACKGROUND COLOR (ILLUSTRATOR) ....................................... 13

ADDING TEXT (ILLUSTRATOR) ...................................................................................... 14

THE IB LEARNER PROFILE ............................................................................................... 15

RUBRICS .................................................................................................................................. 16


A Brief History of Greeting Cards From http://www.greetingcardsresource.com/history.html

It is believed the early Chinese were the first to send what could be called a greeting card - for the New Year

they sent tidings of good will. Evidence also shows that ancient Egyptians wrote greetings on papyrus

scrolls.

The next stop on the timeline is around 1400 when the Germans used woodcuts to print New Year's wishes.

In the early or mid 1400s Europeans exchanged handmade paper greetings for Valentine's Day. The British

Museum has a Valentine from the 1400s that is the oldest known greeting card in existence.

The introduction of the postage stamp in 1840 helped the popularity of the greeting card. What was once

relatively expensive, hand-made, and personally-delivered gift became an effective and affordable means of

personal communication. Another factor promoting advancement was the improvement of printing

methods. Mass production didn't mean the end of the elaborate greeting card, however. The Victorian era

saw some very ornate and intricate designs.

John Calcott Horsley was commissioned in 1843 to design the first published Christmas card. A young lady

from Massachusetts, Esther Howland, was the first regular publisher of valentines in the United States. She

started in 1849 with handmade valentines, often using real lace and ribbon, and went on to found a

successful publishing company with elaborately decorated cards as a specialty.

The person generally credited with the beginning of America's greeting card industry is Louis Prang, a

German immigrant. He started a lithography business near Boston in 1856 and soon his works were known

as the best around.

After a slump in the late nineteenth century, the greeting card industry saw more and more new publishers.

Competition created advances in printing, decorative treatments, and artistic techniques. The widespread

use of color lithography in the 1930s fueled a continued expansion in the industry.

Humor in American greeting cards became more prominent in the 1950s with the introduction of the studio

card – a long card with a short punch line. Cards for a wide range of events and holidays as well as "non-

occasion" cards showed up in the 1980s.

http://www.greetingcardsresource.com/history.html


10 Tips for Illustrating Marketable Greeting Cards By Heather Castles

From http://blog.illustrationcastle.com/

Greeting cards are a lot of fun to design & illustrate… each individual card is your opportunity to tell a short story. It’s like illustrating for a poem within a larger book…you get ONE chance to sell that story. Here are some tips to make your greeting card designs more marketable. 1) Don’t be scared to illustrate the obvious subject matter: Just because you think there are tons of Santa cards out there, doesn’t mean it can’t be revamped. There is always a market for the big icons of the greeting card season… designs are cycled out once the sales start to go down, and often need to be replaced by the same subject matter, just with a modern kick.

2) Design for a Vertical Layout: Vertical layouts are hands down the most popular layout for greeting cards for two reasons, 1) they are easier to view in racks, and 2) they don’t fall down like horizontal cards do.

3) Top Third Rule: Cards displayed in racks are often overlapping, so the top 1/3 of the card is often all that you have to grab the attention of a shopper. So make that top 1/3 of the card count, keep it mostly free for typography, or make sure characters are easily seen . Use your hand to cover up the bottom of your card. If the message still comes across, well done! If not, revisit the design.

4) Avoid illustrating people: The moment you illustrate a person on the front of your card, you may exclude certain markets. There are markets for ethnicity specific cards, but you will increase the marketability of your card by avoiding illustrating people altogether. Try substituting people for animals, or give the people non-skin-tone colors like blue or purple for humorous cards.

5) Leave space for type: Illustrations that do not take into consideration space for the caption heading and / or a little bit of verse on the front can often be passed up by publishers. Make sure you leave some areas of your illustration free of strong texture / illustrated elements so that type can be clearly and easily read. Use a piece of acetate with black and white lettering on it to test legibility, or scan your illustration and place type on it with InDesign.

6) Consider Recipient Gender Balance: Cards are typically broken up into three groups…masculine, feminine, and general. Feminine cards are typically easier to design, as there is a plethora of cute fuzzy fluffy flowery imagery out there to play with. Masculine cards are much more difficult, and can unfortunately tend to be stuck in the rut of being more serious and heavy looking. General cards are those that can be given to either male / female recipients.

7) Make your illustrations easy for designers to work: with by including 0.25 inch bleed around your illustrations.

8) Don’t mix religious iconography: A big faux pas in the card industry is to introducing non-religious icons in your religious designs. Take Christmas for example…if you are designing a religious greeting card, you should avoid all references to Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, etc.

9) Keep in mind Your Target Audience: is not only the person receiving the card. You also have to consider who is buying the card. Often times, it is a lady buying the card, be it some one’s grandmother, mother, auntie, daughter, friend, colleague…women make up about 80% of the greeting card target buying audience. So when designing cards, keep in mind who will be picking up the cards and appealing to how THEY feel about the person they are sending the card to. If you can’t picture any of your female friends picking up the card, you might miss the mark on that design.

10) Ask for feedback on your designs: An easy way to know if your design is hitting the mark is to ask your friends and family. Make sure to not explain what the card is about, just hand them a mock up of the design. If they don’t “get it” then you should reconsider.

http://blog.illustrationcastle.com/


Essential Question

How do we capture someone’s attention?

The Task

Working individually, you will create a series of three greeting cards for a holiday.

Each of the three cards must be targeted to a different type of consumer.

Areas of Interaction (AoI)

Approaches to Learning Study habits, Communication, Information,

Reflection, Connecting Ideas

Human Ingenuity Desktop publishing, Marketing &

Advertising

Objectives

Use of the design cycle

Undertake meaningful and relevant research

Gain experience utilizing Microsoft Publisher

Incorporate and manipulate digital images

Manage time & resources

Critically evaluate own work

Assessment

Create a Design Folio following the Design Cycle

Maintain a design blog

Provide several possible solutions and justify final choice

Create solution to appropriate standard

Test and evaluate solution

Justify any changes

Evaluate design in terms of AoI


The Holidays

You will be assigned one of the following holidays:

Place a next to your assigned event.

Major Holidays

1. Arbor Day 13. Holi 25. Moon Festival

2. Ash Wednesday 14. Imbolc 26. Muharram

3. Bastille Day 15. Islamic New Year 27. Nirvana Day

4. Chinese New Year 16. Juneteenth Day 28. Purim

5. Cinco de Mayo 17. Lammas 29. Ramadan

6. Dia De Los Muertos 18. Leap Year 30. Rosh Hashanah

7. Diwali 19. Leif Erikson Day 31. Three Kings Day

8. Earth Day 20. Lent 32. Victoria Day

9. Eid al-Adha 21. Makar Sankranti 33. Wesak

10. Eid al-Fitr 22. Mardi Gras 34. World AIDS Day

11. Epiphany 23. Mawlid al-Nabi 35. Yom Kippur

12. Hajj 24. May Day


Blog Entries, Classwork and Homework

Assessment Criteria indicated in parentheses!

Class Blog: http://tmatech.blogspot.com/

Title: Blog Entry #2.1 – Design Task (A)

In a maximum of three complete sentences, explain in your own words the design task that you have been

asked to solve for this project. Be sure to include exactly what you will be creating/designing for this

project.

Due Date: In-Class, Week 1

Title: Blog Entry #2.2 – Product Analysis 1 (A)

Examine one of the professional cards available in class. Answer the following questions (which are

available on the class blog to copy and paste) and include an image of the card (also available on the class

blog).

1. What holiday/event does the card represent?

2. What type of images are used – photos, cartoons or graphics? How do the images used connect to the holiday/event?

3. In your opinion, is the cover of the card attention-grabbing? Explain exactly why or why not. Consider the arrangement of elements as well as use of images, color and text.

4. What text is written on the front of the card? Where is it located on the front?

5. What text is written inside the card? Where is it located inside the card?

6. In your opinion, does the text inside the card connect to the image(s) on the cover? Explain exactly why or why not.

7. What types of information appears on the back of the card? (Do not copy it exactly!)

8. To what consumer is this card targeted? (Consider age group, gender, race and/or religion.) What about the design led you to this conclusion?



Repeat Entry #2.2 for a second greeting card.



Repeat Entry #2.2 for a third greeting card.


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http://tmatech.blogspot.com/


Title: Blog Entry #2.7 – Holiday Research (A)

Answer the following questions about your assigned holiday. The questions are available on the class blog

to copy and paste.

1. What is the name of the holiday?

2. When will the holiday be celebrated in 2011?

3. Who celebrates this holiday? (Countries, religious groups, ethnic groups)

4. Why is this holiday celebrated? What is the significance of this holiday?

5. How is this holiday celebrated? Include any rituals, food, costumes, dance or music associated with this holiday.

6. What websites were used in answering these questions? (Copy and paste the web addresses of each website.)


Title: Blog Entry #2.5 – Design Brief (A)

The design brief is the formal starting point of the design. It states the expectations and design problem. It does not provide the solution.

It should include the following elements:

1. Always start the design brief with “I am going to design and make .....”. This is followed by a general description of the product you are designing and creating.

2. What is the goal of the product? What should it be able to do?

3. What are your target market’s demographics(i.e., the age, gender, income, tastes, views, attitudes, geography, lifestyle of those you want to reach)?

4. What do you consider to be the important elements/factors that define a successful product?

5. What are the things not to do, and styles that you do not like or wish to see in your design.

Read the article on page 5 of this Design Folio for some ideas! Write a Design Brief for your project that covers all of the elements above. Your Design Brief should be at

least one paragraph, if not more.

Due Date: Homework, Week 1

Title: Blog Entry #2.6 – Process Journal 1 (C)

What are all the steps that you will need to complete to create your set of greeting cards?

For each step, include the materials/resources that are needed and the amount time required.


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Title: Blog Entry #2.8 – Image Research (A)

Collect a minimum of 6 images related to your holiday that could be used in your greeting cards. Post all

these images to your blog under one posting. No text is required for this entry.

Remember, to add images to your blog you must save it first. Copy and paste will not work! Use the button

shown below to then add the image to your blog post.


Title: Blog Entry #2.9 – Text Brainstorm (B)

Write a minimum of six sayings for your holiday to be used inside your cards.

You may use quotes if you wish, but only for a maximum of two sayings and you must include the person.

The rest of the sayings must be of your own creation!


Title: Blog Entry #2.11 – Process Journal 2 (E)

What steps have you completed thus far?

In what ways could your work be improved?

Evaluate your classwork based on Criteria F – Attitudes in Technology (see rubrics). What score would you

give yourself? Support your score with specific examples. What can you do to improve your score? Be

specific.


Title: Blog Entry #2.10 – Target Consumers (B)

Describe each of the three consumers that your card set will target.

Format this entry as follows:

Target Consumer #1 is...(In this paragraph, describe in detail who exactly your first greeting is

intended for.).

Target Consumer #2 is...

Target Consumer #3 is...


Completed

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Design Sketches (B)

For each consumer (see Blog Entry #2.10), complete two sketches for each holiday card (six total).

Each sketch must indicate the images, colors, and exact text to be used.

Sketch sheets will be distributed in class and are also available for print on the class blog.

Due Date: Classwork, Week 3

Production

Use Adobe Illustrator to create each of the card designs (six total).

Template available on the class blog.

Save all work to your thumbdrive or to your work folder (Public>Technology Work>Class>Your Name)

Due Date: Classwork, Week 3 and 4


What has been completed so far for your greeting cards?

What work still needs to be completed to finish all of your greeting cards?


Evaluate your classwork based on Criteria F – Attitudes in Technology (see rubrics). What score would

you give yourself? Support your score with specific examples. What can you do to improve your score? Be

specific.


Title: Blog Entry #2.12 – Progress (D)

Post images of each greeting card that you have worked on in class this week.

See Adding an Illustrator File to Your Blog (pg 13) for more instructions.


Title: Blog Entry #2.14 – Progress (D)

Post images of each greeting card that you have worked on in class this week.



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What has been completed so far for your greeting cards?

What work still needs to be completed to finish all of your greeting cards?


Evaluate your classwork based on Criteria F – Attitudes in Technology (see rubrics). What score would you

give yourself? Support your score with specific examples. What can you do to improve your score? Be

specific.


Title: Blog Entry #2.16 – Greeting Card 1 (B,D)

Post an image of your greeting card for Consumer 1 that you believe to be the better design.

Then, complete the following about this card:

1. Describe the consumer targeted by this greeting card.

2. What elements of your card design are meant to appeal to this consumer? Explain.

3. Compare this final design with the original sketch. What changes were made and why?



Title: Blog Entry #2.17 – Greeting Card 1 Reject (B,D)

Post an image of your greeting card for Consumer 1 that you believe to be the worse of the two designs.

Then, complete the following about this card:

1. Describe the consumer targeted by this greeting card.

2. Why is this design less appealing to the consumer than the other design?

3. How could this design be improved to better appeal to this consumer?




Repeat Blog Entry #2.16 for Consumer 2.





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Title: Blog Entry #2.22 – Human Ingenuity (E)

When we make things, we have a specific purpose or goal in mind. But, often times other individuals may

react to our product in a very different and negative way. Take another look at your completed greeting

cards. Who might be offended seeing one of your cards on display at the store? Why would they be

offended by your card?


Completed

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Adding an Illustrator File to Your Blog Follow the directions below to save your work from Illustrator in an acceptable format for your

blog.

1. Make sure the file is already saved regularly (as an Adobe Illustrator file .ai)

2. With the project already open in Adobe Illustrator, select File > Export… Type a file name with the word BLOG added. Make sure Save as Type is set to JPEG before clicking Save. (Pay attention to where you are saving the file!)

3. Proceed to www.blogger.com, sign in, and a posting as usual. When adding the image, be sure to select the JPEG file (not the AI file!).

Starting Your Greeting Card Follow these basic instructions for each of your greeting cards!

1. Log on to http://tmatech.blogspot.com/ 2. Look for the entry “Greeting Card Template” and follow the directions to SAVE a template

for your greeting card. When asked for a filename use the following convention: YourLastName HolidayName Number (for example: Wang Christmas 1) Make sure you know where you are saving!

3. Click on the Start menu>All Programs>Adobe Illustrator. Once Adobe Illustrator is running, open the file you saved from step 2.

4. Open Swatch Library (see directions).

Open Swatch Library (Illustrator)

1. Click on Windows>Swatch Libraries>Default Swatches>Basic RGB

Changing the Background Color (Illustrator)

1. Select the Rectangle tool from the tool bar along the left.

2. Drag out a box exactly the same size as the entire poster.

3. Choose the color for the background from the swatches on the right.

4. Choose Object > Lock > Selection.

http://www.blogger.com/

http://tmatech.blogspot.com/


Adding Text (Illustrator)

1. Start up Adobe Illustrator CS2. Open your cereal box front from last week.

2. Select the Text Tool and drag out a box where the text will be located.

3. Click inside the text box and type your text. Highlight the text. Change the Font Size.

4. To change the font, highlight the text and then right-click. Select font and choose your font.


The IB Learner Profile The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their

common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful

world.

IB learners strive to be:

Inquirers They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to

conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They

actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained

throughout their lives.

Knowledgeable They explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global

significance. In so doing, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop

understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines.

Thinkers They exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to

recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical

decisions.

Communicators They understand and express ideas and information confidently and

creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of

communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with

others.

Principled They act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice

and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They

take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that

accompany them.

Open-minded They understand and appreciate their own cultures and personal histories,

and are open to the perspectives, values and traditions of other individuals

and communities. They are accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of

point of view, and are willing to grow from the experience.

Caring They show empathy, compassion and respect towards the needs and

feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to

make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

Risk-takers They approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and

forethought, and have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas

and strategies. They are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs.

Balanced They understand the importance of intellectual, physical and emotional

balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others.

Reflective They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience.

They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in

order to support their learning and personal development.


Rubrics

Greeting Card Design Folio 2010

Documents

Transcript of Greeting Card Design Folio 2010