my business skills are pretty good, and i'm getting better with paint and vinyl . what i i really need to improve on are my design skills.
i'm going to try and post one work-in-progress each week. please feel free to comment on these as you would if i were a apprentice working in your shop.
this one: sandwich board for local Indian restaruant. they requested red/white/blue color scheme.
[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: ScooterX ]
Posted by AZBrad (Member # 1351) on :
I would try to make the name and Indian restaurant bigger. Maybe move the top red portion down more. And tighten it up a bit. Try making the top blue as well as the bottom. Possibly one less font. just a thought.
Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
Hi Scooter,
I'm not sure what I see is exactly what you've posted as there may be color perception differences between our monitors. But what I see is a red which I think is too light. Maybe use something like a cardinal red to provide a little more contrast with thick 'n thin letters of name.
You see how well the white letters stand out from the blue panel. There's more contrasting value there. I think a darker red will balance better on the white background & command more attention.
Did that make any sense? Hope that helps. (I'd add smiley circles but I don't know how)
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
Go advice from both - the name of the restaurant should be bigger and the word BUFFET should be smaller.
I'd also go with a darker red.
I'd strive for more balance - maybe some kind of border to tie it all together.
Posted by AZBrad (Member # 1351) on :
Great point! On the color
Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :
I dunno Skooter, it looks pretty good to me.
I might play around with the casual type face a bit - this seems just a tad too casual for the formal tone of the name and dome graphic. But not bad. And the layout is fine. Good white space, pretty dang good overall. (Is the bottom of the white panel really way down there?)
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
Top part with "Taj" theme is really good. How about the rest like this. My customers like the price bigger. Posted by ScooterX (Member # 2023) on :
wow - i was expecting so many responses on a Friday night. don't you people have lives? wait a minute... don't I have a life? nope.
thanks for the comments. i'll toy around with switching the red/blue fields.
the red and blue are really the "default" colors on the machine. i didn't bother matching the colors to the vinyl i'm going to use. (but i WILL do that in the future, since the issue came up).
yes, there is that much white space at the bottom. that's a personal preference -- i don't like sandwich boards where the bottom copy is at people's feet. it gets dirty, kicked, peed on by dogs, and blocked by blowing trash.
also, the board is cut out 4" on the bottom for "feet" (but i didn't show it).
Posted by Dave Hodge (Member # 1415) on :
I go along with Dave. I think the top part with the taj shape is brilliant, it has just the right Indian feel to it. I think you could look around for a font with more of an Indian feel for 'Buffet'. Maybe De Vinne Ornament, or Formal Script if you wanted more casual. ( Not all caps for the script of course ). If I knew how to I'd post a picture, perhaps you could E-mail me an Idiots guide to putting pictures on the bulletin board Scooter.
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Scooter
I like Daves set up on your layout but the one word that bothers me the most is "Buffet"
This font really doesn't work for me.. it jumps back and forth (left to right) I am not sure what typeface I use there with this design.
Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :
I too like the general layout and the top part, but would change both fonts on the words lunch and buffet. The feeling of the top doesn't carry on to the bottom due to the total difference in typestyles. Maybe another serif type font like tiffany heavy or something like that. And I agree with David, make the price bigger and use a heavier font there also. Looks good though. Just a little tweaking here and there.
Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
Scooter David Wright did a nice erendition of your layout ...the most important thing he did (in my opinion) was to repeat colors...it's really amazing how much repeating colors can do for a layout.
Ther is really nothing wrong with the layout you had it was deffintely clean formally well balanced straight to the point. I'd like to disagree about making the name of the restaurant being larger...it is afterall a "walk up" you should already know where you are..therefore I think the most important copy is what is offered.
Anyway there are as many opinions as there are people on this board...just wanted tyou to know you did a nice job!
Posted by Suelynn Sedor (Member # 442) on :
Scooter,
Just wanted to let you know that I think this is an excellent idea. You won't be the only one learning from your weekly posts! I'm always looking for ways to improve my design skills as well.
Thanks for starting this.
Sue
Posted by ScooterX (Member # 2023) on :
thank you all for your time, feedback, ideas and participation. i hope this encourages others to show and share work in the development phase. (after all, we can't all be magazine quality sign makers).
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Scooter by your words! (after all, we can't all be magazine quality sign makers).
Yes we can as we all get 15 minutes of fame.! Very Good Starter Topic.
