Ashley Persie
Introduction
The project I have chosen for my Capstone Design Project is to create all necessary designs for the new business Seasons. I have constructed the menu, designed the graphics to appear as the background as the menu and have created a wordmark with corresponding symbols to be used on the menu, business card, and flyer. Math, science, and technology are all vital concepts that need to be looked at with the creation of this project.
The Wordmark
The wordmark (figure 1.1) spells out Seasons. The larger ‘S’ is 612 pixels tall, and the ‘easons’ is 221 pixels high resulting in an approximately 3 to 1 ratio of letter size. This ratio allows the first ‘S’ to stand out without hindering the presence of the rest of the word so that the whole word is represented with an emphasis on the first S. The average letter width of the ‘easons’ is 168.8. The wordmark has a 23 to 12 pixel ratio. The wordmark can be made any size and as long as it is kept to the same proportions it will look exactly the same.
The appearance of the wordmark on the menu will be black. The science behind this is that, since black is the absence of all color, it will stand out in front of any light colored background. Since the menu covers are different shades of light blue, the boldness of the black will allow the wordmark to catch the viewer’s attention. Another reason for the wordmark being black is that is it were any other color, it would blend in with the rest of the color, which depending on the season the menu is depicting, can show an array of seven different colors. Figure 1.2 shows examples of how the wordmark would look as different colors on the menu and why it black is the best choice.
The technology used to create the wordmark was the software Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9. Specifically used was the pen tool which has the ability to create vector graphics. Vector graphics are images that are created using geometric principles such as lines and curves. These kind of graphics are considered best for wordmarks and logos because they don’t lose detail when resized or printed at different resolutions. Most of the letters consist of Bezier (or point-to-point) curves or are modified eclipses.
The Symbols
There are 4 symbols (figure 2.1) that go along with the wordmark to represent each season. Each are the same height of 154 pixels and vary by width from 157 pixels to 161 pixels. They are lined up and centered 20 pixels above the ‘easons’ in the wordmark and are spaced 11 pixels from end to end. Both the sun and the snowflake hold rotational symmetrical properties around the center point. The leaf is also symmetrical but against a single axis through the center of the leaf. The flower holds similar characteristics to rotational symmetry but each petal is unique in design.
The science behind the color choice of black on the menu is the same reasoning as the black used for the wordmark mentioned previously. However, since each menu emphasizes one symbol, so should the wordmark symbols. To accomplish this, I made the symbol that corresponds to the menu season black, and all of the other symbols grey (figure 2.2). In addition to being grey, the 3 symbols are also incomplete. I am able to do this because of character recognition. Character recognition is the ability of the mind to know what something is, without seeing all of it.
Color
The menu designs (figure 3.1) were also created using the Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9 software. The software, and many other computer programs for that matter, uses hexadecimal codes to determine different color values. Hexadecimal codes are composed of 6 numbers. The first two numbers represent red, the second two represent green, and the last too represent blue. These six numbers are put after a pound sign so that you end up with #RRGGBB. Each set of two characters range from the numbers 00 to 99 and the letters AA to FF, FF being the most of that particular color and 00 being the least, or none, of that color. For example, the color red in hexadecimal coding is #FF0000. The color is white if all colors are represented with ‘FF’s’ and black if all colors are represented with 00’s. Hexadecimal codes can be as complicated at #cde583. Figure 3.2 shows an example of a hexadecimal code color chart.
Commercial Printing Technology
The menu designs that were created for my project will be formatted to the constructional design that was made (figure 4.1) and then printed. Technology in printing goes back to the mid-15 century when Gutenberg patented the printing press. This was done with movable type which are letters carved out from wood, brushed with some form of an ink, and then pressed to a paper(2). Before this time, all publications were written. Since then, the printing press has advanced immensely. There are many different types of printing processes including screen printing for t-shirts and thermography for raised printing, common in stationary. Most commercial printers use a process called offset lithography. First the document is converted into plates. This is done by adjusting light exposure to the plate. When light hits the plate, chemicals react onto the plate causing the image to appear. Each primary color, black, cyan, yellow, and magenta, has its own plate. The plates are added to the printing machine. A printing machine can use either precut paper, or a large roll of continuous paper (figure 4.2). The paper is fed in between two rollers. The top roller holds the plates. This roller is dampened with water and then the ink is applied. Because ink and water do not mix, the ink transfers completely to the paper. There are usually four or five rollers, one for each of the primary colors, and a custom one if need be. To avoid smudging of the wet ink, the paper is then passed through an oven. This process goes extremely fast, approximately 50,000 impressions per an hour. The large roll of now printed paper is sent to the bindery where the paper is cut to size and put together into the final project(3).
Conclusion
The completed design of my project will have included math, science, and technology. Technology in printing and software is evident most out of the three. Science is represented through the different colors of my project as is math in sizing and spacing of each of the graphics.
Citations
1 Funky-Chickens HTML Help. 10 Jan. 2008
2 "Manuscripts, Books, and Maps: the Printing Press and a Changing World." UCSD. 10 Jan. 2008
3 Mark Mine. "How Offset Printing Works". March 02, 2001 http://computer.howstuffworks.com/offset- printing.htm (January 11, 2008)
