CSS and CARP Design

CSS and CARP Project

For our final project in graphic design we created a website to demonstrate our knowledge with HTML files and CARP design. In the project we learned how to manipulate CSS and HTML files to create a website with a better design to it. Last time we created a website it was the bare minimum of what we could do with a website but with the CSS files there is a lot more you can do.

With CSS                                                          Without CSS

C

C in CARP stands for Contrast. Contrast in a work is the difference between 2 or more things in the piece. An Example of this is the dog compared to the text in the CSS. Your eye is immediately drawn towards the dog in the picture. However in the HTML without the CSS has the dog in an odd place and just looks out of place.

A

A in CARP stands for Alignment. In most works Alignment is used to make the piece look neat and organized. This can be shown in the CSS file where all of the text looks in place and organized compared to the one without the CSS file. 

R

R means Repetition in CARP. Repetition is mostly used to have a modern more futuristic design but can be used in other ways as well. In the CSS piece its repetitious in the test format. The stanzas have a distinct way that they are formed compared to the one that lacks the CSS file.

P

Last but certainly not least comes Proximity. Proximity is a weird one. It can make a work dynamic or interesting but if used in correctly it can just make it confusing. In this project the form of proximity wasn't so obvious. The grouping of the stanzas could be considered proximity because of how close they are to each other.

What did I Learn about CSS?

When creating this project I actually wanted to stay away from the videos while creating the website. Being able to learn through discovery rather then a guide is better in my opinion. It allowed me to learn a lot more then I would if I had stuck to the videos. For example by my logic I thought of the HTML file as the frame work of the website. It maybe boring and bland but its absolutely essential in the creation of the website. Then the CSS files is what all you can do with the website. It makes the website have a lot more personality. Overall this project was a good learning oppurtunity and gave me insight as to what web design is going to be like. 

Color Theory

What Is Color Theory? (Without The U in Color)

Color theory is a very interesting topic to me. I find it interesting that certain people will react to certain colors differently for different reasons. The basis of color theory is centered around this very idea and can be a game changer when it comes to both graphic design and logo design. An example of color theory being put into practice would be the "Red Bull" Logo. The "Red Bull" logo is possibly one of the best examples to explain color theory. You will notice that in the "Red Bull" logo there are only 2 colors, red and dark yellow. This is because the logo designers wanted the logo to be in your face and feel alive while also keeping a simplistic design.

My Favorite Color

A creators personal preference can impact a design immensely making it there own piece of work and making it appeal to a certain group. The most noticeable is the color choice in a work. In most works of a personal piece the artist will add in a bit of there favorite color to everything. In my example my favorite color is white (Yes it is a color, and yes I know it's a stupid favorite color). The reason I like white so much is because it reminds me of playing in the snow with my brother and its also just relaxing to look at. So my pieces of work will have a lot of white added in and make the design more relaxing to look at.

My Least Favorite Color

I hate dark green. I hate it so much. In my opinion the most ugly color is a dark green. It is unpleasant to look at and just looks nasty. It also makes me remember when I was a little kid I was very prone to get sick so that makes my perspective on the color change drastically. This, obviously, will lead me to stay away from using the color in anything I create because of my natural bias towards it.

So Why do Colors Matter in Graphic design?

Colors convey a message. They tell the consumer what the product is and what target audience it will be aimed at. Going back to the "Red Bull" example, the logo is supposed to be in your face and exciting. This of course will make it relate to sports, parties, competition, anything intense essentially.  The reason color combinations matter so much is because it can make you uncomfortable while looking at it. Everyone knows that green and yellow rarely match right? Well the same could be said for green and red, or yellow and violet. This is because of the color wheel that describes all of the related colors and how to use them.  Notice how orange and red are close to each other, thats why the "Red Bull" Logo is so interesting. It includes all of the aspects of color theory into its design.   

20 Birds and Illustrator recreation

Creating my 20 Bird Sketch

So for this project we had to create 20 variations of either a bird, house, or flower. I, of course, chose the bird for my project. Most people might think that creating 20 completely different birds would be easy but to that I say NO! NO IT ISN'T! I found this part of the project to be extremely challenging for a lot of reasons. You can see that I have variations of realistic birds like my wood pecker and parrot and I have cartoony fun birds like my bald eagle and "Robin Hoot". This was challenging for me because of how many things we had to do. The first 10 are pretty easy but then you realize that "Crap, I need ten more! what am I gonna do!" so you start to lean more towards realistic birds and start to replicate that. It was a lot of fun, however, being able to challenge myself with something new.

Illustrator Recreation

In illustrator we had to recreate one of the sketches we created so I went with my wood pecker. I don't think it was my best sketch on the page (Either the parrot or the bald eagle is my favorite) but I chose it because I thought it would be a good challenge to test my knowledge of illustrator. It went as I wanted seeing as a learned some very neat tricks within illustrator such as the ability to bring a part of the image forward in front of another one and just over all tricks with the pencil tool to help me out. The wood pecker was a challenge at times, however, with multiple things on the bird having to be pixel perfect. It was a overall good learning experience for me and I really do think I benefitted from it.

Final Product

The piece of work came out great in my opinion with only a couple bad spots on it. It has good pencil and border management and its very clean. If I were to change one thing about my work it would most likely be the tail section at the bottom. It's pretty sloppy and doesn't fit with the rest of the piece. I would give it a 7/10 but I don't think the work is whats important in this lesson. I feel as if the work was a medium for me to learn rather then to test my skill. If I were to completely redo the entire illustrator image it would look much better then it is right now. This is because for one I would be able to look at the flaws of my piece but most importantly I would have the set of skills I gained when doing the project. Its not really about how good it looks right now in my opinion, its about what you learn is what is important right now.