New Project: Create a Package Design and 3D Mockup

Hello Students,
Your new assignment is to create an original package design that can be printed and assembled into a 3 dimensional mockup.

Examples of printed and assembled 3D package design "mockups"

Package Design Process:

• Search for template designs for packages, find one you like or make an original design. Try a google search for "package template(s)". Here is a link I found. Consider using a design that is available in Adobe Dimensions to make your final step easier.
• If you need to, you can outline or trace your template in Illustrator... note the tabs for gluing/taping together and the folding pattern. You may not need this step if making a 3D object with Dimension.
• Come up with a product idea and create a package design, front, back, sides, top and bottom
• Include product name, information, ingredients, bar code, etc... 
• Take time to create interesting designs or illustrations, use your color theory, typography and design skills in all aspects of the package.
• All artwork must be original, no tracing or processing of photographs unless you took the original photo yourself. Tracing other artworks is not allowed, all art, imagery and designs must be original (as possible, yes I know the old "nothing original can be made, it's all been done" argument... I reject that thinking and substitute my own).
• Your project will be graded on originality and complexity of your package design as well as meeting design standards for emphasis, contrast, alignment, clarity, communication.

Assignment Specs:

• Package design must be complete with all required information, nutritional information, weight in ounces, warning labels, recycling labels, etc. Look to real world examples to see what your design should include.
• Your design must apply and consider use of the principles and elements of design
• Your design must have appropriate typography that is clear, legible and communicates effectively.
• Your design must use well thought out color palettes for optimum visibility and contrast
• To present your finished design you will post the flat artwork and a photo or 3D render of your finished assembled package design to your blog.

Problem Based Challenge:

Your client needs a 3D image of your package design, you can create a high quality photograph, or you can delve into the new tool in Adobe's CC package, Dimension.

Challenge: Use Adobe Dimension to create a 3D mockup of your product design that would be appropriate for use in an advertisement, catalog or website.

Watch: Adobe Dimension Tutorial

Watch: 3D Product Visualization with Adobe Dimension

Practice and experiment with the software until you can use it to create a visualization of your original package design.

Resources for inspiration:
Link: 50 Creative Packaging Design Tips

Link: Packaging of the World

Link: Cool Hunter -  Power of the Package Design

Bonus Links:
Vecteezy Free Package Templates in AI Format
Online label generator for nutritional facts, barcodes and QR codes

Simple cereal box package template

Completed cereal package design

Student Examples:

Instead of a physical model, more dynamic mockups can be created with Adobe Dimensions... such as this work sample from Finley Pederson (2020)

Have fun!

 - Mr.W

How to Write a Good GREAT Letter of Introduction

Hello Students,

Your next assignment is to create a "Letter of Introduction" that describes you! Your special traits, qualities, hobbies, and personal, educational and career goals. List your top 5 skills and abilities. It should consist of at least one page. Make sure to use correct spelling and grammar.

Goal: Write a letter of introduction for your portfolio that meets the following standards, relevant information and criteria listed below. Share your draft with your instructor, incorporate any feedback and add the edited final draft to your portfolio.

Letter of Introduction Assignment:

• This is an introduction letter, about you, written to people that may be viewing your portfolio.
• Should be about 1 page long.
• Letter should be free of typo's, spelling and grammar errors.
• Follow the examples in the Portfolio Handbook and include the information listed below...

You letter should include:

• Who you are
• Where you are currently attending school
• What courses you are currently enrolled in aside from standard courses (such as this ROP class your in right now)
• Your top 5 work related skills
• Special acknowledgments from employers/instructors
• Future education plans
• Hobbies or other activities you enjoy
• Discuss what is contained in your portfolio
• Discuss the type of work/projects/activities you enjoy the most in school

Sample Introduction Letter: Mimic the content and structure but use your own information

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Capitola

242 Fake St.

Capitola, CA 95010

(831) 444-1111

fakemail@yahoo.com

Date

To Whom It May Concern:

 (Paragraph 1: Who you are, what you are good at, what are your top five work skills?)

I am currently attending Santa Cruz High School where I will be graduating this year in June. I have enrolled in ROP classes, which are business-oriented. ROP classes have given me a closer look at the business world and I have learned excellent work skills. 

My top five work skills are:

• Excellent communication skills with strong listening skills
• Responsible and reliable with attention to detail
• Strong team player who thrives in teamwork situations
• Good computer skills
• Excellent time management skills

(Paragraph 2: Long and short term goals and hobbies)

I have received special acknowledgement from my employers for strong skills and work ethics.

I recently was accepted to CalPoly and plan to go there in the Fall and pursue a degree in Agribusiness. After receiving my degree, I plan to work in my family’s strawberry farming business. Eventually, I hope to be the president of the business. I have many hobbies including surfing, skiing and playing baseball but most of all, I enjoy riding my horse up in the hills. It gives me a sense of freedom and independence.

(Paragraph 3: Work experience, technical skills, awards and honors)

My portfolio shows some of the skills and abilities I have acquired in while attending Soquel High School and throughout my work experience. I have always enjoyed landscaping and have enrolled in the Horticulture class for my last semester of high school. From my past experience you will notice that I enjoy working especially when I leave the job better than it was when I first got there. I have been doing tree work for three years and have worked for commercial and residential customers. Thoroughness and safety are some of my favorite qualities.

(Paragraph 4: Refer to what is included in your Career Portfolio)

Included in this portfolio, is my resume summarizing my schooling, work experience, and skills. In addition I have a list of references, letters of recommendation, and samples of my work. I hope you enjoy reviewing my portfolio.

Sincerely,

Joe Capitola

 - When your letter is complete, get some feedback, edit a 2nd draft, then add to your portfolio...

 - Mr.W

Design for Manufacturing: Vinyl Sticker Design

Vinyl Sticker Design Project:

Design a Vinyl Cut sticker to promote school spirit at SCHS:

1. Design an illustration, team logo, promote a subject, class or teacher or even a logo for your club. Your design should be a positive reflection of SCHS but have style and content to reflect the ideals of our school. 
2. All artwork must be created as vector, with out micro details.... it must also work in one color. 
3. Work with our lab assistant to get your artwork added to a master print sheet for production. You may take one sticker home for your portfolio as a work sample upon completion.

Sticker Design Process:

1. Sketch or create your design in vector artwork.
2. Artwork should work in 1 color with bold artwork, avoid thin lines and small details.
3. Group and merge your artwork with the Pathfinder palette.
4. Export an SVG file and AI file for use in the printing process.
5. Post your Artwork to your blog in 1 color, take a photo of your printed sticker when complete.

Finley Pederson's 2020 SC Birb Sticker Design

Design an Original Album Cover

Hello Students,

Your new assignment is to create an original album cover design. All artwork, photography and illustration used in your cover design must be 100% original. Use all of your skills you have learned this semester, you must demonstrate your competence in using design and software skills.

Introducing: Fou Ts'ong, Piano, Mozart Piano Cocerti , K503 & K595,  Westminster , Rudolph de Harak

Assignment Paramaters:

You will be creating a CD album artwork. Start by listening to an album you would like to create a design for. Think about how you can visualize the physical and emotional response the music creates inside of you... how can you put those influences into a visual representation? When listening to the music it can help to create a list of words that come to mind... think of it as creating your own inspirational word cloud.. this can help influence your visual design and give it focus. They key to this assignment is to make sure the artwork on the album cover is representational of the music it is showcasing.

Assignment Specifications:

Utilize all of the skills you have learned this semester. This project should be a shining example of your graphic design skills for your portfolio. This project will be graded against the class rubric, see the link above and read before proceeding:

• Find a template for a CD jewel case insert for the dimensions and layout. You will need to design the cover and spine to fit in a jewel case, front and back.
• All artwork, illustration and photography used must be 100% original
• Make sure the design shows unity with the music it is showcasing, it should show creativity, be appropriate for the audience and demonstrate an understanding of design
• Typography must display the album title and name of band
• Use all design principals that can be applied, alignment, typography, contrast etc. Focus on typography and composition for a professional looking result
• Use Photoshop or Illustrator or both, your choice. Utilize any and all artistic creation processes to create your design, including illustration, photography, painting, collage, sculpture, etc...

Links for Inspiration:

35 Beautiful Music Album Covers

50 Amazing Album Cover Art Examples

Designs are due on Wednesday the 12th, have fun!

- Mr.W

Previous Student Work Examples:

Magazine Design Project

Hello Students,

Your new assignment is a combination of using Digital Photography and 3 programs to create one product, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign. Find a high resolution image and process the photo with filters if you wish in photoshop and use it to design an original magazine cover with Adobe Indesign. You will create additional artistic elements with Illustrator as well. This project is a good lesson in utilizing multiple software tools. You need to use original photos and content!

Part 1 - Launch and Explore InDesign

• If you are confident with Indesign you can skip ahead, if you feel you need more familiarity with Indesign than read through and try out all the tools in Indesign before proceeding.
• Go to the dock and launch InDesign, or look in your Applications folder to find the app
• Go to the File Menu and create a New Document
• Go to the Window Menu and set your Workspace to Advanced
• Explore the tool bar, click on the text tool and draw a text box to create text, try the shape tools and look for the color modifiers to change colors
• Open all the palettes under the Window Menu and explore all the functions, look at the quick guides below for reference
• See if you can create text of different sizes, change the colors, modify the text kerning and tracking and draw shapes in different colors and with different borders

Hidden Tools and Shortcut Keys

Character Formatting Panel In InDesign

Paragraph Formatting Panel in InDesign

Part 2 - Magazine Cover Design Project:

• Think up a magazine topic and title for your cover design, create a simple pencil sketch of the cover including all photos, art, titles, headers, text insets Your magazine must have a title header that is created in Illustrator, a cover photo that has been post-processed in Photoshop, a photo inset, text headlines with effects created with Indesign. It should also include all details such as month, date, edition number, etc.
• When you design is ready grab a camera and shoot your cover photo, use Photoshop to post process the image for your cover. Crop, colorize, convert to black and white, use filters for an illustration look.... do something creative with your cover image
• Design your magazine title with Illustrator, spend time making the typography and any illustrative elements look perfect. Consider colors that will blend well with your cover image
• Create decorative borders or inset elements with Illustrator
• Set up your document in Indesign for standard letter size.... import all your different elements and begin arranging them on the page.... create any additional typographic elements in Indesign... use colors that are complimentary and read well.
• Add your image insets and additional details for a polished look, make it perfect!
• If you need some standards to go by or some inspiration, check out this tutorial: Magazine cover design tutorial with Indesign

Here is the progression of my magazine cover design. I took the photo, processed it with Photoshop, added colorful borders in Illustrator and brought it into Indesign to create my magazine cover design.

Designs are due Friday, this should be another great design piece for your portfolio!

 - Mr.W


Student Examples:

Logo Design Capstone Project: Creating an Identity Kit

Hello Students,

An identity package is a corporate communication standard. It helps a company or organization present a uniform appearance to the world in its correspondence and communication. Being able to design a logo and then enhance it for an ID package is a strong design skill and one that is readily marketable to your potential clients. This assignment is due Friday.

Identity Kit Assignment Details:

• When you have consulted with your instructor and your final logo design is complete, create an identity package that expands on your logo design style and color usage. Look for elements you can play with such as color, shapes, graphic elements, typography use them in the design of your identity package assets. Above all make the kit have consistency and adhere to the graphic "DNA" in your logo design.
• Create a business card, letterhead, envelope design and a Shirt design + 2 promotional items of your choice (cd/dvd label, usb drive, pen, pencil, notepad, keychain etc).
• Use the tutorial if you wish as a guide to creating your Business card, letterhead and envelope elements. You will have to do some research and use your imagination to complete the other assets in your ID kit. Look up the sizing and specifications of each asset before creating them, for instance the CD label, you can find a template to use through a quick google image search.

Link: How to create an identity package

Identity Kit Assignment Deliverables:

• Your final logo applied to and expanded upon in the creation of a cohesive identity kit
• A mockup of all designs applied to:
• Business card (front and back)
• Letterhead
• Envelope
• T-Shirt
• 2 Promotional items of your choice that are brand appropriate (DVDs, CDs, pens, pencils, usb-drives, water bottles, etc.)
• Design mockups assembled and presented in an appealing visual manner in 1 final image
• Designs and final work are expected to show quality and craftsmanship and to utilize the principles and elements of design in deliberate ways to produce compelling and effective work. Please read the class rubric for grading expectations.

Resources:

• Link: ID Package design samples

Examples of student work: High Performing
These designs all show quality logo design and good application to promotional and print elements. A quality mockup can sell the idea to your client so our expectations are high.

Examples of student work: Medium Performing

Missing promotional items. Logo design was copied from prior works.

Examples of student work: Low Performing

The final logo design in this assignment was not reviewed with the instructor. The  application lacks detail and does not adhere to design principles and elements or the class rubric. Missing additional promotional items.

Have fun!

- Mr.W

Logo Development Project Phase 2: Final Design and Production Art

Hello Students,
For this project you will review the 15 examples you created in the prior project. Identify the strongest example(s) and further develop them, resulting in a single logo rendered as final production art. This assignment has multiple deliverables, so focus on reading and understanding the expectations laid out below before beginning.

Final Logo Development Project:

• Take the strongest example of your previous project and develop it further, explore it's design, create 3 strong variations of your final design, explore layout and graphic options, choose the best version and render it as final production art meeting the deliverables below.
• To evaluate your best designs, email the finished results of your previous project and or the current state of your designs to me as JPG's and I will email feedback and offer suggestions on how to progress and refine your design.
• For final production art you will create and post a version in black and white and one in color, you will also post your 3 pencil sketches alongside your final vector artwork. Presentation and quality counts. Show the versatility of your logo design with different sizes, colors and how it might be used against different backgrounds, white on black, black on white etc.

Deliverables:

• 3 Logo design variations based on strongest design(s) from previous project. Email these to me for feedback before proceeding.
• When given feedback, render your 1 final logo rendered vector art, in both color and black and white/white on black and in 3 sizes from large to small (64X64 pixels or 1"X1"). Alter or edit smallest version if needed for clarity
• To clarify: Final Logo is posted as...
• Full Color
• Black on white background
• White on black background
• 3 sizes from Full size, to small (think business card size) to Icon size (64X64 Pixels, unique pixel art modifications may be needed)

Grading:

Refer to the grading rubric for the expectations and methods I will use to evaluate your work.

3 Logo Variations are due by Tuesday, Final Logo artwork is due Wednesday

 - Mr.W

Previous Student Examples: Low Performing:

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This design shows poor execution and failed to meet assignment deliverables. There is no attention paid to the quality of the line work. The logo is not describable. The logo is not expressive of it's organizations purpose.

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Medium Performing:

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This logo shows good craftsmanship but received a poor rating as it was appropriated from a pre-existing design

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High Performing:

These examples showed strong design skills, good craftsmanship and students met required deliverables for the assignment. Strong original designs can be a shining example in a young designers portfolio.

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