Don't Forget To...

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead on Sunday!

I made the above in Adobe Illustrator yesterday, mostly for my own personal amusement. Also, though, I like to re-explore my digital skills every so often so I don't end up getting rusty. It had been a while since I played with Illustrator. It was like catching up with an old friend, and getting lost in conversation. I was easily immersed in design aspects, and forgot the technical aspects as I completed them effortlessly.

I thought about the different associations people have with certain colors, and thought about how these particular choices were reflective of Easter and Spring. Other associations involved the symbolism of the circles like clock faces, and the white egg or jelly bean shaped marquis around the type. I thought about how the time change makes many people feel unsettled, and added the spirals, clock numerals and hands arranging them haphazardly. I carefully selected a typeface with a personality that was both whimsical, and had small "spiral" finials on certain characters that would reiterate the spirals in the composition. All those associations were the more emotional considerations involved in the composition to set the tone.

Of course; once all the choices are made in setting a mood for a piece, there are the more basic design considerations in regards to color, value, scale, placement, and balance and how all those things can be used for emphasis and maximum visual impact. Choices were made, and sometimes changed and sometimes discarded along the way. Below is a an earlier version, in both color and black and white. The black and white shows where I wanted to use value for emphasis on the type, and the clock components. I maintained the value choices. You can also see this earlier version has some minor color differences. Also, there were changes made because I felt the composition got too cluttered with all the orange "jelly beans"!

Even a relatively simple looking composition may have had a lot of considerations given to its design. The next time you are looking at some packaging, logos, or business signs perhaps you will look for some of the more subtle nuances in their design. You may analyze what worked and didn't work in some of the choices made. If you are an artist or designer, you may develop a more thorough understanding when analyzing your own work of how some subtle choices may improve it.

Until next time, take care...and don't forget to re-set those clocks and "spring forward"!