[benjaminmorgan]

Okay. I have 5 designs for a prom ticket for my school that I have to create. The theme is Listen to your heart. Please let me know what you think, which one is best, and what i can do to improve. Thanks. Pic is below.

[Andrea]

I like the second one --- BUT what is that gray thing? It looks like an ant or a tick --- and I'm pretty sure that's not what it is (I hope)

[LSW]

LOL - SPAM!!!!!!!

I like the last one best, also likely to look the best printed.

Are Graduating? Maybe with the weight of school off your back your avatar will not look to squashed.

[benjaminmorgan]

@Andrea What grey thing??

@LSW, I used to like the last one a lot but everyone says it would be better for a graduation not a prom dance.

[Andrea]

LSW, on 28 March 2012 - 06:48 PM, said:

Are Graduating? Maybe with the weight of school off your back your avatar will not look to squashed.

benjaminmorgan, on 28 March 2012 - 07:05 PM, said:

@Andrea What grey thing??

That gray thing to the left of the heart - something roundish with pinchers.

[benjaminmorgan]

Oh i think it is a disco ball in back then not sure what the thing in front of it is. it was done with brushes.

[grabenair]

I like the 3rd one. I would make the name of your school a little more on the white side for partly color blind people like my wife. She says she can not see it very good. The gray thing on the left looks like a spider without legs to me. I am afraid of spiders and it made me squell like a little girl.

[benjaminmorgan]

I whitened the text on the third one.

[LSW]

So that is 2, 3 & 5... Anyone want to raise us 1 & 4 and make this thread totally useless to Mr. Morgan? Ok, not totally, the whitening of the school name was a good tip, but with us all choosing different ones he is back where he started.


OK, funny aside, that is why I like the 5th one, it looks official, professional. The others just look more like "some kid" did it with Paintshop Pro. The last looks like one created by "a talented kid" with his sites on professional web design or graphic art.

I am not a big Prom fan, I have never seen what the big deal is or why it is so important or memorable. So maybe I do not see what makes the other designs more fitting, why the colors etc. So I like a simple design like 5, something people may actually want to keep.

So if we take it down further, my second choice would actually be No. 1, it is vibrant and ...ugh ...Happy? Partyish?

Third choice would be No. 3, but without the raised look of the listen to your heart part.

Reasoning:

• Drab and Greyish, it goes from a dark blue through grey to a yellow/Green.
• This grey affect, effects everything else, making it look kinda fuzzy, like a grey film over it. Not really inviting.
• Print - Will a student at home or the school print these on paper or a professional printer on card stock? Printing and web design are two different environments. What looks good on a monitor is not guaranteed on paper. It may bring out the grey more and the paper and print quality can make those glow affects look like crap, same for the raised text. Low quality paper and basic home print quality ink may cause it to bleed more that a hazy design like this will accept. Pre-print to test it or talk to the Printer first.

Hence 5 & 1 would do the best in print I think. You can improve the others I think by:

• Make the "Grey" more a color and extend the yellow up more and the blue down more.
• Drop the grey glow on the hearts, highlight them with white or a real light yellow to make them look rounded, like the hears in the first card. Cut down on the school name glow to sharpen the letters up for print. At least as much as the Date, maybe more as the text is smaller.
• Give the date an actual color so it stands out.
• In the end, separate the background from the content. The background can stay if you like, maybe even fade it a bit. While the hearts and text are clearer and sharper separating them from the background, so they say "Here we are, be there!"

Then I could really get behind them. You just have to remember this is for Print and not web design, different rules apply. Print needs less fade and more sharp clean colors. You also cannot use RBG as it has more shades than ink can give you. Use the C,M,Y,K settings in Photoshop or whatever you use. Those are the colors Ink can offer you.




Cheers

[grabenair]

The whitened text looks great, go smaller on the glow maybe. I would do everything LSW said for #3. I would get rid of the glow altogether in the text listen to your heart. I would get rid of all the gray stuff in the background, especially the spider without legs. Also center the date between the hearts after you do what LSW said to do with it. But the final decision is yours. Also i agree with LSW the last one does look more professional.

Now that we have you totally confused good luck.

[LSW]

I hadn't even keyed on the off center date, it would probably look better centered as well. Good Catch.

(It could also be one of the Microscopic bed bug things)

Benjamin, how much of this is your design? If you do not know what the tick is actually supposed to be... how much of the design can you even change?

[grabenair]

Oh ya forgot my wife's exact words on my spider thing when I showed it to her and asked what she thought it was are "that's a tick it's *&^%$# nasty". I think I would get rid of that if it was me.

[Andrea]

LSW, on 29 March 2012 - 11:23 AM, said:

(It could also be one of the Microscopic bed bug things)

.... If you do not know what the tick is actually supposed to be...

grabenair, on 29 March 2012 - 11:20 AM, said:

...I would get rid of all the gray stuff in the background, especially the spider without legs....

I'm just glad I'm not the only one seeing insects

[linton]

I like number one because it looks very cheerful and colorful but then it seems like it is out of the race.

This post has been edited by linton: 29 March 2012 - 01:31 PM

[LSW]

You changed your avatar... now I feel bad, it was just joking.

[benjaminmorgan]

Okay, it was actually a disco ball with something in front of it. It was done with brushes but it was done on the background layer. It has a white glow around heart. I centered the date as well. It is hard to make the hearts round since it is just a gradient heart. I saved the heart as a png because i kept using it.



I need a good looking background color/colors. Any ideas? I am supposed to use deep blue, sky blue, and silver. However if a color combo looks good i will use it!

This post has been edited by benjaminmorgan: 29 March 2012 - 06:26 PM

[benjaminmorgan]

This is what you think is an insect .

[benjaminmorgan]

Here is new image without the insect / box.



What do you think?
It will be printed on cardstock if i win.

This post has been edited by benjaminmorgan: 29 March 2012 - 08:17 PM

[Andrea]

benjaminmorgan, on 29 March 2012 - 07:26 PM, said:

This is what you think is an insect .

Yes, that's it - it does look like a bug when it's smaller. Enlarged, I can kind of see what some of the stuff is, but I'm still not getting the point - good you got rid of all the clutter.

To the new card - I think there still needs to be some balance between the disco ball, star, and the 2 hearts.

[benjaminmorgan]

What do you mean? I need something to cover up the box because the star and box was painted in the background with brushes. I cannot remove it. I covered it up with disco ball instead. How do i add balance?

[Andrea]

I meant it's unbalanced because the disco ball (much better than a tick) and its heart cover about half the space, then there's on off-centered empty space, and then the other heart and its star. I was thinking you could just move the ball and stars around a bit, but if they are part of the background, then I guess you can't. Are you stuck using this or can you just start over? It's just a blue-gray-green gradient background with a bevel edge - shouldn't be hard to reproduce.

[LSW]

Unless the printer - if there is one - has a silver ink, you can only use grey and grey is notoriously hard to use as it effects the surroundings in the minds eye, making them appear drabber.

Quote

GREY.
Positive: Psychological neutrality.
Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy.

Pure grey is the only colour that has no direct psychological properties. It is, however, quite suppressive. A virtual absence of colour is depressing and when the world turns grey we are instinctively conditioned to draw in and prepare for hibernation. Unless the precise tone is right, grey has a dampening effect on other colours used with it. Heavy use of grey usually indicates a lack of confidence and fear of exposure.
- Color-Effects.co.uk: Psychological Properties Of Colours

Quote

Grey. Grey is neutral, calm, quiet, and lacks energy. According to color psychology grey can also be boring, conservative and draining to the physical body.
- Feng-Shui-and-Beyond.com: Quick Guide to Color Psychology and
the Meaning Of Colors

Here is a short explanation of Three Color CMY printing and Four Color CMYK printing. I cannot stress enough how important it is to switch your color scheme before you do any further development.

Now I knew there is a difference, but I was thinking CMYK had fewer colors and not more.

Quote

As noted above, there is a difference between the RGB and CMY(K) color model. This is also the reason why you can't produce a photo in RGB mode and expect it to look the same on printed paper. The RGB color model is limited to fewer colors then the CMY(K) color model which means that color shifting can and most likely will occur while going between the two models (i.e. from the screen to the printer). - InkGuides.com: CMY Color Model

From my point of view (Minor mental disabilities) I really think you need more contrast, especially for print. The date darker, the school whiter & the Hearts redder.

Balance would be better, but the only way I could see is to add a larger star to the right under the heart. It would be nicer balanced but not mandatory, it can work without it.

[Let your eyes go unfocused and it can still look like a bug... holding a box. The masks add to it looking like eyes. ]

[grabenair]

If you can not remove it start with a transparent background and just copy the layers over that you want.

I think it is looking good accept the disco ball is over powering. Maybe fade it a little.

Are you using photoshop?

[benjaminmorgan]

Yes, i am using photoshop.

[benjaminmorgan]

I recreated the background. It has school colors. Blue to silver to gold. I am thinking about putting the stars in the background any maybe something else. Any suggestions? I turned in the last one in the list but teacher said it would be better for graduation.

This post has been edited by benjaminmorgan: 30 March 2012 - 04:14 PM

[Andrea]

Maybe play around a bit with rotating the hearts and maybe some line breaks in the 'Listen to your heart!" line and using it to fill the space between the hearts a bit more.

[grabenair]

I like what you did getting rid of the background stuff. Do what Andrea said braking the text into two lines and moving the hearts about 10px more or so from the edge. Try rotating the hearts at about a 45 deg or so and I think you have it.

This post has been edited by grabenair: 30 March 2012 - 04:51 PM

[LSW]

I think the gold should be a littlke stronger, more apparent.

[benjaminmorgan]

Okay, Is this what you meant?

to

[benjaminmorgan]

Also, what should i add to the backgorund? Any good brushes or anything that you know of or should i leave it plain?