Metro Bus Route Map

     This pamphlet details the route of a specific bus - Line 258 according to the legend above - from Garfield Avenue at the top to Jackson street on the bottom, and back. 
   
     The map implements a graphic design depicting street, railway, and freeway layouts that can be found in other sources, such as Google Maps.  Creating this stylistic parallel allows this map to connect with its readers through familiarity of format, since it can be assumed that the average person nowadays has access to the internet and Google Maps.  This is especially true for people who want to know how to get from point A to B in the best manner possible.  These people would want a map like this, so it stands to reason that imitating a graphic style that they've likely seen before will serve the audience's needs.
   
     This pamphlet focuses on a specific area in order to chart the course of Line 258, which is highlighted in red.  Streets, cities, and districts are all lain out according to their relative distance and location from one another in order to depict the route as accurately as possible.  This minimizes potential confusion from bus-goers trying to chart their course through this map.  The two legends at the sidebar clarify specific graphics and symbols within the map, providing crucial information about the area without crowding the map itself with additional text.
   
     This pamphlet is useful for people who are specifically pursuing information on Line 258's route .  By extension, they want to use the bus itself to reach their destination.  The map, therefore, was conceived to satisfy a public demand for information that will assist their transportation needs on Line 258.  It's place, logically, lies within the buses of Line 258; this pamphlet was placed within slots inside an appropriate bus among many other copies, free for anyone to pick up.
   
     The minimal use of color is essential in minimizing potential confusion for viewers of this map.  Black lines of varying intensities and patterns signify different types of roads - be they streets, highways, or Metro rails.  The minimal use of red to signify the borders of the map, map notes, and legend are part of the crucial function of red in the map itself: the route of Line 258.  This subtle color association links red with the Metro's graphical style in this pamphlet, which immediately associate's the red trail on the map with Metro as well.  The route, being the most important part of this whole map, is visible and immediately understandable because of this.
   
     The idea here is simple: design a map that will cleanly provide information on the local area that affects the line's route in order to give bus-riders as much help as possible with determining how to use the bus.  The problem is to deliver this function in such a way that is also accessible to the public and can be mass-produced at a low cost without sacrificing essential information.
   
     There are not many flaws to be found in this pamphlets very efficient layout.  Readers are required to have literacy in these types of maps in order to understand this, otherwise they will have trouble interpreting the information.  Otherwise, a useful addition would be to place markers in the specific points in which the bus will make stops.  This is a very important detail for anyone using the bus, since they need to know the best stop to drop off of in order to get to their destination as effectively as possible.

Jab Anstoetz Magazine Advertisement Page

    

     This magazine page featuring textiles from Jab Anstoetz displays a set of various products containing a consistent color theme in order to advertise the brand and the product itself.  Its heavy furniture influence, from the curtains at the right to the pillow at the bottom and the rolls of fabric on the left, caters to customers who want new textiles and designs for their home. 
   
     The page itself specifically targeting a particular demographic that would find appeal in this primary color-heavy set, those who desire a high-class aesthetic.  However these golden yellows, deep royal blues, and rich reds carry the distinction of high-cost, regardless of their actual prices.  Therefore, any viewer who finds this ad valuable as a customer wants their home to achieve that high-class aesthetic, and this ad wants this customer to do it through the brand. 
   
     These deep colors are also eye-catching as a result of their high-contrast with one another.  Combine this with the fact that all these materials are consistent with the color scheme, it is evident that the page's construction goes beyond the products on display.  It wants to present Jab Anstoetz as a brand of high-quality textiles, and in doing so the ad indirectly advertises all of the brand's other products.
   
     This brings up the advertisement's main idea: to encourage customers, through a simple and intricately constructed display, to take interest in the brand and its products.  The design problem this entails, given the limited magazine space, was to deliver on this information as effectively as possible - without unnecessary text or images - in order to avoid the possibility of magazine readers merely skipping the page altogether.
   
     The stark contrast of colors, as mentioned before, are very noticeable, and the arrangement of the brand logo against the plain wood backdrop emphasizes it against the noise of the surrounding products.  The sheer volume of these colors may be overwhelming to some, and the viewer's subjective tastes regarding these particular textiles will ultimately decide their interest in the brand.  That said, the ad succeeds in overcoming the design problem; the color choice reflects the type of customers they wish to draw, and they allow the textiles to speak for themselves rather than augment them with descriptions or qualifying statements.  Overall, the ad is effective, though still limited in its influence over the viewer.

Digital Watch Display

    

     This case for a Timex digital watch was designed to be functional and reusable as a display featuring the watch and the brand attached to it.  Its small, hand-held size makes it practical for store shelves and at home, since it takes up little inventory space and can be kept for the owner to store the watch when not using it.  At the same time, plastic, paper, and ink are cheap materials that can be disposed of if the purchaser wishes to, unlike other brands or manufactures who may use expensive components like leather, felt, or metals.

     The kind of shopper that this display is going for wants  to be economical, since they don't want to spend too much on another watch brand made with more costly materials.  This kind of audience wants to make the most of their purchase, in that they'd buy into the case's design and reuse it for storage of their watch in the future.

     The packaging is crude in its design, down to the aesthetic choice of the case's exterior decoration.  The stone-textured gray tones contrast with the sharp, yellow borders to present an earthly tone that has been imposed upon by human artifice, like graffiti on a highway wall.  This is another detail that specifies the kind of audience the brand wants to attract to the watch: those who are also drawn to that clashing of the earthly and the artifical. 

     The idea behind the design was to communicate a particular style that served in the advertisement of this watch.  The design problem was to minimize costs while designing the case in such a way that allows it to be easily placed in store shelves and reused by the customer at home.
   
     Whether the aesthetics of the display work for any given viewer depends on whether the style fits their tastes personally, but it is clear that the exterior was given more thought and effort than the interior.  While the exterior maintains that crude, earthly tone, the inside is plastic and whitewashed, seemingly unfinished.   While the case was intended to be viewed exclusively from the outside, every time the owner wishes to put in or take out their watch from the case they always see the inside.  It's arguably more noticeable as a result, since the owner likely won't look at the case itself unless they need to use it.
   
     A potential solution could be to alter the materials used - specifically, the type of paper pasted to the exterior.  Since the plastic case itself is transparent, using transparent paper would allow the design of the exterior to show through both ways.  Once they paste the paper onto the plastic surface, that design will carry through as well, decorating the interior.  This would be less expensive than completely restructuring the display's design in order to fit inked paper into the interior as well as the exterior.

Printer Setup Instructions

     

     These first two pages of instructions for first-time setup of a paper printer demonstrate techniques that take advantage of the typical reading format in America - eyes moving left to right, top to bottom.  The visuals are placed in exactly this order, so that their place within the numerous steps can be easily interpreted without using unnecessary graphics or typography.  This helps reduce their costs in ink over printing mass copies of these instructions for the market, and it simplifies the installation instruction so that customers are more likely to be satisfied with their purchases.
   
     The inclusion of three languages help pinpoint the particular audience that the company is targeting with this manual - a specific regional demographic that the circumstantial place-of-purchase would reside in.  This is another example of cost reduction; rather than invest all the space and ink in a vast library of languages that may or may not be in a particular location, the company specializes these manuals within a limited scope of languages that cater to a particular region.
   
     Any first-time user who falls under the demographic umbrella that this model was constructed for will find this kind of simple manual invaluable. If it were more complicated or less deliberately constructed, they could be confused or frustrated.  Worst case scenario for the company is the customer returning their product because they can't figure out how to use it.
   
     Given all this, it makes sense that this manual was built with a very simple color scheme: blue, white, and several tones of gray.  Signs of a particular graphical style are on display here, with the blue border at the bottom, the blue underline with blue text at the top, even a sidebar next to the text.  These elements help elevate the top text in terms of its relationship to the rest of theses pages, in that they indicate the purpose behind the instructions throughout this part of the manual.  Otherwise, the simple color choice for the printer graphics minimize potential noise that may obstruct the instruction process.  The dark arrows are cleanly placed and visible against the light-toned graphics, and the combined use of images and text associate specific actions with each step in installation.
   
     The idea here is straight-forward, to communicate the process of first-time setup of a specific printer model with simple paper instructions.  This comes with the problem of lacking a human presence to assist in the setup process, and that is the primary hurdle that this manual was constructed to overcome.
   
     The simplicity of the instructions definitely work to its advantage, as does its attempt to open itself to a broader demographic by way of printing in multiple languages.  The only significant issue here, as with any product attempting to breach multiple languages, is the simple fact that it is still very limited in its linguistic range.  Printing in multiple languages is tenable - a company's concern for cost would still be minimal given how efficient they are already with graphics and word choice - but these is a concern to be had that too many different sentences could generate far too much noise in the overall layout.  This manual still has space to spare, but it is nevertheless limited.

Pledge Spray Can Design

    This spray can's visual design was constructed with clear instruction and aesthetic appeal in mind.  It takes advantage of the can's vertical cone shape to deliver its message, being the function and application of the contents within the can. 
   
     As a cleaning product, this design caters to people who desire a cleaning product that can be applied to multiple objects and furniture within their living space.  This kind of demographic is looking for convenience and efficiency in cost, since an all-in-one cleaning solution is easier to use and purchase than multiple different cleaning products for different surfaces.  This design was created to fulfill the need for convenience that is a staple of modern society - in this case, the convenience to use this single product as a solution for multiple cleaning problems. 
   
     This design's function is intended both on store shelves and in the home.  The appealing visuals help the product stand out  on the shelf, while the instructions are both an incentive for purchase in the store and a convenient reference at home for the owner to look up when they want to use the product. 
   
     The intensity of the blue-colored metal surface and yellow top reflects the brand's logo - a blue circle with a yellow outline behind the name - so that customers will instantly identify the product by its brand through color association, even if they don't see the title immediately.  The typography is consistent and contains easy readability, which allows it to be printed in multiple sizes on the same can.  The images of the four surfaces augment the text with visual aid, making them perfectly clear and instantly understandable when viewed.
   
     While not necessarily showing age, the intense light-reflection running along the center of the can is a resultant artifact from the camera that took this image.  This intensity clearly affects the readability of some of the text caught under the light.  While this is an extreme circumstance, the fact that the material's interaction with its environment negatively affected the design's delivery of the message can be interpreted as a design flaw.
   
     This spray can's underlying idea was to clearly advertise its intended household function, and the limited space of the can contributes to the bigger design problem being addressed here.  That design problem was to deliver the most information with the greatest clarity and efficient use of space, all the while serving as both an incentive for purchase and instruction for use. 
   
     Overall, this idea has been executed very well.  The issues with the material overriding the message is a factor that can crop up in unintended, unexpected circumstances, and the note about "Glade Rainshower" is not at all explained here.  The only people who could appreciate the note would need to have already known what Glade Rainshower was before buying this product.  Nevertheless, the primary design problem is properly addressed in this can.  Everything is clearly lai out in a structured, ordered manor that draws reader's eyes up-to-down with the decreasing size in text font and eventual introduction of the visuals. 

Startup Notice

     

     This notice for "Startup Weekend" by the Business and Economics department of Cal State L.A. uses crisp typography and minimalist graphics to conjure a specific aesthetic that effectively pitches its offer.  As it states at the very bottom, this advertised program has no limitations on the audience it's reaching out to, other than them being students of the school.  Students don't have to have a major in the Business and Economics Department in order to take advantage of this opportunity, in other words.

     Startup was clearly intended with a broad student demographic in mind, so to facilitate that need this ad, which could be installed anywhere on campus, is hung on a public tick-board, placed inside a campus hallway and surrounded by ads from other independent bodies and organizations.  This notice's place is very clearly the public forum of the campus as a whole.

     This notice's design implements clean typography and a single solid block of color with minimal graphics, likely in an attempt to visually distinguish itself from its surrounding competition and give it a "professional" look.   Professional, in this instance, would mean a clean aesthetic with no typographical errors, no unnecessary images, and an appropriate balance established between all the elements.  The white and yellow color scheme, for example, provides a light contrast that is then complemented by the bold sentence beneath the color block and set just below the ad's center line.  To distinguish itself as professional is to induce confidence from the audience, confidence that the people and the program behind the ad know what they're doing and will be genuinely beneficial to any student who takes up the Startup program.

     The idea running this ad was to draw attention to a student-based program that would only be available within a limited time-scale.  Obviously, the design problem at hand in achieving this end was to draw enough students and incur enough enthusiasm in order to  maximize the number of participants who will take advantage of the program.

     Unfortunately, despite this ad's aesthetic quality, it lacks crucial information about Startup, namely what the program is even about.  If this ad was going to work, it needed to explain to its demographic, the general student body, why Startup would be beneficial for them.  It needed to provide incentive for students to take advantage of that limited time-scale.  This is especially important when students are likely occupied during their regular schedule, be it with work, extra-curricular activities, or personal affairs.  This is especially problematic when the ad itself claims that the Startup will take up 54 hours of someone's time.  It is unclear, taking the ad on its own, how many of those 54 hours will involve the students directly working with the program. 

Summer Work Advertisement

    

     This black and white advertisement for summer work briefly and concisely offers opportunities to any interested individuals.  It combines enticing images with details of the offer in order to draw attention.  Its place on a tick board among many other advertisements within a university hallway is a clear indicator that its intended audiences are unemployed college students who are seeking paid summer work.  These kinds of students would likely not attend classes during summer and probably need or want the extra money from work to cover college costs or living expenses, thus they are more likely to take their free time for a job opportunity. 

     These details explain why the employers responsible for this ad would specifically target this audience with this time-slot.  It is the most optimal period to attain student employees for their positions.  Due to this ad's heavy university student focus, its intended place is naturally the college setting, specifically a location that many students would frequently attend.  A tick board in a hallway wedged right in between several classrooms is the most optimal placement that remains non-intrusive.  Non-intrusiveness is important here because the ad needs to be inviting - not overtly aggressive - in order to sell its message, so being out of the way of students' schedules while still being present within them works well for this purpose.   The black and white printing is very functional and to-the-point, likely to ensure that the message won't be lost surrounded by unnecessary colors or graphics.  The simplicity of the typography is supposed to give the ad maximum readability, as with the interplay between dark background and white text. 

     Based on the two graphical images, the idea intended behind this advertisement is to associate summer work with a positive attitude by presenting itself alongside ideas that it believes will appeal to students: the pursuit of success in life, which is often associated with college as a whole, and freedom, be it the freedom to choose whatever career students want or just the abstract concept of freedom.  The design problem being addressed here, as with any ad, is to establish an initial connection between the intended audience and the product or service being advertised.  In this case, the design problem was figuring out how to convince students with free time in the summer and a need or desire for a wage to call the number on the ad or email the address and take advantage of their opportunities.

     On paper, it is a good idea to reach this audience for summer employees, but in practice this advertisement does very little to present itself.  The black and white aesthetic, though minimal and to-the-point, is unexciting to the human eye, and the values between light and dark are not well-balanced here.  The text at the lower left is too dark and blends in with the grey background.  Said background is also too light to allow the white text to properly stand out.  The two images of "Success Just Ahead" and "Freedom" feel out of place, wedged in the center and  saying absolutely nothing about the actual jobs being offered.  That is the biggest problem with this ad: it doesn't present any images or descriptive text about the actual job or jobs being offered here.  It doesn't give students enough of an idea of what they may be potentially participating in to make an informed choice.

     A lot more information, both visual and contextual, needs to be added and revised about this ad before it can draw viewers.  It must present more essential information about the job in question, from expected wages and hours to the physical location and exact months that the job will be available.  Images should include the work location and the employer, possibly other employees as well, allowing students a visual window into the job.  If the employers want to save money on color printing, they need to improve the contrasting of values to allow their text to stand out better - including changing the black text to white.  However, color is a powerful visual tool that shouldn't be ignored in the ads construction.  With the right application of color, the text can be highlighted better than with gray-scale, the ad itself will stand out from its surrounding competition, and the images will look more appealing.

Caution Note on Metal Cutter

    

     This printed sticker is a precautionary note that recommends all potential users of the machine in question to equip appropriate protection.  It functions through its adhesive quality, being applied directly onto the machine to ensure that their relationship is not lost to any viewer.
    
     Given the fact that this device, an electrically powered metal cutting saw, is located within a classroom setting that involves the manipulation of physical materials for the creation of three-dimensional art, this note is intended for students attending any and all courses relating to this classroom.  It passively participates in class instruction, in that it gives students context on appropriate protection during the creation process.  This is especially helpful to students who may have never encountered this machine in their lives before.  The room itself also serves as a resource for any individuals, students or otherwise, who wish to manipulate metal materials for their projects, so this note can extend beyond a classroom context and serve as a simple reminder to anyone attempting to cut metal materials with this devise.

     This note was created out of a desire to deliver this important precaution on its own, transcending the need for an experienced operator to attend the room at all times for this one instruction.  The stark contrast of the bright yellow sticker against the cool metal surface catches the viewer's attention, directing their eyes to the text that in turn boldly contrasts against the yellow sticker.  Using tape paper to install the message right onto the machine completes the communication between note and viewer by physically connecting the note to the context it is intended for.  In short, all of these elements were chosen to maximize its visibility in the environment.  Any signs of wear are very minimal on this note, the biggest details being the slightly curled upper-left and lower-right corners of the note.  It remains in good condition since its installation and has retained its intended effect, but these small signs of wear may prelude future degradation, and thus produce a requirement for a replacement note.

    The idea behind this note is to communicate, indirectly, the potential dangers of the machine.  Asking that users wear eye protection when handling the machine implies the possibility of loose materials or sparks launching from any projects being handled on the machine.  Without prior knowledge, it is not actually obvious that the machine is intended to cut metal, but its saw blade instantly communicates its function as a cutter.  The design problem that this note addresses is defining the scale of the potential work hazards this device entails, and doing so without requiring a human presence.

     The idea at work here is commendable and necessary, but on its own it is still ineffectual because it does nothing to actually prevent users from potentially handling the machine without proper protection.  This is especially true if professionals or frequent users themselves don't use protection around the machine, thus mitigating the supposed danger that the note implies.  People can assess that the dangers are worth the risks, since they are only a hazard so long as they are operating the devise.

     A potential solution needs to follow the same fundamental rationale of this note: communicate the dangers and solutions in a way that negates the need for a human presence to deliver the message.  Perhaps the note should be more overt of bad consequences, like permanent damage to the eyes as a result of shrapnel or sparks.  Maybe the consequences should be more long-term and go beyond the temporary experience of using the machine.  The Department responsible for this machine could deliver repercussions for mishandling of this equipment, with the note giving a short, concise warning that any user not wearing goggles may be fined or removed from the privilege of using this machine.  These examples, however, are examples of negative reinforcement as a tool to manipulate behavior, which is not always adhered to and can potentially generate an antagonistic attitude towards the machine.

     The only long-term and most obvious solution ultimately relies on human involvement and goes beyond the note, highlighting its ineffectiveness: that users exercise responsibility with the machine and that instructors give the necessary precautions and help to any student using it.