Sigh of Relief

Today was final presentations for the poorly campaigned products project. There were quite a few impressive ads done by fellow classmates. Although we missed out on Jimmy critiquing our work on Monday, our class as a whole did alright critiquing each others' work. I'm glad i had a great partner for this project and in the end our hard work paid off! Onto the next project! And this one is going to be a challenge since we have to create a video to promote CSULA's Graphic Design & Visual Communication program along with a non-online media piece to go along with the video.

HTML :gRrRrRr:

HTML...my evil nemesis. We meet again! This time around it's a bit more enjoyable, tinkering with the settings by just exploring without using lynda.com. But eventually i'll enlist the help of lynda.com for my LA art blog website. Also asking for assistance from my peers has helped a bit as well. Lets hope the final product is a decent functioning website.

Kali Night

We had an interesting guest speaker on Thursday night. I didn't know who she was, but from what i observed from her poster i expected an individual who was very expressive about her personality and design through the use of vivid colors and a non-conventional rigid 90 degrees grid system. I enjoyed the lecture and it has planted a seed in me to consider pursuing an MFA later in my future after I've established a stable career and find some spare time to further develop my skills and broaden my education.

Legalizing Marijuana

The debate over the legalization of Cannabis sativa, more commonly known as marijuana, has been one of the most controversial issues ever to occur in the United States. Its use as a medicine has existed for thousands of years in many countries worldwide and is documented as far back as 2700 BC in ancient Chinese writings. Marijuana should be legalized for several reasons. First, the government could earn money from taxes on its sale. Its value to the medical world outweighs its potential abuse, and because of its importance to the paper and clothing industries. Legalization should be considered despite efforts made by groups, which say marijuana is a harmful drug that will increase crime rates and lead users to other more dangerous substances. 


There's one problem with legalizing, taxing and regulating cannabis at the state level: It can't be done. The federal Controlled Substances Act makes it a felony to grow or sell cannabis. California can repeal its own marijuana laws, leaving enforcement to the feds. But it can't legalize a federal felony. Therefore, any grower or seller paying California taxes on marijuana sales or filing pot-related California regulatory paperwork would be confessing, in writing, to multiple federal crimes. And that won't happen.

3 Intriguing Magazine Ads

  Discover Card ad

The simplicity of this ad was the first thing I noticed when I flipped to this page in

            the Time Magazine. The use of the credit card to replace the dot of the exclamation

            mark is very clever. It generates a lot of attention toward the credit card and how the

            upright portion of the exclamation mark draws the consumer toward the card that is

located toward the bottom of the page. The white text to the right of the exclamation mark doesn’t interfere with the overall observation of the ad, because of the exclamation mark being bold and white. The only slightly flashy use of color is the gradient orange background that seems to make the exclamation mark glow ever so

slightly, but that is still not main attraction of the ad. The hierarchy of the ad starts with the exclamation mark, then the card, and then the remaining text on the ad.

2.      Audi connect ad

The use of the universal icon for Wifi internet is the first thing one would notice,

especially since it’s in a bright red color. The large size and placement of the Wifi icon above the Audi vehicle’s roof is easily understood that the vehicle itself is a Wifi hotspot. After one sees the bright red icon and the vehicle the text on the other portions of the ad then come into play since they are secondary in the hierarchy of this ad; the icon and the vehicle being the primaries. All of this placed on a white background makes for a clean ad.

3.      2012 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe ad

The large two page spread and the black background of the ad draws the viewer

toward the center of the ad where an image of the CTS-V coupe is parked with a welcoming opened driver side door. The slogan seen at the top right of the ad “It’s the BEST OF HIDING PLACES. It’s the worst of hiding places” is simply stating you can hide yourself inside the extravagantly appointed cockpit, but the mere presence of such a gorgeous vehicle simply will break necks going down a busy downtown street. And lastly, the gentlemen dressed nicely in business attires addresses that this vehicle is not your simple boy racer Honda Civic Si; this vehicle is for the “man”.