Hello and thank you for being part of J465 this semester. Together, we will undertake a series of projects and assignments that are meant to build your abilities as designers and increase your expertise in the core Adobe programs that are the tools of the trade. You will be designing logos, illustrations, layouts and animations that will showcase your creative vision and your unique personal style.
You will use this site throughout the semester to post your work, as well as descriptions of your creative process and analyses of the finished products. As authors, you may post additional thoughts and reactions any time you see fit. As part of the class, you will also be designing and maintaining your own J465 website, showcasing your project and exercise work. To read the full syllabus for J465, please visit our syllabus site at www.stevelayton.net/j465/s25.
Good luck — and once again, thanks for being here.
For my influence project, I took inspiration from Paula Scher’s work. When choosing my influence, I wanted to look for a female graphic designer. Not only did I find one, but I believe I found the ultimate female graphic designer. I came across her work when looking for female graphic designers in general, and I loved how her work stood out amongst others because her style does not fall into conformity; through her use of strong layouts, complex typography, and bold colors, her work breaks norms of typical commercial graphic design and does not scream her gender identity like I commonly find amongst other designers. When starting to research her more, I came across an episode of Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix that focused on her insights and career; through direct interviews with Scher and her colleagues, I was granted a better look into her personality and thoughts and instantly knew that she would be my influence.
In my work, I aimed to capture styles from her various works to encompass different eras in her career. So, for this reason, I approached my project in sections: design elements, photography, and typography.
Design Elements
I have to admit the overall layout of the poster changed a few times because I trapped myself within a box by only designing on a vertical canvas. One day in class, Pr. Layton reminded us that we can make our poster horizontal if desired; I changed my design right away and thankfully I did because I love it so much more. I also feel that it better represents Scher’s influence because the inspiration for that illustrated track in the background stems from her work designing maps which are typically always horizontal. Her maps were also painted, as were her early typefaces, so I added the artistic paintbrush strokes to the track to emulate this. She also tends to make use of all available space; therefore, there was no doubt in my mind that filling the middle of the track was necessary and the checkered pattern made the most sense to represent the finish line of the race.
Photography
The photography in my project stands out as a main element of the poster but strangely was the easiest part to design. In Scher’s designs, she has a distinct photographic style that includes cut-out, two-toned portraits sometimes with stylized overlays. I knew how to achieve this style because of our previous Pop Art and Constructivist exercises. First, I was drawn to this certain image of cyclists racing down a track, so I brought it into Photoshop, cut it away from its background, adjusted the lighting, and changed its mode to grayscale. Then, I chose the crimson color from Indiana University’s official color pallet and created a halftoned image to showcase it. Finally, I decided that the photographic element should reference a specific piece of her work, Blade to the Heat for The Public Theater, so I created a second version of the image using IU’s official black and added it as a second top layer to bring out more detail and mimic the 3D quality in her work.
Typography
Typography is the most important part of Scher’s influence. In the episode I watched, she says, “Typography is painting with words. That’s my biggest high. It’s my crack.” I knew I had to make creative and atypical design choices with the type to follow her influence correctly. At this point in my design process, I had only a cyclist image over the bland track illustration, so the choice seemed obvious. I would position the type along the track’s curves to make better use of the space. I had seen Scher do this in some of her work and felt that it would make more sense for my layout than trying to position straight blocks of text in an overwhelmingly round layout. Trying to fit lines of information into limited sections where separations between text naturally made sense did pose difficulties at first; however, I just kept making changes to their paths or the text placements and eventually landed on a layout that was readable and showcased all the important information.
Dima Shiryaev is a Russian graphic designer known for his experimental and diverse design style. His work includes posters for nightclubs, festivals, and exhibitions, notably collaborating with Kunznya House. What defines Shiryaev’s art style is the use of typography, bold geometric designs, and use of contrasting colors.
The reason I chose this designer is because I have been struggling to find my own artstyle. Seeing Shiryaev’s style allowed me the power of creative freedom, incorporating different elements.
To represent his work, I viewed certain posters with similar styles, specifically the Samo DJ poster and The Villars poster. I appreciated the combination of loose, sketch style with contrasting bold, geometric shapes. To incorporate these, I illustrated the silhouette of the bike with the trackpad to give a sense of /roughness. Many of the text are wrote within boxes, cutting part of the text off. I accomplished by using the “Draw Inside” feature on Illustrator. Other elements include using contrasting colors, and using varying font styles.
Click the image to get a better look!click to get a better look!
For this project we were told to create a logo for a made up publishing company. We had full creative will to do whatever we wanted, we just had to tie it to a publishing company. when I stared this process I just stared writing out words and names i though sounded fun or that I enjoyed. From the beginning I wanted my publisher to be mainly for children books, so i wanted the name kind of resembled that in a way.
Original Sketches! (Click to see better)
As you can see above after writing my ideas down, I started to sketch my two favorite ideas (Horse Hands and Blue Shoe). In the end I liked my Blue Shoe idea better, so i decided to work on it more.
Here is where I stared to play with layout, typeface, and what shoe design i was going to use in the logo. i went thought a lot of variations in the beginning, but in the end i landed on this design.
click to look!
This is where i was playing with what shade of blue i wanted to go with for the final design!
click to look!
Here are my real world mock-ups for the project!
click to get a better look!click to get a better look!
In the end I am vary proud and happy with what I created! Form what I wanted in the beginning to what I ended up with im happy with the end results. I had a lot of fun with this project!!!
For Project 1, I created a logo for EyeLeaf Publishing, a fictional book publishing house that represents insight, growth, and creativity. The goal was to design a brand identity that reflects thoughtful storytelling and organic discovery. The eye leaf symbol was inspired by the idea that books broaden perception, much like a third eye, while also nurturing growth, like a leaf. The eye represents vision and awareness, while the leaves and ink droplet tie back to nature, storytelling, and publishing.
Click this image to see full pdf!
The design process for EyeLeaf Publishing began with sketching various eye leaf concepts by hand, allowing me to explore different visual interpretations of the brand’s identity. Once I identified the strongest design, I digitized it in Adobe Illustrator, focusing on refining the symmetry and balance of the elements to create a polished and cohesive look. For typography, I experimented with multiple fonts before selecting Beloved Sans paired with Montserrat, achieving a modern yet inviting aesthetic. To complete the design, I chose an earthy green color palette, inspired by nature, to symbolize wisdom, creativity, and the organic essence of storytelling.
The final design is simple yet symbolic, adaptable across various branding materials. I created five logo variations, including vertical, horizontal, and monochrome formats to ensure versatility across print and digital applications. Mock-ups demonstrate how the logo would function on book covers, websites, and marketing materials.
This project taught me how to balance symbolism and simplicity within brand design. Through refining my Illustrator skills and experimenting with typography and color, I gained a deeper appreciation for brand identity and cohesion.
For this project I wanted to encapsulate the aesthetic and vision I have of reading books into a publishing company. Right from the beginning I wanted to play on using a luna moth but I didn’t know what my company’s name would be or how I would add my logo into the design. It seemed challenging. At first I played with the name of “Ephemera Publishing” but I didn’t know how to have the wing represent the P in a symmetrical way. That’s when I thought of “Ephemera Books” since this is a publishing company, it’s most likely publishing books. For color choice, I used two distinct colors found in a luna moth which is this green color and a dark purple/maroon color. From the logos we had seen in class, I wanted to strive to make a logo that had both the design and logo name hidden in the design to get the synergy seen from example logos. I think it made for a really strong design. I’m really proud with my design and I think I conveyed my aesthetic vision how I wanted to. I wanted to be a publishing company that targeted people who read books on a “Pinterest” aesthetic level (i.e. mood boards, dark academia, cottagecore, etc.). I think if I were to rework the design at all, it would be to make the ‘E’ and ‘B’ in the design more prominent, I struggled with that a lot initially but where I came to an end felt pretty good.
