This week we focussed on really honing in on our design projects and finalized the direct mailers that we have been working on! I was definitely excited to really take what I had been working on and putting on the finishing touches. I ended up re-doing my initial design, although despite being overly pleased with the initial work that I had put in, I am very happy with the way the second one turned out! I was able to actually direct this mailer towards something that I myself would receive. I focused on what an undergraduate student who is also a prospective law student and advertised for the law school. In that design I was able to play with a few more effects than my other mailer which also allowed me to really get more comfortable with photoshop. I think that I was more invested in this particular mailer being as it was something that I would receive in the mail so I was able to really pinpoint what would draw me in. Overall, I am very excited to show off what I have been working on! I really don’t think there is anything that I would do differently at this point other than using Illustrator.
Before I reveal the designs, I want to touch on the experience that was photoshop. I still stand that adobe illustrator is by far my most favorite application. It is so fluid and easy to use it feels like the mouse is more of an extension of my own hand rather than trying to maneuver every click and constantly not getting what you want done like in photoshop. As far as indesign goes, it is relatively easy to manipulate it just is not my first choice for graphic images, more so an end application to put things together like a pamphlet or brochure. Indesign seems to be more of collaborative application in that it does allow what you have created in other apps to come together with some ease, whereas photoshop is a black hole of frustration – not that extreme but seriously, illustrator is worlds better!! In all realness, photoshop is nice for layering photos and graphics together. For example, a graphic that I made for Christmas Expressions I was able to utilize photoshop for layering images that I needed to be transparent in some areas.
Below you can see the direct mailers that I have been working on:
For Student Life:
For OU Law School:
