Good/Bad Color Unity Examples

Good

This is a good example of color unity because they didn't a really nice job using the gray background to make the red on the package really pop. Since it's such a light gray, it mixes well with the white on the package, and there is also a bit of gray in the shine on the cherries, which seems to bring the two together.

This is also a really good example of color unity. The red background automatically draws it all together and makes it feel like a whole, but there are other things that bring it together as well. The white bird with the yellow leg make the font in the right, bottom corner understandable. The yellow hand does this too, and the blue and green guitar is the thing that catches your eye since its different colors than the rest of the poster, but it doesn't seem out of place because of the yellow hand holding it.




Bad

This is a bad example of color unity because of the layout of all the different colors. The pink really catches your eye, but because it is only on one half of the poster, your eye never goes to the other side. The other side of the poster is lacking in color. The muted green and turquoise make it boring, and from the looks of it, I'm pretty sure that side is the most important. It has the information you want to know on it, and you completely pass it up when looking at the poster.

This is a bad example of color unity because of its lack of interest. The neutral color does bring it together but there is no exciting aspect to the bottle, which makes it boring. This bottle would never catch my eye in a store. If they varied the values of the neutrals on the bottle more, I think it would look a lot better.

Design Questions

Dieter’s 10 principles

I learned from this article that design is made up of a lot of components, and it’s only a good design if these components are up to par. For my project, I chose a stapler. I chose this object because it has all ten of Dieter’s principles, the components that I spoke of. It is innovative, useful, aesthetic, understandable unobtrusive, honest, long-lasting, thorough down to the last detail, environmentally friendly, and has as little design as possible. All of these principles together make the stapler simple, easy to use, and visually pleasing. The stapler not only encompasses Dieter’s ten principles but design as a whole. My major is graphic design, and the point of this career is to design something that gets a point across in a way that’s simple and easy to understand. The stapler is both of these things. The design is simple. You don’t have to look at the instructions to understand how to refill it or how to staple, and the simplicity of it makes us comfortable with it, which makes us want to buy and use the product. The major point for me in Dieter’s ten principles was that overall good design is about doing something to the best of your ability, not overthinking it, and making sure that what your sending out is something that you could understand and use yourself. These points are extremely important in any design, but especially in the project we’re doing now, because if you keep these things in mind when working on the project, then your bound to make something good that will get you a good grade.

Think and Make

For the longest time, I’ve though that design is all about art and pattern, but this reading opened my eyes. In the reading, it stated that, “design is a process for making things right, for shaping what people need.” This line managed to change my entire outlook on design. It really isn’t all about art. It’s about making something that makes people’s lives simpler. The object I chose was a stapler and it embodies simple to a T. The design actually makes it so that stapling takes less effort meaning that your hand doesn’t get as tired and you can do more, faster. The simplicity doesn’t just show through in my stapler, it also shows through in my major, graphic design. In graphic design, it’s all about getting a point across or giving out information. To do this, you can’t overthink things. You have to make a simple, clean design that easy to look at and understand. I think the main point of this article was to make people understand that you can’t put design into a mold. It isn’t associated with just one thing it’s associated with tons. Once you start seeing that design is endless you think of the endless possibilities you can do with it and then you come up with something great.

Don Norman Video

I learned from this video that design isn’t only about functionality. In the video, Don talks about a mini cooper and he says that it’s not the greatest car ever but you should still buy it. The reason why you should buy it is because its fun and fun makes people happy. That’s what design is all about, making people happy. It doesn’t just have to be fun, though, to cause this emotion. It has to be simple, understandable, and most importantly, visually pleasing. I find that my object, a stapler, has many qualities that make me happy. For one, it has a no slip grip pad on the bottom so it doesn’t move around on me. It also is designed so that it’s easier to staple with, making my hand less tired, and the design is sleek, making it look very high quality. In graphic design, as well as in a stapler, we find that people respond better to things that make them happy or things that are fun. I think the main point of the video was that design is supposed to make you happy. In design, the point is to get information to a person as simply as possible. If you can do that, then you make that person very happy. The two, design and happiness, are interconnected.

Best Examples of the Color Assignment

This granola bar box demonstrates harmonious hues because of the red and orange on the box. Since these two colors are right next to each other on the color wheel, it makes the box easy to look. Along with the colors, the clean text also allows you to clearly discern what the product is.

Since the two colors on this box, the blue and the orange, are on opposite sides of the color wheel, it is showing contrasting hues. The box is easy enough to look at, but the blue somewhat intrudes, making the two sides seem disconnected. The orange side of the box is not only demonstrating contrasting hues but also limited palette, since it is using only shades of orange.

This box has many light yellows and light browns on it, which shows harmonious values. It is also showing some darker colors, like the blue and red, that are contrasting colors. The box is easy to read, and I think that the font used for the blue title makes it stick out less and fit more with box since it has the same rustic feel as the rest of the box.

The light and dark blues on this bottle are showing contrasting values as well as the dark gray labels and white background. The bottle is also showing contrasting chromas, since there is both gray and dark blue on the bottle. I think that the bottle is easy to read, although it might be a little cluttered at the bottom, but the large logo at the top balances this out. Overall, it’s a good, clean design.

 This box shows harmonious chromas because it only has really strong chroma colors. The red, orange, and yellow are very rich. It also has a lot of chroma dominance, which catches your eye. The box is easy to read, and very clean. The little green box at the corner may not go with the rest of the box, but it grabs your attention which had to be the intention of the boxes creator.

This package is a perfect example of contrasting chroma because the red is such a strong chroma and the gray is such a weak one. The gray background really makes the cherries and logo pop out. The label is easy to read and gets its point across in a simple, clean way.










Since the poster consists only of hues of red, it is demonstrating limited palette. You can draw from the color of the poster that the movie is scary because of the dark red, which usually is associated with blood, and the black which is associated with death and funerals. The poster is easy to read and really draws your attention.














In this poster, all the colors are very muted or weakened, which causes them to blend together really nicely. The poster is very whimsical and the colors make you happy because they’re so bright. The title is also easy to read, and your eye is drawn to it because of the picture below it. The poster, overall, has a really good flow.











The transitions in this poster allow the viewer to understand that the words and woman go together. I think the poster has a great impact. The colors and word make it feel important which catches your attention. It’s also easy to read, other than some of the fancier fonts that may be hard to read from a distance away.

                               
This bottle is using a lot of neutrals, and since it’s for tanning lotion, this works really well. When you look at the bottle, it almost shows you how much the color of you skin will change. The lighter shade of brown at the top and bottom to the darker shade in the middle creates this affect. The bottle is very easy to read, especially where it says “natural glow” because of the glow that is around it.

This poster has a lot of chroma dominance. There really aren’t any thouroughly drawn pictures on the poster. The colors make up the images and our brains piece together what they are. Overall, the poster is really vibrant and easy to read. 

On this cover, there’s a continuous theme of purple that makes the whole thing mesh together. From the girl’s face and clothes, to the background, every part of the cover has a different shade of purple. I think that the cover is fairly easy to read, although the font for the title isn’t the cleanist. The purple tinge and skeleton girl cause the cover to feel really creepy.