DHA 3352

3D Presentation

2009-05-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

So I'm very very very stumped about the presentation and I'm not 100% what I want to do. The best thing I've thought of so far, that would sort of match Terra, would be to set up the space into an actual small table to eat on. As in... There would be a tablecloth (the only one I could find was this brown-orange color which I guess is close to my color palette,) some silverware that I'm going to wrap in a cloth-napkin followed by a paper slip that will look like a Terra thing, and instead of the plate (since I don't want to carry around a plate) it'll be a menu-looking booklet that will have some of the stuff I worked for Terra throughout this class. How does that sound?

Other things

2009-05-02T23:33:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah, here's other things I've done to add to the system app:

website mock ups

2009-05-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

This is what I have worked into for my System Apps. I'm also working on some signage too. I'm only doing two screencaps for the website; homepage and the Get Involved page.

I imagined this website to work partially in a Flash style. The homepage starts off simple, and once you click on one of the buttons, a white background extends down from under the picture-banner, and it's where all the information will be presented. The picture banner is then scaled smaller and upwards.

Website

2009-04-27T08:57:00.001-07:00

This is the homepage to terrausa.com

Inspirational Graphic Standards Manual

2009-04-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Not every company/designer makes their Graphic Standards publicly viewable it seems, for I was having a very very hard time finding one that fits Terra (but maybe I've just been looking through the wrong sources.) The closest I've came to it were these:

I can't read German and now that I look at it harder this is probably not a manual but it clearly shows what the restaurant, Mongo's, does and does not do with their logo and image/drawings. They have about three solid colors that are obvious and use throughout their design.

This one, also foreign to me, has similar graphic traits as to Terra. The have hints of their vibrant colors (green) throughout many of their products/files.

going

2009-04-17T18:37:00.001-07:00

Coaster, mini menu, invitational letter. I won't have the inside pages ready by monday so I'll just have the cover. I'm open for last-minute suggestions. (Oh yeah, and I noticed that the coaster is missing the word "Manager and" in comparison to the letter. I'll fix it.)

Digital roughs

2009-04-10T10:26:00.001-07:00

Here are a few images displaying one of the ideas I've been working on so far:

The paper quality of the paper over the wood chips would be ultra high quality glossy. I really liked these business cards, and wanted to do something similar:

System Applications

2009-03-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

One of my approaches to creating Terra may go either two directions; super simplistic and relying on symbols and illustrations, or focusing on a lot of photography and more 'organic' and fine arts illustrations.

The above example of 'volcano' is simple yet elegant. They have a powerful color palette, and it's a perfect example of the first direction. They have their one logo intergrated with the rest of their design in different formats and colors.

The example below is going towards another direction. It's highly based on photography and paintings to create this comforting and rich food look. I really love the colors and pictures they used. It gives this restaurant a more unique identity that may compete better than the volcano. However, the Volcano, because of its simplicity, can create a different emotion to others--perhaps a more sophisticated place, and more of a bar than a restaurant.

Almost there maybe

2009-03-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

The final two

2009-03-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

I'm probably posting too much.
Here are the last two I'm working on:

Narrowing it down

2009-03-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

So I chose to throw away the abstract figure I had for one of the ideas because it got a wide range of mixed reviews. Here are a few that I have worked on today in class. On the second idea, that is suppose to be a spoon/branch/leaf with a few beans on it. Yes, they are beans, not chips.

Terra logos part 1 A

2009-02-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

These are just a few logos I've worked on in the past day. They're nowhere close to being done yet, but I just want people to see the direction I'm going for. I'm still going for a restaurant idea, serving organic-styled foods (or something like that.) If you didn't know, again, Terra is latin for Earth/earth. It's still going to be a restaurant conscious of people, diversity, and helping those in need. Suggestions are welcomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

P.S. Oh, and I'm still thinking of how much involvement I want Terra to be in regards of Civil Rights. Like Donovan said, a lot of food IS wasted. Maybe in the menu I can have different serving sizes, explanation on how many people it can feed (if you order a small, a medium, a large etc). I know very few restaurants do this, like Bucca (an Italian restaurant I go to). I've also heard of restaurants that don't throw away their leftovers that easily either, and they instead use them to feed animals, turned even into manure material, and even recycle them for other purposes.

Being conscious about things such as food/ingredients wasted, using as much recycled material as possible, etc are ideas.

Terra

2009-02-07T12:04:00.001-08:00

Terra is company restaurant working with many non-profit organizations committed to stretch out a hand to areas around the world that are struck with poverty. Everyday, according to the United Nations, 25,000 people die of hunger or hunger-related causes. These men and women, and especially children, are left in a downward spiral without jobs and thus without food.

By eating at Terra, customers will not only experience traditional-inspired foods from all over the world, but also be educated on the issue of hunger and poverty. A percentage of the customer’s money to Terra goes to these non-profits organizations and charities. We aim to stimulate the minds of everyone stepping into one of our restaurants, to be able to provide an experience of a variety of delicious snacks, meals, and desserts, and also to get customers to familiarize themselves more with the diversity that exists in this country.

We are certain to provide an excellent environment, service, and meals made from only the finest ingredients. Ours chefs have personally constructed our menus with irresistible options, all while being very affordable. At Terra, we value our customers, so we make sure to listen to opinions and suggestions in every way to make the restaurant a better place.

Our goal is to stretch Terra all across the United States in hope to inform everyone more deeply about how important the issue of hunger is. We want our consumers to have an unforgettable experience that will induce them to spread the word about the restaurant and the different organizations out there inclined to help. They can also make additional donations to the charity or organization of their choice, write a letter right in the restaurant, and be updated on the achievements and obstacles that were overcome.

All of this will help the world become a healthier and more powerful place.

We work with The Hunger Project (THP), Gleaners Community Food Bank (GCFB), A Glimmer of Hope Foundation, Feed the Children, and CARE, to make Terra what it is.

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Some videos that have inspired me:

The Hunger Project - This video focuses on the women of South America, Africa, and Asia and how they used to have to go through a lot of physical labor to get firewood, grind food, be forced to marry and have children in their early teens. Things have changed.

Feed The Children

Restaurant-type business

2009-02-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

So after talking to Angela about a few ideas, I've decided on creating a restaurant that would somehow involve itself with Civil Rights. I thought that maybe the restaurant would promote the idea that no matter where you live in the world, you should have the right to food and good nutrition. With that in mind, the restaurant would have inspired-food from different parts of the world. Somehow, donation would be involved, where the customer would be able to chose where they want 10% of their payment of whatever they buy in the restaurant, to go to helping poverty-struck areas of the world. (The donation would, however, go to a non-profit or charity that supports those kinds of places.) Maybe they could even choose what country they want their money to go to. This is just a rough idea, and I don't have a name for it yet. I'm just brainstorming right now. Suggestions are appreciated.

Women's Rights and Civil Rights

2009-02-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

I will be focusing on Women's Rights and Civil rights for this next project. I did some research about a couple of issues I might find interest in. Human Rights Watch is a great independent organization whose main purpose is to defend Human Rights in many different areas all over the world.
One issue of Civil Rights I have been drawn to is the conflict with Burma/India with the abuse of the Chin population that have fled to India to escape the abuses they faced and the severe repression in Burma.

I'm also interested in perhaps doing a little bit more research on women who seek to flee violence and abuse and how it is important to help them. It's been an oncurring issue for years and much has not changed. Human Rights Watch has an interesting article about it here. I also found a very interesting study at www.globalissues.com which branches off about women fleeing violence. It discusses information on what if the world was dominated by women and not men? It's a creepy thought, of course, because that itself I guess could be seen as a sexist idea... but it's still very interesting. The link the article is found here.

Abobalabaloobie

2009-01-31T10:18:00.000-08:00

updt

3 Logos that are yuck

2009-01-23T10:30:00.000-08:00

For DHA 3352 (GD II)'s first assignment, we're to find three logos that we believe are just bad. I was lucky enough to find them so quickly (unfortunately) from very well known companies.

First off is the American Express logo. This is the least of the worst but still you'd think for the kind of business they have on their hands they'd get a better logo. It's a little too plain, the last S doesn't even match the edges, and the spaces between these 'cut-out' looking letters just bothers me. I quote from their website,

"The mission of our program is to bring to life the American Express value of good corporate citizenship by supporting diverse communities in ways that enhance the company's reputation with employees, customers, business partners and other stakeholders."

They seem to be very concerned about what they would like or believe to be their cooperate responsibility. So why not have a logo that really represents that instead of a plain blue logo that just seems to be a cut-out of a shiny piece of paper?
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Second in line we have the Fox News website logo. The website itself is terrible. If you'd like to burn your eyes, click here for the link. I wish I could find their mission statement or something on the website, but I can't--there is way too much clutter.
The logo is probably the only thing on their page that is remotely anything close to being bearable. When I look at it, I just see Fox, and then I see news.com. If I didn't know what Fox News was, I'd probably think of Fox from the Star Fox N64 game, and then I'd want to type news.com. I know it sounds a little dumb because who doesn't know about Fox news? Right? Well, anyway, the red outline isn't cutting it, the squished news.com part sucks. That dot is in the middle of the red-white cutoff and it seems like.. that bottom area is ALSO outlined by a red frame. Ew?
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Last and definitely the worst is the Weather Channel's weather.com's TERRIBLE LOGO!! It is SO plain, SO uninteresting, and SO not representing weather. I honestly visit this website everyday to check the, well, weather, and the forecast for the week, and I just hate it. Doesn't it remind you of, oh, say, another certain logo? *hint hint, look up!* Yeah, fosho. This is in need of some work.
It's so "meh" that I have nothing else to say about it.

Test

2009-01-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've had a blog. I have to test in order to edit my templates, soooooo hi!