2012's Child Evangelism Fellowship Postcard

Here's the latest postcard that I designed for CEF. I just love working with pastels. They're so choice. I used the box of No. 912 Excello Squares by The American Crayon Company based in Sandusky, Ohio. They were given to me by my high school art teacher before he retired. I will always cherish the gesture.

 

 To view my design from last year, click here.

Petro Choice Postcard

Petro Choice is having a little company night at the races and they need a postcard to mark the occasion. That's where I come in.

This was the result.

It's a little grungy, but hopefully not too much. I also wanted it to be moving with direction. I think I really like diagonal lines, maybe too much...

For instance, I always cut my sandwiches on the diagonal to make my mind think they taste better. Seriously, any sandwich I make needs as much help as possible. Somedays I wonder what I am worse at-- cooking or sports. Gee, there's a race for ya!

Child Evangelism Fellowship Postcard

My mother asked for me to review a postcard which was sent to her to review before it was sent to the printer's.

Here is the original postcard that was NOT done by me...

A local graphic designer did this. I'm sure they are a wonderful person, I just have a different design aesthetic. Okay, Okay, I have a black heart.

I had to take this as an opportunity to work on my skills.

What Would Jana Do? She would first consult this chart.

Just because a document is about children doesn't mean it NEEDS the Comic Sans font! There are a bajillion cute fonts out there in the world!

Also, who says we have to show the entire stock image? I used to try to show the entire image when a small portion would suffice. Take Aladdin's advice and just show "Part of Your World".

Thirdly, The logo is on the back of the postcard. It's a classic logo so why does it have to be on BOTH sides? We don't have to plaster the logo over every surface of advertising material. Here's a rule of thumb and a grievous style don't to live by: If your logo is burgundy- Don't choose a red font!  Nope. Don't even try it.

Here's my attempt.  I still see a bunch of flaws that I'd like to tweak, but what would you suggest?

John Singer Sargent

I just finished reading one of the worst books I have ever read.  At least it was short and quickly over.  Gee, the television show it was based on is so good. Where did I go wrong?

New rule: Never read a book based on a television show.

This rule should apply to books based on movies inspired by an original book as well. Didn't Michael Scott read the "novelization of the movie Precious based on the book Push by Sapphire"? Or was he just listening to it on audio tape? That brings me to a WHOLE other debate...If one listens to a book on tape, can they claim that they have read that book? You can voice your opinion below.
Back to this atrocious book. It felt like it was written by an amateur who had to meet a deadline and sloppily churned it out to his/her publisher over a weekend.
The only redeeming quality of this book was that a large portion of it was about an art collection. And it led to my discovery of this:
 

"Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" by John Singer Sargent is mentioned as one of the protagonist's favourite paintings. And the print is later given to her as a gift. I could see why she loved it. 
 

I had not been incredibly familiar with Sargent's work, but as it turns out, I have had a postcard of one of his paintings in my room for many years now. The painting, "In the Luxembourg Gardens at Twilight" made quite the impression on me, so much so that I had to purchase its postcard form in the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts gift shop after the tour.  I don't know if I can describe why it moves me, but I think it may reside in the motion of the piece. It looks as if the subjects are still moving and the smoldering lighting drapes a romantic mood upon the scene. I really liked what this blogger had to say about it. http://artdurkee.blogspot.com/2007/01/john-singer-sargent-appreciation.html
 
Here are several other paintings by Sargent that I admire.
 
The reflected clouds are stunning.

 

And like many artists and musicians, Sargent was close friends with other talented artists like himself. Apparently he was close to Claude Monet. "He did landscapes." If you ask me,they should be featured on the Awesome People Hanging Out Together site.