Allison Vo / DES016 Portfolio

DES016 | PROF. HUGHES | F’23

01 Event Poster

03 Zine

05 Digital Drawing

08 Typography Poster

10 Text on an Image

Prompt: Create a 16x20 event poster that accurately depicts the event through imagery and text.

I chose to redesign the event poster from the UC Davis 2023 Lawntopia concert because I felt the actual poster used for promotion was a missed opportunity creatively. Also, hip-hop has lots of exciting imagery that fits within my preferred aesthetic.

First, I researched and wrote a creative pitch that established my audience and purpose. Then, I began looking into hip-hop posters for inspiration and exploring past Lawntopia posters. I put together a list of problems that I would try to avoid in my design: 1. Looked too much like a template, not unique 2. Performer, genre, and or event type was unclear 3. Design was too simple or too complicated

Prompt: Create a 16x20 cohesive zine focused on a story or topic of choice using collaging techniques.

I chose to design my zine based on the Taiwanese side of my heritage. Using pictures I took, family photos, and souvenirs I scanned in, I focused on recreating the feelings associated with my experience traveling and spending time with my family in Taiwan.

I wanted to connect each set of two pages instead of having individual collages per page. I accomplished this by placing one or more photos that reached across both pages. For further cohesiveness, I handwrote notes in Chinese and English and drew around the pictures to tie it all together using the same yellow textured brush.

For texture, I used the same crumpled paper throughout.

I first consulted Pinterest for examples of collages. My first page took inspiration from the composition of the collage shown on the right.

Prompt: Create two 8.5x11 designs of an interior space, product design, or clothing design using Illustrator. Follow the color schemes: analogous, complementary, triadic, split complementary, and monochromatic.

I chose to look into interior designs as it’s been an interest of mine for a long time. I specifically focused on furniture and lighting.

I began by going through Pinterest and drawing 24 sketches of designs I liked and then narrowing them down to 6 favorites to redraw more accurately. After redrawing them, I opened them up on Illustrator to trace with the pen tool.

Coloring them was the most difficult part as I had a hard time finding a color palette that aligned with the required color schemes and my design. I used the colors from darkest to lightest to attempt to mimic how light would hit each surface differently.

Prompt: Create an 11x17 poster describing a typeface using only type and color organized by a grid.

I chose Helvetica Neue because it’s such a popular font yet I knew little about it. I was interested in how it came to be so popular and what it’s used for. Its controversialness intrigued me as many designers see the use of Helvetica as being lazy.

I started with putting together a small essay of my research, mainly focusing on its historical context and what set it apart from other fonts at the time.

I paid special attention to margins and line breaks. I went through several compositions, one of which is pictured on the right. Ultimately, I decided on flipping the colors and emphasizing a large, off-center focal point. Helvetica was created with the purpose of simplicity and readability in mind which I wanted to reflect in the poster style.

Prompt: Create a text design that blends into an image of your choice.

I immediately thought of Vogue after reading the prompt. Their title typography is iconic and the placement and blending of the type into the photo is an interesting design dilemma. I knew I wanted to blend the text into the sky and with that in mind, I set out to find an outdoor Vogue photoshoot that featured the sky as at least half of the image so I could use that negative space to highlight the text.

I experimented with different blending modes and placement of the text but ended up deciding to move “Vogue” as far off the page to make a point about how recognizable the photoshoot styles and letters are that you wouldn’t even need to see the whole word to know what it says.