Design Sketches

For my Birthday my friend Anna got me the Gluten Free Red Velvet and the Vegan Red Velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles Bakery. I am going to do a post on my comparison between the two and in preparation I took some pics and am designing my images. I though my process might be interesting for you to see...

The design board

This is the original photo. I took it into Photoshop CS5 and corrected the gamma and exposure which really made the red pop against the teal. I also stamped out some annoying stray crumbs.

The Vegan and Gluten free cupcakes come with an edible letter on them close to the Futura font (thank you for figuring that out Shaun). I really liked the idea of doing the letter in bold so I did a knock out of the letter on the red background. When I was searching fonts for the other text I fell in love with the font Handwriting - Dakota but it doesn't really work with the block letter. The "Red Velvet" text on the plate was added after doing a few different designs. I did it on a curved path with the letter getting smaller in font size. I also adjusted the Kerning (space between letters).

I have been into swirly dashed lines and created this one freehand with the pencil tool and then adjusted the loops and curves with the pen tool so it flowed better. As you can see the knock out block letter has no place in this design - I am happy with this one. The whole line "Red Velvet Gluten Free Cupcake was originally white and the red change came after the dashed line was created.

Just an idea to replace the dashed line with hearts - I was thinking valentines day. The hearts are drawn freehand with the brush tool on 2 pt oval.

I had text on the pasteboard in white that I wanted to see better so I added a grey box behind it. Just messing around I added it to the photo to see how it would look in the design. Red white and grey are nice colors together! I think this is off balance.

This was my last design and last attempt to make the knock out block letters work. I liked this one too but it reminds me of some other ad or logo that I can't quite place. If someone knows please tell me - it is killing me!

Overall I think they are still a WIP. I feel like the composition needs something towards the bottom to balance it out. I will just have to look at them for a while - maybe one of them is ok as is after all.

What do you think or which do you like best?

The Art of Soap - a book by Debbie Chialtas of Soapylove

I am constantly amazed by how much people love soap! I get emails, chats and posts on my Facebook fan page from lovers of soap, users with new appreciation and budding soapmakers looking for advice, all praising the idea of soap and the process of making it. Since its invention soap has been here to stay. Soap, that utilitarian staple of human cleanliness (modern usage also for cats and dogs), that modest brick in standard scents like “Dove” and “Irish Spring”. After entering the world of soap making almost four years ago, I felt like I was stepping into the beginning of a soap revolution. I have watched soap making evolve into an exploration of custom fragrances, exotic and ancient ingredients, and wild to mild colors, with soap makers pushing the boundaries of artistic soap design, each with a unique visual perspective – an intimate expression of themselves. After all, as soap makers don’t we all dream of making what we ultimately would like to bathe with?

Soap is no longer modest but is screaming to be front and center.

A woman at the forefront of this soap revolution is Debbie Chialtas of Soapylove, a good friend and a master artisan of glycerin soap. She has conceived an idea in the process of fruition. A book dedicated to the varying aesthetics in soap and the stories behind the bars. Simply: The Art of Soap. When she asked me to photograph the book I didn’t hesitate.

Follow the progress of the book here: http://theartofsoapbook.blogspot.com/

You can see Debbie's amazing soaps here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soapylove/

Debbie's blog: http://soapylove.blogspot.com/