And there it is...

And that concludes the 60 posts. Thank you, for having me as a student this semester. I enjoyed this class and how you ran it. The group discussions really help, it gives 30 opinions rather than one. Although your opinion is valued, more opinions would't hurt. I should have written that in the evaluation...

Okay, Bye!

Sneaker Freaker Cover

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://www.highsnobiety.com/news/2011/04/20/sneaker-freaker-issue-21/

Critique: This is a cover for the popular sneaker magazine, Sneaker Freaker. I like the way they used the colour of the shoe for the background. I like when designers use different tones and shades of the same colour in their work, it it visually appealing. I'm not a big fan of the Sneaker Freaker logo and the choice of putting the bar code to the top left on the right cover. If they were to put the barcode at the bottom right and move the text over to the left, it would look better in my opinion. The cover on the left is great. Note the use of complimentary colours at the top.

Assumption Church Christmas Newsletter Cover

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://h-oo-k.me.uk/assumption-church-christmas-newsletter/

Critique: This is a cover design for the Assumption Church Christmas newsletter. This is such a clever cover. When you add more light to it, "Jesus" becomes more visible. The first thing you see is the thin cross and you see the breaks in the cross to find out that it says "Jesus" on top of it. I love the simplicity of it and the idea again, is very clever.

Coke "Open Up" Ad

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://h-oo-k.me.uk/cokerefreshingillustration/

Critique: This ad for Coca Cola is great. The colours are amazing. The concept of the ad is clever. Using the contrast with the bottle against the red background worked well, the bottle is easy to see and is the first thing I saw. After seeing the bottle, you then read the headline and then move up to see the very busy and colourful stuff that is coming from the bottle. The only thing that kind of bothers me in this ad is the disco ball at the top. I think that if they were to use the red clouds instead, it might look a bit better. Other than that, I really like it.

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://trendland.net/2008/07/10/kanye-west-for-louis-vuitton/kanye-west-louis-vuitton-sneakers-2/

Critique: This is an advertisement for Louis Vuitton and it features Kanye West as the guest model. I like what they did with the different tones and shades of brown in the photo. In advertising, I feel like a good celebrity endorsement is the most effective tool in gaining awareness. I like the use of white space on the left to show what is being advertised in case if it wasn't clear in the photo. Following this ad, Kanye West had the opportunity to design shoes for Louis Vuitton.

Apple Ads

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://www.brandinfection.com/2007/01/23/faces-behind-the-apple-ads/

Critique: This is one of the many very iconic ads for Apple's campaign. This is the before and after photo. Again, I love the silhouette, it got rid of all the information that could get in the way of what is being advertised, the iPod. The simplicity of this ad and the colourful backgrounds is what made this so successful. I am a huge fan of this campaign, it was the start of the huge trend of not only owning an iPod, but white headphones as well. People would buy Apple headphones for their mp3s and honestly the Apple headphones aren't even that good. This shows how effective Apple was at advertising these products.

Rick Genest + Mugler

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://slamxhype.com/fashion/hint-magazine-interview-rick-genest/

Critique: This is an image for high end fashion brand, Mugler. It displays fellow Canadian, Rick Genest modeling their clothing. I love the photo and furthermore I love the concept behind the advertising of this collection. It is mainly suits and other high end clothing and accessories. We usually associate that with just classy working businessmen. But, the contrast between this guy and the clothing is great. He has tattoos all over his body, mainly tattooing what's inside on the outside. For example, he tattooed a skull on his head. I like this idea and it is very interesting. It will grab the viewers attention easily. Again, I love the simplicity of the ad. Less is definitely more and fashion campaigns have been implementing this for a while and they have done it well.

James Jean Art

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://www.complex.com/art-design/2011/04/dope-art-for-sale-james-jeans-lotus-war-day-and-night-prints

Critique: This is an art piece done by James Jean. It looks really good, the colours used for it are really eye catching. I like how everything is melting. The colours and some of the stuff in it really reminds me of Takashi Murakami's work. This is a very intricate piece, I like it.

Banksy

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://slamxhype.com/art-design/banksy-at-the-art-in-the-streets-exhibition/

Critique: This is another Banksy piece. Banksy is probably the most known street artist now and for good reason, he's really good. I like how political Banksy is with his art. This looks like a screen capture of the infamous Rodney King beating, but instead of Rodney King, Banksy replaced it with a pinata. This is likely a reference to the discrimination towards Mexicans in the USA. I like this, it is such a pixelated photo with such a clear and colourful pinata in the spotlight. The lighting and the colours draw attention to the pinata, making it the first thing you see.

Juxtapoz Issue

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://slamxhype.com/art-design/juxtapoz-the-art-on-the-streets-issue/

Critique: This cover is for a street art magazine named Juxtapoz. I like it, the natural brownish colour used for the background is really nice and it goes really well with the red image and the black title. These are displaying high levels of contrast. I like how they put the image in front of the title, but left enough of the text to make it readable.

Polaroid Hotel Book Cover

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://slamxhype.com/art-design/polaroid-hotel-by-patrick-hoelck-book-release-and-signing/

Critique: The use of space in this is great. I love the white space that is allotted for the cover. The Polaroid Hotel text is nice as well. I like how the "Polaroid" is more bolder than the "Hotel". The choice of photography is also nice to me, I like how real the photo looks. No editing or special effects were added and that is great when referring to a Polaroid.

Inventory Magazine Cover

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/04/inventory-volume-02-number-04/

Critique: Inventory is a Canadian fashion magazine. The covers for the upcoming issue is great. I love the simplicity in it. The photo is great and I like what they did with the sub headings putting them in between the lines rather than have them floating around. It looks very unified. It's a great cover, there's not much more to say or recommend.

THE NEW ORDER Magazine

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/04/the-new-order-magazine-issue-04/

Critique: The New Order magazine is a magazine ran by the people at SLAMXHYPE. The cover for this is pretty good. I like the textured background on the magazine at the front. The photo on the cover is also good, I like the red filter on it. The only thing I would consider is changing the title at the top to a different colour to create some more contrast to make it a bit easier to read.

Old Chanel Ad

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/2008/03/high-fashion-ad.html

Critique: This is an ad for Chanel from 1991, I don't even think I was born when this ad came out. But, I love it. The simplicity of it is great. The division between the model and the text is a fantastic idea. The colours used are great as well. I like the whole vintage look in terms of the image.

Fast or Die Book Cover

Date: April 20, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/04/55dsl-x-fakso-fast-or-die-project/

Critique: The cover for this book is great. The photography is well done and the typefaces selected are very readable. I really like the placement of the text and the size and spacing is well done. I love how the people behind the guy in front go off into a vanishing point. The size and placement of the guy at the front show hierarchy.

Neighborhood Magazine

Date: April 19, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/04/neighborhood-magazine-vol-7/

Critique: This is a Neighborhood magazine cover. This is a Japanese brand that focuses on street wear. The cover is nice, it really displays the current trend of raw photography. The typefaces are readable at its size and colour. The cover is good, I like how the neighborhood title fills the width of the page. The only suggestion I would make is to maybe scale down the bottom left text to better show "Flash Back" on his shirt.

Art & Agenda Book Cover

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://www.curatedmag.com/news/2011/04/18/art-agenda-political-art-and-activism-book/

Critique: I am a fan of this book cover. The levels of contrast used for the text make it the first thing you see when you see the cover. The size of it as well shows signs of hierarchy. The photo is great, but it looks like the image is repeated. You can see the same image coming from the spine. That is the only thing I don't like from what I see. Other than that, it looks good.

Mr Bathing Ape Ties

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/04/mr-bathing-ape-2011-springsummer-ties/

Critique: These are ties by Bathing Ape. The Bathing Ape camo is really nice, the use of the ape's face in it is great. This is probably my favourite camo pattern. And the touch of camo on a nice suit would be fantastic. Not much hierarchy is shown in the ties, maybe in an outfit it would show hierarchy.

‘License To Thrill’ Playboy Editorial

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://www.curatedmag.com/news/2011/04/06/license-to-thrill-playboy-editorial-by-jared-ryder-aerosyn-lex/aero-playboy-01-curatedmag/

Critique: This is a Playboy editoral image. This really catches my eye. It is so reminiscent of the Moulin Rouge style, but with a modern twist. The editorial is very eye catching, I really like the shapes and the patterns used. The high levels of contrast is also very visually appealing. There's a great sense of balance and hierarchy is shown in size in this editorial.

Street Ad Takeover

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://www.curatedmag.com/news/2011/04/06/street-ad-takeover/takeover-01-curatedmag/

Critique: I believe this was done by a street artist, I'm not too sure who did it. But, I like it. The message is very strong. The series of these is pointing fun at all of the bad advertisements and it also points out the inconveniences of advertisements as well. This one for example, pokes fun at commercials. The actual design of this poster isn't great, but it's not supposed to be great. There's something about something intentionally being 'bad' that catches my eye more than things trying to be so good.

Travis Barker Album Cover

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://www.curatedmag.com/news/2011/03/16/travis-barker-album-cover-art-exhibition-recap/

Critique: This is the album cover for Travis Barker's new album. I kind of like the design of it, the gun is a little unnecessary though. Travis tries to sell himself as such a bad boy sometimes, it can get annoying. But, a high level of contrast is used with the colour scheme. Red with white and/or black is the highest contrasting colour. The focal point of this is the gun. A level of hierarchy is seen in this cover, the size is one indicator and the repitition of the 'Fragile' sticker and the 1 gun is also an indicator. If that wasn't enough of an indicator, they even added a glow around the gun.

Air Jordan Ad

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://www.eukicks.com/vintage-air-jordan-print-ads-mars-blackmon/

Critique: Now, this is a classic image especially for me. I am heavily influenced by the sneaker culture, yes there is one, it's crazy and full of elitists. This advertisement displays Spike Lee with Michael Jordan's shoe on his head. It's implying that Jordan is jumping over him and it could also be referring to the sneaker culture which is often called the 'sneakerhead' culture. I like the ad, the only thing I would consider changing is Spike Lee's hand, the lighting on it could take away from what is actually being highlighted, the shoes. And maybe a tad more lighting on Spike's face.

Coops Paints Ad

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://yorgonestoridis.com/yorgo-nestoridis-development/semiomantics/do-you-like-my-ads/

Critique: This is a guerrilla/ambient advertisement done by Coops. Details about the cars included aren't known, but the idea is amazing. There's no way an average person would walk or drive by without seeing this. The tagline (seen on the right building) is also great, it is a bent image with a straight headline (learned this in conceptual process). An important thing that makes this ad stand out so much is the colour of the paint. It is a high contrasting colour when put against a dark colour. It's a neon green that will not be missed, I'm sure this advertisement brought a lot of attention to the brand.

Adidas All In Commercial

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE9wbeJSqIc

Critique: This is a recent advertisement for Adidas, it was directed by Romain Gavras. I love this ad, it is very raw and I feel an easy way to achieve success with advertisements is celebrity endorsements. This commercial is full of celebrities. The raw style where it looks like it wasn't even edited that much is great. Also, the way it is directed brings a lot of suspense to the table.

Tyler The Creator YONKERS Video *BEWARE (Explicit Lyrics)

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSbZidsgMfw

Critique: This is the first video I am posting. This is a music video for Tyler, the Creator. He composed the song, wrote it, and directed the video himself. He is a do-it-yourself person, he even does his own artwork for posters and album covers. This music video is the video that got him so much hype. The art direction in it is amazing. I haven't seen anything like it. It's very simple and displays him rapping in a black and white video with the focus going crazy sometimes displaying him as a silhouette. This is probably the best video I've seen this year.

Tyler The Creator x Supreme Ad

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/03/ollie-magazine-supreme-2011-springsummer-editorial/

Critique: This ad features recent rising star, Tyler the Creator. It is an ad or Supreme clothing. I like this ad, it is very raw in a sense that little was done in post production for the photo. I like that aspect because it then focuses more on the actual photo instead of relying on photoshop to fix everything. Everything is great, except I feel the text in the top right could use more contrast to make it more readable.

Bape Magazine Ad

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/03/a-bathing-ape-2011-summer-collection-catalog/

Critique: Now, this is the cover of A Bathing Ape's magazine. The cover is very typical, I'm not a big fan of it. I'm not a fan of the model, I feel they could have used a better model. I don't like how everything is on the right side. Maybe, if they were to put the bottom text to the left and move the shopping bags image and text down a bit to where his exposed arm is. The negative shape there kind of resembles a part of the circle, so it might work well.

Jay-Z's New Website

Date: April 18, 2011
Source: http://lifeandtimes.com/

Critique: Jay-Z recently launched a new website. Information as to what the information is exactly is a little unclear to me, I think it's just like a blog though. Anyways, the design of the website is nice. I like it. It can be a little confusing though. Each photo is a link to a new page. So it's kind of frustrating navigating around. The logo and typefaces used are great. I'm not sure what the typefaces are, but I really enjoy very thin, but readable typefaces. Other than that, the website is visually appealing.

Peter Sutherland

Date: April 7, 2011
Source: http://www.complex.com/art-design/2011/04/herding-the-flock-by-peter-sutherland

Critique: This is a photograph that I seen on Complex. I love the simplicity of the photo. The contrast of the white and black really highlights the person running in the photo, who happens to be near the center of the photo. Black and white photography is one of my favourites, it really lets the viewer colour in the photo with their imagination. And it also seems like black and white photography have more emotions in it.

Jeff Koons Figure

Date: April 7, 2011
Source: http://www.complex.com/art-design/2011/04/jeff-koons-figure-is-hilarious

Critique: I love this figure. It uses great colours, the pink and grey go well together. It's humourous and would likely lighten up someones day. It uses repetition of shapes. It is made up of mainly round shapes and it is dressed up with the realistic looking clothing and head.

D*Face Mural

Date: April 7, 2011
Source: http://hypebeast.com/2011/04/dface-mural-in-los-angeles/

Critique: I stated that I enjoy black and white photography, but with illustrations I love colours. I am a huge pop art fan. The colours in this mural are great. The colours used for the woman represents what she is so well. The leopard print jacket, red lipstick and the well combed hair shows that this is a classy woman. And the man is quite the opposite, darker colours were used for him. I have a lot of respect for street artists, it really brings life to a city when done properly.