Assignment 5

For this assignment, I chose to do a Christmas card. I think Chinese New Year cards are not suitable as those are usually in red, and if I were to experiment with color schemes, they'll look funny? Thus, I drew a dog looking at a snowman. This is also to continue with my dog theme. The postcard's composition follows the rule of thirds. Here's the sketch:

The postcard shows that the dog wants the snowman's hat as a Christmas gift (since Christmas is a time of giving and sharing). To make the idea more obvious, the text reads "Can't wait for Christmas?" In addition, I used the same contrasting colors and patterns for the dog's sweater and the snowman's hat.

After working on the Illustrator version, I found the text in the sketch to be too small. Thus I experimented with the layout and decided to put it below the horizon, on the snow.

The four colors I used are blue, green, red and orange. Blue and green are cool colors while the other two are warm colors. This creates contrast, which brings attention to the sweater and the hat. Initially I used bright red and green, but I found them to be too vibrant, so I chose darker shades.

I wanted to keep the design simple, thus I did not draw clouds, snow or the sun in the sky. Instead, I added a gradient to the background to depict light (due to the sun). This color scheme is hence known as "bright daylight." Here are my other color schemes:

 

I named the color schemes after the feelings they evoke (e.g. passionate, warm and cozy), or the objects they remind me of (e.g. nature, chocolate). Most of the color schemes have contrasting colors, except "chocolate," which is monochrome.

Next I did the back of the postcard.

I followed the example in the lecture notes. I only changed the image (where the stamp should be) to the dog on the front, so as to reiterate my theme.

Experimenting with colors is fun! =)