As you can tell....

I have been pretty busy. My apologies for lack of posting recently. It's time to get back in the saddle and start again. As for today, here's a quick update with what I have been doing:

• Working on my project research so I can graduate this semester
• Freaking out a bit about graduation because I have a TON left to do
• Wishing that I didn't have a slump in the middle of the semester; I would be so much farther along
• Kicking butt in Illustrator and taking names
  
• Searching, applying, and researching jobs (Any advertising companies hiring creatives in Chicago?)
• Have a new portfolio domain name and built the website from scratch in 3 days (see screenshot at top)
  
• lindseypionekdesigns.com
• Became a Twitter freak (it's much faster than blog posts [though I do love blogging] and I have been learning much from individuals I am following (you can see a small feed on the right)
• Workin' it at my GA
• Found out for my 16 hours I work, I have to commute 8 additional hours (no wonder why I feel like I have no time. However, I love my apartment location)
• Started a running program
• Only to have it delayed by badly rolling my ankle 5 days after by missing a few steps (graceful, I know)
• Finally, after 2 weeks the bruising and swelling is almost gone
• Spent Easter with my cousin grilling out
• Bought my graduation dress, even though I haven't heard anything about buying robes
• Realized that tourists come out of the woodwork when its above 70F in Chicago
• Refusing to pay for heat anymore because it has been too expensive for my taste
• Sketched out a Dachshund (one of my dogs) and manually drew every bone in their little bodies for a project about canine Intervertebral Disk Disease

So there you go, a little update on what I have been up to. I have a few graphic design pieces that I completed that I will be posting in the next day or two.

Lindsey Pionek Designs home page. Lindsey Pionek. 2010. Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver.

The Branding Process Part 3: Print Advertising

Now that the logo was created to easily identify the brand/product, advertising is the next step. A company may have an awesome product with a fantastic logo, but without advertising no one would know about it. That doesn't help much, does it?

My thought process behind creating the print ad series was to create something approachable with plenty of open space to entice individuals to stop and take a look at the ad and encourage them to find out more. I made the cell characters to reflect the textual content included, the simplified way Promeaga works, and to make the ad welcoming as well as a bit humorous. I decided to have them as the main focus with lots of white space to keep the ad clean and in contrast from other ads (You have seen them. Many are so bright, content-filled, and busy to attract the consumers' eyes that they look like the many other ads and completely lose purpose because of this.). The logo is clean, modern, and a bit carefree so I wanted that to be expressed in the ad as well through the design and the colors used.

So there you have it. Full, half, and quarter page ads.

Promeaga ad series. Lindsey Pionek. 2009. Adobe Illustrator and InDesign CS4.

The Branding Process: Part 2

Above is the logo chosen with the color and text choices that made the cut. I have a few reasons why I chose this logo above the others:

- The modern design reflects the characteristic of Promeaga be a "new" and revolutionary drug.
- The center ovals of the logo symbolize a cell with a nucleus which is the level that the drug performs at.
- The outer loop of the logo has a whimsical look. This was added to create an approachable and "take action" feel. It was made to look like someone took a marker and circled the cell; the way that Promeaga works. The negative space that interrupts this loop heightens this take action aura and creates interest.
- The logo looks like an abstract target, one of the key words and ways that Promeaga works in the body.

Adding the brand name to the logo was the next step. As you can see from the examples, I wanted to use a san-serif font to mimic the clean and modern feel of the logo. I ended up with a thin, rounded san-serif named VAG Rounded in title case which worked well with the roundness of the logo and the way the letters created even more circles in the brand name.

Lastly, color is added to the logo. Color is very important in the branding process. Colors aren't just chosen to make the logo pretty, there is a large amount of psychology and symbolism behind each and every color. I have always been interested in color psychology, so choosing colors was an enjoyable task. The orange-red gradient and the vibrant light blue were chosen with aesthetic and psychological purposes. The blue signifies a state of disease, yet the shade of blue does not look dangerous or grotesque. The orange is a very vibrant and active color, but after some more research, I found that the color orange stimulates the immune system. This works for this logo since Promeaga doesn't compromise the immune system, yet is able to rid the body of cancerous cells. In the end, the final logo is modern, optimistic and approachable; exactly what I wanted this pharmaceutical drug is to represent.



Logo color and typography concepts and final Promeaga logo design. 2009. Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator CS4.

The Branding Process: Part 1

In the process of (finally) presenting all of my work from the past semester, here is the first part of my branding assignments from my Advanced Graphic Design class with Donna Hughes. The first part of the branding process was logo development. A logo should embody an organization or product, therefore a designer should dedicate an ample amount of time in research. Donna taught us this by requiring us to complete a few forms, which included a product identity, as well as filling out a concepting matrix, which included word, image, and color association list. I decided to create a logo for an imaginary pharmaceutical drug, Promeaga. Why? I didn't want to mimic anything on the market, recreate present branding, and most importantly, I wanted to put myself in a real-life situation with creating a new logo. Let's take a look at the process with the Promeaga logo.

Product Identity
Name of product: Promeaga (Echinomycin doxorubictin)

What exactly does the product do?
Promeaga is a cancer suppressant pharmaceutical that successfully repairs the human p53 gene, the transcription factor that prevent genome mutation by initiating apoptosis (premeditated cell death). In most cancers this transcription factor is mutated, therefore Promeaga would be able to restore the function of apoptosis in cancer patients, providing a better chance of restoring normal function in cancer patients.

Describe the industry of which the product is a part.
Promeaga is part of the new findings and experimentation of Merck & Co. Merck & Co is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company devotes extensive e fforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines, but help deliver them to the people who need them.

How does the product fit in this industry? What is unique about it that sets it apart from others in the market? What is similar that keeps it competitive within the market?)
Promeaga is the first product to benefit cancer patients of all kinds without the negative e ffects of chemotherapy. This drug provides a step ahead towards the actual cure for cancer. Though this drug is not the cure-all, Promeaga targets the transcription factor that initiates apoptosis, which stops the mutated cells from multiplying and make the cancer deadly. With the death of cancer-causing cells, there is a better chance of survival normal functioning cells and the patient. This drug, as beneficial as it is, is one step closer to the cure for cancer, though it does not fully provide society with the cure for cancer. Therefore, there is a sufficient amount of research yet to be done by pharmaceutical companies to find the cure.

Audience Profile Who is the audience (end user) for the product? Describe their personality as a group.
The audience in for patients with all types of cancer that would like to see an alternative to treatment other than chemotherapy. They are likely very sick and exhausted from dealing with their cancer. The patients will most likely be happy to know that there is a better treatment option than chemotherapy, and one that could potentially cure many of numerous types of cancers. Cancer patients tend to be hopeful through their treatment and are more willing to try new procedures. They want to rid themselves of the cancer with as little pain and su ffering as possible.

What is the accepted/preferred visual language of the audience? Research example of what they are used to seeing and what is successful in communicating with them.
The visual language for cancer patients follows a positive outlook for curing cancer. Though the drugs and therapies are not highly advertised, organizations for all types of cancer show images of hope, love, family, strength, life. All imagery is active and positive. Though the audience is faced with the possibility of a shortened life, the advertising takes them away from this to keep them positive during their treatment and not willing to give up on their battle.

What is the primary message you want the audience to receive about the product? (This should be a simple, clear answer—one concise sentence.)
Promeaga provides cancer patients with more hope and promise than any other cancer treatment.

What is the secondary message you want the audience to receive about the product?
Promeaga gives cancer patients their lives back by providing a more comfortable treatment.



After product identity was in place, I was able to go to the concepting matrix. Though this matrix did not have to be followed, it is a fantastic tool for experimentation and spurring thought and creativity. Afterwards, I worked on thumbnails of possible logo ideas in black and white. Below are images of these worksheets as well as a my top choices for the final logo. Which one do you think I chose to finish?

Echo-echo-echo-echolocation

Echolocation is a complex process and an even more difficult one to illustrate since most of the mechanism works with air, sound waves, and nerve impulses. However, I wanted to do something with my favorite animal in a biological illustration, so I was determined. Working with my newly experimented graphic style was much easier this time so that wasn't much of an issue like last time. Another factor that made this illustration difficult was the lack of accurate bottlenose dolphin anatomy; most of my findings were schematic in nature. This was why my initially-planned first illustration became my last. I needed to do lots of research to find what I was looking for.

What do you think?

Echolocation mechanism of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. 2009.

Do you have LowT?

Hint: Only males go through this! Now there is a reason behind the mid-life crisis. Yes, decreased levels of testosterone in men create a "male menopause" more formally known as andropause. I was intrigued by this more recent finding so I wanted to create a print PSA dealing with this subject. Since there are many physical and mental changes when men undergo this time in their life, I decided to play with the idea of the "spice of life". I am satisfied with the idea, but it was difficult using numerous images and making them cohesive in one image. Yes, each one of those bottles are different images, as well as the shelf and the reaching hand. I used a few techniques in photoshop to create shadows to make the bottles seem close together and "grounded" on the shelf. Creating a homemade set-up and shooting the image and tweaking in photoshop afterward would have been a better solution in my eyes. If only I didn't have a budget (or maybe a high-end camera)!

"IsItLowT?" print PSA. Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator. 2009.

Oh Dura!

Here is my first illustration completed for Advanced Illustration for this past and long gone summer semester. This illustration depict the dural membranes and sinuses of the skull, which are vital to take waste products and extra fluid away from the brain (sinuses) as well as helping the brain stay put (membranes). I wanted to work with my new graphic style of line and transparencies in medical illustration. Needless to say, it was more difficult than I would have expected in the way that I had to practice my restraint in creating too much detail. Plus, the view is very different angle compared to typical anatomical illustrations and photographs, so finding references was a bit of an issue too. Osirix became an essential tool for obtaining an accurate view for the illustration. In the end I am happy about the end product and I like the clean lines and subdued color palette. It is a very different style than what you see in most anatomical illustrations today.

Dural Sinuses. Lindsey Pionek. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. 2009.

Logo Design

Since it was a pretty uneventful day of working on projects in 3D Studio Max, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign (yeah, I know, uneventful right?), and nothing is quite completed, I decided to show today a logo that I made a couple of weeks ago for a friend from undergrad. He's part of a group that does some pretty cool underground excursions in the Twin Cities. During the middle of Christmas break, when I was stir crazy from being in Wisconsin with all of the snow, he asked me if I wanted to create a logo for T-shirts and other memorabilia. I agreed and he gave me a bit of info and I had the idea right away, but because I didn't have anything to keep my mind stimulated, I forgot about it until he reminded me 2 weeks into my 2nd semester in the Biomedical Visualization program. I was already busy with school, but I felt incredibly bad (and a little stupid) for forgetting about it. So I finished it and thank goodness he loved it. I like it too and I got to play with some more tools in Illustrator and some more fun fonts.

I loved doing it even though I was busy....I want to improve more! :D

(Sorry everyone, for some reason, the logo jpeg didn't come up the first time when I did the actual post.... don't ask me why.)

TCCS Crawlers Syndicate Logo. Lindsey Pionek, 2009.

Inflammatory Response

Assignment numero dos for the week of Hell: Process Graphic. I chose the nonspecific inflammatory response for the general public for print. I think it turned out well and I had a lot of fun doing it! My style is becoming more graphic and I love to work with Illustrator and find new tools to use when I can. Phew, thank goodness this week went by fast!