Working with color

     Last Thursday in BDS 101, we talked about the principles of color in design and how colors can work together to create different color unity strategies. Our first assignment was to go out and take/find 24 photos that represented the color vocabulary discussed in class. Today, we posted all of our examples up on the wall in class:

My 24 examples (sorry, it's a little blurry)

     For this project my friend Anna, who is also in the class, and I headed to Target knowing we'd find many of the color properties on advertisements, packaging, and magazines. All of my photos were of products found at the Target here in Lawrence, besides one I took of my student planner and another of the logo on a K-cup I found in my room. I found this project really interesting once we started taking photos and discussing the color vocabulary and looking at real life examples. The only difficult part was that most of the categories/definitions we were looking for overlapped in my mind and I felt many of the pictures could have been used to describe multiple color techniques. I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you to show you a little bit more of what we worked on.

Transitions in hues, value, or chroma - eliminate big visual leaps and
help the viewer's visual path slow down and make sense of the image.

Contrasting hues - includes colors that
 are far apart on the color wheel.

Harmonious hues - the use of two or more colors that
are next to each other on the color wheel.

Limited palette - using only a few hues to create unity.

Key the color - adding a hue to each color in the design makes
the palette more harmonious and suggest temperature.

     Two of my favorites are the Starbucks advertisement and the La Croix logo. I love how the Starbucks ad used opposing colors on the color wheel (forms of red and green) yet the design looks unified and appealing. My favorite part about the La Croix logo is the color scheme they chose (colors that are right next to each other on the color wheel) because it looks easy, effort less, and calming. Plus, it doesn't hurt that my favorite color is blue and they have that in there.

     My studio classes have definitely proved to be different than the typical math and english pre-reqs I took last year, but after a week of class I feel like I'm finally getting into the design groove. I'm really enjoy getting to use the "artsy" side of my brain in my classes this year, which is something I really was missing last year in my classes. Plus, if you know me at all you'd probably know Project Runway is one of my favorite shows. Being in studio secretly makes me feel like I'm in Project Runway, which I love. Especially when my teacher Tim comes are and critiques our work. (Get it? - like Tim Gunn!)

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." 

-Mark Twain

About Me

HI! I've always secretly wanted to be a blogger but have also always thought there's no way my life is interesting enough to write about. I thought maybe if someday I traveled to Europe or did something cool like get married (I'm an avid newlywed blog reader), maybe I could find more interesting things to write about. I also figured sometime here at KU I would have to create one in one of my journalism or design classes since blogging is one of the new up-and-coming forms of communication. Sure enough, this year in my BDS 101: Think and Make class in the design school we were asked to create a blog to document our projects, design inspiration, etc. So that brings me to now, and my reasoning for making this blog. I'll be updating posts about my thoughts/learnings from my design classes as well as with progress on my projects. Also, I hope to update it with my own thoughts, crafts, and learnings from everyday life.

Name: Allie Welch
Studying at: The University of Kansas
Class status: Sophomore
Current living arrangements: Chi Omega house at KU
Majoring in: Graphic Design
Minoring in: Journalism
Starbucks order: grande non fat pumpkin spiced latte with an extra shot
Currently listening to: Ben Rector
Favorite online shopping/browsing: Threadsence or ModCloth
Twitter: @allie_ann93
Pinterest: aawelch
My blog muse: Sincerely, Kinsley
Avid follower of Jesus, coffee, and KU basketball.





Sophomore year will be different and challenging, mostly because I just switched my major to graphic design. Don't get me wrong, I'm super stoked about it! Just worried about things like my drawing studio because I have no drawing experience. But this is an amazing opportunity to learn new things I  never thought I'd get training in. Not only that, but last year I missed having opportunities to be creative in my classes. After working as a designer for a university publication, JayPlay (an insert in the University Daily Kansan's paper, that they canceled this year) I realized that creative spice in my life is exactly what I had been missing. So in the new and frustrating times this semester promises to bring, I'm going to keep a level head by clinging to the truths I find in the Bible. This summer when working at Kanakuk one of the Psalms really stuck out to me and was one of my go-to verses for most of the summer:

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth."
Psalm 139:13-15

My goal for the year is to trust in those verses and that He made me perfectly. Part of that being my love for design, making things, traveling, and being creative.

With love,
Allie