Adobe Illustrator

Student Forum
#22

There you go - you failed your assignment.

I think we’re getting off track here.

As far as the brief goes, I don’t know if you hit all the marks, regarding symbols. It says 3mm from the edge, but appears to be a blue/black border around the page edge - and no bleed.

As far as the imagery goes - it looks more like an Easter thing than a baby announcement.
I’ve researched baby announcements and this is not the type of imagery associated. The bird associated with births is the Stork.

Nothing saying you can’t do what you do - but it looks more like an Easter thing.

It’s very difficult to know if you did actually draw those yourself - the chick for example there’s plenty online with a very similar style. I’m sure there’s a very familar way to draw chicks in cartoon fashion - but there’s very similar styles to this which throws up a red flag for me.
Same with the broken egg - how many ways can be a broken egg be though, right? So again can’t say for certain.

But these image clues and some online research doesn’t show up ‘exact matches’.
It’s part of your brief, that’s why I mention it.

I don’t think you hit the brief on this one, the imagery is not really matching the message.
Does the message match the imagery?

A chick breaking out of an egg, is that a little ‘sterotyping’.
Which can be a little insensitive to how gender is perceived in modern society.

I get that you used red instead of pink, but RED is a danger colour.
The association of specific colors with genders is a social construct that can vary across cultures and time periods. In contemporary contexts, other colors such as lavender, pastel shades, or even neutral colors like yellow, green, or white can also be used to celebrate the birth of a girl. Ultimately, color choices are subjective.

Overall - your techinque to ‘steal’ from other sources (flower for example) - and I don’t know what else as you have admitted to this it’s hard to find the trust now.

When you lose the trust of a client or an employee it’s a difficult road back.

Not being hard on you, just letting you know.

Ditch the white flower if you ‘stole’ it.

But I think the ‘theme’ and message are out of kilter to be honest.

1 Like
#23

Hello Smurf 2,
how can I fix the bleed? I’m struggling with it…

My thought was actually Easter,
because I was born Easter and that gave me the idea to make the card with Easter thema. But if you don’t like the idea, I’m sure you know better than me, because I have no experience.

I’ve made everything on the picture except the white flower. I won’t try to change your mind😝 my teacher will see that I draw everything by myself when I’ll send him the ai. file.

As for the color that I have chosen, I have to use only the basic colors for my first assignment and the only pink that exists is magenta. I wanted something lighter.

Thank you for your message and your honesty. :blush:

#24

Your assignment says no bleed - which is what you have and is correct.
My point is there is a box or something around the page? Maybe I’m wrong, but looks like you have a border on the whole artboard. Which would be a fail - as all artwork should be 3mm from the edge. Which it seems you have.
If you have an outer box around the artboard then it should be removed.

I don’t have any personal like or dislike. I’m just telling you what I see.
It’s a birth announcement that looks like an easter greeting, to me.

I accept your word on it that you created everything - and that you drew everything yourself in Illustrator.
But my point is you lose the trust when you admit to stealing even 1 thing - then the whole thing is thrown into disarray because the trust is gone.

There are more basic colours in Illustrator than red.

Take the critique anyway you like, implement, don’t implement.

If you’re happy with it and can justify your choices then go for it.

I’ve often stood in a room with an ‘out there’ idea in front of a bunch of corporate executives who are furrowing their brows at the presenation.

And once explained in depth they get it and love it - and love an outside the box idea.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with thinking outside the box.

#25

I’m beginning to think, no not even beginning, I’m positive that these days, young people are being taught to be way too sensitive about just about everything. A parent doing a birth announcement would not know the chosen gender of a child until much later, much less equate it with a baby chick.
A chick can be either male or female. In fact when chicks are just hatched, it’s almost impossible to determine their sex.
And yes I’m aware of the slang term for which chick is used…

Looking at the date, it is obviously near Easter so the theme is appropriate if the parents celebrate Easter. At Easter, color is color. The red of the egg matches other elements in the design. A chicken egg, especially at Easter, doesn’t have to be white or brown.

And there is a white border at what looks like 3mm all around. The black line is most probably the artboard or the indication of the artboard, not a border. It appears to have an artboard dropshadow on it on the bottom and right if you blow up the image.

There is a flower symbol in my version of illustrator that is similar to these flowers, but not the same. It would be a simple matter of modifying that to get these flower shapes, or using it as a learning tool to make them.

The design theory is lacking, but I’m willing to give the student the benefit of the doubt on the art without knowing how long the course has been and what lessons were given to get to this point. It looks like the intent of the brief has been fulfilled. I see a lot of beginner play here that needs refining, ie overuse of fuzzy drop shadows and mixing of styles, but that refinement comes with practice.

I also see a bit of this kind of thing with interns who have grown up with drawing apps on their phones. A few interns have worked rings around me in Photoshop because of that, LOL!

#26

I’m guessing it’s an announcement and a party for people to come meet the baby.

Very specific place/time/date for the actual birth.

And who knows, maybe the baby will choose their own gender…

#27

I am studying Graphic Communications and I have a neurological difficulty, particularly with memory and multi-tasking. All your comments (Smurf2’s comments) are very informative and helpful, which I will use for my present and future assignments and projects. Thank you.
Also, MariaPSa21, I don’t have any further comments on critiquing your work, but I wish you the best of luck.