Creating a Business Card | GDT Week 1 - Project 1

As project number one in my "Graphic Design Theory" course, I was assigned to create a business card in Photoshop, whether it was a personal business card or a fictional company business card. One of the goals of this activity was to apply the basic principles of Graphic Design and to use basic tools in the app, such tools as text, alignment, color picker, and layers (I added some shapes too).

via GCFGlobal.org

In order to create the card, I had to navigate the program. For those who don't know what Photoshop is, let me tell you:

Photoshop is a software application that belongs to the Adobe Apps family. It focuses on image and photo editing/retouching, but it also allows you to manipulate other graphics as well. It can be very powerful if you use it correctly, but of course, for some is gonna take more time to get used to the program than to others, it takes practice!!!

Also, to start the design, I had to make sure, I knew what the Basic Principles of Graphic Design are and refer to, they are CRAP, but not the type you're imagining!

• Contrast: is an idea of how the different colors, shapes, and sizes, will emphasize and impact the design. 
• Repetition: creates associations in the design by reusing some key themes in it. These rules help you create unity.
• Alignment: is how you place the design elements on a page, this way you get a unified result.
• Proximity: is related to alignment, it's about keeping images and text visually grouped together.

After knowing all that, I could have started my design, but no, not yet. I was missing the research part. I decided to make a fictional business card, the idea in my head was about a private investigator, so I had to look up some possible names for the company and the person, the feelings I wanted to evoke when someone got my business card and the elements that will help me achieve those things.

When my professor assigned this activity, he left some ideas to think about:

Think about the principles and the desired perception of the company. What colors reinforce those feelings in the audience?  What typefaces and shapes help reinforce the appropriate message? Is there an evident visual hierarchy?

Creative Process

via flaticon.es

I had to do some research to get my ideas going and complete a design because even though my idea was about a private investigator and I have watched some movies, I'm not an expert on the topic. So first, I defined the company's name: Alias Checkers, and then got the ideas of how I wanted the company to be perceived. 

Some key principles a private investigator's business should have are:

• Legality: a detective activity must be guided by positive regulations (Constitution and Laws) that regulate detective activity. 
• Methodology: a detective activity should be systematically planned from start to finish. 
• Secrecy: a detective activity must adhere to keeping the business secret in the investigation process. 
• Trust: a detective gets a good reputation with his correct attitude toward the clients.  
• Humanity: a detective acts in a humane manner, sticking to general moral and ethical norms. 

A private investigator is curious, spontaneous, confident, and often quiet. 

Knowing those features, and the principles of the business, and after gathering the elements I wanted in the design and having applied the principles of design, I created the business card I present below.

Front

Back

What was I hoping to accomplish with the piece?

• What was the message? To be seen as a trustworthy and serious company that provides a reliable and effective service. 
• Who is the audience? Anyone could need the services of a private investigator. The company's headquarter is based in the U.S. but has branch offices internationally, so it offers help to anyone in need. 
• How do the colors I chose help reinforce the message? I chose the colors based on what I wanted to project and what looked visually better. Every color influence people's emotions in a certain way, so I chose three colors that work well combined together and relate to the message I want to evoke. I could have stuck to the gold duo: black and white, but I wanted to add something else, to differentiate it from other designs. 
• Midnight Blue #191970, RGB (25,25,112): this color evokes deepness, mystery, and calmness.
• White #FFFFFF, RGB (255,255,255): this color is a good base because it looks clean, simple, and pure.
• Black #000000, RGB (0,0,0): this color represents power, elegance, and again, adds mystery.
• Why did I choose the typefaces I did? I chose a typeface that is visually good and serious looking, also legible and has a very clean style design, making it an elegant typeface. The one I used is called Bahnschrift, a variable sans-serif font family developed by Microsoft. From its family, I used Bahnschrift Regular and Bahnschrift Bold.
• Did I consider other alternatives, and if so, why were the choices I made superior? About the design itself, I tried different typefaces, shapes, and elements. After organizing all my elements in different ways, I decided that my final idea resulted in an eye-catching design, it has enough elements, it looks balanced, and has colors that reinforce what I want to transmit.
• What did I learn from doing this project? I learned that you can do a lot with just a few tools. Everything gets easier with practice and making designs is an activity that takes more than just choosing a color and putting some words together.

This project was interesting, fun, and creative. It took me some time to get it done but as I said before, all it takes is practice and desire to create more and better!

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Sources of information:
🔍https://blog.shillingtoneducation.com/graphic-design-basic-principles/
🔍http://www.detective.mk/blog-post/60717/basic-principles-in-performing-detective-activity/#:~:text=The%20key%20principles%20of%20the,truthfulness%20and%20objectivity%2C%20principle%20of