1. Samantha Maxwell
April 19, 2012
7th Period
Senior Project Speech
Every day we are faced with thousands of different products and services to choose from. So
why do we choose the ones we do? When we see two different products on a shelf, what makes
us choose this over this? When we choose these products, the majority of the time it’s because
we subconsciously like the way it looks. If it looks like a product that matches our specific needs
or wants, we buy it. It makes sense, then, that these packages were not designed arbitrarily.
Graphic language has the most effect on people in the modern world because it transmits
information in a split second and we can relate to images more easily than we can to words.
Whenever you see this symbol, or this one, or this one, you are looking at a design that
somebody has spent hours and hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars on. Every facet of this
design was chosen with you, the consumer, in mind.
This is the reason I chose graphic design as the topic of my senior project. I love the
idea of creating images and corporate personas that go largely unnoticed but subconsciously
affect not only the consumers of that given product, but ultimately affect our entire society and
how it responds to what it sees.
My facilitator also played a big part in inspiring me to choose graphic design for this
project. His name is John Cutsinger and he is a creative accounts manager for Josten’s
yearbooks. I met him through my experience as editor in chief of the yearbook and he has been
a huge part of my development as a designer.
I started this project with my research paper on the history of graphic design, and it was
writing that paper that I really learned how new an idea true graphic design is. Countless visual
artists have contributed to this new kind of art, but graphic design did not become prevalent until

2. the Victorian era when normal people started having enough money to buy luxury items. That
being said, graphic design is such a fast-paced industry that at times it can seem like everything
has already been done. Good design then becomes a matter of taking old, worn out ideas and
making them work in a new way for a different product. This is where my facilitator stepped in
and suggested to me that I use the font Helvetica for my first project. Since 1957, Helvetica has
been the default sans-serif font (meaning it doesn’t have feet). Upon its creation, it was a
novelty and was very widely used. Around the rise of the postmodern era, its popularity started
to wane. Recently, it has come back in style as a sort of novelty. It’s still widely used, by my
facilitator challenged me to use it in a different way.
I decided to use Helvetica in a coffee shop poster advertisement. I geared the product
toward young, busy people that didn’t have the time or the money for a company like Starbucks.
Unlike most coffee shops, I opted for a very modern, clean design with plenty of white space.
On the other hand, I alternated between different point sizes and different typefaces from the
Helvetica family while introducing three signature colors to keep the identity light and fun. I ran
into a roadblock when it came to designing the company logo because a logotype (a logo
consisting only of letters) seemed too boring. After playing around with a few different
possibilities, I finally decided to opt for coffee beans in the counter (which is the closed space of
a letter) of the u. This provided the poster with a fun graphic that wasn’t overwhelming enough
to distract from the main purpose of the poster.
After completing the poster I moved on to designing the business card. This was difficult
at first because the program I was using for this project, InDesign, doesn’t have templates for
business cards. I realized that I had to look up the standard size of a business card, which is
three and a half inches by two inches. Since InDesign doesn’t work in inches, I had to convert
this sizing to picas and points which are the standard measurements used in design. When I
started designing, I kept true to the theme that I had already established in the poster, which
would reinforce product recognition. I used the logo I developed for the poster and implemented

3. the same three colors to create a large, attention-grabbing headline with a short phrase to help
emphasize speedy service. I then added the owner’s contact information is simple black
Helvetica Bold, all lowercase, to insinuate to the consumer that she was reliable and
personable.
I concluded the coffee shop project with a sign that would traditionally be placed outside
the shop. The sign is a modified version of the logo which can be easily placed in a window or in
a lighted sign on the building itself. Large, readable type and, once again, product recognition
were the key factors in designing this sign.
For my next project, both my facilitator and I agreed that I should go a completely
different direction. I chose to create advertisements for an upcoming film festival entitled
“Roots.” I chose High Tower Text as my font and played around with the type to make it appear
as if trees were growing out of the straight parts of the letters. After that, I got stuck for a while,
because I hated all the white space and lack of color. I decided that a word as earthy as “roots”
needed an earthier background. I then tea stained a sheet of paper and scanned it into my
computer, where I edited the picture in Photoshop to look darker and placed it behind the text.
For a splash of color, I added red leaves that get progressively smaller and more transparent,
with a drip coming from the smallest. My facilitator and I argued about the drip for a while, but
finally decided that it anchored the text to the graphics on the page.
The business card looks very similar but with a slightly lighter background to display the
contact information more clearly at a small size. The graphics and text all take up the right half
of the card while the left purposely has a large amount of white space.
The ticket features the same “roots” logotype on the left, but the main focus is on the
words “All Access Pass.” Once again, the signature leaf pattern and the drip provide framing
around the left side of the ticket.
For my final project, I wanted to feature what would be, if it existed, an atypical company.
The idea for this project was a restaurant that provided healthier fast food options. For the

4. poster, I focused on the typical pairing of fast food items—normally a burger and fries but
pictured instead an apple and banana. The signature green color is pulled from the apple but
provides enough of a contrast to make the photos of the fruit pop. All the text is in white
Trebuchet MS in either italic or bold. This piece, like the coffee shop project, is very clean and
clutter-free, but the bright green in the background provides the necessary pop of color.
The business card is also simple, with the same white typeface presenting the
information as clearly as possible at such a small size. The background features the same
bright green but also a transparency of the signature apple. I created several versions of this
business card, first with a grape background and then with a banana, but since the apple is the
iconic healthy food, I finally opted for this version.
Since fast food restaurants use so much packaging, there were a lot more options for
package design with this project. I finally decided on a cup since I felt it would be the biggest
challenge. When designing posters and business cards, it’s fairly easy to tell what your product
is going to look like on the screen. However, since the art on a fast food cup is more 3D, it takes
more skill visualizing the final product. Also, the fact that it’s rounded and tapered offers graphic
designers a difficult canvas to work with. My major problem with the cup was there was no way
to make a template for it. I finally found a picture of a flattened cup online and learned to make
my own template by outlining and then deleting the picture. From that point, I carried through
the transparent apple theme with the same green background (though I lightened it slightly). I
knew I wanted to feature text on the cup but was confused how to make it rounded at the top.
When I learned how to do it, I wrote a small blurb about the kinds of drinks offered at the
restaurant. A longer explanation, perhaps a listing of all the drinks, could appear visually
overwhelming to the consumer and they would be unlikely to read it. I concluded with a simple
“the fruit basket.” in all lowercase at the bottom of the cup. The final result was a simple yet
visually stimulating product that would appeal to consumers interested in healthier meal
choices.

5. Though I, like most of my peers, dreaded the senior project, I’m truly glad I have had this
opportunity to explore design. After completing this project, I am one hundred percent sure that
this is what I want to do with my life. While the senior project taught me a great deal about
graphic design, it also helped me develop a stronger work ethic and I learned that it’s always
better to get things done in advance. I feel that these skills will benefit me in college, where I am
planning on majoring in art with a concentration in graphic design, and also in the work world
where deadlines are taken much more seriously than they are taken at the scholastic level in
high school. Because of this project I feel I am prepared for what lies ahead and I am extremely
excited about what lies in the future for me.