Illustrator I | Exercise 5

Exercise 5

Design A Vehicle Ad Wrap

Notice the masking used in this airline ad, obscuring some of the type. Also notice the alignment, color, and size choices the designer made.

You have gotten a taste of the many tools and commands that Illustrator offers with regard to working with text. Using type in a design can be a simple way to add information or it can be an art form in itself. Illustrator provides the capabilities, type designers provide the fonts, but it's up to you to provide the creativity.

As with all design projects, you are tasked with working within specific design constraints, especially when it comes to text.

Project Goals

  • Design an advertisement for a bus, van, or truck with specific focus on typography.
  • Use Illustrator's various type tools to set the ad copy.
  • Employ a clipping mask to constrain the ad design to the exact bus shape.

Project Brief

In this exercise, you will create an advertisement that appears on the side of a bus, van, or truck. Given that this ad is on the move, you need to think about how your design can have impact, entice potential customers and, most importantly, communicate effectively.

Note

Exercises will be evaluated for understanding of course concepts.

An ad that covers the side of a vehicle is known as a "wrap" in the industry. Check examples of such ads using Google Images with search terms such as van wrap, bus wrap, car wrap, ad wrap, and truck wrap.

On offer are three vehicle templates to choose from. See the Creating Your File section below for access. Each vehicle has different dimensions to display your work in. Instructions are included within each template to help you get your design applied correctly, how to make some small customizations to the vehicles, as well as with how to save your work.

The text you will work with can be found below. You have a choice of three businesses, each has a name, some descriptive text and a tagline. Your ad design must include the business name and secondary descriptive text to give context to the business. The tagline is optional.

HealthCheck Plus

Urgent Care Clinics

"Excellence. Every Day in Every Way."

SeaLife Adventure Park

Aquarium & Water Park

"It's a World of Adventures."

Universal Logistics

Package Delivery

"Future Delivered on Time"

You're free to create your own business to advertise rather than use one of the above examples. Come up with a name, descriptive text and an optional tagline.

You must ensure that you make use of various type tools or features you learned about in the lecture. Note that it's not necessary to use any graphics in your ad. If you go the all-text route, the design needs to be creative and compelling.

The biggest challenge in this exercise is to communicate your messaging quickly and clearly. Take into account that the ad would not be static, it's going to be moving through city streets. The ad must have impact so that people first notice it and it must be clear enough that they can also read and understand it.

Below are some bullet points to keep in mind as you develop and design.

  • There is a limited amount of well-styled, decently sized, legible text in your ad. Nobody has the time or patience to read a story. Keep your message focused by communicating in as few words as possible.
  • Don't use too many fonts (three is a good maximum).
  • The ad makes good use of space. You've got a lot of space to work within so make the most of it.
  • Graphics are related to and focused on the business or product.
  • Contrast of text and graphics is strong so everything is clear to see and read.

Since Illustrator is a vector software app, you are highly encouraged to create all of your text and graphics in the program. If you use any pixel/raster based images, limit usage to no more than 25% of your overall design.

Refresh your memory on Illustrator's range of type tools with the following Review Kit:

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Questions?

If you have questions before uploading your work for grading, use the Inbox feature to get in touch with your instructor.

Creating Your File

Choose a provided template file and open it in Illustrator. Follow the instructions provided within.

Important: In all Sessions courses, plagiarism is not tolerated. Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else's work and passing it off as your own even if it's only part of a larger design you are working on. Your ideas, inspiration, and creativity should be the primary focus of your work.

You are free to take inspiration from the work of others and create a design based off of that but copying directly from another source or designer is strictly prohibited. It should be understood that any plagiarized work will receive a grade of zero and you may be subject to disciplinary action as detailed in the Student Handbook.

Please consult with your advisor if you have any questions as to what constitutes plagiarism.

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Checklist

Grading Criteria

What your instructor is looking for:

  • Show an ability to compose an attractive advertisement for the side of a vehicle that is relevant to the business/product and target demographic.
  • Use several of the type tools/features discussed in the lecture to present the advertising text, with strong consideration of the readability to viewers passing by the bus, van, or truck.
  • Create the ad with visual impact and clear communication in mind.
  • Provide brief comments on how you approached this project. Did you have a favorite type tool? What font choices did you make and why? Was the Touch Type Tool useful if you incorporated it into your workflow?
  • Save your work in the PNG file format (see below).
    • Note: You are welcome to modify and resubmit your work up to two times after initial review.

Posting Directions

  • If you've yet to do so, save your file by going to File > Save or use the keyboard shortcut keys of Command (Mac) / Ctrl (Windows) + S. In the panel that appears, name your file and choose Adobe Illustrator (ai) from the Format menu. Click Save. This ensures you will always have an editable Illustrator file on hand in the event you wish to make modifications.
  • When ready to upload your work to Sessions, choose File > Export > Export As. Name your file and choose PNG (png) from the Format menu. If you have artwork on multiple artboards that you wish to save, enable Use Artboards. Click Export.
  • In the panel that follows, set the Resolution menu to Medium (150 ppi). Change the Background Color to White. Click OK.
  • Go to the Exercise 5 Dropbox and attach your PNG file(s) with brief comments on how you approached this project. File uploads without comments are subject to automatic reduction in grade.

If you have a question before sending your completed exercise for grading, send a message through Canvas to contact your instructor.

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I look forward to seeing your work!

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