IB Design Technology

Design Folio
Essential Question:

How do we capture someone’s

attention?
Name: Class:

Ms. Tomlin and Mr. Wang

Thurgood Marshall Academy
 Table of Contents
A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREETING CARDS ........................................................................ 3
10 TIPS FOR ILLUSTRATING MARKETABLE GREETING CARDS ............................ 4
ESSENTIAL QUESTION.......................................................................................................... 5
THE TASK ................................................................................................................................. 5
AREAS OF INTERACTION (AOI)......................................................................................... 5
OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................. 5
ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................................... 5
THE HOLIDAYS ....................................................................................................................... 6
BLOG ENTRIES, CLASSWORK AND HOMEWORK......................................................... 7
ADDING AN ILLUSTRATOR FILE TO YOUR BLOG...................................................... 13
STARTING YOUR GREETING CARD ................................................................................ 13
OPEN SWATCH LIBRARY (ILLUSTRATOR) ................................................................. 13
CHANGING THE BACKGROUND COLOR (ILLUSTRATOR)....................................... 13
ADDING TEXT (ILLUSTRATOR) ...................................................................................... 14
THE IB LEARNER PROFILE ............................................................................................... 15
RUBRICS .................................................................................................................................. 16

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 2
 A Brief History of Greeting Cards
From http://www.greetingcardsresource.com/history.html

It is believed the early Chinese were the first to send what could be called a greeting card - for the New Year
they sent tidings of good will. Evidence also shows that ancient Egyptians wrote greetings on papyrus
scrolls.

The next stop on the timeline is around 1400 when the Germans used woodcuts to print New Year's wishes.
In the early or mid 1400s Europeans exchanged handmade paper greetings for Valentine's Day. The British
Museum has a Valentine from the 1400s that is the oldest known greeting card in existence.

The introduction of the postage stamp in 1840 helped the popularity of the greeting card. What was once
relatively expensive, hand-made, and personally-delivered gift became an effective and affordable means of
personal communication. Another factor promoting advancement was the improvement of printing
methods. Mass production didn't mean the end of the elaborate greeting card, however. The Victorian era
saw some very ornate and intricate designs.

John Calcott Horsley was commissioned in 1843 to design the first published Christmas card. A young lady
from Massachusetts, Esther Howland, was the first regular publisher of valentines in the United States. She
started in 1849 with handmade valentines, often using real lace and ribbon, and went on to found a
successful publishing company with elaborately decorated cards as a specialty.

The person generally credited with the beginning of America's greeting card industry is Louis Prang, a
German immigrant. He started a lithography business near Boston in 1856 and soon his works were known
as the best around.

After a slump in the late nineteenth century, the greeting card industry saw more and more new publishers.
Competition created advances in printing, decorative treatments, and artistic techniques. The widespread
use of color lithography in the 1930s fueled a continued expansion in the industry.

Humor in American greeting cards became more prominent in the 1950s with the introduction of the studio
card – a long card with a short punch line. Cards for a wide range of events and holidays as well as "non-
occasion" cards showed up in the 1980s.

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 3
 10 Tips for Illustrating Marketable Greeting Cards
By Heather Castles
From http://blog.illustrationcastle.com/

Greeting cards are a lot of fun to design & illustrate… each individual card is your opportunity to tell a short
story. It’s like illustrating for a poem within a larger book…you get ONE chance to sell that story. Here are
some tips to make your greeting card designs more marketable.

1) Don’t be scared to illustrate the obvious subject matter: Just because you think there are tons of
Santa cards out there, doesn’t mean it can’t be revamped. There is always a market for the big icons of the
greeting card season… designs are cycled out once the sales start to go down, and often need to be replaced
by the same subject matter, just with a modern kick.
2) Design for a Vertical Layout: Vertical layouts are hands down the most popular layout for greeting
cards for two reasons, 1) they are easier to view in racks, and 2) they don’t fall down like horizontal cards
do.
3) Top Third Rule: Cards displayed in racks are often overlapping, so the top 1/3 of the card is often all
that you have to grab the attention of a shopper. So make that top 1/3 of the card count, keep it mostly free
for typography, or make sure characters are easily seen . Use your hand to cover up the bottom of your card.
If the message still comes across, well done! If not, revisit the design.
4) Avoid illustrating people: The moment you illustrate a person on the front of your card, you may
exclude certain markets. There are markets for ethnicity specific cards, but you will increase the
marketability of your card by avoiding illustrating people altogether. Try substituting people for animals, or
give the people non-skin-tone colors like blue or purple for humorous cards.
5) Leave space for type: Illustrations that do not take into consideration space for the caption heading and
/ or a little bit of verse on the front can often be passed up by publishers. Make sure you leave some areas of
your illustration free of strong texture / illustrated elements so that type can be clearly and easily read. Use
a piece of acetate with black and white lettering on it to test legibility, or scan your illustration and place
type on it with InDesign.
6) Consider Recipient Gender Balance: Cards are typically broken up into three groups…masculine,
feminine, and general. Feminine cards are typically easier to design, as there is a plethora of cute fuzzy fluffy
flowery imagery out there to play with. Masculine cards are much more difficult, and can unfortunately tend
to be stuck in the rut of being more serious and heavy looking. General cards are those that can be given to
either male / female recipients.
7) Make your illustrations easy for designers to work: with by including 0.25 inch bleed around your
illustrations.
8) Don’t mix religious iconography: A big faux pas in the card industry is to introducing non-religious
icons in your religious designs. Take Christmas for example…if you are designing a religious greeting card,
you should avoid all references to Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, etc.
9) Keep in mind Your Target Audience: is not only the person receiving the card. You also have to
consider who is buying the card. Often times, it is a lady buying the card, be it some one’s grandmother,
mother, auntie, daughter, friend, colleague…women make up about 80% of the greeting card target buying
audience. So when designing cards, keep in mind who will be picking up the cards and appealing to how
THEY feel about the person they are sending the card to. If you can’t picture any of your female friends
picking up the card, you might miss the mark on that design.
10) Ask for feedback on your designs: An easy way to know if your design is hitting the mark is to ask
your friends and family. Make sure to not explain what the card is about, just hand them a mock up of the
design. If they don’t “get it” then you should reconsider.

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 4
 Essential Question
How do we capture someone’s attention?

The Task
Working individually, you will create a series of three greeting cards for a holiday.
Each of the three cards must be targeted to a different type of consumer.

Areas of Interaction (AoI)

Approaches to Learning Study habits, Communication, Information,
Reflection, Connecting Ideas

Human Ingenuity Desktop publishing, Marketing &

Advertising

Objectives
Use of the design cycle
Undertake meaningful and relevant research
Gain experience utilizing Microsoft Publisher
Incorporate and manipulate digital images
Manage time & resources
Critically evaluate own work

Assessment
Create a Design Folio following the Design Cycle
Maintain a design blog
Provide several possible solutions and justify final choice
Create solution to appropriate standard
Test and evaluate solution
Justify any changes
Evaluate design in terms of AoI

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 5
 The Holidays

You will be assigned one of the following holidays:

Major Holidays
1. Arbor Day 13. Holi 25. Moon Festival

2. Ash Wednesday 14. Imbolc 26. Muharram

3. Bastille Day 15. Islamic New Year 27. Nirvana Day

4. Chinese New Year 16. Juneteenth Day 28. Purim

5. Cinco de Mayo 17. Lammas 29. Ramadan

6. Dia De Los Muertos 18. Leap Year 30. Rosh Hashanah

7. Diwali 19. Leif Erikson Day 31. Three Kings Day

8. Earth Day 20. Lent 32. Victoria Day

9. Eid al-Adha 21. Makar Sankranti 33. Wesak

10. Eid al-Fitr 22. Mardi Gras 34. World AIDS Day

11. Epiphany 23. Mawlid al-Nabi 35. Yom Kippur

12. Hajj 24. May Day

Place a  next to your assigned event.

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 6
 Blog Entries, Classwork and Homework

Assessment Criteria indicated in parentheses!

Class Blog: http://tmatech.blogspot.com/

Title: Blog Entry #2.1 – Design Task (A)

In a maximum of three complete sentences, explain in your own words the design task that you have been
asked to solve for this project. Be sure to include exactly what you will be creating/designing for this
project.
Completed
Due Date: In-Class, Week 1

Title: Blog Entry #2.2 – Product Analysis 1 (A)

Examine one of the professional cards available in class. Answer the following questions (which are
available on the class blog to copy and paste) and include an image of the card (also available on the class
blog).

1. What holiday/event does the card represent?

2. What type of images are used – photos, cartoons or graphics? How do the images used connect to
the holiday/event?
3. In your opinion, is the cover of the card attention-grabbing? Explain exactly why or why not.
Consider the arrangement of elements as well as use of images, color and text.
4. What text is written on the front of the card? Where is it located on the front?
5. What text is written inside the card? Where is it located inside the card?
6. In your opinion, does the text inside the card connect to the image(s) on the cover? Explain exactly
why or why not.
7. What types of information appears on the back of the card? (Do not copy it exactly!)
8. To what consumer is this card targeted? (Consider age group, gender, race and/or religion.) What
about the design led you to this conclusion?
Completed
Due Date: In-Class, Week 1

Title: Blog Entry #2.3 – Product Analysis 2 (A)

Repeat Entry #2.2 for a second greeting card. Completed

Due Date: In-Class, Week 1

Title: Blog Entry #2.4 – Product Analysis 3 (A)

Repeat Entry #2.2 for a third greeting card. Completed

Due Date: In-Class, Week 1

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 7
 Title: Blog Entry #2.5 – Design Brief (A)

The design brief is the formal starting point of the design. It states the expectations and design problem.
It does not provide the solution.

It should include the following elements:

1. Always start the design brief with “I am going to design and make .....”. This is followed by a general
description of the product you are designing and creating.
2. What is the goal of the product? What should it be able to do?
3. What are your target market’s demographics(i.e., the age, gender, income, tastes, views, attitudes,
geography, lifestyle of those you want to reach)?
4. What do you consider to be the important elements/factors that define a successful product?
5. What are the things not to do, and styles that you do not like or wish to see in your design.
Read the article on page 5 of this Design Folio for some ideas!

Write a Design Brief for your project that covers all of the elements above. Your Design Brief should be at
least one paragraph, if not more.
Completed

Due Date: Homework, Week 1

Title: Blog Entry #2.6 – Process Journal 1 (C)

What are all the steps that you will need to complete to create your set of greeting cards?

For each step, include the materials/resources that are needed and the amount time required.
Completed
Due Date: Homework, Week 1

Title: Blog Entry #2.7 – Holiday Research (A)

Answer the following questions about your assigned holiday. The questions are available on the class blog
to copy and paste.

1. What is the name of the holiday?

2. When will the holiday be celebrated in 2011?
3. Who celebrates this holiday? (Countries, religious groups, ethnic groups)
4. Why is this holiday celebrated? What is the significance of this holiday?
5. How is this holiday celebrated? Include any rituals, food, costumes, dance or music associated with
this holiday.
6. What websites were used in answering these questions? (Copy and paste the web addresses of
each website.) Completed

Due Date: In-Class, Week 2

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 8
 Title: Blog Entry #2.8 – Image Research (A)

Collect a minimum of 6 images related to your holiday that could be used in your greeting cards. Post all
these images to your blog under one posting. No text is required for this entry.

Remember, to add images to your blog you must save it first. Copy and paste will not work! Use the button
shown below to then add the image to your blog post.

Completed

Due Date: In-Class, Week 2

Title: Blog Entry #2.9 – Text Brainstorm (B)

Write a minimum of six sayings for your holiday to be used inside your cards.

You may use quotes if you wish, but only for a maximum of two sayings and you must include the person.
The rest of the sayings must be of your own creation!
Completed

Due Date: Homework, Week 2

Title: Blog Entry #2.10 – Target Consumers (B)

Describe each of the three consumers that your card set will target.

Format this entry as follows:

Target Consumer #1 is...(In this paragraph, describe in detail who exactly your first greeting is
intended for.).

Target Consumer #2 is...

Target Consumer #3 is...

Completed
Due Date: Homework, Week 2

Title: Blog Entry #2.11 – Process Journal 2 (E)

What steps have you completed thus far?

In what ways could your work be improved?

Evaluate your classwork based on Criteria F – Attitudes in Technology (see rubrics). What score would you
give yourself? Support your score with specific examples. What can you do to improve your score? Be
specific.
Completed
Due Date: Homework, Week 2

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 9
 Design Sketches (B)

For each consumer (see Blog Entry #2.10), complete two sketches for each holiday card (six total).
Each sketch must indicate the images, colors, and exact text to be used.

Sketch sheets will be distributed in class and are also available for print on the class blog.
Completed
Due Date: Classwork, Week 3

Production

Use Adobe Illustrator to create each of the card designs (six total).

Template available on the class blog.

Save all work to your thumbdrive or to your work folder (Public>Technology Work>Class>Your Name)
Completed
Due Date: Classwork, Week 3 and 4

Title: Blog Entry #2.12 – Progress (D)

Post images of each greeting card that you have worked on in class this week.

See Adding an Illustrator File to Your Blog (pg 13) for more instructions.
Completed

Due Date: Classwork, Week 3

Title: Blog Entry #2.13 – Process Journal 3 (E)

What has been completed so far for your greeting cards?

What work still needs to be completed to finish all of your greeting cards?

In what ways could your work be improved?

Evaluate your classwork based on Criteria F – Attitudes in Technology (see rubrics). What score would
you give yourself? Support your score with specific examples. What can you do to improve your score? Be
specific.
Completed

Due Date: Homework, Week 3

Title: Blog Entry #2.14 – Progress (D)

Post images of each greeting card that you have worked on in class this week.

See Adding an Illustrator File to Your Blog (pg 13) for more instructions.
Completed

Due Date: Classwork, Week 4

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 10
 Title: Blog Entry #2.15 – Process Journal 4 (E)

What has been completed so far for your greeting cards?

What work still needs to be completed to finish all of your greeting cards?

In what ways could your work be improved?

Evaluate your classwork based on Criteria F – Attitudes in Technology (see rubrics). What score would you
give yourself? Support your score with specific examples. What can you do to improve your score? Be
specific.
Completed

Due Date: Homework, Week 4

Title: Blog Entry #2.16 – Greeting Card 1 (B,D)

Post an image of your greeting card for Consumer 1 that you believe to be the better design.
Then, complete the following about this card:

1. Describe the consumer targeted by this greeting card.

2. What elements of your card design are meant to appeal to this consumer? Explain.
3. Compare this final design with the original sketch. What changes were made and why?
See Adding an Illustrator File to Your Blog (pg 13) for more instructions.
Completed
Due Date: Classwork, Week 5

Title: Blog Entry #2.17 – Greeting Card 1 Reject (B,D)

Post an image of your greeting card for Consumer 1 that you believe to be the worse of the two designs.
Then, complete the following about this card:

1. Describe the consumer targeted by this greeting card.

2. Why is this design less appealing to the consumer than the other design?
3. How could this design be improved to better appeal to this consumer?
See Adding an Illustrator File to Your Blog (pg 13) for more instructions.
Completed
Due Date: Classwork, Week 5

Title: Blog Entry #2.18 – Greeting Card 2 (B,D)

Repeat Blog Entry #2.16 for Consumer 2.

Completed

Due Date: Classwork, Week 5

Title: Blog Entry #2.19 – Greeting Card 2 Reject (B,D)

Repeat Blog Entry #2.17 for Consumer 2.

Completed

Due Date: Classwork, Week 5

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 11
 Title: Blog Entry #2.20 – Greeting Card 3 (B,D)

Repeat Blog Entry #2.16 for Consumer 3.

Completed

Due Date: Classwork, Week 5

Title: Blog Entry #2.21 – Greeting Card 3 Reject (B,D)

Repeat Blog Entry #2.17 for Consumer 3.

Completed

Due Date: Classwork, Week 5

Title: Blog Entry #2.22 – Human Ingenuity (E)

When we make things, we have a specific purpose or goal in mind. But, often times other individuals may
react to our product in a very different and negative way. Take another look at your completed greeting
cards. Who might be offended seeing one of your cards on display at the store? Why would they be
offended by your card?
Completed

Due Date: Homework, Week 5

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 12
 Adding an Illustrator File to Your Blog
Follow the directions below to save your work from Illustrator in an acceptable format for your
blog.
1. Make sure the file is already saved regularly (as an Adobe Illustrator file .ai)
2. With the project already open in Adobe Illustrator, select File > Export… Type a file name
with the word BLOG added. Make sure Save as Type is set to JPEG before clicking Save.
(Pay attention to where you are saving the file!)

3. Proceed to www.blogger.com, sign in, and a posting as usual. When adding the image, be
sure to select the JPEG file (not the AI file!).

Starting Your Greeting Card

Follow these basic instructions for each of your greeting cards!

1. Log on to http://tmatech.blogspot.com/
2. Look for the entry “Greeting Card Template” and follow the directions to SAVE a template
for your greeting card. When asked for a filename use the following convention:
YourLastName HolidayName Number (for example: Wang Christmas 1)
Make sure you know where you are saving!
3. Click on the Start menu>All Programs>Adobe Illustrator. Once Adobe Illustrator is running,
open the file you saved from step 2.
4. Open Swatch Library (see directions).

Open Swatch Library (Illustrator)

1. Click on Windows>Swatch Libraries>Default Swatches>Basic RGB

Changing the Background Color (Illustrator)

1. Select the Rectangle tool from the tool bar along the left.
2. Drag out a box exactly the same size as the entire poster.
3. Choose the color for the background from the
swatches on the right.
4. Choose Object > Lock > Selection.

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 13
 Adding Text (Illustrator)

1. Start up Adobe Illustrator CS2. Open your cereal box front from last week.
2. Select the Text Tool and drag out a box where the text will be located.

3. Click inside the text box and type your text. Highlight the text. Change the Font Size.

4. To change the font, highlight the text and then right-click. Select font and choose your font.

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 14
 The IB Learner Profile
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their
common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful
world.

IB learners strive to be:

Inquirers They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to
conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They
actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained
throughout their lives.

Knowledgeable They explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global
significance. In so doing, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop
understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines.

Thinkers They exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to
recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical
decisions.

Communicators They understand and express ideas and information confidently and
creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of
communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with
others.

Principled They act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice
and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They
take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that
accompany them.

Open-minded They understand and appreciate their own cultures and personal histories,
and are open to the perspectives, values and traditions of other individuals
and communities. They are accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of
point of view, and are willing to grow from the experience.

Caring They show empathy, compassion and respect towards the needs and
feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to
make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

Risk-takers They approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and
forethought, and have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas
and strategies. They are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs.

Balanced They understand the importance of intellectual, physical and emotional

balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others.

Reflective They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience.
They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in
order to support their learning and personal development.

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 15
 Rubrics

Greeting Card Project. MYP Design Technology. 2010-2011 Ms. Tomlin & Mr. Wang 16