Current Graphic Design Portfolio by Miranda Bower

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Table of Contents

Focal Point -noun

1. a central point of attention or interest

s ay w nd I w a ne g s s e is to i n a u g th ion en t h c in t b e do gna r. op a t s p a e s ay g g to st gn w i n i n s y si al o k t h t to m de a o a Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m f l o g th d t as o i n ve lea e d o elie ld mis b ou de w nd a

W m he fr e n I equ be I a e e st sk ev ntir hav nt to ed th er ely e an de the e yth t to i on h sw sc p e p ng er ribe eop of I a le h m h y av pro abi w me w ab e je t a s th ho ili in ct t o e k ty o fo m now . co an f m d fo cu os pl d cu se t et ev si d. in ot n g in g it g at

Designer Statement

Dreamweavers Packaging Dreamweavers is a family owned fiber arts supply store. They carry everything needed to spin yarn, dye it with natural dyes, and weave it into cloth or knit a sweater. Since this small store was created to bring an element of homemade back into peoples’ lives the same feeling was put into the design of the logo and the packaging design. Choosing to focus on the tactile nature of the products offered, 2”x2” tags were made to be tied to the products and secured there with dyed packaging string. This same feeling was carried into the promotional gift basket as well. Meant to serve as a sampler of products offered as well as being a gift box for the opening of the store.

Dreamweavers Packaging

Second Read Identity Secondhand bookshops always have an atmosphere of being worn and old while still carrying the feeling of being tucked into a nook and forgotten. Second Read embraces this theme with hand dyed tags and tote bags, and adds individually printed gift wrapping paper to create a feel of mixing current trends with the old homemade look.

Second Read Identity

Sweets & Treats Identity

Sweets and treats is a family owned bakery that follows a loose theme of Contemporary Victorian. Aprons, a menu, and a magazine inset were created as means to promote the bakery and its products. The soft pinks are soothing while the incorporation of yellow is energetic and bright. The background patterns throughout the pieces serve three

weets

purposes: to create visual interest, to resemble

weets

reats

lace, and to acknowledge the owners Celtic roots.

reats

Sweets & Treats Identity

Pies 10 in.

Br e a d s

Apple

Br ead Loaves - $5.99 each

W h o l e - $ 1 2 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

Apple C r anber r y

Ban an a W al n u t Bro wn S u g ar P o u n d C ak e C r an b e r r y A l mo n d L e mo n P o p p y S e e d O r an g e Bl u e b e r r y O r an g e C r an b e r r y P u mp k i n A p p l e O at me al R o s e mar y an d H e r b

W h o l e - $ 1 3 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

Str awber r y

W h o l e - $ 1 2 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

Str awber r y Rhubar b

W h o l e - $ 1 3 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

Apple C r umb

S a n d w i c he s

W h o l e - $ 1 3 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

C her r y C r umb

W h o l e - $ 1 4 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

C hocolate Bour bon Pean W h o l e - $ 1 4 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 3 .5 0

C oconut C r eam

W h o l e - $ 1 2 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

F r ench Silk

W h o l e - $ 1 4 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 3 .5 0

Key Lime

W h o l e - $ 1 3 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

Pecan

W h o l e - $ 1 3 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

Pumpkin

O n o u r o wn f r e s h l y b ak e d b r e ad an d s e r ve d wi t h a p i c k l e s p e ar .

Asiago Roast Beef

O ve n - ro as t e d b e e f , s mo k e d c h e d d ar, l e t t u c e , t o mat o e s , r e d o n i o n s & c r e amy h o r s e r ad i s h s au c e , o n o u r A s i ag o C h e e s e D e mi .

weets

Mediter r anean Veggie

Z e s t y P e p p ad e w™ p i q u an t p e p p e r s , f e t a c h e e s e , c u c u mb e r s , l e t t u c e , t o mat o e s , o n i o n s an d c i l an t ro h u mmu s o n o u r T o mat o Bas i l b r e ad .

reats

Smoked Tur key Br east

9 9 % f at - f r e e s mo k e d t u r k e y b r e as t , l e af l e t t u c e , t o mat o e s an d r e d o n i o n s wi t h mayo n n ai s e , s p i c y mu s t ar d , s al t an d p e p p e r, al l s e r ve d o n yo u r f avo r i t e s an d wi c h b r e ad .

W h o l e - $ 1 2 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

Spiced Pumpkin

Drinks

W h o l e - $ 1 3 .9 9 S l i c e - $ 2 .9 9

A ppl e or C he rry - l a t t i ce t oppe d a dd $ 5 .0 0

Hot Tea

F r e s h F r ui t Ta r t s

Coffee

Sm $1.50 Med $2.25 Lg $3.00

Iced Tea

Cappachino

Sm $1.50 Med $2.25 Lg $3.00

S i ng l e - $ 2 .7 5 1 /2 Doze n - $ 1 1 .9 9 Ba k e rs Doze n - $ 2 4 .9 9 A p p l e , C h e r r y o r P e ar

Sm $1.50 Med $2.25 Lg $3.00 Sm $2.50 Med $3.25 Lg $4.00

Chai Tea

Italian Soda

Sm $2.25 Med $3.00 Lg $3.75

Sm $2.00 Med $2.50 Lg $3.25

Lemonade

Bottled Water $2.00

Sm $1.75 Med $2.50 Lg $3.25t

Cheesecakes

Specialty Cakes

8 " $ 2 4 .9 9 , 1 0 " $ 2 9 .9 9

8" for $29.99 - 10" for $34.99, unless otherwise noted.

Single 1/2 Dozen Baker’s Dozen -

s i n g l e p i e c e $ 4 . 5 0 u n l e s s o t h e rw i s e n o t e d

Sheet cakes are also available - please call for pricing.

Chocoholic’s Dream – Chocolate cake layered with a chocolate

A m a re t t o

mousse filling and iced in chocolate buttercream with milk chocolate curls on top.

Ca p p u c c i n o Ch o c o l a t e M i n t Ha z e l n u t Key Lime Lemon M a rb l e S w i rl

Chocolate Chip Mint Chocolate Chip

Chocolate Mint - Chocolate cake layered with Crème de Menthe liquor and mint buttercream, iced with mint buttercream and chocolate ganache.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut

Carrot - Our delicious layered carrot cake includes pineapple and

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Chocolate Peanutbutter Chip Oatmeal Oatmeal Raisin

coconut, and is iced with cream cheese frosting.

Pumpkin

Shortbread Snickerdoodles

Coconut - White cake layered with apricot jam & coconut mousse,

T ri p l e Ch o c o l a t e Tu rt l e $ 2 6 . 9 9 / $ 3 1 . 9 9 / $ 4 . 9 9 W h i t e Ch o c o l a t e N e w Y o rk P l a i n $ 2 1 . 9 9 / $ 2 6 . 9 9 / $ 3 . 5 0 N e w Y o rk w i t h e i t h e r Ch e rry, B l u e b e rry, S t ra w b e rry o r R a s p b e rry s a u c e ( c a l l f o r p ri c i n g )

Sugar Cookies

iced with vanilla buttercream & coconut.

Maple Walnut

Creamsicle - Yellow cake layered with an orange filling, iced with

Peanutbutter

orange buttercream, topped with white chocolate shavings.

Russian Tea Cakes

German Chocolate - Chocolate cake layered with coconut pecan filling, iced with chocolate buttercream.

Soft Ginger Ginger Snaps

Lemon - Yellow cake layered with a lemon filling, iced with lemon

Fudge

Pastries

buttercream.

Neopolitan - White cake layered with strawberry mousse and chocolate mousse, iced with whipped cream and chocolate curls.

O n e P i ece - $ 3 .9 9 1 / 2 Do zen - $ 1 5 .9 9 Bak er’s Do zen - $ 2 4 .9 9 Ca rro t Ca k e T o rt e Cre a m Ch e e s e B u t t e rc u p s Ch o c o l a t e R u m Ch e e s e c a k e Cre a m P u f f s Keeflees L e m o n T a rt l e t t e s w / A l m o n d Ch a n t i l l y Cre a m Mocha Peanut Butter Gateau Pecan Tassies T i ra m i s u

Single - $4.99 1/2 Dozen - $19.99 Baker’s Dozen - $36.99

Red Velvet - Red velvet cake layered with chocolate ganache and

cream cheese frosting, iced with cream cheese frosting and ganache.

Chocolate Raspberry - Chocolate cake layered with chocolate raspberry mousse and Chambord, iced with chocolate and raspberry buttercream. Raspberry Mousse - White cake layered with a raspberry mousse

Carrot Cake Torte Cream Cheese Buttercups Chocolate Rum Cheesecake Cream Puffs

filling, iced with raspberry buttercream.

Keeflees

Strawberry Mousse – White cake layered with strawberry mousse

Lemon Tartlettes w/ Almond Chantilly Cream

filling, and iced with vanilla buttercream and trimmed in strawberry buttercream.

Mocha Peanut Butter Gateau

Vegan - Available only in chocolate, our vegan cake contains no

Tiramisu

egg or dairy products. Can be frosted with either vanilla or chocolate vegan icing.

Pecan Tassies

Sweets & Treats Identity

Cookbook Every student needs to learn to take care of themselves whether they live in dorms or not. This cookbook has 178 simple recipes for 178 days in a typical college semester. The bright colors serve to not only catch the eye but also to inspire thoughts of food. The retro-esque pattern is attention grabbing and has enough variety to be interesting without overpowering the text.

Cookbook

Typography Panels The 12 panels on the following pages were created using the short story Haunted House by Virginia Woolf in the Baskerville typeface at varying points and weights for the sole purpose of exploring different ways to break up text into new and unexpected ways that work with the content.

Typography Panels

Legacy Lawn Care & Landscaping Identity A startup business that prides itself on giving quality personalized service. The logo is entirely typographical and uses varying shades of green because of the nature of their work. From there the business identity set, work truck decal, door hanger, and uniform shirts were created to give this business a well rounded professional look.

Legacy Lawncare Identity

Thank you for your business. Your next appointment is scheduled for __/__/__

Clothes Lovers Ads A small tailor shop that will create custom pieces for their clientele, they specialize in formal wear and shirts. Since the shop prides itself on being able to create an outfit from the ground up the main theme is the building process and the aspect focused on was the initial sketching process. The ads are standard letter size and could go in any magazine that advertises to women, since they are the target audience.

We know you have your own style and expression. We at Clothes Lovers weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll help you bring your self expression into your clothing. Bring us your dream and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll sketch them and sew them into something tangible. Find us on the web at www.ClothesLovers.com

Clothes Lovers Ads

Dream it up. Then come see us.

Kitchen Canisters Canisters meant primarily for use in the kitchen to hold things like flour, sugar, coffee, or tea. Simple but bright design marks these as a cheerful addition to any space. Plastic scratches easily so it was an early decision that they would be made of frosted glass to cut down on visible wear-and-tear. After double checking some color theory the following colors were chosen: green, brown, and orange for inspiring thoughts of food and hunger, and blue for calming and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clean feeling. Keeping the coloring sparse to allow the contents of the canisters to show crisp lines were used as the primary element to continue on the clean feeling and had them cross to create a pattern. The varying line weights and lengths keep the pattern from becoming dull and the expanse of clear space keeps the design free of clutter.

Kitchen Canisters

Lissome Typeface An entire bitmap typeface that puts emphasis on the relationship between thick and thin lines and the ability to be flexible when being made from squares. Because this typeface is bitmap it can be used in electronic equipment such as iphones to personalize its look while maintaining legibility.

Lissome Typeface

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890-=_+`~[]{};:’”/?.,<>

Cos-play Article Cos-play, short for costume play, is a small niche in a small sub-culture. Most often noted cos-players dress up as characters from their favorite anime shows or video game characters and go to anime and gaming conventions. This spread has an interview with a cos-player and she talks about how she learned the sewing skills to create her costumes and what initially sparked her interest in cos-play. The photographs are the main focus in the article so the layout is simple and basic shapes and colors were pulled out of the pictures to lay under the text.

From Stetchbook To Sewing Machine

Fictional Fashion

by Miranda Bower

Fictional Fashion

So after spending ages trying to decide the way I wanted to go about writing this article I finally decided on an interview... with myself. Moving on from that I enlisted some help to come up with a few questions so it’s not strange sounding. Before we get to that my name is Miranda and I am a cosplayer and costume designer. I’ve been sewing on a machine since I was 13 years old and my mom taught me how to make potholders, and a jacket that was never finished. I first got into cosplay when I was 16 and found a magazine on what was then my obsession - anime. In that magazine near the back I found a section on conventions (which I had also never heard of ) and some of the attendees were in costumes of their favorite characters, these were cosplayers. What can I say? One look and I was hooked.

Well, I was addicted to the idea but found to my dismay that there weren’t any conventions near where I lived, the nearest was in Toronto, ON and wouldn’t be held for almost a year. I attended my first convention with no costume just to get a feel for the environment and the whole idea(I was still a little flabbergasted that there were people as into this as I was.) The year after I attended with costumes I had made for myself and a friend and was very pleased with the results. From there it’s turned into a really fun pass-time for me. And now; on to the questions!

Who taught you to sew? My mother was my initial teacher, she started teaching me when I was young to

hand sew. When I got a bit

older, 13, she taught me to use her sewing machine and

how to piece together pat-

tern pieces. We started to make me a felt jacket, but I

was a strange combination of

flighty and lazy so that project is still setting in a closet

somewhere, collecting dust I imagine. When I started cre-

ating pieces for my costumes though it was difficult to stop

me working when I was intent on what I was doing.

What was your inspiration? Each costume is different, if

I’m choosing a character to create I have to really be enthusiastic about that charac-

ter for whatever reason, be it a personality that I can portray well, and a really inter-

esting piece that I can’t stop thinking about until I have it

for my own, there has to be

something compelling or I lose interest before I’ve even fin-

ished sketching plans. As for my original pieces, those are usually the result of wander-

ing through a fabric store and finding an interesting fabric or sifting through an antique store. The best way I can tell you is that I am a very tactile

person, I like touching things

and textures. So wandering through a fabric store and touching things is like reading

a book sometimes, I created an entire costume based on how suede, satin, and brocade felt next to each other.

Fictional Fashion

How’d you come up with the pattern? Once I had the image in my mind and figured out how many pieces I wanted it was simple. I’d

seen enough patterns at that point that I knew how basic pieces were made to create sleeves and skirts. The rest to me is just fitting the clothing to the wearer properly. For one of my costumes,

Eureka(the blue and white one), I borrowed a jacket of my mothers to see what the pieces looked like and sketched out the pieces from there. The finished dress looks nothing like that jacket, but it gave me a starting point.

Fictional Fashion

a h i n g k .” g o ou uch bo r th to g a d g n an din i er re ea d r o an st ke i w c .. ri is l . “ b fa gs in h t

How many have you made, in total? In total, I have made eight different costume that were completed. Of those there are four that I am satisfied with and one that I’m reconstructing. I’m remaking Eureka(blue and white), but I’m pleased with how Roxas(the white and checkered jacket), Temari(not shown), Victorian Goth(all black), and Roman Peasant/Turkish Harem(green, gold, and white) turned out. I am still enamored with the vest that goes with the last costume mostly because of the embroidery on the back of it.

Do you take requests? On occasion I do. Roxas(the white jacket with checkers) was a

request from a friend. and I’ve made corsets and such for a few

other people as well. It’s something that I enjoy doing and I always take it as a compliment when someone asks me to make them something.

What are your upcoming designs? Or design plans? Yes actually, at the end of may I have a ticket to attend a

masquerade ball at a convention and the theme for this year is

A Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, I’m design in a ball gown for the occasion, and sketching designs for a costume in a vein that I have yet to explore, it’s called steampunk. I’ve never created

anything for this genre so I’m excited to see how I do.

Message Masthead This originated as a masthead for a magazine. The idea was to create a word, then choose an object from which a pixel would be created. That object/pixel would then be used to build the chosen word. Glass seed beads in red, yellow, blue, and green were chosen to create the word message. Starting with red on the letter M each letter changed colors with each transition integrating a gradient using a mathematical system. The letters were built two at a time on a glass panel then photographed on a white background and put together digitally.

as the ad

ig D es

ga n i n

In the image soaked culture of today we are constantly being introduced to new products and designs. Often we see so many images and words that we subconsciously tune them out in order to save ourselves from overstimulation. Think for a moment about the last time you were in a bookstore looking at magazines. Do you notice the covers anymore? If so, do you really look at the cover to do more than identify what you’ve picked up, or do you just start flipping through? Many people, myself included, don’t see the cover for any longer than it takes to

Below:

find the story that I most want to read. But if more people would see the masthead of a magazine and realize what an important job that piece of text has, they would likely appreciate the contents of that magazine quite a bit more. The word message is by definition a communication that is written, spoken, or signaled. It is the expression of a need or detriment to be remedied. As such Message seemed to be the title of choice for a magazine that advocates the need for new, fresh, and green design. The word would be put together with small manmade objects with the intent to be created in such a way that there would be continuity throughout the word unified with color, texture, and deliberate placement of glass seed beads. The first step was to create the word. Using a variety of styles I created many different possibilities and finally settled on a serif font with an eye-catching variety of thick and thin lines. After adding a thin bar along the bottom that would unite the letters in the way intended and working with the letters themselves to achieve the desired look, I scanned a single seed bead into the computer and opened the new picture in Adobe Illustrator. The word was then scaled to a size that would allow a single bead to fit in the smallest space created. This accomplished the word was printed out and laid on a table with a piece of fiberglass on top and a large sheet of white paper underneath to ease the necessary Photoshop use later. From here I intended to layout the beads in a grid pattern on the fiberglass-covered letters

Top:

while incorporating the different

Alligning the beads into the grid

colored beads into a gradient that

pattern designed required a level

would create a sense of movement

of precision that needed the extra

in the word. I say, “intended” because as all

assistance of a straight pin to

artists know, things do not often

place them.

work out exactly as planned. I did

Above:

indeed manage to layout the beads and gradient as intended, however

A clos e up lo ok at t he creation of

I was not without my share of set-

the gradient created .

backs. After fighting with fiberglass reflections competing with lighting conditions, multiple occasions of rolling beads, and once even dropping a completed letter (which being a natural born klutz, I expected this.) I had finally completed all of the letters to make up a word and had imported them into the computer to open in Adobe Photoshop. Then the real fun started, color matching, brightening, and darkening tools were all used to make the work look correct and useable. This idea was initially created with the idea that the same word be recreated for each new issue of the magazine that is published. This would keep the ideas and visual imagery fresh and eye-catching.

Message Magazine A magazine that was created for designers, it contains articles on industrial design, graphic design, architectural design, and interior design. The ever growing awareness of green design and the continually growing role it has in each aspect of the design industry. The name Message was chosen because of the idea of open communication between designers and the covers of the three magazines convey different stories about ways we communicate with each other.