Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Culminating Activity Part 2 _ Design an amazing magazine cover in Photoshop

Objective: Design a dynamic magazine cover that "sells" the magazine (theme and title of your choice), adhering to the principles of design (4 main principles below), and using original photography (must have a portrait on the cover).

You can use the green screen with a self-portrait, or photograph someone in the class to complete this assignment.
You may use an existing magazine title, or come up with an original title, however you must use an original layout and design.

Requirements:
1. Must be 8.5x11" @ 300 p.p.i in Photoshop
2. Must include some type of background (you can create a graphic or add a photo)
3. Must include an original photo of a person as the main visual (could be you or a friend taken on the green screen to add to a different background)
4. Include the 4 principles of good design
5. Include 5 fictional article captions, or headlines
6. Use multiple layers and at least one mask
7. Include a main headline (title of magazine)


Procedure:
1. Research (Wednesday Jan. 20 - give yourself half the class to finish this. Plan to be done by 9:30)
    a. Understanding good magazine design.

         Go to this LINK to review these 4 principles of good design.
         Proximity 
         Contrast 
         Alignment
         Repetition

    b. Start a word document and summarize each of these four principles in your own words.
Heading: Principles of Good Design

    c. Take a look through some of these magazine covers and answer the following             questions in the same word document.
Heading: Magazine Cover Design.

1. What do each of the three magazine covers you chose have in common? Think about         the use of visuals and text and the visual hierarchy (order of importance). 
2. Which magazine cover does the best job of creating/adhering to the principle of               contrast? Proximity? Alignment? Repetition?
3. Which magazine cover does the best job of staying connected to the theme of the           magazine and content? What design devices are used to convey the theme? (think               visual images, layout, typography, colour)

Click HERE for some great magazine covers to view.

Choose three magazine covers that are successful at adhering to the 4 extremely important design principles.

Copy and paste the 3 you chose into your word document so that they are presented across the page, like this:



2. Brainstorm ideas (Wednesday Jan. 20 - 9:30 - 10:05)
Internet, magazines on bookshelf 
Create a sketch of your idea that includes the theme, title, and how you will photograph the person/yourself
Include your fictional article ideas so you don't have to think later.

3. Take your photos (Thursday Jan. 21)
Use the green screen and lights in room 141 to take your photos. Ms. Silverman can           help with this 

4. Edit in Photoshop (Thursday Jan. 21 and Friday Jan. 22)
Create your photoshop document and start building your magazine cover.
Drop into Culminating folder marked Magazine Cover

5. Artist Statement (2-3 paragraphs in a word doc)
Write a brief statement discussing how you used proximity, contrast, alignment and repetition in your magazine cover. Then discuss how your choice of typography, colour and image helped to express the theme of your magazine.

Evaluation:
Proximity is used to organize, create structure and connect related elements
Contrast used to attract attention, good amount of difference between elements creates a dynamic cover design
Repetition is used to create unity by adding common elements (fonts for common elements are similar, other elements are repeated to create harmony), and for visual interest
Alignment is used to help the eye follow content and create a connection with the material and helps organize material
Overall design adheres to a theme
Photograph is well taken, well edited and "pops" off the cover.
Background helps create contrast 
Simplicity (not too busy) allows for the eye to move around the page easily without overwhelming the reader
Product looks finished and professional

Culminating Mark Breakdown
Star Wars DVD + Disc = 14%
Magazine Cover = 9%
Written research = 3%
Written artist statement = 4%



Friday, January 8, 2016

Random Album Cover Exercise

This exercise forces you to get creative with a random band name, album title and image. You must decide, based on the name of the band you are given, what the style of music and personality of the band is. Then, based on your decision, create the album cover by choosing an appropriate typestyle and layout. The only things you can use are the image you are given, the name you are given and the title. Have fun! When you are finished, write a brief paragraph justifying your choices.


Instructions:
1. Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.2. Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 . Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use Photoshop or Illustrator to put it all together.
5. Repeat this activity twice if you want and make two completely different album covers. (only if you have extra time)
6. Write a paragraph in word justifying your design choices.

Click here to see examples of Random Album Covers with a written description.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Elements and Principles of Design


The Elements of Art & Principles of Design from jdavis76

Slide show below goes into a little bit more depth about the elements and principles of design.


Elements and Principles of Design from Nishu Tomar

The Elements and Principles of Design are the foundations of design, whether it be in the print industry, photography, illustration, advertising, animation, video and film, web, fine arts, graphic design etc.

Once you know and understand these basics, you will gain the ability to control where your viewer looks, and when, or in what order! And then, the WORLD!!! Or at the very least - unbelievably cool looking posters, logos and other designs...

Once you have seen the slide show in class,  fill out the handouts either by hand - or on the computer (whichever you prefer). You can find the blank templates in the Yearbook-15-16-Comm Tech folder.


Elements of Design Handouts 
Due: Thursday Jan. 7th
This should be done BEFORE you complete the Random Album Cover Exercise

Monday, January 4, 2016

More Photoshop - Breaking it down...

PSD Tuts Plus - Click HERE
Go to the Tutorial How to Use Layers

Text Clipping Mask tutorial  FIRST VIEW THIS AND TRY IT. Use the clipping mask by adding text and images together. Play around with blending modes AND label all your layers.

Text portrait tutorial. THEN Watch this video and try it out!

Photoshop Double Exposure - long video

Double Exposure - quick and dirty


We will be viewing a few of these tutorials this week and doing mini assignments every day.

https://edex.adobe.com/resource/c5c21d9a39