Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Logos and Posters - Research

Please take a look at these sites to begin your research. Remember that the first step in the Design Process is to UNDERSTAND YOUR GOAL!

Review the handout from Mr. McAlpine (your client) to recall the objective of the assignment.

Design a logo for Young Company AND a poster for one of or both of the plays for this season.

Deadline: October 15, 2013

Step 2. RESEARCH!

What do I research? In no particular order, research the following:

Gather your information on your blog, on your pinterest board (if you made one), or your tumblr (if you have one) for each of the areas below. Post the information so that I can access it, OR create a word doc and gather the info. Be prepared to share what you find on Thursday with the rest of the class.

1. Logos in general. What makes a good logo?

        On making logos - tips

http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-design/logos/



2. Logos for theatre companies.

Google theatre company logos. See what you find.


3. Event posters - specifically theatre posters. There are some amazing theatre posters.

Use the amazing posters book and google.
Try HERE too 


4. Theatre posters for these plays in particular.

Twelve Angry Jurors. I just googled Twelve Angry Jurors.
The Audition is harder to find. I found a little synopsis of it HERE


5. And finally....research the plays themselves AND Young Company's aesthetic, personality and spirit as a theatre company within our school.



Vector tracing assignment

Assignment: 

Create a vector drawing of a simple everyday object - choosing one that has interesting shape, texture, lines etc and that will be easily recognizable by it's overall shape.

1. Create a sketch of the object - you can first sketch it on paper and then do a freehand sketch in Illustrator based on your drawing, OR you can create a freehand sketch in Illustrator based on the photograph you will be using to trace.

2. Trace a photograph of the object using the pen tool. Create various layers to represent different parts of the object. Label each layer and keep them organized. Remember that in order to fill in a shape, your lines need to end where they begin. Look for the little "o" when you have reached your starting point with the pen tool.

3. Create a colour version of #2.

We will be printing these to put up in the display case.

To submit:

1. Post all three on your blog - properly labelled in your blog post with a written analysis below.
Export as png files.

Written should include a paragraph that describes each of the three following points:

a) Elements and Principles of Design. 
Discuss the use of elements and principles of design as they pertain to your drawings. These heavily rely on line and shape, possibly texture and obviously colour for #3. Also look at variety, contrast, emphasis and unity. You may even have rhythm in your object.

b) Technical.
Explain what you did and how you did it. Be sure to name each of the tools you used accurately and to name each step along the way. Mention the use of layers, as well as file formats used to export your drawings.

c) Your opinion.
Describe which of the three you like the best/ think is the best design and why. Which "works" as a good design and which isn't as effective?

2. Submit to the drop off folder - All three with your name in the file name as well as which version.
eg. Name_Sketch_Object.ai  Name_Trace_Object.ai

Be sure to submit the Illustrator version so that I can see all the layers and how well they are labelled and organized!!

Due: TODAY by the end of the class. Tuesday.


 

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Intro to Illustrator


Introducing Illustrator. Please follow the steps below to learn to trace an object in Illustrator. For Step 1 you can use the "Leaf Guy" image found in the pickup folder - Lakeshore C.I. folder on the desktop - Ms. Silverman Pickup -  Graphic Design TGG 3M1 - LeafGuy.jpg

Step by step they are below. Make sure you go through each step. Or you can find all of them HERE.

7. Lines into Shapes

When you have finished, save your finished 'Leaf Guy' by choosing Save As - and saving the file as
YourName_Ex1.ai. Create a folder in your home drive called Graphic Design or TGG 3M1 and then drag and drop the file into the Drop Off folder marked Graphics under Ms. Silverman.


The Pen Tool Comprehensive Guide


20 Essential Tutorials for Illustrator



Tuesday, September 10, 2013

What is Graphic Design?

View these three videos from the Design Council and then scroll to the bottom of the post for further instructions.

What is graphic design? from Design Council on Vimeo.



What is graphic design ... what a graphic designer does from Design Council on Vimeo.









Your Task:

FIRST: After having viewed these videos AND the brief slides of great examples of graphic design, begin or continue setting up your blog using blogger.com. If you haven't done so already please create a blog using blogger. Come up with an original and anonymous name for your blog, but please put a comment on the bottom of THIS post with a copy of your URL in the comment. If you're confused about this process, just ask me and we'll get through it together!!

NEXT: Once you've got your blog set up - see if you can change some of the features to choose a template and make some design decisions. Keep in mind READABILITY. If I can't read your posts because you've chosen a bright blue background with a bright red font, I'm not going to be happy. Keep in mind all the principles of design you just learned and make some elegant and aesthetic choices.

THEN: Your first blog post will be to search for some cool graphic design links, blogs or websites. Find some eye candy (something that looks great to you) and share it by posting the link on your blog.
You can link anything in a blog post by creating a word that you want people to click on, highlighting it and then hitting the link button on the top menu of the post window. Then you can copy and paste the URL of the site your are linking to. Add a few sentences to explain what it is you like about the designs/designers you have found and why we should check it out.

BONUS: Start a pinterest board of great designs and link it to your blog in a blog or link list. You can start a list by going to the DESIGN tab in blogger. AND/OR start a tumblr blog to post designs that you're interested in. Both are great ways to collect ideas and cool images that you like. Think of them as online idea books. We'll talk more about this later.

Good luck and have fun with this assignment. I'll be checking and marking your blogs and first blog entry. You'll find the rubric for the blog in the Ms. Silverman's PICKUP folder. Look for a folder called GRAPHICS.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Elements and Principles of Design - Review or Intro

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 powerpoint presentation in class, or if you missed it, find it HERE, fill out the handouts either by hand - or on the computer (whichever you prefer). Or you can see it right here from the blog post, if the link isn't working.



Elements of Design and Principles of Design Handouts Due: end of class on Thursday.


Fill in the handouts using line, shape, colour, texture, value, form and space for Elements of Design
and Balance, Unity, Proportion, Movement, Rhythm, Pattern, Emphasis and Contrast.
They have been left blank intentionally.
You can add or substitute other elements/principles, such as Figure/Ground (or positive negative), typography, white space, scale, size, direction (related to movement), weight (related to balance), variety, harmony, the golden mean, or rule of thirds.

You can use the powerpoint at the bottom of this blog post to help - it provides a bit more information on the principles of design OR research them yourself online.

Analysis: Due Monday Sep 9 to present in class.


Graphics Class please look HERE for some beautifully designed posters
or HERE at my pinterest board of fantastic posters.

You can also use one of these 41 Creative Print Ads

In the interest of time, please don't look any further. There is plenty to look at here that you can use for your analysis. On your own time, feel free to find stuff that inspires you and post it on your blog. You can also create your own pinterest boards as an ongoing idea book.

Yearbook Class please look at one of the Jostens Look Books, or online HERE for this Yearbook Cover Showcase, or HERE at this Yearbook Cover Showcase. Don't spend too much time searching.  There will be time for that later! Just pick one to analyze and be prepared to present on Monday.

Here is an alternate powerpoint presentation that takes examples from Photography to demonstrate the elements and principles of design. It's good to see how they are applied to photography. As a designer, it's essential to be able to apply these principles to all types of art, especially photography, which is used a great deal in graphic design projects.


Elements and Principles of Design in Photography from ballardgraphicdesign

FRIDAY INSTRUCTIONS

Give yourself no more than 10 minutes to select a design. Remember, your objective is to be efficient! Time management is one of the skills we will be working on this year!!

2. Using a blank chart, or blank paper, write down every element of design AND principle of design that you recognize in the design. Indicate WHERE it is being used, DESCRIBE the element/principle in detail, and EXPLAIN HOW it is used as an effective design tool.
(ie. the fine, wispy, curving lines beginning in the bottom left corner of the poster, help create movement as they lead your eye from the bottom left around to end up in the top right of the poster, right to the large red circle)

Be prepared to present/discuss this in class on Monday. You will not need to hand in your notes, but you should use them to help you with your analysis.