Instant Book Assignment

        Our next assignment is the Instant Book project. A black and white assignment will leave much to be desired in a good way. Black and white makes the viewer wonder what colors were used in the photo, but that’s a good thing. Everyone is not going to have the same interpretation reaction to your project.
         It’ll be interesting to see how the final piece will turn out for everyone. I will begin to think of ideas of what I want to do. There are so many directions that this project could go in. I think it’ll be a good thing to have more class time to work on these projects. Maybe it’ll eliminate all of those previous problems that many students have run into in the past.
I think I know what I want to do my instant book. I want to make an instant book where people can have an inside look in my life. I want to focus on three main points. I want to show two pictures that showcase my house. The next set of photos will focus on where I work. My last se of photos will focus on one of my favorite restaurants.
        Most college students live a private life where most of their classmates don’t get to see the personal side of you. With the instant book project, students will be able to find out what’s going on in your life. This project will allow you to choose whatever you want to do. This project is way better than the last one because it’s easier to find a concept that inspires you instead of having to do a project where you only have three choices to choose from. I can’t wait to venture out, and take the photos I need. Who else is excited for this project?

No More Exercises!

          We don't have any exercises left. I have the A. Earhart project to do, but I’m not too sure if I'll do the optional exercises. The exercises were always the toughest parts of this class to me. I'm looking forward to the remaining projects because I can focus all of my time on the projects.

          I think I’m going to blog about the progress of the projects from here on out. I don’t know why I would always stress out about the exercises, but I always did. I would always feel rushed to get them done, but I was able to finish them. The toughest exercise had to be the exquisite corpse. I had to do the exercise twice, and it still didn't come out right. I’m just glad that exercise is behind me now.

          Without the stress of the exercises on my back, I should have an easier time at finishing the projects on time and more efficiently. It’s a shame that our website decided to go haywire during the middle of the semester, but maybe it’ll be a better experience for all of us. I mentioned in a previous post how hard it was for most students to get their hands on the software.

Class time will be dedicated primarily to finishing your current project which will help us make better projects. There are a few things that will result from better projects. Students will have higher level of confidence going forward. Creating graphic designs can be difficult at times. The second thing that will result from better projects are better critiques. Our critiques are phenomenal because we have an awesome group that gives excellent criticism. Initially we wanted get our projects over with so we can move onto the next project. Let’s just say we don’t have a problem with somebody who anxiously wants to go first.

Change One Thing

If you could change one thing about this class what would it be? Would it be the no eating rule? Would it be the class time we have to work on our projects? The only thing I would change is the availability of the Mac computers on campus.

Trying to find a Mac on campus is almost like searching for cheap clearance items at five different stores, and not finding any. Sure there are the labs, and there’s some in the library but that doesn’t mean that they’re always accessible. In the future the campus needs to look into getting more Mac computers on campus for this exact reason. Finding a Windows based computer isn’t tough at all, but a Mac on is near impossible.

 I think some of the problems that we experience with our projects and exercises are due to the fact that we don’t have enough with the Mac computers. That’s just my opinion anyway. Due to the lack of useable machines, students tend to stress out because they don’t think they’ll finish their projects and exercises on time.

There is hope though. Some students have found a work around to alleviate this problem. If you go to Adobe.com, you can download a trial version of the software you need to use. The only issue with this work around is that you can only use the software for 30 days until you have to pay for it. The individual programs are pretty expensive, and most of us can’t afford to spend that kind of cash on computer software. We have other things to pay for.

 As the semester goes on, maybe we’ll have better luck at getting our hands on the software. If we have more time to experiment with the software, we’ll be able to become more proficient with each program individually.

Check this site out!

Art

The exploratorium has been providing great art websites since 1995. This particular page started out with ten cool websites, but people continue to add more sites to this page as well. If you are interested in any of the following artists; Dali, and lesso. You should definitely check this page out.

I think the best website on this page is My Imaginary City. At this site you can join an online community of people who love to create images that don't exist. I posted an awesome one below. Taken directly from the website. "Tate Collectives is an online space for young creatives. Create your profile and gallery space. Upload your own creative work. Share, discuss and collaborate with other young creatives here." What will they think of next!? There's also a social media aspect to this site because you can share your work with other sites, and people can like and leave comments about your work.

Gallery

     Has anyone checked out the site recently? The Exploratorium constantly updates their main page with new content along with new announcements. Their biggest announcement is that they’re moving in 2013. They’re building their new campus at Piers 15 and 17 on San Francisco’s historic waterfront. The following is their mission statement. “The Exploratorium isn’t just a museum; it’s an ongoing exploration of science, art, and human perception—a vast collection of online interactives, web features, activities, programs, and events that feed your curiosity.”

      After viewing their website for some time, I want to visit this museum in the future. I’ve always been a fan of museums, and I definitely want to experience this museum to see what they have  to offer. If you haven’t checked the links I’ve posted, you’re definitely missing out on some great content. This site is definitely worth your time.

The Tools We Have

            In Communication Graphics we have several tools at our disposal. We have the internet, and three excellent programs including InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Each program has strengths and weaknesses.
So far InDesign is my favorite of the three to use. InDesign seems to be the most professional of the three because there’s so much you can do with it. I really enjoy how you can add multiple without any real issues. I've personally spent the most time with InDesign so I think that’s another reason why I prefer to use InDesign.
Illustrator on the other hand, not so much. Initially we used Illustrator for our exercises. The book has a weird way of describing the instructions to us. One minute you’ll be following along with the directions, and then they’ll suddenly stop you from what you were doing to tell you some background information. I think they should give you all the background information, and then get into the exercise. I honestly think that causes a lot of confusion.
Photoshop is the only program that I fooled around with during my high school years. I don’t know really how to use it, but I definitely want to learn some advanced features of it. I initially used Photoshop to re-size images for my cell phone wallpapers, but that’s all I did really with it.
I also mentioned the internet as a tool as well because without it, our projects and assignments would be much tougher. Just imagine having to go out and physically take photos for your magazine layout. That may or may not be fun for the rest of the students. I also love having a digital copy of the book online. I have having to carry a ton of books to each class so knowing that I can carry one digital book makes me a happy college student.

A Retrospective: Exercise 1

It's been over a month since I submitted this exercise in. It's always good to see where you started with something. I look back and think, "I could've changed this or that." Taking this type of class for the first time opened my eyes to things I never really paid attention to. Whenever I look at buildings, new canvases I always critique them. I then think what I could to improve or change the way it look.

When I started exercise 1, I didn't know what I was doing. Some of the instructions were so vague, and it's annoying when you find out that the author skipped a step as well. It just takes more time to keep your exercise on track. With the experience gained from that initial exercise, I know that it would definitely be easier to do this time around.

 I’m really glad that I chose to take this class. I don't think my future will incorporate graphic design, but at least I'll have some background d knowledge of the software. Most of my classmates never used any of these programs so it’s amazing to see what hard work and dedication can do for a person. With that being said, I do look forward to seeing future projects. We all learn from our mistakes, and it’ll be good experience for all of us.

 I can honestly say that I’m learning more of the features and techniques of InDesign and Illustrator. It’s a good feeling knowing you can manipulate your pieces of art in the way you intend to. By building on the basic features, you will be able to change your work in so many ways. Some people will be content using the basic features, and others will enjoy their classmates asking them for tips.

Latest Critique

After hearing some of the criticism I received, I can finally see where I need to improve my work. Some of my color choices didn't work too well, and I could've expanded on my title. My title was left in the middle all high and dry.

I think the reason my project came out the way it did was due to the fact that I was trying to do too much. I say that in a sense that I should've kept my project simple, and it would've turned out much better. Going further, I will try to tone things down a bit, but I still want to learn and experience new concepts and techniques. Things can only go up from here so I'm hoping that my next project turns out better than this one did.

The main thing that was frustrating about this project finding a Kinko's that would actually mount your magazine layout. I initially went to the Cheektowaga location because it's close to my job. After trying to get my flash drive to read, she then insisted to tell me that they didn't mount projects at that location. She then told me that I had to the Niagara Falls BLVD location. That location is nowhere near my house. Thanks Andrea! Andrea informed me that she went to the Elmwood location, and she didn't have any issues. I went there, and the printer chopped off most of my text. I then rushed home, and moved everything over. After emailing the store, I was able to mount my project. That was an experience to say the least. This project was so stressful because I had to get everything finished before I went to work.

Thanks again to everyone who gave me insightful criticism. I really appreciate your input. The other thing I didn’t like was the lack of communication of some of the co-workers at the FedEx locations. You would think that they would be more informed about what services they offered. It would’ve made things a lot easier.