Category: class updates

Wrapping up week 5

VIsual resumes due

I’m looking forward to seeing your final version of Project #2 on Friday. Please remember the project has four components. You will have to follow directions carefully to avoid losing points for things like incorrect file formats. Review assignment guidelines here.

You’ll want to allow enough time to write your project narrative. I expect this narrative to show the time and attention that you would give to any college writing assignment worth 15% of your grade: please proofread, think carefully about what points you will make, and structure the document with intention. I don’t expect this narrative to be overly formal in tone or diction; write in the first person, but please be coherent and analytical.

If you use any graphics from the internet or templates of any kind in your project, please include a list of your sources in a note on Blackboard.

get ready for photoshop

It will♫come in like a wrecking ball♫ if you are totally new to Photoshop — i.e. if you have never used this application before. We will have some homework assignments to help build Photoshop skills, but I would suggest going through some tutorials on your own before next week.

Weekly open lab sessions

Another faculty member in the Communication Studies department, Andy Famiglietti, will be offering open lab sessions for students in COM courses. You can go and just use the laptops or get help with projects or a troublesome technical issue during these sessions.

Here’s the schedule:

Wednesdays, 2:30-3:30 in MH 150
Thursdays, 11:00-12:00 (except for 2/12, 3/5, 4/2, 5/7 when we have department meetings) in MH 174

These are drop-in, come-and-go sessions — no sign-up required.

Moving right along…

Today
For Monday 2/2

In addition to the assigned reading on layout, please complete a very short homework assignment that will introduce you to InDesign. Create a mock business card by working through this Adobe InDesign tutorial. You do not need to create the logo shown for this assignment. You can download the completed .ai logo by clicking “Get files” near the top of the page. Focus on the final three videos to complete this homework: “Start laying out the business card,” “Add your logo to the business card,” and “Grab attention by adding color.” You can use your own name and address (or not) for the business card. Upload your final business card in Blackboard as a PDF file following the instructions in the final video.

For Wednesday 2/4

In addition to the assigned reading on layout, go through one of two Adobe tutorials on creating a resume in InDesign. This is not technically “homework” and I won’t ask you to submit anything. Use the tutorials to learn the basics of how you can set up your resume.  There is a video tutorial (10 min.) and a text/image tutorial. Both come with work files.

1. Here is the video-based tutorial.

Note: Click “download sample files” to work through this tutorial at home.I found it really useful and clear. Look out for the awesome trick of applying header formatting with the eyedropper tool. There is a separate video about creating a personal logo.

2. Here is the text/image-based tutorial.

Note: Click “get files” to work through this tutorial at home. If you have an older version of Adobe Creative Suite or Adobe CC, you will need to have a compatible version of the InDesign work file for this tutorial. Click this link to download the compatible .idml file. Then move the file into the “create-resume” folder.

For Friday 2/6

A first draft of your visual resume project is due. If your logo is not complete yet, include sketches to give a sense of what it will look like. We will use class time to write critiques and discuss the drafts in small groups. If you miss class today, you will have to complete critiques later, on your own, on Blackboard. If you do not complete any critiques, it will affect the grade of the whole project.

Homework deadlines extended

Let’s take a little more time to get through Chapters 1 – 3 in Foundations of Digital Art. Final exercises from all three chapters are due on Blackboard by Wednesday 1/28 at the beginning of class.  Chapters 2 and 3 are more time-consuming than 1, though I would say Chapter 2 is the trickiest of all.

The tutorial videos at adobe.com are a quick way to learn the basics of Illustrator.
The tutorial videos at adobe.com are a quick way to learn the basics of Illustrator.

I recommend spending a little time with the Illustrator CC tutorial videos created by Adobe. The videos are very short and might help fill in any gaps left by the textbook.  I especially like this 8-minute video that explains how to create a basic illustration using the Pencil tool. I’ve never made a digital badge before, but after working through Chapter 3 in Foundations and spending about 30 minutes watching tutorial videos about Anchor point and Pencil, I created this simple badge from scratch. Don’t judge! I’m still working on it. 🙂

tag-badge-02

Graphic design practice

In Chapter 5 in White Space, you read about many terms that can help you make compelling graphic designs.

Here are some examples that demonstrate the terms. Can you add your own examples as links or images to that Google doc?

These terms are important for our class and I’d like you to use them when you critique the work of your peers later in the semester.  Today in class, use Illustrator to create some compositions that demonstrate any of the elements/rules/laws of visual communication. Use a different artboard for each composition. Here are some student examples that might help you get started.

Save your images as .png files and upload them to your Tumblr or Pinterest when you’re done. You can export individual images as .png by going to File > Export, selecting the format, and which artboard you want.

If you are struggling in general with Illustrator, there are tons of tutorials online. Adobe has made a series of very short videos that will introduce you to the essential tools and tasks.

Digital badges

Image credit: Flickr user VCU Libraries
Image credit: Flickr user VCU Libraries

In class on 1/21, we’ll talk about the digital badges mini project and the basics of Adobe Illustrator.

Here are some examples of badge sets we can look at in class. What do these badges say about the issuing organization and the person being rewarded?

Chapter 2 in White Space advises us to keep asking “what will appeal to the audience?” during the planning process. (Jess Klein offers great tips for doing that, specifically in relation to digital badges.) In addition to looking at other badge designs, consider drawing inspiration from emoji, computer icons, and Facebook stickers — these are familiar visual codes for your audience of college students.

Over the next 4 or 5 days, work on design sketches in a notebook and begin pinning or tumbling images (shapes, textures, logos, etc.) that give you ideas for the badges you might want to create. Follow the brainstorming/sketching process in White Space Chapter 2.

When you have your design vision or concept firmed up, search for online tutorials that will help you accomplish what you want to create. I’m working on a Resources page, and that might be a good place to start.

A note on the Foundations of Digital Art and Design book: if you go to the publisher’s website, you’ll find an eBook for $35. Also, when I visited the site, I was offered a 35% off discount code (POP35), so that might save you money if it applies to the eBook (I didn’t try it).