My motif is many different ellipses rotated five degrees. It then has squares and hexagons within it done in a similar fashion in one solid gray. It resembles some pieces on backs of cards. I was actually inspired by cards and simply started rotating ellipses to see how it looked. The idea of this project was to make something that radiates out from the center and creates a pattern.
My repeating pattern is hexagons and diamonds moving downward and left and right. It looks similar to beads that hang from doorways or streamers. I was inspired by a hexagon pattern that used multiple different colors but because it did, I couldn't use it here so I made my own. The idea was to make a pattern that repeated from all sides.
This article was about how a Florida newspaper became profitable after going through lay-offs and restructuring its entire process. The newspaper has changed from doing stories only about "bureaucratic bungling" to doing explanatory articles about things that matter in the community.
The author argues that the Pensacola News Journal is becoming a more profitable and enjoyable place to work. The evidence given are mostly quotes from people that help run the newspaper or gather stories to supply the newspaper. The article is strong when talking about how the business has soared after almost failing, but is weak when analyzed to see that many workers lost jobs and raised unemployment for the sake of the paper. The author concludes that giving writers freedom in the newsroom helps to make the papers profitable and enjoyable.
The author did a splendid job of supporting her main point and gave significant evidence for them. Although, some statistics could have been added to show how the newsroom had improved. As a videographer one could get shots within the newsroom to show how the morale had been boosted by the changes intermixed with interviews. The article was well written and followed a clear path that helped keep the evidence organized.
The article itself was not one I would have chosen to read, it just doesn't jump out at me. After reading it though, I found it was an interesting perspective on the current problem newspapers are having. It was intriguing and had good diction. Overall the article did well.
In the work "London Brawling" by Freddie Wong, the main character, Freddie, accidentally swaps umbrellas with a mysterious man. A fight ensues as men with handguns come around a corner and Freddie discovers the properties of this special umbrella. He defeats the men as he gets used to the umbrella that is also a weapon, shield, and umbrella. It was an incredibly entertaining piece.
The work did a nice job with the framing of its shots. Many shots were using the rule of thirds properly and I would like to takeinteresting wide and over the shoulder shots that are similar to those used in this piece. Freddie Wong did a good job telling the story and keeping the shots short to entertain the viewer. He began with the swap of the umbrellas to explain how the fight occurred and showed what happened during the fight and after. Although many parts were well done, some of the shots cut off the characters' heads or centered them.
Overall the video itself was extremely entertaining and told the story well enough that shots that were only decent did not catch my eye as bad. I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing this piece and will look forward to seeing upcoming works by Freddie Wong.
While creating these designs I was looking at the instructions extremely closely at first. I needed the directions in order to make these pencils and the cases. I then evolved and my memory and creative process allowed for me to create the color scheme and paper design seen in the second image. My design process then combined fully with my creative aspects in order to create the guitar case and amplifier. I had to think hard for something to accompany the guitar case.
I knew that making these designs would help me to learn things and improve as a graphic designer. Starting at the cup and pencil with written and in depth directions, then moving to a personal pencil, and finishing with something completely different that applies these skills was the way learning should always be, start with directions and slowly apply it until you are doing it with something that is a 180 degree flip from the directions.
There were many things I learned from this project that I will most definitely apply to my future works. I will only be explaining a few of these skills. One thing I learned was a helpful keyboard shortcut, command+d, that redoes what was previously done to the selected item. This is helpful when one is trying to make perfectly spaced and duplicated
items. Another thing I learned from this project was how to make something that isn't a single shape filled. This uses the live paint tool. The third and final thing I learned from this project was that shading different portions of objects and even applying gradients to a drop shadow helps to add more dimension to the object and the entire design.
The premise of the project "Michaela" was to show that an average teenage girl can be an extraordinary weight lifter. It shows what she does and that her father is her coach. The project helps illustrate how the father and daughter relationship is altered when both are in the gym. It also shows how it brings the family together and makes Michaela (the lifter) happy.
The work is generally well put together from a design point of view. Most shots do use the rule of thirds and place the subject in the frame properly. Shots such as the one pictured on the left are accurate representations of well placed and filmed shots. This work has some very nice looking shots while others are a little too wide or too close for the shot to meet the standards of the shot it was to be. Shots such as the one below are much too close to be an accurate close up, for the interviewee's head is being cut off.
This project had a very interesting story about an unlikely heavy-weight lifter, a young woman. Her and her family are drawn closer together by her participation and her father's coaching. The story is told well with multiple representations of what people think about Michaela lifting and how it is affecting the community. Shots of the weights and her training as well as competing help to tell the story as well and do a wonderful job of this. The voice overs also help to bring more understanding to the minds of the viewers and help round out the creator's way of storytelling.
I learned many things from analyzing this piece of work. One of these things was that not every shot needs to be focused on the subject, sometimes the camera is focused on the weights. I will apply this to my works to add more depth to them. While I learned from this deep look into this work, I also found things that I had already learned. Much of the framing I saw I had already learned, which can be seen above.
The creator did many things well in within this short project. The project showed a definitive subject focus and kept the viewer entertained for the allotted time because of the way shots were continuously being played through behind audio. Much of this project was done well, sometimes though, framing was an issue. The reason framing shots wasn't done as well as it could have been was because some shots were hard to identify because the hips were shown but not the feet, leading the viewer to wonder if it was meant to be a medium or wide shot.
In the end, the project did the job it was created to do. It entertained the viewer and told the story of the subject accurately. While it could have been framed more properly, that did not take away from the story as much as bad audio could have been. I personally enjoyed the story involved and was intrigued by it.
Graphic design is a way of expression and communication through images and other graphics. It is a technological form of art. It is about making certain things display a message either via typography or visual effects. Graphics also help pass on feelings from the creator to the the viewer. Graphic design applies to everyone and everything. Nearly every product on the market has some sort of design on it, anything from cars to cracker boxes.
Graphic design connects with me by way of how I express myself and communicate my thoughts to others. I use music but sometimes it isn't enough to convey what I want. I prefer graphic design because it allows for me to write things and show specific messages that directly relate to something else. I also connect through representation. I like how graphic design allows for me to represent different countries, companies, people, and places. Graphic design is so free flowing and has many freedoms, there is truly no limit to how much you can do with graphic design. Everyone with a business or product needs a logo and I love that it allows for my creativity to flow.
When I was in the graphic design strand I was in charge of making the website banner. I knew I wanted one specific color, but I needed it to be interesting and dynamic. I began working on a radial gradient to give the banner a central point, after this development I wanted to add some contrast and a little bit of texture. So I browsed the internet and added a simple overlaid chevron. It helped add character to the banner. After adding our our company name, logo, and slogan I put a drop shadow on all of them in order to finish it up.
After completing my web banner, my group needed help on some text for the website. Our sidebar needed a reasonable amount of text and my group had asked me to do it. I wrote up a simple description of our company and website. I listed a few things that can be found on the website to give the customer an idea of what to look for on the site. I then passed the file on for revisions and editing before going on the website.
When I was in the animation strand I was in charge of creating the entire set. I was to give surroundings for our product that not only made sense, but were also aesthetically pleasing. I made a small desk for the product to be placed on and build up the room around it. The small things the trim on the floor made a huge difference in the overall feel of the room. I also added a cup with a couple pens, two stacks of paper, and a book. Colors made a huge difference. I wanted the room to be somewhat dull in order for the product and packaging would be the focal point.
When we were in the video strand, I was the lead actor and a consultant for storyline and framing. We developed the idea for how to have the friends appear and what to have me do. Our group knew we needed me to look shy on camera whenever I was without my friends, this is why I seem boring and somewhat emotionless when doing my interview. I was meant to look shy because I was without my friends.
This project forced us to work together in groups that we were not allowed to choose. This meant that we had to work together professionally and try to problem solve well. This meant our communication skills had to improve because otherwise things wouldn't get done within our group. I learned that it is better to avoid conflict within our group or try to find a solution for it quickly because otherwise group cohesion begins to fall away. Our group was not one for confrontation which meant our presentation ran more smoothly.
The scope of this project was to use all of the things we had learned previously in e9 to create and advertise a product. As a group random ideas were thrown out and eventually we settled on Friends in a Bottle. Then we began storyboarding our video and drawing rough logo ideas on paper. Once we had filmed our video we had a different idea of what we wanted our logo to be. After the animation was put together we decided what our product was all about. I began learning how to communicate better as we went and then we moved on to graphic design. Our logo was simple and beautiful. I learned that having others in a group to suggest things and look over your work helped to improve everything you do, especially when they are more critical.
Next time I would make the group communicate more and collaborate more to combine our ideas. We had trouble combining our ideas into one product, everything came out looking like we were making things individually. I would keep our group conversations about design and things the same, we chose fonts and designs as a group vote making it fair as well as consulting our instructor to make sure our designs and ideas worked well. Next time I hope to use better communication skills to make the group products look like they were made as a group. In the end it was an enjoyable project that built upon my skills as a student.
The work did a nice job with the framing of its shots. Many shots were using the rule of thirds properly and I would like to takeinteresting wide and over the shoulder shots that are similar to those used in this piece. Freddie Wong did a good job telling the story and keeping the shots short to entertain the viewer. He began with the swap of the umbrellas to explain how the fight occurred and showed what happened during the fight and after. Although many parts were well done, some of the shots cut off the characters' heads or centered them.
There were many things I learned from this project that I will most definitely apply to my future works. I will only be explaining a few of these skills. One thing I learned was a helpful keyboard shortcut, command+d, that redoes what was previously done to the selected item. This is helpful when one is trying to make perfectly spaced and duplicated
