OP...My Second Home

Final Part III: Best Formal Project #4

2010-12-11T11:17:00.002-06:00

The reason I chose this self portrait project as my best project is because of the different factors surrounding its creation. When I illustrated this piece, I had literally just gotten familiar with the photoshop illustration technique. I really hadn't begun to even enjoy photoshop illustrations. When I started illustrating this, I just sat there and went at it without really thinking too much of it. In the process, I happened to stumble upon my own individual technique within photoshop utilizing specific steps and specific layers that I would continue to use on all of my photoshop illustrations throughout the rest of the semester. And when I was finished, I realized I had enjoyed the process of its creation, just as much as the final product.
This project marks the beginning of me taking to photoshop over all the other mediums we worked with in class. Because photoshop illustration is much more forgiving than gouache or watercolor, both of which I continuously struggled with all semester, I was very fond of spending the time to put in little details. I obviously hadn't yet mastered my technique so there were many instances when I found myself illustrating in the wrong layer, which is still one of my more common mistakes. But the restarting doesn't involve completely starting over like hand-illustrated art does. It's also convenient because I didn't need to scan my artwork into the computer, then mess around with color balancing just to make it resemble the original. Photoshop illustration gives so much more freedom, it's sort of a no brainer to use it.
So overall, I am really glad photoshop illustration was touched on in class. I know I was supposed to be doing more of the hand-made work since that's mostly of what the coursework calls for. But I wouldn't have been able to discover the style of illustration that came most naturally to me. Photoshop illustration has changed my perspective and added a very helpful, not to mention marketable, aspect to my style as a designer.

Final Part III: Best Formal Project #3

2010-12-11T11:05:00.006-06:00

This project was definitely one of my favorites. I got to utilize both my photoshop illustration skills and my layout design and typography skills. I think the is the first project that I was able to see first hand that I'm capable of illustrating for particular design related projects. I can definitely see myself using my photoshop illustrations in my future design work. Some issues I had with this design was that when I first started it, I was nervous that I wouldn't have time to finish it. It's a very detailed image that took a lot of time to get the colors just right, then add the highlights on top in a way that still looks elegant and not as graphic as I typically make my art and design look. I think that was definitely the biggest challenge for me. While it does still look somewhat graphic, I think I was able to achieve the necessary amount of elegance to fit with my book cover design. And surprisingly enough, I did have time to illustrate another photoshop illustration for the back cover. I needed something to balance out the layout and still fit with the themes of the book and I think my quill and ink dish also accomplish that. Overall, this was another illustration that shows my development with the specific tools and techniques unique to photoshop illustration.

Final Part III: Best Formal Project #2

2010-12-11T10:58:00.003-06:00

The airbrush project was definitely very challenging and frustrating. Despite the fact that I struggled with this illustration for 4 hours, I think it's my best hand-made piece I did throughout the entire semester. There were a few times I almost gave up on it, but I kept going and, aside from a few mistakes, I was able to pull it off. I corrected my mistakes with some hand-done line work, then the rest I retouched in photoshop. It's also really cool to know this was my first attempt at my first full illustration with the airbrushing technique. While I'm happy to be done with it, I would actually consider using airbrushing as an illustration tool for my design work in the future.

Final Part III: Best Formal Project #1

2010-12-11T10:46:00.008-06:00

I chose the album art project as one of my best formal projects because it shows my proficiency in photoshop illustration. For this particular project, besides using my personal layering technique and layer styling, I used some other hue changing techniques in order to change the color of the initial balloon animal I illustrated. Prior to this project, it didn't occur to me that I could use other effects, filters and tools on my finished illustrations. It was a great discovery since now I can continue to learn new methods and tools. It was also a challenge to resize what I had already illustrated into two other smaller compositions. I do with I had done this differently so they would all be exactly the same, but unfortunately, I didn't crop the arrangement of illustrations, so I had to manually position them within each of the smaller comps. Though considering this, I believe I did a good job eyeing everything out. Overall, this project was really fun with all the fun discoveries I made in photoshop.

Final Part II: Best Marker Comp

2010-12-11T10:38:00.003-06:00

I chose the photoshop marker comp that I did for my event poster because it shows that I was able to choose the color scheme and apply it to the initial artwork and composition of the piece. The line work was near complete and I only had to make some minor changes to it. The technique I used to add color into the line work was the basic paint tool in photoshop. I added a low opacity fill to the particular shapes, then went back in to highlight and lowlight. This marked the first epiphany I had as far as developing my own personal design technique within photoshop. After this marker comp, I began to utilize layers a lot more and discovered I could get really detailed work done with just the brush tool and color tool in photoshop.

Final Part I: Best 10 Technique Exercises

2010-12-11T10:21:00.012-06:00

For my 10 best technique exercises, I chose 3 line art by hand, 3 line art in photoshop, 2 8.5x11 watercolors by hand and 2 photoshop watercolors. I chose the 3 line art by hand pieces because they show my best quick line-work for practice. Not having taken a drawing class in a while, I was very surprised I was still able to crank out some decent line work, which turned out to be helpful on many projects that followed in illustration class. I chose the 3 photoshop line exercises because this was my first experience with the photoshop illustration techniques demonstrated in class. I was a bit shaky at first, but then I was able to draw these three, which I was very pleased with and these drawings ultimately hooked me on photoshop illustration. The 2 watercolors that I did by hand are examples of my best a favorite works. The really bizarre and surreal one was an experiment in which I put down the color first, then drew in the line work depending on what shapes I perceived the paint blobs to be. It was a fun and interesting exercise. The lighthouse was one done in class in which I had more time to complete. I really like how it turned out. I had a lot of trouble with watercolor and when I was able to paint this particular painting, I began to like it a bit more and felt more confident that maybe I'd be able to actually use it as a designing tool one day. And the last two are examples of watercolor and line work done in photoshop. These two were my best out of the 5 assigned to do. They show how I progressively became more confident with color and the different brush options within photoshop. They also show another step towards my preference for photoshop illustration over hand-done techniques.

I Make Prettyful Artzzz!

2010-12-09T12:45:00.004-06:00

I spent 4 hours airbrushing this damn kitten, which I got so attached to him in the process, I named him Mr. Wigglesworth. I think it came out ok overall, minus a few mess-ups, which I was able to take care of in photoshop. Hopefully it's cheesy enough to live up to the project specifications. Oh, and I guess I should add that this is my first experience with any sort of airbrush ever. I tried a couple exercises, but not all because of soccer so it's amazing I got this done in 4 hours.

Book Cover Illustration: Pride & Prejudice

2010-12-09T12:44:00.003-06:00

This book cover was actually fun to do. I really enjoy photoshop illustration so I was an overachiever and did two illustrations, one for the front cover and one for the back. The color scheme and typography are meant to be more elegant, so hopefully that's how it comes off. I'm going to take some pictures of the final printout mocked up and on the book to see how successful my mockup design is.

Album Art: Maximum Balloon

2010-12-09T12:39:00.003-06:00

Maximum Balloon is the new album out by David Sitek, also known as "the white guy from TV on the Radio". One of my favorite new albums out. I decided to go literal with the imagery and last minute I changed my mind about how I was going to incorporate balloons. I went all Jeff Koons and used the balloon animals, to be both literal, and to reference some of the more animal-like emotions put into both the sound and lyrics of Sitek's songs.

VCIV Ad Poster Design

2010-11-30T17:00:00.006-06:00

All pics were taken in the raw at my mom's shop in Geneva, IL and altered in Photoshop, mostly in the raw software where I did a lot of color (un)balancing. Her clients were surprisingly very willing to have their photo shot while my mom was going at their scalps with all kinds of torturous tools and chemicals. Oh, what women will do for beauty...thus the origin of the ad.

ADG: HDR Photography

2010-11-18T14:46:00.002-06:00

ADG: TSU Art Dep. Postcard Promotion Abstract Photography

2010-11-18T14:24:00.010-06:00

VCIV Packaging: Spin:e Cycling Parts

2010-11-18T14:16:00.003-06:00

3 Image Gouache Montage

2010-11-08T08:58:00.003-06:00

Hmm. Where to begin. I began this 3 image gouache montage with high hopes. I was possibly going give this to my cousin for Christmas since I wanted to paint her new son, Shane, surrounded by Chicago Cubs paraphernalia, our family's favorite baseball team. But because Shane looks like a demon baby, I think I'll hold on to this one. It was really difficult trying to figure out a good composition with the subject matter that I chose to paint. I think each thing turned out well enough individually (except the demon baby), but the arrangement is pretty awkward. I'm bummed I didn't have enough time to choose different subjects or at least orient them differently on the page.

Product Illustration

2010-10-28T21:51:00.004-05:00

The product I chose is Suze, which I believe is basically just a really old brand of European tonic water. So old, in fact, it was depicted in one of Picasso's famous collage pieces called "Glass and Bottle of Suze." The photo I found is of what looks like an antique Suze bottle with old charm. It was sort of a dumb choice, which I didn't find out until I started trying to paint the glass part of the bottle. Painting glass is damn near impossible for gouache beginners like me. Next time, I'll choose something with a bit less glass. Jeesh.

Gouache Pick Out

2010-10-25T08:13:00.005-05:00

DADT Poster

2010-10-23T14:42:00.006-05:00

My attempt at large scale poster photography and advertisement for a touchy issue. It was near impossible to think of ways to make this kind of poster somewhat neutral without either stirring up anger in those opposed to the message I was trying to send or getting in trouble with ROTC or the US Army. They typically have an issue with people advertising for topics they do not support or have not approved of. Lucky for me, this is a school project and will never leave the Truman campus for reproduction. I also figured not too many people can touch me if I'm simply supporting First Amendment rights.

Midterm: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Part 2

2010-10-19T20:52:00.003-05:00

Because I have been having constant battles with my watercolor brushes and paints, I've turned to technology. I recently had the "aha" moment when illustrating in Photoshop, which I'm really grateful for because I wouldn't have anything to show you if I hadn't figured it out. It just makes sense to me. An all-in-one tracing and coloring program with layering capabilities? Umm, one word: Forgiving. Everything just looks better to me if I illustrate it in Photoshop, not to mention it's mess free and ready to put onto the blog sans scanning when it's finished. On top of all of that, I also got a brand new Bamboo pen tablet to draw with so it's going to be even more difficult to motivate myself to figure out watercolor and gouache. But in my recent projects I have been relying a bit too much on Photoshop illustration. So I'm hoping I can pick up on gouache much faster than watercolor because I would like to be familiar and proficient with this particular media, mostly because it's fast and if done properly, looks good. And because I like drawing so much in Photoshop, I would like to try combining the two a bit more often. Anyway, here's what I feel is my strongest illustration. I feel like it's almost cheating because I actually had an extra hour to work on it. I can only imagine what I'll be able to get done with more time!

Midterm: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Part 1

2010-10-19T20:09:00.003-05:00

Choosing my worst work so far this semester is kind of a bummer. Hmm. My worst work. Sadly, there are quite a few to choose from. It's made me realize how much work I have to do to get all the techniques down so I can actually utilize this media in a pinch if needed. So far, watercolors have been the hardest to get down. Though time has been an issue, I still haven't had the "aha" moment in which all of the techniques click on in my brain and I can crank out 10 good watercolors in only 2 hours (which is sadly the most time I've had to work on most of the homework assignments). Yes, this example lacks decent composition, color saturation and though not too visible on the merciful computer screen, scattered and runny pigments. I am glad to say that I have improved from this point and am able to have minimal pigment scattering, more color saturation and much better composition. Let's just say that practice is still in the process of making perfect.

Red Barn Pamphlet Illustrations

2010-10-18T07:37:00.004-05:00

So, I'm pretty sick of Red Barn projects up to this point so my goal was to try and switch up the imagery a bit. I included some festival events and some crafts, but did them in a way that wouldn't remind me of the topic that's been beaten into my portfolio for three years now. I gave Photoshop illustrating another try, only this time, I had some fun with the brushes. Instead of using the plain straight edged brush selection, I tried some new gloppy looking ones to give my illustrations the feel of color being added before the line art. For the dancers, I also tried with color and without to show the definition of the tutu's which was the focal point for that work.

Mural: "Wall of Fame"

2010-10-17T11:33:00.005-05:00

My idea for the Ryle Hall mural is a "Wall of Fame" and it includes all famous people either born in Missouri or that have lived and worked in Missouri in the past. Since the new cafeteria resembles Panera, I wanted the mural to look like the warm line drawings that are commonly found on the walls there. I believe my topic is visually and intellectually interesting, while still maintaining the cheesy ideas of community and the world. If mine gets chosen, I will touch it up to perfection, make the background better, and include all the names of the individuals and where they lived or worked in MO next to their image. Also, if mine gets chosen, I will research a large format printing company that could print the mural out and have it pasted onto the wall easily instead of having people paint it on by hand.

Oh Yeah! Watercolors Yeah!

2010-10-11T13:48:00.006-05:00

So here's all the 8.5x11's that I owe in class. I actually had some time this past weekend to catch up in class watercolor assignments. The last one is the 13x19 that I also owe. The only reason I'm blogging these is because they're a bit late due to soccer trips. Otherwise, I am still very bitter about the nasty pigment scattering that my current paints create and am waiting patiently for my new $100 Holbein Designer's gouache to come in the mail. Oh joy.

VCIV Visual Identity Illustrations

2010-10-06T20:19:00.002-05:00

I'm such a great liberal arts student mixing class media! I did these Photoshop illustrations for my viscom class. Man. These took a long time too. I could use some extra points in illustration..ehem.

13x19 Watercolor

2010-10-04T09:05:00.003-05:00

This is my first try at a large scale watercolor with line. I'm still not convinced that I can learn all the watercolor techniques and actually put them together to make something look good. I sure will try though.

Promotional Poster

2010-10-04T07:44:00.002-05:00

Here's my line-art poster illustration. It was not approved because the soccer ball isn't perfectly round. Interesting since nothing else in the illustration is perfect either, which is the style I was intending.

Self Portrait

2010-09-21T09:51:00.004-05:00

Photoshop Illustrations Wif Color

2010-09-19T22:13:00.009-05:00

These were a lot more challenging than I thought they'd be. I figured since I was tracing them and filling in local color, it shouldn't be too hard to make it look good. But keeping the aesthetic when choosing what elements to emphasize and which to cut out was pretty tricky. I think I started getting the idea, but I obviously still need a whole lotta practice.

Sky-Scapes and Architecture

2010-09-14T12:28:00.008-05:00

So far, I've been having trouble finishing the 10 watercolor homework assignments cause I'm not very good at quick watercolor painting. Well. I can do it, but they don't come out the way I would like them to. I would prefer to sit down and paint something that actually interests me than having to randomly choose 10 compositions and cranking them out in a couple hours before I pass out the night before they're due. I've enjoyed choosing one of the ten in class and painting it larger. Probably since I get to focus on only one for an hour compared to 10.

Photoshop Illustrations

2010-09-08T21:52:00.003-05:00

I've never even thought to draw this way before. After I learned, I felt dumb for not thinking of it myself. There are so many projects where this style of illustration would have been relevant and the fact that they don't take forever and you don't have to scan them in saves some precious time.

Illustration

2010-09-08T21:44:00.007-05:00

Just before I thought I'd have a nice long semester's break with no blogging what-so-ever, Illustration class changed those plans. So now, after a whole summer of blogging, here I am again! I know. You probably missed me these three weeks I've been away. But now I'm back and have some..ehem...interesting illustrations to show you. I'm always a bit rusty after not having taken a drawing class in two years, but I think these turned out decent enough. The first 5 are my favorite hand-drawn ones from the 10 assigned, and the second 5 are ones created in Photoshop. So exciting. (the 5 Photoshop illustrations are in the next post (obviously))

Final Week: Monday-Thursday July 26th-29th

2010-08-02T19:08:00.003-05:00

Total Week Hours: 29

Last week was my final week with Trungale Egan & Associates. Because it snuck up on all of us, I had the largest amount of work in the smallest time frame I've ever had.

Monday I came in early to work on the Pittsfield Cafe menus and menu signs. There were a total of 8 different InDesign documents/pieces to this promotion and I had to make sure I had each of them to the furthest point of completion by the time Thursday rolled around. I ended up accomplishing that with the designs of each of the pieces, but was not able to finish working with the menu copy because the client was not able to get the final copy to us until Wednesday. But all in all, I believe I did solid work for the Pittsfield Cafe to a point where my supervisors at Trungale Egan should't have many to no design issues to work with. This was a challenging project that made me aware of the many details both in design and copy that need to be meticulously mapped out before completion can be reached.

I also had a meeting with The Little Dab of Paint client on Wednesday, who proceeded to make a ton of changes to the spreads and copy. This was disheartening at first, but after I sat down and organized everything that needed to be finished by the time I left on Thursday, it seemed more manageable. While I wasn't able to see the completion of The Little Dab of Paint, I also believe I helped make the rest of the process go by easier and faster for my supervisors that are taking the project over. It was a really great project for working with both illustrations and copy in a way that could be easily read and comprehended by children. It changed my perspective many times, which really helped me develop a wider understanding of print media.

I was able to finish the website I landed almost a month ago. I had to make some changes to each page and add a new page. The site was basically finished when I sent my supervisor the fixed files, but the client seemed to change his mind often, so there may need to be a couple more minor changes made. But otherwise, I was able to see the completion of one of my contributions, which was really exciting for me!

And lastly, I was able to see the prototype for the Leahy figurine I designed, which will be sent to me once they are being produced and distributed, which is also really exciting!

Overall, it was an extremely rewarding, challenging and fun internship! I believe I was able to really help Trungale Egan with a lot of their live projects, while gaining really great experience. Like Tom Egan (an associate) said to me on the first day of my internship, "Deadlines are sacred," which I was able to discover first hand and is something I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to do.

Thursday July 22nd

2010-07-22T20:52:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

Worked on the Pittsfield Cafe menu things again today. I made some decent progress, but not enough so I'm going in on Monday. I also made some phone calls to clients regarding some mock-ups that I'm waiting for a critique on, including the manager from Pittsfield. I have to pick up that material from the cafe on Monday and finish up working on the menus, and I have a meeting with the Little Dab of Paint client on Wednesday.

Some bad news... I've come to realize that my current financial status will not permit me to commute into the city after next week and I still have four very large live projects I'm working on. While I want to continue working on them to see them through, and to earn more experience, I may have to end the internship a week early. Unless I can improve my status. Guess I'll figure something out. Or just work like a fiend next week and finish everything... to be continued...

Wednesday July 21st

2010-07-21T20:09:00.004-05:00

Hours: 10-5

Another busy day of menu making. When I met with the client today, he gave me a lot more projects to go along with his new menus. So basically he's doing a whole promotion for the Pittsfield Cafe. And I'm pretty much the key designer. Exciting! But I've got a lot of work cut out for me in these next few weeks.

Also, I guess I should bring up that I'm now over 200 hours in my internship. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing that I didn't notify you (Rusty). I really didn't know until I counted them up tonight. I figured that I would end up going over, but I could really use the extra experience, and I surly can't just drop the projects I've been pouring myself into. Just thought I'd mention it.

Tuesday July 20th

2010-07-21T20:00:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

I took on the Pittsfield menu again today. This time I was a lot more prepared since I didn't have Little Dab of Paint to distract me. Or any other projects since all of them have been submitted for client approval and critique. I also worked on a take-home menu with a rip-off promotional card for customers to get punched each visit. It was literally impossible to fit all the menu copy on both sides of this duplex document, but I accomplished it somehow. The only issue is the font size is 4 point. The client was pretty baffled that it even all fit. Needless to say, the client is working on what can be cut from that menu.

Wednesday July 14th

2010-07-14T19:03:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-4:30

I finally completed the mock-up of what should be the basic final version of Little Dab of Paint!!! So exciting. After it was printed out, I cut out all 32 pages, created the "spine" with 16 pages of tissue paper, spray mounted each individual page to the "spine" creating spreads by sticking pages back to back, and cut it all down to give it a nice clean, presentable appearance. I then delivered it to the client, which I guess I should mention that the client is Rhona Frizan (I think that's how her name is spelled), the president of the Chicago Public Library Foundation. She seemed very happy about the changes I made to the layout. And I definitely agree with her. The extra paint splatters and all the graphics made the layout cluttered and busy, while the streamlined version presents the illustrations as the main focal point, which they rightfully should be. I'm hoping the author, illustrator and Rhona will be pleased enough not to make many more changes so I can start finalizing and perfecting the layout for print. Exciting!!

I also worked on a take-home menu with a rip-off business card for the Pittsfield Cafe (the cafe I believe I talked about in the last blog entry). I didn't get very far on that since there was a lot to be done for the Little Dab of Paint today, and because it was hard to visualize a layout without having the copy to work with. I guess that's a designing intuition I'll have to develop further.

Tuesday July 13th

2010-07-13T15:46:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

Another solid production day, though it did seem to skip around a bit. I started off by finishing up Little Dab of Paint to print off and mock-up tomorrow. Then I worked on organizing more iStock Photos on the company server. Later on, my supervisor gave me a menu of a local cafe to make some layout and textual corrections. I also had to make a trip to this cafe to pick up some copy that's going into the menu. While I didn't design the menu, I still think it's pretty cool I'm working on it. It's definitely better than organizing and categorizing iStock Photos in my opinion.

Monday July 12th

2010-07-12T16:15:00.002-05:00

Hours: 8:30-5

-Came in early to scan illustrations for Dab of Paint during Monday meeting (why I came in on Monday, so I could use scanner without bothering anyone)
-Touched up illustrations in Photoshop
-Created bi-illustration spreads in PS
-Placed spreads in InDesign document
-Worked with text in ID document
-Put final touches on layout to present to client
-Created vector drawing of chosen Leahy Dude in Illustrator to send to client for 3D production

Too tired for vowels and descriptive words today. Up at 5 to catch early train. Bummer there's not more than one scanner here.

Thursday July 8th

2010-07-08T22:27:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

After today, I can honestly say I'm the most organized person on earth. That or I really do have OCD. I started off my day downloading and organizing the Little Dab of Paint folder and made all the corrections (reductions) that the client ordered. I then scanned a couple of the newly received original illustrations so I could start placing them into the document. After all that organization, I began fixing and organizing all the iStock photos that I pulled off the server yesterday. When I was done, I had to peel my eyes off the computer screen and was seeing illusions of picture thumbnails dancing around my head for the following hour. But overall, today was a super productive day. It should make my work a lot easier next Monday when I go in early to knock this Little Dab of Paint in the pants once and for all.

Wednesday July 7th

2010-07-07T18:57:00.003-05:00

Hours: 10-5

I worked on basically the same things today as I did yesterday, but I also went in for a meeting with the client to discuss the next steps of Little Dab of Paint. It was pretty crazy because this was my first meeting in which I left the office to meet with a client completely alone. This job is basically mine now, which was also weird to realize. A very good weird of course. But it was comical because the client did a 180 and wants a lot of changes. I guess the client has a right to get input from whoever she wants, including the illustrator, relatives, etc. I just wish I wouldn't have designed so many extra graphics for them to be discarded in a meeting that lasted all but 5 minutes. So it goes.

Tuesday July 6th

2010-07-07T18:53:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-2

My supervisor didn't come into work today. I was still waiting on the clients response to the Little Dab of Paint layout and was without direction. I got a couple mock-up assignments from one of the associates and I also helped another former intern, but recent to join the team, with the Leahy desk tchotchke that we're trying to really get going now. Aside from that, I worked on finding and organizing all the iStock photos on the server, which has proved to be just as tedious as it sounds. That server is a monster.

Thursday July 1st

2010-07-01T19:42:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

I got so much work done on Little Dab of Paint today and focused so hard that my behind went numb. Or maybe it was because I was sitting all day. Either way, I totally owned that layout. It was really hard to motivate myself for a while just because I knew whatever I produced this week would probably look nothing like it will next week after the second client approval and when we're able to work with the actual illustrations. But I finished photoshopping all the scanned illustration images, creating the splatters of paint for use with the illustrations and for under the page numbers, formatted the text and the word graphics, found and placed the wood texture for the illustration backgrounds and added them all into the InDesign layout. I then waited 10 minutes for InDesign to generate a pdf of all those 30 pages. I felt a whole lot lighter after I was finished. But even after all of that, I still can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel. So yes, there is more Little Dab of Paint to go...lots more. Maybe I'll start telling crazy stories just to make these blogs less predictable.

Wednesday June 30th

2010-06-30T14:38:00.003-05:00

Hours: 10-5

Guess what I worked on today? Congratulations if you said Little Dab of Paint! I continued to work on the entire layout adding the different things that the client asked for, as well as more things my supervisor asked for. While I hate to say I'm getting bored of this project, I'm getting bored of this project. But at the same time, it has helped me out a lot. I am getting really familiar with Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop with this project, as well as learning new shortcuts or tools every day. Not to mention the fact it will really strengthen my portfolio and resume. So I'm gonna keep chugging along.

Tuesday June 29th

2010-06-29T19:21:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

More Little Dab of Paint today. I got to go to a meeting to present two spreads to the client today, too. It was a really good thing I went and got approval and a critique from the client before I made any further progress on the layout. Otherwise I would have made a lot more work for myself. After the meeting, I got to work on making corrections on the font, layout, photoshop files and spruced it up with some flare. Pretty much the extent of my day, though I spent a good chunk of it wrestling my laptop, which has suddenly decided to run as slow as molasses in January.

Thursday June 24th

2010-06-24T19:33:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

I worked on A Little Dab of Paint today again. I'm now putting together two spreads to present to the client for the design and layout to be approved for continuation. I spent the majority of the day trying to wrap my brain around some of the smaller current issues with both the layout and the design, which should help me in the long term production. I then jotted down all my ideas for improvements and got some more direction from my supervisor. There will be some significant changes after today that will be made to the layout so I'll be doing some overtime this weekend. But it should be fun because one of the changes involved hand-drawn graphics. Old school style is my fave.

Wednesday June 23rd

2010-06-24T19:26:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-4

Since the website design was finished, I worked on A Little Dab of Paint all day. I worked pretty diligently, possibly past the necessary point for presentation to the client. But I have been messing around with the layout to see what works best. I've also been altering the illustrations in Photoshop to put a canvas-like texture on each page over each illustration to give it a more authentic feel and some more visual interest. I will comment on one particular page that has been like a mensa puzzle for me. Trying to fit the copy into the illustrated page has been quite the challenge. The way the illustration was drawn made for awkward white space to place the text, which I struggled with for a solid hour before finally realizing that Photoshop would cure this ailment. I popped it into PS and moved a few elements of the illustration so to open up plenty of negative space to place the text. Muahaha. Stingy illustrations-0, Dani-1.

Tuesday June 22nd

2010-06-24T16:09:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

The DepoConnection site was the main item of concern today. I actually didn't work on anything but the site design. It was good for me to devote an entire day of focus to that site for both myself and for TEA. I reworked it three times and was directed on what changes were necessary, etc. By the end of the day, I completed the design for a 7 page website to be sent to the client for approval. I learned a couple new layering techniques in Photoshop, but mostly I learned that I do have the capacity to sit an entire 7 hours and work diligently. Weird.

Thursday June 17th

2010-06-17T20:43:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5:30

Busy, busy, busy. I got in this morning to find it abnormally quiet. It's been a month and a week that I've been here and I know what this silence means. Deadlines. So I sat and worked on my top three projects that needed to be finished today/in the near future and waited patiently for my supervisor to tell me what's on the agenda. I had forgotten there was a meeting with a client about a logo that needed some tweaking and I was prepared to help out in any way I could. Turns out I had more work to do than I thought. I had to do the logo color corrections on my own and then present them to the client...on my own. This was one of those situations that I was thrown into, but turned out being fun. I then had to take the clients wishes and work the logo until it fit what he wanted. I spent the majority of my day working on over 30 color variations of this Decisioning Systems logo, which was really good knit-picky color experience. I learned I should probably keep it simple because now the client may want 30 more variations in one specific logo.

Other than the excitement of being thrown another live project and presenting it face to face with the client, I worked on A Little Dab of Paint more and also the Hometown America rewards program logo. Overall, it was a really busy, challenging but really rewarding week.

Wednesday, June 16th

2010-06-16T19:48:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-4

Today I designed a total of 8 more developed logos for Hometown America's reward program. This was definitely only my first round though. I was critiqued on them and sent back to the drawing board to come out with only 5 for the second round. I haven't been critiqued on those yet, but will most likely tomorrow.

I also worked on A Little Dab of Paint some more today and got some solid progress taken care of. I added in the graphics I made in Illustrator into the copy for emphasis on each of the colors mentioned. I also worked on the text layout some more. It's still got a ways to go, but progress is being made pretty fast.

It was also a fun, yet sad day. I found out Stefan, the vice-president and the person who got me this internship, is leaving the company to move to Arizona. He got a really good job offer and decided to take the opportunity. We had a going-away party for him and it was a really fun chance to get to know the people I work with. It's also a bummer because besides Bill, the president, I won't have anyone else to talk soccer with. I wish Stefan the best in his new job.

Tuesday, June 15th

2010-06-15T19:34:00.004-05:00

Hours: 10-4:30

More good and unexpected news today. The website designs that I made a while back for a company called DepoConnection were viewed by the company along with some designs of my supervisor and another associate/seasoned vet. Turns out they liked one of mine and chose my design for their new site. I now have to design each page for their new site, which is really exciting. I had no idea that my designs were even being presented so it came as a shock to hear I had another live project that will be seen and used by the company and their clients. I feel sorta important!

Other than that, I got down to business with the layout and some graphics for the children's book, A Little Dab of Paint. That took up the majority of my day. I was also assigned my first logo turn-around. It should be a fun challenge to test my logo skills since it's something I haven't been very strong at in the past.

Thursday, June 10th

2010-06-10T21:34:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-4:30

I got a lot of projects up and running today. I got to see my Tilted Kilt World Cup logo be put into a couple poster designs and I started on laying out the children's book called "A Little Dab of Paint." It's been really exciting receiving projects that are actually live and going to be used for real life promotional materials. So far, I have around 6 live projects, some finished, some still pending, like the Leahy novelty product (the little orange dude action figure). If all of these things end up on the other side of production, well, I'll just say I'm really excited for the mass my portfolio will have by the end of the summer. Especially since all this is only one month into the internship. It's getting tougher to keep up, but if I weren't challenging myself, I cringe at the thought of spending the summer sleeping in and getting professionally "mushy."

P.S.
I just got a new 21.5" iMac with a 1tb hard drive and also CS5. I'm pretty stoked to get rolling on some new designs with the new gear!

Wednesday, June 9th

2010-06-09T15:48:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-4

Everything was pretty laid back today. David (my supervisor) had to pick someone up at the airport at 2:00 so I was assigned to finish my photo web conversions in PS and also build a graphic for the Tilted Kilt Red Line to advertise their bar for the World Cup. I learned a few more techniques in PS today just by stumbling upon them myself. I'm learning it's a really good thing to just be given an assignment and figure out how to complete it myself within each program. That way I'll actually remember my own methods and will build a repertoire.

Tuesday, June 8th

2010-06-08T19:46:00.003-05:00

Hours: 10-5

The first thing I worked on right when I got in was retouching the Tilted Kilt photos in Photoshop. This ongoing project has already been good experience with organizing large photo shoots, and learning new tools in PS.

I also learned a whole new way to make a COB in PS today. It makes things a lot easier when there is little time to work with. It involves to lasso tool and a few keyboard shortcuts that I didn't know existed until today. I made a total of 8 COB's from 8 pictures for Leahy print materials.

I was also assigned the task of organizing and converting psd files for web compatibility. This is also a daunting task due to the volume of folders of pictures to be converted and sorted in specific locations. I'm quickly discovering that my minor OCD and organizational skills are actually coming in handy.

It was also interesting to find out that I will be working on a total of 7 projects after tomorrow including the DECK packaging and card template design, the Tilted Kilt photo retouch and organization, Trungale Egan istock photo organization and categorization, Leahy novelty product, Leahy web image conversion and organization, Tilted Kilt Red Line and World Cup ads, and Little Dab of Paint children's book layout design.

Thursday June 3rd

2010-06-04T07:56:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

The word of the day is Photoshop. I have two new ongoing assignments in which I have to organize and retouch a photo shoot of around 300 pictures, which I spent most of the day starting. I also have to organize the company istock photos into a folder for reuse. But today, I had to figure out how to organize hundreds of pictures into one folder after converting each one from RAW format to JPEG format. Since they were in RAW format, I took the liberty to start messing with levels and contrast and exposure, etc. in the Photoshop RAW window. The photos were really good to begin with, but I added a bit of extra flair to them before even starting to retouch them. It took a really long time just doing those few things, but I'm sure I'll figure out how to speed things up in the future after having had so much experience simply organizing them in only one day.

I also learned how to bind what is called a Deck. A Deck is basically a portfolio of any given work the company puts together specifically to present to clients. I created the cover of the deck, then was showed how to bind it all together. It was an interesting process, which I'm almost positive will be my job from now on. When it was finished, I also got to present it to Bill, who then gave me a mini lesson on the way presentations to potential clients work, which was very interesting and enlightening.

Wednesday June 2nd

2010-06-02T19:42:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-4:30

Things seemed slightly slow today, maybe a bit quiet too, but only because I think everyone else was so busy. I was given a website home page to design when I got in, which took up the majority of the day because I designed three different pages. And then I started sketching, researching companies TEA works with, and brainstorming for the templates and images for the cards that are to go into the packaging I designed for the agency's leave-behind. These designs will be the focus of my hours tomorrow and into next week, along with the final template for the packaging. I've added crop marks and now it just needs to be approved by my supervisor before being sent to get a quote from the printer. I'm really excited to work on this project more and see how it turns out.

Tuesday June 1st

2010-06-02T19:34:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

Today was a jam packed day in the morning into mid afternoon. I walked in to find there was a "Monday morning meeting" going on since no one came in on Monday since it was Memorial Day. I got the chance to learn more about the projects going on and the different companies TEA works with. It was also interesting to learn more of the lingo they use. I'm slowly creeping into the elite world of advertising.

Then, after the meeting, I was rushed into putting together all my little Leahy dudes to present to Bill, the president, in just under two hours time. Then, unexpectedly, I was prompted to create another Leahy dude that someone had sketched up during the meeting. It was a pretty sweet little orange dude with shades. So it took me two tries and all of those two hours to complete him. At 1:00, me and Stacie, the other intern, went in to the conference room to present our ideas and Leahy dude mascots to Bill before he had to leave for a meeting with Leahy. Everything seemed to go over really well and he made photocopies of each of the 7 dudes and left for the meeting.

After that rush, things slowed down a bit. I had to key stroke some copy for a Rhode Island senator campaign and then spent the rest of the day messing around with photoshop and a website called Worth 1,000, which David my supervisor says will really help me out with my photoshop skills.

May 28th: Day #6

2010-05-28T20:58:00.003-05:00

Hours: 10-4

Today was pretty laid back again. I finished my final comps of the Leahy mascot and learned some interesting photoshop tricks from my supervisor that included flesh wounds and skin discoloration...yes. I learned how to zombify people in photoshop. It was really helpful because I learned the basics of the masking tool and how to throw a bunch of seemingly random images together to make something coherent and visually interesting. I also learned another form of illustration created in photoshop, which I had never known was even possible of which involves the paint tool and the blur tool. Otherwise, it was fun to get a feel for what Fridays are like in the working world. While there was still work to do, everyone seemed to be winding down from a long week, which I can appreciate.

May 27th: Day #5

2010-05-27T22:16:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10-5

Today was pretty laid back. I did more sketches for the Leahy Dude, except we narrowed the many options down to just 6. I made a final sketch of each, then traced each one onto tracing paper to fill in with color. I'm not quite finished with them all yet, but they're coming along. They need to be finished by tomorrow so Bill, the prez, can present them to some Leahy reps on Tuesday. It's pretty exciting that my designs may actually be chosen to be turned into a hunk of shiny promotional plastic. That may sound sarcastic (which I'm really good at being) but this has been a really interesting project so far that has challenged my 3D designing skills that I haven't used since freshman year with Professors Pauls and Kambli. I'm really interested to see if my design literally comes to life.

Aside from more sketches, I was also given the task of designing a flow chart to go into a corporate brochure design. It was assigned at 2:00 and had to be completed by 3:00. It seemed like the time ran out very quickly, and was good multitasking practice. Thankfully, I pulled it together in time for the designer to use the design.

May 26th: Day #4

2010-05-26T21:16:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10am-5pm

I didn't go in my normal hours (Tuesday-Thursday) this week because my sister had a regional soccer game yesterday (Tuesday) and I was able to switch to Friday. (FYI)

Today was a very sketchy day...literally. I really didn't do much else besides work on a ton of sketches for the desk tchotchke, which has now become a full on mascot logo for the company. It will be very useful for the company (the company's name is Leahy and they distribute fruit based foods and drinks throughout the country, and their current logo is an orange, which is what the mascot is being based on) if I am able to come up with a mascot that will almost be like another logo in a way. So I brainstormed as many options as I could as far as characters, faces, arms and legs on oranges, etc. I am estimating that I did over 50 sketches, but I am pretty confident that 50 is nowhere near the amount that would need to be done in the typical work day for a professional on a deadline. It was good to learn the importance of thumbnails and putting my perfectionism off to the side until I have come up with an abundance of images and concepts to work with. This little "Leahy Dude," as we've been calling it, needs to be ready to present on Friday so I've got my work cut our for me tomorrow...

Day #3 (Thursday May 20th)

2010-05-21T10:12:00.002-05:00

Hours: 10am-5pm

Today was another day of making sure things get completed properly and on time. I am still working on the desk tchotchke project and had a conference call with a promotional item production specialist to see what specific things we can do with different plastic molds and plush toys. I now have to go over all the different options this weekend and see what I can design (3-dimensionally) that will fulfill the company's wants.

I also spent most of the day drawing out some sketches I created in Illustrator to send to the production specialist for a better visualization of what we were thinking in terms of the toy and other functional desk tchotchkes that could be handed out by the company's employees to their clients. I used some gradient mesh, which I didn't think I would really need again after the viscom I picture project. But it was a really good experience to try and figure out the best way we could design this desk tchotchke while making the dimensions cost effective. It's definitely still a work in progress, especially for me since this business related design puts more restrictions on where I could go due to the need for cost effectiveness.

Some other things I learned was about the font organizing software program called Suitcase, which I may be working with in the near future when I will have to sort out and organize TE&A's 30,000 fonts. And I was also introduced to some really impressive hand made, die cut 3D pop-ups manufactured by the president of TE&A's grandfather in the 70s. It was pretty amazing to go through some of the intricate pop-ups that were actually printed and put together for advertising design. I learned that this is something that isn;t typically done anymore because it takes a lot of time and money to print and assemble crafts such as those. Either way, I was really impressed and may try to make some of my own.

Day #2

2010-05-19T21:06:00.003-05:00

Hours: 10am-5:15pm

Today was fast and furious for sure. Right away I was asked to cut out and fold around 500 place holders for a company event. I'm going to be a wiz kid with the xacto knife after this summer. When I was finished with those, I continued working on the ongoing packaging project I'm working on. I forgot to state what it is exactly in my last post. My final viscom I project involved promoting myself with a mini portfolio of sorts. I did an interesting envelope-like packaging design that held five cards with photos and descriptions of five works, along with a snippet of resume info on each. When I went in for my second interview to present the work I did both at school and the extra assignment TE&A assigned me, they were very thrilled with my work, that one in particular. They were so thrilled, they were inspired and assigned me to make them each a bunch to present their work and the company's work as a "leave-behind" for their clients. So now I am working hours, making measurements, re-mocking and trying to get the altered package design for their mini portfolios just right.

I am also still working on a desk tchotchke for one of their clients with another research intern. I will have to do some sketches tonight to present them in the morning to my research buddy. Then we'll make some final decisions about what the most efficient, cost effective hunk of plastic we can possibly find will be, and finally present our proposal to the president of the company. Yay desk tchotchkes!!! (I really like saying that word)

First day at TE&A

2010-05-17T21:07:00.002-05:00

Hours: 9am-5:30pm

Today was pretty laid back, but still very busy. I was thrown into making mock-ups of a package design to promote the company, which took up most of my day. But the reason my supervisor wanted me to come in today was because there was a staff meeting and he wanted me to get a feel for the way the associates interact and the kind of companies and projects they take on. It was a very enlightening first day and I feel like I got a good feel for what life is like in the working world via advertising agency.

Besides the meeting and mass amounts of mock-ups, I also got the chance to work with another research intern on a project that involves designing a desk tchotchke to promote a food company. I beginning to understand that making things as cost effective and waste-free as possible benefits the company and the client even more. It's something I will definitely need to work on seeing as I created a huge pile of excess paper waste making all the mock-ups I did today. Overall, I think this will be a really beneficial, challenging and fun internship.

Trungale Egan & Associates Internship Blog

2010-05-16T20:32:00.002-05:00

So I begin my internship tomorrow morning at 9am. I'm pretty excited to get right into it. But I'm also pretty nervous to learn the ropes and learn them fast so I don't get inundated with work right away. I'll be back tomorrow night with more...

VISCOM II FINAL PORTFOLIO

2009-12-16T13:31:00.002-06:00

The following 8 designs are my selections for my final portfolio. I believe I've come a long way this semester. I really had absolutely no idea what I was doing the first month of class. But it was cool cause I made a lot of progress exponentially after those first few weeks. I've still got a lot of things I need to improve in, such as checking files for missing fonts and links, photo resolution issues, checking to make sure printing file settings are accurate, making sure all specs are followed and getting more familiar with the software to develop more designing skills within my repertoire. But considering I have not taken Viscom I and was thrown into the Viscom II print media fire, I'm proud I was able to keep up. I think the more I practice, the more these things will fall into place.

2009-12-16T13:11:00.005-06:00

Joe 6 Pack was definitely my favorite project. It took me until the last week before it was due to come up with the concept and it was a mad dash to the deadline, but it was definitely a really fun process. Having a good concept and a plan always helps the situation, and before I came up with the concept, things were looking grim. It was during the process of putting this project together that I found out I actually work better under pressure. This is a great discovery, not only for class work, but for my future in this industry. I've always done my best school work (papers, studying, etc.) at the last minute and it's cool to find out I can be the same way with my design work.

There are a couple things I tried to change in this project, but had no luck. The wood backgr

ound that's supposed to be a wood desk is a bit too grainy for my liking, but was the only image I could find that had the best resolution. I do think the extra grain brings some fun visual texture to the design, though. And the logo I created for the What The Sam Hill Brewery was also really fun to make. It is in fact a picture of my crumb-crunching sister when she was five. I guess I'll be fun and attach the pic I took her face from in this post. It wouldn't be fair of me to embarrass my sister without embarrassing myself also. Ahh, good ol' times.

Anyway, the concept was what the entire visual theme was based upon. It came to me when I was looking for fonts online. There was a font referencing a draft and it just clicked in my head. As an aspiring designer, the concept is near and dear to my heart also. You can't have a great draft without a good rough draft. Oh poo. I should have made that the tag line. I should really start blogging about my stuff before I make it cause I always think of cool things after the fact. But I really took the time to make the images have good resolution, to make sure the typography was effective and appealing, and that all my files and the resolution was perfect. It took me about seven hours to put this together, which is significantly more time than the rest of my work. I really enjoyed putting together 3D stuff more than the 2D for some reason. Maybe it's exciting cause it's new, and cause I could relate to the topic well. Whatever it was, I think I was successful and I had fun in the process, which is what I'm working towards in the future.

2009-12-16T12:16:00.003-06:00

My SofI mailer is one of my favorite projects we've done in class. It is also one of my best final products. I had the least amount of file and printing issues on this project compared to any other. Maybe I just learned my lesson throughout the beginning of the semester and finally did it right. I also really like how this project turned out because I finally ordered some good paper, which made the final printout like butter. I was also proud of myself for going over the production files with a fine tipped comb and nailed all of the specs. The one mailing side had to have two colors, one black and one a spot color. I learned a lot about swatches and spot colors in this project, specifically how to mix spot colors, which increased my confidence in production overall.

I also liked this project for the artist I chose. Bennacker's work is really visually interesting. The poster image I worked with made the production of the opposite side both more challenging, but also more fun. I played with different concepts relating to the ocean and used some cool vector waves to make the connection. This design took me a whopping five hours to put together. Overall, I believe this project reflects my progress with print media over the course of the semester, though I still learned a great deal from it. And the best part about it is that it was fun to make!

2009-12-16T12:00:00.003-06:00

I chose to include this magazine layout in my portfolio because it shows my proficiency with both shooting my own photos, and improvement in my typesetting skills. There was enough text to make a two column grid, but my focus in this layout was definitely the photos. I chose to fit the text in one column, which increased the air in the layout. I also did a better job eliminating widows and orphans (especially orphans). Taking the photos was a really fun process. I actually got a chance to submerge myself in the topic of the article and take a walk in Thousand Hills for an afternoon. It was a really gorgeous afternoon, too. I wanted to capture both the color and the sun to make the photos more majestic and sublime. Really exaggerating nature made the photos way more interesting rather than if I had just trudged around the woods all afternoon to strictly photograph trees and leaves. The article is almost secondary in this spread, which is what I intended to do. To get people interested in going outside to see this for themselves is the whole point of the article, and without the photos, I believe it wouldn't work at all. This layout took about four hours, not including my photo shoot, which was about an hour of hiking in the woods. This project was fun because I really enjoy the outdoors and I believe this layout captures my interest.

2009-12-16T11:40:00.003-06:00

Though this is not the greatest magazine layout in the world, I chose to include this one because it is a good example of my ability to typeset. Again, it's not my greatest example of that either, but I really like the way the elements work together in this piece. This is the first layout that I used the color sample tool to create a color scheme among the image and the other elements throughout the piece. The reason I used that particular image besides the fact that it's hilarious, is because the color of his shirt is typically associated as a calming color. I could have gone completely nuts with colors that relate to stress and tension, like bright, obnoxious reds and yellows, but the whole point of good design is to lure the viewer, in this case, the reader in to get the information the writer intended to put forth in the article. My thought system dealt with drawing the viewer in with simple, eye pleasing design, a comical image that they could possibly relate to and efficient typesetting so the reader obtains the entire message from the article. I believe, from personal experience, that if a reader's eyes hurt while reading a magazine spread, then they're more likely to stop reading and flip to the next page.

As far as design elements go, I used some tools in the software that I never have before, which made the layout more interesting. The drop shadow that the header sports is something I was just messing around with and thought it added some visual depth to the composition. And the white squiggly lines add a bit of Indie style that an older reader could actually appreciate. This layout took four hours total to put together. The grid I used was a four column on each page. Even though I call this layout simple, it is still pretty busy and there is little air. This is something I definitely worked on while designing future magazine spreads. This layout was the one that made the lightbulb go on and after, I was better at keeping tabs on all of the details to make a successful magazine spread.

2009-12-16T11:02:00.002-06:00

I really enjoyed working on this particular project. I think it's because I could relate to the topic better than some of the other projects we had previously. The movement and the angles that are created with this image were very fun to work with and play off of. The header font works well in relation to the image and is large enough for someone from far away to see. I organized the basic information in a simple flush-left orientation, which makes it easy for the viewer to get the info from. I again used the splatters, only this time I was able to make them in color, which was fun. Working with more than just black and white was actually really refreshing in this project. I was getting bored of one color layouts. I only made very minor and very few changes to this piece over the semester, which included changing the font and orientation of the informational text, making the color a spot color, and working with the placement and size of the "Dance Fusion 2008" under the image. This design took me two hours initially to make and then around an extra half hour on the other smaller changes.

2009-12-16T10:53:00.002-06:00

This layout has always been a favorite of mine. I think mostly because I had no idea I could come up with simple, yet elegant layouts that are still visually interesting. I know I'm kind of putting myself down, but I have come a long way from this point. During the time I was making this, I was pretty much using a "wing-it" sort of attitude, just messing around with the tools and hoping something nice would come of it. Low and behold, I actually learned a lot about the software while increasing my designing skills. But I digress. This piece started off pretty nice, but I did make a few changes over the semester to spice it up a bit more. During the critique, I was told that the Pablo Picasso quote was placed really weirdly, so I reworked that so it fits the balance of the layout more efficiently. I also added my signature splatters in the background to make the dancers look like they're moving their feet and kicking up dust and mud in the process, so to emphasize and exaggerate the movement. Otherwise, I left the piece alone because I like the simple typography I used initially, and the image is very simple yet interesting as well. Maybe I could have pulled more call-out info from the text so people would know the main information form farther away. Either way, I believe the use of typography along with the image is strong enough to draw people in to read the text. This design took me about three hours to make, including Photoshop effects, which was also exciting because I think this was my first design using a COB, and then adding in the details, such as text body placement, splatters, etc.

2009-12-16T10:46:00.002-06:00

I am really happy with how this layout turned out. It was definitely nowhere near this when I turned it in. But I reworked it and I believe that it is a great example of an assortment of media put together into one design. I scanned in the little rock climbing dude in the initial layout, which was a good experience working with the scanner, then working with a scanned image in Illustrator. I cleaned it up there and attached it to the text. In the rework, I changed the font from a fancier serif font to a more rugged distressed font to give it more appeal to the sport of rock climbing. I then added the mountain, which I fancied up in Photoshop. Something was still a bit off, so I utilized the old diagonal text/header trick. I had never used this trick before this layout, and I won't use it as a crutch in the future, but I believe it really works for this particular layout. I could have had more fun with it if it wasn't only a one color layout, but I think I did it some justice as-is. This layout took me four hours of work time to assemble. It was definitely not too fun when I started working on it, but I made it fun and actually witnessed myself taking on new designing skills, both within the software, and even adding new elements and principals into my design vocabulary/repertoire.

2009-12-16T10:37:00.002-06:00

The main reason I chose this poster rework to be included in my portfolio is because it used a hand-drawn graphic really well. It is different from the initial layout I presented in class. I reworked it to meet the critiques given by both you and the class. I believe this version is a lot more successful because people who are standing far away from the poster are able to see the main image/text and are drawn in to read more about the class. I again use my signature splatter spots in this design to drive home the clay-like idea as best I can with only one color. I think it gives the design more visual interest and adds to the logo. I also believe the balance is much better in this design that in the initial one. Because the text looks so heavy from farther away, the large image now balances it out asymmetrically. I believe this adds to the playfulness of the poster without subtracting from its formal mood. This design took me around three hours of solid work time to put together. It was a good learning experience working with the scanner to make a work come together. This was also a good example of me toning down the clutter within a composition, which I was having trouble with around the time it was initially made.

Final Red Barn (Warning: The Contents of this Post are Very Negative)

2009-12-03T21:45:00.003-06:00

I really can't say I'm too happy with how the final turned out. I should have stopped adding to some pieces a while ago, and focused on adding to other pieces. The tractor theme is more coherent throughout the project, but I'm not satisfied with the structure as it relates to the images of the tractors throughout the four pieces. I should have used the same tractor, or used a logo to connect the four pieces better. I also had difficulty fixing the resolution problems with the poster tractor pic. I think it turned out ok, but maybe it could have been better. And I should have kept it simple and not added the same tractor pic from the poster to the background of the inside of the brochure. It made it way too busy and it clashes with the pictures. I also had printing difficulties. The lab monitors printed on the wrong side of the paper, which looked ok to me at first, but then I got into different lighting and saw that it made the image grainy and dull.

All in all, I had many issues with this project. I think I haven't said anything positive about it because I had the most trouble relating to it. I really tried, maybe a bit too hard. But whatever didn't click made this one really difficult for me to put together. But I did learn plenty about designing something I can't relate to. And this project also confirmed the fact that everything always looks better on the computer than on paper, even if the print monitor doesn't print on the wrong side.

Rev 2 Joe Six Pack

2009-12-03T21:42:00.003-06:00

This rev I got a lot of good feedback from the class. I'm still working with some ideas so I was really open to any suggestions. The current design I have is still really bland and there's a lot of space I have to fill. I don't think I'm set on the color scheme yet either. The overall concept is also clashing with the imagery. I'm trying to go for elegant humor for irony, but it's not quite coming off as so. My COB also needs some work. Hopefully I can pull this together before too long seeing as I still haven't printed and assembled a full sized case yet. Slowly but surly.

Rev 3 Red Barn

2009-11-29T19:34:00.007-06:00

I'm still having issues with the cohesiveness between all the Red Barn pieces. I'd like to really nail down the images and theme before it's due on Friday. I'd also still need to fix the resolution in the images I'm going to use and fix the files because some have missing links, etc. If I could make the reds in each part of the project match, then I think that would also help the cohesiveness. I have a whole lot to do this week and no time to get it done. I may need a miracle.

Final Society of Illustrators

2009-11-29T19:28:00.004-06:00

My final SofI came out pretty well. The things I could have further developed are the text and the layout lacks a solid structure. Otherwise, I believe this is one of my stronger works. I finally found really good printing paper, which makes all the difference. The printout was definitely my best and most presentable yet. I believe I also nailed all the specs down, which also helped contribute to a solid final printout. It definitely took plenty of time to put this one together, but I was very meticulous about both the printing and the construction. I triple checked all the file info before printing to ensure I only had to print once, and I focused very hard when I had to put the printout together. It took a whole semester, but I think I actually got the hang of this printing thing.

Red Barn Rev 2

2009-11-09T13:22:00.007-06:00

This rev of the Red Barn is a lot better than my first. I resolved the minor layout issues of the first and made some changes to the text and imagery to make it more interesting. I still have a lot to do to finalize the project. I need to work on and perfect the resolution in all the images and make sure they work well with the text, I have to fix the layout of the brochure and work with the text, and work with the gradient on each layout to make sure it doesn't overpower the text or images in the layout. Overall, I just need to tweak some small, yet important things in each layout before I print out the final.

Society of Illustrators Rev 1

2009-11-09T13:11:00.003-06:00

There are plenty of things wrong with this layout currently. I still have a lot of work to do in arranging the text to fit the proper layout, which I neglected to incorporate in this layout because it is extremely small (not on purpose). I will resize the document and make the required six boxes for text, etc. I will also get rid of that nasty bunny that really has nothing to do with the poster image. To go with that, I still need a concept. The imagery I will choose for the pamphlet will reflect the concept (of course). This will be a lot better after I work on it some (or rather a lot) more.

Final Professional Pic Article

2009-10-18T17:20:00.003-05:00

My main goal for this rev was to make it feel like an article rather than an ad. I think I accomplished that, though it's still lacking in the color department and totally forgot to address the issue pertaining to the mood of each photo and how they clash. I hate it when I remember what things I was going to do when I'm writing it out the blog post. Go figure. I do like where I'm going with the header, but now that I'm looking at it, the "prevent child abuse America" on the lower half of the opposite page is competing with the header. I really can't explain why I couldn't wrap my head around this one. I think my choice in photo really inhibited my thought process with magazine article spreads. I could get it out of my head that I needed to use color despite the fact it's black and white. It was a challenge I wasn't able to overcome and now I know I need to work on it in the future. Even though this layout looks like it's nowhere near done, it took me around two and a half hours to fix up to this point. Sigh.

Final Professional Pic Ad

2009-10-18T17:17:00.004-05:00

I'm still not too happy with how this came out. I wasn't able to figure out how to add color to the hair in PS, so the color is still an issue. I did address the floating head issue and enlarged the picture, but the hair flowing into the second page gets cut off where the picture ends, which is a bummer. I'm not too sure if I like where I've placed the word "youthful" compared to its original location. I think this layout is better than the last, though it still could move forward from this point. This one took about two hours to rearrange and mess with, but I'm frustrated since I still didn't get very far.

October Pic Spread Rev #2

2009-10-18T17:10:00.002-05:00

I couldn't blog about the initial layout for this one cause I was dumb and forgot to make a jpeg for the first before I went in and made all the changes for this one. The first one was really crappy for a number of reasons. The main reason was the fact I didn't have original photos incorporated into the design. I like to call those "place holding pics" that I used until I was able to get out to Thousand Hills for some real ones. I definitely fixed that issue in this revision. I also had tons of orphans and widows in the text of the first one, which I believe I addressed well in this revision. I added some polka dot flair to the side. I'm sure you won't be too thrilled about that, though I think it gives it movement and visual interest. It took me about two hours, not including my trip out to Thousand Hills for this rev.

Part #1 Midterm Portfolio

2009-10-13T22:25:00.004-05:00

I chose this design because of my use of typography. I was trying to simplify my style a bit more than in previous poster redo's because I tend to clutter layouts with large text and oddly placed images. I wanted to show that I'm capable of keeping things simple while maintaining visual interest and I chose to make the image interact with the headline. I think the way I did this is successful and leaves a lot of negative space. For more visual interest and to draw your eye into the layout even more, I added some splatters to reference sweat and motion of the dancers for more appeal. I think I could have utilized a callout from the text, but I did want to keep the quote to create a mood for the event. The parallel lines created by the dancers and the header create an interesting, asymmetrical balance I've never utilized in my designs before. I used a four column grid, 0.5" margins, no bleed and black and white (no color). This layout took a total of 3.5 hours to put together due to design decision making, which I learned definitely takes more time than I thought it would, especially for a more simple design.

Part #2 Midterm Portfolio

2009-10-13T22:15:00.004-05:00

The original layout was a fun one for me personally because I tried to oversimplify. I did this because all of my previous designs were way too cluttered and not very visually stimulating. I wanted to stress the negative space in a way that it would be inviting to the viewer and give air to the bulk of the design. In the rework, I made the font resemble the concept of what the poster was advertising. I also added the mountain graphic, which I created in PS, and made the headline and text slant diagonally. The little climbing man is probably still too small, but I wanted to keep him that way, as almost a part of the header font, because the mountain graphic is the main image besides the headline. I used an 8 column grid initially, but I disregarded it after I started working with the orientation of the header and text. I used a 0.25" margin, no bleed, and black and white only. This layout took me around 4 hours to put together and challenged my design decision making.

Part #3 Midterm Portfolio

2009-10-13T22:07:00.005-05:00

This one I chose because it is my favorite one that included a hand drawn graphic. It's definitely not my strongest layout design, but I think it is still an effective poster. The concept is fun because I wanted to make the letters of the headline resemble clay, and the recent addition, the clay splatters, add to the overall effect the concept the headline creates. I used a four column grid, 0.5" margins, no bleed, and black and white (no color). This one took about two hours in total to put together and kept me on my toes for all the different things I needed to do such as scanning then tweaking in PS, which was a lot more than I thought I'd have to do for a black and white composition.

Part #4 Midterm Portfolio

2009-10-13T21:52:00.004-05:00

I had a lot of fun with this poster design. Dancing is something I enjoy and since it involves motion and athleticism, I feel like it's a subject I can design for a lot easier than other subjects. I found a great photograph and used a filter in PS to make it more dramatic and graphic looking. The photo is the main draw of the poster so the rest of the informational text I made much smaller. The headline interacts with the photo and is also on a diagonal to create more visual interest. I believe there is enough negative space to keep the design from getting too cluttered and is balanced out asymmetrically with plenty of motion to keep your eye traveling across the layout. I used a five column grid, two colors (black and a PMS magenta-y color), 0.25" margins, and no bleed. This took me around 2 hours to complete and was definitely one of my favorites overall because I messed around long enough in PS to learn how to make graphics exactly the way I want.

Part #5 Midterm Portfolio

2009-10-13T21:28:00.004-05:00

I chose this magazine layout because I utilized some design techniques that I've never worked with before and I believe it turned out well taking that into consideration. I like the use of color and the particular fonts I used. I'm not completely fond of the picture I used, but it is comical, attention grabbing and relates to the text. The text body was harder to work with, but I believe it is readable and works cohesively with the rest of the layout. The one thing I think I could have changed is the fact there is no negative space for the reader to "breathe." The balance is definitely asymmetrical with the photo on the far left. I used an 8 column grid, CMYK color, 0.25"margins and a 0.125" bleed (full). This layout took about 3 hours total to put together. It was definitely a learning experience cause it was one of the first magazine layouts we did and challenged my design decision making skills.

Part #6 Midterm Portfolio

2009-10-13T20:20:00.005-05:00

I chose this magazine layout because I believe it showcases my ability to work with a simple photo and plain text to create an interesting design. I was definitely going for simple streamlined elegance in this layout. I think I could have developed the concept a bit more with this one, but I really wanted to use this photo for its appeal and the fact the food looks healthy, which connects to the article text. I utilized balance between the photo and the text and made the title appear in the blank space where the photo ends for visual interest. I used a six column grid, o.25" margins, a 0.125" bleed (full), and CMYK color. I really learned how to balance out a magazine layout in a completely different way than I was previously used to, which definitely helped expand my repertoire of skills. This layout took around four hours total to create.

Professional Pic Article #2

2009-10-12T08:39:00.003-05:00

This one still looks too much like an advertisement. The body copy should be more of a story rather than information about the organization. The photos are sending two separate messages so the visual concept needs to be more fluid. The title also needs to be related to the text to make it more of an article. Yay for more work!

Professional Pic Ad #2

2009-10-12T08:36:00.004-05:00

This one still needs a lot of work. I need to incorporate more color and make the photo larger so it doesn't look like a floating head. There is still too much text and no call-out. I'll have to sit and mess with this one for a while till I can figure out what will work best.

Professional Pic Poster #2

2009-10-12T08:33:00.002-05:00

It's coming along. Still need to address some font sizing issues because the call-out is competing with the headline. And the event subtitle needs to be centered. Some minor tweaking and this one should be pretty much complete.

Professional Pic Article #1

2009-10-11T20:03:00.002-05:00

My first article layout definitely needs some tweaking. It needs color and a higher resolution pic for the main page. It also needs to feel more like an article and less like an advertisement or brochure. There are also still some widows and orphans I need to address in the body copy. And the little logo in the corner can be deleted.

Professional Pic Advertisement #1

2009-10-11T20:01:00.004-05:00

This is my initial ad layout. There is also too much text in this design and the logo is way too large. I need to add color and make some decisions about how to create better balance between each page.

Professional Pic Poster #1

2009-10-11T19:57:00.003-05:00

This is my initial layout for the professional picture series. The concept is there but I have to eliminate some information and present the important event information in larger text such as the title of the events and the dates. It's almost there, I just need to simplify because there's way too much text for an event poster.

Rapala Add #2

2009-10-04T16:48:00.004-05:00

I wasn't able to blog my first layout because I altered it before making a jpeg. It was pretty crappy. I think this one is better, but definitely not my final one. I still need to fix the resolution on the photos and maybe alter a couple more things that end up bugging me when I look at it another time.

Final Health Mag Spread

2009-10-04T15:01:00.004-05:00

I feel like I really refined and simplified this spread from where it started. I think it is more successful, though the text blocks need to be altered to a more readable form. The headline, though effective, is still a bit boring, so I think I could go back and alter it for more visual interest. As I stated in the last post, I had issues with facing pages in creating this layout, but know how to fix this issue in future designs. I believe the presentation of this spread would look a lot better if the pages weren't separated.

Final How Safe? Mag Layout

2009-10-04T14:56:00.004-05:00

This is my final How Safe? magazine two page spread. I think I did solve the issues with the excessive bars I had in the previous layout, but the final seems a bit on the boring side. I was going for simple, sleek and elegant, but I didn't think about putting in something besides a photo to grab attention. A technical issue I had dealt with facing pages in InDesign, but I now know how to make a two page spread oriented in the same art board. I also had this issue with the Health spread. From now on, it won't happen. And hopefully I can fix this issue within each of these layouts so I can possibly use them for the midterm portfolio.

Feeling Full Mag Layout #2

2009-09-28T14:11:00.004-05:00

This layout looks super goofy right now, only because I wanted to see what image works better with the final body text, font and headline. I decided I'm going to get rid of the plate image by the header and extend the image on the left past the gutter to make the layout more asymmetrical. I'll also work with the header and enlarge it to make it stand out more, and to fill a bit more of the negative space that will be above it after the plate image is removed. This one's getting there a bit quicker than the How Safe? layout, which is a nice feeling. Though both of these took me upwards of three hours combined to complete. Hopefully I can make some changes here and there to make them more solid for the final layout presentation.

How Safe? Mag Layout #2

2009-09-28T14:07:00.003-05:00

I'm still having issues with the bars in this layout. I'm going to continue to streamline the design, subtracting the excess bars and type to make it more elegant and simple. I may decide to change the picture to a more interesting one, but I guess that'll depend on if I can find one or not. I'm also going to mess with the page number and article titles in the corners of the layout. I'm not really sure if they will work as well once I alter the design.

The Secret of Feeling Full Initial Mag Layout

2009-09-25T13:40:00.002-05:00

I like this mag layout better than the How Safe? one because of the text orientation and circular imagery. I'm going to try and keep the text oriented to the bottom half of the layout in my final. The plate image is still a bit too dark so I'll have to lighten it up a bit so the text is more readable. And I'm not 100% sure about how I've put together the side-bar text. I still have to work that issue out as well.

How Safe? Initial Mag Layout

2009-09-25T13:36:00.002-05:00

My initial layout was a test-run for certain ideas I am trying to incorporate into the final. It feels a bit crowded with all the picture bars so I'm going to work with that a bit more. I'm also not 100% sure about the corn image on the left hand side, though I do like how it's working with the top bar on the right hand side. I'm going to try to incorporate one solid image, then possibly add on from there. My header font is also too thin so I may choose a different font for that. It needs some work.

Stressed Out Mag Spread Final

2009-09-19T16:21:00.004-05:00

To fix up my mag spread, I changed a few things so it wouldn't be so entirely boring. I fixed the image by adding a filter, though I can't remember which one cause it was an obscure one that I stumbled upon in the labyrinth that is PS. This jpeg is also not quite the final layout cause I just remembered I need to add tabs. Oops. I also changed the headline, which I think makes the layout more inviting. I sampled a color from the crazy dude's shirt and applied it to the headline and jazzed it up a bit with some squiggly lines and a shadow headline. I also fixed up the pull quote, which was a bit wonky before and applied the same shirt color. Sooooo yep! Oh, and this one took me about two hours to fix up in total.