Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 8)

Final reflections have been turned in and graded!  This week's graphic design student of the week did a great job with her typograph inspired by the First Things First Graphic Design Manifesto.  This student consistent with her work ethic all term long and turned in quality projects.  Another remarkable note is that this is her THIRD DESIGN STUDENT OF THE WEEK AWARD!  Great job all term, and thank you for all of your hard work!

Graphic Design Students of the Week (Week 7)

Photomanipulations are turned in and graded!  I really like what this student turned in for his project.  Students had to create a creative photomanipulation used of images that they took with a camera.  I thought this student did a nice job of taking usable photographs, and really took his time to put together a quality image using Adobe Photoshop.  Students sometimes have a hard time when forced to use creativity and abstract ideas, but that was most certainly not the case with this photomanipulation.  Great job and keep up the good work!

Final Week!

Today we are finishing up the final touches on our photomanipulations, and having student-teacher conferences over the project.  Next week we will be finishing up the term for Graphic Design.

On Monday and Tuesday we will learn how to take picture of a house, turn it into a winter scene, and finish it off with photoshoping Christmas lights onto the house.  Students will be given a brief tutorial, then will create one of their own by altering the techniques they were taught.  Wednesday and Thursday we will be looking at the First Things First Graphic Design Manifesto.  After we read through this, students will relate it to their learning in Graphic Design, and will have 2 days to put together their Final Exam.  Friday we will clean shop, make sure our network folders are cleared out.  Students should have all work transferred to their google drive and uploaded to their Capzle, which we used as a digital portfolio.

All make-up work needs to be in by the end of Tuesday of next week.  This will allow me time to get it graded, as well as the final exam so they can be entered in Friday before we leave for break.

Photomanipulation Assignments

We are to our last major project for graphic design this week.  Today we learned about photomanipulations.  We watched a brief TED Talk with Erik Johansson where he showed his work and gave steps to creating an effective photomanipulaiton.  We also saw a speed art of Alexander Koshelkov where he used similar methods from the first video.  Students then started sketching ideas that they wanted to use for their practice project.

The practice photomanipulation involves students creating an abstract image using free use pictures from the internet with photoshop.  This will give students some experience in combining photographs and finding ways to make them fit together.

The final photomanipulation will require students to create a photomanipulaiton using photographs that they take themselves.  They will start off with a sketch, photograph elements to be used for the sketch, then will put it together using photoshop.  We will finish up by uploading these to our Capzles and posting a reflection.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 6)

I really liked this week's graphic design student of the week's work.  Often times graphic design students have a hard time deciding when to use an elaborate design or when to use a simpler design.  I thought that this student had an effective design that ties in well with it surroundings and was nicely photoshoped into the area where he wanted to see this design.

Environmental Design

We were introduced to environmental design by looking at examples in the classroom, then going on a scavenger hunt where students took pictures around the school of environmental design examples.  When we returned to class, we created collages and posted our definition of what environmental design is, and explained how our pictures demonstrate that definition.

The next part of our project involves us creating a design of our choice (picture, lighted sign, etc...)  We will start it off with a sketch, get it approved, create it on photoshop, then will apply it to a picture of a blank area of the school that we photographed.  Students will then create a flyer that will direct people to their environmental design idea and their capzle via an onvert QR code.  We will then hang up our flyer in the location where we took our photographs.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 5)

This week's graphic design student of the week award goes out to an individual who put together a great Saul Bass inspired minimalist movie poster.  The layout and style was true to that of Saul Bass, and this student did a great job of coming up with an idea, and getting right to work at putting it together.  Great job and keep up the good work!

Infographics

Today we learned about infographics, which are creative dynamic ways to display data in various settings.  Students researched by looking at examples of infographics, then decided on a topic to create one of their own on.  We will have a works cited section of our infographic, so be sure to record where you find your information at.  Once all of the information is gathered, we will create the infographic on photoshop (no size limit for canvas), then upload to our capzles, and post a reflection.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 4)

Last week graphic design students were working on collateral design, and we demonstrated what we had learned so far with a magazine cover design.  I thought one particular student did a great job of paying attention to small details and finding a way to get everything to fit reasonably well.  What I was most impressed with was that even though he was overwhelmed at the start of the project, he had a good plan by using the design process and followed it step by step until his project was complete.  Great job of staying the course through the frustrations and putting together a nice spread.

Saul Bass Movie Poster

Our next project will be a short one.  We are going to look at some of the work of Saul Bass.  Students will then make a Saul Bass style movie poster for their favorite movie.  The picture will be 12" wide by 18" tall and completed using adobe photoshop.  Be sure to sketch your rough drafts first.  Post to your capzle with a reflection.

Collateral Design

Today we are starting our unit on collateral design.  Students learned about the elements of collateral design, then made a diagram of how to use them in their notebooks.  Next, we took magazine covers and measured every element and put them onto another diagram in our notebook.  After we look at our diagrams, students will create a magazine of their choice using the template they sketched out.  This is usually one of the students' favorite projects that we do, so I am excited to see how it goes.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 3)

I am a little late with this post, as we finished turning in last week's project for grading on Tuesday (there was no school for kids on Monday).  This was by far my favorite typography project of the classes.  The image was clean and easy to see, and easy to interpret.  Also this student does a great job every week of turning in outstanding work, and still finding ways to improve after each project.  Great job!

Typography

We are learning about typography in graphic design class.  We started off with a TED Talk by David Carson and had some dialogue about what typography is.  Students then created a list of idioms and figures of speech on paper, then sketched pictures of the phrases.  We looked at examples of typography online and students then will start creating their illustrated idioms/visual puns on photoshop.  We also had a digital scavenger hunt where we needed to find 25 examples of typography outside of class and either post them to the virtual bulletin board, or tweet them to the class twitter.  Here is a collage of what the students found.

Students have had some very creative ideas for their typography illustrations and I'm excited to see how they turn out.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 2)

This week's graphic design student of the week did a great job with the design process throughout the business stationary project.  I thought she did an outstanding job of making her promotional materials fit her logo by using similar colors, designs, and font type.  The overall design was great and the use of the lava-lamp theme was very effective.  Great job and keep up the great work!  Some of her work from the identity design/business stationary projects can be seen below.

Assignment: Identity Standard

Now that you have a business name and a logo, you need to create a Identity Standard.  First look at an example of an identity standard for Chadron State College (http://www.csc.edu/collegerelations/identity.csc).  For an example of what your identity standard will look like, check this link out:  http://graphdesportfolio.blogspot.com/2012/10/identity-standard.html

Open up Microsoft Word.  You will create an Identity Standard for your business.  Your Business Stationary needs each of the following:

·         Title Page

·         Introduction (who you are, why it’s important to have a consistent identity)

·         Typography (what types of fonts, font colors will your organization be using in various forms)

·         Colors (what colors are you using for your logo?  Unofficial names, RGB and CMYK values)

·         Logos (Show logos, include examples and description of inappropriate and appropriate logo                 usage)

·         Promotional Material (include business stationery, banners, flyers, etc…)

·         Web Content (list a web page where your business would be found, list page colors, fonts,                   content, web banner, etc…)

·         Conclusion (Tell how you find it important to ensure quality with your brand, give a contact                 where someone can find help when wanting to use your brand and identity standard)

When finished, save as a .pdf and upload to your capzle.  You do not need to add a reflection to this project, as the work itself is a reflection of our identity design unit.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 1)

This term is going to be really hard to narrow down the graphic design student of the week, as I have 2 classes to choose from.  This week had a lot of great work, and many students did a great job of displaying their skills at using the design method.  This week's student did a great job with the whole planning process, made a great logo, and wrote a solid reflection over her work.  Here is the logo she created, and I'm excited to see what else she creates this term!

Assignment: Business Stationery

Now that we are finished with our logo project, we are ready to start our next project.  When we finish this project you should be able to say, "I can apply identity design concepts to create business stationery."

Purpose: Create business stationery for your graphic design company (letterhead, business card, and envelope).
Research:  Look at class examples and do image searches
Plan:  Come up with procedures how you will budget your time with this project.
Sketches:  Make several sketches for each element of this project.
Draft/Critique:  Have a conversation with your class-mates and myself about your project.
Production:  Create it with photoshop, post it to your capzle with a reflection.

The dimensions for the project are as follows:
letterhead 8.5 x 11 in.
business card 3 x 2.5 in.
envelope 9.5 x 4.124 in.

Think about what should go onto your business card.  It is for your graphic design company.  What are some trends that you noticed in stationary during your research?  How can you apply those to any ideas you have?  Business stationery is probably more important for designers than anyone else because the stationery its-self is an example of your work.  Be as creative as you can, and have fun with it!

Portfolio Set-Up

As we are getting finished with our identity designs, we created our digital portfolio using capzles as a cool way to display our work.  Here is a tutorial on how to set up a capzle and how it can be used.

Once students have their capzle finished, they can start uploading their work with their reflections for others to see, and for me to be able to grade.

Design Process

This was a busy first week of the new term!  Classes are full of great kids who seem excited about what we will be doing this quarter!  We started off learning about what graphic design really is (visual communication), and looking at some examples of the various disciplines that are included in the world of graphic design.  We then learned graphic design as a process, and applied it to how we will be solving problems/projects throughout this course.

Design Process:

Purpose

Research

Plan

Sketch

Draft/Critiques

Production

By going through these steps with each of our assignments, we can assure that we will turn out quality work, and have skills that will help us problem solve in other areas as well.

We started with our first project, which is with identity design.  The class is creating logos for their "graphic design company" which will be used as an identity for all of their work from here on out.  The sketches have looked promising so far, and I'm excited to see how they turn out!

Second Quarter

New term for graphic design is here!  This quarter I have 2 periods of graphic design students and am really excited to get this thing rolling.  We will get started on the introduction to graphic design, students will be able to define graphic design as a field, and identify various disciplines of the field.  We will also be introduced to the design process which has these major steps....
1. Purpose
2. Research
3. Plan
4. Sketch
5. Draft/Critique
6. Production/Reflection
We will probably end the week with an introduction to identity design and start putting together ideas for our logo project.

Be sure to follow @np_techbiz for class assignments and announcements, as well as updates with various school activities at NPHS.  I'll see you all on Tuesday!

End of Term Reflection

I have all of our projects graded and updated, and now am at the end of the term for this Graphic Design class.  I had a wonderful class full of great students.  They turned out a lot of great work that got uploaded to the digital displays in the room.  They will be great examples for future classes to see and hopefully will inspire them to great projects of their own for years to come.  I enjoyed teaching this second period each day, and really enjoyed our conversations and getting to know you more this term.  Best of luck with your classes the rest of this term, and be sure to stop by and say hello from time to time!

Next term I will have 2 graphic design classes, and am excited to see what projects they create!

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 8)

This week's graphic design student of the week did some unique lettering for their reflection on the First Things First Graphic Design Manifesto.  Great job on the picture as well as your final reflection!  Way to end the term on a great note!

Final Week

Last week of the term!  It goes by fast!  This week we are finishing up our photomanipulation projects, then will do our final project which will be over the First Things First graphic design manifesto.  This has been a great term for me, and I will miss this class as they were all fun to be around, and turned out some really creative and quality work.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 7)

I really liked this week's designer of the week's practice run on the photomanipulation.  Combining an illustration from the movie Cars, and a photograph of an actual truck and making it into one image.  I thought the idea was very creative, and pulled off quite nicely!  Great job, and keep up the great work!!

Photomanipulation

Our class finished up our environmental design, and have now been introduced to photomanipulation, which is combining multiple photographs to make something new.  We watched a few speed-art videos on youtube of Alexander Koshelkov's work to show students some dynamic photomanipulations created using the same software we use.  We then had a practice run with free-use pictures off the internet.  Today we watched a short TED talk featuring Erik Johansson and his work, and students began planning and sketching what their final photomanipulation project will look like.  After planning, students will take photographs of the elements they want to use for their final image, then will use Adobe Photoshop to combine them into photomanipulations with content created entirely themselves.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (Week 6)

This week's design student of the week did a great job of working through all of our assignments that led up to the final environmental design project that we displayed around the building.  I liked the creativity that this student displayed when finding a way to incorporate Superman onto an area around a corner under a staircase.  Great job and keep up the great work!

Environmental Design

On Tuesday we will be starting our unit on environmental design.  The class will see some examples of environmental design, and then will go on a photography scavenger hunt taking pictures of 10 examples of environmental design in the school.  Once we have our examples, we will put them together in a collage and post to our capzles along with our own definitions of environmental design.

After we finish our collages, we will take a picture of a "plain" space in the building and create a design for that area using photoshop.  After we create our design, we will "photoshop" it into the picture of the plain area.  This will also be posted to our capzles with a reflection of our work.

Finally, we will create an onvert QR code and will hang it up where we took our picture to see if we can get traffic from mobile devices to our portfolios which will show the audience how we envision that area of the school.  Lots of work to do, and a fairly complex project, but I know this class will turn out some great creative work!

Graphic Design Student of the Week (week 5)

This week we have our first designer-of-the-week repeater.  I have had a lot of infographics turned in for projects, but this infographic is the best one I have ever had turned in by far.  Great use of spacing, symbols, and color really made this project stand out.  Great job this week, and keep up the great work!

Collateral Design

This week we will be learning about Collateral Design.  The students will be introduced to these key terms.... collateral design, margin, horizon lines, columns, gutters, and grid.  After we learn about these topics, the class will learn how to measure them on a magazine cover, and will create a template of an existing magazine cover, which they will replace the content with their own work.

After our magazine cover project, we will look at the work of Saul Bass and students will create a Saul Bass inspired movie poster over their favorite movies.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (week 4)

After grading typography projects, I had a hard time choosing the best from last week.  There were a lot of great ones to choose from.  I have another set of tough ones to choose from for this short week as well.  I thought this week's design student of the week had a creative idea and did a good job pulling it off.  I especially liked the use of the gradient tool to create the rainbow image, and how it was applied with the text.  Great job, and keep up the great work!!

Infographics

We are finished up with typography and now moving on to infographics.  We learned how infographics are a more symbolic and creative way to summarize information visually.  We looked at a few examples of infographics in class, then students began brainstorming ideas for their infographic.  After we come up with our ideas, we will research the information we want to use, then sketch our ideas on paper to see what kinds of layouts we can come up with.  Finally, we will create our infographic on the computers, post them to our capzles and write our reflections.

Graphic of Design Student of the Week (week 3)

This week's Graphic Designer of the week did a great job finishing up the Identity Design Unit.  This student's work was great from the logo all the way through the Identity Standard project that we finished up with.  Here are some examples of some of her quality work from early this term.  Great job, and keep up the great work!!

Typography

This week we started our typography unit in graphic design class.  Students found examples and posted them to the online class bulletin board or to twitter for a digital scavenger hunt for their homework assignment.

Here are the pictures that the class found that we used for our class discussion.  We also watched a TED Talk by David Carson.  The class is now working on a typography project where they are using a phrase as part of an illustration.

Identity Standard

We are finishing up our identity design unit this week by creating an identity standard for our imaginary graphic design company.  When it's all said and done we should have our digital portfolios created online with capzles, then we should have a business logo, business stationery (business card, envelope, and letterhead), and our identity standard all uploaded.  Remember to have your reflections posted for your logo and stationary.  We will not have a reflection for our identity standard as the project itself is a reflection of what we learned from the unit.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (week 2)

This was another hard choice this week for NPHS Graphic Designer of the Week.  There were a handful of great designs that were turned in that I liked a lot.  This week's designer did a great job of going through the design process, and applying her brand to a set of promotional materials (business card, envelope, and letterhead).

The effective logo is used in each of the designs, as well as a common color scheme.  Each item of this project was well-done and a lot of quality work went into it during the class period.  Congratulations, and keep up the great work!!

graphic design digital portfolio

This week in graphic design we finished up our identity design logo projects by creating them with Adobe Photoshop.  We then created digital portfolios using http://www.capzles.com/ which we will use as a creative way to display our work.  We will be adding our work and reflections to our caplzes at the conclusion of each project.

Next week we will continue to build our identity brands by designing our own graphic design business promotional materials.

Graphic Design Student of the Week (week 1)

Congratulations to NPHS Graphic Design Student of the Week!  This week we practiced using the design process, and applied it to a brand identity project.  The goal was to come up with a logo created out of our initials that we will use as the identity for our graphic design work for this term.  

Although many students did a great job with this, I thought this week's winner put the most effort in brainstorming exercises, concept sketches, collaborative discussions, and finished with a nice product which was created digitally.

 

Great job this week, and I'm excited to see who will be recognized next week!

Brand Identity

Our first project is to create a brand identity for our graphic design company.  We sketched logos based off of our initials, got feedback from class-mates then made some slight changes to our designs.  Here are some of the stronger logos we came up with.

Great job with these sketches!  I can't wait to see how all of our logos look once we learn how to create them on the computer!

Design Process

We had a great first week of graphic design.  We learned that graphic design is visual communication.  We also learned about the design process.  For each of our projects we work on this term, we will be able to complete these steps:
1. purpose
2. reserach
3. plan
4. sketch
5. draft/critique
6. production

We also started learning about brand identity.  We sketched and created logos using our initials, and will ultimately come up with a logo for our own graphic design company.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to NPHS for the 2014 school year!  On Thursday, graphic design class will be going over classroom procedures and expectations for the course and then will jump right in to the design process.  There are some new things I have added to the curriculum I am excited to try out with you all this term.  Looking forward to seeing you all!  Let's have a great year!