Photo Manipulation

I think the best thing about any kind of digital media is how it allows us to create anything we can see in our imagination.  The last major project we will be working on in graphic design class involves creating a photo manipulation.  We will watch a TED talk from Erik Johansson where he explains where he gets his inspiration, and how he creates his work.  We will also watch a few speed-art demonstrations from Alexander Koshelkov who creates very dynamic and detailed work.

Students will then come up with an idea, sketch it out, then use photoshop to make a photo manipulation of their own.  This comes near the end of the term, so students should really show off the extent of their photoshop skills they have learned during this class.

Environmental Design

Today we start learning about environmental design.  Environmental design is one of my favorite disciplines in graphic design because it really allows for designers to make a more creative and fun looking world.

Today we will look at examples of environmental design, and will put together a collage of our examples.  We will then create a meaningful working definition of what we thing environmental design is.

Next we will create a design that we would like to see turned in to an environmental design.  Once we complete this, we will find a photograph of a blank boring area and will photoshop our design into that area.  Here are a few examples of what the final product should look like...

When we are finished with our project, we will upload them to our portfolio and post a reflection.

Saul Bass Movie Posters

Saul Bass is considered by many to be the father of motion picture credits.  Some of his early work was with the movie Vertigo, Psycho, and the original Oceans 11.  His innovation and creative ideas made opening and closing credits be seamless and one with the movie itself.  It's easy to see his influence even today in modern movies.

Saul Bass also designed some great minimalist movie posters.  The next project students will be working on is to create a Saul Bass-inspired movie poster for one of their favorite movies.  We will start off by observing and comparing examples of Saul Bass work.  Students will then decide what movie to make a poster of.  Next, students will create a series of sketches of what their poster will look like.  Finally, students will create their poster (12 in. wide by 18 in. tall) on photoshop, post it to their portfolio, then type a reflection.  Here are some examples of what an effective Saul Bass-inspired poster may look like.

Remember, bold colors, solid recognizable shapes, creative layout, and creative typography all come into play here.  These are things we have been leaning about all term, and here is another way for us to demonstrate our ability to effectively put them together as a tribute to a legend in design.

Creative Designs from Class

Students this past week have really been working on creativity and it is starting to show in their work!  Here are some of my favorite designs that have turned up in class recently.  Keep up the good work!

Collateral Design

Next week we will be working with print and collateral design.  The important terms students will come to know are layout, margins, columns, gutters, horizon lines, and grid.  We will start off by learning how these terms come into play with collateral design.  Students will then take a magazine cover and measure all of the components and make a diagram/sketch of it on paper.  Once this is done, we will double check to make sure everything is measured and labeled on their sketch properly.  Students will then put the magazine cover away and use their sketch to make a magazine over content of their choice, and will fit it to the parameters of the measurements they diagrammed out.  After students sketch their created magazine, they will make it on photoshop.

Infographics

Infographics or information graphics are used as a way to creatively visually communicate data to a group of people.  They are more symbolic and artistic than using regular charts and graphs.  Infographics are really becoming a popular trend in today's business world and it is common to see them posted on web pages, social media posts, and presentations.  NPHS graphic design students' next project will be to create an infographic.

The first step is to look at examples online and from student work.  Next, students will brainstorm a list of ideas to create an infographic about.  After brainstorming, students will research their information online and record it in their notebook, along with the sources of where they found information.  Once the information is gathered, students may start sketching out the layout and how to organize the information.  When they get feedback and critiques for their sketches, they can create their infographic with photoshop, then post it to their crevado portfolios along with a 5-7 sentence reflection.

Typography

We have finally finished our unit over identity design.  Students turned in their identity standards and some of them were very very impressive.  Next topic we will be learning about is typography.  It's amazing how the same letters printed in different ways can pass on entirely different meanings.  We will look at some unique examples of letter and type usage.  We will also watch a TED talk presented by David Carson.  Students will then be creating a typography project using idioms.  The project will involve using the words and images combined together to make the idea visual.  Here is an example...

I'm excited to see the ideas that everyone comes up with, and how well they turn out!