Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Identity Standard/Branding Guide

Once we are finished with our business stationery, we will be ready to wrap up our identity design unit.  The last part of our identity design unit involves creating an identity standard document for our company.  First, I want you to look at an example of one from Chadron State College (http://www.csc.edu/collegerelations/identity.csc).  
For an example of what your identity standard will look like, check this link 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)
Once the identity standard document is completed, we will print it off, staple it, and turn it in.  The project is worth 20 points.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Student of the Week!

Back to a new school year, and I'm excited about our first NPHS Graphic Design Student of the Week!  A lot of quality work was turned in, especially for our first major project.  This project really stood out to me as he did a great job of using the design process, went back and made changes to improve his work, and turned out a nice looking logo for the start of our identity design unit.  I posted the picture below.  Great job, and keep up the great work!


Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Business Stationery

This week students are finishing up their logos and are posting them with their reflections to their online portfolios.  The next project is to create a set of business stationery for their graphic design companies.  Students will be creating the following products...

Business card (2 x 3.5)
Letterhead (8.5 x 11)
Envelope (9.5 x 4.125)

The materials should have a similar identity and look like they all belong together.  Think about where to use the logo, what color schemes to use, and what you should put on each product.  When we are finished, we will upload our final work to our portfolios, then post our reflections.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Great Week!

Students have been doing a great job learning Photoshop and demonstrating their skills and techniques to me.  I can't wait until next week when we get back to our business logos and create them on the computer!  Friday we will have a design challenge where students will be a making a bulldog logo that will be used for a fundraiser.  This will be a great opportunity to demonstrate where we are as young graphic designers and will also give some fun competition, which will provide for a real-life design situation.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Photoshop Week!

Yesterday we did a practice run through the design process, and used it to design a logo using our initials. The last step we need to complete for our logo is production. Before we can do that, we will be taking a break as we learn how to use some of our digital tools. This week we will be learning how to use Adobe Photoshop cs5.5. Students throughout the term will use Photoshop to complete their projects, and will also demonstrate skills with the program to earn points towards their Photoshop competency grade. Students will be recognized as they earn various amount amount of points in what I call the Photoshop Ninja Program. Here are the badges that the students will be earning this term:
Hong-Kong Phooey Badge (2 points) Michaelangelo Badge (6 points) Steven Seagal Badge (10 points) Bruce Lee Badge (12 points) Chuck Norris Badge (16 points) Yoda Badge (20 points)

Thursday, August 20, 2015

What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is getting right to work by doing a short research project on what graphic design is. Students will answer the following information on their paper: Students will research and write a paper over the following information: What is your definition of graphic design? A brief history or timeline of graphic design. Where can we see graphic design today? Examples of fields or disciplines of study in graphic design. Careers that involve graphic design. Why did you decide to take a course in graphic design? The assignment listed above is due Monday when they walk in the door. Students will also need to bring their notebooks Monday as we will start our first design in class.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Welcome back!

Welcome back to school, and to graphic design class! I am Mr. Petersen, your graphic design instructor, and am excited for this 2015/2016 school year! Graphic design class has new computers to use this school year (yeah!!), and will also at some point be updating to the new adobe creative cloud. This will give students the opportunity to use cutting-edge, industry driven tools that are used in graphic design and digital design! I will use this blog to communicate important course information, as well as to post student work. I also stay active on twitter, so be sure to follow at @np_techbiz. I will also send home a syllabus with students on Wednesday. Other exciting news is that we now have advanced graphic design as both an independent study and as a full class. This will be perfect for those who are looking to further sharpen their skills, and learn how to apply their knowledge to industry-related projects. I'm looking forward to seeing all the creative work that this new class of young graphic designers will make, and to seeing everyone back to school!