graphic design: design process/identity design

We are in a new term and have started a new section of graphic design class!  Last week, students did some research on careers and education in graphic design.  This paper was due by the end of class on Thursday.  If students did not get this complete, they are expected to finish this at home, or come in before/after school to get caught up as it is for a significant grade.  Next week, we will be learning the design process.  This is a list of steps that we will follow for each of our projects we do this term.  Once we are introduced to this concept, we will use it together to complete our first design, which will be an identity design.  Students will be creating a logo with their initials.  We will eventually create a digital image of their design, and will also try and 3D print their logos.  I have really been impressed with this group of students so far, and can't wait to see the great things they make this term!  It's going to be a lot of fun!

photography and environmental design

Students have been learning about elements of effective photography.  So far, students have been defining and taking photographs of subjects that demonstrate rule of thirds, balancing elements, leading lines, symmetry, patterns, varying viewpoints, backgrounds, depth, framing, cropping, and experimentation.  Students combined their findings into collages and we used a gallery walk to walk around and see what we came up with.

Next, we are going to look at some examples of environmental design.  We will use google image searches and also look at some time-lapse videos of Kyle Steeds murals to get some ideas of what environmental design is.  Students will then come up with an idea of a design of their own, and will eventually Photoshop it into a photograph of a boring area that they took with digital cameras.  Students have been doing a good job with this project so far, and I'm excited to see the work as it gets completed.

week 5: infographics

This week we need to finish up with our typography work and get it all posted to our portfolios, then we will be ready to move on to infographics.  Students will be looking at some examples of infographics and will find where they are all used in the business world.  We will then research a topic of our choice, and put together an infographic that summarizes our findings.  We are at mid-term grade posting time, so students need to be sure they have everything in their portfolios and turned in.

week 4: Typography

Graphic design students have finished up with their business stationery, and are getting ready to put together their branding guides to wrap up our identity design units.  The next thing we will start learning about is Typography.  Students will look at some examples of well-known typography designers, then will put together several small projects of their own.  We will wrap up this section with the creation of creative word art.

Logos, Portfolios, and More

Graphic Design class has finished up with the first part of their identity designs.  This included the creation of a digital version of their logo.  Next, students will create a portfolio using PortfolioGen.  Students will then upload their logo and a reflection to their site.  This portfolio will then be used to add work throughout their technology classes at NPHS.  Once we have all of our logos uploaded, we will move on to creating a brand with our logo.  We will make business stationery, and finish up with a branding guide or identity standard.

Week 2: Design Process

Students will be turning in their career research papers by the end of class on Monday, then we are ready to start our first designs!  We will start off with the design process, and use this as a way to create our first project which will be a logo for an identity design project we will be working with later.  We will look at examples of effective identity designs, sketch ideas, collaborate in groups, then will have a final drawing of what we want to use for our logo designs.  Once we get our drawings finished, we will learn how to use our digital tools in our class, then will ultimately create our drawings on the computer and will publish our work to a digital portfolio.

2017 term 1 graphic design (week 1)

Welcome back to school everybody!  Graphic Design is a great class that allows you to use creativity, art, technology, and problem solving to become visual communicators.  We will start off learning about ourselves and becoming familiar with our classmates then will spend some time learning about career opportunities and the role in our world for visual storytelling.  Students will include their findings in a report that they will turn in at the end of the first week.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone soon!