Monday, April 27, 2009

Hierarchal Progression


I decided to use a favorite saying from Confucius. "The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue." The image certainly conveys a modest and enduring image of Confucius as well as some simple elements of design (the scroll texture, typeface and the Chinese symbols behind Confucius) to bring it all together.




Saturday, April 25, 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Letterform Study

This was an enjoyable project. I picked a variety of words that were simple to 'visualize' and went to work. The instructions called for black and white images only, which I missed, so I hope I am not docked too many points. There isn't a lot of unity between the images, but I did arrange them so it was visually appealing.

Contrast studies

Negative / Positive








Jagged / Straight








Serene / Chaotic








Geometric / Organic








Random / Orderly








Saturated / Pastel







Static / Kinetic







Rough / Smooth







Monumental / Diminutive

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Color and Season


For this image, I used the combination of red, orange, yellow and brown. I used these colors to try and represent the season of Fall. I was initially a bit confused by the instructions on the assignment, so I put 'FALL CALENDAR' on the side (I thought we were suppose to make something, not just a collage). I left them there because the typeface reminds me of brittle, dying leaves.

Color and Design '24 Shots' Project

This was a fun assignment. I'm fortunate enough to have a gigantic catalog of photographs I have personally taken over the past 4, to 5 years. Some of these I recently shot, and others I gathered from my 'archives'.

Let's start with Asymmetrical Balance. The three images below not only lack symmetry, but they also have a variety of proportions and angles of objects in the image, adding to the images depth and chaos.


Next is Symmetrical Balance. The images below have either horizontal, vertical (or in the case of the keys, both) symmetry; the reflection of the mountains and trees, the similiar paths and trees, and the cluster of similiar keys.



Dominance can be achieved in a variety of ways. In the case of the first image, proximity is what gives my neice, Ky, 'dominance. In the second image, the case of 'less is more' gives the vibrant bouncy ball dominance against the boring gray soot. Dominance can also be psychological, my friends shadow not only conjures up the psychological thought of an attacker or physical dominance but also the heavy shadow dominates the sunny ground.


Repetition is rather simple and self explanatory. The 'ice islands', although not in any particular pattern, are repetitive in their edges and size. The beach with the smashed ice berg has a repetitive pattern, and the last image of me throwing a disc is repetitive in that it is a set of sequential images.




The four images below represent Scale Change. A rather small animal, appears 'large and in charge', when I layed in the grass to take a picture of some neighborhood ducks. What I believe is small speks of cotton on a nearby lake, juxtaposed to the gigantic glacier and mountains is an obvious example of scale change. The American pin, although small, is visually detailed and can be thought of philosophically 'big'. The last image is a tree in my backyard against Thunder Mountain in the distance. The contrast in detail and lighting shows the change in scale.



The following four images are representations of Orientation (or different points of view). Sitting low to the water is an interesting angle for another picture of a neighborhood duck and the comfortable but contorted picture of my cat, Cinderella, gives me the impression of laying down (which is actually how I took the picture). The image of my dog wading in the water is not only visually appealing but the tall grass blocks some of her off, giving you the impression of actually being there. The last image was sort of for fun, it's me goofing around blowing bubbles. The angle used and orientation of my head give the image excitement and curiosity.



The four images below are representations of Rhythm or Movement. The first image gives me the impression of seeing your breathe on a cold winter night. The second image gives visual movement from the dancing fire and small trickle of water below. The last two images are actual captures of movement, from falling water to bicycling along side my dog.



The last 3 images are of Pattern. The first one is a picture of the nearby Mendenhall River during thaw. The chunks of ice have a very similiar 'blocky' pattern. It reminds me of a Picasso painting. The other two images are obvious representations of patterns through trees. Trees grow in pattern known as the Fibonacci sequence, which although is hard to directly translate, is visually apparent.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Graphic Animal

For this assignment I decided to capture the essence of a leaping feline. I've always had a fondness for cats, especially the larger predators. I analyzed pictures of a lot of felines, focusing on the cheetah.

I came up with this graphic, which I first drew in pencil, then traced over with a sharpie, and digitized, reducing it to a black and white image in Photoshop.


Many companies use a similiar imagery from Puma athletic wear to Jaguar automobiles. I gave the cat the 'streak' to not only create visual contrast but to also to make the viewers eye go from the front, to the back, as if imitating the motions of the cheetah.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Project 2 : Expressive Type & Design

I thought this was a rather enjoyable project. After spending the entire chapter reading about the expressive qualities of typefaces it was fun to experiment myself.

For Stodgy, meaning hard to digest, I used a rather appropriate font, 'Gutcruncher'. The spikes ooze unfriendliness, especially to a digestive tract. Using all uppercase gives the word a bigger impact, as if shouting. I made it an off-gray color to decrease it's appeal and added a shadow to give it depth and also increase the 'frighten factor'.

I think it turned out quite well for only a moments work....

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Crush was more difficult. I had a hard time visualizing a static image (no motion) to represent crush. I opted to use a font called 'Razzo'. It gives the text 3d space and gives the letters height. Using the liquify tool in Photoshop 3, I just made it look similiar to what a can might appear like after being kicked around on the street. It gives it a subtle but effective 'crushed feel'.

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The word I had the easiest time designing was Ornate. The word itself is rather self descriptive and I instantly knew what to do... I acquired a font called "VTKS Revolt" for it's flowery and vivid imagery, clouds, lightning bolts and curls -- it's totally ornate, and quite frankly, totally awesome. As requested from the project, one of the words we created needs to be incorporated into a B&W design composition. I used a flowery design as the background and juxtaposed a rose with a glow on the left edge. I added the arrows on the right side because I felt the image was uneven after adding the roses. It also helps draw the persons eye from the left, to the right, as they read. I had to rearrange the text, flower, and compass many times before I found an alignment I thought was visually appealing.

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**The image had to be resized to properly fit in the narrow blog, if you want the full-size here it is.

Last, and arguably least enjoyed, was the word Sludge. Designing a word like this leaves me with very few options for a personal touch. How do you go about expressing sludge without, well, sludge? So, I guess some might call this the 'easy route', but I think it fulfills the project and effectively demonstrates the meaning of the word. I used a font called 'Ooky' and used the liquify tool to warp the image, giving it an almost 'melting' effect. Effective and simple...

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Aside from the simplicity and ease of this project, I found this to be really enjoyable. Before this chapter I knew that text and typeface changes the message visuals have, but I didn't understand the depth of the impact it has on the viewer. Subtle changes can make all the difference it seems, especially when conveying a message via text. Overall, this assignment I feel, although simple in nature, has several levels of complexity to it and I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to tackling more advanced assignments in the future and building upon my design skills....

Sunday, January 18, 2009

CIOS108 Orientation Quiz

A. What is something that is going well in your life?
A roof over my head, a decent job and the privilege of being able to attend school.

B. What are your specific goals for this class?
Get a good foundation on graphic design and photoshop

C. What was your first experience with design, computers and
imaging technology like?
We made a website in my high school web class, and before that I can remember playing with Macs in middle school doing various things. Throughout the years I've done random little things here and their with computer graphics, from making avatars to editing family photos.

D. Do you usually work on a Mac or a PC and why?
PC. Gamer. ;)

E. What is your experience level with any of the other image editing
or vector programs available?
I've used GIMP a bit and am obviously familiar with MSPaint.

F. What is something you liked about your day today?
All you can eat brunch at Mi Casa.

G. How do you plan to use what you learn in this class?
In my internet activities and hopefully use it in the start of my journey to be a graphic designer.

H. What would make this class go very well for you?
Clear instructions and concise online classes seem to be what works best for me. I also like knowing if I have to contact the instructor, I don't have to wait sometimes 2 or 3 days before a reply.

I. How do you plan to make this class go very ell for you?
I've already got certain times of the day and week scheduled for me to work in this class. Distance courses work well for me.

J. What do you do for creativity on an on‐going basis?
Lots of music, meditation, reading and taking in my surroundings.

K. Who is Milton Glaser? Paul Bass?
No idea. I could Google it, but that wouldn't be any fun...

L. Do you own or have access to a color image scanner?
Indeed I do

M. What software application will you be using for the course?
Ps3 primarily but I acquired most of the programs; PS3, Illustrator, Gimp, and will try out Fireworks probably too.