do the damn thang

This semester is coming to an end very shortly; with the work on our last projects everything has really come together. I’ve learned a lot about the graphic design process; some people just get it and can instantly create the picture they have in their head and others might need a plan.

When you are designing, whether in real life or in a classroom there is always a criteria that it pointed out. Requirements are a huge deal when designing whether or not you have all the freedom in the world there will always be some things that are always required (could be a logo or a deadline).
For some it helps them to draw everything out and really get a feel of what they might want; they might draft a few ideas before they come up with something they actually want to do. Me personally I just like to jump in and play around with different ideas on the computer because I never know what could happen just from the top of my head.
Deciding the look, font type, colors, wording, pictures, structure, layout all comes in time; I’ve seen many people just rush into that part before they even have come up with a concept (this is a no no).

People need to realize that Rome wasn’t built in a day; you can take your time to create something amazing and something that you and others will truly love. Everyone needs to learn to just relax and stress about thee small things. Everything always comes together in the end.

Last but not least always be creative and have fun with what you are doing; in the end it truly shows what person actually enjoyed what they created.

how Lauren got her creativity back

This class has really broadened my horizons and really brought out my creative side that I haven’t felt since high school. I am learning new techniques and having fun doing it; my head it filled with tons of ideas and things I just want to create and make come to life. My eyes I feel have been opened to seeing new designs around in the world and seeing how beautiful things are and seeing how they were put together and knowing that I could accomplish something like that. There are so many thing that I have never noticed before; I find myself stopping and looking at different things often and try to take things apart and try to figure out how that person designed it.
I have a new found appreciation for all the hard work that goes into everything we see on a daily basis from signs, to magazines, and posters. As a class we all have worked really hard on everything that we have created; not as serious as blood, sweat and tears but some things were harder to overcome then others. We have come a long way from where we all first started off.

To design something you have to have creativity and some heart in what you are trying to produce. Hopefully my designing career is only going up from here and I improve on all my skills that I have learned and will one day create something amazing.

project three

This was my poster for project three. My original idea was to do a poster for the American Diabetes Association; this was going to involve the silhouette of a hand with a blood drop coming out of a finger with facts inside the blood drop. I felt that a lot of people were doing posters on different kinds of illnesses and such so I decided to do something that was not quite like anyone else’s.  I chose to do a pro smoking marijuana poster with a link leading to facts and statistics about it; I figured with the amendment in Colorado and Washington being passed recently it was good timing. I used the silhouette of a girl smoking a bowl with the common red, green, and yellow Rastafarian color background along with the saying “who says I can’t get stoned”.

Each project we do I fall in love with the creative process of it. Once again having the creative freedom to do what I want and have it represent someone that I believe in makes it that much better. My design for this came to me when I was taking a nap actually and made it that much more clear that I should do this when I was smoking with my roommates (real fact, had to put it). I have had my head wrapped around these projects pretty well; it’s a good feeling that you can do something on your own with little to now help.  It’s a powerful feeling to do something you are learning to love more and more every day.

Everything that I put together almost happened by chance; from the text and font type, to placement and everything else (sometimes just playing around with different things something beautiful comes out of it) I feel that if someone was walking by my poster they would definitely stop to look at it.

I feel that the words are really powerful and to the point; “who says I can’t get stoned?” its direct and sticks and makes you want to think about it, like “psh yea who says I can’t!”

mmm project two

For project number two I really enjoyed working on it and having freedom in what I want my topic to be. We were told to write something and find pictures that related or make our own. I am not one for writing down my ideas and the same went with this project, I just let things happen. I knew when I started I wanted to both draw something and use my own pictures. I wanted to do more of an abstract feel with using a minimal amount of words and pictures to paint the picture; everything from then on came together on its own.  I used the chorus from the Kendrick Lamar song “swimming pools” and created my own designs using indesign to represent the words; then I took pictures of myself and what a weekend with me would look like which consisted of working and parting, and the words I used on someone of those pictures were words that related to drinking.

I feel that I did a really well. Obviously there is always new things to learn and what not but I feel that I delivered exactly what was due. I could of probably worked on the lettering more in the text and such but all the pictures and the design work I did I feel came out great and I expressed exactly what I was looking to do. In the end I love what I did and love what I came up with, and it was fun to do. Day by day I learn more about what I am capable and finding a bigger love in being hands on and creating things.

35 Inspiring Color Palettes from Master Painters

When I went to the art varsity website I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be looking at. When I started to read and saw the amazing artwork with the certain different color pallets that these great artists had chosen I was pleasantly surprised that no two colors were ever the same and that none of the colors were very shockingly bright, they were all modest and subtle and darker hues. The website really does a great job on helping you to think about your own color pallets and gives you the option to go and extract colors from your favorite paintings that might not already be presented on their site. It's refreshing to see how certain colors were mixed together to create such amazingly artworks. It really does inspire you to want to do it on your own and make your own pallet and hope its something worth while.

wooo!!

As of this very moment I have completed 10 blogs and feel caught up and its such a good feeling, I made sure not to bullshit my way through them I actually thought about what I wanted to say and didn't just throw ten blogs together just to have them. I also passed my sign language midterm and have started working out for the first time in my whole life, two very awesome accomplishments I must say. I have exactly an hour till class begins, I still haven't received my new debit card in the mail yet which results in me having no money and I am unfortunately hungry. Now I am done with the rambling and I think I will start my other blog project for my other class so I can get a head start on it.

See everyone in class and sorry if I blew up your sidebars with all my nonsense :)

Repetition and Cloning

At the moment I am still working on the Amelia Earhart photoshop exercise and for some reason it is just taking me forever. Everything else I had no problem with but for this one I can't seem to wrap my head around it and actually motivate myself to finish it. Clearly I will eventually get it done and Im sure it will look some what like the books version but again my whole procrastination out look on my life is taking over :). Today in class I am presenting my final magazine layout and I am pretty excited to hear what critiques everyone has about it. I am very pleased with how it turned out.

to be continued when I eventually finish this actual exercise....