DONE!

Today is the dead day!
Yea! I am finishing up this semester finally.
All I have left is the final comp project.
Now that I took this class I became more confident to use design programs. Actually, I am interested in making flyers for the organization I'm in.
I want to keep using the skills I learned in this class and learning more and more about graphic design.
I'm really glad that I took this class.
This class means a lot to me.

InDesign Art Work

Here is an art work that I made in InDesign.
This is an advertisement for (fake) Qlinique.

I like using InDesign.
Since I cannot draw illustrations very well, probably Illustrator is the one I am not good at using the most...
However, I learned to enjoy working on all of the software I learned in this class.

It's finally near the end of the semester. I am going to finish up the rest of the assignments with all the skills I got through this class!

Brochure Reflection

This is a trifold, full-color brochure. The line of this brochure is “Camp Kesem.” Since I don’t know what “Kesem” means, it was hard to tell what this brochure is for before I read the text below the line. Therefore, even though the line itself is noticeable, I think this is not the best line. A line should tell what the brochure is about. On the other hand, the visual and design are good. The visual is highly relevant to the content of the brochure and it reinforces the image and the message of the camp. The design is also good. Since it limits the use of colors, it looks simple and it is easy to read. To make this brochure better, they should change the line or at least explain what “Kesem” means. It is very important to make the line meaningful to gain readers attention.

Advertisement Reflection

 

This is an ETRO’s advertisement. This ad’s purpose is to inform audience of ETRO and its products and hopefully persuade them to go to its stores and buy its products. The other purpose of this ad is to create the brand’s image. The target audience is those who are sensitive to fashion and ETRO’s customers. The category of this ad could be fantasy since it’s an artistically-oriented ad and it creates its own story.

The line of this ad is the name of the brand, “ETRO.” Since this ad is to inform audience of ETRO’s brand image and its product image, “ETRO” is good enough as a headline. However, it is hard to read. The visual of this ad is great because it’s definitely eye-catching. Moreover, since it has white background, the colors of the apparel items are stand up. Furthermore, the overall design of this ad is good. It is eye-catching, it has a story, and it is not messy (even though this ad uses multi-color outfits that have strong personality). The only improvement that I would suggest is the color of the text and font size of the contact information. If the texts are easier to read, this ad would be even better.

Illustrator Composite Project

I finally done with the Illustrator Composite Project!
The planning for this project took a lot of time because the assignment was to create a company's logo for re-branding. First, I needed to do some research on the company that I decided to make a new logo for, and then, I could start planning for the company's re-branding plan and their new mission. After that, I finally started actually creating the logo.

Here is the logo I created for Clinique.

Hope I could reinforce its image - safe, allergy free products!

Illustrator Artworks

Since last week, we started working with InDesign in class, and at the same time, we started working on our Illustrator composite assignment.
Before I started mentioning about InDesign, let me share some of the artworks I created with Illustrator.


Here is a hanging tag for an imaginary apparel company

Here is a cosmetic line of the company

I still like Photoshop better, but the more I work on Illustrator, the more I like it!

Using Photoshop and Illustrator together

The following 5 points are what I learned from watching the video tutorial, “Integrating Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.”

1) Using Smart Objects

You can place files you made in Photoshop as smart objects in Illustrator creations and by doing this, the files placed in Illustrator will be automatically updated when you modify the original files in Photoshop. However, there is an issue regarding this: you cannot do the same from Illustrator to Photoshop. In this case, if you modify the file, the file will not match up with the original or source file, so you will end up having multiple files in a variety of the modification steps.

2) Building binding box and always making creating with 100% scale

To avoid the issue discussed above, it is very important to create a binding box around the artworks and to always work with 100% scale or actual size of the final production in both Photoshop and Illustrator. If you create exact same artworks in both Photoshop and Illustrator and if you work with binding box and 100% scale, you can copy the part you modified in one program and paste the part exactly where it should be in the other program. By doing this you can avoid having multiple files of same artworks.

3) Rotation tool

There is a suggestion about the rotation tool. In Photoshop, you can use rotation tool to freely rotate objects, and it is very easy. However, In Illustrator, you cannot use the rotation tool in the same way, and it is more struggling to use the rotation tool in Illustrator. Therefore, it is nice if Adobe can improve the rotation tool in Illustrator so that it can be used like in Photoshop.

4) Action and texture

You can use action to record what you did on the computer and save the steps so that you can apply the steps you took on other objects easily. By using action, you can create variety of textures that are made by taking the same steps with one click. Moreover, you can download a texture library from http://snipurl.com/2qc1k. You can use the textures freely and there are 30 textures. They are in psd, tif, and jpg format so that you can use them in both Photoshop and Illustrator.

                                                         

5) Tips: learning from others and plug-in   

It is always beneficial to talk about Photoshop and Illustrator or even other programs with others. From the conversation, you can learn a lot of things. Of course, you can learn these programs by yourself or from textbook, but do not forget that your friends can be your teacher. Also, it is important to know that there are so many useful plug-ins available for you. Some of them are not cheap. However, if you think your time is important, it will not be bad idea to spend some money on plug-ins. Xtream Path Plugin is a good one to modify path easily and FILTERiT Plugin is a good one to wrap texts.

Logos

           Logo with only text 

     

This is a good example of a company’s logo made with only text. Since this logo is so simple, it is very easy for customers to remember this logo. Moreover, FedEx is a logistics service company, so customers often see this logo on the moving trucks. That is, it is very crucial for the company’s logo to be easy to be recognized from the distance and regardless of the movement. Furthermore, by using complimentary colors, this logo successfully gains attentions. Finally, since this logo uses only 2 colors, it is cheaper to print out.

Illustrator

Now we are learning Illustrator in class.
For the assignment of this week, I'm designing a garment (it's a part of my pattern envelope design). Since I'm in a mood for retro outfit, I am designing a dress with sweetheart! So far, it's going well. I'm almost done with the garment and layout of the envelope. I just need to color it after the spring break when the lab and my dorm are open again. (yes, I need to get out of my dorm for the break. sigh....) I do still need to do one more assignment so, actually I really do not have that much time left till the due day. Well, at least I can think about the design for the assignment over the break.

Now that I really enjoy Photoshop and Illustrator, I'm concerning about getting the programs.
I just with they are cheaper...! haha


Well, hope everyone will have a great break!

Art Work

Since I am finally done with the Photoshop composite assignment (which means there will be no more Photoshop assignment till the end of the semester when I need to create the final project), I decided to post one of my art works that I created for this class.

This is a magazine cover for an imaginary Kimono magazine.
I used a lot of masks to create this so now I can use masks better!
Especially, I really like the background of  this even though I think there are so much going on in this picture....

I'm really glad that I could manage to reach to this level.... :)


Anyway... I have to mention one thing.
My prayer to Japan.
Anything could happen, and everything could be changed in one night.
I have to believe it now.
Literally, "that" happened when I was sleeping, and when I woke up and turn on my PC, I saw the news.
What a shocking event. And this is only the 5th biggest earthquake.... 4 more bigger ones than this in the world...
Speechless.


頑張れ、日本。
頑張れ。

Pen Tool

Last week, in class, we learned how to make paths with the pen tool in Photoshop, and I found it interesting.
Actually, it is a bit similar to a program that I learned in my fashion design class before.
I think I should start using Photoshop to design garments. In that case, I can change the pattern or color of the garments easily, which probably makes it easier to design.

Also, we learned about making paths as a kind of introduction to the Illustrator.
That is, we are done with Photoshop! ....well, at lease we are done with learning the basic operation.

Now I am thinking about the design of my final project of Photoshop.
I am thinking about making a magazine cover.
The project is due this Wednesday, so I should decide my mind and start creating it!

Hope this week goes well too.

Typography

I've been working hard on masks this week and I'm getting better at making them.
Especially about clipping masks, I even found it fun to use! I'm glad that I made a progress a bit.

In class on Wednesday, we moved on to the next lesson, which is about type and typography.
We discussed about what is a good typography and how to use types effectively in the Photoshop.

For the assignment of this lesson, we made a label for a soda.
It was a little hard to make the label look like wrapped around the bottle, but I think I could manage...hopefully.
One of the point of this assignment was to show an instance of text effects that are not shown in class. Therefore, I looked through the web page that my teacher told us (here the link), and I found this interesting tutorial to make a "Grunge Rubber Stamp."
Link→ http://www.biorust.com/tutorials/detail/181/en/

With the tutorial, I successfully made a type that looks like a stamp!
I put the stamp at the right bottom corner of the label.

It took time (honestly, a lot), but it was a interesting assignment.
The assignments for the class are getting more difficult to deal with but certainly, it is getting more fun to work with! (well, if I had plenty of time to work, it would be even better... haha)

Here is the label that I made for the assignment.

How do you think?

Reviewing for Tomorrow's Class --Masks--

Since we didn't have enough time to start working on masks last time, we are learning about them in tomorrow's class. Therefore, I just watched the 5 videos about masks suggested on the assignment sheet as a review.

Well, honestly, I'm already confused a bit. I can see that masks will be really handy once I get used to using it though. Especially, the refine the edge tool seemed useful to me. However, till then it will be really hard to deal with.

I think I really need to pay attention in the class tomorrow, and I should read the section in the text book before class so that I can follow the lecture.

Let's see how I can handle masks tomorrow.

Superimposing Layers

Well, first of all, I have to admit that I'm not a kind of person who can deal with high technology that easily. I can do the basic operations on my computer but that's it. I never can fix my computer by myself if I got virus or something.

Before I wander off the topic, I want to say that it is also not that easy for me to learn the Photoshop! But, now that I already know about the existence of layers (yes. I didn't know about the concept before.), the lessons that we are dealing with now are not too hard. Good.

The first time I ever used a photo editing software, I had a hard time understanding what a layer is. I read though many web sites and blogs that explain about the software, but still the concept was ambiguous to me. However, when I used my imagination fully and visualized the image of superimposing thin, clear papers, I had an aha moment finally.
Now I can use layers without any program.

Well, see? Even a person like me can learn how to use technology!

Since my teacher said the technique we will start learning today, masks, will be difficult to understand, I'm a bit afraid. Hopefully I can get the idea by the end of this week!

Practice, practice, and practice!

Learning Photoshop

Since I don't have a blog assignment for this week, let me talk about what I'm learning in class.

Now, I'm learning how to use Photoshop!
Actually, I haven't used Photoshop before, and one of the reasons why I'm taking this class is that I can learn about it.

I used to own a free software for retouch which can do similar basic operations as Photoshop. So, retouch is not a totally new thing to me. However, since I'm using English version of Photoshop (of course! I'm now studying in the U.S.), there are so many words that seem unfamiliar to me, some of which I totally don't know and some of which I actually know if they were in my native tongue. Therefore, it is a bit overwhelming.
Even after 2 years of studying in the U.S., it is still challenging for me to start learning a new subject because of my poor English vocabulary.

Hopefully, I can feel a bit more comfortable with using Photoshop after a few more weeks of practicing!


Oh! By the way, today is Valentine's Day! Hope everyone is having a great time with the loved one.

 

Miss my family and friends in my country...

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