Photoshop 2 — Final Project

As of this last Monday, I am (basically) officially done with Fall Term! Talk about stress! There was so much that happened, like being at FedEx Office until 2 a.m. to finish my Magazine Project, saving over the wrong files, lots of late night cups of coffee, yadda yadda yadda.

I have six more months until I get my Associate's Degree, and I couldn't be any happier! This also means that this term was my last Photoshop class EVER! I would just like to state that for the past two terms I have been having a horrendous time trying to understand Photoshop, but after working with it for multiple projects this term, I have come to have more of a love/hate relationship with it. ;)

Anywho, I would like to share with you what I have been working on for my final Photoshop project for the last however many weeks.

A little info on the project:
We had to choose an Oregon non-profit and design a Vehicle Wrap and a Billboard for said non-profit. I chose to go with the Oregon Humane Society, because... ...Well, honestly I just wanted to look at kittens and puppies all day. :) After lots of research I was able to decide on my fantastic idea: Helping You Find Your Perfect Pal. I chose to go with a concept of people and their pet's wearing some kind of the same accessory to show that everyone has a perfect pal out there! Below are the final designs I created:

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I would like to thank everyone who helped "model" for me to accomplish this project! Especially Little Miss, Mia, and Leo for their fantastic modeling skills! ;)

Stay tuned for other Final Projects being posted by yours truly!

The life of a Graphic Design Student

Opening Feature Spread
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Secondary Spread
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 This is what I spent today doing for the opening spread of my magazine for my Graphic Design 4 class.
I would very quickly like to add that this looks like NOTHING from my thumbnails (I wanted to play off "de-stress", my instructor wanted me to play off "madness").
I've been up for 14 hours now working on this on and off again and am content at where it's at for a day's work. I plan on making it stronger for the final magazine due at the end of the term. But for being due tomorrow, I'm going to call this good.

What did you work on this weekend? :)

Crosshatch, Line, and Stippling

I've decided to start blogging about my process on projects that I'm doing to help prepare me for my portfolio this Spring. Here is my latest piece:

A ways into the process...

Scared to do the faces...

...So I'll do them second to last

Hey! Not so bad!

I totally nailed that fur hat!

Right now we're wrapping up our cross hatch, line, and stippling segment in my Illustration for Graphic Designer's class. We were broken up into groups of three and had to decide on a theme for our project and then create a museum poster for said theme. Our group decided to go with a theme for the National Museum of the Native American. Other cool ideas in from other groups included a Mushroom theme at the World Forestry Center and a Reptile and Amphibian show at OMSI. I think I can honestly say that EVERYONE in the class went with stippling and only one person, who happened to be in my group, went with line for his illustration (I think everyone chose stippling 'cause of control issues! Hahaha, oh Graphic Designers...).
Overall, the stippling of my project took about 12 hours and I am pretty happy with the way it turned out! The hat on the baby is some kind of fur and I feel like I executed it really well.  Below you can see the final poster design with the line and stippling projects of my two classmates. I took the circle design from the woman's shirt to apply as texture for the top and bottom blocks of color. The typeface is Goudy Old Style.

What would you suggest I could have done to make this piece stronger? 

My Final Stippling Project

Final Museum Poster

Fall Term has begun.

Wow, the third week of the term is almost over. Only nine more to go!
This term includes magazine (re)design, illustration (silhouettes, high contrast, stippling, cross hatching, line drawing), more photoshop techniques, and learning more about print!

I would also like to say that I have been able to quit my gross retail job (YEAH!), and am now working as a Graphic Artist with the Student Leadership at my school. It's been a great experience so far, including how to deal with difficult co-workers...

There's a couple of blog posts I have in mind that I want to do, so stay tuned!

"The second best friend you can have (the first being someone who can give you a good job) is another designer or illustrator." –Ward Schumaker

Artist Profile: Milton Glaser

Milton Glaser

Milton Glaser 

A Quick Bio: Milton Glaser was born in 1929 in New York City. He studied at many art schools, such as Manhattan's High School of Music and Art, Cooper Union, and The Acadamy of Fine Arts in Bologna, Italy. In 1954, Glaser founded Push Pin Studios in NYC with Reynold Ruffins, Seymour Chwast, and Edward Sorel, all fellow graduates from Cooper Union. Glaser and Chwast directed the studio for 20 years, and it became a guiding reference in the world of graphic design. Today, Chwast is principal of The Pushpin Group, Inc. 

In 1968 Glaser founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker, where he was the president and design director until 1977. In 1974, Milton Glaser Inc. was established. Here, Glaser has created, designed, and illustrated corporate identities, packaging design, product design, environmental and interior design, and more than 300 posters! 

Today Glaser is represented in many permanent collections such as Museum of Modern Art (New York), The Israel Museum (Jerusalem), and The Chase Manhattan Bank (New York) to name a few. In 2004 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his profound and meaningful long-term contribution to the contemporary practice of design. To read more about Milton Glaser's life, click here.

Specialty: Graphic Design and Illustration

I <3 NY by Milton Glaser

Best Known Work: You may have seen his "I Love New York" logo here or there. Yep, this is the guy who designed it! The logo was created and used to promote tourism in New York City, and later for New York as a state. The font used for the logo is American Typewriter. Another work that he is known for is his Bob Dylan poster. He was inspired by one of Marcel Duchamp's works: "Self Portrait" and by Islamic paintings from which he drew inspiration for the hair. You can read a little more of his inspiration for the Bob Dylan poster here.

Bob Dylan Poster

Inspiration: Glaser draws his inspiration from the history of art and graphic design. 

Quoted: “Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking.”

"The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire and persistence."

Additional Links: Click here to learn more about Milton Glaser. You can read a longer biography, "10 Things I've Learned" (recommended), and read a few interviews he has done with Macworld, Step-By-Step magazine, and more! 

Video: This is a 15 minute video of Milton Glaser at TED speaking of how great designs make new ideas.

Which designers would you like to see an Artist Profile of?

Designers You Should Know

So here's what I want am going to do.

I'm going to start posting about Graphic Designers and why you should know who they are. And they're porobably going to start out being "Duh. Of course you should know them," designers. Like Paul Rand, Massimo Vignelli, David Ogilvy, etc. Maybe you don't know who they are. Maybe you do. But I'm doing this not just for you, but for myself as well. I'm very much looking forward diving into some research and practice writing well, again. I will become a stronger person and designer through this. So I hope you enjoy some future posts from me. :)

-Sarah

Woodstock's First Community Garden/Farmer's Market?

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It just occurred to me that I never uploaded my final Neighborhood Event Poster project from my .ai class! Well here it is! It took a lot of time and tweaking to make it work, but I am quite proud of it. We started off the project with brainstorming plausible neighborhood event ideas and narrowing them down. I came down to: Movie in the Park, Farmers Market/Community Garden (Hey! They're kinda similar, and I couldn't quite yet choose), and Woodstock Festival (which is real). After creating thumbnails for these events, we narrowed it down to once choice, and recreated 3 more tight roughs. I went in the direction of Farmers Market/Community Garden, eventually narrowing it down to a Community Garden (duh). I love the Woodstock neighborhood and have noticed that many of our neighbors have gardens, so I thought it would be the right thing to do. So I went with it, got this, and voilà! Did I mention I passed my class with an 'A'? Yeaaaaah, baby!
Anyway, I've kept checking up on Woodstock's website because I've been curious as to what's been going on at the corner of Woodstock and 52nd, and, well you know, I wanted to stay updated (They're building a 7-11 + enough space for a few other stores, still TBD). And then somewhere I read something about the beginning of a Woodstock Farmers Market. WHAT?! So I found the site, freaked out seeing that they needed Graphic Design Volunteers, and immediate filled out the volunteer form. HOW. PERFECT. Right?! I didn't hear anything back, so I e-mailed them last week, with the logo and event poster I did, and finally got a reply! I should be meeting up with them in a couple of weeks to see what needs to be done, etc... And.... I'm basically freaking out. I am SO excited! Honestly, at first it was because I just wanted to add more stuff to my portfolio, but now it's not even about that. I'm highly supportive of locally grown food and crafts, etc... but I also am falling in like with this neighborhood. I believe that when you're working on a project that you're looking forward to doing, you'll do the absolute best work you can do; and I believe this is one of those times.
Wish me luck!

Design is about everything.

Sometimes I feel like I won't be good enough. There are so many people out there, especially in this recession, going to school [for Graphic Design]. And if you live in Portland, everyone has some kind of creative edge, so what do you have that other people don't? I ask that question to myself every day. Maybe I don't have an edge on everyone else. Yet. But I guess, in a way, starting this blog is a way to have that edge.
I can't get design out of my mind. I find myself analyzing and picking apart everything I see. Logos, brochures, cereal boxes at the grocery store, receipts, EVERYTHING. But after reading this article, it gave me a little bit of hope. If I'm not constantly dissecting everything I see, then what am I doing? 

I have also been reading Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut for the past couple of weeks, and it's already inspired me to new levels. I'm not finished yet, not even half way through, but it's inspiring to me in so many ways. Bierut ends a chapter saying, "Not everything is design. But design is about everything. So do yourself a favor: Be ready for anything." I feel that it leads into the next chapter, which in a round-about way, explains that design isn't just about design. Design is about literature... It's about science, the local farmer's market, math club, economics, music, recycling, etc... In order to design well, you need to understand the components of what you are designing for.
After reading some of these essays, exploring design websites, and maaaybe playing a little bit of TypeWar, it makes me feel a little bit better that I will one day be a successful designer. There are many things I want to learn in my life. I need to remember I'm young and still have many years ahead of me to do so. With Graphic Design as my future, I feel that it will go hand-in-hand with each other and I will be able to do what I love, while constantly learning new things until the day I die.

Woodstock Neighborhood Logo

Well, this is it! This is the final product of my logo for the Woodstock Neighborhood! Our class has spent most of the term working on this (and other side projects), and now we have a week to work on our Neighborhood Events Poster (Yikes!). My poster is designed for the beginning of a Community Garden in the Woodstock Neighborhood (it's so fitting!), and there's so much to do! Especially when they're due in a week and a half...
Anyway, back to the logo. I'd like to know your thoughts and feelings on the design of this. Is it working? Is it not working? What could I do to improve this? How do you feel about the colors? What kind of "mood" are you getting from the image? Please let me know, as all constructive criticism is appreciated. :)

What have I been up to?

I've been focusing a lot of time on school and work lately, and haven't had as much time as I'd like to write this blog. Okay, that's not ENTIRELY true. I haven't been completely sure of what I've wanted to blog about, other than graphic designers.
But! I have figured out a way to do that, make it fun, and teach myself and others at the same time. Inspiration has hit me from Heek's Hecoxian Ways blog. Once a weekish I will be writing an entry of "People You Should Know" ranging from graphic designers, printers, zoo keepers... huh? Just kidding. All I know is that I have a list of people I'd like to do more research on and people that I haven't even discovered yet that I want to do more research on and share that with you. So stay tuned! :)

Also, the Neighborhood Logo Project is due next Tuesday and our next project is an event for that neighborhood. Once the Logo is done I'll be sure to share it.
I have also started a side project of a silly concept that was brought up from a friend at a gathering this last weekend. I want to make a mock up of a tea box sporting "New! Old Man Young's: Earl Grey Tea" featuring my lovely friend Clark Young's face. This I will also post once it's complete.

Cheers!

First Illustrator Project!

In my first Illustrator class, we are doing a Neighborhood Logo Project. But first, I have to write a brief about my neighborhood, which is thankfully, Woodstock!

I have also come to the conclusion that I'm happy I am doing the Graphic Design program part time at school, because now I have taken several art classes that have helped me understand the concepts of design, color, texture, etc... So now I feel like I can absolutely do my best work possible.

So after this brief I write, we will begin the Logo for the neighborhood, and after that is finished, we will be making a flier for an event in that neighborhood, like a block party or dragon boat races (used in last years class) or whatever.

Stay tuned, as I will be updating on this project's progress!