We started just creating things using papers and cardstocks to see how paper behaves.  We also did a few assignments using a single sheet of paper to create containers and marketing tools.  Here’s a couple examples:

We also began developing designs and actual prototypes of tabletoppers.  We had a certain assigned restaurant to design for, which was “Grandma’s House” and it was to promote weeks of different desserts.  My design was a dessert spinner that not only housed the dessert menu but offered a fun and interactive tool for the customers to decide which desert they would like.

Thumbnail:

Rough:

Final:

The last assignment was another tabletopper to promote a cruise ship.  It also needed to double as a matchbox holder.

Thumbnails:

Rough 1:

Rough 2:

Final:

I love it, except I’m busy.  Really, really, really busy.  I haven’t got to update my posts in a while because of this.  I’ll try and catch up some!

I started a new class, corporate identity.  When I first registered, I groaned with a foreboding sense of boredom.  I’m a person who’s heavily stimulated by the creative aspect of graphic design, not so much the business part.  I was pleasantly surprised though, because I’m actually learning a lot of really useful info!  As a bonus, the professor helped make the class as un-boring as possible!  I got to focus a lot of my projects inwardly, and used my assignments to focus on working on a brand logo and potential plan for a brand standard for my future company.

Week 1- was mostly evaluating logos.  Let me tell you, I had no clue how to do this starting out.  I’ve always been the girl in art class who put everything I had into a logo, only to have it spurned in honor of the guy who spent 5 minutes on his.  A little jaded, I wasn’t looking forward to this.  I learned that thought and progressive reworking is required, but overworking and over loading a logo is just as bad if not worse.  Keep it simple and smart.

Week 2 - we delved more into evaluating other companies logos, and began thumbnailing for our own logos.  I decided to redo the logo for this site, www.foxesdin.com, because the original logo I came up with was less than impressive.

Original foxesdin logo:

New logo thumbnails:

Week 3 – This week we did some research on color and it’s effect on logos and how the company is perceived based on the colors of it’s logo.  Played around with color choices and logo designs some more in illustrator:

Week 4- Did some work on copyrighting, brand manuals, and final work on our logos.

]]> http://www.sherisart.com/2011/02/corporate-identity-and-a-loss-of-identity/feed/ 1 http://www.sherisart.com/2010/12/question-from-reader/ http://www.sherisart.com/2010/12/question-from-reader/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:33:32 +0000 Sheri http://www.sherisart.com/?p=753 Got a question through this site from a fellow art institute online student who is currently in a class I took a while ago. I’m posting it here, because I figure some others might have questions. From typography class on parasignals.

Q.

I had came across your page for more referencing on Parasignals. And love your

ideas. My question is how to create them in Illustrator? I have a “Dummies Guide

to Illustrator” that has helped in my weak areas, but I’m always looking for

more answers. Is there any way you can assist me in an area I’m clueless to?

Thanks.

A.

I’m brand new to illustrator myself, I’m actually in digital illustration right now getting the basics of it.

Honestly, the thing that is helping me is just getting in there and messing around for hours.

Do you have any of the classroom in a book textbooks? They have them in Barnes and noble.

It’s a step by step guide to all the basic how to’s in illustrator. It is a bit difficult though; unlike photoshop,

illustrator requires some things that aren’t self explanatory.

For example, gradients are easily edited if you click the icon on the left, and then double click on the area you want to apply the gradient to.

After that, a little bar pops up where you can add or delete colors, adjust opacity, and even change the type of gradient.

Q.

Right now the professor is asking for “quotes” like..”the grass is always greener on the other side” type deal. In thumbnail style.

Still working on the quote idea.

A.

Ahhh.. I see. I was actually in that same exact class!!! I did the “pushing up daisies” quote. If you go to this thread, http://www.sherisart.com/category/art-institute-online-graphic-design/typography/, and go to the bottom, you will see my rough draft and the final version of my assignment. If you are in the thumbnail stage, I would just pick a quote you like and sit for an hour and doodle. The most important thing is to really pick a quote you like and motivates you. After that, think about what you can physically do to the quote to make it fit (like font, color, or adding extra symbols) that would be your parasignal. The alphasignal is the quote itself. Did you pick a quote you like yet? Here’s some famous quotes you can check out: http://www.toomanyquotes.com/categories/famous. For example, “Live the life you’ve dreamed.” by Henry David Thoreau. The quote itself is the alphasignal. Then for your parasignals, think of Que’s that would fit when you read that quote. Like, light and fluffy, that makes me think of dreaming. It’s a happy quote so something happy. With those ideas I would pick colors and a font that relate. Maybe light blues and whites and a swirly cursive quote. Something that makes you think of inspiration and hope. You can also maybe have a few kites coming off the letters, in a bright red, to draw attention to the quote, and even give more of that carefree feeling. Almost like when you were a kid and dreaming of what you wanted to do, and being happy about it.

I would start by finding a font you think fits. http://www.1001freefonts.com/ always seems to have one that I love. If you have a PC like me, all you do is click the “windows download” icon next to the font you like. That will let you download the zip file to your computer. I usually download it to my desktop, just so it’s easy to find. haha! After that you want to extract the zip file so you can get the folder of the font itself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZdfBOcXt9M Here’s a quick tutorial on how to do that, if you aren’t sure. After you have your folder of your unzipped font, you want to open up your fonts folder that your programs pull from. Do this by going to start>my computer>control panel>Fonts. Now you want to drag that new lovely folder of the font you just unzipped and drop it into your fonts folder that is in the control panel. Your computer will do the rest. You will have to reopen illustrator or photoshop or whatever your program you are using for it to be in there though.

Q.

Thanks for your help! It has pointed me in the right direction!Still toying with some quotes for my thumbnail assignment due Tuesday.And no I don’t mind you posting my question on your website. Go for it! God Bless!

I decided to do an extreme closeup of an apples inside.  I started by creating a rectangle shape and then changing it to have a sharp slope down towards the center of the art board.  I applied both an elliptical and liner opacity to the yellowish flesh of the apple to give it depth.  After this I copied and reflected this to the other side of the art board.  I then added seeds by using the elliptical tool and warp tool.  I added depth to them by using the gradient elliptical tool.  I changed to color slightly for each seed and also changed the size a little.  I then applied a large elliptical shape above this, and applied a red elliptical gradient to the edge as well as the inside.  I used the pucker tool and wrinkle tool to roughen up this edge of where the skin meets the flesh of the apple.  Finally, I used the blob tool with a really low opacity of 5 to add a highlight at the top of the apple.

To see assignment requirements, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Roll of Art Illustrator Pamela Piper to Me (Sheri Gruver)

Note: A good source for information on fever charts is http://ehub.journalism.ku.edu/input/charts-and-graphs/fever-charts/

Resources:

“The Coca Cola Co.” CNBC First in Business World Wide. P.1., 05 Dec 2010.

Web. 5 Dec 2010.

<http://apps.cnbc.com/view.asp?uid=stocks/charts&symbol=KO>.

“PEPSICO INC.” CNBC First in Business World Wide. P.1., 05 Dec 2010.

Web. 5 Dec 2010. <http://apps.cnbc.com/view.asp?uid=stocks/charts&symbol=PEP>.

My Thumbnails

1. This thumbnail features both coca-cola and pepsi cans as the tools of measurement.  The higher volume, the taller the can. The months are listed along the bottom.

2. This thumbnail features the months going downward on the left hand side of the paper.  The placeholders for the volume is represented by the coca-cola or pepsi logo only.  The higher the volume, the more logos.

3. This thumbnail features a section of the pepsi logo on the left and a section of the coca-cola logo on the right.  Along the inside sphere of the logo will be the months of the year, and above each month will be the volume represented by a bar.

4. This thumbnail has the months at the top of the illustration, and falling underneath it will be the volume represented by color coded bars.  At the bottom of the illustration will be the coca-cola can logo and pepsi can logo as well as any specific demographics.

5. This thumbnail features a circle cut into 12 equal parts, each pie piece equals one month (which will be labeled.) On the larger outer area of each pie piece will have 2 bars, each representing coca-cola or pepsi cola volume.  The images of the cans with logo will be at the bottom of the infographic.

Roll of Art Director- Me to Pamela Piper

Hey Pamela! I’m so sorry this is so late.  I was at work until very late (I work in the mall.)  I just found out from the professor I also had to be art director, I wasn’t sure.  Anyway, here’s the direction for you.  Hope you like it.  The premises is that it is an infographic made for a video game designing company that will be releasing their first MMO.  The meeting where the designers begin brainstorming ideas will be introduced with your infographic, so it should be attention getting and fun.  The information is about the top 10 money making MMO’s of 2008.  You can make the infographic in whatever style appeals to you, but please make it colorful and fun.  Looking forward to your drafts!

Assignment 2: Designing an Infographic

This Infographic illustration project consists of two separate illustration projects – both requiring a similar production timeline, and both requiring your collaboration with a classmate. The course facilitator will determine each art director/illustrator team.

For one project, you take the role of art director – working with a classmate who you’ve “hired” as an illustrator for the project.

For the other project, you become the illustrator – working with a classmate who has “hired” you to be the illustrator on the project.

With each project, your input, guidance, and creative skills will contribute toward a professional – quality illustration that will be suitable for your portfolio. As your illustration project is presented for review, you should weigh each comment received to determine the ways in which your project could be strengthened. Move rapidly to produce and post any new versions of your work for review so that you may gain vital input to achieve the highest-quality final illustration.

Possible Infographics

The art director must choose one of the following types of infographics:

• Pie Chart
• Fever Chart
• Map (with legend)
• Bar Chart

Once chosen, research must be done on the subject and parameters must be set up. (See information below.)

How to proceed with the project

Early in the week, Art Director and illustrator teams will begin discussing the infographic illustration project in order to arrive at a list of project parameters that include but are not limited to the following:

• Size
• Content
• Intended audience
• Illustration style
• Use
• Budget
• Production schedule, etc.

Teams will conduct research necessary to fully define the content of the infographic, and to provide visual reference for illustrative elements that appear in the infographic. The information should dictate the format of the infographic. All the discussions will happen through this Discussion Area.

Content

The content can vary greatly from project to project. It may be serious information such as rates of men under forty with testicular cancer, it may be silly information such as the distance one might shoot a spitball through a straw. The content should be suitable for everyone and it must be researched.

By the end of the week:

Each art director will summarize notes regarding size, content, style, complexity of assigned Infographic illustration, intended use, budget, production schedule, and any other details necessary for an observer to understand the scope of the project. Each art director will post this information to the Discussion Area by Monday, December 6, 2010.

Each illustrator will post 5 thumbnail sketches of the proposed infographic to theDiscussion Area by Monday, December 6, 2010. Thumbnails should originate on paper, and will be posted as attachments in the Discussion Area. (Ensure that each file has the correct filename extension so that all files are readable in both Mac and Windows environments.)

All participants will review and comment on the work submitted by at least two of their classmates and respond to comments and questions about your own work.

During this review process, each team should continually discuss the comments received to determine any design alterations that may be needed. The illustrator is encouraged to modify and resubmit rough designs for further review during this time. By the end of this review period, each team should determine final style and format for Infographic. Illustrators should proceed to finalizing illustration, and art directors should begin composing final rationale for illustration. ]]> http://www.sherisart.com/2010/12/digital-illustration-art-director-assignment/feed/ 1 http://www.sherisart.com/2010/11/week-3-apples-digital-illustration/ http://www.sherisart.com/2010/11/week-3-apples-digital-illustration/#comments Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:11:49 +0000 Sheri http://www.sherisart.com/?p=737 Assignment 3: Apple-A-Week Third Exercise

This assignment is the continuation of the Apple-a-Week assignment begun in Week 1 and continuing through Week 5.

Overview of this Series of Exercises

This will be your third of five different Illustrations of an apple, each rendered through use of the tools and effects in Adobe Illustrator. Each illustration should be posted to the appropriate discussion thread of each week. For Week 3 (this week) you should post this apple by Tuesday, November 30, 2010.

Each apple should be saved as a vector graphic (Adobe Illustrator file) and as a PDF. Unless otherwise specified by your facilitator, you only need to post the PDF. The reason to save as an Illustrator file is so that you may make changes if necessary and in case your facilitator requests to see the vector image.

Each image should be accompanied by a brief description of the techniques that you used in order to accomplish this particular illustration.

Remember: If you’re working on a Mac, you’ll need to add the filename extension to your files every time so that others can see your work.

Note: Each apple should be very different from the other apples. Some should be whole, some cut up, some peeled, some long, some fat, etc. A new illustration for each week is required. Do not simply apply effects, filters, blurs, etc to the same apple week after week.

Note: Each week, your apple will be worth 10 points.

Week 3 Apple:

At this point, you should have some mastery of the basic Illustrator tools. You should be experimenting with the pathfinder palette at this point in order to manipulate shapes. You should also be experimenting with transparencies or gradients a little, as well as different views of the apple. Apply some of the techniques described by your peers in previous assignments. This apple is due Tuesday, November 30, 2010.

As your classmates start posting their apples, give them feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Also give them suggestions on how they might improve the image.

This apple will be graded separately from the other four apples.

Color Palette