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!