rants and whatnots about art and my creative process
Arrgh. This stupid flower won’t go away. Design requirements – create 20×20in poster in InDesign featuring the earlier flower made in Illustrator. Other requirements include 250 words of copy, an image, a chart, and a map (that had to be pen traced in Illustrator). Blah…
Woo hoo! My perfume package, along with those by three classmates, has been selected for the Oculus showcase at SFSU. Hard work pays off… so can I get paid already? Designs and designers in order of appearance – Me, Josh (who also shot these photos), Alexis, and Gritchelle (I don’t have a good pic of both the bottle AND the box). Click pics for higher resolution.
Why part 2.2 and not just 3.0? Since I’ve only made minor adjustments since part 2, I didn’t feel that it warranted calling it a new part. Ok, now that the technicalities are out of the way, here’s the update.
First, InDesign is weird. How? If you attempt to make a book fold project, using Facing Pages, the number when halved has to be even. “What”, you ask? For instance, if you’re making a booklet that is 8 pages total (6 pages, and a page each for the cover and back), when halved, you get 4. That’s awesome! InDesign is perfect! However, when you’re making a 10 page booklet, half it, and it’s 5. Seems ok, but there’s no printing option to account for this. Anyways, part of the design process is accommodating this non-option, and I found that I could’ve just done this project in Illustrator. Why? Because I’m laying out 2 pages on a single space that is manually halved with guidelines.
Second, on to the design! I’ve moved the logo and have sold myself of the borders. Yeah, I know some people don’t like it (you know who you are!), but it gives the pages some much need separation. As for the third image, it’s a mock-up for the poster I want to make. However, the image is ripped, and isn’t big, so will likely suffer when sized up. And no, no stock images exist for it. However, I’m in love with the image, so I’ve figured out another way to use it. Stay tuned…
Alright, enough rambling, here we go…
The next stage of this project is menu layout (due on Tuesday). Since my last post, I’ve created a logo and selected an accompanying type. The items I’m showing today are the cover, and two inside samples, one with and one without a border. I think I’m feeling the border one more. As for the flute, I’m not sure how or if I’ll incorporate that, but as for now, it is what it is.
The current project in my Design Process class is to create the look and feel for an up and coming (fictional) restaurant. We have to create tangible items, including a menu (obviously), and are encouraged to create other corollary items, such as matchbooks, business cards, etc. The only restrictions/limitations are deadlines, as we are given full creative control of this project. I suppose that any kind of limitation from here on out is self-imposed (re: do I have the time and resources to execute the crazy ideas in my head?).
After a phone call with my sister, it was concluded that it’d be a great idea to share my design process for this project. I’ve always enjoyed the creative process, arguably more than the final piece. Since I’ve picked many brains over the years, it’s now my time to give back. Click on the thumbs for higher res pics.
If you have any questions or would like some in depth descriptions, please leave a comment or send me an email (designby31216 at gmail dot com).
Earlier this month, my Design Process class had the opportunity to do an installation within the Fine Arts building. After going back and forth (and then more back and forth) with ideas, an idea was created that satisfied the needs and wants of our four (sometimes five) person group. Before I provide the link to the pictures (sorry folks, no hosting them this time!), allow me to provide some background information…
In the conceptual process, we found ourselves going back and forth with ideas including colors, the theme ’sneak peek’, mobiles, and full room installations. Unable to come up with a solution that would satisfy everyone in the group, the back and forth dialog escalated to argument (see April 4th post), and it seemed that the whole project just sort of blew up on us. Ultimately, the argument ignited feelings similar to taking the idea sheet, ripping it to shreds, and tossing it in the air as to convey the message, “I give up”.
While it seemed that we were heading towards failure, the emotions invoked by the conflict began to shape a new idea. Inspired by creativity being a colorful (both literally and figuratively) process and it blowing up in our faces, we decided, why not exploit our obvious conflict as a group?
And without further ado, CLICK HERE to see what we came up with.
But in other news, I’m slooooowwwwwwly learning new things. Here’s a 30min throwaway for 420. Be safe!
Okay, so Gritchelle put me on to what’s known as Layer tennis (once called Photoshop tennis). Anyways, we tried our hand at it today, and… well, see for yourself. I started the volley, then she followed (re: the first image is mine, second hers, and then every other… blah blah blah).
To say the least, it was a sad reminder that I need a LOT of work in both developing my eye for design and Photoshop execution. And on volley #5, what the heck was I thinking by introducing the car?!?
With no ‘real’ job, I’ve had to develop habits to make sure that I stay on track. While the following may come as ‘no-brainers’, they might be helpful to you – maybe directly or to be passed on. So, without any further delay…
Time management. Super important! Though my only true time commitments come in the form of class schedules, without some kind of discipline, I could easily get sidetracked. Here a few key items I practice:
- Waking up. Whether I have early or late classes (or weekends), I try to maintain some sort of consistency.
- Assembling my day into 1 or 2 hour blocks. While I never actually schedule when I’m doing what, I try not to spend more than 2 hours on one project. It allows me to stay fresh and not frustrated.
- Determining block importance. For fun projects, just one hour – especially if they’re non-paying. It’s not to say that I don’t revisit the fun projects again during my day. I just have to make sure that I take care of other (re: paying) business.
Ok. I hate to end this so abruptly, but this blog IS one of my fun projects, so I need to refocus. Here’s another update on the album (I know it’s taking forever, but it’s a non-paying project). Peace.
Ok, as promised, the featured image is of two stencils I sprayed this weekend. Big up to my roommate Paul for the idea. What appears to just be a black canvas actually is something more. Click on the picture to see what I mean.
