There are so many cool programs and projects that we could do in the time we have remaining before the end of the year, but we just don’t have time to spend time on them all! With the time remaining, you will have the opportunity to focus your energy in an area that interests you most.

You will be responsible for keeping track of how you spend your time and reporting back to me to explain what you’ve worked on, what you’ve learned, and what you’ve created.

You will have to fill out a LEARNING LOG explaining how you used your time each day. You need to submit a filled in learning log for marks before the end of the semester. DOWNLOAD IT HERE

These are just some of the tutorials/applications/ideas that I recommend. You should investigate whatever area of design/creativity interests you most! Make sure you DISCUSS YOUR OPTIONS & CHOICES WITH MR. ROBSON!

Adobe Animate (animation)
https://helpx.adobe.com/animate/tutorials.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVQzNpX_L5g&list=PLYeXZOOCIwCuzJTgzS1ODTe-T8FrmPty9

3D Modelling
I highly recommend starting out with Tinkercad. You will need to create an account: https://www.tinkercad.com/learn

You will also need to join our class.
PERIOD 2: https://www.tinkercad.com/joinclass/T4VMFQLKY
PERIOD 3: https://www.tinkercad.com/joinclass/VFBBT93K6

Photoshop
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/tutorials.html

Video Editing (Premiere Pro)
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/tutorials.html

Web Building (WordPress)
https://wordpress.com/learn/

Illustrator
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/tutorials.html

InDesign
https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/tutorials.html

 

For excellent, in-depth training on a wide variety of applications & subjects, I highly recommend checking out LinkedIn Learning through the Winnipeg Public Library. In order to access these tutorials, you will need a Winnipeg Public Library membership number. If you don’t yet have a Winnipeg Public Library Card, go HERE: Library Membership sign up

You’ll need that card number again, so copy and paste it into a Word document or an email to yourself or whatever! Don’t lose it!

Once you do have a card, sign in HERE: LinkedIn Learning

For this project, you’ll take 9 of the photos that you’ve taken and show me some of the places and people that you’ve photographed over the past few days. You’ll take those photos and fill in the letters that spell Westwood.

Start off by creating a new blank file. I’m making mine the size of a standard piece of paper,  8.5 x 11 inches, but I’m putting it in Landscape orientation, so my measurements will be 11 wide and 8.5 tall. If you want to make yours 11 x 17 or 8 x 10, that would be fine.

Don’t forget to immediately save your work with the proper name in your OneDrive folder:

This is actually pretty simple. First, find a typeface that’s pretty big and blocky. You need a nice, thick, bold letter. Start off by making the letter W in the top left corner:

PUT EACH LETTER ON ITS OWN LAYER!

You can copy layers (Ctrl + J) or alt + click/drag to copy out the letters until you have something like this:

Again, make sure that each letter is on its own layer!!!

Start by selecting whichever layer/letter you want to start with. Select the letter/layer.

Go into the File menu and choose Place Embedded…

Find your first photo and put it on top of the letter. Rename the layer.

You can move or resize the photo so that the most interesting part is right over top of the letter or move/resize later!

Right click on the letter and choose Create Clipping Mask

‘

Or… use the Layer menu and choose Create Clipping Mask’

You’ll notice that there’s a little downward arrow next to the layer icon:

And the photo now takes the shape of whatever is below!

You can move or resize the photo layer to get the most interesting part right inside of the letter:

Keep doing that until you fill all of the letters

Your layers panel will be staggered, with each photo “clipped” on top of a letter

Place another photo in the background and adjust that

You’ll notice that the really colourful letters don’t contrast with the colourful background, so use those Layer styles/effects. Select a letter layer and click the little fx button on the bottom of the Layers panel

Play around and find the right layer style for you. A Stroke makes a lot of sense to me:

Putting a fairly thick, dark stroke around a letter makes the shape stand out. Make sure the Preview box is turned on and move the panel so you can see what you’re doing. Play with the settings until you get a look that you like:

Once you find a Style/Effect you like, you’ll notice a little fx on the layers panel

If you want that same look on other layers, you can hold the Alt key and drag it onto another layer!

Have fun and be creative with this one!

Once you’re done your Westwood letters, feel free to take more photos or find photos on Unsplash to create different Photo Letters/words!

 

 

 

Here are a few basic tips to get you started taking “good” photos.

• Choose an INTERESTING subject – something that has unusual features, interesting patterns, is really beautiful or unusual, etc. Taking a picture of the wall or the floor will probably be boring.
• That subject should probably be the biggest, brightest, or most prominent thing. If you’re taking a picture of a cool car and I can see other cars, unless the cool car really stands out, you need to get closer and crop out some of the distractions.
• MOVE. Choose an interesting angle. Get close enough or far enough away.
• LIGHT. Photography is all about light. Without proper light, you won’t have a good photo. Make sure you choose or create suitable light for your image.
• FOCUS
  • FOCUS
    • FOCUS
      • FOCUS
        • FOCUS
          • FOCUS! Nothing ruins a good shot more than being out of focus, and while we can fix a lot of other things after the photo is taken, there’s not really much you can do if the photo is out of focus in the first place. Many a good shot has been ruined when it was taken slightly out of focus. Trust me. Check your focus!

If you can’t see the fancy form below, click HERE

If the form doesn’t show below, you can submit files by clicking HERE

Now that you know a thing or two about different types of contrast (not just colour, but size, shape, style, typefaces, etc) (review if you have forgotten) and you know how to put together a logo (review if you missed it), it’s time for you to put together your own logo that uses Contrast effectively.

You will design a logo for Westwood Graphic Tech. (you could choose a different topic if you wish.) Your logo will contain at least TWO types of contrast. You’ll have to explain your use of contrast after you’re done.

A lot of logos are pretty simple, but a lot contain a bunch of different elements. As we’ve discussed previously, the more that’s included in the logo, the more contrast you’re likely to find.

I’d recommend using more than one line of text. Westwood could be one. Graphic Tech could be another. You could even add a little slogan/motto/phrase to describe Graphic Tech. It also helps to include multiple shapes or images. You could design elements yourself and/or include icons from The Noun Project or a similar source.

Here’s an example:

The bright yellowish colour contrasts nicely with the dark maroon.
The dark outlines contrast with the bright coloured text
The silver/grey circle contrasts with the maroon circle
The two lines of text contrast in size AND typeface/style
The round background image contrasts with the straight, sharp lines of the GT icon

Use Illustrator to come up with your logo. Take the time to come up with a good idea/concept before you start! Ask for help/feedback/suggestions as you go.

Make sure you draw all elements or PLACE in vector files (like the .svg files you can download from The Noun Project.) DO NOT place .jpg or .png files unless you know how to Image Trace them properly!

Be creative and come up with something fun! Who knows, if you come up with something good, you may see it on stickers, mouse pads, mugs, or t-shirts around the school!

As a review and practice for creating your own logo, I’d like you to complete THIS TUTORIAL to complete the Side Slice Pizza logo. You will go over some tools that you should know already, and learn a few new ones along the way.

You will use THESE FILES to create your logo. Download them BEFORE you begin! FILES

TUTORIAL

 

Yesterday we looked at some logos and tried to decide whether they were effective or not effective. In doing so, we didn’t use a lot of theory, just your personal preference.

This time, let’s focus on one of the most important principles of good design, Contrast.

What is contrast?

More about contrast:

There are many different types of contrast that a design might incorporate:

• colours (not just black/white)
• size
• shape
• scale
• layout
• type
• alignment
• and more!

So let’s look at some logos and focus on how the designers used Contrast.

Here’s a good one:

Obviously, we have a dark colour (the dark blue) and white, which helps everything stand out. It’s easy to read, even if you make it very small. There’s also that red text that contrasts with the blue, in order to make that bit of information stand out and show that it’s different.

Look at the different typefaces/styles of text. The maine HUMBOLDT text is a serif font. It looks really old and classy, but the CREAMERY line is sans-serif, it looks a little cleaner and more modern. Then we have the handwritten script style at the very bottom.

Look at the sizes of the text. We have three distinct sizes, but two of them are pretty similar, so only two really contrast, the big text and the smaller text. This shows us what’s more important and what’s less important.

We also have some interesting contrasting shapes. There are very straight, pointy edges sticking out the side, and a big, soft circular shape in the middle. The text is straight(ish) but it’s got a bit of a curve to it, and it’s surrounded by that soft circular shape.

The example below does not really work as well:

• Everything is bright.
• Everything is the same size.
• Everything has that rounded rectangle look.
• Nothing stands out. There are no levels of importance, so it just looks like one big block.

 

Once again, examine 3 different logos. Find 1 that is effective, one that’s not, and another one of your choice. Again you can use something you’re familiar with, something in the room, or something from brandsoftheworld.com to choose your item to critique.

This time, I want you to focus on the concept of Contrast. Find logos that do a good job of using contrasting colours, sizes, lines, etc, and ones that don’t.

Again, please write in good SENTENCES (note the “s” on the end! More than one!) Again, please explain yourself well (what’s effective about the logo’s contrast? What isn’t?)

 

We all recognize prominent logos because we see them all the time, and they’re one of the main jobs of a graphic designer, but we don’t often understand the purpose and the work that goes into designing one.

Your job is to contribute to the discussion today and help us to understand the job of the designer and the purpose of the logo.

On your own or with a partner, pick 3 logos. They can be famous logos that you know well or they could be ones that you choose from a logo design site like brandsoftheworld

Put together a PowerPoint or document that contains the following:

3 logos

For each logo, consider:

• What do you see/observe about the logo?
• What do you like or dislike about it?
• What type of information does it contain/convey about the product/service/business?
• What is the purpose of the logo?
• How does the design make you feel?
• What does the design make you think of?
• What type of person do you think the logo would most appeal to (age, sex/gender, education/status, etc.)
• Why do you think the designer chose the colour(s)?
• Why do you think the designer chose the font/typeface/style?

You’ll share your thoughts with the class, either by letting us view your slideshow/document or by explaining to the class.