Wrap Up Post
So of course, the last item to complete for the class – the wrap up post, I totally forget about. In a span of 6 weeks which was a blur, it’s amazing to reflect on all that was learned. I created a logo, a resume, a business card and a letterhead; all that I plan on actually utilizing. I created a web site, in which I was proud of to show my web designer friends, who were impressed. The class opened my eyes and mind to all designs and typography that surround me. The class was all in all a great class; I enjoyed learning all the different programs, and enjoyed creating my own designs. I look forward to possibly enrolling in future graphic classes come either the fall or spring.
Thanks for all your help and a great class Jeff & Katie!!
Comments: 384
Wrap-Up Post
Considering that this course was only six weeks long, it ended up being much more beneficial to me than I could’ve expected. Like many of my classmates, I didn’t know much about InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator coming into this. I’m leaving with confidence in my ability to not only come up with good design ideas, but also in my ability to create those ideas on a computer and build on them using all of the tools that are available. The process of starting from scratch and creating something entirely from my own ideas kept me interested in the projects for reasons that went beyond getting a good grade. Obviously there is a lot more to learn, but this course gave me the basic skills that I needed to keep moving forward.
Comments: 617
Forgot to do this
Design Strategy:
The FEAR project is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization based out of Seattle that produces multimedia (video, stills, exhibitions, speaker engagements, and custom media) that addresses sexual violence. For a media organization theirwebsite is horrible, with few visuals buried in too much informational text, lost in an interface that is difficult to navigate and discouraging to digest.
I redesigned the site and distilled the content into 4 main categories, “Media,” “Services,” “Approach,” and “News.” I used a 12-column grid broken down into a 4-column spread that repeats itself through all secondary pages. The main navigation was designed using a theme based on tabs. This rounded-corner characteristic repeats itself throughout the site in multiple forms.
The project’s logo needed some tweaking as the original version had four blue smooth-edged encapsulating boxes around the four letters. I edited their logo to tear up the edges of the boxes to better relate to the typeface they were using.
One major change to the site was the heavy addition of social media. As publication increasingly pushes toward the web, these tools become essential to the survival of a small non-profit by creating a dominant web presence.
Three elements are available in the footer on every main or secondary page. The donate button is a constant, which makes it easy (just one click) to donate to the organization, which is essential to achieve their fundraising goals. The social media badges as well as the twitter feed are prominently displayed at all times to increase our readership, allow our web presence to grow through community chatter, and emphasize our integration into online communities.
Typefaces:
I used only the one web-safe sans sefrif typeface throughout the site: Arial. I experimented with serif typefaces, however they did not convey that same simple, slick, modern feel that a media site should have.
Style Sheet:
Main Navigation: Arial Bold, 16pt/18 pt; no kerning; crisp
Category headers: Arial Bold, 18 pt/20; no kerning; sharp
Category content text: Arial Regular, 14 pt/12; no kerning; sharp
Media Library content text: Arial Regular, 12 pt/14; no kerning; sharp
Services category content text: Arial Regular, 12 pt/13, no kerning; sharp
Approach content text: Arial Regular, 12 pt/14, no kerning; sharp; 14 pt indent; 4 pt add space after paragraph
News content text: Arial Regular, 12 pt/14, no kerning; sharp; 14 pt indent; 4 pt add space after paragraph
News Entry Headings: Arial Italic, 10 pt/10; no kerning; crisp
News month headers: Arial Bold, 12 pt/14 pt; no kerning; crisp
Tweet: Arial Bold, 12 pt/12 pt; no kerning; none
Visuals:
As a multimedia production company, I wanted to get as much imaging in the site without over-saturating the interface by creating sufficient white space to allow the viewer to breath. However, I did make sure the video viewer was large enough to view within the frame without actually going into full screen—which in my opinion video quality is dramatically reduced. I was lucky to redesign a site with already-existing visual imagery (I was also fortunate enough to receive numerous files from the organization for this project)
Comments: 369
wrap up post
I did not expect to have a class for designing when I was informed that I got enrolled in Newhouse, as I did not expect I would learn so much in this class.
This is not only about what I can write on my resume in the future, that “basic skills of Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop,” but the change of visual abilities. I started to notice things I usually looked at but did not see before; I know that a small change in the designing elements can bring about varied emotional reaction and intellectual acceptance. It is not only about visual but what behind the visual; it is about how we think.
Sometimes I feel the design is what I did not need to be a journalism student. I am supposed to be writing, not designing. But I soon realized designing is writing, just in a different way. And most importantly,newspaper designing has become a very important part of journalism, of story telling, and of the interactivity between the audience and the journalist.
In a more practical sense, this class has given me the basic knowledge and skill of some software that would not make me a professional in designing but at least a more competitive applicant for a job, with the resume of my own design and my personal logo.
I really enjoyed the summer and the designing class.
Tags:wrap
Comments: 692
Mitchell Wrap Up Post
I enjoyed being in this graphics course. I never worked with Photoshop or InDesign before. At first, I was unsure how the class would go. My favorite project was the Interface project. Watching the creativity of my fellow classmates was amazing. I loved the way that everyone transformed badly designed websites into professional colorful online hubs. My second favorite project was the resume project. I was able to take all of my experience and fuse in into a well-structured appealing document.
Also find this class very helpful as a PR major. It helped me to analyze the power behind imagery and typeface. I will honestly never look at signs or advertisements the same again after this course. This course really embedded in students the importance of molding, using, and understanding visuals. My TA and professor were very knowledgeable and helpful. Paul and Mary really made sure that we were on the right track, and I’m not just saying that to suck up. It’s true.
Well, though I learned a lot and had fun. I’m glad that boot camp is over. Thanks to everyone for a great 6 weeks and have a good school year!!!
Comments: 611
Wrap up post!
Let’s face it, all of us are extremely relieved that summer boot camp is finally over. Vacation has never been more deserved than right now. However, last six weeks have taught me a great deal; maybe even more than I ever cared to know! Graphics class was great! Although, It is definitely not my cup of tea, I glad that I was able to learn Indesign, Illustrator, and PhotoShop. My creative boundaries were certainly pushed and the creativity never seemed to seize flowing. I am very glad that this class was a required.
Comments: 367
Interface Desing
Tatyana Nosenko
Rationale
Project #5: Interface Design
August 13th, 2010
Design Strategy:
I commenced by picking up a website that was pretty hard to navigate and the information seemed out of place. I picked www.citizensforglobalsolutions.org because it was atrocious. The information seemed to be unorganized without cool graphics. The original website was disheveled and it made me not want to learn about the cause. I wanted to create something that felt global and the images are meant to capture attention of readers. My strategy was to pick colors that pleasant and not too bright. The strategy with each page was to place a nice image and a little bit of text. I was inspired by the “W Hotel” website and the United Nation website. They both have everything organized with proper hierarchies and that was also the thought behind my design. The font is nice and clean. The navigation bar and footer are sans serif. They body copy is serif. It broke up the text visually and helps the eye to flow from one thing to another. Also, I when someone entered the site, I wanted them to be clear about the causes and things that the organization stands for. It is meant to make navigation and selection easy.
Style Sheet:
Navigation Bar (All): Helvetica Regular, 22pt
Footer (All): Helvetica Regular, 15pt
Home Page Column Header: Verdana Regular, 18pt
Home Page Body Copy: Georgia Bold, 14pt
About Us Column Header: Helvetica Regular, 22pt
About Us Body Copy: Georgia Regular, 15pt
Press Column Header: Helvetica Regular, 22pt
Press Body Copy: Georgia Bold, 16pt; Georgia Regular, 14pt
Membership Column Header: Helvetica Regular, 22pt
Membership Body Copy: Georgia Regular, 14pt
Blog Column Header: Helvetica Regular, 22pt
Blog Body Copy: Georgia Bold, 15pt; Georgia Regular 14 pt
Comments: 1,062
Wrap up
The past 6 weeks went by very fast. I am surprised that we learned so much in such a short amount of time and completed so many projects. I had never really used Illustrator that much before, but I defintely feel more confident with using the program. Before this class, I had never thought about how typefaces or colors were selected to convery certain messages in the design, but now I am definitely more concious of what different elements of design are trying to say. I hope to use the skills I learned in this class in my career. Thanks for a great 6 weeks!
Comments: 365
Wrap Up
What I learned in this class came full circle this morning. I was driving down to New Jersey and was looking at my directions. After reading it over I few times I thought about how they picked the type and how they designed the information sheet. Directions were bolded and the typeface was a sans serif (probably Helvetica). I can say that I appreciate what I’ve learned because when I look at type, I look at more than just what it means.
Comments: 892
