GD III for Tuesday, October 2

Before proceeding read the following in your "Typographic Design" textbook: 
pp. 55-60
pp. 64-70
pp. 91-116

It will greatly help you think through some of the issues involved in solving your accordian book design assignment.

Due at the beginning of class:
A wholly developed accordian fold book dummy [black and white--no color yet!] created by drawing, pasting, cutting out, etc. Your design can go around corners, so try to establish a "flow" from panel to panel. Also, use a good variation in scale (small, medium, large) for both images and text. Don't repeat the same things too often or they will become predictable and therefore, less interesting.

We will have a group critique.

GD III for Thursday, Sept. 27

Bring to class:

• B & W photocopies/print outs of all the photographic images you have located during your research into your "everyday object." These can be things you have discovered from the places Gwen told you about, or photocopies out of books.
• printouts of the text/information you have located in your research
• printouts of your symbol alone
• printouts of your patterns
• photocopies of the best of your hand-drawn type solutions

Supplies:
metal ruler
triangle
pencils
kneaded eraser
11" x 14" tracing paper
white artist tape
cutting mat
scissors
glue stick
clear scotch tape
exacto knife + blades

I will bring some white, heavy card stock for you to make a full-size dummy during class. Have all your stuff!

GD III for Tuesday, Sept. 25

We will be doing some more experimental type work during class so bring all your stuff again. (Sorry we didn't get to that on Thursday, but I think having you guys at the critique was good...)

We will also plunge into the project that you have been making all these things for....

You have:
• a good quantity of research into information and useable images related to your " everyday object"
• a b & w symbol of an image of your object
• a series of patterns developed from your symbol
• hand-created or hand-altered type of the name of your object and some of its qualities

Will all of the above, you will be tasked with designing an accordian-fold book. We will discuss in class.

GD III for Thursday, Sept. 20

Due at the beginning of class:
1.) minimum of 20 hand-created type explorations of words related to your object

2.) minimum of 5 hand-rendered drawings on tracing paper in pencil or black sharpie based on the type experiments in #1 above. Some of these drawings might be inspired by the computer print-outs we did in the lab yesterday. We will cover more about hand-altering type in the next couple of classes....

These are minimum requirements. More is ALWAYS better. And yes, I will be counting.

Just like with computer type:
NO outlined type
NO vertically stacked type
NO stair-stepping

I am looking to see that you have explored a number of different techniques, materials and substrates (i.e.: what it is ON--a variety of papers.) Try a number of different ways of interpreting your words. 

HINT: This should not be a random process. The materials, techniques and substrates you use should contribute to and complement the meaning of the word. For example: the word "fuzzy" should have some random texture to it [unless you were going for irony, in which case you would make it look like chrome.]

DUE NEXT TUESDAY: Thank-you note for Will Hill. You're a designer, design it yourself. Must be a fold-over card in an envelope. In the interest of informing yourself, I suggest you look Will Hill up and find out more about him. It is important to use good etiquette in all professional contacts, and thank-you notes are very well received.

GD III for Tuesday, Sept. 18

Due at the beginning of class:

Minimum of 10 explorations of patterning in black and white using your own symbol. These should be printed out on 8.5" x 11" paper. Make the patterns approximately 7" x 7" each. And yes, I will be counting.

Explore patterns that:
• are mathematically regular, like the ones we did with your handout in class yesterday (these have their place, but can also be a little boring)
• develop more organically. This means making two or more of your symbols fit together like puzzle pieces and then replicate them by Grouping before copy/pasting. 
• explore variations in scale

Also, print out a large version of your symbol (around 7" x 7") all by itself on a single piece of paper so we can check for "lumpies."

Be prepared to tack all this up on a board so we can review and discuss as a group.

You were all great yesterday bringing in your supplies for a hand-drawn type workshop. We will be doing that on Tuesday after we critique, so be sure you still have your supplies around...

Inspiration from yesterday: 

Marian Bantjes
www.bantjes.com

GD III for Tuesday, Sept. 11

OMG, please forgive the delay in this posting. I did it in my mind, but just realized, not in reality....I hate when that happens!

Due at the beginning of class on Tuesday:

COMPLETED Illustrator rendering of your object. Be sure you have gotten rid of the "lumpies." The best results are gotten with the LEAST number of anchor points.

Ongoing: continue research into information and images on your everyday object.

As I mentioned to you, our ultimate goal is for you to design an accordion-fold book about your object. What we are doing now is methodically developing visual elements that you will draw from in developing that design.

Elements:
• high contrast symbol of object
• patterns using symbols
• hand-rendered/experimental type
• research into information on the history of 5-7 "stages" of the development of your everyday object
• gathering of TONS of good quality, useable images that fit into the above 5-7 stages categories (remember Gwen came to class to talk about researching images? and that there was a handout? and that it is also posted on this blog?)

During class on Tuesday, we will work on developing a number of different patterns with your symbols. This will become "wallpaper" to use in various instances in your book.

BTW: this project came about with the idea of incorporating a number of different suggestions you gave me on the second day of class about things you wanted to cover in projects this semester.....

GD III class for Thursday, Sept. 6

Bring in perfectly evolved, beautiful symbol drawings for your object. This means for each one of you except Jose that there must be significant progress between Tuesday and Thursday in how well resolved it is. Exaggerate and interpret your object after you have nailed how it "reads" in b & w.

ALWAYS bring tracing paper, pencils, kneaded eraser, exacto knife, white artist tape to class. You will be needing lots of tracing paper this semester, so stock up.

GD III for Tuesday, September 4

OMG, the skateboard exhibit at MODA is A- *#$&% -mazing. If you weren't able to make it yesterday, the exhibit has been extended until October 27. If you don't go see it, you be crazy.

Visit:
http://www.industrialdesignhistory.com/timelineproducts

For some background info about Olivetti typewriters:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/8AOyZKanQku08pZbybvgMg

This is an iconic instruction manual designed for Olivetti Typewriters. VERY cool design.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/edcornish/3762746713/in/set-72157621866152316/lightbox/


Due at the beginning of class on Tuesday:
exploratory high-contrast drawings for your object 
see previous post

GD III Example of development of object drawing

This high-contrast rendering of a push pin is an example of where you should be going with developing a b & w symbol of your object. The pattern below was developed from a single simplified rendering of a push pin. The goal is to utilize positive and negative space simplified to its most basic form. Notice how your eye completes the object, allowing the "white" to function as both a reflection, but also gives volume to the object. [use of gestalt techniques]

This shows pattern applied to an interior storefront. (We're not doing this yet, but just to show you how it might be used...)

GD III for Thursday, August 30

Reminder: We are going on a field trip Thursday to the Museum of Design Atlanta. Register online beforehand:
http://www.museumofdesign.org/drink-in-design/

I will meet you all there at 6:00. The Museum of Design Atlanta is on Peachtree St. across from the High Museum. The Museum recommends that you park at  LAZ Parking at 1337 Peachtree Street. It would be wise if you can get together with your classmates and carpool. If you can't make it right on the dot, just get there as soon as you can. The event lasts from 6-8:00pm.

For Tuesday, Sept.4:
Make several different drawings of your object using tracing paper, pencil, sharpies/black marker. These type of drawings tend to work best if they EVOLVE with each new version. I expect to see at least 10 drawings.

It is OK to open the image in Photoshop, change it to grayscale and try Image>Adjustments>posterize. That MAY help you separate out the light and dark areas, but will most likely not solve all the visual problems that will occur. It is up to you to interpret the object and design a symbol that reads easily.

ALL GD classes: image resources

Visual Resources Center

Humanities 328

Contact: Gwen Davidson, Coordinator

678-839-5298, vrlib@westga.edu

http://www.westga.edu/~artdept/pages/Visual%20Resource%20Library/vrl.html

Services for Art Students:

• Reference assistance locating images
• Scanning for course assignments and presentations
• DVD collection for viewing within the Center
• Photoshop tutoring for image editing

Resources for Finding High Resolution Images

CreativeCommons Search:  http://search.creativecommons.org
Searches images available for commercial or educational use on the following sites; select images are large in size

·       Flickr (select “view all sizes”)

·       Fotopedia (select “download images”)

·       Wikimedia Commons

Academic Databases

Note: GALILEO databases are available through Ingram Library (Ingram Library > GALILEO & Databases > Arts and Humanities > Art); must use the GALILEO password when accessing off campus

CAMEO: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zocm
Available through GALILEO; collection of high quality art images from major museums;
pros: thorough catalog records with reliable information; cons: images scaled to 300 dpi or higher are not always large in dimensions

ARTstor: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=art3-wgc1
Available through GALILEO; largest collection of art images, at over 1 million; pros: excellent search engine that allows advanced searching by time period, medium, and culture, provides high quality images from museums; cons: not all images are high quality (some are scanned from old slides), images are small when scaled to 300 dpi

American Memory Photo Search: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?format=Photograph

Library of Congress site; searches historical images primarily from across the Library of Congress collections; pros: a breadth of public domain photographs beginning in the nineteenth century, select images are available to download as high resolution TIFs, thorough catalog records with reliable information; cons: site is sometimes difficult to navigate to find high resolution images, some images are either not available at a high resolution or not from high quality photographs

Museum Websites:

Victoria & Albert Museum: http://www.vam.ac.uk

Very high resolution images available for educational use; must sign up for service (20 images per order)

British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx

Very high resolution images available for educational use; must sign up for service (100 images per month)

Yale Center for British Art: http://britishart.yale.edu/collections/search

Offers high resolution TIFs from the collection for immediate free download

The Walters Art Museum:  http://art.thewalters.org

Stock Photography Sites:

Stock Free Images:  http://www.stockfreeimages.com

StockVault:  http://www.stockvault.net

Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon:  http://capl.washjeff.edu
Images for language teachers; pros: contains a breadth of everyday objects across cultures; cons: images are not always good quality

Books

Visual Resources Center Collection
Limited selection of older art books

Ingram Library Collection: https://gil.westga.edu

GIL Express Service: https://giluc.usg.edu/  

Borrow books from libraries in the Georgia State System; search the GIL Universal Catalog from Ingram Library’s website; once you find a book you want, select GIL Express Request from the top menu and sign in with your library account information

Interlibrary Loan: http://libguides.westga.edu/interlibraryloan
lending service for books that are not available through Ingram Library or GIL Express; borrow books from libraries around the country

GD III, IV, V, VI: FREE advertising workshop

This looks like a GREAT opportunity for those of you who are interested in advertising and advertising campaigns!

Register here: http://www.oneclub.org/atlantabootcamp

This is FREE, but does require the time commitment of an entire weekend. Not only will you learn great things, get to work within a team and experience what it is like working for an advertising agency, it is a great networking opportunity. I suggest if you are interested that you sign up right away!

Text of the email that was sent to me:

Hi Joey,

My name is Tiffany Edwards and I am the Director of Education & Diversity at The One Club, located in New York. We are a non-profit organization who’s mission is to support the next generation of advertising and design creatives, and this November, we will be in Atlanta hosting a FREE four-day Creative Boot Camp at Morehouse College to introduce students from all educational backgrounds to the creative side of advertising.

The goal of the Creative Boot Camp is to recruit creative students who were not aware of advertising and design as a viable career option and introduce them to the art of concepting and building a campaign for a real client.  Since it's inception in New York two years ago, we have successfully completed seven boot camp sessions with over 600 students from over 40 colleges across four states, and the results have been amazing. We have watched these students go from knowing little to nothing about the field to using the information and tools they gathered at the boot camp to move on to top advertising training programs, land coveted internship spots at large advertising agencies and even get full time jobs. We are hosting this workshop for the third time in Atlanta, and I would be thrilled to see some of your students there.

I know that you have bright motivated creative students and recent graduates, and understand the challenges you face in helping them find viable internship and job opportunities. If any of them have an interest in advertising, copywriting, art direction, design or creativity in general, I would like to know about them and they will want to know about this event.

Below are some of the key benefits for students that choose to participate in this FREE workshop.

The One Club Creative Boot Camp:

•    Provides students with the opportunity to experience what it's like to work at an agency as a copywriter and art director by creating an advertising campaign based on a creative brief provided by a sponsoring agency.

•    Creates opportunities for networking with top local advertising professionals, who participate throughout the 4-day process as mentors and guides. 

•    There is no minimum GPA requirement to participate in this program. All students really need is creative ideas.

•    Participants walk away with a solid advertising campaign to add to their portfolios.

•    Provides free breakfast and lunch to all participants during the course of the workshop.

•    Serves as a 4-day "crash course" internship by providing hands-on experience.

•    Gives students the chance to compete for a guaranteed internship position at the sponsoring agency.

To see the great atmosphere of some of our past sessions, check out the videos below:

Overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onOd4Px71Ew

The Students Speak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brAuVWh3GAs

Student Confessionals: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=699624290340

If you think any of your students would be interested in participating in this opportunity, students can sign up here. Please spread the word to them as well as your fellow faculty members, and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Take Care,