Masquerade in Blog

Hi again,

Over the course of the week I have spent a fair bit of time getting some designs created for the iMe in my sketchbook. I have been putting a lot more effort into my sketchbook when sketching ideas for website designs. In particular I’ve been making sure that I annotate everything that I draw and self analyse everything. Another thing I have been doing is trying to explore my design ideas more than I have done in the past. For example on one page I tried a design idea using different shapes, tried it with different colours, and also tried it with different spacing.

After a chat with John this afternoon we discussed how I can improve further upon this. I can achieve this by going back to my notes from last year for the ‘C.A.R.P.’ principles. (C.R.A.P.? No I don’t think it is). The C.A.R.P. principles are of course colour, alignment, repetition, and proximity. I can use these four principles to analyse my sketches in my sketchbook, and thus building up my knowledge of good practise.

Starting from now on each main weekly blog entry will contain information on where I am up to on one of my assignments. There will be a different assignment featured on every main entry, so for example there will be three weeks between talking about the iMe assignment.

On The Job #1

So we are just over a week into this group project now and I was hoping we could have had a final layout design chosen by now. But unfortunately we haven’t as on Monday I think we went off on too much of a tangent trying to design a different theme for each page. It turns out a lot of them ended up looking a bit cheesy. We now have clarified that the client wants a template layout that is consistent throughout all of the pages.

Out client also liked the look of the image galleries which mark had designed, so I had a look around on the net for a solution to this. I instantly thought that using JavaScript would be the solution so I went off hunting for a suitable script. Our team is pleased by the results I achieved as it looks rather nice, and I think our client will also think so.

Another new weekly addition that will be featured on every main blog entry I make is an update on my six month learning plan. So… here it is!

Six Month Learning Plan

This afternoon I have started putting together a detailed plan for my six month learning plan. I have 90 hours to cover, and I must show measurable achievement. The way I am going to go about doing this is firstly purchasing Adobe InDesign CS2: Classroom in a Book. I read about fifteen user reviews of this book and it seems to be perfect for my current Adobe InDesign level, which is a complete novice. A useful exercise I have undertaken on my learning plan is to answer these questions. WHAT am I learning? HOW will I get there? WHERE am I now? And WHERE will I be in the future? The reason I have found this useful is because I can use it as a basis for my plan. In this weekly blog update I can answer the question of WHERE am I now?

Other things I will be using to complete my learning target are the online Adobe Tutorials.

Thanks for reading,
Dave.

Organisation Mania

Hi,

I thought I'd take a leaf out of Mark's book of organisation today as I have just bought myself another folder, 400 plastic wallets, and some separators. It should be a much better way of organising my sketchbook than my trusted 'Ram A Big Pile Of Loose Papers Into The Front Of The Book' method. Rumour has it somebody else also become fed up of the ramming paper method and also bought a folder of some sort on a recent visit to Staples.

"Look at that!"

Goodbye.

Something ‘Blog-Esque’ This Way Comes

Hello again,

Over the course of the last week I have really put effort into getting back onto track with both the iMe and the CiSSy assignments. In particular both of the web plans have come on in leaps and bounds. After today’s session with john studying and discussing the assignment brief again though, I need to go back and make alterations/additions to both of the web plans. But after this week I should be in the position to get on with the creation of my online digital portfolio. As I write this I have a good idea of a design in my head but have not actually had the time to get it down on paper this afternoon. So the first port of call when I get home is to whip out my sketchbook and get it down so I don’t forget about it over the week.

When thinking about the designs for the iMe profile, it was brought to my attention it would be very useful to actually to design a logo first, and then expand that idea or theme throughout the website. As I said in the previous paragraph, I have a few ideas floating around in my head at the moment and it is a case of getting them down in my sketchbook so they don’t float out of my head and into oblivion!

Also this week I have received a new assignment in the form of On The Job, this will be the first time (on this course) I have worked in a team for a client. Things have started off pretty good as Mark seems to be organised, so it should hopefully go smoothly enough.

Lately I have begun putting more effort into my sketchbook usage, I am making sure when I do sketches and such in there that I am annotating them and self critiquing so that I can meet more merit and distinction criteria. I know if I put the time and effort in I can get beyond the passes and start getting merits and distinctions. Stemming from a conversation with Steve I am also exploring my idea’s more by sketching variations on my ideas. For example using different shapes and colours but still using the same initial idea.

Something I’m finding myself constantly doing in shops like HMV and Music Zone when I’m looking at CDs and DVDs is looking at the box artworks a lot more closely than I used to do and deciding what I think of their designs, much to the annoyance of my girlfriend! An example of this is these two recent purchases.


I thought the Arnie DVD cover was quite poor looking and probably took about 5 minutes to make, while I think the Iced Earth CD cover is fantastic and really fits the theme of the CD.

Until my next entry, goodbye.

Six Months of Learning, in Plan Form

Hi,

There’s been a bit of delay in getting this blog update made, mainly for the reason that I was unsure as to what I actually wanted to do regarding the six month learning plan. But after conversations with both Steve and John about pursuing the more graphic design side of this industry after this year I am a lot clearer now. I want to pursue this for a number of reasons:

1. I seem to enjoy the graphic parts of tasks more than the technical parts.
2. I feel if I put the time and effort in it is also one of my strengths as I think I am good at it.
3. If I pursue the graphic design side after building up my knowledge of the web design aspect on this course I’ll be in a good position to combine both aspects and be more tempting to potential clients/employers.

In regards to singling out a skill I want to develop over the next six months I think it is well worth trying to learn how to use Adobe In Design CS2 as it seems to be the industry standard in print design. In case you did not know, Adobe In Design CS2 is like a much more advanced version of PageMaker. If I can learn how to use this program over the next six months I think it would put me in a great position for the future as I’d be able to concentrate more on the designing rather than worrying about the implementation as much. From having a look on the net at this program it really interests me in wanting to learn how to use it.

I think I’d like to go onto do a top-up degree in graphic design, going straight in on the second year. I’d preferably like to do this at a local university instead of travelling away as well. I will have to research which university will be right for me.

Thanks for reading,
Dave

The Splendour of A Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Blog

Hi,

Firstly before I get started with the main part of this blog entry, I want to apologise for my infrequent blog updating as of late. I’ve now realised that I need to make these weekly updates on at least Wednesday so that any thoughts or revelations I have had during the week are still fresh in my mind and I can put them across effectively. Also from now on I’m going to try and make my blog entries a lot more engaging to read, as I feel my past posts were possibly lacking somewhat in that department.

Speaking of revelations, I have gone from thinking “I don’t really understand this CSS” to “Ahhh this is starting to make sense now”. I thought we had a really productive session with John last week and I think I am making some fair sized steps towards being able to actually make a page layout using only CSS. The turning point was when we were asking John about what exactly DIVS are; I feel not knowing that had made me just not understand much up to that point. I understood about selecting the different attributes for things on the style sheet, but I didn’t understand why they affected certain things on the website.

It’s not just CSS that I’ve been productive with this week; I’ve got on well with Steve’s Culture Vulture assignment this week and enjoyed doing it in the process. Firstly for this assignment I have learnt a new skill. I’ve realised that before I get started on an essay, or any written task I find it really beneficial to work on an essay plan in my sketch book. With the essay about 20th century design icons (which I did on the Nintendo Game Boy) I feel this is the first time I have successfully used such a method, and as a result I think my essay was a lot better structured than any I have done in the past.

The main part I have enjoyed about that assignment though was getting to finally work on something graphic for the first time this year after all the academic tasks in the ‘TheBiz’ assignment. I especially enjoyed getting to use PhotoShop again for adapting my design to fit the Adidas Hi-top shoe. I think I enjoy these sort of tasks is because I feel I am skilled at them, I am happy with the way my final shoe design turned out.

One more thing to add, I want a bigger desk at home, there’s just not enough room on this one!


Thanks for reading,
Dave