To Infinity!

So I’m almost through the first semester at CCA; there’s just a few weeks left, and we’ve begun work on our final projects in most classes. This is what my schedule this term looks like:

Mon/Wed

• 12-3pm: Intro to Graphic Design

Tue/Thu

• 9:30-11am: English 1
• 1:45-3:15pm: Intro to the Arts
• 4-7pm: Drawing 1

Fri

• 10am-4pm: 4D Visual Dynamics

All in all, I’m pretty happy with all my classes, despite 4D being a bit of a bore, and Intro to the Arts being pretty challenging. History classes has never been my forte. My favorite class by far is Intro to GD, which makes sense considering it’s what I’m here to do. The intro class is pretty basic though, and I’m excited to be done with the core year so I get started with actual GD classes.

Our first graphic design project was to create a monogram using six predefined typefaces, without changing the letterforms. The second was to style a word using typography, while still limited to the six typefaces and black/white. Next we were allowed to use both shapes and color, but no images, to design an album cover for a song. For our most recent project, we had to design a book cover, and this time around we could use images as well.

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0 comments Tags: cca, design, personal

So you’re designing something fancy – a webpage, a poster, a brochure – and suddenly you realize that “shit, I need a texture” or “hmm, I could really use a good body text font here.” Normally, this is when you’d go to http://google.com and scour the web for what you’re looking for, whether it be stock images or tutorials. A friend of me compiled a huge zip file with tons of useful resources for design. It includes textures, manuals, tips, photos, fonts and vectors, and I know it’s definitely something I’ll be saving for later. So I’m just, y’know, passing it on. Helping you narrow down the never-ending search for good material. http://designinterface.net/resources/

Post-script: Yes, I really do kick ass at this updating-blog-frequently thing. Lets do a 5 minute catch up: I got a new job. I aced my exams. I have summer vacation and am leaving for Greece on Wednesday. Seeya in mid-July!

2 comments Tags: design, personal, resources, tips

2 comments Tags: design, portfolio, school

Lately, I’ve become increasingly interested in designing for no particular purpose – you know, art for art’s sake. The last year and a half, I don’t think I’ve ever actually made anything that wasn’t a) a school project, b) a work project, c) something else that had some kind of use, whether being a portfolio for myself or posters promoting our student’s revue.

I’m thinking I should probably do something about that – if I want any hope of coming into my universities of choice, my portfolio should probably contain some creative pieces, right? The only issue here though, is getting the inspiration and ideas! However, that’s what I have this fancy little list for – 5 quick tips for finding design inspiration. ;)

• Listen to your favorite music, and try to visualize the song.
• Take a scene or quote from a movie, and describe it with graphics.
• Ask a good friend for good ideas.
• Think of a clear message you’d like to broadcast – how can you illustrate it?
• And last, but not least – find inspiration in other people’s work.

Since this was all going on during Math, #3 really was the easiest option. Asking a friend returned the prompt “the Americanized global society” – which quickly resulted in ideas for several concepts. End result? It’s over here, at DeviantArt. I’m really pleased with it, to be honest.

10 comments Tags: design, personal, portfolio