Final Project

02.Jun.09 Assignments, Images, Portfolio Comments (0)

7 in 30 Minutes

Rather than wasting time finding what I wanted to design around I did the mapping first in InDesign.  It took about 10 minutes.  I let it sit and didn’t touch it for the next few days; so that I’d still have 20 minutes left.  The image was made out of the 7 in 30 challenge to teach how to use brushes in Adobe Illustrator. (It’s a fish)

During this process I learned it’s better to map first.  Doing this saves time.  (Especially when you’ve no image or story to fit)    This is the area I did well in.  I was able to utilize time and skills this way.  The area in improvement is not using so many programs.  This was made through a combination of MS Paint, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.  Full knowing that I could have done the project entirely in Photoshop, imaged mapped and than exported.

 

In the future, I’d like to find the story and the images first.  In less than five minutes would be preferred.  I’m sure there’s a better way to search than just Google and news sights.

 

What can be applied in the future is the speed I created the design.

17.Mar.09 Assignments, Portfolio Comments (0)

30 MinDesign: 002

This is the second 846 by 846 px design challenge.  It isolated a portion of the text, adding emphasis.  Your eye is directed horizontally.  As you read across. The images draw you down, from image two, text box, and to the logo.  The layout would be specified to a one page story.  Or the ending to a multiple fold out. 

I like that I was able to do this in less than thirty minutes.  I was able to think of a topic and plan.  Although I didn’t know which images to use, the red and black is a simple combination and fits with the images.  It’s a pleasing composition.

The thing I dislike most is the drop cap.  It adds more interest to the title.  However, it really wasn’t needed and may have been better suited to the story text.  I also would have dashed the line along the bottom.

04.Mar.09 Portfolio Comments (0)

30 MinDesign: 001

For the 30 minutes challenge I did a quick 846 px. by 846 px. layout. Using basic effects, the line fades downward to lead your eyes to the content. An image fades towards the right to than draw attention to the next page.

For the time limitation, more could have been done. 30 minutes is a long time. I didn’t plan or think of what images to use. This was what took most of the time. When I do the next challenges, I’ll take time and plan before I start.

I won’t use the general layout again. Without a background texture, it plain and uninteresting. I also won’t be using a white background. I’ll find an application layer that would match textured wallpaper. (Similar to those used on websites.) Also, I like the idea of the fading image to direct attention.

23.Feb.09 Assignments, Portfolio Comments (0)

The Future: PoaC

 1. I’ve come to understand the difficulty with keeping the audience interested, while being able to balance cost.  Most of the news audience is no longer willing to pay.  With the internet you can find anything free.  And most don’t care about the quality.

2. The main problem is having something that drives people to was to buy in the first place.  People are no longer interested in print.  Its timely and creates clutter.

With a smaller audience, advertisers are not reaching as many people as they need.   Online, people are not buying and ads are limited to how many times they’re generated. Digital ads also cost less and are able to spread out further.

3. In the near future, newspapers are going to struggle with advertising and switching mediums.  Press media is no longer convient.  Papers will need to be able to convert their news stores so that they can be published digitally.  They will need to know how to format and code website and cast properly so that it is more accessible to a large audience with different browsers and technology.

They’re also going to need to change they advertise.  What once worked in press is failing.  They will need to relearn how to advertise in a new world.

4. Our project, over all, was based upon Apple’s trend with technology.  By creating a large, personalized network, the information can be accessed anywhere.  While still keeping the privacy of the individual.  Physically, we based the design on a roll out key board.  (Ignore the fact it looks like a yoga mat)

5.  Mike’s group hit the nail on the head.  Fully customized to local and national.  They even thought of a way to account for mood.  Although, you normally hear people say:  The news is depressing.  Many would likely delete that option.

6. Paper isn’t in the furture. (Unless the Y2k scare pops up again) Everything will be digital data and reporters and editors will need to be careful.  Once a mistake is known, it can’t be fixed and it won’t be forgiven.

18.Feb.09 Assignments, Portfolio Comment (1)

Portfolio Piece and Reflection

 1. After findthing four small images, I remanipulated them to be large and to fit across the wideth of the page.  I than added in text.

 2.  While making this layout, I learned about re-distrubting the text along the layout to be more pleasing.  (IE.  Layouts that have titles respaced throughout the space.) 

 3.  The images were done well.  I readjusted and edited the images to be coherent.  I need to improve on picking better fonts to fit the images.

 4.  If I were to do this again, I’d choose a better layout.  This spread would be split into two independent pages.  There would be no over lapping images.  I also should have realigned the capital letters to fit in line with the normal text.  It’d more resemble a NaatGeo layout rather than Time Mag.

5.  Text placement and better font choices can be applied to future layouts.  Along with image widths and alignments.

03.Feb.09 Assignments, Portfolio Comments (2)