Sunday, April 10, 2011

Kittens 1st Photo Session

This weekend I came into possession of 6 four-week old kittens. I've decided to foster them until they are old enough to find forever-homes. However, this means that they will also be tortured subjected to me photographing them over the next few weeks. Many of you know I have a tendency to post pictures of my cats on Facebook (usually after they've been dressed up in some sort of nonsense). Taking pictures of them is fairly easy... but taking pictures of these kittens? Yeah... it's a whole other ball of wax. It requires endless amounts of patience and ingenuity. Ultimately, the kittens are going to do what they want, and hopefully I will be there to catch their cuteness. In the meantime, you can enjoy a few of the 200 shots I took today. There will definitely be more on the way.


If you, or anyone you know, is considering adding a furry new friend to their family, these kittens will be ready to go to homes in about 3-4 weeks. Once they are ready, I will post more information.


And now... allow me to introduce you to my little "Six Pack"...
(and yes, they all have graphic design related names)

Pixel

Pica
Serif
Sans


"K"

Arty
The first batch of photos I took were of "The Twins"... Pica and Pixel. You can tell the two apart because Pixel has more beige colorations and 2 boots. These little girls were initially the most cooperative of the bunch. Pica proved to be very adept at looking directly into the camera lens and had a ball playing with their new beloved sandal. Pixel was a little less cooperative than her passive counterpart, and spent most of her time playing. Eventually, they wore each other out and settled down for a nap.















Later in the day, I got the opportunity to photograph the others. With the exception of Sans, who turned on some serious cuteness, Arty, Serif, and K were not as keen on being in front of the camera today. They had other, more pressing matters on their agenda :)









Friday, March 25, 2011

Spring 1142: The Monogram Exercise

As designers, we all started somewhere. For most of us, that meant getting an education. This semester, I've had the opportunity to teach, not one, but TWO sections of our 1142 Graphic Design Essentials course. This is the foundation course for the Graphics Technology Program. While some students are taking this course with the intentions of completing the program, others are taking it for fun, as an elective, or just to brush up on their skills. Regardless, it is always humbling to one day look back on your early works and to see just how far you've come.

One thing I always stress to my students is the importance of trial and error... of experimenting... of learning what works and what does not. Ultimately, they have to find their own methods and their own process. When we first start learning software, I provide them with brief, in-class exercises that are designed to get them to do just that.

Enter, the monogram exercise...


This exercise was given to the 1142 students when they were fresh to Illustrator. I asked them to "design" the first or first and last letter of their names. They were not given any detailed, step by step instructions... this was purely exploration time. The end results varied, but the ultimate intention was that they begin to get familiar with the software and various tools by their own means.


Feel free to comment, critique, or make suggestions for future exercises :)


Anna Ware

Johnny Barragan

Mike Sirizzotti

Cory Rodis

Damien McLoughlin

Kristie D'Agostino

Elaine Eichner

Kathleen Carroll

Melissa Miller

Melissa Castro

Catherine Alexander

John Blair

Michael Barton

Brent Hazelton-Glenn

Rosie Suarez

Alice Moulton

Amanda Kost

Tyler Rolling

Johnny Ocasio

John Mulgrav

Terry Richards

Saturday, March 19, 2011

GRA2201 - Assignment 3 & Project 2

The objective for Assignment 3 was primarily to work with the new CS5 Mixer Brush Tool. Students were to create a digital painting from a nature related photo using only this tool. Unlike previous assignments, there was less focus on the technical aspects and more on effort, creativity, and attention to detail. The goals of this assignment were:
  • Understand the way the Mixer Brush tool works
  • Working with the Mixer Brush tool settings
  • Applying realistic painting techniques
  • Attention to detail
  • Working with stock photos
 This assignment coincided with Project 2, which as a self portrait digital painting. Below are a few examples of Assignment 3 and Project 2.

ASSIGNMENT 3 - MIXER BRUSH


Christopher Reichert

Dianna Lugo

Dorothy Timmer

Ricky Lester

PROJECT 2 - DIGITAL PAINTING

Christopher Reichert

John Coffey

Dianna Lugo

Christian Perez

Ricky Lester