Moving On...

The first project is complete. I worked on the concept of the poster but unfortunately became quite ill for about a week. With my health on a downward slope I had a bit of creativity block. I still wanted to deliver something to Nathan so I familiarized myself with Illustrator. I found a great font online called "Fashion Victim", which gave the poster a very mod feel to it. I also used an image - the famous one of Gene Kelley balanced on the light post - which I edited on Photoshop, added a sponge effect, and gave the poster a light blue background.

When I presented the poster to Nathan he gave me some very constructive criticism as well as some praise for the work I had done. He and I discussed the hesitation of using a very well known image on a poster that was going to be distributed around town. The Gene Kelley image - although sponged and not the exact image - was not the best choice to use because of possible copyright issues. Nathan found a great image on istock.com of a single bright yellow umbrella placed amongst a group of black umbrellas. Nathan did like the font idea I had. He said it was a direction he had not thought of but really enjoyed. Because "Fashion Victim" only really affected capital letters, Nathan found an almost exact font called "Juanita", which gave the mod-effect to all the letters used.

So now we had a great modern looking image paired with modern looking text. The poster looked great. A post card and a program cover was also made using variations on the information, but still using the same image. Now that poster one is done, I have to start thinking about the next show. Nathan told me it would be a good idea to start collecting possible pictures.

I am also going to be tackling the first goal on my list of DIS milestones, which is making my brand. I have to work on transferring images which I have manipulated on Photoshop, and transferring them to Illustrator so I can use them for print. I want to be able to make a letterhead and a business card. It's always good to have something that I can add onto several objects like cards, cups, t-shirts, etc.

CHECK OUT THE POSTERS AND POSTCARD:

First on my list is....

SINGING IN THE RAIN! That great musical made famous by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds is the first poster I get to work on. So far I've come up with a concept for the whole season. it will focus on a specific filter on Photoshop named "sponge" which adds a great brush-like effect to a picture. I've already started playing around with some ideas including umbrellas, raincoats, and this very awesome picture of Gene Kelly on a light post with his umbrella.

I'm meeting with Nathan today to discuss whether or not my concept will work and also to obtain some more information about the musicals, their printing capabilities, and other concepts. I'm excited.

Lesson Number One

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of getting through my first mentoring session with Nathan Archer. I was very excited to sit down with a professional graphic designer and discuss the possibilities that come with graphics. The first piece of advice was that I needed to start learning Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator is a powerful tool that graphic designers use for things like print and is also one of the best pieces of software to use concerning typography. Nathan and I discussed topics such as bleeding, personalization of typography, and the importance of DPI (dots per inch) vs PPI (pixels per inch) when it comes to print. He also explained the importance of a transfer from RGB (red,green,blue) to CMYK (cyan,magenta,yellow,and black) because RGB is used to make color with light, while CMYK is used to make color with ink.

After a crash course with Illustrator Nathan gave me some great news. Every year Lorem Ipsum designs the posters for the Quincy Music Theatre musical season. This year I will be helping with the design and layout of the posters for the musicals! By next week I'm to have a concept that will work as a motif for the season. I hope that I can deliver a great product and that my concept turns out to be attractive.

Check out the current season from Quincy Music Theatre HERE.

A Journey Into Graphic Design

Here it is, my last semester at FSU. I've learned plenty so far and I hope that by the end I'll be prepared to enter the "real world". This semester I'm going to be expanding my knowledge in an aspect of IT that I have great interest in - Graphic Design. At the beginning of the semester I had to the pleasure of taking up a DIS (Directed Independent Study). Under the direction of my professor Melissa Raulston I'm undertaking this DIS with mentoring from Nathan Archer. Nathan Archer is co-owner of Lorem Ipsum, a design studio located here in Tallahassee.

So far there are a few goals I want to accomplish by the time the semester is done. Several of the goals are important in building my brand and getting that brand out into in the world. It wouldn't hurt if that brand looked really cool either. Well, here it is, one last semester, one last hoorah!

Click HERE to see the paperwork concerning the DIS.