Visual METAPHORS PROJECT Finish Kurt

So after all the work is done, i,m really happy with the outcome of this project, I think for me the most difficult part of the whole thing was to come up with metaphors that really connected to the images i had planned.
The process went relatively smooth and easy, I made sure that my plan was good from the start and that i stuck to my guns and didn't change my mind mid way through. I did 2 photo shoots thanks to my mate Mat a photographer from the Bulletin Newspaper and my girl Melissa, I was in the gorilla suit, and the rest i illustrated or used Typography.
I did how ever learn a lot about the different techniques to deep etch hair and fur,
and thanks to Rosalind i found that the photoshop plug-in Fluid mask is a very powerful and useful tool for this.
I was happy with the final prints thanks to another good friend Paul at Sign Makers he did a great job for me and printed to a contact type plastic and it was then laminated and stuck to the foam core board (which was a bit thick to cut out) but was no problem in the end, i would have maybe gone back and done a little image correction as i feel the photography has come out a little dark but it,s really a minor thing. The main thing for me with this project was that i had fun!! and i can only hope that in the future i will get the opportunity to do similar things. ((>8)

Gemma: Tiles Project Evaluation

For some time at the beginning of this project I found it hard to come up with an idea that would not only pay attention to the brief but an idea that would also be able to be reflected over all eight tiles.

Because I felt as though I was wasting so much of my time trying to think of an idea, I decided to just pick one of the topics from the brief; this was ‘how to stay abreast of design trends.’

From here most of my inspiration came from research. I looked into books, magazines and Internet sites and then had the idea to represent each 10-year period in graphic design onto each tile.

I completed all tiles in Photoshop as I was using mainly images and shapes in my layers and I found this was the best way to do it. I didn’t come across any major issues through the designs, although one aspect I needed to get my head around was the bleed and crop marks that needed to be set for printing. I found it very useful go and talk to the printers that were going to print the project about what they prefer you to do and set up for them on the document.

I was happy with my end result and the prints that I got from them. If I were to get a similar project printed like this one I think I would have gone for a thicker paper, just to make it stronger and more durable which therefore would probably allow them to withstand more contact and make them last that bit longer. Other than that, I thought they all fit fairly well together as a design composition and do the job in representing each time period in design which is what I intended to do.

LEE: HALLWAY IJ THE FFHALL

So basically, my hallway project was going to be based on the G-team, which was a mild rip-off of the A-team, with the G standing for graphics, and several visual puns based on the different jobs in the graphic design industry.

That was about as far as i got with that idea so i decided to just do whatever came to me without thinking about it much. and ended up with a fairly decent outcome. My final 8 panels are basically a "how to guide" to enjoying a productive relationship with graphic design.

All of my designs are drawn on paper first, scanned in to the computer, live traced and colored in, in illustrator.

the 8 panels are thus:

-Title: Introduces the collection

-Stay positive: stay positive in the industry or it will devour your soul.

-aim high: Basically saying that you should try to be your best.

-Think outside the box: be creative and dot adhere to social norms.

-Use your imagination: don't be afraid to do something really stupid. Accompanied by a picture that i made by just drawing whatever came into my head without thinking about it, and ran with it.

-Be nice to others: If you are not nice to people, you are a douche. and no-one likes a douche now do they?

-try new things: a picture that is completely different in style from the other 7. don't be afraid to branch out.

-Never give up: if you are having difficulty completing a task, try your best to see it through to the end. the picture is supposed to be of a half finished drawing but no-one is yet to understand it without me explaining it to them first).

And that's the gist of my project. If you have any questions please forward them to my secretary.

Jade's reflection on tiles.

My initial idea for my tiles was to have a bird in every tile as well as a girl, but after i drew all 8 girls i was feeling pretty exhausted and over it so it didnt happen... and plus i thought having both a girl and bird in every tile would be too repetitive. Before i began drawing i had the themes and meanings set out for each tile, but when i selected all of the fashion photographs i wanted to draw, matching the images with the meanings was harder than i thought, so i eventually ended up changing the meanings to suit the pictures, this ended up working pretty well anyway. i like the way my illustartions are done in just lead and no colour, but i still wanted to have some colour in my tiles, black and white would be far too dull and plain...... i was either going to add colour to the background, or the type, or put some kind of transparent colourd texture/wash over the whole tile(s) in photoshop. i decided to put colour on the type using water colour. i was pretty happy with how that turned out because it made the type more lively, and seemed to liven up the actual illustrations too. Every tile has differnet colour to give a bit of variation.
The easiest photographs to draw were defnitely the photos taken more close-up. it was just way easier to see the detail and copy the tone, shadows etc. my worst and least favourite tile is definitely “parade” which was probably more of a mid-shot more than a close up, i just wish i had more time to draw her again, but i guess i’m pretty happy with all 8 tiles. i think my illustrations really improved because of this assignment too.

Govinda - Tiles Reflection

Tiles reflection

I really struggled at the beginning of this project trying to come up with an idea. I found the visual metaphor a difficult concept. I ended up settling on the topic of the design process, a journey of design, expressing it through an expedition to a new land. I hand drew the images and then edited them in Photoshop.

Once I had scanned them in, I felt that they where too bland and needed some colour. I was too scared to go over the originals in water colour so I searched in Photoshop for an effect that would give the same look as hand painted. I managed to create a brush that gave a watercolour look, which I was hoping to share with you all but now I have forgotten how I did it! Anyway, I’m happy how it turned out.

I had the tiles printed at Dynamic Digital, a great printing centre and had a good experience there.

Although at the beginning of the project I was struggling, I ended up enjoying myself and learning new skills along the way. I wanted to use a medium that I was not familiar with and experimented with ink pens. I had fun and I’m happy how the tiles have turned out.

Rosalind - My Hallway Tiles

Well what can I say? I took my little woodland creatures on a journey and naturally drew my birdman "stress" first, because thats how I was feeling at the time. I then became a maniac and drew all my animals one after the other over a few days with lots of breaks and wandering out into the garden which is always a welcome distraction.

I had an image in my head of how I wanted the tiles to turn out and pretty much achieved that vision, thank god. This assignment became extremely important to me, one because my work would be on display and two because I created little characters that I want to continue creating and working with. I am happy with the end result, which is a good thing because I am a perfectionist by nature and can sometimes be my own worst enemy.

What did I learn? Luckily I am organised and I followed my little time sheet that we filled out for Clea, otherwise I would not have achieved what I wanted.

Problem = find the key to your solution

Wisdom = see the wise owl

Stress = don't let your feathers fall out

Instinct = be cunning like a fox

Copyright = watch out for the copycat

Unique = stand out from the crowd

Confusion = the mind maze

Unveil = the final curtain 

Tiles Projectings - Tane

The Project In Which I Made Tiles For The Tile Project That I Did

Tane Richardson

first off, I'm actually really happy with how my Flea Circus tiles printed out. Word up:

What I Be Liking:

- The colors came out really well to my exact intentions,

- The lines on the images are vector clean,

- They were cut to the right size,

- It make happy.

What Not I Be Liking:

- The gradients arent entirely smooth, a tad on the blocky side,

- Up close, the header font is a little pixelated, and tastes like dog food,

- The font for the Audience is different because i missed outlining that one, (But its fine because the audience is separate to the circus, all the more effective),

- Its not edible. >swears<

That's about the print job. Now let us delve deeper into the whole flea circus shebang. 

The method I used to come up with this idea was to write all the random words that came into my head, and among pirates, pappadums and gherkin-related concepts, the term flea circus stood out. I liked it. And I rolled with it.

(I dont know if anyones noticed, but circus themes are all i seem to push out these days.)

So then i decided that the panels had to be unified by a certain color palette, and i thought up orange and purple. I think this was a good choice because those colours look good together and give out a nice novelty circus effect. They turned out well on the printouts.

So i mapped out the metaphors between design jobs and circus roles, and i think theyre the best i can do, i like them...

I drew everything with a mouse in Illustrator, and they each took A LOT of effort and time because i was constantly seeing how good i could make them. So each tile you see is when i reached the limit of my patience and Illustrator skills.

Yep, i like it! cant criticise much of it except that i apparently didnt outline the Audience header for print, but hey whaddyagonnadoboutityaknow? fughedaboutit.