Digital exercise.

For the last few days I have been practicing the new digital skills with the on-line tutorials that I found. 

I always choose the video tutorial over the text ones because I find it easier to learn watching step by step the progress of a lesson on screen.

A great lesson considering the wand tool and the quick selection tool was the adobe tv tutorial:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-photoshop-cc/the-magic-wand-and-quick-selection-tools/

The next exercise that is worth mentioning, that helped me to practice creating a new brushes in PS is this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiLJekxtApU

I was practicing creating the clipping masks with this tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoKyP_vFsRI

Whereas the selection tools and creating brushes in PS was really easy for me, understanding and using a clipping mask posed some problems. That`s why I know I should give this area of digital design a bit more attention.  

Absolute Vodka. Digital excercise.

The next of the digital exercises that we were presented with at the college was the creation of a absolute vodka poster. This exercise was a chance to introduce selection tools and clipping mask. It was a way to learn how to create new  brushes in the PS .

This exercise gave me the opportunity to explore the new options in the PS.

It highlighted some new ways of using the PS as a tool to create an interesting design.

Next week goal:

To understand more about the new skills I`m going to find some extra on line exercises to practice and understand more about the options. By the time the new exercise is launched I will be able to use clipping mask, selections tool (quick selection tool and magic wand) as well as create a brush in PS.

Image Styling

To expand on my knowledge of the adjustments in PS I went to the internet in a search for on-line tutorials. Among many that I came across one attracted my attention thanks to its in depth explanation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJQnIdCeYeM

This tutorial describes each of the options of adjustment in a very simple way, and gave me a chance to practice the new skills that I acquired.  

The opportunities that gives the adjustment layer are vast. Thanks to the few options that are presented in the adjustment layer panes we are able to change the feel of an image and fine tune photographs. In my opinion this panel is great to photo corrections.

A good practice of this skills would

The opportunities that gives the adjustment layer are vast. Thanks to the few options that are presented in the adjustment layer panes we are able to change the feel of an image and fine tune photographs. In my opinion this panel is great to photo corrections.

A good practice of this skills would

Digital Sessions

The first semester of 2013 in the college started with a launch of a Digital Sessions module. The set of digital exercises presented in this module concerns different problems in the various areas of digital design.  The exercises aim to improve our skills and eventually fasten our workload and add to our creativity.

Good digital skills are among basic requirements that always come up in the graphic designer job descriptions.  The good command of the skills will certainly improve our chances for employment in the future.

Image styling.

The photoshop image styling was the first of the exercises that we had. This exercise gave me the opportunity to have a closer look to the range of possibilities that the PS gives to manipulate an image.  

I discovered that there is a way to apply changes to a photo without changing the original copy.

The adjustment layer allows this. The manipulation of an image in a non destructive way is very simple with the adjustment layer, that not only  keep the original image untouched, but also gives a chance to edit the changes and apply new ones whenever we want.

Next week goal:

To practise the new skills and discover more about the photo styling I`m going to search for on-line sources to expand my knowledge.

Koichi Fujii

Looking for some inspiration and motivation for the next year in the college I came across works of many interesting illustrators. Koichi Fujii is one of them.
He is a London based freelance illustrator who specializes in portraits. His style is easy to recognize and it is characterized by bold mixture of vibrant colors. In his illustrations blocks of bright colors run through each other creating new shades. They often create a transparent layer which covers a whole illustration. He often introduces typography to his design. Hand-drawn letters comprise an integral  part of the illustration`s composition. In his design  Koichi Fujii uses simple geometric shapes-circles, squares, triangles.

I decided to paste this illustration, because I think it reflects the
quintessence of the artist`s style.
The color scheme used in this picture was probably influenced by 70`s. Bright yellow creates subtle contrast with muted shades of orange and blue. In this picture we can see simple geometric shapes which dominated the whole composition.The composition is dynamic created by unequal proportioned elements.
The artist introduced typography and photography to this design.
I like Fujii`s illustrations because of their composition in which random elements create a perfect harmony.

Street art reflections

Yesterday I saw the BBC news footege of Russian street artist Pavel 183 and this made me think of my attitude towards street art.
Pavel 183 creates street art in and around Moskow, and recently he`s been hailed an Russian Banksy. Like his British counterpart Pavel 183 doesn`t reveal his face or any details about his life. Browsing through the internet I found some examples of his work, some of them really intriguing.
I`m not a big fan of nor an expert on graffiti but I like the idea behind street art very much.
What fascinates me about it is the way street artists incorporate infrastructure into their art and how they  engege everyday people in it.
They are able to make their art be a part of urban landscape and everyday life. They are able to blantly transmitt the message of their art.
Street artist are often underestimated and their art trivialized, but I think street art can be a great source of inspiration for every graphic designer.

my favourite example of Pavel 183 art work

glasses on the snow- a lens frame is completed with a light pole 

Stefan Sagmeister- "The things I have learned in my life so far".

A few weeks ago I  read Stefan Sagmeister`s book "The things I have learned in my life so far", which was one of the positions found on my college`s reading list. I got familiar with Stefan Sagmeister`s work last year when I was preparing a research about typography.
This book is a publication of the author`s graphic 20 design projects, which were based on a list of aphoristic thoughts.
The maxims used for this projects were philosophical reflections about life and design. They were compiled in Sagmeister`s diary during his "experimental year" in 2000 when he took a year off from working on commercial projects. When he reopened his office, given an incredible amount of freedom by some of his clients, he managed to transform these aphorisms into typographic works .

The Sagmeister`s pieces of work produced from the maxims vary in forms and the artistic mediums. Sagmeister is a prolific designer who uses unconventional materials. The words created for his installations are made of textiles, pieces of furniture, plants (eg. cactus), sausages or drawn on flowers.

His works were exhibited all over the world often in places which normally are dedicated to advertisement.

 

V&A Museum`s future plan. New gallery.

A few years ago I had a chance to visit London`s V&A Museum which is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design. This visit made a positive impression on me that`s why when I learned about the museum`s future plans for development I decided to do a brief research to find out more about the plans.

The museum is planning to build a subterranean gallery beneath a new entrance courtyard at the V&A museum.  The permission to execute this enterprise has been given to AL_A architects. 

Searching through the Internet I came across computer simulations of the prospective gallery. 

This is an inside of the 30 meters long exhibition room located below the courtyard. The folds of

the ceiling will corresponded with the patterns in the paving. Glazed inserts in the ceiling will let the
natural light in. Thanks to this the room will be full of natural light. The whole construction of the ceiling
seems to be very light and delicate. It reminds me of the origami parer craft. It creates an interesting
play of lights and shadows inside the building.

While descending to the gallery visitors will be experiencing lessening of natural light until they reach the

bottom where a pool of light will appear. On the way to the underground room visitors will have a chance
to watch the facade of the Museum through the glass. The glass surface allows to interplay between the old
and the new.

The construction of the walls seems to be very light. It looks like folded sheets of paper. This impression is

strengthen by delicate, flowing lines and geometrical shapes which dominate in this structure.

The choice of natural materials such as wood and glass harmonies with the brightness of the interior.

Pale, earthly colors create subtle contrast. All elements of this structure contributes to the peaceful
and calm mood which predominates inside the gallery.

How to become a self-made graphic designer

I`m about to start my last year in the college, that`s why I decided to read some inspirational and motivating text about the graphic design.
Today I read an on-line article on http://wegraphics.net/  wrote by a self-educated graphic designer, who managed to enter the graphic designer world after just 3 year of self-study.  Despite being a full time economy student he decided to pursuit new, completely different career. In his article he shares his experience and gives advice on how to become a self-made graphic designer. He describes step by step his way through self-education.
This article is full of useful information about educational materials available on-line for free as well as inspirational sources.
The author cites many websites with easily understandable and very helpful tutorials.
I find this article very inspirational and motivating. It made me realize how powerful hard-work, patience and self-discipline are.


http://wegraphics.net/blog/articles/how-to-become-a-self-made-graphic-designer-getting-started/