Bread & Water

Finals: Typography II

2010-12-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

The goal of the project was to create promotional pieces for upcoming events for an organization. I, getting excited for the winter season (which has been great so far), chose to do Timberline Lodge. We were expected to make a calendar (which could be easily mailed), a poster, a movable typographical installation and another of our choice. Some of the events used in the making of this project are fictitious while others are real. Please make a visit to the Timberline lodge website to make sure.

Check it out...here

Finals: Communication Design II

2010-12-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

Well, finals are over with and its time to get all those things we have ignored back to the top of the list. I've had a couple days to relax and now its time to get all those Christmas presents done with before heading back to Boston.
While I have you here, this is what was keeping me up all hours of the night and into the morning for a week and a half straight. This little book I have created is a basic, trim down the bullshit guide to biking in the SE. Taken from the point of view of a commuter, it breaks down my typical rides, the weather, times, distances and baggage through a daily bike log where I kept a two week journal of these habits. I also have included an inner bike map, and a guide to some really cool hotspots in the area. Also included is a survival guide that will help beginning bike commuters with their transitions to daily biking in Portland. To go along with the Bike Guide is a Daily Bike Log I created to hand out to interested parties, so they can record their own habits.
Check it out...Here.

Draplin kills it again!!

2010-06-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

Before the sleepness hits me in the face with its pillow soft punches, just saw that Aaron Draplin is done with the design and layout of the 2010/11 Union Binding catalog. Designer extraordinaire, he has done it again with a beautiful treatment. Clean lines, beautiful photography, strong (or maybe I should say "stronger") type, brilliant colors, and amazing consistency. Thanks for keeping simple and captivating. Check out this link to see the whole catalog page by page, maybe pick up a pair of bindings...they are indeed the jam!

Portfolio Review: PASS

2010-06-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

My Sophomore portfolio is complete and I passed the review panel. Here is a glimpse at what I have been slaving away at the past few months. Hope you enjoy.

UP THERE

2010-04-23T01:10:00.000-07:00

Up late at night again surfing the web and sifting through the bounty of amazing content. Found this little gem on the always fantastic UPPERCASE website. Beautifully shot video about the dying art of building advertisements all hand painted. Check it out, you won't regret it!
http://www.uptherefilm.com/film.aspx

WPA Poster

2010-04-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Designed a simple WPA poster for my digital Illustration class. check out my process and description of the project here.

Tahoe Trip

2010-03-30T00:24:00.000-07:00

Quickly before I fall asleep. Here is a link to some photos I took recently from Portland-Tahoe and back.

Around Portland

2010-02-28T17:17:00.000-08:00

I recently decided to take on a project for school that involves me running around Portland, snapping photos of different spots. Here are a few of the results....Flickr.

Paul Octavious

2010-02-26T23:54:00.000-08:00

Holy mind melting, eye-popping amazingness!!!

I feel that every time I turn on my computer and I just want to check my email, I end up staring away my life at all the goodness there is out there. Well, it happened again this time I happened to wander onto Paul Octavious's beautifully simplistic and captivating site. Titled Projects, this Chicago based photographer and designers website is full of incredibly detailed and grand, even epic images. Planned and executed in fine form he creates stimulating scenes that are funny, impending, adventurous, and downright flabbergasting It is clear he is full of good design choices, has a talent for color and what seems like an obsessive personality...all very good things.

KINK

2010-02-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Joey and I have been somewhat hard at work trying to get an idea off the ground. Combining my increasing eye for design and computer proficiency and his snowboarding prowess and creative ideas, we have formed a small start up company called Kink. We are specializing in making Facemasks for skiing and snowboarding made out of a few different high tech fabrics. Some lycra and micro-fleeces fabrics. I have recently been getting a little more proficient at screen printing and have applied our logo to a few t-shirts. Pretty soon we will be applying them to the masks themselves and putting them up for sale. Stay tuned. In the meantime you can check us out on facebook and show your support, ask us questions and give us some of your ideas as to what you might want to see on a t-shirt/mask.

Inspiration-Anthony Georgis

2010-02-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Inspiration comes in many forms...cliche I know, but photography has always been at the forefront of things that excite me and get the creative juices flowing. Here is a great photographer I found out about through my teacher Kate Bingaman-Burt. His name is Anthony Georgis and you might recognize his style and some of his shots from the Levi's ad campaign Go Fourth. His shots are amazing and are a great depiction of America and the people that make this country great.

Your welcome.

Public Service Announcements

2010-02-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

This is my latest project for Art225. I had to make an ad campaign for a fictitious company called Washington apples. I chose to make public service announcements. For information or to read the small body copy check out my set on Flickr.

Skate

2010-02-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

My friends Jeremy Huttner and his friend Brandon skating back in the day when the jeans were looser and headbands were the it Shit!

Word To Mother

2010-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Really Cool video that shows the creative process of UK based artist Word To Mother. I have been following this cat for the past year or so and love his style and his illustrations. He uses various materials including spray paint, acrylic, metal, wood, etc. Check this video out to gain a better perspective. Cool ambient music to go along with it.

Closet Connections

2010-02-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Yeah I color organize my t-shirts, what of it? My theory is that all designers are obsessive compulsive by nature. We have to be to be able to keep such weird hours, to spend hours working on a tiny type correction or getting the colors in your piece just right. Most people would hang up their laundry in any random order. Not me, I spend many many minutes every time I hang up my clothing...organizing it. Its better than therapy!
What weird things do you do when no ones looking?

Back again with a brand new edition

2010-01-31T23:54:00.000-08:00

So I haven't been doing that well at keeping this thing updated. I'm going to start trying harder...starting tomorrow, Ha. Right now I just wanted to let all yin's (as they say in Pittsburgh) know about this amazing photographer MatthewAlbanese. I stumbled across his work on the Public school blog and it kind of blew me away and I had to share it with you. He recreates miniature landscapes using all kinds of non-conventional model building substances (check out his site. Under each photo it explains what the model was built using) and then photographs them. Until tomorrow I bid you goodnight.

Book Covers

2009-12-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

My final project in Typography was to make a series of three book covers from a category. I picked "crazies." This included the book One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Wide Sea Sargasso and Notes From The Underground. The books were supposed to feel like they connected and felt like a series. Check the rest of the photographs as well as a better explanation of the concept on my flickr.

CD Assignment

2009-11-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a little post-computer production work, getting my cd case a haircut, trying to make it look good. For this project we had to design a cd case for a single song by a band of our choosing. The limits were that we couldn't use imagery and had to stick to a strictly type exclusive design. The case was also suppose to reflect the song we chose. I chose to represent the Canadian rock band Broken Social Scene and their song 'KC Accidental.' The song starts raucous and chaotic as the 9 band members light up the night with explosive thundering guitar riffs and lightning drum beats. This all eventually cools down into melodic crooning. I had hoped to express this chaotic moment through the use of crumbling type on the cover and then the cool down on the back where everything comes to a rest.
It was a fun project and now know how to make simple cd cases. Next its finding time to screen print.
If anyone has projects or work they might want me for let me know. I'll finally have a moment to myself in December.

Typography Rules!

Poster Project

2009-11-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the "Show & Tell" designer lecture series that I worked on for my Typography class. Fun!

Stamp Project/ Top 5

2009-11-19T09:01:00.000-08:00

So its Been a while since my last blog post (despite my best efforts to do this thing weekly), I have no time for anything else besides work and school. So with nothing new to report here are a few projects I have been working on this term.

1. Stamp Project: I was given the task of creating stamps that commemorated 5 American Artists. I know Neil Young is Canadian, but close enough, he's lived in California for most of his life.

Top 5 Things I'm into right now:

1. Ezra Furman & the Harpoons

2. Next Adventure

3. Nick Felton

4.Frank Chimero

5. Charles Bukowski

Till next time: Enjoy your day

I'm Back

2009-10-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I swear I'm gonna start making this a weekly thing. School has started and were racing right out of the gates. Lots of amazing things to see and do and hear. Some of which I will post up here for your viewing pleasure (If anyone even bothers with this blog). I started taking a Typography class and I am finding it so interesting and creative. One week in and were already creating our own modular typefaces. I call it New Crave, Its a play on New Wave because it reminds me of something I would associate with club culture or something "hip" like that (ha). The other class I'm taking is Communication Studio I, also lots of typography and layout design.

I recently procured a job at Next Adventure in Portland...great outdoor store that prides itself on great new and used gear at really affordable prices...not joking, some things are a complete steal here. The staff is great, its very relaxed and allows me to work full-time and go to school. Safe to say I won't be doing anything else this year but learning and working. So here it goes, these are somethings I'm into hard right now.

Joanna Newsome...clam, crab, cockle, cowrie

The guys over at Public school, put up some of the most visually compelling, make you want to be a better artist work.

This is a really cool photo zine that I want to get my hands on called "Tell Mum Everything Is OK."

The food carts in Portland are amazing and cheap and I have been trying to pick them off one by one. my favorite is the New Taste of India...there all so good though!

Command Save is a blog dedicated to the Graphic Design department at PSU and has tons of great work and imagery to peruse while your bored at work.

And finally, I've been re-listening and re-listening to the Beatles Magic Mystery tour Album, and cannot get enough of the tripped out melodies...especially Blue Jay Way

I'll be putting some of my work up here from classes soon. Expect more.

2009-08-16T13:43:00.001-07:00

It's the middle of August already...jeez. The weather in Portland has changed from hotter than hell with no rain to beautiful temps in the upper 70's with scattered rain storms. Its beginning to feel like fall and that means its time to get back to reality.

I really haven't been designing much or drawing at all this summer, oops. School is going to be a little more challenging for the first few weeks, while attempting to get my skills back up to par.

I have however been taking a ton of photos for work...that really makes me happy. My job with the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps has got me traveling all over Oregon taking pictures of all their different crews. The work that these young men and women are doing is inspiring. They commit themselves to their community by working 40 hour weeks doing trail building, forestry work, invasive species removal, waterway improvements, painting, construction. A lot of these kids are at risk youth and don't have the same resources that we take for granted. Weather they are low income, from broken families, or have been in trouble with the law, they are so so glad to have a job and be able to give back and contribute to their families and communities. One kid I talked to is helping his mother who suffers from a brain disorder by caring for his 7 year old sister and by giving part of his weekly income towards the families expenses. It makes me feel completely selfish.

So this job has been taking up most of my time and I haven't had much time to do anything else except for the occasional (and by occasional I mean quite often) beer on the weekends.

But the bills are being paid and I have a job that I get excited about and challenges me, So while it lasts, I'm very happy and hope that my skills as a photographer may be able to supplement me as a graphic designer...that is who I want to be when I grow up.

Check out my Flickr account It will be updated monthly with new photographs...which are for sale. Buy one and help get me started.

Photos will be matted 5"X7" and shipped to your address

$15/2 for $25

Well Wishes Card

2009-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a postcard and poem that I just got finished designing for a couple of friends of mine that recently lost their first child...very painful. Her name was Juniper and I thought it only appropriate to make a serene picture of a Juniper tree...her namesake.

Tutorial-Clone Pattern Tool

2009-06-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is a fun tool that allows you to place preset patterns into your images using the clone tool. I love this tool and think it has some hilarious applications. Check it out on youtube.com Here I placed an appropriate pattern behind this photo I found on awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Tutorial- Making Bloody Wounds

2009-06-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

I saw this and just had to take a look. It was pretty fun and used the burn tool as well as the fx button below the layers palette. Pretty fun if your looking to create some gore. Check it out at youtube.com

Tutorial- Art history Brush

2009-06-09T14:56:00.001-07:00

This is a rad tool! I highly suggest checking it out on youtube.com The art History brush allows you to add an effect to a photo and then go back to a previos state in the history pallet to clean up around the effect. In this photo I was able to distort his hands and face. After reconsidering I just wanted to distort his fingers and chin. With the art history brush you can clean up the effect around the area you have distorted to return it to its previous state.

Tutorial- using the liquify effect

2009-06-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Ok so only 4 more tut's to go and I'm done for the summer! In these next 4 tut's I'm going to try and get a little more knowlegable about the tools/effects I don't know very well. The first is the liquify effect. . In this picture I used a liquify effect to distort F. Scott Fitzgeralds nose and make him look like Steve Martin in the movie Roxanne. Pretty cool tut at youtube.com

Photoshop Tutorials

2009-06-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

Just watched a youtube tutorial on how to mask. It was pretty awful. The narrator was hard to understand and did not do a great job conveying her ideas and tips on masks through her video. It was really quick and really confusing. If you don't believe me you can check it out for yourself here.

Tutorial- making radiant Eyes

2009-06-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

This tut was fun and showed you how to brighten eyes in photos. this dealt with using the sponge, burn and dodge tools, which are pretty fun and I want to use them more! Helps if the photo isn't pixelated thought. Might have to do another, but here is one of my images. she looks like an Alien i know. Check out this tut on youtube.com

Tutorial-Basics of Layer Masks

2009-06-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

So I have been stumped too many times on how to manipulate layer masks, and I ain't no dumby. So it was high time I really began to explore this Photoshop application/technique.

I watched a tutorial on using the pen tool to create layer masks, but it seemed like that took way too long and was not worth the effort. So I went to youtube and found a quick and painless tut on the basics. This was a great tut, because the narrator used common language and explained things really well. I like the way he created layer masks using the brush tool to basically erase (without the severity of actually erasing) around whatever it is you want to mask and walla! Then you can also change the opacity and the levels and other cool things to to make a dramatic image. I created the ghost of Bob Dylan sing on my Feild Notes . This was done using the mask technique I just talked about and changing the opacity accordingly.

Tutorial - The 16 Bit Advantage

2009-06-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

There is an option under the mode menu that allows you to chane the bit count from 8 bit-32bit/channel (2x8th power...etc). Although this doesn't seem like a big deal, you can see the difference when you zoom in on a picture, you get less posterization. 32 bit is a little overkill and 8 is the minimum, therefore go with 16.

Tutorials-Duotones

2009-06-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

So once again I knew how to make something a duotine, but I didn't really know what that ment...I couldn't clearly tell you anything more than its a composite of two colors. This helps make sense of that and just goes a little more indepth as to those concepts. Nothing new here!

More LAB Color exploration

2009-06-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

My computer is having a hard time reading the Lynda files, so instead of using one of their pictures, I chose to fool around with the LAB color mode with my own picture. I wish there was more light in the picture, then I could have done a cool inverted trick by bringing up the lightness levels. Oh well it was fun anyways.

Tutorial-LAB color set

2009-06-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

This is really cool, I'm finding out what all these different color settings in the Mode menu mean and can do. LAB is pretty cool and stands for Lightness, A is the tint and B is the temperature (a bad acroynym I know). But man this is cool and I wish I had used a color photo for my treatment. when you turn off and on A or B, they create some great color effects, just showing yellows and blues or reds and greens...I recommend this lesson to everyone. I think its on Lynda.com...yes it is and you can watch it free! This also talked about how to up the saturation levels in LAB mode by changing the levels menu under the adjustment tab. It seemed to create much more scultural and contrasted color tones than in RGB mode...very good to know.

Tutorial- RGB

2009-06-01T21:20:00.001-07:00

Huh, I always thought that CMYK was a better representation of all the colors you could get in a color setting, but I think I'm wrong if I understood what Dyke was talking about. In this one, we looked at the channels for a CMYK setting of a photograph and he tried to explain some of their differences, but it sounded like a foreign language at times, mainly because of his examples and his computer savy way of thinking. I'm watching these on CD, and that's why i don't have screen caps, I will try and ge soe on here tomorrow in class.

Tutorial -Gray Scale

2009-06-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, well I already know how to get a colored image to grayscale...not that hard. However, I didn't know what was happening in the image itself ( with the RGB color channels). Pretty cool, and I feel like I have a better understanding of why the print shop a while back needed a copy of my design for a t-shirt in gray scale. :{

Tutorial- Channels In Color

2009-06-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

This was very basic concept that Dyke spent way to long on, and that's how the channels interact with each other to get a full color picture. He stressed that even thought the channels were in grey scale, the computer saw them as color. He then proved his point my going to the interact menu under file and changing the thumbnails to RGB. If you already understand the concepts of RGB and CMYK, no need to watch this one.

Tutorial- working with Channels

2009-06-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

So I have skipped a lot of little things in Photoshop, mainly information pertaining to Channels and Masks. These as explained by Dyke will take you deeper into Photoshop and really allow you to manipulate photos to your creative desires. I'm excited! So I want to start with the basics and in this introduction to Channels, he explains what they are (RGB) and how they work together to form a color picture. Check it at: Lynda.com

Tutorial in Real Life

2009-06-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

So I unfortunately have gotten a little behind on the tutorials side of art120 class. (oops) But, school work and warm weather is the culprit of this. The end of the term and trying to get a summer job has been uber stressful, and although I think I strive under pressure, I'm always relieved when things get back to a more subdued rhythm. Anyways to try and get back on top, I'm going to rattle off a bunch of tutorials tonight, starting with my real life tutorial.

Printing!...and crafting our books was probably the most valuable lesson in do's and do nots I've had all term, so I thought I would blog about that for a second.

So as many of you know (I know I'm probably talking to myself...since no one reads these posts) In my art120 (introduction to graphic design) class we are making books for our final project. It was our responsibility to pick an image that we liked and manipulate them 30 different ways through the medium of Photoshop, at least 13 of which had to be handmade...check out my flickr for the results. After we had our images all ready we began to think of creative ways to bind them and make them look real pretty like. I chose (with the creative wisdom of my teacher Kate Bingaman-Burt) to have all 30 photos nicely bound in vellum on which I would print a cover picture and then use a "belly band" to hold the images in place. Sounds good (looks pretty cool too)

So without a moment to spare, I went to the print lab and looked at the different papers they had and decided I liked the weight and texture of the UPP-Matte paper. I was going to go to a paper/print shop and check out the selection, but since I wasn't going to have borders, all that mattered was the thickness and texture. I also had money left on my account there! I then remembered to look at all my files and make sure they were the correct size and dpi.

So after what seemed like several hours, my turn to print came and we began the process of being able to physically feel and see my photos...they looked great! I was siked! I went home and ate a giant burrito and felt satiated.

That night I got excited and thought about how bad@$$ the book was going to look. Thumbing through the pics I noticed that a few of them were off in color and 2 were the wrong size, I thought I had just somehow missed this when I was double checking. This was super disappointing because I didn't have any of the adobe programs on my computer, so I had to wait till Saturday to check them out at the computer lab.

Woke up and took care of some errands (including getting vellum which I had no idea what I was looking at...so many different types...I think I picked a good one) and ran to school. At the lab, I checked and all the files were the correct size, I then noticed that on the background of the 2 photos that were the wrong size, the layers weren't lining up and were a little off. After this I reprinted them and it was all good.

Here's where problems started. So at the store I cut the vellum to the size I wanted (7 X 16) and thought it was all good. well at the lab the Epson printer would not take the paper...it took us so long to figure out that the paper wasn't properly cut and the printer couldn't recognize the paper size (lesson 1- learn to check your equipment first). The big matte cutter they had at Columbia Arts was a piece of shit and apparently wasn't cutting very straight. A lot of my photos that I cut out were oddly uneven too.

By this time I needed out of the lab and tried to go to a real print shop. Although I wanted to search around for a locally owned indie kinda shop, I was hot, miserable and stressing out so I headed for the convenience of Kinko's near my house. This was a great experience...they were super helpful and accommodating...definitely my print shop from now on. They were able to do exactly what I wanted and cheaply and quickly. Including letting me use their roller cutter to re-size the vellum. So I walked home with my head up and enjoyed a tall PBR.

Sunday I started to craft the book and tried a couple of ways of creasing the vellum to make a straight edge for a front and back cover while maintaining room for the photos themselves. Needless to say, I had to run to Columbia Arts and Kinko's and have them fix me up again with said products. This time at Kinko's they charged me even less because I screwed up...that kinda thing doesn't happen anymore!!! Awesome Brian (as I refer to him) is the man at the Kinko's on SE Washington and 98th. Cleancopy wanted $20+ to resize their printers and make test copies of the vellum/ Kinko's = $2.50

Oh I forgot, I also had multiple problems with the Belly Band, including forgetting to save it as outlines and formatting it the right size. Finally got that right. Still not completely happy with the way it came out but it works. I will take photos of the book in full.

The end message and learning point, is come as prepared as you can and making mistakes is the best tutorial ever. I now know!

Jeremy Okai Davis

2009-06-01T11:23:00.001-07:00

Our class is coming to an end, and my art posts will inevitably become fewer and fewer with the hopes of getting a job and drinking margaritas by a pool (or whatever). I want this blog to now become a place where I can rap about whatever interests me (not that couldn't before, but I want to replace my posts about tutorials with updates about my life, art, music and the adventures that naturally come with summer time freedom). So here is the first. Last weekend I went to see the Avett Brothers at the Crystal Ballroom and a band named for its front-woman ( Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside took the stage and blew me away. A little Loretta Lynn mixed with some trash can rockabilly is the way I would describe them. I bought there EP at the show because it was handmade using Gocco printing, (which is a self contained screen printing kit straight from Japan that's catching on finally in America) and their awesome! Anyways its a simple and beautiful CD that I have been bumping in my car, house, bathroom since that night. So naturally I went to their myspace account and saw that they were planning on playing an artist's opening. Naturally again I wanted to check out this painter, photographer. I was totally impressed with Jeremy Okai davis' work and think everyone should check it out. Here's a sample of some of his paintings.

Tutorial

2009-05-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

This tut showed me how to add an effect layer in Photoshop. I think this will def. be useful in future projects, and I wish I had learned this feature before I started in on this photo treatment project, it could have made for some cool text effects. Check it out at Lynda.com

Typeface

2009-05-21T12:25:00.001-07:00

So I had to invent a typeface for my Intro to Communications Design class. The letters are all my creation made by hand and then colored and arranged using Adobe Illustrator. What da ya think?

Photoshop Book Project

2009-05-21T12:18:00.001-07:00

Man, I'm loving this new project that were doing in Art120. We are to take a photograph that we find interesting for whatever reason and manipulate it 30 different times through different means in Photoshop. I chose this pretty cool photo of my friend Jeremy Huttner rocking a Kickflip over the center court on a basketball court. This was taken by me back in the day at Boston College (2003). Check out my flickr account for the rest of the treatments. I will eventually post them all on the blog

Quick Selection Tutorial

2009-05-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

So for my most recent endeavor in photoshop I knew there was a way to quickly select objects in different layers just by clicking on them in the document, but for the longest time I couldn't figure out how to change the settings to make this happen. My google search turned out this finding . It's easy as pie. When your clicked on the move tool, there is a little tab in the upper left corner that says auto select and you click it and walla!

Image Process

2009-05-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my process for deciding on an image to work with in Photoshop for our next assignment. We are making a bound book whose subject will be one photo with 30 different treatments done in Photoshop. I have decided on a photo that I took at Boston College of my friend Jeremy Huttner kick-flipping the center line on a basketball court.

Photoshop Tutorial

2009-05-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

Thought I would try my hand at another tutorial that was a little more challenging and informative before I head out to softball. I chose another "You Suck at Photoshop" tutorial on youtube.com. This was a pretty cool use of masks. In this demo that I followed, we used the path tool and pen tool to make a mask and delete the background when placing two images together. It seems like this is only good for simple images that you can trace easily with the pen tool. In this case I put a wedding ring on a table and then used the distort application to stretch it out a little. I highly recommend this to everyone.

Photoshop Tutorial

2009-05-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

I just watched the "You suck at photoshop" tutorial on youtube.com that was all about using the warp and distort tool in photoshop. This seems like a pretty useful tool to have to bend images so they fit with different prespectives. Screenshot will come on tuesday.

Tutorial

2009-05-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hahahaha! I just watched the tutorial "you suck at photoshop" and laughed at the instructors raw and cold-hearted tutorial. It wasn't that in depth, but it was hilarious and did have some great tips using the cloning tool and the lasso tool to mimic an area and erase over it to make a wedding ring disappear from a photo (cold-hearted I know) I highly recommend checking this one out!

Photoshop Tutorial

2009-05-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Next in this series we learned a little about the Clone tool and what it can do. I'm actually blown away by how effective and generally awesome this tool is. We used it to once again blend the foreground into the new background and clean up the lines that make it obvious that its a photoshopped photo. This was just a simple introduction to the clone tool, and I want to learn more about it so I recommend trying another tutorial that's a little more in depth because it seems like a super useful and cool tool.

Photoshop Tutorial

2009-05-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

Ok. So in this tutorial we are watching as our instructor messes with the new foreground that he has placed on the background of his older photo. However, not everything meshes with each other. For instance there are trees that are not the same color and hue and there are buildings that are sticking up that look out of place. In this tut, we learned how to adjust the hue and saturation as well as the brightness and contrast to help match the two pictures to each other. The most useful tip in this tut was how to use the burn tool to help us match those colors to each other (excellent tips). Check it out at Lynda.com

Photoshop Tutorials

2009-05-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

So this first tut I watched was the first in a series. In this one we begin by learning how to combine one image with another. It doesn't go into detail, but a mask is used to import the foreground from one picture and pace it on the background of a new photo, therefore making an entirely new and unique photo. I hope it talks about creating masks later on. You can find this series of tut's on Lynda.com

Final Building Proposals

2009-05-14T08:54:00.001-07:00

Here are the finals!

Building Thumbnails

2009-05-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

There is a big renovation project starting this summer with the intentions of redoing the outside of the art building. The challenge has been handed down to students in the graphic design department and here are some ideas of mine.

Building Idea 3-Process

2009-05-09T16:23:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is my third Idea and the one I'm having the most difficulties with. Arranging this pattern, getting it into Illustrator and trying to color it has been a challenge thus far. Here is the pattern as it would appear on the building minus the colors.

Building Idea 2-Process

2009-05-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

The second design idea I have is a mix of small splattered colors that will eventually when arranged together spell out "Art Building" over the front of the building. From far away it will look like block lettering, but when up close, you can see that each letter is made up of thousands of small colored splats of circles. Here is the color scheme and rough drat of what it might look like. I think I might change the color pattern as well...right now these colors remind me of the circus and that is obviously not my final intentions.

Building Ideas-Process

2009-05-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

This is my first concept for designing the front of the Art Building I thought it would look pretty cool to have an illustration of ivy creeping down from the roof of the building down to street level. This is a very basic rendering of how it might look. The final illustration will be more detailed and complex.

Tutorial- Firey Box

2009-05-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to do a more involved tutorial this time so i went to the old trusted site-tutvid.com and learned how to create a 3-d box in illustrator and learned how to put things inside the box. In this case a dull glow. I thought it looked pretty sweet and am surprised at the results...I did good! I would recommend this tut to anyone looking to create something in Illustrator rather than just watching a mouse go round the screen. Enjoy!

Tutorial-Working With Masks

2009-05-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

This tut was pretty cool and super easy to follow. It explained what a mask was and why we would use them in our work. In this tut we started out with a picture and then created a clipping mask over it. Then we imposed a word "winter" over the picture and created text that was a picture (inside the word "winter" was a picture of a wintry landscape) pretty cool effect and super useful.

Tutorial-Aligning Objects

2009-05-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

At the very beginning of the term we briefly went over how to align objects, however, I still didn't fully understand the concepts. Lucky for me there is a tutorial about this very subject on the DVD. I found out through this tutorial that what I wasn't understanding was selecting the "key object" when trying to align multiple pieces. This helped a lot and now I'm a pro at having the computer make my life easier by aligning objects exactly how I want them. if you were in the same boat as me and didn't quite understand this concept, then take a look.

Tutorial-Editing Groups

2009-05-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, This was what I was expecting from the last tutorial. This tut gave me some info and hints I didn't know before. Such as double clicking to get into group isolation mode and editing and adding to groups within that mode. Pretty cool stuff, people should check it out if they have the DVD.

Tutorial-Grouping

2009-05-02T15:54:00.001-07:00

This was a pretty unnecessary tutorial. It was about how and why we group objects in Illustrator and the benefits and the consequences of grouping objects together. I thought I was going to learn something new that I hadn't known before, but I was sadly mistaken. This video was unnecessary if you're in Kate's 120 class.

Tutorial-Editing Paths

2009-05-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

So this tut would have been super useful if I had been able to watch it before we started using the pen tool to make our logos. Although I already had the main ideas and concepts of editing paths; and could apply them. This tut was useful in upgrading my knowledge from 1.0 to 2.0, I got the shortcuts/hotkeys down and fully understand the fastest ways to edit a path the way I wanted. Before I had to fiddle around for a while before I would figure it out. This tut will save you time.

Tutorial-Paintbrush

2009-05-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

Man, I really wish I could have checked out these dvd's earlier on in the term. I'm getting acquainted with all the tools on the toolbar now. Oh well, better late than never. Once again this was a great introduction into manipulating the paintbrush tool to create cool editable paths, but unlike the pen and pencil tool, you can vary the thickness and thinness of the paths that your creating. Me likes!

Tutorial

2009-05-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

So I finally busted out the ole' Adobe Illustrator video tutorials (lynda) that I now have on DVD. I don't recommend watching these on a mac while trying to follow along. I had a difficult time in the computer lab because it wouldn't shift back and forth between the dvd and Illustrator. But the dvd itself was great! I wish I had gotten it earlier in the term when I was still trying to figure out a lot of the tools. But anyways, the first one I tried today was a tutorial in section two that guided me through using the pencil tool. I haven't even fooled around with the pencil tool till now and found this tut very helpful. It went through using the preferences to help edit paths and change the way the pencil responds. Very helpful if you have the dvd.

Making a Business Card Tutorial

2009-04-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Although this tut was not a video ( I think it should have been) I really liked it because the steps were really concise and easy to follow along with. I also really like the design they used (simple and elegant). It's also a really applicable tutorial that I'm sure we'll be learning in the future. Anyways if you get the time check this one out here.

Worthless Tutorial

2009-04-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

So I just watched a tutorial on how to draw a vectorized eyeball. Sounds good huh? Nope...It was unfortunately a video that showed a guy drawing the eyeball, but it was a time-lapsed video that went at hyper speed. Impossible to follow along with. stay away! If you don't believe me you can check it out here.

New Tutorial

2009-04-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

So I just read about using the type tool and all the ways you can wrap text, invert it (vertically) and so on and so forth. Reading this tutorial did not really broaden my knowledge in this area of Illustrator because the type tool is pretty similar to the type tool in Photoshop, which I've had a lot of exposure too. Good basics though if you are unfamiliar with this part of either application. check it.

Logo recreation process

2009-04-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

In class it was our goal to recreate a recognizable logo as close to the original as possible in Illustrator. I was charged with recreating the original Animal Planet logo. Here it is and my process. For the full process you can check out my flickr account.

Leather Lightning-Tutorial

2009-04-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

So on tutvid.com there is a tutorial where you can learn how to use different effects to make a steel lightning bolt in adobe Illustrator. This was alright, it gets a little complicated towards the end and takes quite a while to follow along with, but it might be worth it if your trying to get a little more familiar with different effects you can use in Illustrator. if you are already pretty proficient, then I don't think its really of any use.

Tutorial

2009-04-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

I just watched and followed along with a tutorial about spirals, brushes and swooshes on tutvid.com. This tutorial was great for getting familiar with different effects you can create using brushes and spirals. Way cool. def. check it out.

Postcard 3

2009-04-18T16:06:00.001-07:00

Postcard 2

2009-04-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

Postcards

2009-04-18T15:54:00.001-07:00

Well, here they are. My microbrewery homage postcard. Our instructions in class were to pick a designer that we liked and then create a postcard in theirstyle. I chose to imitate the beautiful work of Ms. Julia Rothman.

Here they are.

Project 1

2009-04-18T15:50:00.001-07:00

This is also a composite, but there is repetition in the design creating an interesting pattern...thanks Gestalt principles

Comm Design Project 1

2009-04-18T15:49:00.001-07:00

1st Comm. Design set

2009-04-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

These next pictures are composites of other images I photographed and then put together in Photoshop. I think there are about 12 different images in here.

Tutorial

2009-04-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

So I went youtube.com where I tried to follow along drawing a vectorized heart with the pen tool and other various fills and strokes. This was a great tutorial, however It got very confusing and I gave up, as the instructor for the video kept messing up and going back over his mistakes to correct them. I got completely lost and the image was blurry so it was hard to follow along. If your already good using the pen tool, I think you'd have no problem following along.

2009-04-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

So for class we have to design postcards in the style of a designer/artist we like/respect. I have chosen the wonderful Ms. Julia Rothman. Last week we had a Skype chat with her that turned out to be amazingly intimate and inspiring. Checking out her website I was instantly drawn to her work. Julia's handmade patterns and surface designs are completely engaging and endearing. In many of my favorite pieces by her she uses everyday objects and observations to create simple arrangements that have a sense of familiarity and closeness. Her craftsmanship and emphasis on homemade show in her abstraction of figure and her use of space. Weather she is creating a design out of "car rims" (which she hasn't done yet but really wants to) or out of abstract shapes, she keeps a sense of playfulness (in the movement and color of her patterns) and class (in the vintage/retro kind of way). I am completely inspired by her work and believe she is living the (work) life I someday hope to attain.

I have some ideas about my influenced design for this postcard and cannot wait to see which ones work the best. Hint: You'll like it if your a brewer or a person that likes to quietly sip a pint with a good sunset. Ps. This is not will be on the back of the postcard, it is just my short synopsis of the artist. If you like her stuff here check her out at Juliarothman.com

Tutvid.com

2009-04-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

Oh man, this place is great for quick and easy introductions into the tools and applications on all the Adobe programs. I just watched a 19min tut on the live trace function. It is not very in depth, but it did a great overview about the different techniques and applications of this program. I highly recommend looking at it before getting anymore into Illustrator, it might save you a ton of time. Screenshot to come soon...I can't do it from my computer at home.

Final Typeset Pattern Design 5.

2009-04-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Just for fun I wanted to add color to one of these patterns just for the heck of it and see what it looked like. I think it turned out pretty interesting. I really like the way it blurs together and strains the eye a little...kind of a magic eye effect.

Final Typeset PatternDesignn 4.

2009-04-13T09:45:00.001-07:00

This is using the Letter B in a typeset that isn't coming to mind right now. I will edit this post if it does.

Final Typeset Pattern Design 3.

2009-04-13T09:43:00.001-07:00

This was made using the letter S in typeset, Braggadocio. if you look in the upper left corner you might be able to make out a single s.

Final Typeset Pattern Design 2.

2009-04-13T09:41:00.001-07:00

Here is another T in a typeset that I can't remember...I think its somewhat elegant and free flowing.

Final Typeset Pattern Designs 1.

2009-04-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is my final pattern design using the Letter T in the type set Eccentric.

Adobe Livedocs

2009-04-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

So I wandered around the tutorials on adobe livedocs and instantly got frustrated, not because of the tutorials themselves, but because I am a more hands-on, visual learner. It's hard for me to read about what I'm suppose to be doing, I would rather follow along with a video, as I'm sure many people do. There is a great wealth of information, and for people that can learn this way it is an excellent site and a great resource, however I will probably stick to the youtube tut's and other posted video tut's. I'm really excited to get the DVD video in class on Tuesday and think that will greatly increase my knowledge of Illustrator.

More Tut's

2009-04-10T15:07:00.001-07:00

The next tut I watched was also of Lynda.com (see previous post for link) and was all about using and manipulating the bounding boxes associated with the selection tools. This was pretty good at showing how to easily toggle between the selection tool and the direct selection tool using the ctrl/command key.

Tutorials Weeks 2:

2009-04-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, So here are a few more Tut's I have viewed this week about using Adobe Illustrator. I went to Lynda.com and watched a few more informational videos. The first of which was about moving around inside your workspace using the zoom functions. This was pretty good at showing you that there are several techniques used to zoom in on the artboard as a whole or different sections.

The second Tut I watched in this series was about using the guides and grids and there practicality in working on the artboard. It showed you how to hide, lock and sow grids, manipulate grids and guides. This was well worth checking out, because it def. help when trying to line up different segments of your work. Screen caps to come soon.

I Like Bright Colors These Days

2009-04-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

So here are a few more exercises that were doing in my intro to communication design class. These images are composites of other images, a collage if you will. The elements in the picture are found objects that I have tweeked in PS and have sewn together to make a different design. This is just another step in the process, so I'll be posting a final image latter on.

1. "Face Melting"

2009-04-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

In class we are suppose to hunt for images that inspire us, wow us or simply intrigue us. This is the first of 7.
This first artist is relatively new to me, but looks to have done some incredible work. Enrico Morales uses several mediums (hand-made prints, drawings and digital images) and incorporates them into stunning visual collages. This piece titled City Life Part 1: Savage Alley immediately made an impression on me. The bold colors and pictures make a harmonious pattern balanced nicely with a soothing background. Even though the composition is balanced, it still retains the edginess and chaotic feel of the city.

2. "Face Melting"

2009-04-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

This picture was drawn by Edward Gorey from the book The Gashlycrumb Tinies. As a child Edward Gorey's was terrifying. Now as an Adult I think it is genius. My family use to watch a lot of PBS and his art graced the intro to Masterpiece Theater. This was my introduction to his creepy black and white imagery, always full of death and downfall...especially with children. Once again these drawings are simple in their subject, but complicated in there rendering. He never seems to use solid lines to define his subjects, instead he uses thousands of small hatch marks of different tones. His style is classic and evocative.

3. "Face Melting"

2009-04-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have always liked the painting Golconde by Rene Maritte. The surrealism of this painting creates a dynamic and visual landscape that keeps the audiences eye moving around the canvas through its repetition of forms. I like the clean lines and detail of this picture and although its orderly, there is a sense of chaos.

4. "Face Melting

2009-04-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

So what prepped me and inspired me to go to school for graphic design was the snowboard industry. I have always been a skateboarder/snowboarder at heart and grew up reading and looking at magazines and the photo and ads that accompanied them. I always thought it would be cool to be the person behind the lens or behind the computer adding graphics and messing with text or page layout. I'm inspired by the trend that snowboarding brings weather its the lifestyle, neon prints, patterns, language, it's all fun and is getting more artsy and creative. The art world has definitely broken into the snow/skate scene and visa versa. with all the creativity on snow and off its a natural fit. The photographer that I have been coming back to for great work is actually a professional snowboarder and armature artist named Robbie Sell. He was a local when I was living in Reno/Tahoe and I think has a great eye and manipulates his subects well. Robbie Sell

5. "Face Melting"

2009-04-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

This work is called Man Waiting, created by Sidney Goodman in 1961. Using charcoal he builds and builds a dark and mysterious form out of nothing. Mainly using tones he is able to render a figure that is recognizable and detailed. I like the simplicity of this piece and how through perspective and shading he has instilled an uneasiness in his audience and work that is almost threatening.

6. "Face Melting"

2009-04-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

The second Artist I have chosen is the U.K. street artist, Word To Mother. He is an artist that I have just recently found out about, and I'm thoroughly impressed with his work. He embodies a style that I am trying to develope and emulate. There is a certain craftyness to his work in that he uses lots of wood and metals as canvas'. His main focus is on drawing and sketching, which comes out in his final pieces. There is a definite sense of lonliness, loss, melencholy and humbleness in his work. he uses repeating elements such as tears, gold (the color not the bling-a-ding) and tea that seem to hold an almost nostalgic, inherent quality in his work. Me like. The peice I chose to represent is as far as I can tell untitled but comes from a set titled, Till The Hot Runs Cold.

7. "Face Melting"

2009-04-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

This is titled Mt. Williamson by Ansel Adams. I have always been interested in photography and nature and as far as combining the two their is no one better than Mr. Adams. His highly contrasted photographs make for dynamic displays that seem almost surreal. I chose this photograph because of the amazing depth of feel. Everything is so crystal clear right in front of you as well as 100 miles in the distance. I love large format cameras!

2009-04-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some first attempts at making patterns in Illustrator for Graphics class.

Tutorials: Week 1 (a)

2009-04-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

The first tut I watched was off of Lynda.com and titled Understanding Paths. This was a good introduction to understanding how to create forms using paths. Anything from a straight line to a circle can be made using Anchor points and control handles.

The second tut I watched helped explain the basic idea of the fill and stroke attributes in Illutrator and how they can be manipulate. These tools can help add color to different shapes (using the fill option) as well as add a sort of border to a shape (stroke option) The stroke attribute can also be used to create gap and dash border that is not a straight line but a poke-a-dotted border.

The third tut was titled Selections and Stacking. The first concept covered was that off differentiating what the two different selection tool ( direct selection and selection tools) do. The selection tool allows you to move a defined object around the screen and select and resize it. The direct selection tool allows you to manipulate a certain anchor point and manipulate that one point, in some cases making an entirely new shape. Also, using the shift key allows you to select multiple objects and deselect objects inside of a marquee. The last point covered was stacking order and how to arrange objects on in front of or behind other objects by using the shift + command +[ or ] key.

The fourth Tut, is about opening new documents and how you can change the settings depending on the type of file you are trying to make (print vs. web) and what not. This tut, went over differentiating between CMYK and RGB modes as well as different dpi settings and when it is appropriate to use them. The tut also goes over the document set up tab under the file menu and some other ways you can change the settings of your document in relation to what your end result is suppose to be.

The last video tut that I watched for this first weeks assignment was the control panel tut, in which Mordy explains what the control panel is and what you can access from it. This was a very basis intro and their is not much to say about it.

Grey Scaled and Inverted

2009-04-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

These are a few found objects that I had to transform in Photshop For my Intro to Communications Design class. I will continue using them in the creation of a completely new picture. Stay tunes for more.

First Blog Exercise- Art 120

2009-03-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

Computer Experience?
I have been using computers since the 4th grade (1990) when the first edition of Oregon Trail was introduced to my class by our teacher, Mrs Adriani. It was a love affair from the first moment I set eyes on that glowing green text marker. From there it went to spending several hour a day with my childhood friend Jeff playing Wheel of Fortune from a floppy disc given to my family when we bought our first PC. This is pretty much when the computer explosion began to infiltrate the American household and school teachers started requiring projects and essays to be typed, which quickly got me familiar with Microsoft Word and other similar applications. Next came AOL and instant messenger and the boom of the chat room. My friends and I would spend hours and hours on the computer screwing around in singles chat rooms and with the lonely people on the other end. To be frank we were very rude and tasteless; a regrettable trait of being an adolescent. However, this sped up my proficiency at navigating around the Internet and typing. I read in the book, Sex, Drugs and Coco Puffs by Chuck Klosterman that if it wasn't for porn on the Internet there would be so many more millions of people dumbfounded by computers. Interesting...weather that's accurate or not.

  Around 1997-1999 there seemed to be a huge growth of computer products, programs, applications and software that were heavily pushed on the consumer. I guess people started realizing that this Internet/computer thing-a-ma-bob was actually going to pan out. Being a high school/college student I was always at the forefront of what was the new what. I was always wanting to know how the computer could make my life easier, more convenient and more enjoyable. This included profile websites, updated versions of programs, music sharing, college networks, bill pay/direct deposit type revelations...and now I am starting my first blog (got on the late train with this one).
I have just recently (within the last year) started to develop my skills and efficiency with Photoshop, Illustartor and some Internet resources, as well as navigating around the Mac platform.

What Are you excited about?
  Not sure if this question applies to what were learning in class or in general so I will answer both briefly.
  In the class I am really excited about learning all I can about Photoshop and Illustrator and completely getting wrapped up in the Portland graphic design/art community. There is so much talent and inspiration in the city and around it.

I'm really glad that our guide through design, Kate Bingaman is all about patterns, I can't wait to get started and I'm definitely going to learn all I can about that. I am interested in screen printing, clothing design as well as web design.
In general I am excited about living in a new city, especially one that is so wrapped up in art and design. So many hidden treasures waiting for me to uncover them (always the best part of moving anywhere). I am and have always been interested in Nature and interacting with it personally, weather its snowboarding down the side of a mountain, Riding my bike through the city, walking through the woods or working as part of an ongoing effort to become personally more sustainable.

I listen to a lot of music new and old. One of my favorite hobbies is searching for new music...wish I had the capital to purchase it all! I also enjoy a good meal (home cooked or otherwise) weather its Indian, Italian, Mexican, Greek, McDonald's (sorry hippies but its a guilty pleasure...at least until it comes out the other end). Also ever since my roommate got a giant HD TV I must say watching anything on it beats a lot of other activities. I love movies/film and excellent TV shows. I'm very visually driven, hence I decided to pursue Graphic Design at Portland State University.

Favorite books & magazines?
This is where this blog might get a little thin. I find it hard to sit down for extended periods of time and enjoy a good book, I get too restless, unless I happen to find myself on a family vacation. But some books I have enjoyed are:

Fear and Loathing- Hunter S. Thompson
Run With The Hunted- Bukowski
Most things by Mark Twain
To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper Lee
Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck
Catcher In The Rye- JD Salinger
Lord of The Rings - JRR Tolkien
Choke- Chuck Palahniuck

Magazines:
Transworld Snowboarding/
Adbusters
Spin/Rollingstone
Juxtapose
Skateboard Mag

Favorite Websites?
Facebook
Twsnow
Google
Pollstar
Pandora

NPR/OPB

Craigslist