Name Logo

     Since we started learning about logos, we had to create our own personal logos. We spent a lot of time talking over everything a logo should incorporate and how to keep it simple and precise. I spent a lot of time sketching mine out and I wasn't sure what I wanted to go with.  Out of the four that I had, I ended up choosing one that had half of my name upside down because I thought it was the best out of what I had.
     Little did I know how hard that would be to recreate on Illustrator. It took me about two class periods to work on and finish it. My logo ended up having a fade in all of the letters to make them stand out a bit more. I did not use the colors I had initially wanted to use because they didn't work. I wanted to logo to a lot more woodsy and whimsical than it turned out to be.

     I don't really like the way my logo turned out because I had wanted something pretty different. I like it as a logo, but it really isn't what I wanted to have. If I had had a lot more time and much more advanced graphic design skills, than maybe I would have been able to pull it off. 

A Bird, A House, A Flower

For our next assignment, we had to show variety. We had to make either 20 birds, houses, or flowers. First we had to sketch them all out and then we had to recreate one of them in Illustrator.You had the choice of using color or not.
For my sketch, I drew 20 birds. I drew them all around a tree and a bush because I didn't feel like just putting them in squares or something similar. It was strange having to draw 20 of something but make sure they were all different. I still feel like I could have had more variation in a couple of spots but I like my birds. I recreated a lot of my birds from different pictures. You could add different tags to make the search more specific. That helped  lot with adding variation to the birds.
I recreated one of my easier birds in Illustrator. It looks rather lumpy, but I like it that way. I started drawing it really big on accident, but I just sized it down when I finished. I have been told that if you changed a few small little details it looks a lot like the original Kansas University Jayhawks logo. It's a fat, chubby, lumpy, blue bird with skinny little bird legs. I only used the colors blue and yellow, if you don't count black.
I really like my bird. It's not the best done bird in the world, but it's my bird and I honestly think t'd kind of cute. Frankly, there are a few thinks I would change, but I am going to keep it the way it is. I think I am going to name it Sampson, he looks like a Sampson.

Color Wheel

In graphic design we had to recreate a color wheel. We learned about the names of the colors. Well, not like yellow and green, but secondary and tertiary. We learned about different color schemes and which colors could go with which. We also learned how to tell which colors went with which using the names. In our color wheel, we had to show where each color went on the color wheel with brown in the middle, showing how when the colors mixed it created the one in between them. We also had to put the colors in different shapes to show which ones went with what.

My Personality Type

Yesterday we took the Myers-Briggs personality test.  My personality type was INFP, which stands for introvert, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving.  They are people who strongly believe in their values and beliefs and try not to judge people too early. Some famous people with this personality type are William Shakespeare, Audrey Hepburn, Hellen Keller, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon.

I think this personality type describes me pretty well. A part that was very accurate to me was the fact that they reserve their most authentic thoughts and feelings for people they know well. The part that was a bit off was the  fact that they try to find new outlets for self-expression. It helped me understand a bit more about the things I do in and out of school. I have friends who are each personality type and I think it is good that even though we are all such different people we can all get along.

In any group setting, if I am not the leader, I try to be as useful and helpful as I can.  I basically try to be a right hand man and do whatever needs to be done. usually when the role I am given matches up with my personality type the project goes very smoothly on my end and it gets done. I it does not, the project takes more time and focus and tends to get slightly frustrating, But, it all gets done the same. I have been told many times in the past that I am a "people person", but I certainly am not by any standards. It takes me awhile to get used to, warm up to, and  be able to talk freely to people. I know a girl that used to talk out of turn a lot and it really got on my nerves. We got in trouble quite a few times and I got tired of it. We aren't very close anymore, but now the I think about it, our differentiating personalities might have played a key role.

We also took another personality test. this one told us what kind of animal we were. I got an otter and a golden retriever. The otter is someone who is very sociable and good at making friends. I am not really sure how I got this one because I am not really either of those things. The golden retriever is very loyal and not big on big changes. I feel I relate a lot more to the golden retriever than the otter.

Over the course of this assignment I learned a lot about who I am as a person and what that means for what I'm doing, where I'm going, and how I'm going get there.

First Time With Illustrator

After finishing our first sketch, we moved into Illustrator. We learned how to use the shape tool, the pencil tool, and the shaper too. For the first project, I made an owl. We sketched it out first so we knew what we were doing. I used smooth lines and stars, for texture, to make my owl. Even though it doesn't look like an actual owl, I like to believe its recognizable. I used mostly gray colors, but I gave it yellow eyes and a red bowtie. I sued curvy shapes and made sure it filled up the space. I didn't add too much depth, but I wanted it to be that way. I did, however, make the wing and feathers a darker gray then the body.

I had a bit of trouble getting used to Illustrator, as moving to a new platform isn't always easy. We watched video tutorials to learn how to use the tools, but it tok a bit to get them to work the way I wanted. Whenever I tried to use the eraser, it would add lines where the eraser had gone over. Once I finally got the hang of it, it wasn't too bad. I tok awhile trying to get the body done, but everything went by a lot faster after that.

For the next project, we used the shaper tool. We had to recreate what we had seen in the video to get used to using it. Mine was giving me a hard time because it wouldn't erase certain lines I was trying oh so hard to get rid of. After awhile I just turned it in as is. I had time left over, so I decided to recreate the Colorado flag, because a step in the process reminded me of it. Though that one seemed easier, it still gave me a bit of a hard time. I couldn't seem to get the lines in the background to go straight across, but I got them as close as I possibly could.

Its been two weeks since we started using Illustrator. Im happy to say that I am starting to warm up to it. I has a very simple design the makes it good for beginners and experts to use. I am excited to see what the rest of the quarter has in store for us in graphic design and what the rest of the semester has in store for us in e-Comm.

First Graphic Design Project

     For our first project in graphic design, we were supposed to draw what graphic design meant to us.  I drew the fist thing it reminded me of which was the apple logo and apps. In my drawing, I had the apple logo in the middle with a bunch of apps surrounding it. I was going to have them fade in, but I remembered too late to add that in. I simply used the colors that were in the logos, but i would have liked for them to be brighter and bolder.
     I used color throughout my entire picture, except for where I didn't have any apps. There wasn't much texture to the picture, but I think that the way the closed pencils look against the paper counts. I made the apple logo the biggest and made the apps smaller, demonstrating size. I used the apple logo and squares with rounded corners for shape. I used spacing by putting the apple logo in the middle and putting a bit of space between it and the apps around it. I had a bit of value in my picture, but would have had more had I gone through with my plan to have the apps fade in and get bolder as you moved away from the center.
     I am very proud of what I was able to make for my first sketch. We had a prompt that was very linient and you could take in any direction you wanted. Sure, there were some things that I could have done or added in, but I think the work I have done is great. I really enjoyed the process of thinking of and sketching out your drawing. I am looking forward to the rest of the quarter in graphic design.

Quarter 2 Reflection

     This semester I took animation and video. I would say my main strength for both quarters was my ability to make things flow together. Nothing looked too out of place and it all fit together rather well. That is something needed for both animation and editing.

     I can get sidetracked easily while working, and that is not good. I need to focus on staying focused. Also need to work on making better storyboards and sticking to them. I had trouble planning out shots right then and there. I couldn't think of what I needed and wanted to be in the final product.

     My favorite part of the whole semester was editing videos. I enjoy seeing the video get put together and seeing everything you filmed and worked hard on fall into place. I like how you get the final say on everything and how whatever skills you have or new things you want to try can all go into that process.

     There isn't anything I would do differently about this semester in e-Comm. Maybe a few spots or days when I could have worked harder instead of slacking off, but other than a few small details, nothing. I would, however, like to go back and see what it would have been like if I made different decisions on projects. Maybe if I had done a different house in animation, or gone a different route with a video. I want to see what that would have been like without changing what has already happened.

    This semester, I got to learn the basics of both animation and video. it was super interesting to learn what goes into making both. There is a lot more making a video than I had expected. For both, there are a lot of details you need to think about before, during, and after.

     Next semester for me is graphic design and the final project. I'm not sure what it will be like but I am very excited. Next semester I want to work better with teams and meet new people in the same program I am in. I have already met a lot of great people through this program and I cannot wait to meet more. Overall, I am very happy with the program I am in and I can't wait to see what it has in store for us.