Welcome to the Official Class Blog of GRA217- Section 4

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Week 15- westbury

This class was a completely new experience. I am not a very visual person at all. I really am more of a reading and writing person, therefore this class was very difficult for me. I learned so much in regards to the Adobe Creative Suite. I can definitely say that I would have never been exposed to these various programs if I had not taken this Graphics class. I enjoyed the magazine project the most. It allowed me to put all my skill set into one program in regards to InDesign. Overall I learned so much from start to finish and no matter how painful it was during the process the educational reward made it worth it in the long run. I received what I expected and a lot more. Overall I am satisfied with all the knowledge I gained from this class.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Week 15 | Walsh

This class was a great experience for me. I've never been artistically talented at all, but this class gave me an opportunity to create work that was somewhat visually appealing. It was also a nice variation for me personally. As a history major I have always found myself reading and writing papers, but this was a nice break from that. I was able to be creative while learning very useful programs along the way. The class was very informative and the teaching was great. Thanks for a great semester!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Week 15: Spivack

I have always wanted to learn the Adobe Programs and I knew that I would FINALLY get the chance this semester. I absolutely loved the planning and sketching that was involved in coming up with ideas; it allowed you to be super creative in your design. I am definitely not an artist, but I found graphic arts to be more of my niche. I learned so much in this class but the one thing that stood out to me would be now important nitpicking details of a graphic piece. I find myself reading brochures and reading magazine and criticizing the graphics. Another crucial lesson that I learned is that simple=good; in this fast paced world, people have no time to sort through clutter to find pertinent information. I feel that I have improved a great deal, and my friends and family agree. I will most definitely put the skills that I learned in this class to good use when I begin to work in the advertising field.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Week 15: Class evaluation

I did not really know what to expect from this class. I never really thought I was creative or able to create creative things. However, after taking this class, I learned that everyone is creative. The key to graphic design is to really sketch out and plan things. This class has taught me that a good design doesn't have to be packed with information. A good design can be as simple as a bone, or thought bubble in my case. Anytime a student asks me how this class is, I automatically tell them that they will never look at design and type the same way. Every time I look at a magazine, I think about how well or how badly it is designed. I also look for themes and continuity. Every time I see any type or font, I try to see if I can recognize it. Prior to this class, I thought all types look the same. Now I notice the tiny little quirks in every letter and stroke. This class definitely helped me get my two internships for the summer.

Week 15: Class Evaluation

I'm not the graphics type and visual projects are not my strong point. However, I am very glad I took this class. I learned a lot about the Adobe programs that I normally would not have. I know that these skills on these programs will definitely become useful as I get internships and jobs. I also am very glad that I know many visual techniques, such as gestalt principles, grids, hierarchy, etc. This class helped me learn a lot of that and I produced some projects I definitely would not have before this class started.

week 15| Del Castillo

I did not expect to get such a hands on experience with software when I signed up for the class. I thought I would get design theory, not actual practice. I was glad i got to learn how to use the software and to play around with it. I thought the projects were very good and they got me to think and be more creative than I normally am. I was pleased at how much I progressed over the course of the semester. I am also glad we learned about the practical applications of the skills we learned in the class.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

week 15- westbury

The non-profit event I chose is the Annual ProjectFeedME Basketball tournament that takes place at Syracuse University every Novemebr. This event is a collaboration with Phi Beta Sigma, a historic African American Fraternity. The tournament is designed to raise money to feed impoverished inner city families in the New York City area during the Thanksgiving holiday.
For my website I wanted to have the central focus around a basketball. I implemented this idea by finding a Google image of a basketball. Then putting half the ball at the top of my screen, letting it gradually fade to white. With this structure it provided both an image of a basketball as well as effectively representing the tournament. I used brown for my navigation bar which complemented the basketball and used a peach color for my roll over. For the banned I wanted a simple white background with black lettering. I kept this simple structure for each slide.