bracelet

So I revised my original design a little, but it's still not quite the way I want it....however, it is closer (I want it so that it has adjustable strings that make it possible to take the bracelet off)

1)What is the purpose of the information design. What did you learn from the information?


2) What specific characteristics made the information design successful?


3) Where there any failing characteristics of the information design [chart junk? aesthetic issues? lack of information]? If so why did they hinder the clarification of understanding the facts?

1) To give a very basic information about skateboarding competitions
2) It offers a variety of information that covers all aspects of the sport;
   the use of a flat color in select areas help to focus the image that they
   are highlighting
3) while conceptually I understand the use of the flashy background
   in the largest graphic on the layout (to simulate the arena) it is a little
   distracting

1) transportation system map
2) everything is color coded with clean simple lines that follow
   routes
3)I found the map to be aesthetically pleasing and didn't notice anything

1) Field guide for Jays
2) It offers clean illustrations of the birds, their locality, song
   pattern as well as a reference to compare their size
3) I feel like it works. The illustrations are detailed enough that
  they read realistically and can replace a photo

more food

Today was a pitfire! I forgot to take my camera to the actual firing, but I took a picture of the cake I made for it. It's a version of BTS cake--chocolate cake, drenched in carmel and condensed milk, topped with cool whip and heath bar crumbles. basically a diabetic's coma

Miracle Berry

For some reason my computer couldn't access my email account or blogger yesterday... But here's the post for yesterday.


After work I ran into my friend grocery shopping and she invited me over to and split a miracle berry tablet with her. (Miracle berries alter your taste buds that detect bitter and sour so that they perceive sweetness instead). It only lasted 20 minutes, but we spent the whole time gorging ourselves on fruit. It was quite fun and very delicious.

post for today and yesterday

Final video

Sunset

There were really pretty colors in the sunset tonight

what I have so far:

*sigh*

What I really want to be doing.....

Cat in a box (part 2)

I really just need some time to recharge my batteries and try to at least make a dent in the mountain of homework I have...

cat in a box (friday's post)

"creative" post

So, earlier this month, while shopping, I saw a lady that had a reusable bag that was made from plastic bags. Instantly I was able to conceptualize how the bag was made: melt plastic bags together and attach 1" wide straps for handles and to strengthen 'seams'. Unfortunately I didn't have access to a working sewing machine today, BUT I was equipped with a nice iron ... so I improvised this substitute. It's able to carry 14 books, but there's still some improvements to be made...

Another Picture. I promise I'll work on more craft things after I dig myself out of the mountain of homework that's accumulated. This picture has interesting depth of field even though it's not a good picture.

Tuesday

my Valentine 

Royal Icing

So today I learned how Royal Icing got it's name... it's not because it's worthy of royalty.. oh no. it's because it's a royal pain in the ass to use. JEEZ! Sugar cookies also rank as my least favorite cookie just because they're so plain that they usually requires some sort of icing... and probably because I don't have a good recipe for it. I like chewy cookies and well the taste tester that I left myself.... there was definitely a crunch to it. Oh well.

Happy Valentine's Day. (2 minutes early)

I have twelve cookies to give away tomorrow (at least the results were acceptable....)

revisions

When I was working on the revisions for my vegetables and the fruit, I focused mainly on adjusting the line weights and paying attention to what detail was needed and what would be considered unnecessary.

I took out quite a few of the lines that represented the grooves along the squash.  Also I adjusted the line weights along the stem.

This one was still probably the trickiest. I played around with the question of "what is necessary" and ended up only hiding the  three lines that were along the center. I feel like the "veins" at the top added some of the characteristics of Romaine. 

This one I worked on just taking out extra information as a result a lot of the extra line work that defined the leaves were cut as well as part of the stem that originally extended out.

For my presentation, I've decided the order that I'm going to have it in (Introduction/Background. His work. Case Study: Why men create. Ending with his advice for young designers) however, I still don't really know how to use InDesign so I'm still muddling around in it.

While playing with Karen's symbol project I stumbled upon something interesting. I accidently changed the font size of a pattern without paying attention and the result was pretty cool, so I tried it on a few others. Unfortunately only a couple had interesting results.

Valentine's

Originally this was just an idea for the valentine's day cards for GDA. However, working on it makes me want to explore the possibilities more. I had several friends that helped me write "I love you" in different languages. In the card, I pen tooled their handwriting and organized it in a way that formed a heart. In the future I hope to further explore different handwritings with "I love you"

Tomatoes

For fun I'd sketched the tomatoes exploring the shading and shadows. When I'm exploring shading and shadows I ban myself using an eraser trying to get the essence and then manipulating to correct for errors.

Final Vectors

In the end I chose to do only outlines instead of having a fill. The only produce that looked reasonable with a fill was the lettuce; the other two appeared flat with the fill added.

I feel like in the end my produce are well represented. I used a tapered stroke that helped create a sense of dimension. The lettuce and the squash might be a little ambiguous without color, but I feel like someone that is used to shopping would still be able to realize that it was Romaine lettuce and spaghetti squash.

Romaine lettuce, while tasty, is quite obnoxious to vector. It was hard to find a balance of information. The edges of the leaves are jagged in a way that are distinctive; the long thick rib that runs along the center of each leaf is also recognizable characteristic. However adding lines for the ribs ended up making the vector too busy. So they're implied with the few veins I've showed at the top of select leaves.

Vine tomatoes are recognizable through their vines and the fact that when you purchase them, you buy them in a small cluster. It was fun exploring which combination would work the best. Individually, they were identifiable as tomatoes, but despite having a long stem they didn't read as well as vine tomatoes. I feel like three and four tomatoes became too cluttered. As a result I settled with a couple still attached by the vine.

Exploring the Spaghetti squash was tricky. Immediately the shape and stem help to identify the produce as a member of the squash family, but what was it that made it recognizable? I studied the cross section of the squash, but with the insides starting to shred it was too much (also it wouldn't have matched the other two items I'd chosen if this one was the only one shown prepared). In the end I noticed that the puckering and welts a long the sides of the squash were something that I'd always noticed when I purchased one. I don't recall ever buying one that was completely void of similar marks.

It was challenging balancing the amount of detail. I wanted my images to read as realistic, but at the same time simplified. It was challenging finding that balance

I'm satisfied that they read collectively. they share a similar style and simplification

sketches

I don't know why but Watson seems to love leafy greens. As a result, there was a mini photo shoot for him during my examination of Romaine lettuce

Veggies and Fruit

I chose to do Romaine Lettuce hearts, Spaghetti Squash, and Vine Tomatoes. These are just the general forms. Unfortunately I still had a lot of left overs I needed to polish of so I haven't done the photographs studying the insides of the squash and tomato, but I'll do that after class tomorrow when I'm using them to make lunch. Scans will be uploaded in the morning when I have access to a scanner

useless decoration

I feel like I've seen used for letterheads. However, I could never find it so I don't know if I dreamt it or it was just a passing thought that stuck. Anyway. I make a how to zine with this and it includes my calculations I need to get angles for lines.

nitty gritty

I really enjoy sketching with pen. It's a challenge knowing that there's no erasing. Here are the rough sketches I did while researching the produce. And the Shitzu from the power point presentation.

Panoramic Shot

Morning Sunrise.