LESSON 09!

Heyyyyy y'all!

In this lesson, we learnt about spot healing!

Yeppp, now I can make all my pimples disappear in pictures, how I wish I could do it in real life too, haha!

Here's the exercise that I did after Ms Sng described and showed us in detail as to how to do spot healing! :)

I was so happy when I managed to do it but a bit sad as well because that just means most of celebrities' pictures are edited! :( 

Next, we played around with fishies and cat! 

We tried to change the colour and add in new fishes! This was made possible with scaling, rotating, flipping and opacity! 

My sports car looks awesome, doesn't it? :)


All in all, really enjoyed trying the new tools and the recap for the previous lesson was really useful and really enjoyed this lesson!

Till the next lesson! :)  

LESSON 08!

Heyyyyy y'all!


Well, it's after the break now and hope you had a great break too! ^^


In this lesson, its the first lesson! Once again, this was my expression

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/234/765/b7e.jpg

But, after a while and my success with this photo, made me feel all better! 

It's not only the change in black and white, but I had to change the hue and the saturation to achieve this image! 

In this lesson, we learned these things

• Hue/ Saturation
• Brightness/ Contrast
• Levels
• Curves
• Sharpen

I think the takeaway for this lesson was that with these photoshop lessons, everyone can look good!

Look at Harry Styles, before and after!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&docid=vEcGB5ukm5-7eM&tbnid=p0lIticw60ciiM:&ved=0CAIQjBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.befter.com.br%2Fuser%2FThalesRC%2Fbeft%2Fharry-styles-before-and-after-photoshop%2Fdownload%2F&ei=PLDbUv-XBMOOrgeM9YG4Bg&bvm=bv.59568121,d.bmk&psig=AFQjCNHrBPZhQIAI3FUNHikZTduyIlFaiA&ust=1390215578430226

Finally, with these skills that Ms Sng has taught us, maybe I have a shot at becoming a model? Okay, maybe I'm stretching it a little! :D

The next part of the lesson was to learn about the basic tools in Photoshop! 

The tools that we learnt were 

• move
• lasso
• magic wand
• crop
• clone
• eraser
• image size

Look at Singa after the exercise given during tutorial!

All in all, this was an enjoyable lesson and I believe these photoshop lessons are really useful and are fun to learn! Once again, much thanks to Ms Sng for always helping out the lost kid AKA me sometimes! :D

That's all folks! ;) 

LESSON 06!

Heyyyy! 

Today we learnt more about illustrator! Tools such as direct selection, shape, colours, scale, pen tools, type, rotate, scale and place is what I learnt today. I did know any of these before coming so I was looking like this..

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/a6/a624de596c009402028bfd9bd6a709568c8c5fe40866f2783599b68ac1d9138c.jpg

However, as the lesson progressed and with Ms Sng's patience (Thanks Ms Sng for helping me so much! ^^) , I began to understand so much more and I got it!

http://3qg0uhbl5al3e0i845jvgilso.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Ok-now-i-get-it.jpg

The first thing we learnt is to plan before we start and to break it into layers! 

For example, this lion mascot had so many layers before it became this: 

This part of the lesson was really useful considering that our CA is to create a mascot for our t-shirt brand. 

Next, we learnt about typography and the fonts that we could use for our design. That's when this website was introduced to us and it was really cool to see the different fonts! 

This website is http://www.1001freefonts.com and it had so many different fonts that can be used!

And it super easy to install as well, by clicking download for Mac and then opening the ZIP file would help to install the font in your computer!

Here's my name in Caveman font! 

I thought this lesson was one that was really useful and helpful with the CA assignment! Though, it seemed a little hard in the beginning, I believe with some practice, I would be able to do it and who knows, maybe I'll become a Illustrator Pro! Or, well maybe not, hehe :D

That's all, folks! :) 

LESSON 05!

Heyyyy y'all! Its the 5th lesson already! 

WASSUP TODAY?! 

• Graphic design history
• Logo& Mascot design
• Intro to Adobe Illustrator CS6 (Illustrator 101!) 

Yeah, seems like it's gonna be interesting lesson, aye? :D

So, the first thing that we learnt is about logo design! 

We learnt 3 types of logo design--- Iconic, Logotype and Combination Marks!

And out of these, my fav is Iconic, maybe because I'm biased towards.. 

http://bestwallpaperhd.com/mac-apple-logo-wallpaper.html

Yeah, I mean who isn't biased towards Apple right?! I've gotta good feeling that Apple probably got famous because the logo is simple, iconic and memorable! Also, I think even if you show this to a toddler, the toddler would understand what the logo means! 

Just look at this baby!

 http://www.fredthompsonsamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/babyipad.jpg

                             

So, moving on, we also learnt the 5 principles of EFFECTIVE logo design-- Simple. Memorable. Timeless. Versatile. Appropriate. 

Sounds pretty complicated but I think the above example of Apple's Logo fits the criteria and not only that but also it fits the personality of the company itself!

The activity for this lesson was to do the learn more about logos and my group was assigned to find out 3 examples of logos-- Iconic, symbolic and logotype in the non-government sector.

This is my favourite: 

http://sgentrepreneurs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/chope-logo.png

Next up, we learnt about Mascot Design! 

"Mascot is a representative figure, a symbol and a communication tool for somebody/organization/campaign/product."

Thanks to Visual Comm, my misunderstanding of mascots to be just something cute and furry has changed tremendously.

The 5 qualities that a good mascot has: Connection to company profession and values. Background story. Appeal. Style for target audience. Props and accessories.

However, apart from that, the mascot should be a visual representation of what the company is and a backstory and appropriate colours would help! #wisewords.

My favourite mascot: 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6173/6180347618_f07b5f2dd6_o.jpg

Chocolate+Tall+Cute and truly encapsulates the meaning of Hershey's, what's there not to love about this mascot? :D

This was an important takeaway from the lesson since our very first CA would be about making a logo and a mascot for a t-shirt. More updates on that will be posted soon! :)

Last but not least, its Adobe Illustrator 101! Learnt about the basic tools and we did some basic tracing! At first, it was really hard for me because my technical skills and my ability skills are as a good as a seal using the computer for the first time (just imagine it, hehe :D) 

So, thankfully Ms Li Sar helped me a lot and really thankful for her help and patience! :))

Was so proud to have finished it :D

It was an awesome lesson and an helpful lesson for the CA and I think it's a awesome skill to have! :) 

That's all for today, folks! :) 

LESSON O4!

Heyyyyyy y'all! It's the fourth lesson already! 

Another history lesson! And nope, I did not fall asleep, hehehehe! xD

The first part of the lesson was about the history of books and I think the coolest has to be this wax tablet! 

                                   http://www.bibleandscience.com/store/catalog/images/Roman%20Wax%20Tablet%20&%20Stylus.jpg

I mean the idea of stylus probably came from there right?! 

We also learnt about the different types of books in the history like the papyrus scrolls, animal skins (luckily there was no animal activists around, imagine the protests that could be happening around the world!)  

We also learnt about Jan Tschichold( I wish I knew how to pronounce his name!)  and how his teachings on typography, asymmetrical design and white space to commercial design CHANGED everything!! 

Next, we learnt about the short history about posters and I gotta admit the Vantage Point poster which is a modern american movie poster is my favourite out of all the examples shown in class!

http://www.impawards.com/2008/vantage_point_xlg.html

Later, we were assigned to groups to explore more about the different art movements and mine is on Pop Art! The first thing that popped in my head was Marilyn Monroe, haha! :D And while I was researching about the Pop Art, I found a very interesting thing, pop art refers to not the art itself but also the one's attitude towards it and it coincided with the globalisation of pop and music! The two artists that we researched on was Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. And haha, really love Pop Art now after researching on it, it's so fun and eccentric and awesome-- ALL AT THE SAME TIME! 

My favourite pop art-- food+art, it can't get any better! 

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs50/PRE/i/2009/335/b/2/KFC_POP_ART_by_jessimck.jpg

Next we learnt about how to do a storyboard and it was a useful lesson since it can be used in our Video Production module! I'm not going to upload a photo of my storyboard because my drawing is as bad a... Wait, I'll let ya know when I find a word :D 

Next we learnt about mood boards and their uses! I didn't know there could be so many uses for a mood board! 

We were then assigned to make a mood board as our assignment and here's mine! Try making a guess for the theme!

No idea? Hehe, well the theme is concert and so there are many things that is in a concert: Fans, Performances, Posters, Cameras to record but most people don’t realise the aftermath of it, the trash and litter all over the venue.

Well, that's all for today folks! :) 

  

LESSON 03!

HI ALL! :)

We learnt more about the history of symbols and typography.

Wait, isn't history supposed to be boring?! Not in Visual Communications for sure!

We learnt more of the different types of symbols including ideogram, rebus and logotype.

Each and every single one of them are very different and hold different purposes and uses.

This could be very useful for our CA as we are required to create a logo and a mascot for our T-Shirt brand. To reinforce what we have learnt, we were tasked to form a group and I was part of the group to research on the various symbols of Singapore. I was really surprised to find the different types of symbols in Singapore and it was fun presenting it to the class as well and as others presented on different people such as Saul Bass, we could learn more. 

Next, we learnt more about the different types of typography and our lecturer, Ms Li Sar also showed us many different types of fonts. I was impressed to learn that typography has a long history and I can't wait to try my hand at using these various fonts! 

Next, we learnt basic photography. I had fun playing around with my camera and learning the various rules such rule of thirds and balance. 

Lines

This pictures were taken outside the Visual Communications class and I had to find the best angles to portray the theme well. 

Framing

For framing, I just wanted to keep
it simple.

Rule of thirds

Simplicity 

Balance

I had fun doing this homework as I really had to take notes of my angles instead of just taking photos any way that I like. 

That's all for today,folks! :D

LESSON 02!

HI all!
Visual Communications modules never fail to be interesting and are never mundane.
So, let's get started on LESSON 02!


Firstly, we learnt about the various textures and how to make visual textures using lines, shapes or colours. We were tasked to do 3 different textures.

My first texture

We were told to do the first texture of something that represents us. After thinking for a while, I decided to draw 3 things : clouds, curvy lines and straight lines. This is because, firstly, being a person who loves and treasures freedom and one who detests being in a fixed place, clouds represent these facts well. The curvy lines shows how I'm usually a messy person and disorganised but the straight lines describe the fact that I am able to adapt to the situation and I am able to be organised should there be a need to do so. 

My second texture

This second texture that we were asked to draw is a texture found in our surroundings. It was not a daunting task as there were many textures to choose from like the tables in the classroom or windows. After some contemplation,I decided to use a pattern that was printed on Raimi's pencil case who was sitted beside me. Drawing this required some time as I had difficulty gauging the length of the zig-zag lines and the amount of spacing between the dots. 

My Third Texture

 We were then tasked to do a texture based on what we would think is futuristic or modern and since most modern designs are usually made of lines, I decided to draw that as my texture. I first drew 3 triangles and then elaborated on the design by adding more lines in each triangle but with each triangle's lines not the same as other.

We were then taught on the various line quality and the various methods of shading! I did not realise that with different types of line quality and line pressure we could make out different shapes or objects. We were also shown examples to illustrate the point. I really hope that I could use this part of the lesson well for the logo-making for our CA. 

I did not know that there were different types of shading and it really intrigued me.

Thereafter, we touched on the basics of Perspective drawings which were the point of sight and the horizontal line. We were also shown some examples on good and bad examples of perspective drawings to aid our understanding on this specific part of the lesson. 

Our next activity was to attempt our perspective drawing.

This picture was taken at the link bridge. 

Drawing in Perspective was very challenging as we had to take in several things in consideration including how the distance affects the shading and the proportions had to be right. I overcame it by paying close attention and focusing carefully. This definitely took some time and effort, but however, it did not turn out as well as  I hoped it would but I'm not going to give up and I am going to practise and learn from my mistakes.

Our next part of the lesson was about the principles of design and how it is being used in various places or logos. After our lecturer has gone through the examples and the definitions of the 8 principles, we had an activity of finding 2 other examples as a group and share and present to the class. Through this activity, I better understood the principles and the wrong examples that was presented by some of us were pinpointed to ensure that we do not repeat the same mistakes again.


In summary, we learnt about line design, perspective and the principles of design and much much more! The examples shown helped me to understand the designs better and it would prove to be useful especially when designing logos. The activities also enforced the lesson better for me and it was a fun and interesting LESSON 02! :)