4 Different Ways to Use Text

Project Description: To create the things on this page I used the instructions given to me by my teacher, and images online. There it text art, figure ground reversal, ligatures, and the usage of symbols. 

New Skills, Processes & Tools Learned: 
text stacking
divide tool
place tool
trace tool
Self Reflection: I enjoyed these  lot more than the past tutorials because it was more of a creative process. I like what i did with the french onion soup, penguin and figure group reversal pieces. I thought the tracing tool was pretty cool and i enjoyed playing around with the colors on that. 

Part/Proj: 10/10

Project Description: To create the shapes on this practice sheet I used victordiary.com 's learn AI in 30 days tutorials 8-12.It took me a few classes to work through and then I drew some flowers with my new skills.

New Skills, Processes & Tools Learned: 
Shape tools:Pathfinder tools
Drawing tools: Brush tool
Fill tools:Gradient tool, opacity tool

Self Reflection: Everything on these tutorials I found pretty easy. I had a good time messing with the brush tool, and liked the different transparencies. I tried using some things from the tutorial to draw the flowers (i.e. the stems are brush strokes, i used opacity on the petals and vase, etc.)
Part/Proj: 10/10

Logo design research

Here are some good logo design websites i've found

• The Basic Principles of Logo Design - This websites discusses how to design a logo, keeping in mind things like simplicity, originality, and versatility. It gives examples of good and bad logos, recommending to have second opinions on your logo just incase it looks like something you didn't want it to.
• Common Mistakes in logo design - This website made a great point about relying on color for a great logo. The artist must keep in mind that sometimes their logo will need to be printed in black and white and therefore shapes are necessary. Additionally, font choice can make or break a logo.
• 38 Cool Logos - While searching for inspirational logos I came across this webpage. I really like the illusions in these logos.
• Logo Tutorial - This is a logo tutorial showing how to use pictures from the internet (that you trace) and font choice the create a nice logo.
• 3D Logo Tutorial - This tutorial shows how to create 3D logos. Depending on in which direction I plan to go this might be a good resource.
• Yet Another tutorial, - I really like the complex simplicity of this one (if that makes sense). If I were to use this I would have to be careful of relying too much on color so it could go either way.

Spaceship Tutorial

Tutorial Description: I made this with the help of the spaceship tutorial from denisdesign.net and used the information I learned from victordiary.com tutorials. It took me three classes plus an extra one class to make the sky in the background.

New Skills, Processes & Tools Learned: 

Tools: pathfinder tool, stroke tool, & opacity tool

Self Reflection: I am pleased with how my spaceship came out. I think the shapes look well-proportioned and i like the colors. I like what i did with the sky in the background. I drew five constellations with the star shape tool. At the top left I drew the big dipper, below that, in the bottom left, I drew Orion, and then in the bottom right I drew the little dipper. These I drew because they are the ones that I am most familiar with. Then i drew pegasus in the top right and The archer in the right center because unlike most constellations, I actually see the shapes.
Part/Proj: 10/10

Almost Halloween!

Being that Halloween is quickly approaching, I drew the great pumpkin from Charlie Brown today in class. I used the pencil tool, pen tool, and fill tool to make it. The fact that to select points to use the fill tool was a bit annoying, but i suppose it is better that way for different projects.

Adobe Illustrator

Project Description: To create the shapes on this practice sheet I used victordiary.com 's learn AI in 30 days tutorials 1-7. It took me two classes to figure out how everything used works and finish up the shapes.

New Skills, Processes & Tools Learned: 
Shape tools: Rectangle, ellipse, star.
Drawing tools: Pen, Pencil & Change anchor Point tool.
Fill tools: fill tool & Gradient tool

Self Reflection: The shape tool and pencil tool both came easy. I had no problem creating the shapes and moving and redrawing with the pencil tool. The pen tool, on the other hand, quickly made me frustrated. It took me a while to pick up how to drag the lines to get the desired curve. However, after a fair amount of practicing and experimenting, I started liking it. 
Part/Proj: 10/9

Illusions

The other day I was browsing the Internet when i came across this link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/08/25/129429199/overhead
What this guy does is he sets up a background on the ground, stands on a ladder and takes what looks like action shots from above. While there are a few that I don't particularly find impressive, the entire concept of these photos is incredible. Maybe I found something to experiment with next summer! regardless, I think they are fun to look at.

Mr. Trashcan

This past summer I spent a few weeks working at a farm stand near my house. Sometimes business was really slow and I found that i spent the majority of my time drawing the fruit rather than selling it. I started out just scribbling pictures with a black sharpie and blue pad of paper, but as time went on and the "same-old, same-old" got dull i started experimenting with techniques and perspectives. I ended up drawing between 1-3 pieces per day, and while most of them quickly met Mr. Trashcan, some of them were saved and are currently sitting in a messy pile on my desk (also probably going to meet Mr. Trashcan eventually.) Despite whether or not they end up in the trashcan, they were successful in keeping me entertained the entire summer.