If you're reading this, it probably means that you've been looking for an excuse to get out of the heat and sit in an air-conditioned room with a computer. This week's blog bring yet another 'Mini Art School Project'. I'll share that tonight's activities were a lot of fun, so much so, that I spent more time than I'd like to admit just playing with formats, colors, alignment, etc. My niece came into my office tonight, looked at my computer screen, and asked if I was coloring. It was FUN!
There were 3 activities that I did tonight. Let's jump right in...
Activity #1 - Cropping
I had a lot of fun cropping images. I found that sometimes all it took to impact the image was cropping a small amount (surprisingly). Other times, I found cropping extreme horizontal/vertical changed the focus of the image dramatically. For each of the images, the original one is embedded first and the cropped is embedded second. Take a look and let me know what you think. My favorite is the picture of the bridge.
Of all the activities tonight, I probably had the most fun with this one. When I read the title of the book, it immediately made me think of doing it as a children's book. With that being said, I designed the cover to be horizontal instead of vertical. I also was intentional in picking a font and image that would capture the attention of children. My theme can be summarized in two words: fun & cute. Better yet, it could be summarized in one word: Awwwwww.
To illustrate another cropping practice, I included the original image that I started with. Which of these two covers do you like best?
COVER #1
COVER #2
Activity #3 - Borders
This final activity was interesting, as I found that it is VERY easy to switch between border types. Much like experimenting with fonts, I found that it is crucial to find the "right" border for your design. With that being said, you need to try several variations to find it. Here are a few examples of my borders.
Thanks so much for reading another addition of my blog. As always, here is another picture of the Bean!
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI like the second picture of the bridge the best I think. The focus leads right to the bridge and it communicates that well. The cropped one of the church was kid of confusing though. Was your focus the landscape in the background or the church? It seems a bit unbalanced.
The activity with the book cover is really interesting! I would have never thought of it as a children's book with dogs. I thought about it more as a preteen/young adult so until you illustrated with the picture I wouldn't have ever thought of that!
Love the pictures of your daughter with the borders! It is amazing how much a border can change the conveyance of the picture. My favorite is the pink polka dotted border.
Have a great day!
Shannon
Hey Steve!
ReplyDeleteI'm back to follow you because your blog posts are just entertaining! My boyfriend agrees that you have the most adorable little girl! :)
My favorite picture from your cropping exercise was the bench picture. It looks like it's very secluded and relaxing, whereas in the bigger/original photo, the view from the benches is more than just glistening water. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say, whether the picture is cropped or not! Awesome job. Which one was your favorite?
I noticed that a lot of your crops, the ones you barely cropped any parts out (like the photo of yourself), it makes the picture look a bit straighter compared to the original.
The cover photo of the dogs in black and white (without the text) is so touching. But the message gets across. Compared to the text that you use (comic sans?), it becomes silly! Using what we learned last week about fonts I see.
There are so many options when it comes to borders, but you can just tell when something looks right or just outright obscure.
Nice work on this mini art school.
-Henna T.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteVery good post! and thank you for not disappointing me and including your cute Bean at the end.
I love your choices for this week. My favorite book cover is the first one, the second has too much going on. I also love how your cropped your images and your overall sense of humor and relaxed tone of your posts. I almost feel that I am having face to face chat with you. Great job :) Looking forward to the next post :)
Natalia
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI love your sense of humor -- the title of this post literally made me laugh out loud. As always, the bean is adorable as ever.
I was so happy to hear that you had fun with these exercises! While I realize that you're "required" to do these assignments for the course, but I'm glad you can find the enjoyable aspects of them. I think that they're not only fun to work on, I thoroughly enjoy seeing my students' different takes on the task requirements from semester to semester.
Nicely done!
Erica