Tutorials!!!

One thing I would also like to suggest to you all is to never underestimate a tutorial!

If you're unsure, a tutorial can show you step by step how to achieve what you would like to accomplish. It is important to know that many looks or styles do not happen in one step, but requires a lot of prepping and pruning to achieve a polished finish product.

If you're ever stuck -- GOOGLE!!

Designer Spotlight: The Color Cure

Through the networking site known as Tumblr, I've found a lot of amazing designers who focus on advertising as well as web design.

One specifically stuck out: The Color Cure.

The three person team is based in the Philippines but has already reached International credits in their first few years as a legitimate firm. Their ad campaign for Nestel and web design for babyli.st has been something I admire and find inspiration in. Take a look at their portfolio!

Weekend

This weekend wasn't full of designing, like I thought it would  be.

However, it did have some instances of it!

My cousin is a tattoo artist who was trying to use my Illustrator to design new fonts.  I was able to show him outlines and the direct selection tool to morph the edges to get the desired effect.

With my help, my cousin was able to find a suitable style that fit his need for his business card.

As I said, it was a bit boring of a weekend, but hey -- it still was something.

Scheduling

I'm excited to get my schedules each time we go to S.T.A.Rs! It's great to see who will be in classes with me and what classes I'll be taking in the immediate future. I love seeing how much I'm going to learn and it also prepares me to look up information pertaining to the next class.

Besides that, I finished my paper on podcasting last week and finally learned the specifics of podcasting. I've idly dealt with podcasting and contributed to Skype/video recording for comic book podcasting, but I've never had a chance to learn the technical side. Now, I do, and it was far more confusing then I imagined. It's weird; going from something you know offhand to knowing the specifics intimidates me more then it does if I was completely knew to the idea!

Adventures in Flash

I'm really digging the assignment dealing with the aquarium and fish. It's really cool to get a good grip on motion tweens and adjustments like that. My favorite so far has been skewing the seaweed to give the illusion of movement -- it will be very helpful in the future!

One thing that I find really intimidating is drawing in Flash. I'm just so use to using shapes and the pen tool in Illustrator I can't imagine doing anything else....

One day, Flash, one day.

Things That Inspire

On today's entry, I'd like to talk about things that inspire me. I highly encourage you all to reply with what encourages you! I'd like to know other walks of life and opinions on the matter.

For me, there are three main areas of design that inspire me.

1. Colors. I'm a real big sucker for complimentary color schemes. I tend to play it safe with my choices of colors and I applaud those who can take harsh colors such as reds and blues, and make them into a beautifully balanced piece. I get inspired seeing combinations of colors I never thought I'd see together in a piece. It makes me want to push out of my safe zone to experiment, even if I usually end up frustrated. 
2. Fonts. Seeing the way other designers put fonts together is truly something I look up to. As you can tell from my last post, I adore typography and dealing with fonts. Even if I love seeing it, I usually fall short in that area. I want to see myself as someone who can handle fonts appropriately. Seeing others deal with fonts in such a superb manner really inspires me to continue working!
3. Storytelling. For me, there always has to be a story behind a piece. Throwing together colors and fonts are one thing, but having a respect and creative flow to form a reason why the piece is the way it is will always be a great love of mine. Everything starts from something, so allowing your ideas to sprout like seeds into a tree and vocalizing it shows such a passion that makes me really respect the author.

What inspires you?

Tuesday Ramblings

One of my passions is dealing with fonts. Finding ways to arrange, modify, and align fonts in the form of Typography is a personal project I would like to work on. There are many sites, such as Beautiful Type, Typophile Gangsta, and Green Type Blog that display amazing collections of typography. I can't wait to learn more and feel confident enough to explore font work.

On another note, I was able to finish the first project given with Flash. I will never want to hear "Shopping and Dining" again after the amount of times I had to edit the audio. That was the most challenging part, in my opinion. Syncing the lips and swapping them out was not as hard as I believed, so that was an absolute relief. I am kind of excited to see the other possibilities of Flash and excited to use it in my web design.

Why Design?

First of all, this is long. So feel free to skim (this means you, Sarah).

This weekend, my boyfriend of 3 years, entered his second semester of college. Upon that, he had list of possible academics. Like myself, he's highly involved in web and technology, but unlike myself he has no skills in design. He found himself at a crossroad. He found himself unable to find a suitable career he could see himself in for a long run. I felt guilty, because I find myself in a career that I love.

Justin asked me, in a blunt and almost embarrassed tone, "How did you decide on being a designer?"

What could I say? I couldn't lie and say I always knew I'd be a designer. Then again, I couldn't rub in the fact that I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to do what I love.

I was at a loss of words and all I could give was a simple "I don't know".

It was actually a wake up call. While Justin still putters along trying to find out what he wants to be when he grows up, I'm here wondering why I want to be what I am.

In the lulling sound of my air conditioner blasting full heat on a cold night, I laid awake. It was a hard thought to shake. 

Why? 

Why am I a designer?

Certainly, it wasn't something I just stumbled upon. I thought intricately and delicately of why I was where I am today. 

The only answer, as simple and pure as it was, was "because it feels right".

I want to have a creative outlet. I want to solve solutions for people who can not find an answer themselves. I want to challenge myself. I want to provide a service that gives me a bit of pride. I want to find confidence. I want to deliver a message. 

And at the end of it all...

I want to be remembered.

For someone who stood in back of a crowd, who sat in a class and spoke to no one, who grew up without any special needs or wants -- I want to be selfish for a moment. For once.

I want to be able to see my designs come to life. I want to see my creativity praised. I want to be feel that knot of excitement and disbelief in my stomach when I find out someone likes my work and finds it enough. All of the other factors are a beneficial aspect that reflects my will and desire to help people. 

Helping people find an identity and providing a service to people is something that is a great thing to do, but for once, is it so wrong to be selfish? 

Test Drive

Well, this is the first entry to a list of entries pertaining to graphic design. I'm not use to ranting or speaking out about design -- it's just something I always did without much pride. A hobby, if you will. So, it's going to be quite the challenge for me to even rant about the problems or express some of the inner workings of design and my creative process. It's just something I did, no matter how frustrated I personally got, and pushed through it.

Yeah, this is hard already.

Anyway, I guess I'm going to start this entry off by speaking about the upcoming requirements of Tech class -- learning Flash and Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver can wait, so let's talk about Flash.

I'm excited to learn about it, since it's something I always wanted to incorporate into my web design, but ultimately very intimidated. The program itself seems very... busy. Frame by frame, objects, new tools and functions -- it's a lot to take in. However, I am determined to learn the program as if it's Illustrator and Photoshop.

It's just keeping that confidence when I can't get something working, is the problem.

Creatively,
Jasmine