Semester Reflection

          This semester has consisted of multiple projects which were divided up into two different categories; Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. The projects you will see down below are the challenge problems from all the skills we learned.

Adobe Photoshop Challenge 

          The first project featured was from first quarter, the photoshop challenge. We spent about two weeks in class working on photoshop tutorials and for our assignment we had to compose a pictures using all the skills we were taught from the compilation of the tutorials. This project took maybe 3 hours, maximum. I spent a lot of time rearranging how I wanted my model to look which is what took to such time. Multiple times I ran across problem with this project that were very frustrating. Sometimes I would not notice that I missed sections of the picture until I thought I was finished with a full section like the coat. Another one I noticed kept happening was that the magnetic lasso tool would move without my mouse moving which became really frustrating because I could never figure out why (the batteries in the mouse were running low). I learned that Adobe Photoshop, at least for this particular project requires you to pay a lot of attention to the littlest details, and that you can not rush what you are trying to accomplish because most of the time it will result in messing up on your project. I was not given much feed back on this particular assignment aside from that I was one of the "helpers" in class because I seemed to have a pretty good grasp on what I was doing with photoshop. Nothing was changed on this assignment before I blogged about it, but going back and looking at it now I know there are multiple things that could be corrected and done better. Overall, I this was one of my three favorite assignments we have has this year and it is a project I will remember how to do because it is really relaxing and you get extremely unique results.

Adobe Illustrator Raccoon Postcard

          The second set of tutorials we did were with Adobe Illustrator. The assignment featured below is the finished product of the tutorials. It started out with a simple creation of a raccoon, which turned into adding a background and making it our own. From there, we turned it into a post card and added hand written typography. This project as a whole, including the tutorials, the individual creations, the handwritten typography, and creating a holiday themed postcard took about 2 weeks I believe. Illustrator is actually my favorite software when it comes to graphic design, so I was very familiar with how it worked and did not experience hardly any complications. The biggest problem I ran into with this project was that my postcard would not save correctly which resulted in my postcard not printing right. It was a bit disappointing to get it back and seeing it in two parts instead of together but seeing my work "published" was a very satisfying feeling. I learned how quickly different shades and tints of color can change the outcome of your project. When you begin to wonder off and add your own touched on project, color creations are much more difficult than when the combination for a shade is just in the tutorial. Feedback I was given was that for future reference, a grey bunny may be a better choice because when it is printed, the bunny happens to look like a floating head instead of an actual bunny. I received this feedback after it was printed so nothing was changed. However, my hand written typography was changed multiple times because the font type did not really seem to fit with the feel of the card. Some fonts came off too harsh for the sensitive easter card I has made, while others did not fit with what I was making. The design process of this I thought was unique because we had freedom, within a structured outline. We changed things, added things, and published out final work, and I very much enjoyed the process of this.

Adobe Illustrator Infographic 

          The third project was also done in Adobe Illustrator. We were to design an infographic we were passionate about and I chose organ donation. We were to put an 11x17 infographic together that was not too busy and easy to read. It was to be visually appealing and look very clean. This project actually took me about two days. I ended up getting sick the day this was assigned so I went home and worked on this project for about 6 hours to get it how I wanted in. When I came back to school I switched a couple things around and changed up the coloring on different aspects to make it more visual for each section of the infographic. The biggest challenge faced with this project was the creation of the "statistic" triangle, as well as using the pen took to trace a bunch of the little organs inside of the graphic. Another thing I finch challenging was that I wanted to put so much information on there because I would love for people to know a lot about Organ Donation, but I had to only put what was considered the most important. Most of the feedback I was given was very positive. My peers very much liked the layout of my infographic and how I was able to put a lot of information on my infographic and still make it look really clean. My infographic actually had a lot more information than it should have but I used typography styles, and Swiss design elements to compact the information so it could be read in really short segments. From the original infographic to the one featured, I moved the location of the "statistic" triangle down closer to the information so there was more whit space and it looked cleaner. This project was another I very much enjoyed because it was complete creative freedom on my behalf and it was over something I was 100% passionate about which I loved. I learned from myself that infographics may be what I enjoy making most in Adobe Illustrator because they do not require a tutorial, you just play around with ideas until you come up with something that is very visually pleasing. I am very exciting to see the printed version of this project, and I think my outcome looks really good. I was able to deliver a big message into a small poster and make it look really interesting. Everything just comes together which is what makes me most proud about this project.

Graphic Design "Time"

          Time is graphic design is very valuable because you get about 40 minutes a day to make a lot of progress on whatever project you happen to be working on. Much of my time in class is used in a very productive way, hardly any is wasted. I am guilty to waisting maybe a day or two of class time a quarter on more personal work, but I generally go home and make up for class time I missed that day. When finishing early, much of my time was spent on going back and fixing the tiniest of details that pretty much just bothered me. If I was not doing that, I normally ended up googling videos on different things I could make in Illustrator, or I was working on redesigning my logo, or even personal work which I had every once in a while. Outside of class, I typically worked on tutorials assigned in class just so I  have it done the next day in class and I can make changes as needed. After being in graphic design for the past couple months, I notice a lot more graphic design elements around me which I think helps influence my own graphic style. I pay attention to how things look, and how well they are organized and what different elements are incorporated into the making of the ad, commercial, brochure, etc. 

Strengths 

          Many of my strengths come from the small amount of OCD I have when it comes to organizations and how clean things should look. I tend to put a lot of time into all the work I do, accept for the most recent slide show I made. I am very good with following directions so recreating things are most definitely a strength of mine. Adobe Illustrator is my real strength in graphic design.  My communication and leadership skills are also a strengths of mine. Presenting is one of of my favorite things. I love talking about what all went into creating my project. My technical skills, and collaboration are also strong but not as strong as my communication and my leadership. 

Improvements 

          My biggest area of improvement I need to work on, is project management. Most of my problem comes from spending so much time one little things that I rush to actually get the rest of the project done on time. Thus saying, I have never had a late assignment but I have most definitely come close because I spend so much time working on little things that could be fixed later when I have more time. Somewhere else I need to improve would be my photoshop skills because the tutorials at the beginning of the year requiring those where what I look back on and wish I could fix now. Photoshop is just not my strongest software, but I know if I keep working at it, over time I will get better. 

          This semester was wonderful. I really enjoyed the new skills I learned this semester, as well as all the new people I met coming into this class. I loved, almost, all the projects we did this year, and getting too see all the work my classmates did as well. Next semester I know I will change the quality of my work. While it is not bad, I know I can do better, and especially when creating slides, I know i can do better. Some take aways I learned from this semester is that not everyone is going to like the way your work looks, and that is just something you have to be okay with. Something could look really good to you and another person may not understand your design and there is nothing wrong with that. Another takeaway would be that pacing yourself is really important, and deadlines, are final. Work should be done on time because it is preparing us for the real world and it is a valuable skills that learning when you're younger is better. My goals for next semester is get a little out of my comfort zone because right now I tend to stick with the safer side of things; "I know that _______ and _______ go good together, so that is what I can do". I never really gave myself the opportunity to explore what other things I could make on certain assignments. Now that this semester is coming to an end, I am really thankful for all that I learned and I am looking forward to what next semester has to bring. 

Infographic Reflection

     Following video production, my newest assignment was an infographic over something I am passionate about. For this, I chose organ donation because I feel it is something people should know more about, and I love helping people so having a creative way to spread the word helped.     My research did not consist of much, as I already knew so much about my topic. I used the Gift Of Life website as well as the Donate Life website. These two websites provided me with the most important information that I was able to incorporate into my infographic.
     The original rough draft was easiest for me to come up with because I already had a vivid idea of exactly how I wanted this project to look. I started with a rectangle all the way across the page which consisted of my title. Following that, I had two rectangles directly below that which held two additional components on information. The middle was split into two, the left side being larger than the other where I placed a graphic, and the left side touching the bottom of the infographic. Finally I added a small box under my graphic for the last bit of information.

     My process for the creation was mostly done in one day. I happened to leave school, sick, and went home and worked on it for the rest of the day. I started with the graphic which took the most time, and then moved outward from there. Statistics were added next, then the states of Kansas and Missouri. After that, the basic information was put into place and the final touches were added (the little people, the title, the little vectored images of the organs, ect.)

     The only feedback I was given, was that my "Statistic" triangle needed to be moved close to the "125,000". In the image above, it has already been adjusted. Aside from the small fix, everyone in my class really liked it. I was complimented on how even though I had more words than normal, it looked very minimal and was super easy to read in under a minute. Everything looked clean, organized, my colors went well together, and overall it was just a very good infographic.

     In conclusion, this is probably one of my favorite projects so far because I got to make it based on something I really love, and am very passionate about. It was not a difficult project which eliminated frustration, and it was something that was just extremely enjoyable to make.

Feature Story Reflection

Andy Donnelly - Transplant Mentor/Liver Recipient 

Assignment: 

Our assignment was to create another feature in hopes of improving from our first feature story. We were to plan, film, edit, and produce a story noticeably different than the first. 

Pre Production: 

The process began with extensive planning. Coming up with a topic, creating interview questions, having a day-to-day schedule, as well as having days we were taking cameras home for additional footage. 

I chose the foundation of Gift Of Life as my original story. After conducting interviews with Kim Harbur and Andy Donnelly, I found that my original plan involved too many stories. I was trying to tell the story of Gift Of Life, Andy's Transplant, and Kim's experience as a recipient mom which was too much for a simple feature. From there I went with Andy's story, and began the production process.

Production:

Production began by sorting out all of Andy's good soundbites where he answered all the interview questions. After that I decided I was only going to use a small clip of his interview to tell the story. After that, a voice over was created, B-Roll was collected and the video was pulled together. The final product is what you are shown below. 

Post Production:

In post production I noticed many things I thought were good, but what also what I really struggle with. B-Roll seems to be the most difficult. None of my footage was relevant to my story except for the pictures at the end showing a liver transplant. My peer critics let me know that the video story was very good, and they felt the additional interview was not needed but relative B-Roll would have made the story much stronger, as well as slowing the pictures down a bit because they were very fast. 

Along with that, we took notes during the critic process in how we can improve our feature videos. This will be useful as we are going toe doing a news package next, and then come semester time we will be moving into entertainment.
In conclusion, I do believe this project was much better than my last although I did not blog about it. My audio skills, as well as my video skills have improved even though I know I need to work on rule of thirds during interviews, as well as the 6-shot system during B-Roll. 

"The Bravest Woman in Seattle" By Eli Sanders

"For herself, for the woman she loved, for the justice, the survivor of the South Park attacks tells a courtroom what happened that night." - Eli Sanders

          The Bravest Woman in Seattle is about a woman (who is not named in the article for privacy reasons) and her partner Teresa Butz, and the unfortunate events that took place on the night of July 19, 2009. The article is a court case about Isaiah Kalebu, the rapist and murdered of Teresa Buts, and her partner who is still alive today. While this is not something I would generally feel comfortable writing a blog post about, I thought this was by for one of the most unique and interesting articles I have ever read in my life. The article was not written in a way to scare you off, but more as a made up story that keeps you involved and wanting to hear what happens next.
          The author sticks to telling strictly the victim side of the story. He write about exactly what the two women go through, their thoughts at every moment, what they did to try and get out of it, and of course what is happening present day (the court case).
          The article itself is a very strong one. It takes this event no one is really interested in hearing about and turns it into a story which in my opinion is what every journalist should be able to do. Sanders goes back a forth between his own writing of the story, and the victim testimony which is what we do in our digital feature stories when going from interview to voice overs. The only thing I would comment on is that Sanders has a really promising hook and unfortunately I feel as if the article just kinda stopped after she mentions waning ti hear Teresa speak again. I feel like there should be another sentence pulling it all together. In this article, 'main points' are not exactly prominent because this focuses on a real life case that happened a couple years back.
          I fell that the reason this story made such an impact on me is because I love writing. He took a sensitive subject and not only added a more positive connotation to it, but made it not seem 'so scary after all' even though the situation was terrible. As a videographer, the main goal is to have a story that pulls you in, that bring emotion, gives you a heavy feeling, but also does not leave you confused, or mislead on what the actual story was about and Eli Sanders was able to follow through with that just through his writing which is why I found it so amazing.
       

For anyone who does not get discouraged by sensitive subjects, this is something I recommend you read. It is quite lengthy, but it is most definitely worth your while.

Raccoon Postcard Reflection

Assignment -

Our assignment for graphic design was to create a raccoon featuring leaves and or berries. once this portion of the project we were to demonstrate knowledge of Illustrator tools and create an animal of our choice. Finally upon completion of the project we were to turn in a 4x6 postcard to send off to have professionally printed. 

Creation -

As you can see in the screenshot to the left, We followed step by step instruction to complete the original raccoon. This seemed to be the hardest part of the assignment because this was our first Adobe Illustrator assignment of the year. Once the raccoon was created, we were able to create an animal of our choice. I chose a baby bunny which you will have the opportunity to see later in the blog post. After the bunny was done, I decided to make an easter postcard. I added many of the elements - eggs, easter basket, the raccoon, the bunny, and flowers for an additional touch of color. From there we created our own typography. We found a font and or took our own handwriting and created a design for the post card. Mine says 'Happy Easter' on the very top of the card. I made sure the color I did the typography in was a color that went well with the entire postcard.
Once everything was created, we uploaded them to Behance and made a blog post which you are currently reading! 

Final Thoughts -

This project I had a lot of fun with. It was a lot of work, and I will admit I had to take some of it home with me but overall it was my favorite project so far. I love being able to show my creative side in my own assignments, and this defiantly gave me that freedom. To the right you will be able to see the original raccoon and berries, and underneath that is my postcard. Finally you see my hand written typography, and that concludes the raccoon project. 

The Ins and Outs of Your First Audio Story

Our Assignment:  

Our second assignment in Video Production this year was an audio, news story. Our requirements consisted of 60-90 seconds, strictly audio, voiceovers, sound bites, and underlying sound effects. Our main goals for this assignment was to compose an audible story that sounded well balanced and a clear story with a beginning, middle, and end. The story was to be shared as a new segment for ONW-NOW called '1 in 2000'.

Pre-Production:

In Pre-Production we were assigned partners to do a story on. I had the privilege of working with Claire Damewood and her love for the musical arts. We were to write 21 questions to ask in the interview which allowed us to get to know who our 'ONW 1 in 2000' really was. After coming up with 21 questions we did a brief run-through of the 5 W's.

• Who was my story going to be about?
• What was the purpose of the story?
• Where would the video be shot to sound most appealing that related to the story?
• When would the story be due? 
• Why we needed to have some many components? ie. Audio Levels, Net/White Noise, Sound Effects, ect. 
• How long would the video take to make/export? 

Production:

When production began, I took Clair to the practice rooms so I could hear her play. She demonstrated Fur Else to me. From there we went to the Flex theater, and we began her interview. We made it quick and only went thought about 15 of the 21 questions. We were able to shoot all of Claire's interview in one day which was really reassuring. The video was not done as a full string, it was done in sections of 5 questions at a time in hopes Claire would really elaborate on her answers, which she did!  

Post Production:

Post production was the most complicated part of this project. A strictly audio story when you know almost nothing about Audio Channels, Audio Gains, and balancing the sound bites, voice overs, and effects to sound all level. Needless to say, I had a lot to learn. Watching lots of videos, reading tutorials/how-to's were the most time consuming but once I knew what I was doing it became very, very easy.
This picture here will help explain the process!

Every small blue clip you see with an audio channel on top and underneath is what we call a Sound Bite. This is Claire speaking. The singular audio clip is my voice over. The green underneath is what we call the Net Noise. It is the artificial background noise to create the scene. Adding it all together you get a final product, which is my audio story you can listen to right below!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-hHW14cOS0hZUxfZmw2MTY3UXc

Final Thoughts/What I learned: 

One take away I have from this project is don't underestimate how easy audio can be. Learning how to do audio is actually a difficult task and it is something I have to take time working out throughout the year. After having the class listen to it, the thing I needed to change most was when I have two of Claire's soundbites play back to back; audio levels matching at those points are crucial! Outside of that one error, I thought my video was great. For my first audio story I was surprised at how well it seemed to turn out, and so was the teacher! 

Photoshop Reflection

Overview of Project: 

Starting a new year of graphic design meant starting a new year of tutorials. Our job was to accomplish the many tutorials given to us in order to learn a variety of new skills we will be presenting in photoshop. 

What I learned: 

Over the course of the tutorials I learned many new skills. I learned how to remove branding, move labels, get ride of images, take away items from photos, as well as clean up portraits so they are free of blemishes. I learned to use tools like the spot healing brush, content aware fill, clone stamp, and patch tool. All of these skills helped me to create great images every time. 

Spot Healing Tool 

Strengths:

My strengths when it came to this project were using my knowledge on the different skills. Following the different videos made it relatively easy for me to understand how to use each of the tools and how they would change the picture.  

Weaknesses:

My weakness came at times when my computer would not work, or when the files would already be messed with. Many times I found that the images provided had already been messed with in way that additional  layers had been added and locked, or  I was unable to get the tool to work properly inside of the file opened. The skills itself I did not seem to struggle with, it was merely the computer delays that stopped me the most. 

What could be different/the same in the future:

Patch Tool 

When working in Photoshop next time, the only things I would consider changing is how the videos were made. Aspects of the video were not always the same on tier Photoshop, verses my own Photoshop. As I am not someone who remembers all the shortcuts keys, I found it very frustrating at times to find all the tools needed when it comes to using different tools for things like the challenge problem at the end of this post.
Some things I would suggest stay the same, are all the skills taught through tutorials. Those tools seemed to be the most common, as well as the only ones we will need to use for our projects this year. As this is not a very advanced class, the skills that we used seem to bump us up a bit further than previous years of Photoshop.

Final thoughts/conclusion:

Final Tutorial 

Overall, my favorite part of the project by far was the last photo shown on this post. I was given a set number of photos, and I had no parameters other than to turn it in. It game me my own creative freedom in which I could change the photo however I wanted. I mainly stuck to keeping the photo as natural as possible but by adding in all the landscape, I created a basic piece of abstract. The design of how it is done, draws the views eyes in, which I love about that. I plan on making more things like that in Photoshop as it was the most enjoyable thing I have done in graphic design the past two years. After doing Photoshop tutorials for the last month though, I am officially ready to move on to illustrator!  

                                 

Challenge Photo

ONW Planner Procedures!

ONW Procedures Assignment:

As our first project of the year kicks off, we started with a simple assignment. Our assignment was to create a procedure video showing school expectations as if we were going to give it to them entire school. The video had to be no more than 30 seconds, could not have a voice over, as well as include the 6-shot system. 

Pre-Production

Pre-Production began with the story board. We panned out how our video was going to go, drew pictures, and discussed the ideas with our teammates on how we could get the most information in, in a fun and quick way. After learning camera set-up, my partner and I decided how we were going to incorporate all the rules, as well as the information.

Production 

Production was the most fun part. We used the third hour office aid as our main actress. After finding an empty classroom we began filming our video. We initially started with a wide shot to set the scene. From there we went right into a close-up which was intended to be an extreme close up. As she takes the drink of the water, you can see of the camera focused on the background and not the subject of the video.

Medium 

Close-Up 

Extreme Wide 

     


As the video proceeds on you see the camera panning following the subject around the busy scene. The video does not feature an extreme close-up as it should, and the ending shot does not look the best as we began to pan the camera again. 

Post-Production

After shooting all the clips, we loaded them into Adobe Premiere. At that point we began to edit the video. As this was our first time using Premiere, editing seemed to take much longer than it needed to. Placing all the clips where they needed to go, cropping them to meet video rules, rearranging to tell a story, then adding music before final publication. 

Evaluation 

During evaluation, classmates had given feedback such as how adding music would be beneficial and be more appealing to an audience. The original video did not have music and was perceived as a "silent film". Another comment added was that when doing videos, still shots is all we need - we had a tendency to pan on a couple shots. Finally, we were told that the last part of the video would be better if we had positioned the camera in a different location; the shot looked too busy and made it hard to focus on just the one subject.

e-Communication Reflection

e-Communications Reflections

Throughout the course of this year I learned many new skills. These include skills from all three strains of e-Comm: Graphic Design, Animation/Web Design, and Video Production. I learned to use softwares such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Final Cut Pro. Throughout e-Comm we also learned important team building skills including communication and collaboration as well as building friendships. Most of the skills we learned were through demonstration, as well as following videos, and instructions created by our teachers. Many of our projects started out small and as our skills improved the projects became more challenging. Not only did our teachers do demonstrations but other students in our classes would teach and show off new techniques we could all interpret. After many hours of practicing the skills, I became faster and faster and my skills became more advanced. Learning these skills are important because they teach us the fundamentals of advertising, and public appeal. e-Comm has allowed our communication and presentation skills advance. By incorporating creativity and our own design to each project, it made presenting much easier as well as much more enjoyable.

My greatest strengths in e-Comm are video editing and web design. These two strands are also what I find most enjoyable because with web design it is a step by step process and with video editing it's as if you are putting a puzzle together when trying to figure out which shots look good together, along with how to edit a video. Some of my weaknesses in e-Comm include graphic design and animation. I enjoy graphic design and animation but when it comes to designing something that is visually appealing, or ‘attractive’ to one’s eye - I struggle to come up with a design a think would be good enough. Although I video and web design, some of my favorite projects were done in Graphic Design.

After my freshman year in e-Comm I have decided I would like to go into convergence journalism. I will be using my presentation and public speaking skills in front of the camera, and my video editing behind the camera. While my web design skills will not be put to use much more after sophomore year, I know convergence will be what I enjoy most. Personally, I love every aspect of the e-Comm program. We are offered fun and exciting teachers who allow us to use our own creativity to determine our grade. While sometimes I with the projects would be very precise on exactly what we are to do, I do enjoy the creative freedom. Aside from the lack of specificity, I would not change a thing.

In conclusion, this is a program I would recommend to anyone who is interested in design, or being a new anchor, or anyone who is interested in the digital arts. This program made my freshman year very enjoyable and I do not regret joining even though I had to completely start over coming to Olathe Northwest. e-Comm has so much to offer and it is the class I will always look forward to every year.

Final Blog Post! (Freshman Year)

     Looking back on this year, I see how much I have done in just a short 9 months. It seems like just yesterday I was a little freshman, unaware of what I was getting myself into joining the eComm program. Through out this year I have made a whole group of new friends and memories that I could not have been more thankful to have.

     As my final project for freshman year, we did a group collaboration to invent a product we thought would be useful to society as a whole.

Our team Cognito Co. created the app 'Tutor Tool'. 'Tutor Tool' was designed for students K-12, as a homework aid. With this app you are given an advantage that you do not get with any other homework app: You get to connect with an actual online tutor on-top of all the other benefits.

     The strongest thing out group did together was collaborate as well as take charge of our own individual parts. We all worked to help one another improve, make our portion more presentable, as well as professional. Once we all found what we did best, we had an easier time bringing our project together which is what helped us most in our presentation. 

     Our group seemed to struggle a lot with how we all wanted our graphics, video, and website to look. We all felt that this project represented us which made it harder when things did not look the way we wanted it to, or certain graphics did not match what they needed to. 

      Next time a group project comes up, the planning will need to be done first. In the long run, we found it is more beneficial because then time was not wasted with each piece having to re-plan what we are going to do. If I could change anything with my group, I do not think I would. I very much loved our product, as well as my team. We had endless laughs even though we would argue over what took place with some aspects. Through this project, our friendships grew stronger with one another, and we all learned helpful skills from one another. 

    Through this project I noticed my graphic design skills greatly improved - this was something I personally thought I struggled with most. The colors, the design, as well as the "comfort" look of our graphics were what I felt as if I improved on most.

When creating the App face, I wanted to keep it interesting, but simple and smart. As you can see the app face reflects all these characteristics as well as a very clean, and 'modern' appeal. Not only did I create the app face, but I also did the website which happened to be my favorite part.
     In conclusion, this project was very unique and I very much enjoyed it. I can not wait to see what e-Comm has to offer me next.

Six Shot System

        This was our first project of quarter 3! For this project we had to demonstrate knowledge of the "Six Shot System". This consisted of Extreme Wide, Wide, Medium, Over the Shoulder, Close-Up, and the Extreme Close-Up. For those video we used Grace Jurczak and Abby Contractor in their second out Drawing 1 class. They were creating a 'zentangle' circle and these shots show their practice sketches. This project over all was very easy for me because my knowledge of 'Final Cut Pro'   is more advanced than a "first time user".