Week 11 : Notes for In-Design

     The first thing that I learned in In-Design was how to set up a new document which is as follows: File, New, Document, type in the number of pages desired ( but they must be a multiple of four), make sure "facing pages" is checked, choose to have four columns in the document and save. In-Design has pages compared to Adobe Illustrator which has layers. I think I prefer the pages because as you work on your document, you can see what the 2 page spread will look like in the "pages" box instead of only being able to see a multitude of layers that you've put together.

     I also noted that you must have three orders of text for each page. The text should contain a headline, by line, body and quote. Each order of text must be visually stimulating although, the most important items such as the headline should catch the viewers eye the most. The purpose of this is to not only draw the viewers in, but to lead the viewers eye around the page. The headline and quote should be somewhat quirky or interesting so that the viewer is compelled to read the body text. 

     The last thing I learned is how to print which is as follows: File, Print, ( rough drafts should not be on glossy), 11X17 size paper, make sure "spreads" is checked, then go into Page Setup, choose Xerox printer, Tabloid size, and relevant orientation, set up the page in the same way as in the Print screen which means 11X17 plain paper and click print. 

I look forward to playing around with In-Design and learning new tips and tricks to help me successfully organize and design a beautiful magazine.

Week 10: Tweaks to Final Draft

Before

After 

In the new final draft, I copied the young girl, made her transparent and changed her expression from happy to sad. I also added a small tear. I did this by copying the layer of the girl and moving her to the top of the hill. I also used the bamboo pencil and pad to draw the frown and used the white pointer tool to manipulate the shape and make it even and clean. I did the same thing to the tear as well. I also changed the angle of the gradient in the sky to make the orange portion a bit less steep and to give more space for the dark blue portion of the sky. The last thing I did was create a gradient for the grass to make the color of the grass on the "happy" side a bit brighter but I'm not sure if it's less distracting or not.

I want the viewers eye to first go to the radio thats playing 88.3 then to investigate the young happy girl. The next thing I want the eye to wander to is the young sad girl in the background and the environment that goes with her. Then I would like the viewer to step back and view the piece as a whole.

I want to illustrate that the world with the radio playing 88.3 is a happy fun and bright world. I did this by adding the smile to the girl, the bright color to the illustration, and the aura around the radio by making a couple stars transparent and bright. I also wanted to illustrate that the world with the ordinary radio is dark, dull and unhappy. I did this by giving the girl a frown and a tear. I also did made the sky very dark and heavy looking with ominous clouds lurking overhead.

Week 9 : Escape from Ordinary Radio Final Draft

    

This is my final draft of Escape from Ordinary Radio. I wanted to show the young girl choosing the exciting boom box playing 88.3 over the old fashioned boring radio. The side of the old radio is dark and gloomy with the jagged music notes floating in the air. The new and exciting side is bright and sunny with lots of colors and flowers. The radio is giving off a beautiful aura with smooth music notes floating through the air. I used the transparency and gradient effects on the stars surrounding the boom box and the fill in the sky. To create the girl I used both the pen tool and the bamboo pencil. The pen tool was used on the clothing, legs, arms and face shape. The bamboo pencil was used for the hair and shoes. My intent was not only to show the concept of Escape from Ordinary Radio, but to lead the viewers eye straight to the boom box playing 88.3 by creating that bright aura around it

Week 8 : Escape from Ordinary Radio

This is the sketch I did to represent "escape". I wanted to go with a cartoon-ish feel because I can sketch in that style the best in my opinion. I mostly wanted to utilize the bag attached to the stick instead of the penguin. I wanted to make him look as if he would appeal to small children, or if he would fit into a children's book. To do that I sketched him with curved lines and ovals to soften his shape and made him sort of young and pudgy looking.  

This is my sketch for "ordinary". Again, as you can see this is a cartoon style sketch. I wanted to represent a sort of plane Jane type of girl. I used straight, angular lines for her dress to exaggerate the shape. I also made her hair sort of messy and her glasses with thick black frames. I wanted to make her look as if she was young and in that awkward stage of her life. 

This is obviously to represent "radio". I sketched an old fashioned radio because I love antiques and think they have excellent details. I also like the curvature of the speakers against the angular shape of the radio. I went light on the small details of the radio because I wanted to keep it simple to exemplify both "ordinary" and "radio" in one. 

Here is a compilation of all three images. The bag in the penguin sketch is absent, but will be added next to the young girl to show that she's traveling. The angles and depth of the sketch needs to be tweaked, but my purpose is to show the old fashioned "ordinary radio" at one end of the path and the new, trendy fun radio at the other end accompanied by the girl and her bag. The space around the old fashioned radio will be filled with dark ominous colors and the new radio will be surrounded by bright happy colors and sunny skies. The purpose is to show the young girl making the transition from the "ordinary radio" to the new and exciting radio.