I was absent for this class, but from what I've heard this class was essentially a review and a chance to check what needs to be done
in the next couple of weeks.
I have been spending many many hours on the computer preparing two childrens books. Queenie and my book displays are fairly simple and only really require a plinth, book stand and a screen.
Reading Quiz - John Maeda, Laws of Simplicity: Law 10 – The
One
1.
What does Maeda call the 3 keys?
Away - more appears less by
simply moving it far far away
Open - openness simplifies
complexity.
Power - use less, gain
more.
2.
Describe how you have used these in your work towards the exhibition? Give at
least one example of each key.
Away
Although our exhibition
piece is a book, we will also have it displayed on computer screen. Rather than
flipping through the pages of the book, people can stand back and watch it on
the screen, turning pages automatically.
Openness
Both Queenie and I have
been open to suggestions from each other as well as our teachers and other
students. We have taken on board a lot of suggestions and I think we have
produced a book that children would love. Not sure if this relates to Meada definition of Opennes though?
Power
The power went off the
other night while I was on the computer, reading my captain Ron story to
Captain Ron on the home phone (portable), when suddenly the power went
off.Thank goodness for battery back up
my lap top, and mobile phones (although I was still reading for a minute or so
before my husband rang be back on the mobile)!
3. Describe
an incident in the production of the exhibition where technology has been an
enabler.... and another where it has been a disabler!
Enabler – using Illustrator and Indesign we have
been able to produce some great bright colourful pictures, that hopefully
children will enjoy.
Disabler – Illustrator kept crashing on me when
doing the Brownie book – I lost hour of work a few times! It seems to be
anything that has a lot of hair or fur or lots of paths in the design.
4. At this
stage in the exhibition process you are all working on some element or process
for the big event. List 3 things (in your current project) that you could take
away to simplify and one thing you could add for meaning.
Nothing really, our display is pretty simple and
meaningful. I guess we could do away with the screen display and just have the
book – bit boring though.
This website publish articles that are informative, thought provoking, articles that take an in-depth look at design. I might look at this a bit more when I get time.
Discuss
these questions in relation to a group creating a design in collaboration
01 – What
are the 3 best things about your efforts for this year’s exhibition?
Learning more skills in Illustrator.
Getting faster with each page.
Collaborating with other students.
Here is a video about Effective Teamwork and collaboration. Its a little bit long but has some great little drawings to go along with the tutorial.
02 – Did
you manage time well?
I seem to have spent every spare moment illustrating the
brownie book, the captain Ron book and blogging. I’m running out of time for my other assignments
though.
03 – Did
you manage materials well i.e. test prototypes?
Yes. I printed the book out on normal paper as a
prototype and had a look at the paper stock at the printers before I had it
printed
04 – Have
you researched installation methods?
I’ve had a look at some plinth and book stands on the
internet, and have some ideas, I like a pure white background rather that a
brick wall.I like a book stand that
attaches to the wall – (can the exhibitionist do this) – if not possible just a
plain white plinth with a table top stand (white or clear Perspex). Had a look
at some plinths in this building – need a paint job.How do we do the sign/plaque thingy.
I had a look at some display images on the internet.
05 – Have
you made a shortlist of the essentials for the last WEEK?
No.
06 – Have
you made a shortlist of the essentials for the last DAY?
No. haven’t even finished my books yet.
Using Failure
In regard
to creative collaboration & the exhibition: Discuss these questions - write
a paragraph on each and use examples
1.List and
describe 2 areas of failure in your preparation for the exhibition
Not taking time of work to work on projects! – TIME. Its
crazy working full time and studying part time. I wish I had taken a year off
work to do this certificate, rather than trying to do it part time over several
years. Anyway – nearly there!
2.Describe
how you could realistically improve on this next time you exhibit
Make
sure I am not working on too many projects at one time.
Using the student exhibition as an example,
describe an aspect of your work or something you have worked on, where you have found a
symbiotic relationship that is both complexity and simplicity
Complexity and
simplicity is always around.
I recently was
drawing a page in a story book about a teddy visiting the butterfly farm. I
wanted to draw (in illustrator) the butterflies enclosed in a cage, but after
hours of attempts realized it wasn’t working. Things got too complex and
decided to take the simple approach and not have a cage at all. The time factor
also came into account here.
Provide a conceptual example of a situation
that has arisen during this project where you have had a return on failure?
Originally we were going to do a teddy bear story and the adventures he
had on a trip to the shop. We realized that there are already so many teddy
books around, so we changed the story to have more of a Darwin flavor – the fun
teddies (or children really) can have in Darwin on school holidays.
Provide a short explanation and example of
how FAILURE can be turned around using the law LEARN. Describe how this relates
to the TIME law.
Learn from your mistakes – make sure you save a copy of any illustrator
images before you flatten them.
If Illustrator keeps crashing make sure you save your file regularly and in two different places!
Make sure you print
your finished product out with plenty of time to spare to allow for any
problems that might occur with the artwork. Don’t finalise the story (text) too
late, give yourself plenty of time and get it proof read early, a change in
story can affect the image layout and vice versa.
Lets hope that this business learn from this experience - Poor font choice/kerning!
This is a really bad layout. The placement of the womans head and the green label really change the Magazine name drastically. Hopefully the designers learnt from this. OR - was this a ploy to get attention and thus publicity?
This video shows some tips when designing book covers. It says to make the Authors name quite prominent (tip 1), in my recent book cover designs - although I did have the author name in the bottom right hand corners, I believe the colours, fonts and layout that I used made it fairly prominent. It also says no clutter (tip 2) - I believe I got this right on the Brownie book, nice and simple, not too many images, but it clearly shows what the book is about, not sure if I got it right with My Captain Ron book as I have every animal on the book covers - but I think it is well spaced out and looks good. The last tip (tip 3) says don't use a standard font - I think I got this right I tried to choose a font that had the right look and feel to the story.
How are you using the laws in relation to
your contribution to The Ten Squared exhibition? Provide a short explanation
and example for TWO of the laws so far. Use your work towards and your
examples..
Originally I was just using the pen tool in
illustrator to create images, however Paul showed me this great tutorial using
the brush tool. This method saved me time and I learnt a new method – um so I
guess that’s the TIME and LEARN laws covered.
