Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Final Print Portfolio Requirements

Your Final Portfolio should include all of your work from the semester, including that submitted at midterms.

Work since the midterm should be organized by exercise into spreads. Each exercise should be labeled.

The following spreads from work since the midterm should be included:

HUE, SATURATION, BRIGHTNESS spread
1 page has 2 designs, the other page has a single design. 
"Hue Exercise", "Brightness Exercise", or "Saturation Exercise" should be under your designs.

SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST spread:
One exercise per page

Transparency, Depth, Vibration spread:

Transparency, Depth, Vibration spread:
1 page has transparency, the other has depth and vibration

Pattern and Color Harmonies spread:
each page should have one pattern plus the three variations on that pattern

Expressive Word spreads:
1. Original Expressive word spread:
one word design per page, 2 pages, each page having 1 design

2. Next Step spread:
2 per page, 2 pages total

3. Four Variations spread
1 page has all four, the other page has the best of the four

Master studies and character illustrations should be inserted into a pocket, no need to reprint or reformat

Underground Comic Spreads:
1 spread has the cover on a single page and the title page on a single page
the second spread has the two interior pages split across the spread

Monday, April 21, 2014

2484C FINAL: Underground Comic

Your Final should utilize your illustrations from the previous exercises. Please copy and paste for maximum efficiency.

For your final we will create a cover, title page, and two page (or landscape/tabloid spread) for an underground comic.

Cover: 8.5 x 11 full color
Title Page: 8.5 x 11 B/W
Spread: Landscape Tabloid (17" wide, 11" tall) B/W

You will need the following type of "shot distance" in your frames/on your page:
XLS: eXtreme Long Shot
LS: Long Shot
MS: Medium Shot
CU: Close Up
XCU: eXtreme Close Up

Your sequence should describe the following:
Character X starts out at Place Y
Character X leaves Place Y and goes to Place Z
Character X picks up a package or object
Character X returns to Place Y with object/package
Character X opens package to find something unexpected
Character X reacts

Please experiment and be creative with your interpretations of this assignment. For example, any one of the sequence parts might take place on your title page. Please research Chris Ware's spreads for inspiration.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Part 2: Character Illustration

Part 2: Illustrate a character based on photographs you take and your master studies.

You will illustrate one character in three different ways/styles, each inspired by one of the artists you chose to study in Part 1.
You will make two illustrations per style for a total of six illustrations. These illustrations should be inspired by your mast studies, should use your master studies as a point of departure. These illustrations should not look like they were done by the artists from your master studies, but should be inspired by them.

For example, one style may be inspired by your master studies of Aubrey Beardsley. You will illustrate your character in two different positions, or from two different angles in a style inspired by Beardsley. You would then follow this by illustrating the same character in a style inspired by Julie Doucet. Same character, different style. You will illustrate your character in two different positions, or from two different angles in a style inspired by Julie Doucet. Then you would illustrate your character in a style inspired by Chris Ware. You will illustrate your character in two different positions, or from two different angles in a style inspired by Chris Ware.

Pay particular attention to line quality, the expansion and contraction of line weight with in a single line as well as the differences in line weight within a single illustration. Also consider the type and frequency of marks in your master studies.
In addition pay attention to abstraction in relation to "regular" human proportions, to abstraction in terms of accurate representation.
ILLUSTRATION MASTER STUDIES

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

NEXT STEP:
Four Variations on a single theme:
Choose one from the four previous designs to continue to work with.
From this one design we will produce four variations:
1. Two flat colors + black and white
2. Two colors + black and white and using TRANSPARENCY
3. Two colors + black and white and using GRADIENT
4. Two colors + black and white and using GRADIENT and TRANSPARENCY
Each design should be portrait orientation, 13.5" wide x 20.5" tall.

Monday, March 24, 2014

NEXT STEP

From your original two designs, we will now grow four more, two from each original design.
Each new design should take relative proportions of a one sheet movie poster:
13.5" x 20.5" (one sheets are generally 27 x 41)
Each new design should use black, white and one flat color.
Foe each original design, one new color design should enhance the meaning, while the other should produce irony or fight the original meaning.
As we are changing the original design into a movie poster, please add a minimum of three actors and one director.
Look to Saul Bass for inspiration.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The WORD is expression
Choose two words.
Using letters create two different designs that visually represent the meaning, the feeling, the sound, and other aspects that you can associate with these words.
Word choice is important in that it will influence the
perception of the design as a whole. Do NOT use proper nouns.
Possible choices/example words:
disoriented, robotics, able, skillful, absolute, unqualified, antagonistic, uniform, affable, diffident, humble, dissonant, opulent, abundant, ample, artificial, hectic, mindless, accumulate, independent, magnanimous, authoritative, miserly, cautious, petulant, firm, harmonious, esoteric, calm, crude, copious, jagged, expensive, hierarchical, pernicious, furious, furry, barren, corpulent, atonal, vapid, viscous, gelatinous, 

Create two designs, each relating the essence of the word to the essence of the design. Each of your two designs should take strategic and compositional cues from lessons learned from previous assignments.

Consider the relationship of the type to the entire composition as it relates to the meaning of the word.

Words may be repeated in the design if compositional integrity is maintained.

THE RULES:
-Designs should be 8.5 x 11.
-Your word must be in your composition and legible.
-You may only use these typefaces:
Ariel
Baskerville
Century Schoolbook
Cooper Black
Didot
Futura
Garamond
Geneva
Gill Sans
Helvetica
Lucida Blackletter
Times New Roman
-Letterforms can be white, black and shades of grey.
-You must constrain proportions when scaling up or scaling down.  So hold down that shift key.
-No effects.  Only scaling, rotating and moving.
-You may not reflect or mirror your letters.

Monday, March 17, 2014

ILLUSTRATION:Master Studies


Choose one from the following illustrators and comic artists:
1. Honoré Daumier
2. Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa
3. Aubrey Beardsley

4. Jack Kirby
5. Will Eisner
Choose one from the following illustrators and comic artists:
6. Margaret Shulock
7. Milton Caniff 

8. Chester Gould
9. Harvey Kurtzman

10. R.Crumb
11. Jessica Abel
12. Julie Doucet
Choose one from the following illustrators and comic artists:
13. George Herriman

14. E.C. Segar
15. Lynda Barry 
16. Gary Panter 

17. Art Spiegelman
18. Marjane Satrapi
19. Charles Schulz

20. Chris Ware

From each of your chosen comic artists, you will paste three compelling images of their work to you blog. In addition, for each artist you will choose two full figure illustrations to study, each of the two a different angle.

Pay particular attention to line quality, the expansion and contraction of line weight with in a single line as well as the differences in line weight within a single illustration. Also consider the type and frequency of marks in your master studies.

In addition pay attention to abstraction in relation to "regular" human proportions, to abstraction in terms of accurate representation.

ILLUSTRATOR:Drawing Basics
ILLUSTRATOR:Drawing with the Pen, Pencil...

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

PATTERN AND COLOR HARMONIES

Pattern and Color Harmonies
Create two patterns through the repetition of combinations of shape and color. Create three variations on each pattern by changing the color harmony for a total of six designs, each 8.5 x 11.  That's two patterns, each pattern in three different color harmonies for a total of six overall designs. Please name each file after the color harmony you are choosing (see example below). You may not use black or white. You may use lines, but you may not use strokes around solid shapes.





Monday, March 3, 2014

Transparency, Depth, Vibration

Transparency, Depth, Vibration

Exercise 1: The Illusion of Transparency by Color Manipulation

Explore the illusion of transparency (we are not using the transparency tool) . Starting with a horizontal bar of one color, you will place 3 vertical bars (made up of 3 rectangles each) of another color so that they overlap the horizontal bar. All three vertical bars should be of the same color. Where these vertical bars overlap the horizontal bar, the illusion of transparency should be created. In first overlapping area, it should appear as if the vertical bar is spatially above the horizontal bar. In the last overlapping area, it should appear as if the horizontal bar is spatially above the vertical bar. And in the middle overlapping area, it should be ambiguous as to which bar is on top. You should use a format similar to the ones shown here in the examples. Please fit three exercises onto a single 11 x 17 page:





Exercise 2: The Illusion of Depth:
Based on your experiences with last week's exercises and using a single shape and variations in color (hue, saturation, and/or value), create a design that gives the illusion of depth. Your design should be 8.5 x 11






Exercise 3: The Illusion of Vibration:
Based on your experiences with last week's exercises and using a single shape with variations in color (hue, saturation, and/or value), create a design that gives the illusion of vibration. Unlike the examples below, your design should be 8.5 x 11:







Monday, February 24, 2014

Simultaneous Contrast


Simultaneous Contrast


Simultaneous contrast refers to apparent changes in hue, value, and saturation that are created by adjacent colors.

EXERCISE 1:
In this exercise, your task is to make a single color appear as two different colors. Begin by placing two small rectangles of the same size and color on two backgrounds of different colors. Then, adjust the background colors to produce the most dramatic change possible between the two smaller rectangles. You will create four variations of this exercise organized onto a single 11 x17 design. 

Examples of simultaneous contrast:





EXERCISE 2:
In this exercise, your task is to make two different colors appear to be one and the same color. Begin by placing two small rectangles of differing colors on two backgrounds of different colors. Then, adjust the background colors until the smaller middle rectangles both look like the same color. You will create four variations of this exercise organized onto a single 11 x17 design. No words need to be on this page.

Examples for Exercise 2:






Upon completion of this exercise, two 11 x 17 designs should appear in your portfolio.

Hue, Saturation, Brightness

HUE SATURATION BRIGHTNESS

Using only a single complex shape of various sizes and colors, you will create three separate designs. One design should utilize gradations in hue, while keeping all of the colors at maximum saturation. One design should utilize gradations in saturation, while retaining both a fixed hue and value. And one design should utilize gradations in brightness, while retaining a fixed hue and saturation.

Each design should use variations in scale, proximity, and arrangement to produce rhythm and texture. Each design should feel different; each design should evoke different emotional responses.

Your shapes may overlap, but please do not use an outline or a stroke on your shape(s). 

There should be no white background visible on the page.

The minimum number of shapes on any page is twenty.

Each Design should be 8.5 x 11 and printed on and 11 x 17 page.