What is Graphic Design?

The official definition of graphic design is the art of skill of combining text and pictures in advertisements, magazine, or books. So, in other words, graphic design is the act of making information pretty. Usually graphic design can be found on posters, in commercials, or websites. It is all around us! It is used and seen every day. But to me, graphic design is a lot more. It's something that I'm really passionate about. When I first came into high school I knew I wanted to join eComm because I always thought I was going to study journalism of some sort. When I spent my first year trying out all the different "focuses" (video, web, graphic design, and animation), I fell in love with graphic design. Ever since I have wanted to major in graphic design in college and possibly work as a graphic designer when I'm older. I love designing with typography and creating logos. Here is an example of graphic design:

What e-Comm Is To Me

Olathe Northwest High School's e-Communication is incredible. Within this program students get to expand their creative desires and explore their skills through art. It is a place where everybody belongs and expressing yourself comes easily. In your first year of e-Comm you are transported through the different strands. Video, Animation, Graphic Design, and Web Design; one strand for each quarter. When you finish your first year you must decide which two strands you like best for your second year. Then for your third year, you must choose one strand. It is an impressive system, and it allows you to get a real feel for the strand you like best.

Here is a brief explanation for each strand:

Video: Within video there are sub-strands. You could choose broadcast journalism, sports journalism, or entertainment. In video, you create all sorts of projects while learning how to iMovie and FinalCutPro. You add text, effects, etc. It is a great strand and most who graduate the strand move on to studying film in college.

Animation: Animation is seems pretty simple: you create cartoons. Wrong. There is so much more to animation than anyone thinks! You must create pictures and sketches and sketch boards to create animation projects in Maya, Photoshop, After Effects, and Google Sketch Up. These students create things such as 3D houses, cartoon stories, 3D Characters, explosions, etc. It's an impressive strand and these students seem to grasp the concept of technology best in this strand.

Graphic Design: Graphic Design is a strand where you further your interests in logos, print layout, and illustration. You learn different aspects of Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. It's a great strand and it really lets you explore yourself through art.

Web Design: Web Design is (in my opinion) one of the hardest strands of e-Comm. In this strand you learn how to code and create websites. It is very interesting to learn how to code because it's almost like a different language. In this class you will create all sorts of different websites in Dreamweaver while also using combined skills of photography and graphic design. Web is essential to all things e-Comm.

If I could recommend one activity to a student entering Olathe Northwest I would tell them to enter this program. It is an awesome way to create art.

Logo Process

How does logo design tell your story?

A personal logo is the best way to represent yourself in an artistic way. When I first started making my logos, I found this color that I loved. I knew that I wanted to use that color no matter what. It is a mix between a blue and green and it is gorgeous. Blue is my favorite color, and the color of my eyes. Another reason I went with this blue/green is because it represents the clear blue sea. I love the ocean, and I love the waves, so this color (the very first step of my process) already represented me in many different ways.

My next step was choosing a shape to base my logo off of. I started with a square; a perfectionist shape (like me), then I tried a circle; a shape that represents unity. I liked them both, but they were too simple, the opposite of me. I tried everything from peace signs to ying-yangs, but nothing was quite right. A combination I really liked were three circles in a row which reminded me of a "..." I messed around with a couple things coming up with two different logos using the "..." shape theme. When I asked for some input from my friends, they suggested that I combined the two versions. When I did, it was clear that was the logo to go with.

When it came to choosing fonts, it was easy. There are certain fonts that I believe completely resemble me in many different aspects. I chose the font Book Antiqua as well as Jellyka Princess. Overall, I'm very happy and very proud of my final product.

Kerning

Kerning is the process of adjusting the space between letters within a word. For example, a tight kern would be the what the font looks like right now. However, a wide kern would be if I were to  c h a n g e   t h e   s p a c i n g.

I owned up on the kerning game. My high score was 100/100!! Here's proof:

eMagine 2014

This past weekend was the Oscars of Kansas Art, eMagine.

I love this event because all of the people who attend are artists, just like me. I love seeing all of the projects from people I know from the school and strangers from other schools around the state. I think it's so cool how we host this event and I look forward to it every year! Maybe next year I'll win something. :)

I knew I wanted to be a graphic designer on my first day in Mr. Olson's room last year. I love creating projects never seen before. I love surprising people and making things so appealing to the eye that they can't turn away. It's something that I can actually see myself doing for the rest of my life.

GO ART

Googling Google

We see it everyday, we use it everyday...it's become a key component of the modern life. We know what it does, but the questions behind it are never-ending. How does it know so much? Where did it come from?


Google.


Quick Facts :

Google was founded in 1998 in Menlo Park, CA. Its headquarters are now located in Mountain View, CA (just 15 minutes apart).

The founders were both Stanford graduates.

Its first unofficial slogan was "Don't be evil."

Logo Evolution

 This was Google's very first logo. It was made on a free website in 1998.

 One of Google's more recent logos, but it interests me that it is very similar to the current logo, but not as appealing. The only difference is the gradients and drop shadows.

This is the most current logo made in 2013. I love it. It is clean and appealing!




I love how they have kept the same idea consistent throughout all these years! I'm interested to see what they will do in the future.



-T

Saul Bass Poster

The Seven Year Itch-Tess Reid

I made my poster representing the movie The Seven Year Itch starring Marilyn Monroe. On my poster I took inspiration from Saul Bass. I studied his posters, and downloaded his infamous font. I took the most memorable moment from the movie and recreated it. Once I noticed that wasn't enough, I read more about the movie. I learned that it's about a woman catching the eye of a married man who lives below her in their apartment. I decided to incorporate that by adding the building in the back.

Vertigo-Saul Bass

I chose this poster by Saul Bass because I felt it was nearest to my poster above. The buildings at the top of the poster look similar to the style I was going for when I created the apartment building. The font used in this poster is similar to most posters Saul Bass makes, Hitchcock, but it looks like he used a slightly different font this time. Another similarity in the posters is the border. I noticed Saul Bass usually leaves a unique border of white around his posters, so I recreated that. Overall I loved this project. Saul Bass is a cool guy.