Week 10A- Oct. 28

Today in class, we were each given a sheet of paper with the choice of either re-doing our last project and handing it in the week before finals, and hand in the paper next class. As much as I really would like to further improve my project, I am worried about how much time I will have to actually do it because once we commit to redoing it we MUST redo it or our grade will be reduced by one letter. I am leaning more toward yes, but I will take the next two days to think it over for sure. I am a very indecisive individual so these two days we were given are beneficial. I will post my decision on Wednesday!

We then looked at each others' mood boards and critiqued them. My group helped me to better focus my idea so that I can come up with articles more easily. Once suggestion was to make a feature about how people in the 25+ range with disposable income aren't always looking to have children, and replace them with dogs. I would write about the benefits and downfalls of this trend. Since I want my publication to be more aimed toward going the extra mile in caring for your dog rather than spoiling them with fancy outfits and accessories that they really don't always like. It was then suggested to create a more natural feel to my publication with more greens, oranges, and yellows. Below is a revised version of my color palette:

Since my aim is more specific for spending the extra money to take care of your dog and such, things that a person with a non-disposable income couldn't afford. These aren't essential things to do, but will assure a better lifestyle for your dog. With this I was told that my title of "Dog Dish" won't work. I will make a brainstorming map in order to come up with a better name and post it on Wednesday. For the rest of the class we simply worked on revising our mood boards and coming up with potential titles for our articles and content. I feel that I have a better idea of what I want to write about in my articles, which I will also post on Wednesday.

Homework:
1. Create title, sub title and written content for 5 articles
2. Adjust mood board

Week 9- Outside of class

This week outside of class, I went to a Barnes and Noble to look at publications especially for dogs, and discovered that there really is a slim selection of magazines with information only for and about dogs versus the plentiful selection of tabloid and entertainment magazines which are more popular. Out of the selection I found, there wasn't any aimed toward higher end dog enthusiasts, specifically ones that meet the guidelines for our project, and my idea for the publication, so I feel that I can create a unique dog publication that will be different from the rest.

I was told to revise the idea for my publication, in which I have over the weekend. I am still using my basic idea for new dog trends and information, but instead making it more aimed toward 25+ year olds with an expendable income. I will include information such as gourmet dog foods, new information on how to properly take care of your animal (at the vet, new medicines, etc.), and new training techniques.

I also completed my mood board which was due today. It was difficult to find higher-end images of dogs and their lifestyles, but eventually found some that matched my idea. For my color palette, I went onto colorschemedesigner.com which is essentially a very useful tool in creating a color scheme with the many ways you can play around with it to get the colors you want. I would like for this to be a more sophisticated digital publication, but still keep that playful feel for people who love their dogs. We were also told to come up with possible titles for each section and their content, which I feel I will have a better idea of after discussing my publication more and getting a better focus on what exactly I want to feature.

Week 9B- Oct. 23

Today we spent the majority of the class critiquing each others' final layouts, up until the last 10 minutes. I got alot of feedback. Some positive feedback included the background and the great improvements made to my impact spread. Comments for improvement include keeping the same type of images throughout the publication, such as taking a photo of an old rusty sign and incorporating my text into it, and a rusty can to get a better apocalyptic feel. I was also told to change the background in the second spread, which I totally agree with. The second spread is too text heavy and the paragraphs are way too long, which would leave room for a potential third spread. We were given a chance to improve our spreads and hand them in before the last class this semester in order to incorporate the suggestions we got today, which I feel would be beneficial for us in terms of being able to continue in improving our spreads.

During the last 10 minutes of class, we went around the room and talked about our ideas for the digital publication project. My budding idea for my digital publication project is about dogs, and will go into several different subjects on them, including updated information on animal cruelty, adoption, therapy dogs, proper care, training, and more. Each page will be dedicated to each subject, and will feature links to adoption sites, animal cruelty sites, information about therapy dogs, and training videos. I feel like my idea needs to be more aimed toward 25+ year olds.

Possible Names:

1. Dog Central
2. Dog Dish
3. Canine Crazy

Homework:
1. Explore publications at bookstore (50 words on blog, and take picture at bookstore!)
2. Determine title for each section and possible content for each section on your digital publication (50 words on blog)
3. Create Moodboard (17x11). Quality and well thought out. Will be critiqued next class
(type/fonts, color palette, medium shot images, long shot images, illustrations, designs, close-up images)

Week 9A- Oct. 21

Today was a rather short class, but we did review the assigned articles that we had to read over the weekend, and then went over our next assignment: Digital Publication Design. This project is pretty open in terms of the subject and content in our articles, but still follow the guidelines of the project. We also were allowed to ask questions about the project. I am actually excited to start this project, but also a bit nervous on how difficult it will be as we test it on the IPad. Part of that reason is because I have never used an IPad before, just an Android Tablet, and incorporating links within the publication.

Homework:

1. Write a 50 word Point-of- View of digital publication concept, create a name and be prepared to discuss it next class.
2. Read http://www.nngroup.com/articles/tablet-usability/
and
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-best-digital-magazines-ava-144369
3. Next class, there will be a full class critique and will cover above as time allows

Week 8- Outside of Class

This week outside of class, I put the finishing touches on the print publication project, printed, and mounted it on a black mat board. I feel like the impact spread is the most successful with how far it's come. It actually feels like a post-apocalyptic theme. The second spread, however, still doesn't seem as successful, even after applying numerous suggestions from other people in order to improve it. I am happy about my illustrations being that they apply well to the story, but the rest of the spread feels like it needs more work. I do enjoy it, but not as much as the impact spread, which has received positive feedback already by a fellow student. Overall, I am pleased with how far this project has come, compared to the original sketches, and I am excited to hear what others have to say during our in-class critique on Wednesday.

Week 8- Oct. 16.

Today in class, we Skyped with a very intelligent designer from San Francisco, CA named Chanpory Rith. He introduced us to his project with Inkling called "Habitat" which allows an easier way to edit a digital publication, which I found to be very interesting and a very revolutionary idea. He answered many questions that we asked about design, including mine, which was if he could see more design careers becoming available as today's society is rapidly evolving digitally, which he agreed strongly to. Another good question asked was if it is important for designers to know code, which he said will be very beneficial if they do. Currently I am taking an internet programming class which is teaching me HTML, CSS, and most recently JavaScript, and I find it very interesting. I feel that it will give me a good head start when I take more design courses that require to know some coding. We were then introduced to our final project, which is a digital publication, and were shown several examples of them on e-readers and tablets. It might be a bit challenging, being that the layout changes depending on the orientation of the publication, landscape or portrait. However, I am still very excited to start this project!
Homework:
1. Complete Spreads, print each page 10x16 (20x16in each spread), mount them on separate black boards for Monday!
2. Read digital publication readings:

   - http://www.subtraction.com/2010/10/27/my-ipad-magazine-stand 

   - http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/the-state-of-magazines-on-the-ipad-a-giant-mess

Week 7- Outside of Class

This week outside of class, I mainly worked on my publication project the most I could. Since it was fall break and I do not have InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop at home, I really didn't have the opportunity to work on it much, but worked on it as much as I could before leaving for break last week. I did, however take some photos of rusty, rotten textures to potentially use as the background to my spreads in order to create a more post-apocalyptic feel to the publication. I took a few pictures of a rusty red fuel tank beside my house and a close-up of a rotting leaf that I found to be interesting. Below you will see what my spreads look like so far, and the potential background photos.

Week 7B- Oct. 9

Today in class, we were given the entire time to work on our publications, and were offered more tips on how to further improve out spreads. I was told to take a picture of something rusty and use it as my background, which I will do during fall break this weekend through Tuesday. I had troubles figuring out what images to use on my second spread, but I eventually figured out to put a population sign (finished), and some images of food (working on those), since they best relate to my story.
For homework we basically still have to work on our publications which are due mounted on Oct. 21!

Week 7A- Oct. 7

Today in class, we took our new and improved spreads over to the middle room for critiquing again. This time, we hung up our spreads six people at a time, and had groups of two or three of us write down comments and suggestions on a Publication Design Review Sheet provided for us, which you will see below. I got some helpful comments, and plan to use some of them to further improve my spreads once more. For the rest of class, we utilized that time to work on our projects while we were offered further guidance on how to improve our spreads.

HOMEWORK:
- work on spreads for next class

Week 6- Outside of Class

Outside of class this past week, I worked on further improving my impact spread and started on my second spread. The impact spread looks alot different from my original idea, but I feel that great improvements have been made thanks to the constructive criticism from my classmates. There is now a more stable, consistent grid layout, which is horizontal to better lead the eye across the page. I also created illustrations of my own instead of simply image tracing a photo from the internet. I feel that there should maybe be more illustration on the second spread, but I'm not sure if it would take away from the body copy, depending on what I would place on there. I am eager to find out what my classmates will think of my spreads, and to see their improvements as well. Below are screen shots of my two new and improved spreads:

Week 6B- Oct.2

Today in class, some of us that needed to do reprints of our spreads put them over in the middle room while small groups of classmates went over and critiqued them. I received a generous amount of comments once again on how to improve my spread, which you will see below. I do believe it printed out way too orange, which didn't look that way on InDesign, and overall didn't look too successful upon being printed out. I am also going to do my own vectorized image of a food truck and change some more elements around to make it look more visually appealing. Thankfully, we have another chance to improve our spreads and work on the second spread for another in-progress on Monday.