Blog #8

 Cited Toolkit Experience

I created this with my target audience in mind.  If this class has taught me one thing it is to always consider your target audience when you are putting something together.  One of my colleagues doesn’t use technology in her lessons, but I think she doesn’t have too many ideas about how to infuse it into her lessons.  Most of what was helpful about this site was that there were a lot of options about how to utilize technology in the classroom, how technology impacts learning and what the 21^st century students need to know.  I would like to see more articles about why teachers should use technology correlating directly with the CCS.  A lot of teachers seem to think that this new style of learning isn’t really helping the kids.  At the same time I stayed away from links that just offered pages with a lot of other links because that can be overwhelming. 

The teachers that I sent the links to are different.  Some embrace technology and some don’t.  I think both of them are highly motivated to teach the children understand the content better.  They are also people who love to learn and constantly challenge themselves to do better.  Having a toolkit allows information to be stored in one place for viewing and can easily be shared.  I only wish that other articles that I have read could be stored on there.  I wanted to add the article that I found during my MMP research.  It was about 21^st century learning standards and the ever changing idea of what is considered literate in today’s society.

Of course, some people said that I should add more information to the toolkit, but they liked the articles that I had available.  My rationale for keeping it small was that I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone, but just inform them in small doses.  Just like websites, forms or any visual presentations that aren’t spaced nicely and visually appealing, I didn’t want this toolkit to just bunch a variety of information from various sources.  Someone else told me that if I’m trying to make an argument for implementing technology, I should also look for articles about schools that aren’t solely implementing technology as a means of teaching and how it is working out.  Some teachers think that we need to get back to the basics and teach the skills instead of trying to teach them how to use the technology so I should address this.  

 

EOCHS Best Practices

The Media Center & Me

Now  that you know what resources are available, how to access them and how to collaborate with the Media Specialist, please take a moment to share how you have implemented these ideas into your classroom,  Please share successes as well as challenges.  Also, take a moment to read and respond to your colleagues' posts.   

Thank you, Ms. Stevenson

Blog #7

This has been the theme of this semester for me.  I started out thinking that I had some idea about what I was doing only to learn that I had so much room for growth.  Blog Post #1 was definitely chaotic!

 

                BLOG #1

Just in terms of what we have been reading about the effective use of space, fonts and photos, Blog #1 is not visually appealing. I wasn’t very comfortable with blogger and I didn’t think about what message the font or the font color conveyed.  I picked blue because I like blue not because it complimented the pictures.  The pictures at the bottom look unbalanced.  I remember the frustration of trying to get them embedded in the text.  The comments to my post discuss how every ad has a target audience.  The same is true of all graphic images/messages we share with others.

BLOG #2

I think the use of white space in Blog #2 is much better!  The pictures on the top need to be edited again, but I wasn’t so sure how to do that.  I remember signing up for these groups and having such high hopes for all of them.  As Professor Holan mentioned, I am getting the most out of NJASL and the LM_NET listerv.  LM_NET has a lot of creative ideas and articles that are pertinent to the field.  The Thinkfintity groups are less active but I found a great article on one of my group pages.

 BLOG #3

Blog #3 was the first time that I could actually see my growth and the design concepts at work.  The re-make of the Women’s History Suffrage Pathfinder is classic.  The font is bold and speaks volumes.  It is classic and strong.  The picture is centered and balances out the black font.  The colors of the font and the colors in the pictures all compliment each other.

BLOG #4

Mini Art School was really helpful!  Blog #4 really reinforced the fact the font that you use impacts the emotional response to your message.  I am now more mindful of the messages that my fonts are sending.  Critiquing pictures was an excellent exercise because it helps in making better choices in which border and graphic to choose to enhance a picture.  Realizing how use of objects and elements create an emotional response to the photos was powerful.

BLOG #5

As mentioned by Laura Berger the selective focus tool is awesome!  It helps create a focal point in the midst of chaos.  Sean also points out how our response to color pallets is emotional.  A border can really create a real emotional/visual response to an image.

BLOG #6

The final blog of art school, Blog #6, was also very informative.  I’m a published poet and I’ve always loved the written word.  For my video I decided to write an original piece and work on collecting images that supported the words.  People respond to our messages better when the words and images match.  As Vickie mentioned, I still need to work on adding background music.  Picking music isn’t my strong suit, so for my MMP I am challenging myself to add music to my video.  My storyboard really helped me layout where I wanted my presentation to go.  I think story boarding is a really cool concept even for a lesson.  I’m really enjoying this class and all that we have learned!  I’m looking forward to employing all of this information in my presentations and also in working on my book.

 

Blog #6

MMP Storyboard

MMP Attachments

I had a lot of trouble getting these attachments to load clearly onto my blog.  I think this storyboard was an excellent way for me to put together the visual and audio aspects of my professional development presentation.  It took me a lot longer than  I thought to put this short storyboard together, but it really helped me see things more clearly and tweak some aspects of my presentation.

Blog #5

Required exercise Photo Edit

 This is the original picture.  It is pretty busy.

 In this picture I tried to capture the people without the distraction of the cars, but I'm not sure that was successful.

   In this picture, I wanted to focus on the line of traffic.  This was my first time playing around with the photo editing software on my new computer so I wasn't sure how to zoom in more.

The original picture was pretty yet again.  I think it gave me a lot to focus on for close ups.  Again, I don't love photo editing so this was something I really had to think about.

I decided to focus on the buildings in this shot and I love the way it turned out because this could stand separately without the foreground.  This looks like an entirely different picture.

I put it on Autofix for this one just to see what it would do.  The software decided to crop by the cab and make it the main focal point.

I love this shot!  I discovered something called the Selective focus under the effects button.  This tool allows you to highlight items or areas of focus and it automatically adjusts.  You can also make the focus medium, strong etc etc.  This is a great tool.

This is the original.  This picture seemed pretty simple because the colors are monochromatic.  There also aren't that many dolphins in the water so I thought it would be easy to crop. 

When I cropped this picture, I wanted the dolphin in the foreground to be the main focus, but I didn't like the fact that I couldn't isolate this one dolphin completely.  I still see a little of the other dolphins and it distracts me.

In this picture I used the selective focus tool again to zoom in and brighten up the main dolphin.  I think this makes it more of a focal point.

This is the original image.

I cropped this image to make the elephant seem to stand alone, but I don't think it works well here.  The chick has to be in the picture so it just looks like a smaller version of the original picture.

Here, I wanted to brighten up the elephant and the chicks to see if I could make them more of a main focus. I think this works.

The original image of the tree outside of my house on a snowy day.

In this picture, I used the selective focus tool to draw focus to the branches in the middle.  At first the contrast was so suddell that I barely noticed it, but then the more I studied it the more I noticed that there was a difference.



In this picture, I used the selective focus tool on a larger target area and I only used medium focus.  The differences are almost unrecognizable so I think this tool works best when it is used on a smaller area. 

These were the original candles in the store.  They have glitter and I wanted to make that noticeable in the picture.

Here, I zoomed in to try to show the glitter.  I can see the glitter now but I couldn't lighten up the picture or else the contrast wasn't that noticeable.  The picture is too dark.

Here, I was trying to lighten up the picture to show the contrast.

This is the original picture.  The fact that the bag got in the picture really bothered me, but I never got to take another picture of them.

Here I used the Selective focus tool to add details to the KNICKS cupcake with writing, but I noticed that the other picture became blurry so I didn't love this picture.  I also noticed that the picture looked really dark.  I don't know if this is because I used the strongest focus of the Selection Tool.

I decided to just crop the bag away and lighten up the picture.  This is the best one, but I've come to the conclusion that you can only make but so many improvements with editing a photo.  Sometimes you need to take another original photo.

Pick 2 Exercises

 

 

This is the exercise from DIY about border variations from page 197.  It is odd to get it right on the first try.  Out of all of these pictures with the border, I think the first one best compliments the picture.  This one is uniform and the colors are complimentary.  The last one does add a nice twist and color play.  I think that the pattern may distract from the picture but I like this one as well.  The thickness of the border off sets the size of the object.  When the border is thick it creates a balance and uniformity.  I really like the brightness and the color scheme.  I had to look it up because I wasn’t sure which color scheme was being utilized but I think it is an Analogous palettes.  Three adjacent colors from the color wheel are used.  It also seems like it could be Split-Complements because the greens are very similar and then the yellow adds a pop.  I’m not really sure but that is why I struggled with color choices for the frames.  The dark green is right next to the light green on the color wheel so I thought it would look better but it is my least favorite border.

 Exercise: Color Echo (design basics index p.219)

This exercise was a little frustrating for me in terms of what I wanted to do and what I actually knew how to do.  I saw the ads in the book and thought they were easier to make than they were.  I tried a photo editing software on my iphone, MS Paint etc etc.  When I finally was able to settle on a software, I decided to use the same picture because I liked the colors and I thought it’d be fun to spruce things up.  For this exercise since I couldn’t do all the fancy things, I decided to just do a banner and play with the picture colors.  Although, this was a difficult exercise for me, in this instance all of the pictures actually turned out to my liking.  I think the colors are all warm and complementary so they work well together and I played with the font.  The font on the second picture is my favorite.  It is serious, bold and loud.  It also helps create unity.

Blog #4

Design Basic Index: Word Portraits Exercise 

• Jennifer Stevenson (round and open)

Opposite: rigid

• Jennifer Stevenson (neat and whimsical)

Opposite: conformed

• Jennifer Stevenson (round and friendly)

Opposite: offensive

• Jennifer Stevenson (business and normal)

Opposite: non-coformnist

• Jennifer Stevenson (loud and bold)

Opposite: quiet

• Jennifer Stevenson (narrow and elegant)

Opposite: crass

• Jennifer Stevenson (heavy and round)

Opposite: airy

• Jennifer Stevenson (straight and neat)

Opposite: slanted

• Jennifer Stevenson (medium and neat)

Opposite: large

Jennifer Stevenson (different and expressive)

Opposite: plain jane

• Jennifer Stevenson (refined and different)

Opposite: unrefined

• Jennifer Stevenson (Sloppy and tight)

Opposite: Neat

• Jennifer Stevenson (narrow and businesslike)

Opposite: wide

Picking various fonts and trying to come up with descriptive words for them was very eye opening.  I stuck with some fonts that I usually used but then I used a few that I never used.  In doing this exercise, I realized that I tend to like neat, narrow businesslike fonts.  The ones that are too bold or heavy seem to intimidate me or make me think of trying to be too loud so I tend to stay away from them.  I never realized that we have such emotional reactions to font.  The more that I learn about the different elements of design, the more I appreciate what it takes to create a great visual piece.  I am going to challenge myself to use different fonts.  Normally, I wouldn’t use this one because it is heavy.  I like to be able to bold words and see a noticeable difference between the bold typeface and the regular one.

 Exercise #2 White Space

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.16097/?co=fbj

This picture is breathtaking.  It definitely elicits a peaceful response from the viewer.  There are three elements that best stand out.  The first one is space.  The use of positive and negative space is balanced.  The use of both organic and inorganic shapes also balances the picture.  Element No. 4 size is also noticeable.  The trees are all about the same height and width so no one thing overpowers the other.  The Principle that is most dominant is the creation of a focal point.  This picture is beautifully balanced so that the eye’s movement is controlled.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cwpb.01982/

This picture is simply beautiful in its simplicity.  I stared at this one for hours.  The element of design that has the most impact is the creation of the line.  The line created by the repetition of the canon and the decrease in size draws your eye to start from the beginning and keep looking further back over and over again.  Principle 4: Movement has a strong presence in this photo.  As mentioned before the photographer controls your eye’s movement and this is a part of what drew me to the picture.  I also like the Unity of the picture.  All of the elements work together.  The railroad track, the solider, the cannon and the building all compliment each other. 

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/var.0289/

This picture stands out because of the Value.  There are tones are white and gray in the foreground and they make the dancers in the front really stand out.  I also like the use of pattern using mostly the colors black and white to draw attention to certain features.  There is a rhythm to their outfits as well as their actual movements. 

Blog Post #3 Mini Art School

From everything that I’ve read this week, this is a good design.

In the Slide presentation, I found these rules:

Rule 1: Graphic Design Basics presentation: Easy to distinguish header from the headline, byline, subheaders and body copy” (slide 10).   The headline is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the text.  It is the largest font and it is right at the top of the ad.  The cutline is in a different font right under the photo and last the tag is at the very bottom of the ad in the same font as the headline but it is much smaller.

Rule 2: The Balance is symmetrical as defned by Nikole Tabaee on slide 21 of her presentation meaning “almost identical or have nearly the same visual mass”.   This rule is followed because everything is centered and about the same size.

Rule 3:  White Space is effectively used in this ad.  Tabaee defines it as “the art of nothing” (slide 36).  Using the white space helps make a very appealing centered visual.

In 10 Web Design Rules That You Can Break, I found the following rules:

Rule 4: In 10 Web Design Rules That You Can Break  even though this is a regular print ad The designer chose to Use Different colors for the Text and Background (Rule 6).  In this case it makes more sense because white on white is harder to see.  Black on white makes a very nice clean contrast.

Rule 5: Stick to safe fonts was followed because only two different fonts were used (Rule 8).  They are both fairly easy to read

In White space is not  your enemy, I found the following rules:

Rule 6: Sin No 6: Centering Everything. Everything in this ad is centered but it works because it is an effective use of empty space (p. 36).  The empty space either adds to the scenery or the white draws your focus to the bottle.

Rule 7: Sin No 2 Warped Photos aren’t used (p. 34).  They are clear crisp photos that depict and illicit the emotion of romance.

Rule 8:  Sin No 9: Busy backgrounds aren’t used (p.38).  This nice simple background adds to the whole theme. In the picture with the grass there is nothing to focus on but the couple and as I mentioned before, in the picture with the perfume bottle the focus is simply the bottle not the background.

Rule 9: Ch 3 This design has generous margins (p. 22).  Apparently, this works every time so I guess there is no way to go wrong if you follow this.

Rule 10: In the same chapter it said that the Tags should go on the bottom right hand corner (p. 26).  The Tag here is across the whole bottom.  The rule is only partially broken because the Tag is at the bottom, but it is too large to only be in the right hand corner.

 Select something you have previously designed and make revisions.

I had to do a screen shot but this was a handout for a pathfinder I created for the Women's History Research Project.  I think I was guilty of always centering pictures and not always resizing them.  Sometimes pictures got blurry as the were enlarged so I just figured that I would use the two but the second picture has nothing to do with the font.  I also always bolded the font for emphasis but I am going to try to use a different font to stand out.

In the revision, I used the title feature on the top to change the size of the Headline.  It automatically put the line under there and I liked it so I left it there.  I found a new picture which actually speaks more to the project and can be a talking point for the kids.  For the subheadings, I used Heading !, which automatically changed the color and the font.  Again, I liked the change so I left it that way.  I think the new layout is a lot simpler and more user friendly.  With the other pathfinder a lot of my students used to get distracted by the colors or ask me questions about the pictures.  In this case, the picture will definitely keep them on topic.

Page 58 Repetition Exercercise

Here is an example of three different objects I found.  I think because what attracted me to my original ad was simplicity, I tried to re-create that idea in my layouts.

 

 

In the first ad, I wanted to play with the size of the object but create a visually appealing foreground.  The background was kept simple as was the font.  I created a pattern where the size of the rings are all almost the same.

The second ad is a bit more playful but there is still a simplicity.  There is a pattern to the layout of the rings, but all the objects are exactly the same size.  This ad started with the headline and ended with one.  I played with the idea of making the word on the bottom smaller than the top but I liked this look.  I'm not sure if it is a design mistake, but I think in this instance, it works.

In this third ad design I tried to start small and end smaller.  I wanted the visual to be in the middle of the page.  I wasn't very adventurous, because I did keep things centered, but it works.  The fonts are used over and over again, only the size varies.  I also noticed that it is in all caps but once I chose the heading button, it automatically did that.  This is my favorite ad.  I think it is the most visually appealing.