Photography Blog Assignment: Week 4 (Due Friday, Oct. 7th)

For this unit on self-portraits we are exploring the work of Cindy Sherman and connecting her ideas on portraiture, especially staging and dramatic lighting that she executed for her Untitled Film Stills series, to our "B Movie" self-portraits.  To get us thinking about how we can place ourselves in a "B Movie" environment, please post a picture of "B Movie" poster on your blog for this week.  After you post the picture briefly describe what you imagine the movie to be about.  After that brief description, discuss how you would create a self-portrait done in the style of that poster.  Your description should be realistic as to what you personally own for costuming, where in your community you could stage it, how you would create dramatic lighting, and finally what emotion or mood you would want to create in the photograph.  Your description can even include a back-story or script to your own "B Movie" if you want, but this is not required.  Have fun with it!

  

Graphic Design Blog Assignment: Week #5 (due Friday, Oct. 7th)

Welcome back from a short blogging break graphic designers!  Our next project, after we complete our typography image, will be to design a logo for a fictitious company using your initials or name.  To get us started and our creative brains in the right mindset, we will be analyzing a series of professional logos.  For this week's blog, please upload a picture of at least two logos that you feel are highly successful.  After uploading each picture describe why you think that they are successful.  How is the logo associated with the product that it is trying to sell?  Is it associated to the product at all?  What emotions or feelings do you have when you see the logo?  Answers these prompts for each one of the logos that you post (two total).  Make sure to cite your sources and also list the company that the logo is trademarked to.  

www.starbucks.com

Registered Trademark of Starbucks

Graphic Design Blog Assignment: Week #4 (due Friday, Sept. 23rd)

Artist: John Le  website: www.john-le.com

In our next project we are using typography (or text) to create an image with symbolism based on the text that creates it.  For this week's blog assignment, locate and post a picture of a piece of typography design where the image is created solely by text.  Make sure to cite both the artist who created the piece as well as the website that it was found at.  After posting the picture, analyze the piece for the elements and principles of design - especially contrast, emphasis, line, composition, and texture.  Your response should be a minimum of 10 sentences, or a thorough analysis of the piece based on knowledge garnered from the survey courses.

Photography Blog Assignment: Week #3 (Due Friday, Sept. 16th)

Photographers!  As we've discussed in class, not every photo has to have a person or people in it to show emotion.  Inanimate objects can evoke emotion as well.  Annie Leibovitz, a professional photographer we've been viewing work of in class, does this exceptionally well in her work.  In the photo posted below, she creates the feeling of abandonment or even fear.

In your blog for this week, describe in words how you would use inanimate objects, as Leibovitz does, to capture the following emotions:

1. anger
2. disappointment
3. joy
4. sorrow
5. excitement

Remember, no people can be used in your descriptions - only inanimate objects.  Your answers to this blog might look something like:

"To take a photograph that shows the emotion of anger only using inanimate objects and not people, I would take a picture of a broken glass on the floor with a pool of water around it.  I would also include a broken plate with spilled food all around it."  

Create a photograph, described in words, for each one of the emotions listed above.  

Graphic Design Blog Assignment: Week #3 (Due Friday, Sept. 16th)

Designers!  This week, upload your finished "Old Tech" design (as a jpeg) and discuss your thought processes as you created the piece.  Include why you chose the color scheme that you did, how you want the piece to be viewed by your targeted audience (how you want the viewer to feel), and where you envision that this piece could be used in a professional setting (could it be an advertisement to sell a product, or a poster for decoration?).

Photography Blog Assignment: Week #2 (Due Sept. 9th)

Photographers!  This weeks blog assignment focuses on portraiture.  Locate and post a black and white portrait photograph, taken by a professional photographer (Annie Leibovitz, Alfred Stieglitz, Cindy Sherman, and Robert Mapplethorpe are good places to start) either living or deceased, that follows the composition guidelines discussed in class.  After posting the photograph, giving credit to the artist, and citing the source, analyze the photograph purely for its composition.  Discuss the rule of thirds, leading the eye, positive and negative space, and foreground - middle-ground - background.  Also describe how the composition aids the artist in creating a certain emotion in the viewer.

Annie Leibovitz "Susan at Home"

Graphic Design Blog Assignment: Week #2 (Due Friday, Sept. 9th)

Graphic designers!  For this week's blog assignment locate and post a picture of a piece of graphic design work, professionally done, that you feel symbolizes you as an individual (make sure to give credit to the studio as well as the website where you found the image).  After posting the image, describe in detail how it symbolizes your personality and individuality.

www.diplomaguide.com