Crunch Week - This is our final week to finish this year's yearbook. A number of photo sessions are scheduled. We have tracked those areas that we need to work on this week and they are listed on the class' white board. Try to keep this board up-to-date with anything that you feel could use improvement. We're trying to create the best book ever done at PIckering and we need everyone thinking and analyzing how we can improve over past issues.
Theory This Week - One area that we are going to be stressing this week is the concept of creating page layouts that will print and transfer well. This means using Preflight Profiles in InDesign. Download this preflight document and we'll be discussing how this profile can help us avoid pitfalls in getting our book to the publisher and saving time and money by avoiding mistakes. Our Workflow - for creating pages must be consistent and mirrors what is done in industry. Here are the basic steps:
The Illustrator self-portraits that I've seen so far are very well done. This week I'd like to see everyone finish their digital portraits by Tuesday afternoon. If you're having problems "seeing" the lines in Illustrator, you may want to try this Photoshop Tutorial that allows you to turn a photograph into a sketch: Below is a before/after sample of one that I completed this afternoon. We'll work on this in our theory session on Monday. Once the illustrations are complete we are going to try a new transfer technique. This will require you to print your finished Illustrator file out in color to fit a 8.25" x 10.25" area. These prints will then be chemically transferred to wooden frames. The end product will be displayed in our room and they will be yours to keep at the end of the year. Make sure that you're happy with your portrait before doing the transfer. We will be limited in how many frames we have to work with each year.
I have enjoyed reading your journals every week. These journal entries are a record of your growth in our program and they allow you a chance to ask questions and make suggestions. Dan Berger asked a great question this week in his journal. We'll be researching an answer to the question, "Is digitally-created work art?" Shea O'Neill asked that more choices be made available for project work. I'm supportive of Shea's suggestion, but I have a request. If you want to work on an alternate project during the lab period of our class - you need to send me the details via your journal and let me know that you made a proposal via twitter when you want me to okay the alternate project. Another task that we'll be beginning this week is to do post-production touch up of all of the underclass photo portraits that we took the past two weeks. We'll be working with Photoshop to complete this task. I'll post a how-to video on Wednesday to make sure that we're all following the same workflow with these images. My students are what some members of society call "Digital Natives." My students have grown up with game controllers in their hands and computers in their classrooms and living rooms and/or bedrooms. They communicate via text faster than most of us "non-natives" can type on a traditional keyboard. They are multi-taskers able to study, investigate new music and entertainment trends and communicate using various tools simultaneously. I learn from them every day.
Here is what they don't do so well - they often lack the ability to use technology to make themselves better students. They lack a strong understanding of how to save themselves time by managing their digital lives in a more organized manner. Many students don't understand the basic concepts of bookmarking and search methodology that make up so much of how to use computers and the web as sophisticated research tools. Organizing files on their computers is often not a strong point. They often can use digital tools - but fail to manage or control how those tools work. My students come by their ignorance and lack of skill honestly - none of them have ever been taught HOW to use tools they use socially for professional or academic excellence. We adults often assume that the "digital natives" understand boolean searches and file organization as a natural part of being born into "generation digital." When students get training and exposure and possess a good understanding of how these tools can affect their grades, they run with them and far exceed their teachers. We're going to work on these skills over the next few weeks. Here are some links we'll be using: ¡uıɐƃɐ ǝɹǝɥ ʞɔɐq ʇǝƃ uɐɔ ı ʇı pǝʞɹɐɯʞooq ǝʌ,ı ǝsnɐɔǝq ʇnq - sıɥʇ op oʇ ʍoɥ ʍouʞ oʇ pǝǝu ןן,ı uǝʇɟo ʍoɥ ǝɹns ʇou ɯ,ı |
Mr. TuckerMr. Tucker is in his 23rd year as the instructor for the Graphic Arts program. Prior to his teaching career he worked in the flexography industry for ten years and in quick printing for ten years. NEED HELP?Weebly Student Log-in Link
PHYS. ED. DAY
AM - Thursdays - 1 PM - Thursdays - 7 HEALTH DAY PM - Mondays - 7 Lake Photo
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