Here is the last and final post from my classes of Graphic 2 students... :'(

This project was so creative and so much fun (at least for me it was).  The students had to choose blindly from one group of words, and then again from another group--this pairing became the name of their very own unique typeface that they then had to design. 

Firstly, they had to put together inspiration boards based on research of their terms.  Secondly, once their inspiration boards were created, they then had to draw the letters by hand, and then move on to the computers to render their creations.  This was a challenging project, but one that will capture your attention, and surprise you...enjoy!

Just as it sounds from the title of this post, this project was Graphic Design ELEVATED!  The students were asked to work in a medium new to most of them--photography.  Daunting as it seemed, they rose to the occasion, and surprised me on many levels (although I constantly know they can do anything that they genuinely try their hands at).  Once they had their concept mapped out, the photo taken and edited, the students then moved to paper and began drawing out a pattern inspired by their photograph.  This project was heavy, and constantly forced them to reinforce their concept with more and more attention to detail. 

The final result is what you see below, a hand-drawn (and then computer rendered) pattern overlaying an original photograph.  They opened up frames within the pattern to create an emphasis on their concept, as well as including a breakdown of their pattern and a description of their concept.  I hope you can understand how much thought and creativity went into this project...they were all so proud with the end result.  For a complete description of the project, click here to view the guidelines...

This part of our Principles of Design unit was particularly challenging.  By looking at what the students have come up, one would never guess how much work went into creating these highly creative and thoughtful illustrations for the word relationships.  The objective for this assignment was to create compositions that illustrated the relationships between the following words:

Outside—Inside

Stay—Go

Full—Empty

More—Less

Front—Back

Simple—Complex

Order—Chaos

Narrow—Wide

It wasn’t about just illustrating both words in the same image, but rather the relationship that exists between the words.  The entire thought process happened on paper first, coupled with constant teacher/student conferencing, and then moved lastly onto the computers.  They have made it look easy, and yet…you have no idea just how hard it is to create ORIGINAL, UNIQUE & CREATIVE compositions with the guidelines that they were given.  Have fun with these, they really are entertaining… for the complete lesson, click here to view the project guidelines.

What makes a composition balanced?  This was the question that my graphic II students were tackling with this project.  They were asked to first create an organic shape of their own design.  Once they had created this shape, they were asked to create three compositions with only that one shape that illustrated the three kinds of balance:  symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial.  They had strict guidlines as to what they were allowed to do and what they were not allowed to do... click here for the actual lesson.

People normally equate the word 'simple' with the word 'easy.'  In the world of design, we know that this is just not true.  To create design that is both simple and beautiful at the same time takes patience, a critical eye and a true understanding of our fundamental principles of design. 

During this unit, students are taking a deep look at what these fundamentals are, and creating designs that exhibit these principles in a meaningful way.  The trick here though, is that the students are being asked to create simple yet meaninful compositions, with very strict guidlelines.  For example, the students could only use one geometric shape in unlimited amounts of solid color.  Click here to view the exact guidlines of the assignment. 

The students were told by me, "don't just show me what emphsis looks like...show me that you know how to use it to engage me!"  The audience becomes active when looking at these unique compositions, and when looking at these designs, you need to ask yourself, "where did my eye travel first"?...I think you'll find that it wasn't always where you were expecting.  This of course IS the true meaning of the word emphasis, and reveals the true power that a designer has when implementing it correctly.  ENJOY..these were so much fun!

Here is the first wave of truly inspiring work completed as the FIRST PROJECT in our Graphic Design 2 classes.  I designed the project to not only challenge the students by setting the tone for this year, but also to make them access everything that they learned in Graphic Design I, and implement those skills and elements into one design.  Click on this link to visit the actual guidelines the students followed with this project.   Normally, a designer is brought in to design a book cover after the book has been written by someone else.  In this case, these students had to come up with an entirely unique and original concept first, and then step into the role of the designer.  I'm only including the book covers here, yet the students were also responsible for  completing the look of their first chapter using Adobe Indesign.  Way to go guys!