//After Effects Workshop..

These are some practising experiments of using AE in a workshop. We were given the imagery to work with which was from either Photoshop or Illustrator. We then placed them onto a time line and changed time and movement elements in the effects palette. The aim was to try and make the word do what it said.

This short motion was about making the box move along vector lines and bezier curves. Using AE to create short motions like this is actually fairly easy. Once you get the hang of it its simple to move the object around the space.

This motion was about bringing in a shape from Illustrator and using it as a guide for movement for the shape. When you then play the motion it moves around the shape but the shape isnt visible. This means you can make any shape in Illustrator and you can make the object move around it.

This was about revealing the word reveal, you make a white box over the text and on the timeline you set it so that as the time moves along the box gets smaller therefore revealing the word.

This motion was really fun to make, you bought in a word from Illustrator and make it so that you can manipulate the paths. As you add key frames within the sequence you can alter the vector path to distort your text. In this case I made it look as though it was melting.

This was probably the most exciting thing I have learnt yet with AE.

Design for digital// Workshop 5..

As part of the silent movie brief, we have started looking at how key frames are used within a sequence in preparation to be taken to After effects. We had to choose a kinetic type video from the web and take screen shots of points in the video using equal time spacing. We also had to screen grab 25 key frames from the sequence.

We then put these onto a time line to show where they went within the sequence.

I learnt a lot from this workshop as I didnt really understand the importance of sequence making, time lines and key frames before now. I did actually do this exercise wrong as I didnt use the full video but I still learnt how to use the key frames across the time line.

I think that I mainly learnt the importance of knowing how to communicate timing when drawing out a sequence on a time line, because in industry you would need to effectively storyboard your ideas for the client before wasting time and money doing it all wrong when taking it to digital unfinished or just not ready.

The main problem that I encountered was the maths side of working out timing on the time line. Maths isnt my strongest area and I struggled to grasp the concept fo working out what had to go where. I think once I start placing my own sequences onto a time line and practise with existing videos it will get easier to understand.

In order to create an accurate time lined sequence you need to know how long the sequence is and how many key frames there are as this will allow you to create an accurate time lined sequence.

Design for digital// Workshop 4..

This is the next workshop that continues through from the previous ones:

The aim of this workshop was to use one of our words and use it in a 5 frame sequence. For each idea we had we had to think of 5 ways in which we could show it. Therefore coming up with 25 sequences using five initial ideas. I decided to use the word expand as I already had a lot of ideas of what I could do with the word to portray its meaning.

I picked a particular typeface for each of the five ideas to give myself a bit more scope. The image above shows one of my five ideas in 5 different ideas. The idea behind this storyboarding page was to stretch/ expand the serifs of the typeface. With the top sequence I stretched out the serifs gradually on each letter, until they finally overlap. The second line I chose to gradually stretch an extra letter per frame, so starting with x on the second frame, then x and p, then x, p and a etc.

The third sequence was the word slowly expanding in weight over the 5 frames. I also tried to show movement throughout the frames by changing the position of the word as it grew closer to the front of the frame, this also meant that I have tried to show depth within this idea. With the fourth sequence I tried to gradually extend the ascenders of the letters so they looked like they were being stretched out.

The last sequence shows all fours 'corners' of the letter forms being stretched out and also enlarged. I think if I had more frames to work with then I would have continued this sequence until the word expanded into filling the whole frame.

I really enjoyed this workshop and feel like I have learnt so much. It was useful to know how storyboarding works with sequencing and also its has helped me to develop my visual communications skills because obviously the idea behind the workshop was to be able to effectively communicate the word through a visual manner.

Design for digital// Workshop 3..

This workshop followed on from the two word experiments.

The focus within this workshop was to choose a letterform from one of the two words and make 5 sequences using 5 frames. The letter form I chose was S, although I accidently used D on one sequence. The word that I tried to portray was disperse, I used the typefaces that I collected relating to disperse as part of the sequence.

This workshop was very useful in terms of learning how to place ideas into frames and show the gradual change of the letter form based on one particular word/ idea.

This is also where we have been introduced to story boarding and what it is used for and its importance. When starting this module I thought it would all be computer based but in fact it actually focuses more on getting your ideas out on paper before you take it to digital. Making the story boards does take a bit of time but they are so helpful in helping you to understand how your idea will work.

Design for digital// Workshop 2..

After being given the research task for the two words 'expand' and 'disperse', we had to draw out a few ideas to represent the meaning of the word using just one letter from each word.

These ideas were taken from the word disperse, I have taken the letter 'd' from disperse and tried to portray its meaning to the letter form. Some of the things I have done include separating the counter from the letter, splitting the letter into several pieces, the letter dissolving and disappearing. Some of the ideas came from the typefaces that I found relating to the word. The arrows then show how the letter form would move in relation to the effect I have used upon it.

This design sheet was for the word expand and the letterform I am looking at is 'x'. I decided to use the letter x because I feel that it was an easy letter to do, not because I wanted to take the easy option, but because I felt it gave me more scope to try more experimental effects. The most obvious designs was to experiment with the 'arms and legs' of the letter, like stretching one, stretching two, stretching two opposites, stretching the whole letter form vertically and horizontally. I tried using the typefaces that I found to help me, there is so many more variations I could draw by using different typefaces and meanings of the word itself.

Design for digital// workshop 1..

This was the first workshop I have done within the OUGD202 module. The workshop focused on using visual communication to portray a message using just words and how you could communicate the effect of the word on the word itself, like word representation. The two words were picked out of the randomizer, I picked out 'expand' and 'disperse', at first I thought these words were very similar and was already finding it hard to define each one.

We were given a task of researching:

// 20 other words relating to each word

// 20 meanings relating to each word

// 20 objects relating to each word

// 20 situations relating to each word

// 20 typefaces relating to each word

----------------------

Expand//

These were the 20 typefaces relating to the word expand. I tried to find typefaces that looked as though they already held elements of 'expansion', for example fonts with large counters, serifs, an element of depth and thick weighting.

Words//

Bloat, inflate, enlarge, dilate, stretch, unfold, increase, unravel, magnify, amplify, elaborate, protract, broaden, bolster, heighten, widen, thicken, prolong, outspread, swell.

Meanings//

To increase the size of; to increase the volume of; to increase the quantity; to increase the scope of; to enlarge; to express the length of; to express in detail; to open up something; to unfold something; to develop something is to expand on it; to extend something; to expatiate something; to elaborate something; to blow something up; to stretch something; to grow something.

Situations//

Blowing a balloon up; rice expands when cooking; unfolding a map; pupils expand when you've taken drugs; belly expands when pregnant; stretching out stretch armstrong; expanding on a story; blowing bubbles; heat makes metal expand; looking through a magnifying glass; a bird stretching out its wings; the universe is expanding;  bread expands because of yeast; muscles expand when exercising; inflating a hot air balloon; building a house extension; stretching an elastic band; getting stretch marks when gaining weight; growing up/ life expansion; smiling :).

******

Disperse//

These are the typefaces relating to the word disperse. I tried to find fonts that looked as though they were crumbling, separating or had large kerning.

Words//

Distribute, scatter, break up, diffuse, disburse, dissolve, radiate, spread, split, partition, discharge, split up, divide, dispense, impart, separate, sprinkle, disunite, dissipate, disarrange, diverge, spread.

Meanings//

To drive in different directions; to scatter in different directions; to strew; to distribute widely; to cause to vanish; to cause to disappear; to disseminate (eg knowledge); to separate; to move in different directions; to break up something; to dissipate; to leave/ cause to leave a gathering; to spread; to spray (ie water); to part something; to send something in various directions; to be dispelled; to diffuse something; to sprinkle something; to disunite something.

Situations//

Clouds dispersing rain; watering a garden with a sprinkler; tie dying a t-shirt; putting ink into water; the sun shining; sweet dispensing machine; someone throwing money in the air; blowing a dandilion; scattering seeds; a flock of birds flying away; police dispersing a group of rioters; cells separating; the light prism; soluable paracetamol dissolving; blowing out candles; bees collecting pollen and spreading it; fireworks exploding; throwing confetti; using a leaf blower; a spider dispersing its silk to make a web.

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After effects workshop// 29th November..

After effects workshop// 29th November:

This image shows the AE workspace, including the time line, the frame and the design folders.

When creating  a new AE document you need to select new composition.

When you have selected new composition a settings box will open which will allow you to set the correct digital format, the frame rate, the time line and the size. You can also change the colour of the background of your composition.

There are many different digital options when working on AE, its important to select the correct one, and this varies on what you are designing for and also the country it will be viewed in.

In the UK we use PAL, which stands for phase analogue line. PAL uses 25 FPS (frames per second)

This is the colour setting box for your composition which allows you to change the background colour.

Once you have clicked okay to creating a new composition, it will appear in the top left box in the AE working space, it will show you the name, the file type and the frame rate.

If you ever need to go back and change any of the settings of your composition you can do so by following the links above.

Much like Illustrator and Photoshop, you can create new layers to work on within your composition, this will be useful when adding effects, shapes and text.

The above box shows you how to create a new object as a layer, in this instance I have created a square.

This shows how the square is placed within the frame, within the AE working space.

The new layer then appears with the composition.

The above image shows the time line. The vertical red line is what runs through the sequence when playing and it also allows you to move to certain points in the sequence.

This image shows how the shape layers are set on the sequence. This tool box allows you to change visual elements of the shapes.

This image shows the layers space and the tools which can be used to manipulate the layers. Such as the positioning, scale, opacity etc.

After adding a few layers I started to play with the positioning of the shapes and how they would move within the sequence. The way in which you would move something within AE would be related to the key frames tool.

The small yellow diamond shapes show key frames, these frames are here key changes happen within the sequence.

The red line shows the direction to which this shape will move when it passes a key frame on the timeline.

When it comes to saving your piece of motion you need to render it first. This prepares it for viewing.

This shows the format that the file must be saved as.

Design for print// End of module evaluation..

OUGD201// Design for print production: End of module evaluation;

1// What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

If I am going to be completely honest with myself, then I would say yes I have learnt a lot throughout this module, but when it has come to the point where I should be applying my new knowledge to my design work I think I could have done a lot better. Theres things like the application of colour through print, my final solution was in black and white and there is nothing wrong with that but maybe I should have eplored colour further, just for my own investigations. When it came to producing a final solution for the Good is brief, I found that I understood a lot about print and I did propose things for the printing of my final designs, I just wish I had been more organised and actually put the effort in to try and do some foil blocking and embossing etc. I now know a lot about print and how important it is, I have learnt things that I would have never of thought to be important before.

2// What approaches to/ methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

I have found out that there is so much more to printing than what meets the eye, after going to TEAM and looking around a professional printers, I realised how much thought and time goes into even the simplest of things like birthday cards, they we may take for granted in terms of print. I think I most enjoyed learning about all of the print finishes and what effect they have on a design. Another aspect that I found interesting after going to the printers was die cutting, its amazing how each net for packaging or even something that needs to be die cut has to be especially made! I have also learnt a lot about 'real life' print, things like billboards for example, they are everywhere but its not until we had spoken about large scale printing that I actually wondered how they were printed etc. I have a billboard outside my window and I have watched it being changed twice now and I get really excited about it, because I now appreciate it.

3// What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/ will you capitalise on these?

I think the main thing I have found over the last week of the module, is that I am starting to find myself as a designer and I think that is very important at this time. It may not be a strength but it definetly helps when it comes to designing things. I am very happy with my final solution, it took me a while to get into the swing of things but I am happy with what I have produced. I have also started to do a lot more supportive research within this module which has helped me understand certain areas of design and how it will impact my own design work. This is something I need to continue to do as it helps inspire me when I hit a brick wall in my idea generation process.

4// What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

My biggest weakness through this module would have to be not trying things, like foiling and spot varnishing, I just dont feel like I made enough effort throughout this module and to be honest im disappointed in myself, I know I could have done so much better. I know that I would have enjoyed doing some foil blocking or even making a proper book for my work. I need to address this in the next module because not only will I actually enjoy trying new things, I will learn something new and my design ideas and work will benefit from it.

5// Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from these?

- I would of loved to have been a bit more experimental with things like foiling and spot varnishing, it just would have been interesting to see how it looked on my designs rather than me just proposing it.

- I wouldnt change my idea at the very last minute, I changed my idea 3 days before module submission which wasnt very smart. I didnt feel like my first idea was any good and I wasnt happy with it so I changed it. Next time I need to make sure I choose an idea that not only will I enjoy but will also work well as a piece of communication.

- I will try not to waste time or be lazy. I know for a fact that I have wasted a lot of time during this module messing about and I think this will definetly reflect in my grade. I had a 'i'll do it tomorrow' attitude and it did not help me at all.

- Try more things and generate more ideas at the beginning so that I have time to develop.

- Be more organised and stay late at uni, I know that if I go home I will get distracted so easily. I get more done when I stay at uni.

// Attendance: 5

// Punctuality: 5

// Motivation: 2

// Commitment: 2

// Quantity of work produced: 3

// Quality of work produced: 3

// Contribution to the group: 3

Design for print// Good is: Final pieces..

These are the images for my final solution for the Good is brief. I decided to change my idea a few days before module submission which has made everything a bit hectic, but to be honest I wasnt happy at all with what I had previously produced, I feel that I could have done so much better so I have done something about it. My new idea is still based around the same concept and story, I have just changed the outcome. My new idea was one that I had written down at the beginning of the process, but I didnt feel that was enough. I did try and design a look book but I didnt gather enough material to create something decent and meaningful. This new outcome is a 'make your own polka dot pattern pack'. The pack contains 10 variations of polka dot pattern stencils, with a pot of black fabric paint, a roller and a small guide of how to use the pack.

This is the bag/ pack that holds all the mentioned items to help make polka dot patterns. The bag is slightly taller than an A4 page which means that the stencils fit snug inside. The front of the bag has my logo inspired pattern on it, which has also become part of my branding. I was going to 'diecut' all of the white circles but realised this would make the front very flimsey and it may not support the contents. So instead I decided to cut out the two circles beside the logo, which makes the logo feel more centralised and helps it stand out.

The sides of the bag are a little too short which meant that without the hole in the middle of the handles tieing it together, it would spread out wide. I think that this fault has worked to my advantage in a way because the bow meant that I could make a card tag with the logo on. The 'diecut' circles could maybe have accetate covering them so that nothing could fall out of the bag when it was being carried. I am proposing that the black on the front of the bag would be spot varnished, I think this would make it look more sophisticated. The stock I have used is white card, I think it is sturdy enough, but I would possibly need to use a stock with a slightly higher gsm so that when the middle bow was undone the bag wouldnt fall apart, but the length of the sides would also have to be higher.

The inside of the bag uses a repeated pattern of the logo, I thought that this would keep continuity between all of my designs and it also looks better than just white or black. I think it would look really cool if one or two of the inside logos were silver foil blocked. Its not very often that the inside of a bag has that much detail, but I just think it would be a nice touch.

These are my ten polka dot stencil variations. Each one goes up by a cm in terms of the circumference of the dot. Each stencil is an A4 size with rounded edges, I decided to make rounded edges because I felt that ridged ones wouldnt fit in with my curvacious theme.

Each polka dot stencil also has a specific name for it and an example of what context it can be used in and what it means. I have tried to keep the names humerous as polka dot lovers are often fun and a bit cheeky. The names are as follows:

- Itsy bitsy teenie weenie// 1cm

- Piggy in the middle// 2cm

- Mediocre// 3cm

- Foursome// 4cm

- High five// 5cm

- Sexy sixer// 6cm

- 007// 7cm

- Acceptable in the 80s// 8cm

- After eight// 9cm

- Larger than life// 10cm

Each stencil has white and black polka dots on it, and where possible, I have created a white dotted arrow which points to the name of the polka dot and its meaning. In an ideal world I would of liked to have had the white dots diecut and the black dots would have been perferated so that the 'customer' could have popped them out as and when they liked and used them to decorate things with polka dots.

Each stencil has the brand logo on the top left corner and along side that is the definition and name. The logo would be silver foiled on each stencil just so it makes it that bit more attractive.

The stencils would be kept together by polka dotted ribbon tied in a bow, this would then be placed within the designed polka dotted bag.

This is what the pack would include (there will also be a tshirt but I forgot to buy one). There is the 10 stencils, the pot of black fabric paint, a small roller and a hotdog book explaining how to use them all.

The fabric paint will last a long time if used correctly on the t shirt, by providing this it also means that the customer can apply the stencils to other fabricated items, including canvas bags etc.

The book is illustrated with simple images and clear instructions on how to use the pack.

The inside of the hotdog book has the same pattern as the polka dot bag.

This photo shows the design continuity between the hotdog book and bag a bit better.

Looking through a diecut hole onto the patterned inside.

This a slightly closer photo of my final collection of design outcomes. I also designed mailshots which can be seen leaning against the bag on the right hand side. These would be made of thick card, double sided, with foil blocking on the logo. These would be handed out in retail hotspots to fashionistas and of course anyone seen wearing polka dots. I say mailshots because they could also be sent to boutique shops that may be interested in coming to my big polka dot event.

This is probably the best shot I got of all my final solutions, you can clearly see all the outcomes and I think that it can be clearly understood what it is. This photo also shows how there is a visual consistency between all designs and how well they all work together.

This last design is part of the promotion for my event, it uses the logo and pattern to brand it. I want to slowly promote my event by designing a series of posters that lead up to this last poster that contains all the information needed to attend the event. I also have the pun 'be there or be square' which I think would work really well as a tag line for the event to get people interested.