hooked.on.DMA

Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 14

2010-04-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

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Eros

We were assigned the task of branding a new company. A website mock-up and two logos were to be created. We were told that "Eros" wished to market themselves as a "Tea and Coffee Garden". They wanted to see subtle hints of Greek Mythology (which was incorporated into one of the logos), as well as a professional and modern look. They wanted "simplicity accented with powerful and passionate imagery".

Anne and I partnered up for this project.

This is what we came up with:

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Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 14

2010-04-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

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We received feedback on some of our work and made the necessary changes.
Here are the improved versions of my mobile apps:

Nike:

Dove:

Click to see v.01

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Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 14

2010-04-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

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My web design class is actually split into two separate parts (two different profs as well). One is design and one is development. I've come to terms with what seems to be a reality: I'm not a developer! At least... not yet. After much frustration and procrastination (I couldn't bring myself to spend any more time developing.. it was getting that tedious for me), I put together my portfolio site, version one(of many to come). There are still bugs that I have to fix and am therefore not making it official, but here are some screen captures:

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Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 11

2010-03-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

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Mobile

Here are some iPhone mock apps I designed

Nike+ Re-design:

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Dove:

Photography - Semester 2 - Week 10

2010-03-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

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Painting with light! I was so excited for this assignment because I've been meaning to experiment with this. Some of my favourites:

*Thanks to Misty for lending a hand! And some other body parts.

Typography - Semester 2 - Week 10

2010-03-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

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Here's a mock CD sleeve I completed for class. Our task was to incorporate a collage into our design so I came up with this:

Original photo of collage I did:

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I chose to focus on the british band 'Nizlopi'. I love their style. (Thanks to Nicole for introducing me to their music!)

Here's a taste:

Krystal

2010-03-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

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I thought I'd try my hand at using a Seneca Wacom again and I have to say I've fallen in love (now that I've gotten the hang of it). Here's an illustration I did using Illustrator and Photoshop:
Scroll down to see the steps to version one

Original:

*Thanks to Krystal Reeve and Stephen M Loban for letting me use their photo!

Base: Illustrator
Hair/Blending/Touchups: Photoshop

Storyboarding - Semester 2 - Week 9

2010-03-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

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Banner re-size: 160x600

Photography - Semester 2 - Week 9

2010-03-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

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TEL Building

My favourite few from this week's photo assignment

Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 9

2010-03-16T10:36:00.002-07:00

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Nike Mock-up v.02

Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 9

2010-03-15T20:14:00.001-07:00

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Dove Mock-up v.02

Slightly revised:

Semester 9: From class

2010-03-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

Sweet!

Graeme Jenvey

2010-03-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

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A talented guy who I'll have the pleasuring of meeting with soon to work on a studio film! He's made some fun short films that I love watching.
I can't stop replaying this one:

Partially because that's my best friend running :)

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Check out more work here:

http://graemejenvey.blogspot.com/

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Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 8

2010-03-03T21:16:00.000-08:00

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Mock-ups v.01

Moleskine 001

2010-03-01T10:48:00.001-08:00

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Sketching isn't my forte so I'm glad I get to work on it in story-boarding class. These are some random little bits:

Storyboarding - Semester 2 - Week 7

2010-02-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

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My first flash BlackBerry mock banner ad - storyboard

Something new

2010-02-25T07:42:00.001-08:00

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I signed out a Wacom tablet from school to get used to it because I thought to get one of my own soon. Trickier than I thought!

Here's some random scribble from my first time using this thing:

Photography - Semester 2 - Week 7

2010-02-24T12:11:00.000-08:00

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Still-life photos
Would be better if I wasn't actually IN them!

^ slightly over exposed.. but I think I like it better.

Natural light on these, and slight Photoshop to get rid of some dust.
Click to enlarge.

Let yourself feel..

2010-02-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

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A friend showed me this quite a while ago and every time I replay it, it's like I'm hearing it for the first time. It's one of the most beautiful things I've heard/seen. I hope it moves you as well..

Zulu Alpha Kilo

2010-02-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

I started noticing Bell's new campaign that plays upon a much more simplistic concept than before. The commercials I'm seeing during the Olympics this year draw me in and I really wanted to know who was doing their campaign. My sister informed me that it's an ad agency called Zulu Alpha Kilo. Their site explains their purpose: to keep it simple. It perfectly achieves this goal from a branding perspective as well as esthetically.

This is pretty much all you'll see on their site:

Check out Bell at the 2010 Winter Games:

Bell Commercials

What I pass by in the halls

2010-02-17T08:18:00.000-08:00

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I see such cool stuff up in the halls on my way to class so the other day I decided to bust out my cam and take some pics so I could post them. Props to this class! Cool stuff.

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Web Design - Semester 2 - Week 6

2010-02-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

We were assigned the task of creating a mock-up for a blackberry site (working with the template and grid mentioned here), v.01:

revised version here.

Big Babol: Stretched Gum

2010-02-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Web design - Semester 2 - Week 5

2010-02-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

We spoke about Nathan Smith's 960 Grid System in class last week and it was super interesting to see that he employs the exact same system in each of his designs although they all look significantly different.

He makes these files accessible to anyone. We downloaded and began to utilize this grid to create an in-class mock-up of a BlackBerry site.

We've constructed this basic layout to give us an idea of placement and will build on it further tomorrow.

My first website mock-up

2010-02-08T05:38:00.000-08:00

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One of our first tasks in web design class was to create a tourism website. We were required to have copy, imagery, and a maximum of three pages. Our prof is very good at instilling the legal aspect of the business world into our minds. We had to create copy and images ourselves to prevent copyright complications. My classmates and I were trying to rack our brains to figure out what recreation spot we could find to take nice photos. I, then, got word of yet another legal issue we would be stumbling across (in the real world - luckily this isn't it): having to get forms signed by the property owner to ensure we have proof of permission. Aghh! Who knew things would be so complicated? We then had to resort to giving a tour of our closets, rooms, etc. I thought my closet was a little boring so I came with a better idea: my imagination. I came up with a neat little intro for the website copy and took a print screen of the index page:

I wanted to keep the design simple and child-like to get across my 'imagination' concept.

"All children are born artists. The problem is to remain artists as we grow up." - Pablo Picasso

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Flash - Semester 2 - Week 4

2010-02-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

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A print screen of today's class work.

Custom white balance

2010-02-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

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Yeah you better believe it, I had never actually used this feature on my Canon until today. I was missing out huge! No photoshop on these.

^overexposed

^daylight white balance

^auto white balance

^custom white balance

*I got a better turn out on the next location because I was actually able to
go right up to the object (and therefore was in the exact light I needed to fix)
and held up a white piece of paper to custom balance.
As opposed to the dog which was far away.

^daylight white balance.. too yellow.

^auto white balance.. a little better.

^custom white balance.. PERFECT.

^custom white balance once again

Poster Design

2010-02-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

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A friend of mine owns a gym and needed a poster for an event he's hosting so I gladly helped out!
My first time designing one so if anyone has feedback on it (or anything else you see here) let me know! :)
I always look for ways to improve.

Client: Victory Muay Thai / TITAN Combat & Fitness
Purpose: Muay Thai Seminar

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Bo Egestrom

2010-02-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

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Wowza!

(props to this MUA! So cool!)

Check out more work here:

http://www.egestroem.com/

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twenty bucks

2010-01-31T18:59:00.000-08:00

if you can guess what this is?

.. and this

lol

Typography - Semester 2 - Week 4

2010-01-31T18:54:00.000-08:00

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More experimenting with type

recycled some of my photography, and threw in some Rihanna lyrics

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Iain Crawford

2010-01-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

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This is why I've grown to have such an appreciation for fashion.
It's ART. I was once ignorant to this concept and would despise
watching fashion shows thinking, "this is so stupid,
who would wear these crazy get ups?!" Tisk tisk Oana.. that's not the POINT.

Awesome stuff.

Check out more work here:

http://www.iaincrawford.com/

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Inspiration X

2010-01-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

Found out about this artist a while ago and am still inspired by her work.

I love it.

Check out more work here:

http://www.lauralaine.net/

Your wish is my command

2010-01-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

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My sister came to me for a simple design for her blog that would reflect her content idea. She liked the simplicity that came with this Blogger layout and wanted an esthetic main image. Her concept has to do with analyzing ads and ad campaigns. She is passionate about dissecting what gets thrown at us on a daily basis and understanding the logic behind it. She came to love the phrase "Ad Hoc" which is actually a Latin phrase that means "for this purpose". I thought this would fit perfectly with her 'Ad'vertising concept.
I immediately thought "ad HAWK". However, she did not want to emit a harsh and aggressive image. Keeping this in mind, I scrapped the obvious "hawk" image I had in mind.
After a shopping trip (that does the trick!), we stumbled across an idea that would still be in line with the softer image she wanted to portray, but had a touch of my initial vision as well.

I repeated the phrase "Ad Hoc" in the feather to give it a little more personality.

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Flash - Week 3 - Semester 2

2010-01-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

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Flash gives me a headache sometimes but have to admit that I'm excited thinking of all the stuff I could do with it. I just have to get used to how it works.

A print screen of today's class work.

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Lorenzo Bringheli

2010-01-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

Another goody!

Check out more:

http://www.lorenzobringheli.com/

Typography - Semester 2 - Week 2

2010-01-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

Playing around with type

Steve Carty

2010-01-19T12:55:00.000-08:00

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Remember this ?

Steve Carty, a photographer I met with not too long ago, used this technique to create an editorial for Filler Magazine. I love the idea and think it would be so awesome to experiment with. The reason I love working with static light is because it doesn't matter how many times I move my camera in a certain angle to blur the light in the lens, it doesn't come out looking the same every time. Trying the opposite would be new for me: keeping the camera static and moving the light. I've got no choice but to try it out!

Behind the scenes of his shoot:

Hear him speak:

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Source:

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Check out more of his work here:

http://stevecarty.com/

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Photoshop - Semester 2 - Week 1

2010-01-14T09:49:00.001-08:00

Mock client: Sprint

Cyril Lagel

2010-01-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

I've really developed a love for fashion photography and have stumbled across some awesome work. I will periodically post photographers' work that I find inspiring.

Staring with:

This guy's lighting is stunning!

Beauty:

Fashion:

Ads:

AVATAR

2010-01-08T08:40:00.001-08:00

Amazing movie!

New Year,

2010-01-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

new opportunities, new possibilities.

I'm stoked for what's in store this year. My goals are set and I won't stop until I reach them. I've realized that I take pleasure in proving people wrong. You say I can't do it? Watch me. I'm challenging myself and I like it. I encourage everyone to do the same! There are things I'm doing now that I had convinced myself were "too hard" or "impossible" for me to do. Self control, confidence, and motivation is all I have to hold on to. I'm happy with where I am and how I've gotten here. I'm even happier with where I can go.
Note to self: expect the worst but hope for the best. Stay hopeful but stay prepared.

May this year bring all your wishes! But don't wait for opportunities to come to you, go out and find them.

Yours truly,

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T13:11:00.000-08:00

Bye-bye Semester One

2009-12-16T22:25:00.001-08:00

In light of today's final class of semester one, I'd like to end off with a quote:

"Yes, my hair is more aerodynamic today.

I like to keep it short and wear tight clothes so that the ladies can't grab on to

me as I run away."
- Joe

Well said.

Happy Holidays

Rock Bottom

2009-12-16T22:24:00.000-08:00

Uploading my final video on YouTube is robbing me of my audio. So until I figure things out, check this other sick film by some of my classmates:

Props.
Now I have such a strong urge to pick up a copy of the Cudi album..

Catch the blooper at the end? Ha

Super Dario

2009-12-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

Went to the shop today to get my t-shirt printed.. in 5 minutes! So quick, loved it.

Model: Andrew Tedford
Notice his "the beach is that way" pose.

*Btw this shirt is an inside joke with my boss/co-workers! Don't strain yourself trying to get it lol

Final Skateboards

2009-12-16T21:16:00.001-08:00

Painting over top of an old design.

Some of the final decks.

Anne's

Alan's

Christine's

SIIICK

2009-12-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

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I just found my dream t-shit print shop. I don't know how I didn't discover it before! I'm definitely hitting this place up tomorrow.

Queen Street Tees

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Inspiration IX

2009-12-15T19:11:00.001-08:00

OWNED.

2009-12-15T18:14:00.001-08:00

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In the Metro today:

Haha clever use of tracing paper, Telus.

I had to do it..

2009-12-14T22:51:00.000-08:00

HA

Took this:

And turned it into this:

This was a phrase I'd hear a lot from my Italian boss, Dario.

2009-12-14T19:25:00.001-08:00

Week 14: Website

2009-12-14T14:28:00.001-08:00

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We created some concept ideas for the main page of an Audi website.
I'm not happy with these three but it was the best I could spit out with limited time.

2009-12-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

Break mental sets and challenge assumptions.

Can you answer the following questions?

1. A farmer had 19 sheep. All but 9 died. How many sheep did the farmer have left?
2. It is not unlawful for a man living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to be buried west of the Mississippi Riber. T or F?
3. Some months have 30 days, some have 31. How many months have 28 days?
4. Jimmy has two coins that together total 30 cents. One of the coins is not a nickel. What are the two coins?
5. If there are 12 one-cent candies in a dozen, how many two-cent candies are there in a dozen?

These questions are all designed to cause thinking errors. Here are the answers:

1. Nineteen - 9 alive and 10 dead
2. F. It is against the law to bury a living person anywhere.
3. All of them.
4. A quarter and a nickel. One of the coins is not a nickel, but the other one is!
5. Twelve.

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Define problems broadly.

Instead of asking to: design a better doorway,
Why not challenge the problem: Design a better way to get through a wall?

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Restate the problem in different ways.

See if you can cross out six letters to make a single word out of the following:

C S R I E X L E A T T T E R E S

If you're having difficulty, it may be that you need to restate the problem. Were you trying to cross out 6 letters? The real solution is to cross out the letters in the words "six letters," which leaves you with a single word: CREATE.

You should almost always ask the following questions:

- What information do I have?
- What don't I know?
- What can I extract from the known information?
- Have I used all the information?
- What additional information do I need?
- What are the parts of the problem?
- How are the parts related?
- Is this in any way like a problem I've solved before?

Remember, to think more creatively you must find ways to job yourself out of mental sets and habitual modes of thought (Michalko, 1998).

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Allow time for incubation.

Trying to hurry or to force a solution may simply encourage fixation on a dead end. Creativity takes time.

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Seek varied input.

Remember, creativity requires divergent thinking. Rather than digging deeper with logic, you are attempting to shift your mental "prospecting" to new areas. As an example of this strategy, try to randomly look up words in the dictionary and relate them to the problem. You may get similar benefits from relating carious objects to a problem. Or, take a walk, skim through a newspaper, or look through a stack of photographs to see what thoughts they trigger.

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Look for analogies.

Many "new" problems are really old problems in new clothing.

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Take sensible risks.

A willingness to go against the crowd is a key element in doing creative work. Unusual and original ideas may be rejected at first by conventional thinkers. Often, creative individuals must persevere and take some risks before their ideas are widely accepted. For example, Post-it notes were invented by an engineer who accidentally created a weak glue. Rather than throw the mixture out, the engineer put it to a highly creative new use. However, it took some time to convince others that a "bad" adhesive could be a useful product. Today, stick-on notepapers are one of the 3M Company's most successful products.

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Delay evaluation.

Worrying about the correctness of solutions tends to inhibit creativity.

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*Source: "Psychology - A Journey"

Inspiration VIII

2009-12-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

holy crap. I love that I stumbled across this because a friend and I were just discussing this effect yesterday!

What you see is straight off of the camera.. no photoshop added to these. They're made by Jan Wöllert and Jörg Miedza, the brains behind Light Art Performance Photography.

Stunning.

Final Project: Skatedeck Design

2009-12-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

This was another client-based project in which we had to incorporate an aspect of our toy (from the microscopic metropolis project).
The project details suggested we do research and look at other skateboards for inspiration, however, I didn't want to do this. Only because I thought back to what Hugh Elliot said: "When you use already existing work on websites for inspiration, you are more inclined to emulate that work instead of making something innovative".

What I did use for inspiration though, because it caught my eye, is this:

I went for a more simplistic approach and created this:

From there I moved on to adding texture. I really wanted to include some of the watercolour assets we were working on in class.

I used those two merged together (and tweaked the colours a bit) to get my final background:

I illustrated the drawing, placed it on top of the background (twice, mirrored), and added a faint spider in the middle to create this:

If you don't remember what the toy looked like, here's a glance:

If you notice, I made the colours and the spider consistent throughout both projects.
Tada!

Sneak Peek: Final Video Project

2009-12-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Mine and Anne's creation. We're in the final editing stage, so this is all we have for you thus far. And no, that's not the girl from the ring.. it's yours truly :)

CURIOUS?

;)

Can you tell

2009-12-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

that its the end of the semester? Haha

Week 12: From Class

2009-12-02T19:12:00.001-08:00

Week 12: From Class

2009-12-02T18:53:00.001-08:00

designerslashmodel.com

LOLZ. plz click and watch.

wtf?

2009-11-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

haha

nice find, G.

FAIL.

2009-11-30T16:05:00.000-08:00

Arghh.. in regards to the previous post. Turns out my "creative thinking" (landscape as opposed to portrait) screwed me over and that I missed the part where it specifically said 8.5 x 11 and not 11 x 8.5

Oh well, it happens. Now I know.

Week 11: Photoshop

2009-11-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

We were assigned a project with a possible client and had the task of creating two ads. We received assets, copy, images, and a logo. Our job was to best utilize what was given to work with.

1.

2.

I don't like the second one as much... bleh
Plus, I realized when making it that I wasn't exactly sure whether or not these were meant to be print ads or something else. Since all the magazines I know are portrait style, I ran into a bit of a problem with my layout. I left the top one the way it was (in case it could be used for something other than print) and made the second one a two-page spread.

*Please note: these are not existing ads for the company. These images were provided for class project use. No profit is being made.

Microscopic Metropolis

2009-11-24T23:56:00.001-08:00

We were assigned the task of coming up with some toys. It was our job to pick a partner or a group of three. We had to come up with some characters that were predators, and some that were the prey. We decided to go with the group of three and have one predator and two characters of prey.

It all started with some badass sketches.
That was purely sarcasm.. plz do me a favour and skip past this. I don't know how I got the final toy from these..

We were originally going to go with something like this:

Yes I know it's sideways, it doesn't deserve the extra effort to rotate it.

but we scrapped that.

Here we go, Super Sculpey!

baked in the oven for 15 min at 120 Celsius
aand with some help from my friends.. acrylic paint..

voila!

here's our story:

to view the other two characters, click here:

Goblanator
Flamber

From Class: Week 10

2009-11-24T18:00:00.001-08:00

Inspiration VII

2009-11-23T15:26:00.001-08:00

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Hellovon

I love all aspects of Von's work.. the real yet surreal feel of combining nature and abstract, as well as the amazing detail of each piece.
click here to view more of his work.

Super Morlock Adventure Quest

2009-11-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

We were encouraged to get out of the classroom, head downtown and be creative with our digi cams. We had a little scavenger hunt and had to cover a bunch of things on a list.
Here's a little preview:

click here for the rest.

*btw DMA ppl.. don't be confused, most of these aren't from the list, they're just random shots from the trip that I liked lol

Hugh Elliott

2009-11-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

Big thanks to Hugh for coming in to speak with us tonight at Seneca's Industry Chit Chat 3! I know I always appreciate when pros take the time to speak to us newbies so I hope others saw the benefit of tonight as well. I know it was a long day today at school for us guys so props to everyone that stayed to listen :)

For the people that missed it, here it is in a nutshell:

Top 10 Reasons For Not Doing Great Work

10 - "I don't have any ideas"

'You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being board. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we're doing it.' - Neil Gaiman

'When you use already existing work on websites for inspiration, you are more inclined to emulate that work instead of making something innovative' - hugh
'Get into the groove of being inspired by things around you instead of infront of you (screen)' - hugh

9 - "I don't know where to start"

'If you only focus on where you end up, you won't get anywhere, get frustrated, and quit' - hugh
'Don't just look at the big picture, break it up' - hugh

8 - "I don't know how to do it"

'I think knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that's good taste' - Lucille Bald

Recognize what you don't know.
- research
- friends/peers
- practice

'It is human nature to want to exchange ideas, and I believe that, at bottom, every artist wants no more than to tell the world what he has to say,' - M.C. Escher

7 - "I've had a new idea"

When it rains, it pours.
Learn to prioritize:
- how much time can you invest?
- can it be documented and set aside?
- something has to give

6 - "It won't be amazing"

Who cares?
Who is it for?
Concentrate on the process
Get some perspective
- work for yourself
- set your own goals
- it's the challenge, not the accolades

If its new to you, and helps you.. Its worth your time.

'Opportunity is missed by most people because. It is dressed in overalls and looks like work.' - Thomas Edison

5 - "I don't have time"

Sacrifice vs. Reward
- be willing to extend your deadline
- exhausting yourself is short-term

4 - "There's this great game...."

A good diversion?
Depends on why you're playing
Moderation
Games/Facebook/YouTube = time

3 - "Someone else has done it"

Is it really the same thing?

2 - "I can't keep up with technology"

Break it down
What do I want to accomplish?
What can I make right now?
How does it fit into the whole?

1 - "Life got in the way"

Focus on what's necessary
Realize your limitations
Don't give up

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*and remember....

- Keep track. Write, sketch.
- Flexibility is important
- Don't get ahead of yourself
- Be okay with failing
- Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize
- Remember your friends
- Take a breather
- Keep your perspective
- Share with others
- Challenge yourself

My Tea

2009-11-17T10:35:00.001-08:00

Aren't these tea bags the sweetest things? I was super impressed. Enough to put down my mug and take pics! ha

Week 7 : From class (Colour Range)

2009-11-17T10:25:00.001-08:00

If you're curious about how I cut the animals (see previous post) out from their background, watch this:

LOL
Gotta love Dane Cook.

Week 7: From class

2009-11-17T10:14:00.001-08:00

Another jump back in time, sorry.

We were suppose to make some creative info cards for animals we drew ourselves combined with backgrounds groups completed in class.

And I noticed I got a cool-looking effect when I cut the line drawing out from the background:

I'll be using that!

Through the Fog

2009-11-16T09:55:00.001-08:00

Took these out of my res window the other night.

BB? Check! Done done done.

2009-11-16T00:13:00.001-08:00

And last but not least.. my new BlackBerry (but slightly thinner version that doesn't exist).

This one was kind of a pain.. but it turned out better than I thought it would. Tried to fancy it up with the background there.. did it work?
Well I thought I'd pull a FAIL out of my... pocket.. for this assignment but I surprised myself a little by not spazzing TOO much and getting 'er done.

Martini? Check.

2009-11-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

Another scene done

Plane? Check.

2009-11-15T19:58:00.000-08:00

First scene done

and a little progress report with the final scene:

can you guess what it is? ha

Week 9: 3D in Illustrator

2009-11-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

I kept putting this project off because I was really drawing a blank on what to do. Yeah I panicked a bit which wasn't necessary because I just didn't take the time to think it fully through. I kept thinking about how hard it would be to make 3D images instead of thinking about an image as being made up of many other symmetrical objects and going from there. I kept thinking I wanted a challenge although I found myself struggling to begin with so I put that idea to rest and tried to go with something easier to start.

Here's my progress from a couple of days ago:

new post with final images coming soon.
*oh ps. I kept wondering why my images would turn out with messed up colours like this when exporting (wasted like an hour figuring it out and then just copped out to export as .tif):

but now I know........ I was exporting the .jpg as CMYK instead of RGB.. ugh.

Umm

2009-11-12T19:58:00.000-08:00

This is pretty genius.

click here to see more features.

Week 9: From Class

2009-11-11T23:43:00.001-08:00

Andrew brought in some "Chinese ink" for everyone to use. I thought I'd be a smart ass and joke that it's soy sauce. Turns out....... it was.
We were asked to design the background for a [pretend] restaurant menu using Chinese ink art styles. We split the page into four sections: front cover, appetizers, main dishes, and drinks. (The right of the menu - with a bottle shape design - was suppose to be the drink section.)

Week 6: From Class

2009-11-11T23:17:00.001-08:00

A little creative exercise we did in class. We had to come up with some ideas for "Happy Meals" from four different time periods.
Sorry for the jump back in time with this post! I forgot to put these bad boys up a couple of weeks ago.

Creative Block?

2009-11-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Look no further!

http://creativeblock.monomoda.com/
is here to solve your worries!

stumbled across this when browsing on the net and thought it was kinda neat. It spits out random suggestions when refreshing.

Things like:

:)

Week 8: Illustrator

2009-11-02T15:57:00.001-08:00

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original drawing:

Inspiration VI

2009-10-31T06:23:00.001-07:00

Ha so funny.. I was fishing around for some illustrations as inspiration for a project and found this that really caught my eye

then as I took a second look at the dude's name.. Andrei D. Robu
I realized he's ROMANIAN! and a lead designer and partner at a design office in Bucharest! NICE!! Keep doing your thing, my people!

Inspiration V

2009-10-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

Awesome!
Thanks for the find, G.

Inspiration IV - Typography

2009-10-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

Farhad Fozuni

Hanna Czapka

Pablo Alfieri

Week 7: Illustrator

2009-10-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

3D stuff

I have no idea what this is.. whatever. ^

Fall Tour 2009

2009-10-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Most of our DMA class had the pleasure of taking part in the Oddly Fall Tour this past Friday.
We visited the studios of Teehan + Lax, Organic , John St. , Taxi , and Grip Limited .

I'm really glad that attended this event. I got to see what goes down at these studios. I very much enjoy the set up of Teehan + Lax. I like the idea of an open concept, team set-up. There were no small offices or cubicles. The studio is interactive and allows you to turn to your neighbour and ask questions if needed. And the walls were white boards! Shveet!
To be honest though, I grew super intimidated after going around to all these agencies. I feel like this is SO out of my league. Hopefully this fear goes away with time and experience.. (it better).

Week 6: Illustrator

2009-10-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Re-dooooo

2009-10-15T06:17:00.001-07:00

As requested... I re-did my sports logo.
1. Because I fudged up some lines the first time and
2. Because *SOMEONE warned me that Joe might kill for changing around the colours. Haha woops :)

Much better, yes?

*Trevor Henry

These streets will make you feel brand new... big lights will inspire you.

2009-10-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

Just messing around with long exposure

From class: Week 5

2009-10-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Fail. It's ok. *As long as you learn from it.

Plan
- deadlines
- what is required
- can you meet the deadline?
- what will you learn from the project?
- what do you NEED to learn to complete the project?
- review client SOW (scope of work)

Research
- what is the project?
- target user group
- is it part of a larger body?
- reference -> gather up lots
- go back to plan and bring your TEAM in to ask for input

Create Solutions
- educate clients (eg. typography)
- separate production from creative
- develop checklist -> MO (method of operation)
- flag possible issues ASAP
- large problems can be reduced to smaller solutions

"You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it."
-Albert Einstein

Week 5: Illustrator

2009-10-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

We had to choose one of the NBA, NHL, or NFL logos to trace. I went with the Nashville Predators only because Joe said it was one of the tougher ones and I wanted a challenge :)
When first starting out in illustrator the other week I thought to myself, "How the hell am I gonna do a complicated logo like that?".

Well.. hell froze over and I got 'er done.

I started out by copying and pasting the original version of the logo in illustrator and reduced it to 50% opacity ^

and from there come the layers:

aaaand the final:

*I didn't do it all in one sitting so I'm not sure exactly how long it took me. Argh. Oh well, just means I'll have to do another one :) ..since this one isn't perfect anyways

Another From Class: Week 4

2009-09-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

--

and here's a slightly different one I found^ ..but still cool.

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From class: Week 4

2009-09-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

http://graffitiresearchlab.com

..not sure why there's no part one but whatever. I'll take what I can get.
Cool stuff. Definitely inspiration for creative thinking.

Class project: Week 4

2009-09-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Quick watercolour stuff. (Actually.. it was acrylic diluted with water.. SHHH.)

..don't ask what these are suppose to be.. it's abstract, okay?!

Inspiration III

2009-09-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry, forgot to mention they're a little PG13.

Week 4: Artist study

2009-09-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tim Burton.

I'm glad I ended up with this artist because prior to this assignment I hadn't taken the time to actually look at his work carefully. Funny enough, our styles are very similar. I love incorporating the fast messy-looking pencil strokes into my work. What I like most about Burton's work though, is that he pairs this distressed/distorted way of drawing with subtle details to bring it all together. I also noticed that he has a tendency to use thin lines and creates thin limbs as well. So thin that they end up as lines themselves.

--

He also incorporates the messy water colour effect here ^
I like that he doesn't limit himself to the lines and allows the paint to bleed beyond the borders of the drawing.

--

I like the broken lines in this one and the fact that the paint behind it still holds it together. The details here would be the pockets and dots outlining them.

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--

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I tried to use Burton's techniques to create two pieces of my own to complete my study and apply my knowledge.

1. *
Techniques used: thin lines, distressed lines, details (spikes, patching, stitches)
Materials used: paper, pencil
*click to enlarge

2. *
Techniques used: bleeding of watercolour, details (earring, bracelet, texture of scarf), distressed ink lines, thin lines, thin features (fingers + nose)
Materials used: paper, pencil, acrylic paint + water, ink
*click to enlarge

--

Coolio

2009-09-28T22:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the find, T

Week 4: Illustrator

2009-09-28T21:53:00.001-07:00

Recreating some images for practice.. I did a couple versions of this. Not because I'm a keener, but because I'm an airhead and didn't save it the first time :)

Week 2: Illustrator

2009-09-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

Done in adobe illustrator. This is harder than it looks people! Took me a million years at first......

now: 2 minutes! ha

Week 2: Create a BUNNY

2009-09-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

hah.