Taking Digital Art to the Next Level

Digital Art Revolution, by Scott Ligon (Watson-Guptill) is a very enjoyable and inspiring book of  creative digital art ideas, theory  and instructions. The intro chapter, "Welcome to the Revolution" makes it clear that it is written with an artist's perspective, not that of a technician who has found some neat tricks, and the chapter about "Finding Your Own Voice" has many great ideas to include in discussions of problem solving and creative thinking. It covers both compositing and painting techniques with examples from a wide variety of digital artists, covering many styles, making this real "eye candy".

It's Complicated: The American Teenager

Photojournalist Robin Bowman has a wonderful website with samples from her book, Its Complicated: The American Teenager. Select "Teenagers" from the menu and click on each photo. Look for the small +  symbol to make the text of the interview with each subject appear. She says that her project "underscores the similarity and diversity that make up this country and this generation, and reminds all of us that people are not necessarily who they appear to be." Not only does she give presentations, she also runs workshops to promote tolerance and social awareness for students and teachers. Her website is also a great example of how photographers promote their work and find audiences and venues for exhibits.

History of Graphic Design

Here is a wonderful website for those of us who don't have a budget for a set of classroom textbooks about graphic design...and it is much more up to date. http://www.designhistory.org/    I noticed that on their history of symbols page, they already have an example of the Culture Jamming/Rebranding of the BP logo.

What do Graphic Designers Do, Anyway?

Need to be able to explain the career of a graphic designer?  The AIGA has a very thorough guide to the careers of graphic designers.  For a quicker source, just check out the list with explanations of what kind of projects designers actually work on.

New Leslie Alsheimer Book on Black and White Photography and Photoshop CS4

Two years ago I recommended Alsheimer's wonderful and thorough book for perfecting black and white digital photography, enhancing in Photoshop, while also managing your photos with Lightroom.  You can read the original review here.

There is now an updated edition for CS4 and the latest Lightroom. If you think there can't be much you can do with creating digital black and white images, you need to read this book.  If you have a gazillion photos on your hard drive, but haven't tried Lightroom yet, it's time you do (and read this book). I love Lightroom not just because of it's organizational abilities, but it's sophisticated photo adjustments (called aptly, "developing") are often all I need. Asheimer's insights into the art of digital black and white photography should lead you to some exquisite images.

Paraphrasing Alsheimer, you will need to awaken your inner geek for some of the content, but she does a great job of making you feel at ease if you don't quite get it the first time. There are chapters that I have to reread because I don't always remember all the technical info. But, her style of writing is very comfortable and refreshing, and the book is very well edited and designed, so I never feel overwhelmed or bored reading it.

Suggested Beginning Flash Projects

As promised, I am sharing how I started my Flash unit, using Flash CS4.

For the Sampler, I demoed step one, had them try step one, etc. Demo/try, demo/try, etc. Peer helpers are very important.

Practice Flash Project

The project has at least 4 layers:

1. Dingbat, modified to graphic symbol, moves around stage and distorts as it moves. (Motion tween)
2.Shape morphs into another shape. (Shape tween)
3.Shape appears to move into stage, but actually the shape grows larger. (Shape tween)
4.A shape changes alpha (opacity) from 0-100%.(Shape tween)


Flash Concept Animation

Using what you learned in the Practice Flash project, express one of the following concepts using shapes, letters or dingbats:

1. congestion
2. playful
3. tension or stress
4. lost
5. victory
6. fear
7. perseverance

Requirements:At least 100 frames in length. Must successfully express the idea without words. Use 3 different objects, each on it’s own layer, and at least one motion tween and one shape tween.

Name “Concept” and place inside Third Nine Weeks folder inside your Finished folder.

Have a peer from across the room critique your animation and make any agreed upon changes. Don’t tell them which topic you chose; see if they can recognize it. Your peer must also check that you put it in your finished folder and named it properly.

Visual Literacy: A Conceptual Approach to Graphic Problem Solving

This is a fantastic book of projects for a 2D design class, by the founder of the Graphic Design Department of The School of Visual Arts, Richard Wilde. The projects are clearly described and there are many wonderful student examples. The book itself is a fantastic example of visual literacy.  (Ironic how non-visual so many visual literacy books and presentations actually are.)  Fun projects that challenge your students to turn on their creative mind, for grades 11-college.