A Hard Time for Jobs and Computer Software.

Well now since I am currently out of graphics courses in college of course I am searching for Graphic wise based jobs.  It isn't as easy as everyone says it is.  Really I don't have any of Adobe CS4 and as I was looking for purchasing I noticed that a normal job like Dunkin Donuts can't pay for it.  Twenty-Five Hundred Dollars is ridiculous  I mean come on a normal college student like myself can't really afford those types of programs while being in college, because we still have intuition to fill out and loans to pay for.  I also looked at job wise and I really want to work in either New York City, New York (for popular magazines) or even L.A. California.  The reason for those places is mostly because I know in those types of areas is where the big companies are located.  Maxim Magazine and even some of the big Sony business is located in New York City and of course Hollywood with big Hollywood movies, companies and ect....  I don't mind if I work in say Tampa, Orlando or even Miami, but really I just want to reach  for where the money is located.

The room which is unlike any room in Vegas.  In class we were given the assignment to pick any room that we wanted and make / design it in 3d.  Well I actually wanted to do a room that I figured that a lot of people did not do or a company that many people did not see to do.  I did Hugh Hefner's Las Vegas Villa room in the Palms.  I had so much fun designing this, even though there were a lot of bumps on the way like lighting all and all I was happy with the outcome and process of the whole thing.  Lighting was a key factor in the bumps during the process.  I had so much lighting that it cranked up my render time to about 2 hrs just for an image, and due to the time that it was due I had to find out how to manipulate some of them so they gave the same outlook.

Ah Skateboarding the one thing that I thoroughly enjoy. As you already know right now I am currently working in 3-D modelling and the advertisements that I have chosen to advertise is Blind Skateboards. This process was not as quite as simple as the other advertisements that I have done because I had to really get to know some of the tools and techniques of them highly more than usual. For each skateboard I had to use the magnet tool in-order to get the shape that is need. Not only that but the holes where the trucks are, I had to make a boole for each hole which was difficult, because unfortunately there were tiny bumps in the way that made the object itself try and figure out how to make it work with each line segments it already had. I believe that this assignment is one of my best works yet and I know that I will get better and will be one of the best of what we do as graphic designers.

Cinema 4-D v.s. Still Image Animation

Nightmare Before Christmas a movie made by Tim Burton as well as a movie that a great number of people love to watch all year around. Currently I was watching on how they made this movie and I couldn't believe on how long it takes just to make a second of the film. By doing still animation it took 100 shots to make only a second for the movie. All together it took 3 years to complete the whole thing. They also used over 200 hundred puppets for every character and 40 facial expressions to uses, by slipping the head onto the body. Having the appropriate lighting was also a big deal. By having the appropriate lighting you would be able to see the darkness of Halloween town to give it that eery look and then again the brightness and joyful sense of Christmas town.

I could not believe on how long and tedious this movie was to make. I was criticizing on how easier it would of been in 3-D animation. Because all they would have to do is create the character and the stage pretty much just once or twice. By creating it the 3-D aspect they would of been able to mimic and show facial expressions just by using bend tools and to give it more depth just play around with some lighting.

Cinema 4-D

Ah Cinema 4-D, what a program. Cinema 4-D is a unique program that I myself have grown to love in the past two weeks. I have yet mastered the technique of every tools, but I know I will by the end of the second month of this class. As you can see I have uploaded an image of a logo that I have created for Mr. Andrew Philips, a fellow classmate of mine. Our assignment was to get to know one of our class mates and create a logo for them. So as I got to know Andrew a little bit more I started to ask about how he would like his logo to look, what colors does he like, approach he was going for and what he sees his personality being. I used a lot of the spline tool to create this image, better yet all of the image that you see here is all done with the spline tool and then combined with a nurb. Yes it was difficult and hard at times but with proper lighting effects and a mirror image I believe it turned out fantastic. Even Andrew liked his logo after he saw it. He said to me that it was what he was looking for. Having sharp edges, dark colors and given a eery feel to the creation.

Chapter 2 Outline

In chapter two of our book I've learned many things when it comes to art history. For instance I've learned a lot more about how we came from hieroglyphics and choosing the correct font that we need for illustrated work. Not only has our text and font came a long way our ability to use devices such as a type writer turning into a designing machine that we call a computer (apple preferably). With this computer we can design many interesting pieces that can attract people attention and make them believe even the un-believable. Another invention that we are using today is the camera. At first it was just a machine that was used by holding up powder to make the device work and snap a picture, but now it has evolved into a digital camera. This device is so useful in terms of actually taking a photo of someone or something so you can manipulate and add additional features in your design to make it more eye catching and appealing.

Chapter 3 of Graphic Communications

I just recently finished outlining chapter 3 of Graphic Communications. This chapter was mainly based on getting more familiar with text size, positioning and of course fonts. I have learned a lot more about this because of this book. I've learned more on where some of the fonts came from for instance; In 1773 a designer named Giambattista bodni from Italy and his friend Benjamin Franklin introduced the new modern roman type. This font runs "perpendicular to the baseline and then parallel to the vertical stems of the letters". Not only learning about certain fonts but also thanks to Robert Bringhurst we understand a lot more about the fun and joy of typography.

Here, I have created a poster for The American Cancer Society an non profit organization. I used a tutorial based background with the use of filtered clouds and Rain Effect to give a well mellow situation. Next I used the logo's for Make A Wish Foundation and Relay For Life, both in a association with the American Cancer Society. I aligned them so they look eye catchy and at the same time they look very professional.

Hey it has been a while since I actually posted something on blogger, but of course like usual I have something to show you. As you can see here it kinda looks like a postcard..., well it is lol. This a design that I created for Lakeland Florida. The picture is an actual picture that was taken in my group. As you can see their is a weird shape in the middle of the design. It is actually a swan interpreting what Lakeland is all about. I mostly used the blur tool, brush tool to make the edges all jagged, and of course a phew techniques to make the text pop out. It was quite hard in some cases that I didn't expect, but that is a great point. The reason why is because when your designing something will happen as you design that makes everything get off track or what you are not expecting.

This is a design that i had to create for class if you are wondering..."ok Todd what is it"? basically here is the information, we had to choose a continent to promote with wildlife included.  So for my advertisement I chose to do one that no one else would think of and wouldn't really want to visit, of course Antarctica lol.    So what I did was chose a reasonable picture of the continent on the Internet and outlined it and put a white with slightly blue tint gradient mesh in it so it gives that icy feel.   Next I inserted the most popular animals that you would see around the continent which includes; penguins, walrus, killer whale and a sea lion.  It was a fun project if I do say myself, I put as much effort so it can look appealing to other people.

Rhyming Design

Not a lot of people know that when you write poetry you don't have to just write it.  You can create what ever you are feeling in illustration and at the same time it tells your story.  By illustrating it brings out what pain, suffering or just showing your enjoyment of that day or past week even.  Even if you are bad at illustrating it really doesn't matter, because illustrating doesn't matter on looks or appearance it can simply be some of the most simplest things or even the weirdest things, but it still tells your story.

In my 2d Illustration class we recently learned how to use the mesh tool.  In the beginning I was kinda iffy, but now since I have been using it more and more I've grown to love it.  You can make so many images come to life just by little detail into the picture that you are creating.  For instance with this picture of my self portrait  I used first the pen tool to trace the image and add color but then used the mesh tool in-order to create, highlights and shading to make the image for dimensional.  Now I am not a pro at this tool yet, though I would love to be.  There are somethings that me personally I have to learn.  Just recently today It clicked that i can add different colors at different points to make the image more appealing and smooth rather than having ruff edges.  

You and Presenting

As I was growing up I kinda started out to be a little shy in some area's of getting to know people, but now since I'm in college growing older I now have had experience to talking to new people and getting some type of conversation going.  With presenting in front of a decent number of people I can tell it has helped a lot.  The reason why is because as you are in front of a lot of people you start to get a little hesitant, but once you start to talk more and more you get a sense of being a lot more comfortable.  As you continue this speaking up in front of people and not only that but speaking to new people in general you'll start to get a bigger and opened mind, so in a way people are getting to know you rather the other way around. 

Across The Universe

Today I didn't have to work until 7, but from 3 to 5 I was watching Across The Universe.  Being in graphic design and many classes that involves video editing I could point out many transitions that they were using for the movie.  I would look at those transitions and pin point what was a good transition and some that weren't very good usage in the video.  The only thing was that there were those transitions that I didn't quite grasp on how they and why they had used them, but oh well I guess you have to be their and ask questions on how and why they used them to make any sense.  So hopefully as I continue learning I will be able to learn different transitions and be able to put them in what ever I use for my career.

Learning Not To Save

IT IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!! when you are working on what you need to design you don't think about saving anything, oh no you just think "oh man this is awesome I want to get this done and everyone will love it, YA!".   Well no,  you always need to save your work no matter how in depth you are into your work.  Trust me i've learned the hard way there has been countless of times when I am doing my work and out of know where the computer program automatically shuts down or without knowing it restarts itself.  Yes I know how you feel, like a ninja stealing and cutting off your computer, it sucks.  Just right now I was working on a assignment for class where I needed to create my own font, cool ah ;D.   The only downside is I took a little break for maybe 15-20 min and what do you know I come back and the stupid thing had restarted automatically on me, and being dumb I didn't save any of my work. Doh!  So please don't do what I did and save your work as many times as possible or else you'll have ninjas creeping up on you and destroying everything that you have worked hard on.  LEAVE US ALONE NINJAS!!!

IF I COULD WISH FOR ANYTHING

Most people when they think of wishing they think of a genie with three wishes, but if i could wish for three things I would Pick My life to be perfect,  There would be no Wars, and 3 more wishes and I will explain all of them.   

Lets face it no one's life is not perfect and no one else's is.  So by having my life to be perfect I wouldn't have to worry about carelessness things,  no job because I would have the money I need in-order to live out my life.  Also as a future father I would be able to spend time with my future children and teach them what they need to know in-order to live their lives in the big and open world without worrying about them 24/7, it would be a relaxing time. 

Number two is no wars, the reason for this is because war is like a big argument, but a argument that gets bigger, bigger and bigger to the point where you would see casualties happen and people dying so by having no wars in the world everyone can be at peace and you don't have to worry about any of your children dying.

Last would be 3 more wishes.  Ok yes this is kinda a wish that isn't very common like the others but lets face it who can't beat 3 more wishes.  I mean once you get everything that you need in your life like; your family, friends, wife, kids, car, and ect.... you could always be a pal and wish your genie to be free so he could finally end his life as a slave for people and go back to where he came from.  Just think as a man if you have a female genie (hot) you could be living like "I dream of Genie" lol.

Dunkin Donuts and Graphic Design

As I am currently sitting here at where I work (Dunkin Donuts) I can see many designs and advertisements in a view that a graphic design can see how, what they used, what program and what type of label they are trying to incorporate.   For instance there is  a sign for magic sprinkles in Baskin Robins.  In the sign there is multiple of fonts that they have used, colors, and brushes that I am familiar with.  Not only that, but I can tell on what message they are trying to say, which is that "with these sprinkles you'll be able to taste your soft serve turn from vanilla to either grape, berry, or watermelon flavoring.  Yes the sign does look appealing and lets be honest I have tried every single flavor that they have and let me tell you the sign is absolutely correct the ice cream is delicious.  So that is definitely not false advertisement lol (yes I have experienced a less than lower graphic designer accusing ME!!!!!!! for having a piece of my work as false advertisement all I have to say is WTF? ya maybe i'll just start doing what he is known for slaying dragons. lol), but anyways I can tell that everyday that I work and see newer advertisements come in there is a big difference in what and how I see them.

Past Writing and Spring Break

Honestly a lot of people will write a lot of things rather it would be personal or not.  They just like to get their point of view out their or just to get something that is bothering them out so it gives them a feeling like someone is listening to them.  

Spring Break is a big subject on how people displays their life.  When college students write about spring break, the most you will hear is subjects on how hammered they were in Florida as they were at the beach, or who and how many people they slept with.  I am currently attending Keiser University in Lakeland, Florida and obtaining a degree in Graphic Design.  I also work at Dunkin Donuts on the North Side of U.S. 98.  

My spring break in college is quite not like that.  Call me a goody-to-shoe but who cares, I am just more responsible.  This is my freshman year in college and all of my spring break of '09 wasn't as quite as I would of imagined it.  When I was released on spring break  I could tell that this years spring break was going to be a dull one.  Most of the time I worked from 1-10 and when I had something to do I spent that time with family or errands I had to run.   Yes, as young as I am of course I wish that this spring break would of went different like how everyone else had theirs party's, but for now i'm set on getting everything that I want first and the career i'm going for, and then the fun.

Music and Graphic Design

A lot of people think of graphic design just to be logo design, manipulating art / photo work and even web design, but actually it just matters on what direction you take your graphic design ability.  Me for instance would love to explore of my graphic design ability in the Music Entertainment.  As I grew up I played the trumpet throughout my elementary and high school years, the same time when I began to become interested in Graphic Design.  I look back and everything that I have learned throughout the years in music, computers and animation I can see what I'm able to do to make music / music videos more appealing.  As you watch how they make the videos you can see that sometimes some of the animation is done in-front of a blue or green screen so they can get the key points of the person and or persons body so they can manipulate it into their editing program.  You can add Photoshop, Illustrator and even flash into music videos to catch viewers attention and make it appealing.  

ONLINE PORTFOLIO'S

Having a online portfolio is very helpful when it comes to you and the Graphic Design world.  As you get out, grab a degree and become a freelancer you'll need a portfolio that everyone can see and enjoy looking at before they have any idea of hiring you.  Before creating your web portfolio you need to think on what exactly you want companies to see that you have created.  Your created pieces needs to be your best work and be in a well organized way.  Having it not organized will frustrate people when they visit your site and might end up ruining your way on making it in the computer design industry.  A very good way to contact you through your site is to create an e-mail or commit box into your site so that way they can e-mail you anytime that they need or just leave you a comment on what they like or dislike.  You can also create a link inside your site for your blogging profile, by having a blogging profile they'll see what you have been talking about through the time that they have visited your site and what you've written down into your blog

Recently i've been learning a lot on web design, animation, photo editing, kinetic typography and etc...  I plan on making a online portfolio because with the world becoming more and more digital I'm going to need a way to reach out to the designing / animation world other than face to face.  I will create it in a very well organized way in terms of easy to find what they need to see from me and at the same time make it fun and enjoying so my site makes them come back for more.  I'm going to add an e-mail section and comment section so they will be able to contact me when ever they need to, and  links so they can visit my three profiles ( myspac, facebook and blogger)

WEB DESIGN AND I

For almost the past two months I've been taught on how to create a web site in HTML and Dream-weaver.  Throughout my whole process with Web Design I found out that it can be rough at times.  There have been a couple of times where I would want to put a boarder around a table or even placing a video and it would either be put in the wrong spot or not even show up.  When these events happen of course I get mad and want to punch the screen on the computer, but  I hold my temper and I gradually get up and walk away for a few moments.  Me personally, I believe that web design is fun and exciting, but not when you are on a short time span.  That is where I believe that I loose creativity, because I know I can do better and would do better but with the time span given it is hard to balance Web Design and working thirty-five hours at a job.  Oh well I will do the best I can and do want I need to get done with the best work and creativity that I can give.  Here are two links to sites that I have created in the first month;Web Site Accessibility,  Stan Lee.

Graphic Design and Comic books

Recently i've just bout four comic books gearing up for the latest Marvel movie that is coming out to theaters.  The one I'm currently working on is titled "Batman:The Killing Joke" (ya not Marvel but still a comic).  The book is based on the joker gearing up for his latest and most ruthful trick of all time which of course ends (*spoiler*) with Batman getting shot in the head and dies.  As I'm reading this I'm also looking at the detail of how the comic it self is drawn and how all the illustrations are viewed.  I can see that as they created this book they did a lot of illustration within the pictures to give a discrete look to keep the viewer / reader interested in the story.  Mainly with this book I can tell that they have used mainly the pen tool and the burn tool because throughout the story the burn gives it the evil / dark side of the story.   With Graphic Design getting more and more life like, in the future I'll be able set what I have learned and hopfully make my own story line with my own characters in the future.  So if Stan Lee, Alan Moore and Brian Bolland is reading this I will love to work for you and work with you and your illustrations.  

DREAMWEAVER

When it comes to certain type of programs you can either hate them or love it right at the start, but for some reason Dreamweaver seems to be one of those computer programs that you may hate it at first but but grows on you as you continue on using it.  At first I absolutely hated Dreamweaver and CSS. I thought that the standard HTML is the more easier way to go.  As time progressed and I operated on Dreamweaver and CSS more, It started to grow and still is growing on me.  In the beginning I couldn't imagine on how to put columns and working with columns inside HTML.   Now with Dreamweaver and CSS it makes it so much easier.  You can make columns inside a CSS tag and manipulate anyway that you would please.  In every site I create I use columns more than anything and i've also got to know CSS a little bit more.  I am able to control certain parts of my page in a short version rather than actually typing it all out in HTML and running a chance of not remembering where I had certain things when the time calls for changes.

PHOTOSHOP

Photoshop is the greatest thing that has been created for photo manipulation or just to edit.  Your can take a plain old photo of a person and choose different styles, brushes, colors, and some how make them look like if they are a picture into a puddle.  Photoshop in the real world is very handy, because when you are advertising for any type of business, in photoshop you can make a certain picture look so appealing that in the mind it makes people want to see what they have to offer.  I've personally been working with photoshop for about a year and a half and I absolutely love it, the ability to use it for your clients or if you just want to have fun it  is kinda like a more qeeky video game.

Flash

When it comes to flash, simple animation is quick and easy.  You can easily create what you want in illustrator, upload it in flash and you can manipulate or move it around any way that you would like.  With words you can do the same exact thing you can take a simple word like Gnarly and manipulate it so it will spell a even bigger word like PINEAPPLE OR STRAWBERRIES.  No matter what you create flash is used so you can advertise like advertisement banners on web-sites or even commercials in between shows.  It is a fun application and I enjoyed everyday I was working in the program.