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Last week we were divided into teams to come up with a story using only pictures to tell it. I was teamed with Fergal and Gillian and we devised an alternative version of the Adam & Eve story. Fergal made the plasticine models, and a job well done there. Gillian and myself provided the backdrop, scenery and Large snakes.
The story goes that instead of Eve being tempted to eat the apple, she chooses instead to throw it at the Serpent, rendering it unconscious and cooking it.
Today (May 14th) was our last lecture of the course and we covered Gestalt Principles. Gestalt means in simplest terms the “Unified Whole” or that an object/image/musical piece/literary work is more than the sum of its parts. This principle was developed in 1920`s Germany by psychologists who argued that things are affected by what`s around them and that context played an important part too. The main principles are:
Simplicity: Happens when like objects are placed close together and are percieved as a group or pattern. Disimilar objects can be placed amongst them for emphasis. This is called anamally.
Continuation: This occurs when the eye is compelled to move through from one object to another.
Closure: This occurs when we see an incomplete object or the space around it is not fully enclosed. We trick our brain into filling in the gaps to complete the image if there is enough information there already.
Proximity: Like similarity, this happens when objects are placed close together to form a group or pattern but in this case they dont have to be alike in shape or form. When close together they form into one percieved group but seperate just one group of themselves.
Figure & Ground: This happens when the eye differentiates an object from its surrounding area. A form, silhouette or shape is percieved as the figure and the space around it as the ground. By using equal measures of contrast we can become confused at what it is we are looking at but by altering the balance to more white or more black we see more clearly what the image is trying to portray. Compostion can also play a part in this too. A sense of isolation can be created by placing an object to the periphary of the frame or close up and centre to create more intimacy.
Today we worked retouching some photos using the clone stamp tool, spot healing tool and healing brush tool. The first picture on the left had only one motorcyclist but by using the clone tool, I added another two to the picture. The second picture, an old portrait was all cracked and torn so , by using a combination of clone, spot healing and healing brush tool, I cleaned the image up a bit.
I really enjoyed doing this exercise as it gives me the skills to re-juvenate old family photos and have a bit of fun with new ones.
ME, MYSELF AND I.
This week we recapped on lesson 5 and the pen tool and working with paths. I drew a nice heart by first forming straight lines and then manipulate the anchor points later. We also worked with paths and the Freeform Pen Tool.
This allows you to draw out your name or any other object you can think of and then smooth it out by deleting extra points and manipulating the anchor points again to get the desired effect. By selecting a brush you can assign it to a path (your object on screen) and embellish an otherwise dull illustration. This works well with giving script an individual look. I also worked with scanned images and applied the skills we learned to duplicate the image on screen (digitising). This was a lot of fun as I got to put different effects and textures on the image. I also got to use the same techniques with a drawing I drew myself.
Our project, me, myself and I required us to come up with a draw focussed on one thing we hate and one we love.
This week we came to grasps with file formats and which ones are best for web publishing and print publishing. We also learnt about Colour modes and which ones to use for web and print too. There a several file formats out there in use, some can be used for Vector Graphics and others are best suited for Bimap Graphics. Some support both aswell, but here a few I`ll attempt to explain.
JPEG/JPG: Is the most common file fotmat of all. It supports Bitmap graphics such as photos and high detail images and is used for transmitting images on the web. JPEGs can contain upto 16 million colours (true colour). Cannot support transparency.
GIF: Excellent for Vector Graphics like Logos, Animations and anything with flat areas of colour. It can only dispay 256 colours and supports Transparency
PNG: Another Bitmap format that like the two mentioned above supports compression. It was developed to have all the detail of a JPEG but the size of a GIF in storage terms. It also supports Transparency.
WBMP: Wireless Bitmap. This format is used for mobile graphic applications and is monochrome.
TIFF: Supports Bitmap and Vector Graphics but on a larger scale. Supports several colour modes (RBG, CYMK) therefore has superior compression.
PDF: Portable Document File. Supports Vector and Bitmap. Excellent for transmitting Data over the Internet that you dont want tampered as it`s stored as a graphic file.
Colour Modes:
There are 3 main colour modes which are;
Grayscale: 1 Channel of colour with 256 shades of gray. 1 Being White, 255 Black.
RGB: Builds colour through the additionof light and is used primarily for the production of images on the Web and Computer Graphics. It has a wider range of colours to work with than CMYK.
CMYK: Comprises Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black and is used solely for print be it Photos or newspapers and magazines. The Gamut for CMYK is not a far ranging as RGB as it uses paint whereas RGB uses light.
We also covered Websafe colours of which there are only 216 and about Hexadecimal codes which consists of digits from 0-9 and letters from A-F preceded by the # sign. E.G. #153FC6. When using Websafe Hexadecimal colours you employ only every third number and every third letter in the range it for each RGB value. E.G For Blue it`s #0000FF, Green #00FF00 and Red #FF0000.
These seemed daunting at first but once I got to understand the sequencing it soon clicked.
Today we learnt about colour selections and creating images with the pen tool, brush tool and shape tool. It was hard at first to get my head around using the shift and ctrl key to manipulate how you wanted a shape to turn out but after some practice, and a lot of mistakes, I eventualy got the hang of it. We also learned about Vector and Bitmap graphics a little bit and when to use them. This depends on what kind of image you wish to produce. If it`s Logos and line art, Vector Graphics is best as it allow for scaling up without losing clarity and if you are using images such as photos and high detail work, using bitmaps is best. But more on that later.
As you can see from below there are a few examples of working with pen, brush and shape tool. All create a different look.
In our Lecture on Color Theory we learnt about Hue, Saturation and Value and the diffrences between them. Hue denotes the direction of any colour on the colour wheel. Saturation gives the intensity of colour while Value shows how light or dark a colour can be. Value is the strongest of all the colour elements and is relative to surrounding values around, therefore forming value relationships. this is evident on the Colour Wheel and in forming colour schemes. Value also affects Hue.
Some of the Colo
ur schemes around are; Monochromatic, Complimentary, Triad, Split Complimentary and Analogous. Monochromatic using shades and tints of a single base colur. Complimentary uses two colours at direct opposite on the Colour Wheel. Triad uses three colours spread equidistant from one another. Split Complimentary uses a colour and its opposite offset left or right on the Colour Wheel and Analogous uses colours next to each other.
Colour Psychology and Meaning is about using colour to evoke an emotional/physical response and how colour symbolises certain rituals and postion in society. Fast food restaurants use red as it`s believed to stir the appetite. It also implies danger, and luck. In Western society white is the brides colour whereas in the East, red is used in the same manner. Purple denotes Kingship but it wasn`t picked arbitrarily to be so. It just so happened that Purple was an expensive colour to produce so only the wealthy and powerful could afford it.
The ancient Greeks before Aristotle didn`t see the sky as blue but described it as bronze, meaning that it shone brilliant and bright like bronze. Aristotle even got it wrong organising colours in tone and intensity. It wasn`t until Sir Isaac Newton wrote “Opticks” that colour was explained as attributes of light. By passing pure white light through a prism the full spectrum shone through. He placed these colours on a “colour circle” where our colour wheel today comes from.
I chose LegalSounds.com for my critique. It`s a Russian based site that offers music at a low price and I use quite regularly. From a design standpoint it`s very cool and contemporary, reminiscent of CD covers for “classic chill-out lounge music” compilations. I will attempt to critique it under the following headings.
User Centric Design
Designed with the regular music downloader in mind and also the novice, you can straight away from the top header sign up, add money to your account and start downloading. on the Navigation bar there`s a quick start guide if you are unsure. Once this is set up and 10 free songs later you can get full albums for as little as $1.
Simplicity
I think it`s simple enough. There are no annoying pop-ups and adverts to distract you and anything that is there has a purpose, no space on the page is wasted.
Typography
From what i can see, 3 typefaces are used, all sans serif. One in particular is embellished a few times but that doesn`t make it look messy or illegible. It adds to the overall appeal of the site and lends to its fresh, contemporary feel.
White Space
White Space or Blue Space in this case is used both in Macro and Micro formats. It frames the Contents page nicely, doesn`t distract from the main content and compliments the other colours used. It also isn`t too punishing on the eye if you happen to be looking at the screen for a while either. The one thing I have a problem with this site is that it appears small on widescreen monitors but it doesn`t detract from the overall ease of use.
Layout
The layout is very “normal” and conforms to standard website construction methods. It has a header, footer, navigation bar and 3 column contents page. The regular browser will find this a very easy site to look through. This familiar look is there throughout.
Colour
Colour is the favourite thing about Legal Sounds for me and is what drew me into using it. As I said before, its cool and contemporary look and the use of warm and cool colours appeals to me and they work quite well together. Each colour signifies its own category,eg; Purple for Hot Releases, Green for Most Downloaded Album etc.. I`m not sure if those with colour blindness would agree with me though.
Conventions
They`re all here on Legal Sounds. From the Header with user sign in, balance info and stats to the Footer with Legal info, contact details and the Nav bar has it all too; help, if needed and the quick start guide. The Content page is great too for its search options be it typing in directly what you want or a genre and alphabetical browse option.
Overall, Legal Sounds works for me. It has an attractive look and style. Has easy to follow step by step set up guide and a very comprehensive search engine.Log in, sign up and get downloading.Easy like a Sunday Morning.
Today we learnt about adjustment layers in Photoshop and how we can change the appearance of pictures without directly scarring them. We used Gerry Ryan as our subject giving him reddish skin and evil green eyes and blood dripping from his mouth and eyes.I also did an evil Tom Hanks. Not who you would expect to be evil, being Mr Everyman. He looks like a proper denizen of Satan here.
