The True Memoirs of an e-Comm Student

This past semester (I say this a lot, don't I?), I learned how to use Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Illustrator, and the camera function of an iPad. Sorry Mrs. Smith, but although I did enjoy your class, I have to say that Video has been my favorite so far. I haven't been in Animation yet, but I hope it will be quite the experience.

As for improvement, I have to stop my habit of believing that my way is the only way. For example, when I filmed my chase scene assignment in Video, I thought that it was the best it could possibly be with the tutoring of Mr. Cooper. Until he pointed out that there were very minimal close-up shots in my video. That sure made me stumble on my victory lap.

As you could probably guess, my favorite part of this semester was creating videos during first quarter. The highlight of that was most definitely working with me friends Jack and Johnny to create our chase scene. 

Although, I did make another video before that one, and it was pretty lame. I would've liked to redo that and have made it better. Funnier.

Most importantly, this semester I learned that there is always room for improvement. Always. Unless you're Michael Jackson.

I will do my best to make this my motto next semester during Animation.

A Reflection on Dreamweaver

This week, we spent four whole days on Adobe Dreamweaver. It kind of surprised me, since this is Graphic Design, but good changes are welcome changes. 

We were given six videos to watch (in order) and absorb as best we could, tasked with creating our very own website. First I downloaded the necessary zip files containing the home HTML, and the CSS file. The first couple of videos showed me how to set up my margins, personal photo, and install the download templates. After that it was smooth sailing with copying and pasting some blogposts, and creating some links to secondary pages, one containing my finished projects.

As I said before, this took about four days of work, and I worked diligently for all of those. Mostly. I guess I did spend 20 minutes messing around on Photo Booth and Photoshop, but who can really blame me? Everyone, of course.

I did not encounter any difficulties besides the Photo Booth one, since I am very good at following directions. It's the main reason I'm not failing in any of my classes.

Along my journey of web-discovery, I saw that coding doesn't look as hard I thought it was, and I might try to learn it in the future. But first I have to learn how to type like a respectable individual. using only my index and middle fingers to type isn't as fast as I wish it  was.

The web design process is in fact a lot simpler than I though it would be( Though I'm sure that's just because of Dreamweaver), and I quite enjoyed my time creating my very own website.

Too bad I haven't finished it.

Presenting our Logos to the Class

In my previous blog post, I talked about creating a logo to get more followers on Instagram. I realize now that is not possible without an Instagram account. Oh well, I already deleted it to increase my chances of getting into college. Anyway, This week my classmates and I were introduced to the art of presenting presentations. We learned to raise our voice (but to not shout), stand up straight, face towards our audience, and to not say "um" or "like" as a stutter.

Then after being thoroughly introduced, we sat down to watch a couple TED Talks, and see how the speakers acted up on stage. Obviously, they were all terrible, except for my man Bill Gates. he was the best dressed.

Right after that, we went up to the front of the classroom in alphabetical order to present our logo one person at a time. I was the second one to go, and I jumped t the chance to make Starbucks "I have no more bucks" Coffee like a mega corporation designed to enslave the masses through various social media. Because they are. After finishing convincing them that Mario's Family Counseling is superior to Starbucks, I sat down and watched the rest of my class present. Once class was over however, I realized that I could have improved my gestures, eye contact, and my expression.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Capitalism? More like short-attention-span-ism

im funny

Last week, I took my first step toward creating a massive family-owned corporation. You see, the past week of graphic design has been dominated by logos - looking at logos, explaining at logos, and creating at logos. Our whole life is dominated by logos. Think about it: You chose your clothes based on the brand, eat at 'hip' fast food restaurants based on the company, and you even get influenced by social media to drink Starbucks "I have no more bucks" Coffee, because you see the logo everywhere. 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. 

In my class, we were assigned to come up with our own enslave-the-masses logo, which would inspire many people to follow us on Instagram. I sketched three designs in my sketchbook to choose from, even coloring them in with color theory in mind.

Quite eye-catching if I do say so myself.

Ultimately, I ended up choosing Mario's Family Counseling (Because really, who doesn't want to called "Doctor"?), and recreated it in Adobe Illustrator.

That ought to brainwash the masses, eh?

Colours of the Mind

My favorite color is blue. It's my favorite because of its soft, easy, and tranquil appearance, reminding me of the just-before-dawn sky that peeks through my blinds when I wake up. You might be thinking, "Oh wait a second, Mr. Cool! The color of the sky at that time wouldn't be a blue hue!", and you'd be right. You see, I prefer a darker shade of blue, not that bright and vibrant primary color, but a sort of a muted, deep ocean kind of shade. I've never always liked this color, though. In my early childhood it was red, then purple, and now blue. Not sure why.

Now, my least favorite color would definitely be yellow. It's just so bright and annoying to me---always has been. Back in elementary school, I hated how my bright yellow marker suns were always just barely visible on my crisp white piece of drawing paper. stupid yellow.

First Time Using Adobe Illustrator

Yesterday in graphic design, I was introduced to Adobe Illustrator. I liked it very much, since Illustrator is vector-based. I just learned how to use the shape tool and the color bar (kind of). I managed to create a red rectangle, a yellow star, a green circle, a blue hexagon, and a purple square. Geometry YEAHHHHHHHH! 



For my second Adobe Illustrator project, I used what I learned from the first to create my own designs.

They Loved Your GPA, Then They Saw Your Memes.

Well, hello. Today I read an article about being aware of your social media when applying for colleges. At first, it gave examples of students who were rejected by admissions because of their social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc., but were never told the reason why. Next, the article came to urge us teens to filter out incriminating posts and tweets which would have you appear as the delinquent you truly are. 

I was already aware of this, however, so I just nodded my head along to what was being read aloud. 

So, now that you and I know that college admissions are stalking our profiles, we are better prepared to 'filter' our posts and tuck them away in that "cringe" album in our gallery. Unfortunately, that would make my Instagram devoid of any photos. Time to delete my account.

Elevator Pitch for Graphic Design

Q: What is an Elevator Pitch? A: An elevator pitch is an opportunity to express your skills, faults, and characteristics that would convince a person of importance to hire you for their company. However, the catch is that you have to explain all of this in under sixty seconds; the time it takes for an elevator to reach the top floor.

Q: What do you do well? A: I am a very fast learner, and I am able to understand new subjects very easily. I am also able to think from different perspectives, which allows me to design better videos, art, and all sorts of different media. Q: What is the best compliment you’ve ever received? A: It would have to be when I submitted my works to a college professor, and she replied back, saying they were equal to, or even better than, a lot of her current students. Though, she did point out many flaws, and I hope to correct them in my future creative work. Q: What are your strengths in these skill areas? A: I am a very creative person, and I pay great attention to detail, pushing myself to create the best art I can. Q: What would you like to do and what is your motivation? A: I would very much like to learn how to use Photoshop, and other image editing programs. I love creating art and scenery, and hope to make more while in this class.

A Reflection on the 6 Shot System is what my sensei is requiring of me, so I will.

As mentioned in my previous post (cough), we were assigned to film a short video using the 6 shots and the rule of thirds. 

At first I had the idea of recording my cat sleeping, but then I remembered I don't have a cat. So that was out. Secondly, I thought maybe it could be a video of my friends playing basketball, but then I remembered I don't have any friends. And that I don't like basketball.

Finally, I decided on a man (little boy) trying to fill out a job application, but he has no social skillz whatsoever:

This guy

Best Buy better prepare itself.

After my filming, I imported it to Adobe Premiere Pro (because you know your boy has the hook up), and edited it so hard. I've used Adobe After Effects before, so I kinda knew my way way around, but I did have to search up how to flip a video clip.

What I should've done different, however, was add in some Naruto running and music. Because that is quality humor. 

Welcome to Garmin, friends.

What I would like to keep is the excellent music provided by the LittleBigPlanet video games.

Next time, I will use an actual tripod, and get some better lighting. I think I have some of those emergency flashlights laying around somewhere. 

All in all, I am quite proud of my video. Link in the description below, and make sure to-uh, yeah jus-just smash that like button.

My First Adobe Premiere Video

Our second e-Comm assignment had me moderately excited to finally start filming, since I love to film and make crappy videos. 

My class was introduced to the six-shot system, and we were itching to get started with our little iPad minis. However, I did not have any friends in this class at the time, so I decided to film my video at home. Problem was, I did not own a tripod, so I had to improvise (like I always do).

The sad thing is that this boy's build is better than mine was. 

K'nex beats cardboard hanging from the ceiling like scissors beats paper.

Even if my video gives me a bad case of The Cringe, it took blood, sweat, and tears. Blood from cardboard cuts, sweat because my basement was very hot, and tears from keeping my eyes open too long without blinking.

Here ya go (music belongs to LittleBigPlanet 2, and Media Molecule) 

For our first project in e-Communication, we were assigned to look deep into our souls, and discover who we are... and express it in the form of art. 

MASTAPIECE

This is an accurate representation of our project. 

(except it rained right after we finished)

Here at Olathe Northwest High school, us freshman in e-Comm were given the task to express who were are with sidewalk chalk art. I was in a group (like many others), and we decided to use the colors of blue, orange, and black, along with the symbols of a quill, paint palette, treble clef, theater masks, and headphones. 

I believe the goal of this project was to grow closer to each other as a group, and become inseparable friends. 

I am sorry to report it succeeded.