Week 2 – The Elements of Design:

We began our course and first assignment / project here in MMA 100 last week and will start our second class by reviewing the thumbnails, roughs and comps individually generated by the class. We will discuss the critique process and presenting our thumbnails, roughs and comps in the group setting. 

*Did you miss week #1 and its information, including assignment #1 Click here

We will spend our class time working on the Postcard project. We will get familiar with our work stations, get started with adobe photoshop, electronic imaging, scanning / photo documenting images and artwork, creating and working with various file types and bringing our roughs & comps into photoshop to produce the finished design.

**All Students will e-mail their finished Post card assignment to me as a jpg. file rseslow@bmm.cuny.edu or ryan@ryanseslow.com

Did you find research materials and examples for the Postcard project? 

Here are a few more reference examples – Click here

Vintage Postcards   – and here are tons of NYC World’s Fair Postcard examples 

We have a huge selection of OER Resources on our class resources page here too

*This Week’s Exercise – Cutting out Images in Photoshop / Making Graphic Assets: Cutting out images in various fragments is a task that all graphic designers will face on a regular basis. Learning various methods for cutting out images is a necessity. We will explore, experiment and share a few methods on how. 

Students will select and practice from 2-3 images from a public domain, OER or creative commons sources on the Internet or they may use images that they have on their devices. Again, We have a huge selection of OER Resources on our class resources page here too

(This technique will be applied to the post card project if necessary).

Video Screening: Cutting out images in Photoshop (examples)

These tutorials above will help get you started with our class exercise, but ultimately, you will need to master the pen tool in both photoshop and illustrator for the cleanest vector cut outs. The video below is a great tutorial.

(Is there a specific tutorial that you learned from recently or over time? Share the URL link with a description of your experience in the comments section below)

Elements of Design: 

The Elements & Principles of Design are the governing vocabulary that define, illustrate and communicate how Graphic Design functions all around us. We will start with the Elements.

Color – typically known as hue. This word represents a specific color or light wavelength found in the color spectrum, ranging circularly from red to yellow, green, blue and back to red.

Line – is a line just a series of points? Or is it the best way to get from point “A” to point “B”? As a geometric conception, a line is a point in motion, with only one dimension – length. Line has both a position and a direction in space. The variables of line are: size, shape, position, direction, number, interval and density. Points create lines, lines create shapes or planes and volume.

Mass – Here, mass is interchangeable with volume. A mass is a solid body or a grouping of visual elements (line, color, texture, etc.) that compose a solid form. Volume is a three-dimensional form comprising length, width, and depth. Three-dimensional forms contain points (vertices), lines (edges), and planes (surfaces). A mass is the two-dimensional appearance of a three-dimensional form.

Movement – Also known as motion. This element portrays the act or process of changing place or direction, orientation, and/or position through the visual illustration of starting or stopping points, blurring of action, etc. This is not animation, although animation is an end product of movement, as well as other elements of design.

Space – A two-or three-dimensional element defined by other elements of design.

Texture – A technique used in two-dimensional design to replicate three-dimensional surfaces through various drawing and media techniques. On three-dimensional surfaces, it is experienced by touch or by visual experience.

Type – Also known as typography, and it is considered an element in graphic design. Although it consists of elements of design, it is – in itself – often an element in the form of visual communication.

Value – Another word for the lightness or darkness of an area. Brightness measured in relationship to a graded scale from white to black.

What are some of today’s trends in Graphic Design? Lets take a look at this video below.