Week 2: What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is an interdisciplinary, problem-solving activity which combines visual sensitivity with skill and knowledge in areas of communications, technology and business. Graphic design practitioners specialize in the structuring and organizing of visual information to aid communication and orientation. The graphic design process is a problem solving process, one that requires substantial creativity, innovation and technical expertise. An understanding of a client’s product or service and goals, there competitors and the target audience is translated into a visual solution created from the manipulation, combination and utilization of shape, color, imagery, typography and space.

Three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:

1: Need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation.

2: Need to communicate ideas and values.

3. Need to solve problems.

In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives. Tests of creativity measure not only the number of alternatives that people can generate but uniqueness of those alternatives. The ability to generate alternatives or to see things uniquely does not occur by change; it is linked to other, more fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or unpredictability, and the enjoyment of things heretofore unknown.

Graphic design is the process of choosing and organizing words, images and messages into a form that communicates and influences its audience.

– It’s about achieving strategic results.

– It uses different formats like posters, websites and packaging.

– It address contemporary issues.

– It’s a process involving research, idea generation, prototyping and eventually words and pictures.

Week 3: Class Exercise 2 (Mood Board)

I’ve heard about mood board, but I never try to make it on my own. The moment when lecturer told us about we need to do our own mood board, I kind of feel a little bit excitement and looking forward to start and make my own mood board.

The title I’ve chosen is: Vintage Fashion

There’s always a reason why you make a choice on something, and of course vintage is now a trend for current generation. I love to see the way people wear in vintage style.

The is what I found on google with the title: Vintage Mood Board

This is the final work on my Vintage Fashion Mood Board.

I can still remember the moment I presented about my mood board in front of the class, lecturer asked me one question: What’s the features of the vintage style for you? Give me at least 3 features.

I was a little bit nervous during the presentation so the answers came out are not really good, so I’m going to answer the question again at here.

For my opinion, I think the features of the vintage style are quite a lot. Firstly and very obvious flower print is one of the most important feature for vintage style, it’s a trend during 60’s generation. Next will be round shaped sunglasses, this is one of the vintage fashion. Lastly will be long socks, I believe in 60’s a lot of girls will be wearing long socks and now it’s back to the trend again.

Week 3’s Lecture

We’ve learnt about Element of Design on week 3.

There are 6 elements of design, which are:

1. line

2. shape

3. space

4. texture

5. color

6. value

Lecturer told us to do some research on those 6 elements, so I did some research on it.

1. Line

A line is a form with width and length, but no depth. Artists use lines to create edges, the outline of objects. A line is created by the movement of the artist’s pen.

The direction of a line can convey mood.

This is the exercise that I did on the class, (which is kind of messed up, but still okay )

2. Shape

A shape is defined as an area that stands out from the space next to or around it due to a defined or implied boundary, or because of differences of values, color, or texture.

This is another exercise I did in class.

3. Space

We live in a three-dimensional world of depth. When we look around us, some things seem closer, some further away.

 

 

 

 

4. Texture

Texture is the surface quality of an object. We experience texture when we touch objects and feel their roughness, smoothness or patterns. Texture is the artist’s way of mapping there tactile impressions on to the two-dimensional picture. Texture is created by varying the pattern of light and dark areas on an object.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of the exercise which lecturer told us to shade out of 20 different texture in or outside the class, this is kind of fun 🙂

 

5. Color

Color occurs when light in different wavelengths strikes our eyes. Objects have no color of their own, only the ability to reflect a certain wavelength of light back to our eyes. As you know, color can vary in differing circumstances. For example, grass can appear gray in the morning or evening or bright green at noon. Colors appear different depending on whether you view them under incandescent, florescent or natural sunlight. Colors also change according to their surroundings.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Value

Value refers to the relative lightness or darkness of a certain area. Value can be used for emphasis. Variations in value are used to create a focal point for the design of a picture. A light figure on a dark background will be immediately recognized as the center of attention, similarly for a dark figure on a mostly white background. Gradations of value are also used to create the illusion of depth. Areas of light and dark can give a three-dimensional impression, such as when shading areas of a person’s face.

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for all of the 6 elements of design, after all I felt this is kind of interesting things to learn about 🙂

Week 2: Class exercise 1 (Doodles)

Today we learnt about Doodles drawing, to be honest this is the first time I ever heard about Doodles.

What is Doodles? The first thing that came to my mind. I started to search online for Doodles pictures. After the searching I slightly understand it’s basically draw some tiny stuff (I mean something you like) inside the words, as Aaron Lam (which is our 2 Dimensional Design lecturer) asked us to doodles our own name.

This is one of the idea I searched from google.

This is my final doodles drawing. Even though it’s sort of different with the actual picture which I found on google, but I decided to doodle it inside my name instead of outside. It’s not the perfect of my doodle drawing but I’ve tried my best.

 

By the way the little tiny cartoons are all the ideas from my own drawing during secondary school, I used to draw those cartoons in my textbook during class.

 

It’s not the best but I’ll improve myself by keep on drawing it 🙂