Upgrade!

An extra post just to get it on the board that I now own Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator CC for the very expensive price of free. I am now one step ahead of everyone in yearbook that only has CS6 and two steps ahead of our school that only has CS5.

EQ

1. I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ.

2. State whether or not the following EQ's follow the rule of three and why.

a. Yes, it follows the rule of three. It is a question that requires research into the topic to find different ways of losing weight, It allows you to back up those answers with information, and the format is fine.

b. No, it does not follow the rule of three. The formatting of this question is wrong and it doesn't make obvious sense.

c.  Yes, it follows all of the criteria for the rule of three. The formatting is great, there are several different hairstyles and different types of people, so it is open ended, but finding research might be a little difficult. Not impossible, but not easy.

d. No, it does not follow the rule of three. This question is not open ended and it seems like there is only one answer to it.

3. What aspects of graphic design as a whole are most important in making an everlasting impact within am audience?

Vector Art vs Pixel Art

So, I found this article that basically told me the pros and cons of pixel art & vector art. In case you don't know the difference, pixel art is normally done in Photoshop and is what pictures use. You manipulate little pixels to your liking. Vector Art is better done in Illustrator. You use the pen tool to manipulate lines to the shape you want.
The biggest con when it comes to vector art is that adding in little details is strenuous work. My latest piece for my Independent Component 1 blog will show it soon when I update it. Making a flat image requires almost no effort, but when making realistic objects, prepare for a long journey of blood, sweat & tears.
The biggest pro for vector art is that no matter how zoomed in you are, there is no pixelation. Since vector art is just mathematical lines, you can make it as large or as small as you wish since no matter how zoomed out or in you are, you can always go further.
Pixel art is basically swapped in that its biggest pro is easy manipulation of realistic objects whereas its con is that if you zoom in too much, depending on the DPI of the photo or file, you will eventually hit pixelation. Here's an example of one of my designs in pixel and vector form.

PIXEL

VECTOR

The New EQ

So when I first came up with my EQ, I thought up of a really shallow question: "What part of a design is the most important in making an impact to the audience?" Not only is it very wordy, it's pretty shallow. After thinking over it a bit, I came up with a new working EQ: "What aspect of graphic design is most important in impacting the audience?"
With this new EQ, I have new answers which is what my presentation foundation is all about. Hopefully this new EQ will be my final one or will be close to it since I really like it.

Research and Working EQ

1. What aspect of graphic design is most important in impacting the audience?

2. Two possible answers to this working EQ are:

• Typography is the most important as readability is necessary or else a misunderstanding can come across and void your entire design.
• Visuals are the most important aspect of graphic design since they are what the eyes are drawn to. If the type is legible but there are no visuals or they are not pleasing, no one will even give your design more than a quick glance.

3. A book that I have not cited yet has helped me in understanding design a bit more. It is titled Design Elements, Typography Fundamentals: A Graphic Style Manual for Understand How Typography Affects Design. It has taught me how important Typography is which is why it is one of my possible answers for my EQ.

4. My first mentor is Mimi Orth and my second mentor is Ron Martinez. With Mimi, we are working with the yearbook to see what we could improve on our design, see what works, what doesn't and how every aspect of the spread just works in unison. With Ron, I have showed him some of my designs which he has critiqued and help me improve them.

Possible Books

FINALLY. After about 3 weeks of searching for a book that I can read online using ProQuest, I finally found a couple books. The first is a book on typography by Kristin Cullen; Design Elements, Typography Fundamentals: A Graphic Style Manual for Understanding How Typography Affects Design. So far, its had quite a bit of good information, but I'm having difficulty deciding how to Cornell note it, so I might wait a bit before I cite it. The second book is by Fábio Sasso; Abduzeedo Inspiration Guide for Designers. The main difference between these books though is that rather than being text heavy, this book, so far, has just shown a lot of examples of great design. I probably won't ever cite it, but I'll reference it for future design work.

Independent Component 1 Approval

1. For my Independent Component 1, I plan to create an online portfolio in the form of a blogger. I will have my images linked and will have updates on different things I am working on. I will have a few yearbook spreads on there, some wallpapers I am making, and some posters I am designing for my room as well.

2. To show proof that I am working for 30+ hours, I will have screenshots and updates of the different things I am working on as I complete them. There will be a link on the right that will link to all my posts containing completed work. I plan to have around 5 or so pieces completed by the end of 30 hours.

3. I will show my peers and my mentors the designs. I will ask for feedback, so I will probably add some time to my mentorship with this component, but not all 30 hours as I will not be working hand-in-hand with either of my mentors.

4. (It's there.)