I finished my kinetic type project yesterday and i am very proud of myself because it was difficult for me in the beginning with finding out how to use the program and how to do anything in there. It is very simple though so i might go back in and try to add some background and stuff like that, the only down part about that is just that i don’t want to mess anything i’ve already done by doing that and then not be able to fix it. I am just happy i finished it because at first i was sure i would never be able to figure it out and would have to take a zero for it so thankfully thats not going to happen. I used a lot of youtube videos to help myself and i even watched the after effects lynda.com videos again so i would understand it more but eventually the youtube tutorials helped me figure stuff out and just playing around in there helped me to try different things. I looked at some other peoples storyboards to kind of give me more of an example of what mine should look like. Mine looked longer than most but that might just be because i had less words on each box and more boxes. I am not all that sure what i would like to learn next. I am not sure if we will be using InDesign but i learned a little about that when i was job shadowing because thats what the lady i shadowed worked in as well as photoshop and illustrator. I really just like to learn anything that we have offered to us. I worked in after effects this time so i know id like to use animation as well since i now know how to actually use after effects and have no clue about animation. I already have a few designs from illustrator, and photoshop that can go in my portfolio and i also have this after effect project too. I would like anything that is going to make my portfolio look good and interesting.
For the kinetic type project i decided to use after effects instead of animation from adobe because it seemed like it was the easiest and it already seemed like it was going to be hard so i chose to go with the easiest option. I watched the Lynda.com videos for like three days straight and then started on my project afterwards.They did help a lot with learning how to move objects and doing the backgrounds and things like that. I have found and used like 4 different youtube videos also because it took me a while to finally figure out how to get things moving the way i wanted them too. I picked a really simple song only because i was having a hard time all together with the whole entire animation thing. I worked on my thumbnail sketches yesterday during class and finished them but i’m not to sure how well they turned out or if ill end up doing my project like that because that was before i even knew exactly where i wanted to place certain things and the way i wanted them to go with the music. I looked at some other peoples just to get an idea of the way i wanted mine to look and i have a lot more boxes than i thought others had but that okay i think. I got the after effects on my personal computer for like a free trail but i’m glad because i can work on my project at home which is good and great for me since i think i started later than most people and may need to do extra work at home. I think that i picked the right program for me because i have a feeing that using the other would have been very very difficult for me, but maybe now that I’ve gotten the hang out kinda using after effects ill eventually be able to use the harder animation one on adobe. I have a feeling my project will at least turn out decent and i can get an okay grade on it.
I am pretty proud on my final exam. I did one saying “happy mothers day”, one saying “thankful for you”, one saying “happy birthday” and another one for valentines day to give to whoever they want for my 4 thumbnail sketches and i chose to do my two drafts on illustrator on the mothers day one and the “thankful for you” one because i had a good idea as of what to design for them and then because i wasn’t sure how to make a heart o illustrator but i ended up figuring it out because i used some hearts on my mothers day one. It didn’t take to long for me to finish all my drafts and final even though i made my nutrition and everything myself instead of getting it off the internet. I ended up going with the mothers day one instead of the thankful for you one because i think i liked the way it turned out better. It had better colors and the font worked better with the words i used in mothers day than in thankful for you. My first semester has been okay. Im pretty happy with my grades and how well i’ve kept on top of getting my work done and how much i’ve been able to pay attention in my classes. I miss my base school just because i miss my friends and its a little more difficult to make friends here with everyone already having their own groups and what not. I wouldn’t go back to St. James because this is a better school and i definitely want it on my college application. I am glad to be in this major, even though this isn’t really what i want to go into when i am older i like that i have learned all these great things because it’d be nice to have this as a little side job. I am lucky to be able to go to a school like this and have all these great opportunities that other kids like me don’t. I cant wait for the rest of the year and all the new things i will learn in this major.
I was really nervous to do my presentation, i mean i always am when it comes to standing up in front of a bunch of people and talking but it actually went okay i think. I actually looked at the class for once and i talked about what we did and i’m glad i had pictures of what the lady i shadowed does. i’m also glad i got to show what she let me do, i like that i got to show that i was able to work in InDesign with pictures and doing stuff that we are supposed to be learning in this class. There are probably a lot of things i could do to improve my presentation like make sure i’m always looking at who i’m presenting for, or talking louder, making sure my power points are more professional, seeming like i am more confident and not as nervous as i really am. I actually enjoyed hearing about all the different places everybody shadowed at and what they did because we all did different things so that was pretty neat. Most were done really really nice and weren’t to long or boring. I think every one has more or less done better this time than the last because everyone has gotten to know everyone and it makes it a lot less nerve racking. I like how everybody always does their power points so out there and mine always seem so dull but i mean thats okay. I like how everybody is always so nice and makes you feel comfortable when you’re doing your presentation. I think a presentation i enjoyed was Dani’s because i liked the way her words were on her presentation and i actually think i would’ve liked to job shadow a wedding planner, it seems like it would’ve been really fun to go around with the designer and see everything she does from going to the cakes shops and watching the brides pick out dresses and i don’t know if she did all that but it seems like that would’ve been a whole lot of fun.
- Reflect on your final holiday ornament.
- Reflect on your part in creating posters for the veterans/service members.
- Reflect on your job shadowing experience.
I just finished my holiday ornament today because i had been working on the holiday cards all week. It took me about an hour to finally finish my ornament. I looked up types of ornaments to make out of paper online and followed a tutorial on how to make it but it ended up not looking right and i didn’t like it so i looked for a new one. I found an easy and simple one that i would be able to do and did it, it tuned out looking better than the last one so i’m using that and i hung it upo on the tiny tree in the middle of the table. For the veterans posters i wrote a bunch of cards. I looked up different and nice things to stay to them. Things that would make them happy and then wrote a personal message about how thankful we are for them and told them that we made the cards and how i hope they had happy holidays. I probably wrote over 20 cards but i was happy to do it. I really hope that seeing the cards makes them happy and that they really do understand just how thankful we are to have them out there doing what they do for people like us. My grandpa is veteran and when i told him we were writing the cards and doing the posters he thought that was a really really nice thing to do. I job shadowed my moms friend named Tawyna who works for the southern dunes golf, she makes the magazines for them and helps with their golf games. I got to see how she makes her magazines in indesign and she even let me design a page for her. She let me email to myself so i could put it in my powerpoint. She showed me a bunch of new things to use and do in illustrator and that is really going to come in handy on whatever else we do in here.
I finished my infographic last week and i really like it. I used a lot of shapes and things like that. Its more detailed then any of the other things i have made in illustrator. I learned how to make certain shapes on the infographic by using the tool where you can move and make the shape different. I have been out sick so i didn’t get to see the guest speakers and i’m a little sad about that. For thanksgiving my step dad, little brother and me go to our hometown which is Chester sc to eat with my grandparents on his side because she has a big thanksgiving where all of our family comes and eats and has a good time together, while my mom stays here and my grandpa on her side comes down and they eat with my aunt that lives here. After i eat with my stepdads family i go to my dads and eat with all that side of the family. My cousin and step brother usually go black Friday shopping with me that night. This year my friend Elsey is going with us because her family works and she has no one else to spend thanksgiving with. sadly my stepbrother has to work on thanksgiving and black Friday this year so it will just be my cousin and Elsey going shopping with me that night instead. We usually stay until the day we go back to school because my step dad likes to go hunting while we are there and my little brother always likes to stay and play with his cousins. My little brothers Birthday is the 30th of this month so my grandma always has him a little birthday there so he can do something with all his cousins since they cant come up to the beach and spend it with him. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holiday because we get to go see all our family. So thats what my plans for Thanksgiving is, we always have such a great time down in chester and i cant wait for it.
I finished my holiday cards earlier in the week. I really like the way they look. One is three christmas ornaments that says Merry Christmas underneath them and the other is the letters of merry hanging down and then the word christmas off to the right at the bottom. I’m going to buy some of my own to give out at my grandmas christmas party this year. I hope more get bought. This was on of the projects we have done that i really enjoyed the most out of all of the others we have done. I would have liked to make a few different designs but i couldn’t come up with much else and i really liked the simple designs i made. I sometimes watch the lynda.com site when there is nothing else to do and i learn some new things to do in photoshop and illustrator when i’m on there. I didn’t learn to much about the new project coming up because i was out Friday and i’m assuming thats when y’all might have went over it more in detail. I’ve seen the infographic from last year so that gave me an idea of what to do when i start so thats a good thing. I am hoping to job shadow my moms friend because she works from home but she works for a company where she makes labels on illustrator for certain companies and things like that. I think it will be really fun because she will be able to teach me what its like to work on an actual label and how it is working from home. I can’t think of what her company is at the moment but i can find out soon. Everyone went on a filed trip Friday to the sister company in conway of the one we went to last week. I was looking forward to going because the first one we went to was pretty cool but my little brother got sick with strep throat and gave it to me so i had to leave early from school and missed out on going.
I finished my hot sauce label earlier in the week. Its okay but i’m bad at drawing and doing big things on illustrator so I always do such simple stuff. Compared to all the other designs done by the other kids in this class its really dull. I used different shapes to make the actual label and put the name of the hot sauce and company of there and used the internet to figure out how the nutrition label should look alone with the other ingredients label and barcode. We had a guest speaker come in this week and i enjoyed looking at all the things they have created and hearing how its done and what its like. We got to go and visit their office building the day after and i really really enjoyed that. I thought it was so cool watching and hearing the way the machines are designed to work. The cutting machine was probably my favorite. I don’t know why but it fascinated me how that big knife thing could just come down like that and cut it so easily. I actually might enjoy working at a place like that. The way the big machines worked was pretty cool too. I already finished both of my holiday designs. I really liked this project. It was fun and pretty easy compared to the others to me. My first one was a card where the letters of merry hang down by lines in different places and christmas is down at the bottom and off to the side. I added some starts to the blank part so make it not be so just open. My second card is three christmas ornaments hanging down with different designs and it says Merry Christmas underneath in a pretty font. Im actually pretty proud of both of them. The only i really have to reflect about my other classes is i’m doing okay but i get so confused in algebra because of the factoring that has been recently introduced. I’m sure ill get the hang of it soon though. I’ll just have to study more to make sure i do.
It seems like forever since the last time we had to write a blog. So much has gone on in the last few weeks. We just finished up the doodle 4 google project. Im not good at doing different things on the computer in illustrator or photoshop. I did my doodle 4 google in illustrator though. The theme was “what do you see for the future? i did mine on breast cancer, that i hope in the future there is a cure for breast cancer, all cancer really but my 24 year old cousin was recently diagnosed with it so i kind of had a inspiration for why i chose that one. This is week has been spirit week and it has made me miss my friends from my base school. I always used to dress up and participate with them but i don’t have as many friends that i see around this school so doing it wouldn’t have been as much fun this year. Everyone seemed to have a good time though and there were some neat things worn. Next year i hope i will want to participate in it more than i did this year. Right now we are working on our hot sauce label and like i said i’m not able to do much in illustrator, i cant draw or anything like that so it makes it hard but i like to use shapes. My label isn’t as good as other peoples because its really simple and nothing really pops out about it. I tried to come up with other things to do but its hard to do the things i actually came up with in my head. I had a really good time at USC and the state fair. For one USC is the school that i am looking at going too and instead of riding the bus my mom came and i got to ride with her and my little brother, so when we got to the state fair i got to spend the whole time with them. Also my picture that i entered into the state fair actually got hung up and even though i didn’t win thats still a really big deal. During hurricane Matthew i got to go to my hometown Chester SC and spend time with my whole family so thats something i was really happy about. My mom and dad stayed here so i was worried about them but they were okay and my time in Chester was fun so i was glad about being out of school. I do feel really bad about the peoples homes that got messed up though.
