B&W Photography II
“Living with Hyenas”
They say that laughter is the greatest remedy for anything. Well, my roommates seem to take this suggestion to heart. Attempting to complete a portrait assignment for my BW Photo 2 class, I was able to catch them in their most natural and common state: laughing their asses off at absolutely nothing. Gotta love em.
Typography I
“Final: Type Specimen”
FINALS!! HOO-RAH! For Typography, I was assigned with the challenge of creating a “type specimen book.” In short, it is a rendition of what printers and font designers would publish to send out to the public showing the world all the styles and uses and purdy-ness of a particular typeface. I chose to create and design a book for the typeface Baskerville, which is one of the more classic and oldest typefaces in existence and in use still today. I composed and designed the entire book, from printing to layout to construction. Even hand painted the cover myself. I think it turned out alright. Professor did too I suppose…..got an A+ :)
But again, like my previous GD project, I have a whole new level of appreciation and respect for bookmakers. Not an easy job.
Graphic Design I
“Storytelling”
This assignment was meant to explore storytelling skills in a design sense. We were asked to pick something that we personally do every day and make a book about it. From storyline conception to drawings to design to editing to the physical printing and construction of the book…I did it all. And lemme tell ya, I have a whole new appreciation for bookmaking. Bottom line: it’s a pain in the ass.
My every day event that turned into my story was the task of taking my medicine each morning. The design of the book was based around the object of the medicine itself. The colors, layout, book end patterns, and shapes all relate back to that one object.
Typography I
So, for one of the later assignments in this class, I had to take all the little lessons I learned about alignment and hierarchy and what not to a whole new level. Posters! These are two versions for a poster of our assigned fictitious event.
So with the end of the semester in sight that can only mean that finals are here……oh, goodie. But! There is a silver lining!…..for Digital Photography class at least. We are free to choose whatever we like for our final pieces. So, what do I chose? But of course, my favorite things. Horses and hunting. So, over the Thanksgiving weekend I had to make the sacrifice of not riding on the best hunt of the season at the Young House to car chase all day with one of MICA’s own faculty and famed painter Mr. Tony Shore! To say the least, I had such a great time and we were lucky enough to have such a fantastic day. Two views! Still, I’ll admit it, I would’ve much rather been in the saddle with my pony flying over the fences and across the fields. But alas, I did get some great shots of the club members and our huntsman Mr. Geoff and whip Adam. Can’t wait to get finals over and done with so I can get back out there!
Here’s the link to see what I’m working on for my final! It’s under the set ‘Hunting 2011’
{Click on the photo of Adam!}
Graphic Design I
“Icon-o-thon”
This next assignment was to create a family of “icons,” or pictograms really, for a theme of our own choice. Of course, what do I pick? Haha. We had to design a one-color set and a multi-color set. I hand drew each icon and then scanned it to the computer for further refinement. Got a great critique on this and am actually pretty happy with the end result!
Typography I
These are various assignments I have had to complete. They range from Word Compositions to Text Alignment to creating a typeface of my own. Even designing a table of contents for a book!
Graphic Design I
“Modular Shapes”
This assignment was to design a modular system. Basically, I design a simple shape that when multiplied creates relationships between itself. We studied these through our own designing in groupings and an animation, as well as with public interface.
It’s raining out, so I put on a baseball cap to hide my unruly blonde hair while running errands. There is a girl in front of me as I leave my building. She pauses before exiting and spreads her arms wide, singing out “Open sesame!” to the automatic doors. There are people all around the lobby. No one even glances up at her. I, on the other hand, get odd sideways looks at my attire, red baseball cap, jeans, Wellingtons, and my brother’s old sailing jacket. Wait, I’m the oddball? Am I in a parallel universe? Nope. I must be back at MICA!
New semester. New professors. New bedspread. New camera lens. No longer the wary freshman freaking out about paintbrushes and drawing paper size, but a weathered sophomore ready to get down and dirty with the good stuff. And by the good stuff I mean the REALLY good stuff like Typography and Digital Photography and Graphic Design. Here’s to a new start and a new adventure! Cheers!
To see what’s going on in my photography classes, and my full photo portfolio, check out my Flickr account. (Click on the Pentax to go there!)
Some friendly words of advice from a local Baltimore artist to MICA Foundation students when we went to visit his studio……surprisingly, I’ve come to find they are all completely valid statements.
