Having just started semester two knowing that I had referred yet again another assignment on little mistakes I feel has I need to be paying more attention to proof reading documents and submission material before it is due.
The referral of A3: Sounds Like a Plan really got me down especially when it was mainly due to the fact the spelling and punctuation was not acceptable and needed to be re worded and written. Although on a good note I did pass the A4: Typecast which made workload a lot easier and gave me less to worry about and more time to spend on the upcoming assignments.
Having being given and read the new brief’s I think that If I can manage to fill in my time management sheets correctly and pay attention to detail I could end up getting a good grade.
A5: Builder and A6: The Big Picture projects will mainly concentrate on our creative and development skills. This I think will give me the perfect opportunity to express my creative side and do something more exciting and less academic.
Our first task is to create a manga character based either on a self-portrait or just to be creative and develop a nice concept design.
I feel that If I can put more effort in to achieving the project outcomes and appreciate on how the subject needs to be approached I will have a good structure to go on to the final assignment of year one. Keeping in mind that I keep notes on development practice and remember to log my times spent working.
Looking forward into the future of the A7 creative brief I think that this will be a fantastic opportunity to gather everything that we have learned and put it in to practice and being specific amounts and technical measurements we must not pass will give us a understanding of how the real design industry works.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
The start of a new tomorrow
Having just completed my first semester of the HND Interactive Media course I am still wondering where the last fifteen weeks has gone. Looking back I feel that I have achieved a substantial amount of technical knowledge from some of the modules that I have completed. The worry for me about beginning this course was my spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPG) was not that great and I thought it would cause major problems for me when actually writing up documents and making sure that they were readable.
When we first got given the A2: A Journey of 1000 Miles assignment brief I was not particularly confident that I would pass this assignment and knowing it was a core module it worried me. With preparation lectures on how to present the document and how to correctly reference different mediums it all started to take shape and I began to become less worried. With only a few days to go before the handing in date of the A2 assignment I made sure that I had proof read the entire document at least three times and I also gave a copy to a family to check before submitting it.
When I got told I had referred the assignment I wasn’t surprised, but to be told it was on the referencing and not my SPG that gave me a confidence boost of a thousand. With the minor adjustment to make on the references I finally passed the module.
Now that the first assignment was passed, with little time to let it all sink in we were given our third and fourth assignments; A3: Sounds like a Plan and A4: Typecast, which if I calculated it correctly they had to be finished within an eight week timeslot. This was a big step up from the first because not only we had to do two assignments back to back, we also had to focus more on them and be able to switch the focus from one task to another.
After reading both creative briefs I was more enthusiastic and pleased that we were going to building and designing a web template and plan for a British Olympic medal winner of our choice. Not doing a web plan before but having made enough templates I wondered what it would be like to actually plan it all before getting straight to work on the design. Given time management sheets to fill in helped me split the tasks up and look at what I needed to achieve to be on schedule for the submission date.
However the A$: Typecast was a whole new level of understanding for me not only did we get mini assignments that had to be completed in a set amount of time, we also looked at font identification and typecast methods. This was a really good experience for me because not having the knowledge previously gave me the chance to learn something new and what I need to know for the Industry. From my previous blog you will see the different types of mini tasks I had to do and my finished screen design for the A3 assignment.
........... Let’s hope that semester 2 is going to be as good as the first.
When we first got given the A2: A Journey of 1000 Miles assignment brief I was not particularly confident that I would pass this assignment and knowing it was a core module it worried me. With preparation lectures on how to present the document and how to correctly reference different mediums it all started to take shape and I began to become less worried. With only a few days to go before the handing in date of the A2 assignment I made sure that I had proof read the entire document at least three times and I also gave a copy to a family to check before submitting it.
When I got told I had referred the assignment I wasn’t surprised, but to be told it was on the referencing and not my SPG that gave me a confidence boost of a thousand. With the minor adjustment to make on the references I finally passed the module.
Now that the first assignment was passed, with little time to let it all sink in we were given our third and fourth assignments; A3: Sounds like a Plan and A4: Typecast, which if I calculated it correctly they had to be finished within an eight week timeslot. This was a big step up from the first because not only we had to do two assignments back to back, we also had to focus more on them and be able to switch the focus from one task to another.
After reading both creative briefs I was more enthusiastic and pleased that we were going to building and designing a web template and plan for a British Olympic medal winner of our choice. Not doing a web plan before but having made enough templates I wondered what it would be like to actually plan it all before getting straight to work on the design. Given time management sheets to fill in helped me split the tasks up and look at what I needed to achieve to be on schedule for the submission date.
However the A$: Typecast was a whole new level of understanding for me not only did we get mini assignments that had to be completed in a set amount of time, we also looked at font identification and typecast methods. This was a really good experience for me because not having the knowledge previously gave me the chance to learn something new and what I need to know for the Industry. From my previous blog you will see the different types of mini tasks I had to do and my finished screen design for the A3 assignment.
........... Let’s hope that semester 2 is going to be as good as the first.
Monday, 12 January 2009
A Flash From The Past
Looking back at the last few weeks of the course and being over a quarter through the first year. I think I have achieved a good understanding of the Units we have covered in the assignments and learned from previous mistakes to implement in the assignment I have just handed in for submission.
The Christmas holidays were a hard experience for me as it’s always a busy period and I wanted to make sure that I had accomplished a major majority of the work load so I had minor tasks to do and adjust any mistakes when we began college again in January.
The assignment screenshot of the proposed webpage took me a few attempts to get exactly how I wanted it because of the measurements and the fact I have not used Adobe InDesign that much apart from the A4 mini tasks.
The mini tasks themselves where enjoyable in ways but somewhere difficult in others because of the scales of the designs and how they looked on screen to actually being printed out. The most enjoyable task was the Hokai paint tube re-design, because it was on a small scale and had to have technical aspects that needed to be shown on the scaled design and needed time and attention to realise where and what was going to be shown.
The feelings all rushed back before and after handing the assignment in of doubt and feeling that I have forgot something or forgot to do something. Also knowing that other members of the class where in the same situation made me feel better but it always was daunting in the back of my mind.
To summarise the last few weeks working up to today it has been a more enjoyable and fast paced rate than when we first began the course, making me work and think faster for the time given for some tasks which was a fun process.
The Christmas holidays were a hard experience for me as it’s always a busy period and I wanted to make sure that I had accomplished a major majority of the work load so I had minor tasks to do and adjust any mistakes when we began college again in January.
The assignment screenshot of the proposed webpage took me a few attempts to get exactly how I wanted it because of the measurements and the fact I have not used Adobe InDesign that much apart from the A4 mini tasks.
The mini tasks themselves where enjoyable in ways but somewhere difficult in others because of the scales of the designs and how they looked on screen to actually being printed out. The most enjoyable task was the Hokai paint tube re-design, because it was on a small scale and had to have technical aspects that needed to be shown on the scaled design and needed time and attention to realise where and what was going to be shown.
The feelings all rushed back before and after handing the assignment in of doubt and feeling that I have forgot something or forgot to do something. Also knowing that other members of the class where in the same situation made me feel better but it always was daunting in the back of my mind.
To summarise the last few weeks working up to today it has been a more enjoyable and fast paced rate than when we first began the course, making me work and think faster for the time given for some tasks which was a fun process.
Thursday, 11 December 2008
The Day Time Stood Still
Over the last few weeks it has been an emotional rollercoaster, especially with being told we were to be given our assignment marks. This made my stomach turn inside out because thinking if I failed the first core assignment, what would I be like under more stress and pressure to do tasks?
I got the chance to feel what t was like to be under pressure and have a short deadline to finish a task in when we were given a short mini task called Hokai. The task was to create and design a new paint tube from a technical brief that we were given with a timescale of 3 hours 30 minutes. The design itself was exciting and challenging because of the work area we had to develop ideas for and to put all necessary information on that was given. Personally it wouldn’t be what I wanted to do have a qualified designer but it better than writing all the time.
The following Monday we had to give a 10 minute presentation on what we had learned the following week about the PARC principles. The group I was in had to give an example of repetition and show some examples of the different kinds and a summary of what it was. I wasn’t that nervous about getting up because I’m not a shy person, but when the nerves stood in front of the group kicked in and I was speechless.
I found this strange has I have done presentations before for my A levels and couldn’t understand why I was like this, but I think it could have been the fact I study with the same peers over the week and they were more like friends than just a group of people.
I got the chance to feel what t was like to be under pressure and have a short deadline to finish a task in when we were given a short mini task called Hokai. The task was to create and design a new paint tube from a technical brief that we were given with a timescale of 3 hours 30 minutes. The design itself was exciting and challenging because of the work area we had to develop ideas for and to put all necessary information on that was given. Personally it wouldn’t be what I wanted to do have a qualified designer but it better than writing all the time.
The following Monday we had to give a 10 minute presentation on what we had learned the following week about the PARC principles. The group I was in had to give an example of repetition and show some examples of the different kinds and a summary of what it was. I wasn’t that nervous about getting up because I’m not a shy person, but when the nerves stood in front of the group kicked in and I was speechless.
I found this strange has I have done presentations before for my A levels and couldn’t understand why I was like this, but I think it could have been the fact I study with the same peers over the week and they were more like friends than just a group of people.
Friday, 28 November 2008
The Day After Tomorrow
The day has arrived; yes you guessed it the results from the first assignment are in. Taking in to account everything that has been going on the last few weeks there wasn’t much time to think of what grade I would receive having being handed another two assignments to complete.
I really didn’t know how to feel about what would happen if I referred and what I would have to change or improve to get a pass grade with my concerns about my SPG. The fact I haven’t written a academicals document in over 4 years really started to make me worry .The same afternoon I got my grade for the assignment, it is what I expected but I was really pleased it wasn’t has bad has I thought it would have been. Knowing I could make changes and being re assured about what I need to do to make the pass grade.
felt really pleased when told we were finally going to do some design work and not as much academicals because I’m more stronger when it comes to being creative and already having previous skills in that side of the field. Running with two assignments side by side made me take a step back and think about how I’m going to manage my time. For this I made a schedule plan listing what I needed to achieve for the weeks ahead and I must admit I was not putting as much effort in as I should have because I had different opinions on what was needed to what is needed.
With clarification on what was needed I got ‘stuck in and now are up to date with all my assignments and self study tasks which is a extremely good feeling to have lifted the weight of my shoulders.
I really didn’t know how to feel about what would happen if I referred and what I would have to change or improve to get a pass grade with my concerns about my SPG. The fact I haven’t written a academicals document in over 4 years really started to make me worry .The same afternoon I got my grade for the assignment, it is what I expected but I was really pleased it wasn’t has bad has I thought it would have been. Knowing I could make changes and being re assured about what I need to do to make the pass grade.
felt really pleased when told we were finally going to do some design work and not as much academicals because I’m more stronger when it comes to being creative and already having previous skills in that side of the field. Running with two assignments side by side made me take a step back and think about how I’m going to manage my time. For this I made a schedule plan listing what I needed to achieve for the weeks ahead and I must admit I was not putting as much effort in as I should have because I had different opinions on what was needed to what is needed.
With clarification on what was needed I got ‘stuck in and now are up to date with all my assignments and self study tasks which is a extremely good feeling to have lifted the weight of my shoulders.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
The Real Deal - Design Mechanics
Yesterday was our first real introduction to the dynamic and fast growing design industry.
Dave Pannell, company director of Design Mechanics and creative designer Craig Burges dropped in and gave insight on what it’s like to manage clients in the ‘real world’.
During the presentation many questions were asked and answered about the views and experience of what it takes to be a successful designer. It came to me when Dave mentioned that a good designer would be able to create a piece of good design within a few hours from the first creative brief given by the client to the final design presented. I found this as a shock to the system from designs I have previously made that I generate a collection of about four different logos and usually adjust a website numerous times before I’m happy with the result.
Having to work to a specific time scale and having more than one client’s request in production as Craig mentioned made me realise what the Interactive Media course is adjusting me for and how important the change will be to the future of starting a career in the design industry.
During the talk Dave mentioned personal problems that he had to overcome and how difficult it is to be a company director. Giving advice of past experiences that he and Craig had experienced really helped me, just not in running your own business but in the design industry on how important it is getting to know your surroundings and to research the potential possibilities of client’s needs and the background of the businesses they run or work for.
My thoughts at the end of the presentation were that it takes a mature but a creative individual to be able to meet the standards of the design world. Not just on the designs that they can produce, but from the planning to knowing what the clients need because if not it could lead to a commercial setback.
Also I want teh oppertunity to thankyou Dave Pannell and Craig Burges for taking time out their busy schedule to give our group an insight to the industry.
Dave Pannell, company director of Design Mechanics and creative designer Craig Burges dropped in and gave insight on what it’s like to manage clients in the ‘real world’.
During the presentation many questions were asked and answered about the views and experience of what it takes to be a successful designer. It came to me when Dave mentioned that a good designer would be able to create a piece of good design within a few hours from the first creative brief given by the client to the final design presented. I found this as a shock to the system from designs I have previously made that I generate a collection of about four different logos and usually adjust a website numerous times before I’m happy with the result.
Having to work to a specific time scale and having more than one client’s request in production as Craig mentioned made me realise what the Interactive Media course is adjusting me for and how important the change will be to the future of starting a career in the design industry.
During the talk Dave mentioned personal problems that he had to overcome and how difficult it is to be a company director. Giving advice of past experiences that he and Craig had experienced really helped me, just not in running your own business but in the design industry on how important it is getting to know your surroundings and to research the potential possibilities of client’s needs and the background of the businesses they run or work for.
My thoughts at the end of the presentation were that it takes a mature but a creative individual to be able to meet the standards of the design world. Not just on the designs that they can produce, but from the planning to knowing what the clients need because if not it could lead to a commercial setback.
Also I want teh oppertunity to thankyou Dave Pannell and Craig Burges for taking time out their busy schedule to give our group an insight to the industry.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Symbols and Signs make creative designs?
Zapf Dingbats was 1 designed by a typographer named Hermann Zapf who is married to the type designer and lettering artist Gudrun Zapf von Hesse. Zapf Dingbats where created as an international computer typeface and was licensed by the International Typeface Corporation in 1978.
Hermann Zapf created around 1000 sketches and designs of symbols and signs according to linotype. ITC chose from a subset of 360 symbols, ornaments and typographic elements based on the original designs, which became formally known around the world as Zapf Dingbats.
According to Wikipedia Zapf Dingbats gained wide distribution when ITC Zapf Dingbats, which consists of the subset chosen by ITC, became one of 35 PostScript fonts built into Apple's LaserWriter Plus and that the typeface is distributed with Acrobat Reader 5 and 5.1.
2
From above you see the characterisation of the Zapf Dingbats which is formed up of symbols and images but also you see others like arrows and stars. 3 These are a combination of the updated version of Zapf, commonly known has Zapf Essentials.
Consists of 6 symbol-encoded fonts categorized in Arrows , Communication (pointing fingers, communication devices), Markers (squares, triangles, circles, ticks, hearts, crosses, check marks, leafs), Office (pen, clock, currency, scissors, hand), Ornaments (flowers, stars), for a total of 372 glyphs. The standard set for the ICT glyphs are included in Unicode and it is one of the "Basic 14" typefaces guaranteed to be available for PDF files.
However, not all ITC Zapf Dingbats glyphs are included in the Zapf Essentials collections (e.g.: airplane and letter).
4 Dingbats and Wingdings and similar fonts provide an easy way of adding graphics by simply typing them as text. However, you have to remember which letters and digits produce which symbols as in the examples above.
Below is a link to a PDF that has the full listing of the decimal and Hexadecimal codes and characters used to create each Dingbat.
Official Unicode Zapf Dingbat code chart
References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapf_Dingbats
2. www.identifont.com
3. http://www.linotype.com/en/1460/linotypezapfessentials.html
4. http://www.answers.com/topic/dingbats
Hermann Zapf created around 1000 sketches and designs of symbols and signs according to linotype. ITC chose from a subset of 360 symbols, ornaments and typographic elements based on the original designs, which became formally known around the world as Zapf Dingbats.
According to Wikipedia Zapf Dingbats gained wide distribution when ITC Zapf Dingbats, which consists of the subset chosen by ITC, became one of 35 PostScript fonts built into Apple's LaserWriter Plus and that the typeface is distributed with Acrobat Reader 5 and 5.1.
2
From above you see the characterisation of the Zapf Dingbats which is formed up of symbols and images but also you see others like arrows and stars. 3 These are a combination of the updated version of Zapf, commonly known has Zapf Essentials.
Consists of 6 symbol-encoded fonts categorized in Arrows , Communication (pointing fingers, communication devices), Markers (squares, triangles, circles, ticks, hearts, crosses, check marks, leafs), Office (pen, clock, currency, scissors, hand), Ornaments (flowers, stars), for a total of 372 glyphs. The standard set for the ICT glyphs are included in Unicode and it is one of the "Basic 14" typefaces guaranteed to be available for PDF files.
However, not all ITC Zapf Dingbats glyphs are included in the Zapf Essentials collections (e.g.: airplane and letter).
4 Dingbats and Wingdings and similar fonts provide an easy way of adding graphics by simply typing them as text. However, you have to remember which letters and digits produce which symbols as in the examples above.
Below is a link to a PDF that has the full listing of the decimal and Hexadecimal codes and characters used to create each Dingbat.
Official Unicode Zapf Dingbat code chart
References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapf_Dingbats
2. www.identifont.com
3. http://www.linotype.com/en/1460/linotypezapfessentials.html
4. http://www.answers.com/topic/dingbats
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