VSAR 316 ANNOUNCEMENTS - Fall 2015—go to Cougar Courses class website
VSAR 316 ANNOUNCEMENTS - Fall 2013
10-9-14
Posting Assignments To Cougar Courses
Stuff that's Due by October 10th! This is an extended due date. Two time extensions have already been granted.
Post the following assignments/project to Graphic Design at Cougar Courses by October 10, 2014.
• wordcloud
• fish/frog
• nine lives cat/eveready ad
• technical illustration
Yes, this is in addition to your postings for Wordpress!
Thanks! It facilitates grading with such a large class!
09-21-14
Recommended training videos from lynda.com>Illustrator CC Essential Training
Below are the recommended videos to watch. I encourage you to also view any video you wish from the 5 provided titles.
For Nine Lives Cat
3. Selecting and Transforming Objects
—Using the Direct Selection and Group Selection tools
—Grouping objects
—Rotating objects
—Reflecting and skewing objects
6. Working With Paths
—Open and closed paths
—Joining and averaging paths
—Using the Scissors and Knife tools
Technical Illustration—Tips & Reminders
Objectives
◦ draw the cast of illumination from a single light source, using digital tools
◦ understand how to design a commercial document of complexity for ease of future edits (global colors)
Content
◦ If you choose to reproduce the computer chip, please make it unique by adding your own personalization! Consider changing the shape of the elements, moving them around; replace the Mitsubishi text with your name, or the name of a fictitious company of which you are the CCO—Chief Creative Officer. Imagination is just as important as execution!
◦ If you do not choose the computer chip to reproduce, you still need to choose a device with a good amount of complexity. Custom personalization should be applied here as well! Draw your device from a flat perspective, and include the required techniques even if you must add them.
• Refer to SimpleRealismTips.pdf at voiceonapage.com>projects>illustrator>technical illustration for an example of the required techniques.
Tech Illustration is monochromatic.
◦ Greyscale, greenscale, redscale—whatever, but only one color!
◦ Limiting the number of variables in any artistic endeavor is liberating! It reduces the number of creative decisions to make, easing the burden of fulfillment.
◦ IMHO, students ought to have a working competence of tonality and contrast before they add the variable of color. Hence the restriction! No effects are permitted!
◦ No special FX, no distortions, no transparency—no effects of any kind!
◦ Gradients are only allowed to be used in the construction of the cylinders!
Don’t be a camera!
◦ Cameras record stark images with a high degree of verisimilitude. Reality is overrated! Draw what you see through your particular distorted human lens, however far removed from reality that may be! Let go of any obligation you may harbor towards producing anything true-to-life. Here, there is no rule that says you have to be accurate and record just the facts! The detail police are not gonna bust you for discarding bits you don’t like and replacing them with cooler stuff made up in your head!
Recommended lynda.com videos for Technical Illustration
Recommended training videos from lynda.com>Illustrator CC Essential Training
Below are the recommended videos to watch. I encourage you to also view any video you wish from the 5 provided titles.
For Technical Illustration
2. Working With Documents
—Navigating within a document
—Using rulers, guides, and grids
—Changing units of measurement
4. Working With Color
— Process vs. global swatches
12-5-13
Congrats to Jamie Whiffen for being selected as Balboa Park Postcard Centennial Design Contest winner!
11-26-13
Two CSUSM Graphic Design Students Finalists in Balboa Park Centennial Postcard Design Competition
CONGRATS to Graphic Design students Meghan Freund and Jamie Whiffen! Both of their designs have been selected as finalists in the Balboa Park Centennial Postcard Competition. Beautiful and exciting Balboa Park will be the setting in 2015 for a spectacular year of festivities that commemorate the International Exposition of 1915 by once again putting San Diego on the world stage. The winning postcard(s) will be given out all over the city and sent out to fans around the world to promote San Diego's party of a lifetime!
The designs are posted on a Facebook page for people to vote which one they think should be the first official postcard of the Centennial. The one with the most likes will be the winner. [Jamie and Meghan's are the first and third choices shown.]
Support your fellow design students! Like your favorite picture to vote for the First Official Balboa Park Centennial Postcard!!
www.facebook.com/balboapark2015
From: Drew Halsch
Date: Monday, November 25, 2013
Subject: Centennial Postcard Finalist
To: Jamie Whiffen & Meghan Freund
Congratulations,
Your postcard you submitted into the Balboa Park Centennial Postcard Competition made it into the top 3. It is posted on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/balboapark2015 for people to vote which one they think should be the first official postcard of the Centennial. The one with the most likes will be the winner. You are more than welcome to share you photo to gain the support of your friends.
Good luck!!
09-27-13
Balboa Park Centennial Postcard Design Contest! See Week 5 in syllabus for details!
09-20-13
Studio "O" Art Contest—Oceanside Museum of Art—T-Shirt Design Contest—see flyer: Studio O Art Contest.pdf
Belle Marie winery has a boutique wine vender willing to participate in a student design contest to create a label for line of wine that will be marketed to the public. Great chance for experience and exposure. Details are forming—will keep you posted.
09-13-13
Technical Illustration:If you illustrate something other than the Mitsubishi Computer Chip, you still need to include required elements to demonstrate your mastery of the software, whether the original device had them or not. Don't be a camera!
VSAR 316 ANNOUNCEMENTS - Fall 2012
08-31-12 Welcome to Graphic Design. A big subject to cover in one semester so we'll be touching upon many points of graphic design in general and be using primarily Adobe Illustrator in specific for illustration, typography, color, and page layout. The role of the other applications of the Adobe Creative Suite will also be discussed.
You should receive an email from lynda.com inviting you to subscribe to a video tutorial service. This is the textbook for the class.
You are reminded to do the homework given in week one of the syllabus (there are 6 items to complete!), and to send me your wordpress link as soon as you have it established. I will post student sites on the class website.
Contests will be the topic of doscussion (among other things) as we gear up to compete in the CSUSM Holiday Card competition and the Jewish Food Festival Poster Contest.
09-09-12
EDUCATION: CSUSM Arts & Lectures requiring paid tickets for first time
—This can affect how you view Art Events.EDUCATION
DOUBLE ART EVENT—This counts as two!:
WHAT: Screening of Music Documentary THUNDERSOUL (88 minutes) with director Mark Landsman presenting. www.thundersoulmovie.com
WHEN: Tuesday, September 11th, 5:30PM WHERE: Cal State San Marcos, Visual and Performing Arts Building, ARTS 240
Alumni from Houston's great Kashmere High School Stage Band return
home after 35 years to play a tribute concert for their beloved band leader who
broke the color barrier and turned the struggling jazz band into a world-class funk powerhouse in the early 1970s.
Executive Producer is Jamie Foxx.
We are having a very special screening of the project with an extended
Q and A discussion with the film's director Mark Landsman, who works on other non-fiction, like the cable hit "Intervention."
Get there early to get a seat and stay late!!
09-13-12
Spirit of CSUSM Artwork Competition
We are in the final stretch of the Spirit of CSUSM Artwork Competition, and I’m wondering if this is something you can help us promote and encourage students to participate in. We feel this is a great opportunity, especially for our VPA students. Below is a brief blurb about the competition, complete with all the important details.
The deadline (Tuesday, Sep. 25 at 4:30 p.m.) for entries in the "Spirit of CSUSM Artwork Competition" is approaching!
Don't miss your chance to win a scholarship award of $300, $200 or $100! Design, paint, photograph, create or capture the spirit of CSUSM!
Submit a 5" x 7" (portrait or landscape) printed copy of the your artwork. Scan or photograph non-digital media. Attach an entry form and mail or hand-deliver to:
Office of Communications, Craven Hall, Room 5213. Entry forms and competition details are at: www.csusm.edu/spirit-art. Questions? Call 760-750-4044
Final critique for this project in our class is September 21, but you need to have it PRINTED and DELIVERED to the Office of Communications by the competition DEADLINE of September 25.
09-20-12
—Great postings! Kyle InfoGraphic, Saira's Transcending color mediums
—Regarding the homework about finding and posting images that transcend media—most of you missed the point of the inquiry! I only have myself to blame!
Tattos get emblazoned on laptop computers—from the medium of skin to the medium of titanium. The Sheppard Fairey vector portrait stylization used for Presidential Obama campaign of 2008 was mimicked widely for purposes other than political.
What I was looking for is a 'design style' that is so successful that it travels across media, like the Bauhaus movement from 1919 - 1933 which influenced art, archetecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.
You get credit if you made an attempt despite your interpretation of the instructions.
—Please be sure and add an attribution to your Wordle postings! Always a good idea to get into the habit of citing your sources.
09-27-12
Faith Hark,Visual Communications Specialist here at California State University San Marcos, University Advancement, Office of Communications will be coming to the class 9:00 am on Friday, September 28 to collect Spirit of CSUSM Holiday Card Competition entries directly—it's a second chance to participate if you did not get your entry in on Sept 25!
Normally, a deadline is a deadline so embrace this second chance! You do not get credit for the document unless you compete. . . please don't be late. Have your Entry Forms filled out and have your printed documents ready!
Ms. Hark will return to the class on October 12 to talk about working as a visual communications specialist for an educational institution and will discuss the many hats a media person must wear to be a success.
Notable work: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
10-05-12
10-10-12
1. Guest speaker Faith Hark will talk about working as a graphic designer here at CSUSM in her role as Visual Communications Specialist. October 12th @ 9:30 a.m.
2. Vote, if you will, on my entry in the Art > Money: Design to Define a Movement Contest where artists compete to create a poster bringing awareness to the negative role of unlimited contributions to political campaigns by giant corporations whose own motivation is self serving and not in the best interests of the American people. Public voting begins October 12. http://artmoney.maker.good.is/projects/DEFY
10-17-12
1. Your colleague Zach Chione has converted the Temple Adat Shalom logo to a vector graphic. As you know, logos are best rendered as vector and not pixel information for scalability and versatility. You're welcome. TAS_logo_black_vector.pdf
2. Has anyone heard back from the Jewish Food Festival Poster Contest registration? By now I should think they would have responded with instructions on how to obtain required images. Please email me if you've heard anything. jmiller@csusm.edu
3. The following is an excellent example of a poster done in a particular artistic genre—in this case Art Nouveau. Although it advertises 'Jabba Mighty Dune Sea Cruises' instead of a musical gig, the principles are the same! Courtesy of your colleague Amanda Umphrey.
4. Your colleague, Catherine Sun, shares this interesting music video about a kind of 'style.' Could this be considered an artistic genre? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&feature=colike
5. We've seen most of these logos before, but I want you to note their minimalist qualities. Minimalism is a part of the artistic genre of Modern Art. In the words of your colleague, Chris Saylor, they are, "unfussy, however well thought-out and impactual" and "make a massive statement with the fewest possible pieces." Worthy of emulation? 
6. Your colleague Jackie Mougel has this to say about graphic design in the discussion about Image Prevalence, "The art form acts as “Cliffnotes” to summarize an idea.'' Well spoken. You can quote that, and should! She also shares this an excellent self-referential logo.
—Explain why the image reinforces the name and the tag line. Discuss associated meanings.
7. Your colleague Alyssa "Hope" Knuckles shares this great double meaning logo. Can you name the associated meanings?
8. You've all had an extra week to work on your JFF posters so I expect to see a showing at our next class meeting (Oct 19) from every student!
10-26-12
The following is an email confirmation list showing the students who sent in an entry form for the JFF Poster Contest. If your name is not on this list it means you didn't register and get zero points for the Project. Not a good showing considering less than half the class participated!
10-31-12
1. Reminder that ANY Dia De Las Muertos celebration may be considered an Art Event that counts as two! Many remembrances will be held all over San Diego County—any that you attend are eligible!
• go to the event and add an item of remembrance to the altar
• take a picture(s) of your item added to the altar, preferably with you in the picture, too
• post picture(s) to your Wordpress site and write up according to criteria
• counts as 2 art events!
2. Bike To Campus Logo—Real World Opportunity for Aspiring Artist. This is a fabulaous chance to be recognized by your peers right here on campus. More to follow as details emerge! See below.
From: Debora Schmidt
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 2:10 PM
Subject: create a logo for Bike to Campus
We are planning a Bike To Campus event in conjunction with Wellness Month in April. I am looking for someone who would like to volunteer to create a logo for this event. Something that incorporates a bike and the campus.
We want this to become a yearly event and the logo would be used on all the marketing – we would be sure to acknowledge the art work and we may be able to give them a “thank you” gift of some sort, but we would not be able to pay them – key word is volunteer
Thank you for any assistance you can provide
Deb Schmidt
Commuter Coordinator
dschmidt@csusm.edu
760-750-7520
3. Click link to see the recipient list for the Jewish Food Festival entries as of 10-31-12. It's an Excel spreadsheet you will need to download to view. You can also open it in Word.
If your name is not on the list please register or re-register by November 09. Obviously the problem is not just student related since 4 individuals claim to have sent their entries in but do not appear on the list! Sorry to ask some of you to register twice, but after all, it's a real world contest and we have little control! Use this grace period if you have not yet sent in your entry! Here is link to Guidelines and Rules.
11-28-12
Reminder to have your “Cougar Cruise to Campus” logo ready on November 30! I would suggest having an all black version as well as color!
Deb Schmidt, the Commuter Coordinator and sponsor of the competition will pick them up in person at 10:30 am. Please include some kind of printout to give her along with your PDF. She will collect the files on a USB drive. Be sure the printout includes:
1. your name
2. the name of the PDF file you are giving her
3. your contact information so she can get ahold of you if you win!
(As an added assurance, it might be a good idea to include your name and contact information in the PDF as well.)
Naming Convention To help avoid confusion, I would suggest making your name part of the file name. (i.e. MillerBikeLogo.pdf)
NOTE ABOUT PRINTING There is a printer in the UNIV 271 classroom that works with a prepaid print card that you may use to print out your hard copy to submit with your PDF.
All must be ready when she arrives at 10:30! There are no second chances, but there is a guaranteed winner!
Also be sure and post it to your Wordpress site by November 30!
Good luck!
12-04-12
Congratulations to Ashley Aronson for winning the Bike To Campus logo contest! 
Although not receiving money, the design will go into use and be seen by thousands of people for years to come!
