Josh Lanham’s DMA Blog

Project 4 – Elmwood Map

lanhamj — Wed, 04 May 2022 19:24:37 +0000

What did you learn?
In this project, I learned a simple, effective way to make a map using Illustrator. The biggest thing I learned, though, was new uses for the pen tool, such as making roads. Originally the outliner had annoyed me, but with this project, I found it super useful, especially when making city roads.
What was easy?
Other than choosing the location, the easiest part for me was definitely making the roads. I found it to be the most fun thing to do during the project. In my map, there was a rotary, so I got to practice making circles with the pen tool.
What was challenging?
The most difficult part of the project was figuring out how I wanted to organize the roads. I settled on doing a sort of “popularity” scale. I made the more major roads (like Elmwood Avenue, Bird Avenue, W. Delevan Avenue, etc.) look like roads you would normally see, with broken yellow lines. I made the less popular roads just gray. I thought that this was the best way to convey important information, but figuring out how I wanted to organize stuff was definitely a challenge.
How could your submission be improved?
I think my submission could be improved by adding a sort of “residential,” “commercial,” and “recreational” key somewhere. I used just colors (blue being residential, yellow being commercial, and green being recreational) and symbols to do this, but I’m not sure if that was enough.
How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
The assignment could be improved by maybe providing some symbols somehow. I found some symbols I liked already in Illustrator, but finding a shop symbol was definitely difficult to do. Maybe that was something I struggled with, though.
How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
Making maps for games could be something that this project would be useful for. Or, if a client were to ask for a decorated map of a place they’d previously been, I could easily replicate what I did here in this lab.
How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
The presentation in D2L showing different kinds of maps gave me an idea on how to lay out mine. They also showed me that I didn’t necessarily have to do a city map, but could do one that conveys some other sort of information. Ultimately, I decided on Buffalo’s Elmwood/Forest areas, but the given maps inspired me to explore other options.

Project 3

lanhamj — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 18:01:08 +0000

1. What did you learn?
With this project, I learned more about making patterns in a 2D space, specifically with Adobe Illustrator. I wasn’t familiar with Illustrator before, so this was definitely a completely new experience. I also learned about the difference between bitmap graphics and vector graphics, something that I admittedly didn’t know much about before this project.
2. What was easy?
Surprisingly, the pen tool seemed easier this time. While still a little frustrating, I found the exercise with learning about the pen tool helpful. I definitely still need more improvement with it, but I found myself enjoying myself when using it, instead of disliking and dreading it.
3. What was challenging?
The most challenging part for me was making the pattern. I don’t know why, but when I was using the spiral tool, I found myself getting frustrated when trying to make it look good. Every spiral I made seemed out of place, even when I moved them/modified them. Eventually, I settled on a cow-print pattern. It eased some frustration.
4. How could your submission be improved?
My submission could be improved much more if I had a better logo. I wish I went around and “redrew” the cow from the original Byrne Dairy logo. I think then my little carton would less bare. After construction the carton, I noticed some of my text had been hyphenated, making it look super unprofessional and clunky. That could also be improved.
5. How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
The assignment could be improved for the next class by maybe giving a copy/paste description for the carton. To be completely honest, coming up with one was the only non-Illustrator aspect I had difficulty with. Maybe I’m just no good at coming up with creative “about us” stories. All other aspects of this were enjoyable, and I would do it again for practice.
6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
The new knowledge I gained about vector graphics and the importance they have on logos is some that I think will stick with me forever. Vector graphics being used for logos is a piece of knowledge I can see myself needing in future work scenarios, when deciding between a bitmap and a vector program. Additionally, creating patterns is something I can see having importance in work scenarios.
7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
I used this tutorial to help me when I forgot something about the pen tool. Using this helped me with attempting to create a realistic looking cow-print background. It reinforced some of the concepts we’d learned in previous labs, too.

https://illustratorhow.com/how-to-use-pen-tool/

Project 2: Composting Imagery

lanhamj — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 19:13:49 +0000

1. What did you learn?
I learned how to combine different aspects of different images into a single project. More specifically, I learned how to cut backgrounds out, leaving a “main” subject in the photo.

2. What was easy?
Actually cutting out the subject from my photos was easy. We were given multiple methods in class. Of these, two methods were relatively easy to grasp, and only took a short amount of time to get relatively good with.

3. What was challenging?
The most challenging aspect of this project was definitely figuring out which of my original project 1 photos I could use for my background. I was fortunate enough to have a “theme within a theme,” which was a sleeping/resting cat.

4. How could your submission be improved?
The background was, in my opinion, the most boring part of my project, visually speaking. I think instead of a gradient of soft colors, I could’ve done the cloud method we worked with. To me, that makes more sense than what I did. The stars in the upper left corner aren’t something I love, either, but I wanted something there so it wasn’t just blank.

5. How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
What I struggled with most was trying to incorporate different subject-cropping methods, most specifically the pen tool. I did the other ones that were discussed, but gave up on the pen tool. Maybe for my project, it wouldn’t have made sense to use the pen tool, but I recognize the importance of it, and wish we could spend more time learning and understanding that tool.

6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
I can absolutely see the importance of image composting. Not only can it be used for main subjects (like the cat in my project, for example), but definitely in creating repeating patterns and backgrounds.

7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
The Harvard blog about Theodore Rosevelt never riding a moose gave me inspiration. I used that and found a few other readings to help me realize that my compost didn’t have to look like some “realistic” thing, hence the cats floating and laying on top of each other. It really helped me find some sort of creativity.

I have no idea how to explain why I decorated it like this, but I wanted my compost to mirror this sort of aesthetic that I remember seeing all over the internet in the 2010-2014 time period.

I wanted this to match my desktop, but this is where my creativity plummeted. I was thinking in terms of readability and clarity on an iPhone, so I put everything in the center.

Project 1: Portfolio – “Cats”

lanhamj — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 03:15:04 +0000

1. What did you learn?

I learned how to better use Photoshop to make my photos appear more vibrant. Using the “curves” and “levels” adjustments in Photoshop wasn’t necessarily a new concept, but it was one that I initially didn’t have a good understanding of, and this lab definitely helped with bettering that understanding.

2. What was easy?

The easy part, in my opinion, was adjusting the image size, both for the thumbnail and for the actual image itself. The steps only took a few seconds, and after the first few images, I was doing it without thinking about it.

3. What was challenging?

The most challenging part was definitely taking pictures that I was both satisfied with and could realistically edit to my liking. If I didn’t have something I liked, editing it was much more difficult than I thought it would be.

4. How could your submission be improved?

My submission could be improved improving the lighting of some of my pictures before I took them. I wanted to play around with darker images, and I did that, but I just was not completely satisfied with how it turned out, and I think it shows in my work.

5. How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?

I think a more thorough, slower tutorial with InDesign could have been helpful. On one of my pictures, I couldn’t change the text box at all. It was stuck with “Image Title,” regardless of what tool I used to change it.

6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

In future assignments or work scenarios, my knowledge of retouching will help me in knowing what to remove and what not to remove with cropping and healing tools. Both proved to be immensely valuable during this project.

7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

One of the posted readings was about retouching. It helped me with cropping unnecessary parts from some of my originals, parts of the picture that otherwise would’ve been distracting or unappealing.

The image on the left is the unedited one, while the image on the right is the final product. I tried to put more focus on the cat himself, as he was the main subject of the picture. Him sitting on the toilet was the purpose of the picture. The large shower and plant behind him takes away from him on the toilet. The only issue I had with removing them was the fact that it took away from showing his true size and how small he was in comparison to the room. Now, he just looks like a large cat on a large toilet.

Hello world!

lanhamj — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 21:46:22 +0000

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