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Summer is over and the Fall 2013 semester is here. Once again, I am enrolled at SUNY WCC towards my Digital Arts Certificate.
A course in Motion Graphics is on my menu and my appetite is large!

Our first class introduced us to the software of Adobe’s After Effects and the realm of possibilities it offers users. A 14 week schedule will culminate in a final project built on video and/ or animated graphics.

My mind exploded with ideas and how, now, I can bring a two dimensional artwork to life with motion and music. Not a day too soon to begin formulating my project, I have selected one of my illustrations to animate and am hunting for music as accompaniment.

As the semester winds down in my Digital Design class, our individual case studies came to life via video and YouTube.  Our assignment directed us to animate our posters in Adobe Flash.  My grand finale.

http://youtu.be/MQQ0Z5c9O14

I have finalized designs of the “Meals On Wheels” logo and poster.  My final selection of each required modifications before they found themselves ‘finished’ and ready for presentation… the logo now incorporates a design element that indicates movement… and the poster was updated with a color and higher resolution photo.

Next, Adobe Flash.  We will be designing a motion graphic incorporating our poster design.  Limited to 15-seconds, we must bring our poster to life!

Object:  Create a poster for our individual Case Study.

Creating a poster begins, as with most things, thumbnail sketches.
Once reviewed and critiqued, the process moves on to creating a digital file.
My sketches included eight variations which incorporated a logo, text, and photos.  However, my routine thumbnails did not provide the needed clarity until I found my photo image.  The photo, a major building-block, gave me the ability to finalize placement of all elements.

Thumbnails and mock-ups are uploaded for viewing.

Recent weeks in our Digital Design course have found each student developing and fine tuning logo designs for their Case Study.  My project has led me to develop and design variations of a new logo for “Meals On Wheels”.  I have chosen the theme of an apple on wheels.  During initial start of my Case Study,
I chose to use the slogan “An Apple A Day”.  We are all raised to learn that ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ and I found this to be a strong tagline which can be used for fundraising campaign purposes in addition to design development for collateral created by the “Meals On Wheels” organization.

Thumbnail sketches and mock-up digital illustrations of my logo design
can now be viewed on my WP site.

The first half of our semester in my Digital Design course focused on developing our experience in Illustrator through weekly assignments.  We were given a theme per week with which to work our compositions:
Squares – Circles – Lines – Combo Shapes – Type As Design.

Each assignment required 3-5 submissions which were presented and critiqued.  My theme favorites then found their home on my WP site.

In between, we began development of our individually selected Case Study.
“Meals On Wheels” was selected from a list I compiled of nine non-profit organizations.  Each was researched, resulting in a selection of one.
The balance of our semester will focus on our Case Study work.

My fairytale theme is complete!
An endeavor begun over 15 years ago, perhaps longer!
Sample illustrations can be viewed on my site.

It’s crunch time!  I have no lab access for at least 40 hours and I’m anxious to complete my final piece for text as design.  To diffuse me from exploding, I have set off daydreaming about purchasing my own Apple computer.

Here is my work in progress:

It’s Spring Break week at WCC but work on school projects continues…
New assignments included working with text as design and reworking logo thumbnails in order to focus on final design concepts to develop in Illustrator over the next few weeks.  I have uploaded several new thumbnails of the
Meals On Wheels logo and a few of my favorite text as design images.

A great lecture on personal branding is coming up soon…
I have my seat reserved!
http://westchestergallery.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/spring-2013-lectures-and-workshops/