Shanti Peace Poster Design: Shepard Fairey

 
We are beginning our Peace Poster designs today for the Shanti Contest so I'll share a favorite of mine from artist Shepard Fairey better known by his street art name OBEY. He has created a number of variations based on the poster above that he designed including a mural in Los Angeles and another in Berlin (both pictured below).

The artist first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" images and still incorporates Andre into his current work. He was was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina and  currently lives in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. He continues to create posters, murals, stickers, and prints as well as book covers, clothing design, album designs, and films. 

Digital Media: Little Bits Doodle Wizards

Our last week of Digital Media will be focused on creating Doodle Wizards Robots with Little Bits and creating a portfolio of work from the year.  Each group should design and create their own Doodle Wizard that can draw then we will film them with time lapse photography to see and share what they create.

After we have worked with the Doodle Wizards we will design our own custom 3D printed elements for them like this 3 marker arm.  Once you have customized and pimped out your Doodle Wizard we'll draw and film them once again.

Studio Art: I Voted sticker Design Contest

In Studio Art we are celebrating Youth Art Month and democracy by creating designs for the I Voted sticker Design Contest this week.  We began by sketching out ideas in colored pencil in our sketchbooks but we need to digitize the best designs and edit them in Photoshop.  

The final sticker design should have the NYC Votes logo as well as the text "I Voted" and it should be 2"x2".  The design should be finished and uploaded by April 14, 2017 at 5:00 pm ET.  Above is a great example by Kelsey in our 1st period class and below is a terrific design from Adelaide.

Digital Media: Typography

In class we have been working on a daily type design project so it's time to learn a bit more about Typography and the terminology that goes along with it.  We learned some of the basic terms involved with type that you can review on our quizlet here- Typography terms

We will continue to create a letterform design each day until we have a full set and then we will digitize them and create a font.  We will also learn a bit about the history of type to understand better where it might go next.  Remember it's not just an alphabet we are dealing with its a living language that is constructed through design and usage.

Digital Media: Meet Me in DC Contest

In Digital Media class we will be designing an issues based political poster for PBS Learning Media's 2016 Meet Me in DC Contest.  Choose an issue that our community cares about and use the online poster design tool to construct a poster.  I created an example above for our class to give an idea of what is possible.  You can upload your own images but make sure they are both original and not defamatory in any way (if you're not sure feel free to check with me).  There are some great resources on PBS Learning Media's Election Central that we'll look at to learn more about some of the issues.

The poster designs are due tomorrow in the public drive then we will share and critique them after which you'll get a chance to make changes and submit them.  The winner of the contest will receive a free trip to Washington DC along with spending money and some other great bonuses so use your design skills wisely!

AP Art: James Victore

I had a chance to meet up with artist and designer James Victore in Brooklyn yesterday as he was preparing to move his studio to Texas.  We have used his design work as an inspiration in class for a number of assignments in recent years as well as discussing some of his Burining Questions.



I asked James if he had any advice for art students and he said to share that "the things make you weird as a kid make you great today" and it's especially important to remember it in high school!

Digital Media: Shanti Peace Poster

In Digital Media class we are beginning work today on our first project the Shanti Peace Poster.  Above is a great example of a good peace poster from the Holstee design lab in Brooklyn.  We'll start by learning a little bit more about Photoshop and then we'll start creating images and researching quotes and symbols of peace.

Before we begin we'll look a bit at what makes good design in a poster such as this and look at some examples below that are clever and original and clearly express ideas of peace.  We'll look at the artists below and do a little bit of research of symbols associated with peaces and some design basics.

Next we will begin to think of designs visually using 3-5 small thumbnail drawings such as the example I created below.  This is a designers visual entrance into the creative process- small quick sketches which give a sense of what the final design might look like and how it might be best composed.

AP Studio Art: The AP test

 In AP Studio Art we will reflect on the AP studio art test that we took on Friday and write a reflection on it.  Here's some of the great photography and design work from the class we'll look at some of the consistent themes that ran through the class that you may not have picked up on while you were working.

Studio Art: James Victore Day

Today we are looking at the work of designer James Victore in studio art and AP studio art class.  He has created some unique and impactful design work  which has been shown in some of the biggest museums from MoMA to the Louvre and his spirit and style is terrific.



Studio art- we are going to use his recent collaboration with Holstee as inspiration to create our own individual daily affirmation or reminder.  I will have media such as ink, tape, paper, paint, and pens available but as James himself states there ain't no rules and it's a reminder for you so make it personal and create it in a way that reflects you.

Remember this design is not about being neat and pretty or sloppy and loose for that matter, it's about you- what do you want and how do you communicate it best to yourself?



AP Studio art- we are going to use his recent Creative Live online class as a jump off point.  I watched the majority of the sessions and in it he challenged students to create a design after being given a word and a handicap.  We'll look at some of his work and words and then I'll give each of you a word paired with a media handicap!

Studio Art: Design and Photoshop

In Studio Art we began our Design unit and started learning the basics of Adobe Photoshop.  Our first assignment is to create a simple logo for yourself using your initials on Photoshops such as the example I created in class as a demo above.  The list of vocabulary terms is in the quizlet link above and the test on the is Friday which is also when the completed logo is due in the public drive.

Studio Art: T-shirt Designing with Adobe Illustrator

In Studio Art class we are currently working on our T-shirt Designs and now that we have drawn out the designs, digitized them, and cleaned them up in Adobe Photoshop today we will learn how to vectorize them using the 'live drawing' feature and color them using 'live paint' in Adobe Illustrator.  The image above is an example of how the t-shirt actually turns out, this one is a collaborative shirt created in my National Art Honor Society.

Studio Art: Art History Test

Today we will have our test on the sculptors and designers we studied in studio art.  It's a straight-forward matching test so look at your notes about what the different artists work looks like to be prepared.  I choose artists like Saul Bass who created the work shown above who are influential and distinct so they wont be confused with others.

Studio Art: Art Nouveau vs Art Deco

In Studio Art we have been looking at Art Nouveau (or Modernisme) and Art Deco styles with classic work from Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, René Lalique, Antoni Gaudí, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Aubrey Beardsley, Lee Lawrie, Paul Landowski, and Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret).  This week we will have a test on what we learned and begin our poster design project.  We looked at 4 contemporary poster designers: John Van Hamersveld, Daniel Danger, Jay Ryan, and Tara MacPherson for inspiration so now it's up to you to pick a style, event, and concept then begin sketching out your idea. Five thumbnails are due on Tuesday and then we will talk about your mixed media approach.  The test is on Wednesday.

La tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis (1896)

Studio Arts: t-shirts designs

In studio arts this week we designed t-shirts in Adobe Illustrator and above is a great example from Shelby, next week we'll go over the specifics of actually creating your own small t-shirt shop such as mine on MySoti

Studio Art: Words as Art

We learned about the basics of typography in class and now it's time to bring a creative approach to what we learned.  The image above of the Holstee Manifesto is a great example of great type design and it was created using the old fashioned letterpress technique shown in the video clip below.



We are going to take this design concept and use digital technology to create something similar.  We are going to use the designer Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich's work for inspiration.  He collaborated with Mucca Design and Adobe on a fantastic project called Words at Play which helped advertise Adobe's program with educational and unique images of authors made with type along with information about them and the font.  They project won some coveted awards and was eventually developed into a print book shown below.

Each student in class will create a word portrait in a similar way of a different author and being that it is National Poetry Month I will create a demo today of one of my favorite poets, Billy Collins.  Before starting the design we will research the writer and read some of their word to match their style with their design.  here's a terrific poem titled Forgetfulness by Billy Collins that was turned into a short film by JWT.



In the TED talk below Billy, who was a two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, explains the project and how his poems were animated for the Sundance Channel.

Painting: Eames & Design

This week in class we are looking at the creative duo of Charles and Ray Eames and their contributions to art, arcitecture, design, film, and their graphics. Above is their well-known 1977 short documentary film Powers of Ten™ done for IBM and in class we will be watching exerpts of the documentary on their lives and work entitled EAMES: The Architect and The Painter.

In learning about the Eames we will also look at the Abstract Expressionist movement, especially painter and Ray's teacher Hans Hofmann and his student alumni from the Art Students League of New York such as: Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Wolf Kahn, Larry Rivers, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert de Niro, Sr., and Jane Freilicher.

Designing a Tshirt in Adobe Illustrator

This week in Computer Art class we will learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to create an original t-shirt design which can be printed online using companies such as MySoti. Above is the example that Mr. Needles did is class using a drawing from his sketchbook which was then scanned, vectorized it in Illustrator, cleaned up, made transparent, then uploaded online.

Design Fundimentals

Here's an awewsome video on The Fundamental Elements of Design from Erica Gorochow which covers all of the things we went over in class visually.