Harry Potter

Finally, I watched the two parts of the last Harry Potter movie this week. I think it was just amazing! So much going on in that movie from every point of perspective. The most amazing thing I find is the graphics made to make the movie realistic. Designing graphics for movies look very interesting and exciting to work on but really hard. I would've done that if graphic design wasn't my first choice. Great movie, recommended!

Packaging.. again

As I mentioned before I have trouble with packaging.... I am still struggling. I look at tips for packaging and collect pins on Pinterest that interest me and everything and could use for reference but nothing is clicking. It's so frustrating not to be able to do a nice package design. Some people get the gist of designing packages right off the bat but my ideas don't seem to be really working out the best. If anyone got other tips, feel free to share.

Chair Design

So I been doing some research for my pattern project to apply to furniture. I came across this page about this weird looking chair that is actually supposed to be for hugging... It looks funny but I guess you could use it for other purposes as well like resting a laptop on there or a drink or magazine, etc.

I thought this was a clever and convenient design and looks pretty comfy too if you were to just sit in one spot for hours and keep working on something on a laptop. 

Illustrations

There are two types of illustrations designers do, one is vector based and one is hand drawn. Illustration is personal type of preference in a way to draw I think. You can judge it in many ways but I don't think it would be wrong no matter what. It is personal way of drawings things. I know when I first started to use the program I had no idea how to illustrate. I was stuck between vector based and hand drawn. I like doing it vector based usually but then when you want that hand done touch to it, I have to go through the process of scanning in a drawing and then touching it up in Photoshop instead which I am not very well at.
So for the people that are just starting out with illustration out there, here are some tips for making illustrations easier. It's only an outline to keep it simple and successful and you can draw whatever you want. Computer Arts' website is a great source for getting tips, ideas and tutorials. Check it out!

Salvador Dali

I don't think I've ever talked about my favourite painter in the world, Salvador Dali. Dali was a skilled draftsman, best known for the weird looking images in his surrealist work. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931, which is one of my favourites in his collection.

 Dali's expansive artistic collection includes film, sculpture, and photography, worked together with a range of artists in a variety of media. Dali's high imagination drew so much attention to his works all the time and uniqueness to his work that I don't think anyone else could try to be like him because it won't be the same meaning behind paintings. My personal favourite is, The Meditative Rose, completed in 1958. I find myself so attached to this painting of his the most. More in a personal way but it kind of gives me that relaxing feel but it's not because of the name of the painting. It could be called something else and still give me that relaxed feeling.

 
So last semester, I made a n exhibit project based on him. I think it would be the most enjoyable project I ever worked on because of my knowledge about his paintings and meanings behind all the work he had done, and I kept learning more as I did more research about him at the time. Sometime this year I would really like to go visit the Dali Museum in Florida in the U.S. I want to see all of his brush strokes up close, as silly as it sounds it fascinates me.

Clients

As I'm moving on in second year for graphic design program, we always learn more and more things about how to deal with clients, what to do for preparation and such. You can never know if the t client is a good client or not. You won't really see red flags until you start talking and planning to work with them. But before you agree on anything with the client, you can make an agreement/contract which will be your client brief that says every detail about the project you are about to start which will include your meeting dates and pay dates as well. The website called About gives some brief tips about clients for graphic designers.

I know that freelancing as a designer is not the job for everyone. Not everyone can be their own boss, and some like working with others in a company. I honestly don't know how I will start by myself at first if I can't find a company to work with and it does sound scary. Lifetips also gives some useful information about clients.

The most important part is how you will get paid for the work you do. There are many online services out there that people go to for cheap designs because they don't want to pay someone in person for a better quality and higher price. I think that those online services make actual designers look like we ask so much when we already know how long it actually takes and how much effort it takes to complete a project that is given from the start in school. I was going to have my first client ever after first year last summer and lost the job when I told her how much it would cost her for a logo she was asking for. I had great ideas already set for her too when she first told me what she wanted. But when I told her the cost, she brought up the online services she's been looking at that would do it for half the price I gave her. I was so bummed. I felt like I wasn't worth it when I just finished first year graphic design. But, as I learn more about people's client stories, I don't feel bad anymore. I wonder if that lady found someone to re-create her logo for her. If she did, good for her, but I hope its as good as I was planning it out be.

Andrew Osokin

Here's a photographer I came across while I was doing some research for a photography project. His name is Andrew Osokin. He does macro photography of things in nature like snow, frost, insects and flowers. I thought his photos were breathtaking and so wonderful that I had to make a blog just about him. I have always been interested in macro photography because how close you can get with a camera into details when you can't really with your own vision. 

I am so looking forward to getting a macro lens for my own use to try to get to where this photographer is with his macro photos. Perfect lighting, perfect depth-of-field and amazing details. For some tips on photography, visit National Geographic's website!