Moved!

pathfinderwizard.tumblr.com

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Critique

https://reddit.app.link/VE4voUtAwO

1. For the sake of crisp prints, always use Illustrator or some other vector app

2. Second option seems confused with its arrows in diff directions

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Master List of Design Exercises

Be sure to create a brief to guide you and give rationale to your choices.

1. Find "bad" design and remake it

2. Recreate something for the sake of practice, then recreate it with your own twist

3. Same as above but with tutorials. Follow them explicitely for the sake of learning a new method. Then do it again with your own twist.

4. Use freelance contests for prompts. Maybe submit your design?

5. Make a logo for a random wikipedia page

6. Try hand lettering a logotype you found.

7. Try creating the rest of the alphabet too and writing other words with it!

8. Recreate cool logos and designs you see but using a fictional brand (maybe myself?)

9. Participate in r/Photoshopbattles. Design a t-shirt or ad using the photo. Make maybe an album cover for r/fakealbumcovers

10. Rebrand or retarget an ad. For example, make a fast food ad into a fancy restaurant ad.

11. Rebrand movies and album covers into different genres. Make Titanic into a action movie. Make Taylor Swift into a metal band.

12. Seek critique and then rework the design based on that.

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Try calligraphy with a blunt pencil!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Calligraphy/comments/8xy52j/when_youre_too_scared_to_carry_around_bottles_of/?st=JJHAHM4H&sh=8aea8410

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La Plaza Market Critique

https://www.reddit.com/r/logodesign/comments/8xy2c3/which_illustration_works_best_of_the_four_options/?st=JJH802AM&sh=c0d54d57

Consensus I third one down is best. Most balanced.

Black has recessive qualities so a black border can help push things forward which allows them to be processed faster.

Black bowl in number three can be seen as continuing the frame

The third one may be the fav but the compact detail could be prone to bleeding or getting muddy when printed. Could be something to consider. Op did mention wanting to simplify.

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Map Design: Graphic Design Basics

https://www.academia.edu/25753862/Map_Design_Graphic_Design_Basics?auto=download

Was actually checking to see if I wanted to delete this book due to irrelevant sounding title but it seems to have some general practices such as

Take into account possible unintentional optical illusions created by your design

Do not forget to consider how diff people perceive the world differently

Motivation = needs + interest. Relevant for ad design

It is the designers job to achieve a certain perception/reaction out of the viewer

Also the designer's job to achieve this in the most efficient way possible

Don't forget to think about double and alternative meanings. For example a beach pic is not only a beach pic, but also conveys relaxing and vacation for most people

Wow this thing got pretty philosophical on perception and communication. Wouldn't expect that from a Map Making Book I guess.

Stopped on page 10 for the day.

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GDSP Book

What I learned today

See black and orange pic below. The order of layers and layer settings can have an effect in Photoshop. Try swapping around layers if you’re not getting what you want.

Paper manufacturers make color guides to show how ink looks on diff papers. Remember the blacklight color guide? Expand that!

Screens are printed at diff angles to reduce Moire Effect https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/moire-effect . Relevant for that halftone filter in Illustrator

Mechanical pencils are cheaper in the long run

Twirl pencils on sandpaper for a sharp point

Gum eraser is the most delicate and works on ink without smudging it. A good one should be crumbly.

Flat brushes can be used for lettering? At least so it says

Consider using some scrap paper as a straight edge/eraser shield

A triangle is used in conjunction with a t-square to make angles

Not much super relevant info to design as it’s done today but a lot of helpful stuff for designing on paper and transitional art.

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Reddit: Logo for a Texan Electrician

https://www.reddit.com/r/logodesign/comments/8ukyot/logo_for_a_texas_electrician/?st=JJ03TZ2S&sh=eaa25c3d

People say it reminds them of Gatorade due to shape and color. Op says it's suppose to be an electric Texas orange. Commenters suggest a color change would help.

Litmus test - does the logo convey the meaning without the wording? In this case not quite

But also an icon works within the branding. Think about the nike swoosh or Starbucks logo. Neither convey anything about the company in an objective sense.

Some people think using the state as part of the branding is weird. Like of course all your clients are in Texas if you are a Texas based electrician. So in a way it is redundant.

Some suggest adding more electric elements like a plus or battery top

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Engraved Illustration Tutorial

https://www.retrosupply.co/blogs/tutorials/how-to-create-an-engraved-illustration-effect-in-illustrator

Didn't follow the tut persay but I did learn from it

This style of Illustration is called "Engraved Illustration"

Use the scroll brushes in illustrator to create that style

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Hand Lettering Exercises

Find cool stuff and try to flat out copy it

Trace stuff too if you can

Try to copy a familiar piece from memory

Copy a piece exactly and then try to copy the style using a different word

Practice the 8 basic strokes below

And Tips!

https://hookagency.com/crash-course-hand-lettering/

Hand Lettering is a nice asset to have as a designer

Contrast is good but not too much. 2 to 3 styles for a piece is good.

Follow hand letterers on social media

Create milestones and goals for yourself

https://www.invisionapp.com/blog/learn-hand-lettering/

Don't forget to warm up your hand, exercise your hand

Do not stretch a letter redraw it, start over if you have to

Round letters like c,o,s extend slightly above and below the baseline

If you draw a stroke in the south or south east direction, then it should be a thick stroke. This will solve any weird balance issues with particularly hard letters like m and w

Stems are always thicker than crossbars

https://www.hellobrio.com/blog/brush-lettering-intro

Make sure all downstrokes have the same angle

Consider graph or dotted paper

Make and use your own calligraphy guide

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Self Critiqued Piece (not mine)

"14. “Draw” – Colin Tierney – Instagram. Notes to himself on this one include checking the letterform width. This is something I pay attention to when the letters are intended to not be variable width, getting the letters consistent in width in this case gives a much more solid look that makes the piece feel stronger."

Source: https://hookagency.com/crash-course-hand-lettering/

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Actual Pathfinder Wizardry

https://youtu.be/iSkmAwIEHKI

To prevent problems with strokes, expand them first.

Likewise, you can use strokes for cool effects.

Minus front works for cutting holes out of letters! You would want to leave the stroke unexpanded then so the hole gets stroked too.

Unite will change everything to the same color as top object Don’t want that? Use merge. Strokes will disappear though

If subtract doesn’t work, it’s probably because your design is too complex. Do smaller bits at a time.

“Divide” to make a 3 color Venn diagram…

“Trim” and “merge” both flatten the object essentially. But merge will merge things that are the same color while trim will not.

Trim better to preserve shape. Merge better for a true flatten

Crop basically works as a cookie cutter/clipping mask

Outline is not the same as just adding a stroke. Hard to explain. Experiment.

https://youtu.be/XPk_1wytf3k

Trim is like divide but preserves top shapes

Crop is basically a cookie cutter with top piece serving as cookie cutter

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Faux Calligraphy Tutorial

https://thepostmansknock.com/faux-calligraphy-tutorial/

TL;DR

Emphasize/thicken downstrokes

Write spaced apart to allow room for that downstroke emphasis

Also I need to practice my basic cursive

This style is called Kaitlyn Style

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Tip from Boss

When manually drawing or coloring something in Illustrator, consider this to literally simplify the image down the line.

Select all relevant paths (so say, a group of scribbled paths that were used to color in something)

Expand appearance

Expand again

Pathfinder merge

This turns all those paths into one big blob instead. Easier to manage and won’t be affected by resizing.

Consider the rooster and puppy drawings as examples

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How to Make a Neon Effect with Photoshop CC Adobe Creative Cloud

WATCH TUTORIAL => http://videotutorials411.com/how-to-make-a-neon-effect-with-photoshop-cc-adobe-creative-cloud/ #Adobe #Photoshop #GraphicDesign #Illustrator #Lightroom #photography

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Beginners Guide to Graphic Design Ep 1

https://m.youtube.com/user/TastyTuts/videos

Basic elements of graphic design

Line

Color

Shape

Texture

Space

Form

Typography

Keep these things in mind while designing

Principles of design

Contrast

Hierarchy

Alignment

Balance

Proximity

Repetition

Simplicity

Function

Also keep these in mind while designing

GD is a visual way of communicating info

I know personally I would want to be involved in T Shirt design and Advertising design, particularly print ads

A balance between artistic expression and practicality

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Rose Logo Critique

https://www.reddit.com/r/logodesign/comments/87yib1/update_rose_logo_for_street_wear_brand/?st=JFEDXHJP&sh=0f3f0ee1

Create brand guidelines which explain how logos and colors will be used

Creating something trendy may be short term. Once the trend dies, you’ll be irrelevant. Strive for something timeless.

The circle logo in the middle seems to be everyone’s fav. Maybe because it is timeless? Circle logos are common.

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Magnetic Lasso and some sketching

Tried out the magnetic lasso today for the first time. This website was helpful.

https://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/selections/magnetic-lasso-tool/

Hold down spacebar to move around

Press capslocks to get a more accurate crosshair

Press Ctrl+ or Ctrl- to zoom in and out while working

Use brackets [ ] to adjust width while working

Use period and comma . , to adjust contrast while working

While working, click to manually add an anchor point

Press backspace/delete to delete anchor points while working

Also did some traditional drawing on paper for the first time in a while.