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283 Demo: Making it Metal

Objective: Taking shapes to make a badge and giving it a metallic effect.

Step one is to make a star and circle with the shape tool and to make the shield shape with the pen tool. Make sure the shapes have a thick stroke. (You will can also use the type tool to spell out the work Deputy Sheriff) Then select the circle and shield and use Align to center the shapes. Pathfinder’s minus front button will cut the circle out of the shield. Arrange the rest of the shapes over the shield to make a badge.

Select all the shapes and from the menu bar click Object>Expand. Click ok. This will allow you to change your stokes into individual shapes so when you apply the metal gradient, the shapes will appear to have edges.

Select a single shape now and click on the fill color to pull open swatch selection flyout. At the bottom left of the flyout there is a button for the swatch library menu. Click it and then select Other Library.

In the table that pops up, find the swatches folder, click and look for the gradient folder and finally, select the metals folder. This will open up a new table of metal swatches.

Apply your chosen metal swatches to your shapes just like you would select any other color.

For finishing touches you can duplicate your text, change the font color to white and drop the opacity to place that text above the original text to make a pop out look. You can also use the direct select arrow to move the shapes around to create a slight edge.

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283 Demo: Pattern Panic

Objective: Creating custom patterns that repeat seamlessly to embellish image with custom caution tape brush and create unique kaleidoscope shapes.

1. Using the rectangle shape tool along with a type tool, I create a yellow bar with the word “caution” in it. I try to keep in mind how much space should be between the words in the middle and on the side. Making sure to right click and Create Outline so as to make sure all the parts are vectors.

2. Then using the selection tool, I select everything and drag it into my flyout brushes panel. In the New Brushes pop up window, I select Pattern Brush.

3. Once the brush has been made, I can then use my pen tool to make a curved vector and apply that pattern brush to it.

4. Using more shape tools I draw out the rest of a murder house and use my new caution tape brush to add the finishing touches.

1. Using the pen and shape tools to make unique shapes, you can group these vectors together and drag them into the Brushes Flyout window as well. Just like the caution tape pattern, you will select Pattern Brush.

2. You can then use the shape tool, like the ellipse and apply the pattern brush to it to create an interesting framing shape.

3. You can then use shapes of various sizes to overlap and create a more complex image. Depending on the size, angles and positioning of the vector, the pattern will be manipulated accordingly.

For more ideas on how to use the pattern brush, check out this demo where the artist uses illustrator to make intricate repeating patterns:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI90SIEiiWs

#demo #283

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283 Demo: Wet Dog

Objective: Creating custom brush in Photoshop and painting a dog with the droplet texture.

1. Find texture you want. I google “free stock texture” and end up on http://freestocktextures.com and paste it into a new photoshop document.

2. The brush has to be black and white so I desaturate the image by going to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. I feel like there isn’t enough contrast so I adjust the levels by going to Image>Adjustments>Levels and move the black and white sliders in towards each other to increase those darks and light values.

3. To preserve the details I crop my image down to a smaller brush size. You have a brush that is as big as 2500 x 2500 pixels but that’s not recommended. I cut mine down to roughly 200 x 200 pixels.

4. Taking an eraser with 0% hardness, I get rid of the edges and leave a rounded shape. I find that this helps with blending. It’s perfectly acceptable to have hard edges as well, just keep in mind how you are using it as a brush. I then go to Edit>Define Brush Preset… and save my new brush with my name of choice.

5. I can now open up a new document and start blocking in shapes with the droplet brush which can be found at the bottom of the assorted brush options.

6. I can even use the eraser tool to come back in to add finer details.

7. And finally, I can add a new layer and paint over new colors with the brush with the layer mode being set to vivid colors.

#demo #283

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Demo 283: Double Exposure

Demo 1: Digital Double Exposure

Objective: Cleaning up and prepping up an image and then using Layer Blend mode to create an illusion of a double exposure in an image.

Step 1: Pick an image you want to create the double exposed. I have chosen a black and white image because this will allow for the good backdrop for the effect. You do not necessarily need a black and white image.

Step 2: To increase the effectiveness of the layer mode, I’m going to increase the contrast of the image. I do this by going to Image>Adjustments>Levels… and then pull the sliders under the histogram (the graph picture) in towards each other. The black slider increases the darkness and the white slider increases the lightness.

Step 3: I plan to have godzilla minus the background. This will make the layer mode more visually contrasting. It is not a necessary step but it helps make this image more striking. Unfortunately the tail and toe are cut off by the rocky foreground so I need to photoshop them back in. I use another image of godzilla for it’s tail and use Edit>Transform>Warp to bend it into the correct shape.

Step 4: I make the tail and toe grayscale by desaturating them and increase the contrast using levels. I then clear the rest of the background away using the eraser tool and block in a rectangle below that I’m planning to place text.

Step 5: I now add a new photo. I have chosen a picture of cherry blossoms and change the Layer Mode from the default normal to Lighten. On this layer, I can use a low opacity eraser to remove parts of the flowers I don’t want coming through.

Step 6: I change the colors of that layer using Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation.

Step 7: In a new layer, I add some color and use the shape of the rising sun to balance out all the negative space up at the top of the image. I use the image of a rising sun found on google and then select the red and color it pick by using a soft brush on the newly created layer.

Step 8: I put in my font and texture for the sun and change the Layer Mode to lighten. I then select outside of the words using the magic wand tool. Going back to the layer the black rectangle was, I delete the excess. Similarly I select the outside of the rising sun, contract the selection by going to Select>Modify>Contract and using a soft bush to add a little bit of pink. Finally using a large soft eraser to fade the rising sun a bit more.

#demo #283

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283 Demo: Extrude and Beveling AKA the 3D effect

Objective: Using extrude and bevel effect to render a 3D can and mechanical rabbit.

1. Use the ellipse shape tool to make a circle. Holding shift to make it a perfect circle and changing the fill color to gray and the stroke to none. You’ll also want to find the texture that you will be putting on your future 3D object. So I google images of can labels and paste it into the document. I then drag my spiced peaches label into the Symbols flyout window on the side.

2. Once all that has been set up you can apply your 3D effect by selecting you object with the selection tool and going to Effect>3D>Extrude & Bevel. A pop up table should appear to allow you to preview your actions as you make adjustments. Check the Preview box and watch as the selected object turns and changes as you rotate the cube in your pop up table and move the slider to change the extrude depth.

3. I also change my perspective degree by clicking on the arrow and adjusting the pop up slider. Once I have the can’s shape like I want it, I click Map Art… I find the side of the can the label should be by clicking the arrows next to Surface and find my saved spiced peaches in the dropdown menu of Symbol. Click OK and OK again to complete the task.

4. Pulling up a picture of a rabbit. I start to break down the shapes I see in the anatomy. Circle for the eyes, oval for the cheek. I use the pen tool to make the custom bunny head shapes. Then, piece by piece I start to extrude and bevel the parts till I get the effect I want. I change the bevel to “Complex 4” and “Rounded” while changing the extrude depth to get the precise 3D shape I want.

5. When making glow effects for the ears. I cut out shapes using the pathfinder functions and apply a blur using Effect>Blur>Gaussian Blur… I also pull out the Appearance flyout menu and change the opacity and the layer style to hard light.

6. While making the shapes for the rest of the rabbit figure, I apply a mesh texture via map art symbols when I extrude and bevel the nose and middle portion of the rabbit.

7. I make the body of the rabbit into three parts, a middle, one side (which will be pasted on the other side and arranged to the back) and a hind leg shape.

8. Wrapped the image up by apply the 3D effect to some title words and typing up a faux description.

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283 Demo: Color Table

Objective: Creating custom color swatch table from an image in Photoshop.

1. Paste in image and then reduce the colors in the image to it’s most basic ones by changing the color mode to Indexed Colors… by going to Image>Mode>Indexed Colors.

2. In the table that appears, try reducing the number of colors down while maintaining vibrancy. Check and uncheck the preview to toggle between the changes and the original. I have reduced my number down to 30.

3. Return to Image and this time select the Color table Mode by going to Image>Mode>Color Table. This will bring up a Color Table window. Click Save and save the swatch table to a place you will remember.

4. Load swatch by going to your swatches window and clicking the swatch panel menu on the upper right corner and clicking Load Swatches…

5. In the table that appears, you will search for your saved swatch table. I have saved mine onto the desktop

6. I then open a new document to use my new swatches. I paste a picture of a grid system and start using the quick select and brush to fill it in.

7. Once I’m done filling in the colors, I apply motion blurs to several areas of the image and cut out a table shape using the polygonal lasso tool. Finally I paste two of the cut out table back in, slightly askew, with their layer modes as vivid light and multiply.

Other custom Swatch options: You can use the eyedropper tool to select colors in picture or mix your own color using the color picker (brought up by double clicking your foreground or background color. You can then click the Add to Swatches button in the color picker table to save it.

In Illustrator, you can make swatches with custom gradients, colors and patterns by designing your own little swatch square and dragging it into a swatches flyout window.

#283 #demo

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283: Lecture 5

Printing Prep

I know it’s a bit late into the semester but today we’re going to go over some printing 101 and hopefully give you some tips on how to improve your future prints. This is going to be coupled with a demo on how to adjust level and curves in images as well as learning how to read histograms (which can also be used to just improve your washed out images!).

Everything is darker than you think:

Generally the biggest reason images come out dark is because the computer screen is calibrated too bright. I know the computers in the lab in particular are quite washed out. How bright the room is also going to affect what you’re seeing. The image on screen will always be light than anything you bright out however because there is light behind it unlike a piece of paper.

The best way to get the colors you want is to know the printer. You do that through test prints and a printed color guide. The HP printer in our classroom has a print color guide that has a wide spectrum of colors and the CMYK percentages right below in case you want very specific colors.

Rich Black:

Black aka the key color in CMYK is not what it seems. If you were to set your CMYK to (C=0,M=0,Y=0,1K=00) you’ll find that it appears as gray. The reason it’s gray, rather than black, is that the ink is partially absorbed by the paper and is only a thin coat of ink so some of the white shows through.

To get actual black on press, you must create what is called a “built black” or “rich black.” This is usually something like 60/60/40/100, or 40/30/30/100. You can make a warmer black by using less cyan and more yellow, or a cooler black with more cyan and less yellow.

In InDesign and Illustrator there is a preference setting called “Appearance of Black” which can be set to display blacks “as black” or “accurately.” For print work, you should always set these to display and print blacks accurately.

Make sure that your rich blacks is that your mix should always add up to less than 300% coverage (or whatever your printer specifies as their maximum ink coverage for the particular paper your job will be printed on). Too much ink results in “bronzing” – a bronze sheen created by a layer of ink that can’t be absorbed by the substrate, so it just sits on top. It’s also almost impossible to dry completely, so you’ll add time to the job. When the ink does not dry properly, it may even cause the ink to crack and flake off (which is very noticible if you are folding anything).

How?

Start by opening your RGB image in Photoshop, and select “Color Settings” from the Edit menu. Next, choose “Custom CMYK…” under the CMYK dropdown in the Working Spaces section of the window. Set the Separation Options to GCR, with Black Generation set to “Heavy” or “Maximum”, and put “260%” in the Total Ink Limit field. (The amount of Total Ink Limit field depends on the printer but less than 300 is safe, 260% being much safer)

Name this setting and click OK to apply it and also save it for future use. Visually, the picture is almost identical to where it started, but now those shadow areas build differently (C=61% | M=50% | Y=48% | K=95%) with a more manageable 254% Total Area Coverage.

By controlling your Total Area Coverage, you can ensure the best possible results from your photos and graphics. You’ll also run into fewer color shifts, delays due to drying time, and possible quality issues during the finishing process.

#283 #lecture

Another link Sam Ellis sent me for the brushes he uses.

Sam Ellis sent this link to me. This is what he uses.

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283: Lecture 4 part A

Color is important tool. It is something as a designer that you should be aware of and utilize to its greatest potential. To do that, you must study color, its cultural significance as well the relationship color holds with your eyes, brain, environment and itself.

To understand the true nature of color, you must understand light and the visual system (Your eyes and your brain). So question: When you have a red scarf and you put it away in a drawer, is it still red?

The answer is both kind of yes and no. The scarf still possesses the pigment making it red even if you can’t see it since there is no light on it. Yet, color is a quality that must be perceived and light is essential to be able to perceive color. Once removed from the darkness of that drawer it will return to appearing red. If you take that scarf and cut it into a million pieces, it remains red.

In other words, color is both a pigment or a quality an object has, as well as a subjective interpretation of light being received by your eyes. The environment that you’re witnessing a color in affects your perception of the color as well as your individual person. The lighting, abstract knowledge like shadows artificially darken colors, the material you’re looking at, other colors and even your mood (depressions dampens your ability to perceive color) can affect the way you see color. Since color is something that you perceive, you brain can be deceived.

Take the ocean for example. The waves come in all kinds of color depending on the weather but water itself is just clear. Another lesser-known example is that Blue Jay’s feathers are not blue and polar bear fur is not white.

What does all this mean for you as a designer?

1. Lighting affects color.

(The same object or person will look to have very different colors in different lighting. Florescent lighting will give skintone a greenish hue as the light they put out lacks a lot of red light in it.)

2. Color affects color

(The orange blocks are the same color but the warm “black” make it look lighter and cooler while the cool “white” makes it look darker and warmer)

3. Sometimes to depict a color realistically, you must use other “colors” combined to get the right effect

(The white specks on the apple aren’t white and reddest red of the apple aren’t purely red, instead it it’s a cooler red, mixed with blues and purples)

4. Even if realism isn’t your goal, you must still abide by perceptual cues

(High contrast reads as edges since there are no lines in real life and shadows make colors artificially darker so even though A and B are the same color we perceived them as different)

To make matter more complicated, there are cultural elements to how we perceive color. Humans can generally see over a million different kinds colors but culturally we only accept some of those as true “colors” by given them names and grouping them. Because of this, some of us are taught an out of date color wheel with not the most efficient primary colors.

There are two color theories known as additive color and subtractive color. Additive color theory is how colored light is mixed together to create white light.

The primaries for additive color theory are red green and blue (RGB)

Subtractive color theory is how pigments are mixed together to create darker pigments.

The primary colors are cyan, magenta and yellow. (CMYK minus the K which is keynote or black-to save the colors from being mixed together to make black)

Secondary colors refer to colors that are made by mixing the primary colors. The primary colors for additive colors theory are the secondary for subtractive color theory and vice versa.

The reason why we want the most updated knowledge of color theory as designer is so that we pick out the most effective colors. Sometimes it’s not an option to use all colors and sometimes a visual can be so much more powerful with just a limited amount of color so picking the right ones is important. A well designed piece takes often has had every color taken into account.

Some examples:

Draws attention to a focal point: Red fish in a blue pond

Informs the viewer of extra meaning: Bluish tinted character is feeling alienated or is special in some way.

Leads the viewer’s eye around the design like visual breadcrumbs: yellow papers strewn around the room leading to doorway

Provides contrast: Green vs. Orange fans in a stadium

Sets the mood: Pink walls providing the background to an intimate scene.

#283

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283: Lecture 3

Lecture Cliff Notes: Visual Hierarchy

By using color, contrast, texture, shape, position, orientation, and size, you can manipulate what the viewer looks at first on your design. A designer moves their viewer’s eyes around a pieces in a clear direction. From point A, to B to C. This allows you to deliver your message in a creative and/or clear way. This is your layout. A good layout provides guidance about what is important in a logical progression. A weak layout does not have good guidance and/or is visual boring.

Often times your job as a designer it to manage a layout of a good marriage of text and graphics.

Here are some tips on how to make a creative visual hierarchy or a good layout when it comes to text and visuals:

Order

Without any other visual cues, most people (from English cultures will read top to bottom, left to right) That is why normally look for important information like headers and titles at the top. As a designer, you can use this to your advantage and you can also chose to break away from the norm to make a more interesting design.

Space

The space between your text also provides the viewer with context about what the relationship is between letterforms. Text and images close together will perceived as a group. Tabs and blockquote use space to distinguish the start of specialized information.

Size

Bigger pieces tend to be seen first unless it’s so large that it serves as a frame or border for the next biggest item in the design. You can direct attention to a sentence or an image by making it larger than the rest.

Style and Weight

Italicizing and Making your text bold directs attention to it. This is why a lot of headers have stylized font or are bold/italicized.

One of these things in not like the others:

Bold vs. thin- The heavier weight text will grab the viewers attention

Italics vs. non, underlined vs. not- styles made the text look specialized

kerning- more space between the letters in the words can distinguish it

Color and Texture

Like style and weight, color and texture directs attention to a part of the design because they contrast with the rest of design.

Color- color provides contrast, can show how text is grouped, add extra meaning to text. Not recommended for large amounts of body text.

Texture- similarly texture can do the same. Good for larger text like titles/header. Should be used minimally. Not good for body text

3D or picturesque elements- Makes a word extra interesting, provides a lot of extra context/information to text. Provides a bit of flair Definitely used minimally. Not recommended for large amounts of body text.

Bounding boxes- Helps block in the text by providing a background that isn’t too distracting. Helps emphasizes how the text is grouped.

Font changes- There should be a good reason for having more than two fonts. Generally, the more text you have, the less the font changes. For something like a magazine spread with a lot of words, you will only have one title font and one very legible body font.

Grid System

A grid system provides structured scaffolding on which the design can be built around.

#283

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283: Lecture 2

Lecture Cliff Notes: Stock Images and Copyright.

“The exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.”

Basically: Copyright serves as protection of the creator’s right to obtain commercial benefit from valuable work and the creator’s right to control how a work is used. (Because as a creative, your work is your reputation)

- Copyright exist as soon as you transfer an idea, your “intellectual property,” to paper or a digital format.

- Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems or methods of operation but it may protect the way these things are expressed: (Ex: You cannot copyright the idea of a chair or how it leans back but you can copyright the visual aesthetic of a chair)

- As soon as it’s created, copyright protection exists for your lifetime, plus 70 years. For Anonymous/pseudonymous work or work made for hire, it’s 95 years from the year of its publication or 120 years from its creation, whichever expires first.

- When copyright end, it is said to have expired. Then the intellectual property becomes public domain.

- Copyright can be sold along with the design/art (This is a buyout). You can sell part of your rights (like reproduction rights) or sell them temporarily (license them for a year or two). Selling your copyright is also known as selling your intellectual property or selling your IP. You do not have to sell your IP.

- Intellectual property has value and you should be careful not you sign your intellectual property away in a contract for a project if that is not your intention. If you wrote the contract, you may want to explicitly state that you will retain the copyright of your design/art.

- Intellectual property or copyright can possibly be worth at least 3x the original project’s price. This is because, once transferred, you cannot claim royalties on the project.

- Stopping copyright violations: You may send a cease and desist letter and file a DMCA take down notice. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act states that a ISP must remove materials from users’ websites that appear to constitute copyright infringement after it receives proper notice.

- Taking legal action against copyright violations: You have the option of hiring an attorney. Although, without registering your work, it’s unlikely you are eligible for statutory damages.

- Copyright can be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. To pursue legal action you would want to have it registered or time-stamped somehow. That is why pursuing legal action can be made easier if the work is registered with the US. Copyright Office. It is difficult, even impossible to pursue legal action in other countries sometimes. It depends on their relationship with the US.

- In the US, copyright is registered with the US Copyright Office in Washington DC. It costs $45 per application, not per piece. You can send as much as you fit on one application form. The pictures have to be high enough quality to compare them to a stolen copy and it’s suggested to have it no smaller than 500 pixels wide.

For more information visit the US Copyright Office.

Stock Images/How to Avoid getting sued

Some people forget that copyright applies to things found on the Web as well. “Substantially similar” works are also not allowed under U.S. copyright law. If someone can clearly see that one image is based on the other, then it quite likely copyright infringement.

Exceptions to Copyright:

- Public Domain: Copyright has expired on the work. The public has complete access to it.

- Fair Use: You can use work without permission is it for educational purposes, such as teaching or student research or making commentary or criticism as part of a news report or published article.

- Being given explicit permission from the person holding the copyright.

Another option is the use and manipulation of stock imagery or open source products. These are photo or graphics available for creative use. These can be photos of textures, people, animals, landscapes, well light objects we would otherwise not be able to see/find/use. These days, stock imagery are found in online databases. They can be free like the link below:

http://www.everystockphoto.com/

Or they can be purchased.

You can also look for Creative Commons and other open source product for source material.

http://creativecommons.org/

Here is some basic etiquette when it comes to stock imagery/CC:

1. Is it available for commercial purpose? If not, and you’re getting paid to make something, keep looking.

2. Do you need to notify the artist/company of usage? If so, send them an e-mail or message letting them know what you’re using and what for.

3. Are there any manipulation limitations? Sometimes photographs of animals and children have specifications that you cannot use them if your work is going to have violent or sexual content. You should adhere to their limitations. If you want to do that kind of work, either take your own content or find something else.

4. Are there limitations on display? Can you not use the work if you put it on the internet/get it printed?

5. Do you need to credit stock? If they ask you to credit them, you must link their website/their handle as specified.

The basic idea is that stock imagery is meant to be used a tool. You want to make sure the end result is something of your own creation and not something that is blatantly ripping off another artist’s work.

Here are some ways manipulating stock:

1. Change the composition (add/subtract the negative space, crop in, change the orientation, ect)

2. Change the message (most stock imagery is neutral. Your work should have it’s own context, purpose)

3. Change mood (color, light and texture)

4. Avoid using stock as key elements (If it’s the main focus, you might want to reconsider unless the other elements are manipulating it in a grand way or only plan to use part of the stock imagery)

5. Introduce other elements/remove elements (draw over it, combine it with other pictures)

#283