MYP 4 & 5 Design: Working on Inkscape

Inkscape is a vector-based illustration program and has many similar tools to the industry standard Adobe Illustrator...but the best part is that it is FREE!

Exploring a new program is always exciting but it can be daunting as well. It is important to familiarize yourself with the user interface, the tools and options and commands. It is also important to realize that you can't learn it all. Once you feel comfortable navigating around the program and feel like you can do what you want with the tools, you are ready to start designing your logo in Inkscape.

Ready for some challenges?

Please work on the following design challenges in class. Save them in your "Experimentation" folder. When you are finished we will have an all class critique and you will choose your favorite work to share on your blog!

1. Depth of Field
Using organic and/or geometric shapes, colors, layers and transparencies, create a composition that shows depth, something going back into space or coming out of the screen. This has to do with the positioning of your shapes. Do not use the 3D shape tool...instead if you want 3D shapes, create them on your own.

2. Your Name x 3

Using a tool of your choice, write or shape your name. Be creative...steer away from the Pen tool...try something different. Repeat 2 more names using a different tool each time.


Let's step it up a little...


3. Bezier & Transparent Layers
Choose a photo of a face...it can be of yours, a friend's or a complete stranger. The important part is that it is head on and clear. Save it to your data key. Open it up in Inkscape. Using the Layers feature, with the Bezier line tool, gradient tool and fill opacity tool, I guarantee that you can create a pretty impressive illustration of the face. It will take patience but you will be a master with these tools by the end of it!!

3. Typography* Will be introduced next week...
Typography is the study and visual design of letter forms. Pick 5 words out of the IB learner profile list of characteristics to "Illustrate". Your challenge is the communicate the meaning of the word VISUALLY. Using all the skills you have learned so far about illustration, challenge yourself to think outside of the box.

1. Open-Minded
2. Caring
3. Communicator
4. Risk Taker
5. Reflective
6. Principled
7. Balanced
8. Inquirer
9. Knowledgeable
10. Thinker


If you would like some more tutorials, check these out:

• http://inkscapetutorials.wordpress.com/
• http://inkscape.org/doc/basic/tutorial-basic.html
• http://www.microugly.com/inkscape-quickguide/

MYP 3: Measuring our Carbon Footprint

How does technology impact the environment?
More specifically, how does our daily routine, and use of technology, impact our environment?

That is the question we are using to guide our research this term. MYP 3 students have already researched what a Carbon Footprint is. Now we are going to calculate our own footprint and use parameters and measurements we come up with together in class.

We will be working with Microsoft Excel, create a website to share our research and use other Web 2.0 gadgets to interact with eachother and the public.

Some of the skills learned this term will include:

• How to collect, categorize, organize and measure information.  
• How to create a poll and various ways and methods for collecting data online.
• How to communicate what the data tells us in the most efficient way. (i.e. charts & graphs)
• How to choose the right medium or tool for the purpose.
• How to create systems to measure and eventually lessen our impact on the environment.

So far, we've already,

1. Researched and defined "Carbon Footprint" (If you need a refresher, here is a good link and animated explanation)

2. Listed our daily routine and what technology we need or use for each daily task

Now...how can we calculate our own Carbon Footprint? Before we devise our own system and calculator, let's look at some of the online calculators that exist already.

(Image source: Florida Sierra Club)

Students: 

Your assignment- (Due Wednesday, September 23)
1. Please visit each website below and use their calculator. You will have to "guestimate" on some of the answers. (We will recalculate after we collect exact data later). **For certain calculators, if Barbados is not available, then pick the USA and a state like Florida (FL) which is closest to our climate here.

2. In you process journals, write down what categories and questions each calculator used to calculate your carbon footprint.

3. When you are finished, record your score (and what the number measures) in your journal.

CARBON FOOTPRINT CALCULATORS
(Image Source: Earth Lab)

1. Earth Lab Carbon Footprint Calculator
2. Carbon Footprint Ltd Calculator
3. The Earth Day Network Footprint Calculator
4. The Nature Conservancy Calculator
5. US Environmental Protection Agency

On Wednesday...
Questions we will ask when you are finished are:

• What categories do the calculators have in common? What do they measure?
• Were all your scores the same? Were any of your scores incredibly different?
• How did each calculator measure your carbon footprint? What unit of measurement did each use?
• Which in your opinion, seemed to be the most comprehensive and accurate? Why?
  
  Remember too to start recording your home's electric meter daily. Try to do it around the same time! You will do this for 7 days, from today (Monday, Sept 21) to next Monday (Sept 28). Write this down in your process journals. Ask your parents where the meter is if you are not sure. Reading the meter is as easy as just looking at the number and writing it down! A week from now we'll see how much electricity your home uses.
  

MYP 2: How do we know information is true?

So you have been asked to do some research…
Where do you go to find information? How do you know the information you find is actually true?

There are several ways to do research.

1. Look in a book or reference publication (Encyclopedia, dictionary, etc)
2. Interview someone
3. Experience it and try it yourself
4. Go online to the internet

Most of you are used to finding information by doing #4, searching the Internet. The Internet is something you use frequently and also happens to be a place where there is a LOT of information to access within seconds. There are millions of websites each containing a lot of information.

But do you believe everything you read?

Check out the websites below. Please look at each one. In the end I would like you to choose 6 and respond to them using the guiding questions below in your process journal.

a) What information did you learn on this website? What is the website's purpose?
b) What makes you think it’s real? Explain details!
c) What makes you think it is not real? Explain details!
d) How could you tell if the information is reliable? Details details details! Why?

Websites:

1. The Tree Octopus – An endangered species!! Or is it?

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/


2. Dangerous or useful chemical? What is it? (Clue: It's something we use every day...read carefully)

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html


3. Hunting the Haggis

http://haggishunt.scotsman.com/


4. California’s Velcro Crop
http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html


5. Do bears hibernate?

o http://www.pa.msu.edu/sci_theatre/ask_st/021898.html

o http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/01224.html


7. Is human cloning available by order online?

o http://www.d-b.net/dti/


8. Let your dog live happily ever after...

o http://www.thedogisland.com/


9. The true but little known facts about women and AIDS, by Dr. Juatta Lyon Fueul

o http://147.129.226.1/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm


10. Were there robots in the 1890's?

o http://www.bigredhair.com/boilerplate/


11. Buy dehydrated water to save yourself from pollutants
o http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/


12. Photos or Fauxtos? Can you tell which ones are fake and which are real?

a) Sandstorm, Iraq

b) "God's Painting", California

c) Giant Iceberg, Newfoundland

d) Deep Freeze, Switzerland

e) Earth on a cloudless day from Columbia via satellite

MYP 4 & 5: Raising Awareness with PSA's

MYP 4 & 5 Unit Q "How can we impact the action/behavior of others?"

"We can design & create products to raise awareness, solve a problem, or provide a solution."

What is a PSA? It stands for: Public Service Announcement.

Who creates a PSA and why? PSA's are made to send the public a message to raise awareness about a cause and educate people about the facts of an issue. Often, there is a call to action, which is a request to the audience to act or "do" something big or small, change their behavior, or spread the message further.

Today we looked at different examples of PSA's. I chose the following for their "goose-bump" effect, i.e. they had the most effect on me. We watched #'s 1-6 in class.

1. Someday

2. Just Once (*may be too graphic for young children)

3. Mr. W

4. Breathe In & Out

5. Polar Bears Fishing

6. Children See; Children Do

Here are a few more that I found to be effective:

7. a. Killing Me with Your Trash

7. b. Killing Me with Your Trash

8. Carbon Footprint

9. Words Hurt

10. Do you think I'm...?

After watching all of these we are left with an impression, and often several emotions. As Chloe mentioned in class, it's incredible how these PSA's can leave such an impact while running only 30 to 60 seconds long!

Each of these PSA's is unique. Each PSA has a specific message, caters to a specific audience, uses a different technique in storytelling and has a call to action. In class we discussed briefly the technique used to communicate the message and the emotions we felt. We discussed what an audience is (targeted viewers, often categorized by: age, sex, geographic location, race, religion, socioeconomic status, beliefs, community, etc.).

**MYP 5 Homework Due on Tuesday, September 22, 2009

1. Make adjustments to your blog (change colors, increase readability, layout)

2. Add an appropriate photo for your profile. The photo does not need to be of you; it can be of a tree or a pet as long as it's significant to you. No one else should be in the image unless you have permission from me.

3. Watch the PSA's I showed in class again as well as the new ones I added. Choose 3. In your process journal, elaborate and discuss the following in as much detail as possible.

I will be looking for effort and evidence of insight (thought and perspective) here:

a) What is the message?

b) Who is the intended audience? (age, sex, geographic location, race, socioeconomic status...)

c) What is the storytelling technique used?

--> 1. Ask yourself, "How did this make me feel?"
--> 2. Was it funny, scary, serious or sad? How and in what way was this communicated to you?

4. Go to YouTube.com or Googlevideos.com to search for a Public Service Announcement.
Play around with search words...and perhaps you will need to specify a cause.
Watch several to give yourself some choices.
 Choose 1 to share with me and the class. Lastly, embed the video on your blog.*

*To embed a video from YouTube, go to the video, and look for the "embed" linkbox to the right of the video. Simple paste this code into a new blog posting. Please include the answers to the guiding questions above assignment.

I look forward to seeing you and your work!

MYP 5 Technology Student Blogs!

Today was incredibly exciting. I got to look at all the new blogs created by every MYP 5 student. They will be publishing posts regularly about their process, projects, images and videos relating to their work. It also offers the chance for students to give feedback on eachother's work, as well as connect with students around the world and compare work, perspectives and projects.

Check them out! For their very first blogs, they've done very well...

• Alex: http://myp5techblog1.blogspot.com/
• Chad: http://chadtechblog.blogspot.com/
• Caitlin: http://caitlindesign.blogspot.com/
• Chloe: http://chloedesigns.blogspot.com/
• James: http://jamesblogsforschool.blogspot.com/
• Joe: http://josephtechdesigns.blogspot.com/
• Nick: http://congomantechblog.blogspot.com/
• Penny: http://pennytechblog.blogspot.com/

MYP 4 & 5 Design: Logo Design Inspiration

“How can I express who I am through symbolic imagery & color?”

This is the question we are answering in the MYP 4 and 5 Design class by designing "My-Cons", also known as personal logos (icons). It is helpful and important for designers to do research before they actually begin designing. Gaining inspiration during this stage comes from looking at different ideas and sources and keeping a very open mind. Editing comes later! So we've been looking at a variety of logos on Logo Pond as well as how real graphic designers start their work on logos.

We asked and tried to answer questions like;
"Who is this person?"
"What do they do for a living?"
"How old are they?"
"Who is their audience?"
by just studying the logo.

For example, just by looking at the logo below (source: by ZaiZi) for Philippe,we came to conclusions like;
"He's a chef, restauranteur or food critic"
"His taste and product are refined, elegant and fancy"

"He's French and probably between 40 and 60 years old"

How did we conclude all that? We responded to the font style (more traditional/formal) and text, the colors, and shapes.

The following links show the steps 3 designers have taken to develop a logo. Notice that all of them start out by sketching...on paper. They don't hold back. Like I already said...editing comes later. For now, sketch and play around with any and every idea that comes to mind!

1. http://www.barrettcreates.com/blog/personal-logo-design-sketches/

2. http://www.davidairey.com/personal-logo-design-sketches/

3. http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/logo-design-process-and-walkthrough-for-vivid-ways

Our next steps are to sketch, a LOT, evaluate what we have, compare notes, and probably sketch some more. Then we'll be editing a bit to have a better sense of purpose and direction when we begin designing on the computer. We'll be working with Inkscape, a free vector graphics illustration program. It's almost as good as Adobe Illustrator, covering many of the same tools.