Final SoundSlide

Bind In Blow In Card

Back (InDesign)-

InDesign-
Much like Quark, I like InDesign because it's fairly simple to use and is easy to get the hang of. However, it is an Adobe company, so there are fewer issues with the compatibility of certain vectors. I like it's layout assistance and easy incorporation of images.

Photoshop-
I have used Photoshop more than any other graphics software, so I think I ran into fewer problems then some of the beginners in the class. I think of it as a "one-stop shop" for design like this-- I can edit my pics and still design without leaving one program, which means fewer compatibility issues.

Quark-
I found Quark to be easy to use and lends itself well to people that are unfamiliar with design. The tools are easy to identify and it's "help" feature is more useful than in other graphic design programs I've used. It was difficult to transition away from the familiarity of Adobe programs, but Quark is probably my new favorite design program.

Brochure - Cannon Mountain

InDesign was the perfect program for making a brochure. Having three columns outlined made doing the layout much quicker and simpler than I imagined it would be. My partner, Vaughn, and I used a basic font to ensure that it is easy to read. I used images with the contrast and opacity dropped down really low as the background for Side 1. This way, I could add a little flair without making the messages harder to read. I also used a drop shadow on all of the images and headers to emphasize them and to take up negative space. We used a gradient as the background for Side 2 to keep the theme of light blue/cerulean going.

MF Doom

My PowerPoint presentation was about Hip-Hop Artist "MF DOOM". My cover slide has a baleful portrait of the artist and his name in Serif font Copperplate Gothic over a silver to white gradient background. I used the reflection effect to give the chiseled font more impact. My music sample, which is a blend of two tracks off of the Vaudeville Villain album, starts with my cover slide. For my "Behind the Music", I used the American Typewriter font in orange with a dark shadow to make the Header jump off the page. It's an easy font to read that's compatible with Mac and PC operating systems. I had each bullet point expand and fade in and then fade back out to gray when the next point appears so that the audience will focus on the new information. I used the same font and color themes for my "Vaudeville Villain" slide, which listed all of the tracks on that album. I had the track titles rise up from the bottom of the screen. I made my audio sample from two songs off of the Vaudeville Villain album, so I had the titles of the two magnify and stand out in bright orange for emphasis. My final slide contains a table which provides information about the Artist's aliases and the corresponding album releases, time periods and most notable tracks.
I was a little unfamiliar with some of the latest animation options on PowerPoint, and experienced some difficulty getting my music sample to play from the first slide to the last uninterrupted. Both issues I resolved on my own my using PowerPoint's help features and the text. I especially enjoyed engineering my own audio sample and getting familiar with Audacity, which I plan on using in the future of edit MP3 files of my own. Overall, I gained some valuable experience with PowerPoint and will be able to produce more effective presentations in the future forhaving had this opportunity.

Rhode Island Horror Film Festival (Page 1)

I first edited the Horror Film Festival banner because I didn’t like the picture. In Photoshop, I replaced it with the Vampire picture that was provided. I placed this spreading across the top of the newsletter because it was stylish and held pertinent information. I used a graphite-to-white gradient for the background to match the color of the banner. I used the Helvetica font because it’s easy to read and leaves the style for the banner. The black and white Lovecraft picture was added because it fits nicely into the color scheme.

Band Poster Design Rationale

The Omega Project is a band that formed on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and now plays in New Orleans. I tried to use fonts that are both easy to read and visually appealing. I used greek letters wherever I could in the band name, as omega is part of the greek alphabet. For all other letters, I used the narrow, sharp, seriffed Garamond font. I placed an omega with the earth in its center just above a picture of the band. The band members all have a unique look, so I thought putting a picture of them on the poster was important. To either side of the omega, I have information about the upcoming show, such as ticket prices, opening acts and show times. I put certain words in bold and stretched others out to maximize what space I had. The band members are also in other bands in New Orleans that have gained notoriety, so I placed the name of each band member below the picture, with the name of lead singer, guitarist and frontman in the largest font. The black background makes the photo and all information stand out. I added the frame around the band name to add style and to take up blank space. First using Quark was frustrating because, although it's used for similar projects, it's completely unlike any of the Adobe graphic arts software. After finding some information in the text books and some tutorials online, I got the hang of it quickly. I'll be using this program in the future for similar projects.