Intro to Computing // Simple Logo & Resumé

For Intro to Computing’s final project, they built simple personal logos (in Illustrator if necessary) and constructed resumes in InDesign. This project was meant to create an awareness of how much or how little they have accomplished during their first years of college, as well as give them a little experience with logo development and InDesign. Many of the students had not typed a resumé before, and they found this project useful as they prepare to apply for part-time jobs and post-graduate jobs.  The layout needed to be organized, easy to read, and fluid with a sense of style. Creating hierarchy with text was a new challenge for most of them, as they have not taken any typography courses.

In addition to the course project, we appreciated the resumé presentation given by Ryan Colvin of Mississippi State University’s Career Center.

Below are some resume examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was pleased with their results at this level of their education.

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website. Contact info is purposely fake for their protection.

by Carson Brantley

by Elizabeth Gammill

by Julia Thompson

by Madison Wigginton

by Whitney White, page 1

by Whitney White, page 2

Intro to Computing // Pen & Pixel

My students’ next Photoshop project was entitled “Pen & Pixel,” in which they had to construct a self portrait. It was a requirement to scan in textures, drawings, paintings, or items they could edit to become a part of the image. Many students demonstrated impressive concepts about themselves. Below are some examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

by Carson Brantley

by Elizabeth Gammill

by Grayson Brown

by Joseph Macgown

by Julia Thompson

by Madison Wigginton

by Whitney White

by Mary Hannah Ruff

Intro to Computing // Creature Cartoon GIF

As an added continuation of their first Creature Cartoon project done in Adobe Illustrator, I challenged my students to turn it into a GIF after we started learning Photoshop. There are many ways to make a GIF, but in my research I found it was best to form their creature in Illustrator, and pull the file into Photoshop to put it into action.

I posted my own Part I and Part II tutorial YouTube videos demonstrating the steps on my laptop screen so students could reference them outside of class to produce their own GIF.

Students had to implement at least 3 actions in their GIF to receive full credit– for example eyes blinking, arms moving, and feet tapping. The number of frames they incorporated depended on their actions and how many they personally needed to see the actions to smooth completion.

It was so fun seeing these little guys and gals come to life!

Below are some GIFs that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results.

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

by Carson Brantley: anxious, fly, antlers ^

by Elizabeth Gammill:  crawl, giggly, long tail ^

by Shannon Shepherd: big feet, running, sad ^

by Grayson Brown: mellow, shell, exercise ^

by Whitney White: afraid, mane, sleeping ^

by Madison Wigginton: calm, short legs, smell flower ^

by Mary Hannah Ruff: long arms, upside down, bashful ^

by Caylee Hubbard: squishy cheeks, happy, climbing ^

 

Intro to Computing // Impossible Reality

For my students’ first Photoshop project, I wanted them to think outside the box and create an “Impossible Reality”. They had to gather their original photography and make new photos as needed to compose their surreal image. The main artist of inspiration was Eric Johansson. He is an incredible Photoshop artist, but also kind enough to post photos and videos to demonstrate his entire process, which is great for beginners to see. Like Eric, they needed to produce an image that tricks the eye to appear realistic.

Below are some examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

by Carson Brantley

by Elizabeth Gammill

by Hunter Smith

by Tori Mullins

by Julia Thompson

by Shannon Shepherd

by Whitney White

Intro to Computing Art // OMG American Gods

For students to refine their skills using Adobe Illustrator’s Pen Tool, my students accepted the challenge of the OMG project, as in “Oh my gosh, this is so challenging and time consuming!” But the effort is well worth the outcome.

The theme was to recreate a god or goddess in modern society. Students researched Greek, Roman, and Aztec mythological figures to learn about their core characteristics, and brainstormed how to apply them in our current culture.

They photographed themselves, friends, or family as their models. Then they used that photo as a template to make a vector illustration in Adobe Illustrator.  Tiny solid shapes make up the entirety of the photo to make a realistic representation.  They spent about three weeks on the project. The process is like creating a digital painting! Below are some examples that were turned in. I also included the outline imagery of a couple illustrations to show the number of shapes that were created to make up the compositions. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results! These illustrations are sure to blow your mind!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

Aditi by Madison Wigginton

(Outline of shapes)

Hera by Carson Brantley

Venus by Caylee Hubbard

Apollo by Darren Cheairs

Hecate by Elizabeth Gammill

Athena by Grayson Brown

Loki by Rebecca Bailey

Apollo by Whitney White

Intro to Computing // Creature Cartoon

In Intro to Computing, students learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. This Spring semester, I teach one section of the class. During the Fall it is primarily students who are trying out for the graphic design program in November, but during the Spring it is mostly fine art students who are taking the class as an elective.

This is the second semester I have implemented this project as an introduction to Adobe Illustrator. For Creature Cartoon, each student pulled words out of separate bags– one for a physical trait, one for an action, and one for an emotion. The end goal is to illustrate a unique creature that accompanies all these traits successfully in Illustrator.

After receiving their words, students brainstormed and submitted a series of thumbnails of their ideas, which were then narrowed down to their top three when I visited them in class one-on-one. Those three were turned into well-drawn comps that were drawn with Sharpies and Micron pens, and critiqued by their entire class. The best drawing was scanned into Illustrator, and vector shapes were placed on top. The focus of this Illustrator project was learning the Pen Tool and conducting organized layer management.

For even MORE fun, my students will turn their illustrations into animated GIFs when we start the Photoshop segment. Stay tuned to see those later this semester!

Below are some illustrations that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

by Carson Brantley: anxious, fly, antlers

by Elizabeth Gammill: crawl, giggly, long tail

by Grayson Brown: mellow, shell, exercise

by Jacquelyn Mullins: bored, whiskers, jumping

by Shannon Shepherd: big feet, running, sad

by Whitney White: afraid, mane, asleep

UPDATE: See GIFs created later during the semester here.

Intro to Computing // Simple Logo & Resumé

Fall 2016: For Intro to Computing’s final project, they built simple personal logos (in Illustrator if necessary) and constructed resumes in InDesign. This project was meant to create an awareness of how much or how little they have accomplished during their first years of college, as well as give them a little experience with logo development and InDesign. Many of the students had not typed a resumé before, and they found this project useful as they prepare to apply for part-time jobs and post-graduate jobs.  The layout needed to be organized, easy to read, and fluid with a sense of style. Creating hierarchy with text was a new challenge for most of them, as they have not taken any typography courses.

As a new addition to the course project, we appreciated the resumé presentation and content critiques by Mississippi State University’s Career Center.

Below are some resume examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was pleased with their results at this level of their education.

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website. Contact info is purposely fake for their protection.

3 sections

by Ashley Rude

by Austin Smith

by Carly Bond

by Hannah Livingston 1/2

by Hannah Livingston 2/2

by Kaitlyn Upton

by Kennedy Caldwell

by April Porter

by Bethany Smith

by Gerald Wicks

by Laura Leigh Hicks 1/2

by Laura Leigh Hicks 2/2

by Mary Emily Moore

by Parker Webb

by Allie Hanson 1/2

by Allie Hanson 2/2

by Meredith Morris

by Morgan Helton

by Ques Nevels

Intro to Computing // Pen & Pixel

Fall 2016: My students’ next Photoshop project was entitled “Pen & Pixel,” in which they had to construct a self portrait. It was a requirement to scan in textures, drawings, paintings, or items they could edit to become a part of the image. Many students demonstrated impressive concepts about themselves. Below are some examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

by Carly Bond

by April Porter

by Bethany Smith

by Gerald Wicks

by Laura Leigh Hicks

by Mary Emily Moore

by Milly Rone

by Olivia Ketchum

by Parker Webb

by Allie Hanson

by Katherine Jenkins

by Josie Goodman

by Meredith Morris

by Morgan Helton

Intro to Computing // Creature Cartoon GIF

Fall 2016: As an added continuation of their first Creature Cartoon project done in Adobe Illustrator, I challenged my students to turn it into a GIF after we started learning Photoshop. There are many ways to make a GIF, but in my research I found it was best to form their creature in Illustrator, and pull the file into Photoshop to put it into action.

Since I had not made a GIF before, I had my own homework in figuring this out so I could teach my students. I read and watched many demos until I found a system that seemed to work well. I even recorded and posted my own Part I and Part II tutorial YouTube videos demonstrating the steps on my laptop screen so students could reference them outside of class to produce their own GIF.

Students had to implement at least 3 actions in their GIF to receive full credit– for example eyes blinking, arms moving, and feet tapping. The number of frames they incorporated depended on their actions and how many they personally needed to see the actions to smooth completion.

It was so fun seeing these little guys and gals come to life!

Below are some GIFs that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results.

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

by Kaitlyn Upton: angry, fly, whiskers ^

by Josie Goodman: squishy cheeks, joyful, upside down ^

by Mary Emily Moore: big eyes, broken-hearted, eat ^

by Ques Nevels: grumpy, webbed feet, skate ^

by Meredith Morris: tentacles, mellow, float ^

by Ashley Rude: curious, climb, short legs ^

by April Porter: webbed feet, anxious, float ^

by Gerald Wicks: excited, climbing, long tail ^

by Ryan Guillory: horns, exercise, lazy ^

by Brittany Riland: mad, long arms, swing ^

by Laura Leigh Hicks: squishy cheeks, afraid, smell flower ^

by Olivia Ketchum: happy, sharp teeth, read ^

by Morgan Helton:  beak, sleepy, read ^

 

Intro to Computing // Impossible Reality

Fall 2016: For my students’ first Photoshop project, I wanted them to think outside the box and create an “Impossible Reality”. They had to gather their original photography and make new photos as needed to compose their surreal image. The main artist of inspiration was Eric Johansson. He is an incredible Photoshop artist, but also kind enough to post photos and videos to demonstrate his entire process, which is great for beginners to see. Like Eric, they needed to produce an image that tricks the eye to appear realistic.

Below are some examples that were turned in. All have aspects to be improved upon for their portfolio, but overall I was very pleased with their results!

* I have permission from my students to promote their work on my website.

by Bryce Sheasby

by Hannah Livingston

by Kaitlyn Upton

by Brittany Riland

by Gerald Wicks

by Olivia Ketchum

by Allie Hanson

by Ann Gray Flowers

by Canaan Griffin

by Ques Nevels