1. One of the two classes I was in during the month of April was Website Interface & Usability. It was the first strictly web class I’ve had at Full Sail so far, and it pertained to the human-computer interaction and psychology behind designing and implementing websites/interfaces. I loved it! Most of the month we were creating one particular made-up site, surfworld.com. Our instructor, Christian Burke, gave us a functional spec sheet and an information architecture, and from there we created a site map, hi-fidelity wireframes, and design comps in Photoshop. Everything… even down to the logo. Rather than type everything out, I’ve made most of these things clickable to actual jpeg files. If you’re interested in the details of how everything came together—IA through specific design choices—I’ll encourage you to take a look. Information Architecture (1 of 4) Information Architecture (2 of 4) Information Architecture (3 of 4) Information Architecture (4 of 4) Sitemap Functional Spec (1 of 4) Functional Spec (2 of 4) Functional Spec (3 of 4) Functional Spec (4 of 4) The above screenshot is the front page of this mock website. I created everything except for the images. Below are the links to the other pages of the website. Tell me what you think! Destinations 1 Destinations 2 Destinations 3 Destinations 4 My World 1 My World 2 My World 3 My World 4 My World 5 Sign-up 1 Sign-up 2 Sign-up 3 Sign-up 4 Also, we had to do wireframes of each of these pages before the actual colorized design comps. I’m not going to post every single one of those but if you’re curious as to what they look like, here’s a link to where you can see them all.

    One of the two classes I was in during the month of April was Website Interface & Usability. It was the first strictly web class I’ve had at Full Sail so far, and it pertained to the human-computer interaction and psychology behind designing and implementing websites/interfaces. I loved it!

    Most of the month we were creating one particular made-up site, surfworld.com. Our instructor, Christian Burke, gave us a functional spec sheet and an information architecture, and from there we created a site map, hi-fidelity wireframes, and design comps in Photoshop. Everything… even down to the logo. Rather than type everything out, I’ve made most of these things clickable to actual jpeg files. If you’re interested in the details of how everything came together—IA through specific design choices—I’ll encourage you to take a look.

    The above screenshot is the front page of this mock website. I created everything except for the images. Below are the links to the other pages of the website. Tell me what you think!

    Also, we had to do wireframes of each of these pages before the actual colorized design comps. I’m not going to post every single one of those but if you’re curious as to what they look like, here’s a link to where you can see them all.

  2. This is my favorite thing I’ve done since I’ve been at Full Sail, and I think it turned out well. For our final project in ACG we were given five news articles and had to pick one to illustrate in a single 8.5”x11” image. The goal was to communicate the general message of the entire article in this single, flat image. Any design techniques and both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop were allowed. The only stipulation was no text allowed on the image other than the title of the article. Being our final, everything was scrutinized: preprocess; typography; mature level of design; and the communicated message. This was the article I chose to illustrate.

    This is my favorite thing I’ve done since I’ve been at Full Sail, and I think it turned out well. For our final project in ACG we were given five news articles and had to pick one to illustrate in a single 8.5”x11” image. The goal was to communicate the general message of the entire article in this single, flat image. Any design techniques and both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop were allowed. The only stipulation was no text allowed on the image other than the title of the article. Being our final, everything was scrutinized: preprocess; typography; mature level of design; and the communicated message. This was the article I chose to illustrate.

  3. The next “mini” project in ACG was a digital painting. We had to paint a monster, but it had to be one that you might find in a children’s book for ages 5-12. In addition to the monster, context was important. I chose to go for a boy scout/campfire scene where the boys might be telling stories and frightening each other. Painting is NOT a strength of mine! As far as the final image, there’s much to be desired. Though this was all done in Photoshop, I’ve never possessed the skill that allows one to hand paint beautiful scenes. Here is an example of someone who’s extraordinary at this digital painting technique. That said, however, this was a fun project and it was neat getting to use various tools to paint digitally what many artists do on tangible media.

    The next “mini” project in ACG was a digital painting. We had to paint a monster, but it had to be one that you might find in a children’s book for ages 5-12. In addition to the monster, context was important. I chose to go for a boy scout/campfire scene where the boys might be telling stories and frightening each other.

    Painting is NOT a strength of mine! As far as the final image, there’s much to be desired. Though this was all done in Photoshop, I’ve never possessed the skill that allows one to hand paint beautiful scenes. Here is an example of someone who’s extraordinary at this digital painting technique. That said, however, this was a fun project and it was neat getting to use various tools to paint digitally what many artists do on tangible media.

  4. It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but that’s because I’ve been slammed with these projects! Our second project in ACG was a “mini” in which we had to create an animated .gif image. If you’re unfamiliar with what that is, here is a funny example. In short, it’s a VERY simple frame-by-frame animation created in Photoshop. The only guidelines were that the sequence had to have a beginning, middle, and end. I went for a Where’s Waldo inspired idea.

    It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but that’s because I’ve been slammed with these projects! Our second project in ACG was a “mini” in which we had to create an animated .gif image. If you’re unfamiliar with what that is, here is a funny example. In short, it’s a VERY simple frame-by-frame animation created in Photoshop. The only guidelines were that the sequence had to have a beginning, middle, and end. I went for a Where’s Waldo inspired idea.

  5. supahtroupah asked: what is your major? i am a fso graphic design student! don't mind me just creeping through your stuff. your fatso poster was much better than half of the stuff my class came up with

    Thank you very much! The Fatso poster was far and away my favorite. I’m going to Full Sail for web design and development. Haven’t made it into those classes just yet though - still finishing up the general design coursework.

  6. This is part two of the mechanical object project we created in the last week. The assignment called for us to drop our finished .ai (Adobe Illustrator file) object into a Photoshop layout. Similar to last month’s project, we had to create a layout of some kind to advertise the product. Had I known this I probably wouldn’t have chosen a socket-multiplier-thing! This is what I came up with, however, circumstances being what they were. Our object-illustration has already been turned in, so this part of the project was primarily about layout and placement in a Photoshop document. We’ll be graded on the realism and consistency of the lighting, perspective, concept, and various Photoshop techniques.

    This is part two of the mechanical object project we created in the last week. The assignment called for us to drop our finished .ai (Adobe Illustrator file) object into a Photoshop layout. Similar to last month’s project, we had to create a layout of some kind to advertise the product. Had I known this I probably wouldn’t have chosen a socket-multiplier-thing! This is what I came up with, however, circumstances being what they were. Our object-illustration has already been turned in, so this part of the project was primarily about layout and placement in a Photoshop document. We’ll be graded on the realism and consistency of the lighting, perspective, concept, and various Photoshop techniques.

  7. This month I’m enrolled in advanced computer graphics, which is basically a continuation of my previous DCG course last month. As such, we’re diving deeper into the more complex tools and functions in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Gradient meshes, blend modes, vector masks, oh my fun! Our first project was to replicate a real mechanical object. From the color and shading to the texture and dimensional quality, we had to recreate an object to make it look as photo-real as possible. I chose an outlet-socket-thing. Though it’s small, it’s taken me nearly 40 hours to get this far. I’m still not 100 percent happy with it… but it’s already due. I might come back later and fine-tune some things. What say you?

    This month I’m enrolled in advanced computer graphics, which is basically a continuation of my previous DCG course last month. As such, we’re diving deeper into the more complex tools and functions in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Gradient meshes, blend modes, vector masks, oh my fun! Our first project was to replicate a real mechanical object. From the color and shading to the texture and dimensional quality, we had to recreate an object to make it look as photo-real as possible. I chose an outlet-socket-thing. Though it’s small, it’s taken me nearly 40 hours to get this far. I’m still not 100 percent happy with it… but it’s already due. I might come back later and fine-tune some things. What say you?

  8. Our final project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a full-page ad in Adobe Photoshop. Each of us had to choose one of these five slogans from which to base our concept: We’ve got your back Arrivederci, Baby! Nothing Is Too Far If You’ve Already Come A Long Way This Is Your Wake Up Call Part Evolution. Part Revolution. It was entirely up to us what we advertised (had to be real), and how we chose to lay everything out in the ad. All typefaces were acceptable, along with any vector art, but the art had to be our own. Also, any photography in the ad was to be our own (no Google Images!) The only thing we were allowed to “copy” or download was the actual product or brand logo itself. Thank you, Brands of the World. This is what I presented.

    Our final project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a full-page ad in Adobe Photoshop. Each of us had to choose one of these five slogans from which to base our concept:

    • We’ve got your back
    • Arrivederci, Baby!
    • Nothing Is Too Far If You’ve Already Come A Long Way
    • This Is Your Wake Up Call
    • Part Evolution. Part Revolution.

    It was entirely up to us what we advertised (had to be real), and how we chose to lay everything out in the ad. All typefaces were acceptable, along with any vector art, but the art had to be our own. Also, any photography in the ad was to be our own (no Google Images!) The only thing we were allowed to “copy” or download was the actual product or brand logo itself. Thank you, Brands of the World.

    This is what I presented.

  9. Our next project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a minimalist movie poster in Adobe Illustrator. We were told to use only one color, in addition to black and white, and that no gradients were accepted. The idea behind creating these posters, we were told, was to start getting into the habit of generating good concepts. A movie is generally two hours full of memorable quotes, images, and ideas. In this project our goal was to arrive at one single layout for a full-length movie, and it needed to communicate a recognizable idea of what the movie was about. Also, we could use only one of two typefaces—Helvetica or Times New Roman—and include only the title of the movie or the director’s or actor’s name. I did three posters. The third one here is Fatso.

    Our next project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a minimalist movie poster in Adobe Illustrator. We were told to use only one color, in addition to black and white, and that no gradients were accepted. The idea behind creating these posters, we were told, was to start getting into the habit of generating good concepts. A movie is generally two hours full of memorable quotes, images, and ideas. In this project our goal was to arrive at one single layout for a full-length movie, and it needed to communicate a recognizable idea of what the movie was about. Also, we could use only one of two typefaces—Helvetica or Times New Roman—and include only the title of the movie or the director’s or actor’s name. I did three posters. The third one here is Fatso.

  10. Our next project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a minimalist movie poster in Adobe Illustrator. We were told to use only one color, in addition to black and white, and that no gradients were accepted. The idea behind creating these posters, we were told, was to start getting into the habit of generating good concepts. A movie is generally two hours full of memorable quotes, images, and ideas. In this project our goal was to arrive at one single layout for a full-length movie, and it needed to communicate a recognizable idea of what the movie was about. Also, we could use only one of two typefaces—Helvetica or Times New Roman—and include only the title of the movie or the director’s or actor’s name. I did three posters. The second one here is Sneakers.

    Our next project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a minimalist movie poster in Adobe Illustrator. We were told to use only one color, in addition to black and white, and that no gradients were accepted. The idea behind creating these posters, we were told, was to start getting into the habit of generating good concepts. A movie is generally two hours full of memorable quotes, images, and ideas. In this project our goal was to arrive at one single layout for a full-length movie, and it needed to communicate a recognizable idea of what the movie was about. Also, we could use only one of two typefaces—Helvetica or Times New Roman—and include only the title of the movie or the director’s or actor’s name. I did three posters. The second one here is Sneakers.

  11. Our next project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a minimalist movie poster in Adobe Illustrator. We were told to use only one color, in addition to black and white, and that no gradients were accepted. The idea behind creating these posters, we were told, was to start getting into the habit of generating good concepts. A movie is generally two hours full of memorable quotes, images, and ideas. In this project our goal was to arrive at one single layout for a full-length movie, and it needed to communicate a recognizable idea of what the movie was about. Also, we could use only one of two typefaces—Helvetica or Times New Roman—and include only the title of the movie or the director’s or actor’s name. I did three posters. The first one here is The Firm.

    Our next project in Designing Computer Graphics was to create a minimalist movie poster in Adobe Illustrator. We were told to use only one color, in addition to black and white, and that no gradients were accepted. The idea behind creating these posters, we were told, was to start getting into the habit of generating good concepts. A movie is generally two hours full of memorable quotes, images, and ideas. In this project our goal was to arrive at one single layout for a full-length movie, and it needed to communicate a recognizable idea of what the movie was about. Also, we could use only one of two typefaces—Helvetica or Times New Roman—and include only the title of the movie or the director’s or actor’s name. I did three posters. The first one here is The Firm.

  12. The next project in my designing computer graphics course was a company logo. Each of us had a choice between seven made-up companies. My favorite of these was Cadence. All that he gave me as a description was “It’s a record company.” The purpose of the project was for him to monitor our progress. He wanted to challenge us to jot down a word map, sketch out ideas, and ultimately work the best ones into a digitized form in Adobe Illustrator. We could play with color, but he was only interested in our b/w version so that we didn’t rely on the color to communicate the message. This is what I came up with!

    The next project in my designing computer graphics course was a company logo. Each of us had a choice between seven made-up companies. My favorite of these was Cadence. All that he gave me as a description was “It’s a record company.” The purpose of the project was for him to monitor our progress. He wanted to challenge us to jot down a word map, sketch out ideas, and ultimately work the best ones into a digitized form in Adobe Illustrator. We could play with color, but he was only interested in our b/w version so that we didn’t rely on the color to communicate the message. This is what I came up with!

  13. In my Designing Computer Graphics course our first project was to create a monochromatic self-portrait using only solid shapes and fills in Adobe Illustrator. We had about two and a half hours to complete the project, and it had to be completed in class. I was familiar with Illustrator before, but this was the most I had ever actually used the application for a specific purpose. We were allowed to use a reference image, and I chose this as mine. Later, I’ll probably go back and refine this (I hate working on my laptop at school… my poor neck), but all-in-all I don’t think it’s too bad for a first-timer!

    In my Designing Computer Graphics course our first project was to create a monochromatic self-portrait using only solid shapes and fills in Adobe Illustrator. We had about two and a half hours to complete the project, and it had to be completed in class. I was familiar with Illustrator before, but this was the most I had ever actually used the application for a specific purpose. We were allowed to use a reference image, and I chose this as mine. Later, I’ll probably go back and refine this (I hate working on my laptop at school… my poor neck), but all-in-all I don’t think it’s too bad for a first-timer!

  14. Full Sail School Projects and Assignments

    I will be going to school at Full Sail in Orlando, FL for the next 18 months. During that time I thought it would be fun to upload some of my school work to my blog so that anyone who’s interested in my progress could check it out.

    Please, offer any critique and or feedback if you want. I’ve got thick skin and it’s no fun to do this kind of stuff if people never see it!

  15. somewhereseaside asked: Hey, did you work on your dad's new billboard? If so, nice work! It looks great.

    No mam! Hampton Creative did all of the design and layout work and Corey Lack did the photography. They made my sister look like a rock star!