Sunday, November 28, 2010

New Affiliate; New Logo


For my Graphic Design class this week, we were required to create a logo that represented who we are.  I asked to create a logo for a new regional affiliate we have just started.  The name of the affiliate is Concho Valley Teachers of English and our parent groups are the National Council of Teachers of English and the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts.  I began by thinking of what messages we want our affiliate to convey to our potential members and members:

  • Connected
  • Far-reaching (both in reaching out to regional members and our connections around the US)
  • Innovative
  • Welcoming
  • Embracing 21st Century literacies
  • Involved
 After considering this list, I eventually used Adobe Photoshop to create my first project in Photoshop as well as my first logo.  I believe it does represent our affiliate.  I do feel as if I need to continue to work on it before it goes public, however.
 
 

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Scratching the Surface of the History of Design


For my first assignment in Graphic Design, I searched for ancient Indian manuscripts on Google.  I was pleased to find a site that is hosted by Dr. Joytsna Kamat called “Kamat’s Potpourri”.  On the site she featured several pages from a manuscript called Sougandhika Parinaya (wedding of Sugandhika).  In regard to the design principle of Contrast, these pages all were in vivid black and white which created a natural contrast for the eye.  The principle of Repetition was subtly done with a simple border which appears to some degree in each picture.   With the exception of the first and last picture on the web page, all of the pictures are framed in the center with the subjects surrounded by important items.  The first and last pictures simply have the prince and princess taking up the majority of the space on the page.  Proximity is evident with the prince and princess holding various important elements of Hindu marriage leading the eye to understand the essence of these elements.