For a really amazing demonstration of some of the new AI photo retouching and image creation tools in Photoshop, check out this presentation:
Watch from about 30 minutes to about 49 minutes
https://www.adobe.com/max/2024/sessions/creativity-super-session-graphic-design-ss1.html
This quick, amazing demonstration will show you how to turn some pretty wild ideas into brand artwork very quickly using the power of AI!
Watch from about 11 minutes to about 26 minutes
https://www.adobe.com/max/2024/sessions/creativity-super-session-graphic-design-ss1.html
Here’s a really interesting look at some of the ways that AI can help improve your designs and make life easier! It is a session presented at the Adobe Max conference in Miami:
https://www.adobe.com/max/2024/sessions/na-techniques-to-maximize-automation-and-ai-tools-os311.html
If you want the practice files that are used in the video, you can click the button below or look in the hand out folder
Here’s a little challenge for you. You should probably know something about logo design already. You’ve probably had to design one in this course previously. If you need some information about logo design or a good review, there is some good information HERE, in a set of instructions you might have seen before.
You should also know something about Illustrator and how to create illustrations in that application. You can find great tutorials in the program or go back to earlier projects HERE and HERE.
Assignment: Using Illustrator drawing tools AND text, create a logo. Here’s the twist. When you design a logo for a customer, you generally have to come up with a few different concepts so that the customer can have some choices. You will design THREE DIFFERENT logos. THREE. Each one should be unique.
You can either come up with one logo for 3 of the different ideas below, OR do three for one of these ideas/uses:
Think carefully about all of the elements you include. Your reflection this time will involve explaining WHY you chose the images, words, fonts, and colours that you did. You’ll also have to get feedback from your customer (ME!) and from your peers, and make changes if necessary.
It doesn’t really matter what size your document is for now, but for easy reference, I’ll make mine Letter sized (the size of a standard piece of paper), 8.5 x 11 inches
STUFF YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW (if not, get learning!):
If you already know how to use Illustrator, or if you think you can pick it up very quickly, this tutorial is very quick, but might be a good reminder/start: Combine shapes to build a logo.
Here’s another excellent tutorial on how to create a logo
If you need more information or help, I recommend looking in the Help menu!
Or go to YouTube or LinkedIn Learning.
Here are some good examples from previous students:
Your job is to come up with a creative and original design for the yearbook cover!
Often, the cover design is tied to a theme that will run through the entire book.
Last year’s fantastic book used the idea of incorporating streaming music playlists and going with a theme that visually reflected the idea of streaming music. Someone else came up with a cool Netflix style theme that we didn’t use, but we quite liked.
A themed idea can sometimes make the page designs a bit easier, but it’s also kind of creatively limiting.
In order to put the cover and the pages together properly, you need to know how to use InDesign. You can design elements in Photoshop or Illustrator, but they must be put together using InDesign.
You will need THIS TEMPLATE
Look in the Hand Out folder for some SAMPLES that were submitted this year
If you need help getting started with InDesign, you could check out some of these Tutorials:
or just find your own tutorial at the Adobe Help Page or on YouTube (just try to find newer tutorials that use the same version of the program that you have.)
Your background image or colour needs to extend out to the edge of the page, but part of it will wrap around the cover and will get cut off. That WRAPPER area should be covered with whatever you have in the background, but don’t put anything important there.
You should also have writing on the SPINE of the book. This is usually just the name of the school and the year.
There is a rack of Westwood yearbooks from years past. I also have a whole rack of yearbooks from other schools that you can look at. There are many more examples linked below.
One last thing to mention, If we choose your theme for our yearbook it is important that it does not contain copyrighted images or we will not be able to publish them. To ensure that your pictures are licensed for creative commons, search using a site like Unsplash or take your own photos or look in the HAND OUT FOLDER for the BACKGROUNDS and CLIP ART provided by our yearbook publishing company!
Every publication begins in the planning stages with the question of whether the design will follow a theme or not. A theme is an idea or guiding principle that ties all elements of the publication together. It is not necessary to have a theme, but some of the most creative publications have come from theme development efforts.
For our purposes, we need to decide if we will adopt a theme for our yearbook. If we do, we need to decide which theme we will use and how we will carry it throughout our book.
The major advantage to using a theme is that it forces many people working on different parts of the book to make some design choices before they begin working. As a result, the book comes out looking more consistent from start to finish.
Here are some samples of themed yearbooks
As you can see, there is a lot of creativity that goes into pursuing a themed yearbook. Just to give an overview, the most common way to carry themes throughout the yearbook are:
Some people argue that going without a theme is in fact harder, because there are many people working on one book with no idea that ties their pages together.
Not having a theme, doesn’t let you off the hook. There is still the question of consistency, which is a must from page to page. This means having the same font styles, sizes and colours, picture box style and common layout elements from page to page. A few things you would still have to decide on are:
In the end, to theme or not to theme will depend on the creativity level of the group
If you’ve chosen a theme you must decide how you will carry the theme through the book. Your ideas should include plans for the following:
SAMPLES:
Mr. Hiebert has asked us to help his non-profit group get the word out about their important work.
The organization’s website is here: https://mbholocaustinitiative.wordpress.com/
He is asking us to create a banner, brochures, and t-shirts. The organization’s logo can be found HERE.
Mr. Hiebert is available via email to answer any questions or help provide feedback.
Last year, we made a banner, shirts, and a brochure.
We need these by mid-October!
shirt front:
Brochure:
One of our new EAs, Mr. Vezina, is involved with the Never Alone Cancer Foundation and a few of their initiatives and would like help promoting some of their initiatives.
Sounds like a pretty important cause to me!
There is an existing logo that you can use, but they would be open to a new design/idea, so you aren’t required to stick with what they’ve got.
In particular, they have an upcoming event called Hope for the Holidays. You can find out a bit more information here: https://nacf.ca/2023/12/17/hope-for-the-holidays-2024/
Last year, we designed a sign that was used on a sleigh that they used:
Westwood has a new welcoming, accessible, quiet, friendly space for students to use. It is run by Student Services (Ms. Butcher). It is in room 108. It’s meant to be a space for all to work, hang out, meet people, and eat lunch in a safe space.
We would like some kind of logo and poster to help spread awareness for the space!
Drop in to the space some time or talk to Ms. Butcher if you would like to discuss!
Westwood will be hosting the AAA Basketball Provincials tournament this year. They need a logo and a program.
It has to include Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association/logo
March 20-22, 2025
This is a Westwood event, so you could incorporate Westwood colours, but it is a provincial tournament for multiple teams, so you don’t have to. It would be nice if our school were represented somehow.
Mr. Wiebe is in charge of this, so if you have questions or need suggestions, he would be a good person to talk to.
We are awaiting a sample or details for the program. There are more samples of past logos and merchandise in the HAND OUT folder
Here is an example of what the logo looked like in 2019:
Here’s one that we designed for the All-Star tournament last year:
