As explained, you will be designing album art for Leaf Rapids. The album will be called Night Shift.

You can find out more about the band here: leafrapids.org

See/hear the band: youtube.com/@leafrapidsmusic

Dimensions:
12 inches by 12 inches
(300 pixels/inch)

Title track:

Lyrics:
I wake the birds
I send them off into that day
Make sure the sun’s up
Making the rounds in any way
After the nightshift
I turn the stars off one by one

I leave the moon
She’s a wily satellite
Love in the darkness
Sneaking out into the light
Even the nightshift
Is bound to catch a glimpse of sun

Wednesday morning will always be
Tuesday night to me

My quiet industry
In the hours that memories keep
The fox and owl agree
The darkest hours are not for sleep
Here on the night shift
We tuck the days in one by one

Wednesday morning will always be
Tuesday night to me

There are four main principles of design that we’ll look at this year, Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. That’s right, we’re aiming for CRAP in our work!

Contrast is probably the easiest and most obvious one. I mention contrast all the time when looking at your designs, and there’s good reason for that – it’s essential.

The most obvious type of contrast is colour/lightness, white and black. You put those two things next to each other, or one on top of the other, and things are going to appear opposite. It doesn’t get any more opposite than that. White is basically all of the colours of light, and black is none.

But that’s too easy. You don’t get to take credit for that one in this assignment. It doesn’t count.

Instead, you’ll focus on:

• colours (other than black/white)
• size
• shape
• scale
• layout
• type
• alignment
• and more!

Assignment: You’ll design a poster for an upcoming event. You can use a real event or make one up. You can make it for a sporting event, concert, meeting, bake sale, art showcase, whatever! You need to use AT LEAST THREE types of CONTRAST (again, white/black doesn’t count.) Pick 3 off of the list above to utilize, but you’ll need to EXPLAIN the types of contrast you used. If you think you can fit in more than three, even better.

You’ll put your poster together using InDesign, but you can incorporate Photoshop or Illustrator files. Make it 11 inches by 17 inches (either portrait or landscape orientation, up to you) with a .25 inch bleed. Resolution should be 300 dpi.

You need to incorporate images (high quality), some kind of shape(s), and text that is different levels of importance (such as a headline and details.)

Once you’re done, your reflection will consist of explaining the types of contrast that you used and how they drew attention toward or away from elements in your poster. Explain that clearly in a document and hand it in for your reflection mark.

More about contrast:

How to use InDesign:

Open the program (DUH!)

Click “New file”

Give your file a name (NO UNTITLED FILES WILL BE OPENED)

Change the Units to Inches

Make it 11 inches by 17 inches. You can make it Portrait or Landscape orientation (your choice!)

InDesign is often used for multi-page documents, but you only need one

Make sure you have a .25 inch bleed

Click Create

The first thing you should do is Save. Open the File menu and choose Save, or press Ctrl + S

Save it in OneDrive! (and make sure that you OPEN THE PROGRAM)

Like Illustrator, there are different Workspaces you can use. The program usually opens on Essentials, but I’m a big fan of Essentials Classic. Up at the top right of your screen, you can choose a different workspace (and I recommend that you do.)

Any other panels can be opened from the Window menu. I HIGHLY recommend opening the Properties panel:

Many of the tools on the left hand side will look familiar to the ones in Illustrator and Photoshop. Perhaps the most important one here (other than the Selection tool, of course) is the Frame tool. Every element you add MUST BE IN A FRAME. This tool looks like a rectangle with an X through it. You can also press F to activate the tool:

With that tool active, you need to draw out a frame:

You can use frames for images, text, or just use it as a shape by changing the Fill and Stroke.

If you want to put a picture or Photoshop or Illustrator file in a frame, you NEED TO go to the File menu and choose Place (or Ctrl + D)

IMPORTANT: images and files Placed in InDesign are not automatically embedded. By default, they are linked to wherever the file is on your computer. When you create something in Illustrator or Photoshop, or when you download a photo (preferably from Unsplash or The Noun Project), PUT THEM IN A FOLDER IN ONEDRIVE!

If you need more help getting started with InDesign, I recommend visiting THIS PAGE and checking out some of the InDesign Get Started course tutorials.

When you are done, MAKE SURE YOU PACKAGE your file to drop it off! If you don’t package, I won’t open it!

So far, we’ve worked with two image creation and editing programs, Photoshop and Illustrator. Now it’s time to turn to InDesign and see what it can do. InDesign is the industry choice for creating professional documents of all shapes and sizes and is amazing for multi-page documents.

If you need some background/review:

See what you can create with InDesign

Explore InDesign basics

First up, learn how to create an appealing postcard!

If you have never used InDesign before or want a good review, I encourage you to do the sample contained in the tutorials below. You DO NOT have to hand in the “Design Talks” postcard shown in the tutorial, but creating it might help you get started with the actual assignment that you will hand in:

You will need these files in order to follow along with the tutorial

Click the image below to go to the tutorial, or click this link

For your assignment, I want you to DESIGN YOUR OWN POSTCARD! Yours should use the same tools, size, and layout as the sample, but SHOULD NOT RESEMBLE IT AT ALL! Yours should look entirely different.

This should look like the kind of card that you would buy on vacation and send home to some poor sucker who didn’t get to come with you. You’ve surely seen these in a gift shop or at the Forks or something.

I’d suggest using one of high quality photos from Unsplash to create a postcard for a destination that you would like to visit. If you wanted to use a camera to shoot some photos and create a postcard for Winnipeg or the Westwood area or Westwood Collegiate, that would be amazing! If you are from another country or have visited another country and have photos that you would like to incorporate, that would also be great.

Your postcard must be put together using InDesign, although you could potentially incorporate some elements created in Illustrator or Photoshop.

Most postcards are 6 inches by 4 inches with a .25 inch bleed. I recommend setting up a .25 inch margin to keep important text and elements away from the edge of the page.

Setup:

You could rotate your card if you wish. You will design a front and a back. The front is usually just a beautiful photo or multiple photos from the place you are visiting. The back contains a space for you to write a letter and a space for you to write the address that you are going to send it to, as well as a stamp (or at least a place to put a stamp). We could print these out when you are done and you could even mail it to someone if you wish!

Remember that in this program, everything goes in a frame. You’ll PLACE your files into frames (File/Place or Ctrl + D).

When you are done, you’ll PACKAGE your file to drop it off!

Check for errors or missing links!

That will create a folder that includes your file as well as any linked files and fonts that you may have included. Check OneDrive for a folder when you are done.

Have fun and be creative. Where would you like to visit?

Samples of finished postcards created by past students:

 

This month, the school division is running the annual Photography Contest. You’ve had a chance to take some photos. You should have AT LEAST one that you’re proud of by now, so this should be easy:

Submit ONE photo that can be sent in for the contest

If you have more photos, especially ones of our students, you should ALSO submit those for the yearbook.

Feel free to adjust settings and make the photos look good in Lightroom.

As mentioned previously, there are two different versions of Lightroom. I suggested that you start out with Lightroom, NOT Lightroom Classic (it’s confusing… I know)

In Lightroom:

File/Export:

Choose settings that look like you see below. I want the Image type to be JPG, Dimensions should be Full Size, and Quality should be 100%.

If you happen to be using Lightroom Classic, you need to EXPORT:

You want to know/choose where your photo is going to go, and you can choose to rename your file now in Lightroom Classic, or change it later:

Please export your file as a JPEG file at 100% Quality. Do not Resize to Fit!

Hand in ONE photo for marks!

Hand in MORE photos for the yearbook if you have them!

When I started at Westwood, there were a few copies of this banner in the halls:

The thing is, it was obviously up there for a LONG time. Some of those people are long gone. Schmeichel had hair and wore a TIE! I have no idea who decided on the word DRIVE or the parts that made it up.

Time for a redo!

You’re going to create your own acronym banner. If you make one that might look good hanging in the halls here, we’ll print it on actual banner material and put it up where that old one was!

If you would prefer, you’re welcome to make a personal one instead. We could print some of those on paper and you could take it home. If you designed it vertically, you could hang it inside of your locker.

Think of a word that describes Westwood and come up with what each letter could stand for.

The old one said: DRIVE

• Diversity
• Respect
• Integrity
• Vision
• Effort

What word would fit now? What qualities exemplify this school, its students, staff, and culture?

Again, if you just want to make one with your name or a different topic, that’s fine.

You’ll need lots of HIGH QUALITY images to fit inside of your letters! Take photos yourself if you can. If you want photos from the school, I could share some yearbook photos with you.

If you want to find photos online, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/ (remember to click on the arrow at the bottom right corner of a photo on Unsplash to download)

Use Photoshop to put it together.

The banner that was up in the hall is 28 inches wide and about 8.5 inches high (300 pixels per inch!) If you really want to try to design something that we could use in that spot, use those dimensions.

More likely, though, we’ll just print it on paper. The roll of paper is a little narrower than the plastic banner, so use 24 as the width or height if you’re making something designed for paper:

The instructions for putting this together are a lot like an assignment you did last year… Remember that the instructions for the size and what to include were a little different then. You’ll need to add more photos and more text this time!

Show Me Your Westwood (Photo Letters)

 

Here are some great school-based ones:

And some other ideas:

Previously you had a bit of practice taking photos, but I didn’t give you many guidelines and didn’t ask to see the photos that you took. Today that changes. You will be asked to come up with 3 “good” photos and hand them in, explaining what you like about them.

If your camera is set to take photos in the RAW format, you will have more ability to edit and correct, but you will have to export or convert them before you can use those photos in another program.

If you set your camera to take photos as .jpg files, they are easier to work with, but harder to edit.

You can use the MENU button on your camera to change modes if you wish.

TWO THINGS to consider that will help you take GOOD photos:

1. Photography is all about LIGHT. The name literally means LIGHT DRAWING. Pay attention to the type of light and where it’s coming from. Sunlight is the brightest, best light available. Your eye can adjust to lower light levels better than your camera can. Just because it looks bright enough in an area to your eye, that does not mean your camera can get enough light. Look for places that are very bright. Then look for where the light is coming from and make sure it is directed onto your…
2. SUBJECT is important. What are you taking a photo of? Is it clear and obvious? If there are distracting and annoying elements that draw attention away from the actual subject, that is a problem that you want to consider. The easiest way to cut out annoying or distracting elements would be to zoom in or move closer/to a different viewpoint.

LIGHTROOM

Probably the easiest way to import your photos and edit them is in Lightroom. There are actually two programs, Lightroom and Lightroom Classic. It’s confusing. They each have advantages.

Lightroom might be the easiest to start with:

To see the important bar on the left side of the screen, press the letter p on your keyboard to access Photos or open this little icon at the top left:

To get your photos from your card into the programme, you need to Import them. You can do that with the Add Photos button at the top:

Then find the card:

or the File menu

Once you find your card, you should see all of the photos on there. They may not all be yours, so you may wish to deselect some of them. You can always delete some later if you wish.

Once you import your photos, you may wish to EDIT them. You can press the letter E on your keyboard or find this icon:

There’s a button that corrects photos automatically that usually does a great job:

Feel free to mess around with any of those settings though! The cool thing about a RAW file is that you aren’t actually changing it, so you can always go back to the original image. No matter what changes you make, they’re always reversible on a RAW file, even if you close the program!

Once you are happy with a photo, you need to Export it to another format to make it usable in more programs:

.jpg is the most common image type, so will work in the most places/programs

 

When you have THREE GOOD PHOTOS, I want you to hand them in WITH A REFLECTION!

Answer the following questions:

1) What is your subject/what are you taking a photo of?

2) What kind of light was present and which direction was it coming from?

3) What do you like about your photo? What stands out to you?

Put that together in a document or PowerPoint or some such thing and hand it into your OneDrive hand-in folder!