Jordan Cook 's Graphic Design Canvas

Introduction      Graphic Designers create works of art to grab someone's attention, for example: posters. These works also should be accessible so that viewers are able to follow along with the flow of the work and this helps when the work of art is a magazine. This is what composition is responsible for.  Fundamentals of Composition      “ Composition is the form, the whole spatial property, and structure resulting from the arrangement of graphic elements – type and images – in relation to one another and to the format, created to visually communicate” (Landa, 2022).      Two main goals of composition are creating visual interes t and clear communication . These contribute to the overall visual appeal. During the compositional process, you are rearranging and revising as you continue to create. Margins      Margins are the spaces on the top, right, bottom, and left of any page. Visually, they act as frames sur...

Introduction      My creative exercise for this week is called “Like, Umm… I mean It’s Like…” . This exercise helps develop your creative writing skills. I also found this exercise in the book CAFFEINE FOR THE CREATIVE MIND, 250 EXERCISES TO WAKE UP YOUR BRAIN by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield .      “Like, Umm…I mean It’s Like…” is an exercise that involves picking a smell and describing it. Our sense of smell is very powerful, and it would definitely be a HUGE loss if it were gone or didn’t exist. There is one catch, though. When describing this smell, the words “like” and “as” cannot be used at all. This is where the exercise gets interesting and super creative.      I pulled up Microsoft Word on my laptop, and I began my journey. I instantly knew the smell that I was going to write about. I don’t think I have an absolute favorite smell. I love many smells, but if I had to choose one, this smell comes close to it. Like, Umm.....

  Introduction      This project was also awesome. We had to create a Halloween themed movie poster. I have a daughter named Annabelle who is IN LOVE with Halloween, and one of her favorite things to do is dress up and look evil. She plays the role so well. As most know, ANNABELLE is coincidentally an existing movie with an evil doll named Annabelle as the main character. Last year my daughter dressed up as an evil doll. I did her face paint, and she fell right into the role, as usual.      I chose to continue the next film in the ANNABELLE sequel. I named my movie ANNABELLE REMASTERED . Annabelle (my daughter) is the real-life version of the doll. Design Process      For this project I actually created two separate documents. The first idea that I had was to use my daughter’s photo and place her in an abandoned insane asylum, classroom, or orphanage. The idea just didn’t take off. After sleeping on it, I chose to crop out jus...

  Introduction      This week’s exercise was a doozy to pick. I have been trying to find an exercise that is something that I normally would not do, but for some reason, this task has taken me more time than I expected. I completed a couple of exercises, again. The exercise that I ended up going with is called White or Wheat . I found this creative exercise in a book called CAFFIENE FOR THE CREATIVE MIND: 250 EXERSCISES TO WAKE UP YOUR BRAIN by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield . White or Wheat      This exercise instructs you to create a sandwich. This is not any ordinary sandwich. In your mind, when you think of creating a sandwich, it will be delicious and hand crafted with different meats, vegetables, condiments, cheeses, and breads. This sandwich will make your mouth water until it is finally glazing your taste buds after taking your first HUMUNGOUS bite. Well, this is not the case. I have set you up for failure.    ...

     Portfolios are a collection of creative works that showcase your designing and artistic skills. They are put together so that you can showcase your work to prospective employers who will be able to evaluate your composition, typography, generation of ideas, creativity, problem solving, visualization, tech skills, and your overall experience as a designer. Portfolio Presentations      In this day and age, the digital age has taken over. Digital portfolios are easily accessed, you can visit them as many times as you need, and they will always be on the internet for one to reference. Print portfolios still exist, and the one characteristic that they provide is the feeling related to actually holding something in one’s hand. Digital Tips For Digital Presentations:      Your work should be showcased, not overpowered.      Organize your work by categories, and make sure it is legible and readable to show your typogra...

  Introduction      It took me awhile to come up with a creative exercise this week. I completed all of my other tasks except for this one. I actually did a few creative activities, but I didn’t think that the first two did me any justice. The one that I ended up going with is learning how to create a Dispersion Effect in Photoshop. I grabbed a tutorial off of YouTube, and I began to watch and create. The tutorial is called Dispersion Effect ~ Photoshop Tutorial, and it was created by CreativeSalek. I will post the link below . Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyBWcjlvn-o Design Process      I chose to take a picture of my daughter, and I opened it up in Photoshop. I selected her from the photo, and I opened up a new layer.      I then clicked the select layer and mask to get rid of anything I didn’t want and I was able to bring back some of the picture that I needed. Then I selected output two to open up a new layer. ...

  Introduction      This is my favorite project so far. We had to create the October 2023 edition for a popular magazine. The magazine that I chose was XXL . XXL is a rap/hip-hop magazine that presents stories relating to these genres of music. It also offers little take-aways such as: how hip-hop has evolved, how to develop your musical career, personal/career related information about major/underground artists and record labels, and up-and-coming trends and artists, etc. I chose to put the new artist Ez Mil (Ezekiel Miller) on my October 2023 rd edition of XXL. He is a Filipino rapper, but he can sing, dance, beat box, rap, produce, and write songs. He can also rap in multiple languages. There is more. He not only raps, but he is a scream vocalist for death metal bands, as well. He just signed with Shady Records, and he has never been on the cover of this magazine. Ez Mil would be a great prospect for XXL’s next edition. Creative/Design Process    ...

  ADVERTISING      “An advertisement or an ad is a specific message constructed to inform, persuade, promote, provoke, or motivate people on behalf of a brand, entity, or cause” (Landa, 2023).      Advertisements are seen all over the world. They are on television, the internet, billboard signs, magazines, newspapers, radio, banners and more. Over the years, the way that advertisement has been marketed to society has drastically changed. Everything has moved to a digital platform, and designers have had to learn how to adapt. If the advertisements are not reaching the target audience, then money, time, and efforts will have been wasted. Types Of Ads And Media Commercial Advertising – “promotes brands, individuals, and entities” (Landa, 2023). Public Service Advertising (PSA) – broadcasts to society for social events and non-profit foundations. Cause Advertising – raises funds for non-profit foundations.     PSA Ad. Media Channe...

       Introduction Welcome to JAE DREAM , a land where all musical dreams come true. This is a hypothetical land where an artist wakes up in their daydream, and they are well known across the world and in different dimensions. These artists are motivated, hardworking, ambitious, and creative does not even define the amount of talent they have. Their musical abilities are heightened here as a reward for never giving up on what fuels and inspires them the most. They also have access to a copious amount of knowledge and instruments to create their works of art. The Process   I began this poster, and I came up with a piece that did not depict the full topic of the poster. I completed the first poster, and I realized what I did after the fact. I then explored more options to develop my second poster.   I did a little brainstorming and research, and the juices started flowing again. The title of my poster is JAE DREAM because it is a play on the words, da...

  Blind Contour Exercise      The creative exercise I have chosen for week two is called “ Blind Contour Exercise ”. This exercise is used to work on hand-eye coordination, observation, and memory. The goal is for your hand to move nice and slow across the paper drifting into a meditative state. This also helps you focus on being in the present moment. There are 3 basic rules :      Select an object to draw.      Select a starting point.      Begin drawing, but do not look at the paper. You must keep your eyes on the object you are drawing.      You are not allowed to lift your pen. The Creative Exercise Process The object that I chose was a cartoon character style headphones . I started my drawing toward the center of the paper, and my paper was horizontal.      I turned on my music, and I began to draw. I focused my energy on the photo on my monitor, but I felt myself itc...

  Design Thinking Process      Design thinking provides solutions for problem solving involving communication, content, and design. Five Stages Of The Design Thinking Process Empathize        Empathy plays a large role in design because this is how we are able to dig deep, gather information, and relate to the customer so that we can come up with design solutions that are able to meet their wants and needs.  3 things we can do are :      Observe - Watch how people interact with the people around them and how they handle certain situations and environments.      Engage – Schedule interviews and ask questions that are really going to give insight about what issue it is that needs to be fixed. Also, show up unexpected to the company or place of business where the work is being conducted. The element of surprise catches humans off guard, and it allows raw observations to occur.      Imm...

Introduction           I created a mockup business card for my partner. She is going to school to be a psychologist, and she is studying human psychology, specifically. I asked my partner to name 12 adjectives that described how she wanted her business card to be perceived by her audience.       12 Adjectives :                   Professional, Trustworthy, Reliable, Compassionate, Empathetic, Accepting, Motivational, Uplifting, Nice, Inspirational, Helpful, and Energetic.                  I researched what colors went with these adjectives on the color wheel and the emotions they would portray to the audience. The audience will be diverse and will have experienced multiple traumas.            In the beginning, I started out with a gradient background of different shades of blue. I found that orange ...