Typographical Phrases

Utilizing what has been discussed in class regarding typography, students illustrated a common phrase using typefaces and colors only. First, they made a list of phrases or mottos that appealed to them, that they lived by, or that made them smile. Students chose a phrase that they understood so they could decide how to typographically interpret it. They were challenged to choose a phrase that has visual opportunities to uniquely interpret it. The goal is to come up with an interpretation that explains the phrase, adds a new level of meaning to it, or makes the audience think about it differently than when it is simply spoken.

Digital Calendars

Most publications are designed on some kind of grid. To learn about grid design, students used Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop, to create a digital calendar. They planned their grid accordingly so that all type and illustrations/images appear organized and properly aligned. They were allowed to use one or multiple images as the background for this piece. These images could have been found through online images searches, or students could have used their original photography. Students developed unique ideas and concepts to create a one of a kind calendar! They had to decide how they would like their months, days, headers, etc. to appear. Students were challenged to consider how they could present the months and days in a new way. Microsoft Publisher was used to build the calendar templates, and the files were converted to work with InDesign. Students had to complete a header or title for the calendar, their name in a creative way, and include imagery, and effective use of typography and color.

Digital Calendars

Our students kicked off the semester with a digital calendar project. These poster-sized masterpieces are creative, well-designed, and professional-looking. Each person uilized a typogaphic grid to organize and align their images and their text. We are very proud of the work the eighth graders have produced during this first assignment. We had a student critique sessions a few days ago, and now, everyone is in the middle of making some final edits and tweaks. The finished projects should be ready by the end of this week. Stay tuned to see the latest artistic creations!

Another Group of Digital Artists!

We are kicking off another semester of Digital Arts in the Middle School. Our group of talented students is sure to create innovative projects that will amaze us and inspire us. We will explore the world of graphic design, typography, and photo editing through Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. We will also compile an electronic portfolio at the end of the semester using a web-based slide show program called Prezi.

Please visit our blog often to see our creativity come to life. All print projects will be hung in the Middle School. Electronic projects can be saved to a flash drive and shared with you at home!

Take a Second Glance

The Washington Post Magazine regularly features a "find the differences" activity for its readers, where you are asked to compare two photos which appear to be exactly the same, but actually contain ten to twelve differences.

We created our own "Second Glance" photos. Students gathered a smattering of objects they wanted to photograph and then sat down at the computer to begin making subtle changes for their classmates to identify. The changes range from super-easy to incredibly difficult! See if you can tkae a second glance and decide what the differences are! You could be here for a while!

Playing With Our Food

We all know that we're not supposed to play with our food at the table, but when we're taking photos of it, we can make an exception!

Food photography is a specialized niche of commercial photography, with the goal of producing enticing images for placement in magazines, cookbooks, advertisements, or menus. We decided to try our hand at this technique.

Students brought in some of their favorite treats and arranged these vittles creatively to make them look as appetizing as possible. We all worked together to help each other with backgrounds, lighting, and of course, eating the leftovers!

After the original photo was taken, students used Photoshop tools to create various effects, such as watercolors, mosaics, graphic pen drawings, and more!