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Table of Contents
From Digital Foundations
Contents |
Table of Contents
Introduction: Read_Me! Introduction
- Digital Foundations
- Bauhaus
- Operating Systems
- Using the wiki
- Creative Commons
Chapter 1: Metaphor
Formal Principles: Dynamic and static compositions
Visual References: Early computers, Egon Schiele
Exercises:
1. Working with folders and files
2. Creating a new file in Adobe Illustrator
3. Creating a dynamic composition
4. Saving a file
Chapter 2: Searching and Sampling
Formal Principles: Copyright, fair use, appropriation
Visual References: Marcel Duchamp, Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung, Packard Jennings & Steve Lambert
Exercises:
1. Advanced searching in Google
2. Searching for public domain and Creative Commons licensed content
3. Searching in stock photography web sites
Adobe Illustrator
Chapter 3: Symmetry and Gestalt
Formal Principles: Symmetry and asymmetry, positive and negative space, focal point, gestalt principles of proximity, continuity, and similarity
Visual References: Leonardo da Vinci, The Bookman, Adalpertus
Exercises:
1. Creating symmetry and asymmetry with your body
2. Symmetry with passive negative space
3. Symmetry with less passive negative space
4. Balanced asymmetry
5. Asymmetry with imbalanced visual weight
6. Symmetry with patterning
7. Defining a focal point within symmetric patterning
Chapter 4: Type on the Grid
Formal Principles: Line, typographic basics, using the grid in design
Visual References: Two paintings by Theo van Doesburg
Exercises:
1. Using guides to create a grid
2. Lines
3. Using the Type tool to create a headline
4. Creating body copy with the Type tool
5. Directing the viewer with color
6. Adjusting shapes with the Direct Selection tool
Chapter 5: Color Theory and Basic Shapes
Formal Principles: Color models and relationships on the wheel
Visual References: Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, Edouard Manet
Exercises:
1. Hue has value!
2. Top or bottom?
3. Interaction of values
4. Interaction of colors
Chapter 6: Line Art and Flat Graphics
Formal Principles: Gesture drawings, contour, plakatstil
Visual References: Harper's Bazar, Jim Fitzpatrick
Exercises:
1. Gesture drawings on a template layer
2. Recreating straight lines with the Pen tool
3. Curves
4. Curves and angles
5. Tracing an image and creating a clipping mask
PhotoShop
Chapter 7: Image Acquisition and Resolution
Formal Principles: Scanograms, abstraction
Visual References: Anna Atkins, Cormaggio
Exercises:
1. Creating a scanogram and understanding input resolution
2. A brief tour of tools and panels in Photoshop
3. Image size, file size, and resolution
4. From the camera to the computer
Chapter 8: Tonal Range
Formal Principles: Contrast, value and tonal range in photography
Visual References: Nicéphore Niépce, Dorothea Lange
Exercises:
1. Minor adjustments to the original file
2. Understanding the histogram
3. Adjusting the image with Levels
4. Adjusting the image with Curves
5. Targeting saturation levels
6. Sharpening the image
Chapter 9: Layering and Collage
Formal Principles: Scale, hierarchy, collage
Visual References: Hippolyte Bayard, El Lissitzky, Henry Van der Weyde
Exercises:
1. Using layers to create a double exposure
2. Cropping and adjusting the hue
3. Creating and manipulating layers
4. Adding an adjustment to some layers
Chapter 10: Repetition and Cloning
Formal Principles: Similarity, unity, burning and dodging
Visual References: The Billboard Liberation Front, The Anti-Advertising Agency
Exercises:
1. Replacing part of one image using the Clone tool
2. Adding Amelia Earhart to the image of the crew
3. Adding a layer mask
4. Burning and dodging
Chapter 11: Non-Destructive Editing
Formal Principles: Masking, ethical considerations for digital image manipulators
Visual References: Philippe Halsman, Kurt Schwitters
Exercises:
1. Using quick masks and alpha channels
2. Building an image with layers, masks, and transformation
3. Adding an adjustment layer and organizing layers with groups
4. Adding a shape layer
Chapter 12: Graphics on the Web
Formal Principles: A brief history of the web
Visual References: Whitehouse.gov, Pizzahut.com
Exercises:
1. From digital input to web ready
2. GIF vs. JPEG
3. Uploading to Flickr
4. Posting to a blog
InDesign
Chapter 13: Multiples: Creating Unity
Formal Principles: Sequence, repetition, harmony on the grid
Visual References: Johannes Gutenberg, NY Times front page
Exercises:
1. Unity through repetition - master pages
2. Creating B-Master
3. Linking text frames
4. Creating shapes
5. Exporting a PDF
Chapter 14: Multiples: Creating Tension
Formal Principles: Deconstruction, disarray
Visual References: David Carson, Neville Brody
Exercises:
1. Placing text and using frame breaks
2. Working with styles
3. Using text frame options, hue, and saturation to create contrast on page two
4. Exporting a PDF
Dreamweaver
Chapter 15: Hello World
Formal Principles: Code as aesthetics
Visual References: Heath Bunting, JODI
Exercises:
1. Hello World!
2. Hello Dreamweaver
3. Hyperlinks
4. Images
5. Formatting type
Chapter 16: Files and Servers
Formal Principles: Network logic
Visual References: MTAA, Abe Linkoln, 0100101110101101.org
Exercises:
1. Defining a site in Dreamweaver
2. File and folder management
Chapter 17: Stylesheets: Separating Form and Content
Formal Principles: Form versus content
Visual References: A List Apart Magazine, Craigslist.com
Exercises:
1. Applying a style
2. Evaluating the code
3. Creating a new rule
4. Creating an external style sheet
Flash
Chapter 18: Elements of Motion
Formal Principles: Tempo
Visual Reference: Viking Eggeling, Oskar Fischinger
Exercises:
1. Visualizing time, keyframes, shape tween
2. Adjusting the frame rate to the speed of the beat
3. Visualizing tempo
4. Basic bouncing ball
Chapter 19: Pacing
Formal Principles: Time, rhythm
Visual References: Hans Richter, Lillian Schwartz
Exercises:
1. Library and symbols
2. Instances of symbols
3. Classic Tween
4. Changing the color and alpha
5. Animating the symbol
Chapter 20: ActionScript 3.0
Formal Principles: Interactivity
Visual References: Martin Graetz, Stephen Russell and Wayne Wiitanen, Thomson and Craighead
Exercises:
1. Buttons
2. Adding buttons to the Timeline
3. Stopping the Timeline
4. Analyzing the code
5. Starting the Timeline

