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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

Finished Version