Final Blog

To begin with, I really did not like the website Cited. I found it to be a difficult website to navigate. I had to read the instructions several times to figure out how to add sources to it. Plus, I had a hard time finding articles that I found directly helpful. I finally wound up just selecting articles that were easy to find, rather than finding articles that were specifically helpful to me and my colleagues. The articles were on topics that would be helpful, like internet safety and social media sites and usages, but they were not articles that I was specifically interested in. I tried searching different terms (like multimodality) and nothing came up. This was disappointing to me. When I emailed the toolkits to my colleagues, I explained that I picked general articles for my colleagues to read, but they were not specifically on topic. I did not get a response from my colleagues, nor do I expect to hear from them any time soon. They are all busy wrapping up the end of the year and have been so overwhelmed by forced changes this year that none of them are interested in learning anything else new - even if it is something that they initially showed interest in! Overall, I like the idea of this website, but I would rather find articles through my own research and post them on a community blog where my colleagues can read them and respond to them in one central location rather than trying to navigate Cited.org.

Blog Post #7

This class has definitely made me more aware of design in my projects. Looking back at Week 1, I realized that I am starting to analyze advertising more – both print and commercials. I find myself looking at logos, colors and white spaces to see how well the space is filled. I LOVE the new letterhead that I created and have had several compliments on it from people at work. I even had another teacher ask me to help her fix the letterhead that she uses for her club! My favorite assignment was making the ad for the toy store. I loved playing with the same images and forming a bunch of different layouts. I also really loved playing with color (I love my pink!). The font exercise was also very eye-opening. I never really paid attention too much to which fonts I was using. As someone who uses MLA all of the time in my classrooms, I always seem to fall back on Times New Roman. However, now I am more aware of which fonts I use and I think about what message I want to get across before I pick my fonts!

Mostly, I have learned just how versatile a program that Word can be! I tend to rely on information that I know when I am working on new techniques. I really challenged myself to try new things but I was surprised at how much I was able to do with the Word program! I loved using Word to create the book covers. It was interesting to see how different I could make 2 book covers for books with the same title! I liked thinking about the colors, fonts and images that went into it. I really think that I can take some of these design elements and use them with some of the assignments that I create for my students!

Blog Post #6

For this week's assignment, I will admit that I was quite intimidated. I have never really attempted to make a movie and I was unsure how to even start. However, after watching several samples of students in the class, I gathered more and more ideas. As you can tell, I decided to make a video about my trip this summer to Disney with my mom. It was a lot of fun to pick the pictures and then try to choose a song to match it, but I feel like I still have a long way to go before I am nominated for an Oscar! I used Windows Movie Maker and the program was pretty easy to use.

For my story board, I was going to draw a sketch, but I wasn't sure how effectively I could get that hand drawn sketch on to my computer. Instead, I used my favorite program - Word. I tried to include some visuals with my story board, as well as a screen cast of me talking about my ideas for an actual screen cast that I would like to eventually create for my colleagues in an attempt to get them more familiar with multimodal tools in the classroom so they can ultimately try out these tools with their students.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pFGSIP_fU8I

Blog Post #5

Required Exercise:

Reading the directions for this week's required blog really got me excited. I love cropping photos to make them more interesting and I was looking forward to trying this out!

Picture #1:  Standing in line for the Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando. I like this picture because of all of the lines in the greenhouse and the angles that are created.

My first crop with this picture was to merely crop all of the people out in order to focus on the lines in the ceiling. I think this crop just really made the lines pop more and it makes the picture more artistic and less of a quick snapshot.

My next crop was an extreme crop of just one of the hanging plants. I like that by taking this plant out of context, you can no longer tell that it is a hanging plant. It could easily be a potted plant sitting on the floor somewhere. The lines are still interesting in the background, but the focus is clearly now the plant.

Picture #2: This picture was taken in Epcot - in that weird little part of world showcase that is not really part of any particular country. I took the picture because I like all of the cool items in the picture, but I think it can be more interesting if I crop it according to some of the rules that we have been discussing in this class.

My first cropping was done just of the drums. I am not sure how much I like this picture now. I think the drums are beautiful and the colors are bright and vivid, but I don't think the cropping makes the picture more interesting.

The second crop was much more successful because I think it looks more like an advertisement for Coca-Cola. In the original picture, I don't feel like the logo for Coca-Cola pops out but by cropping the picture to include the logos and make it look more like an ad.

Picture #3:  This picture was taken of all the debris and fallen electric lines in the storm that hit the year before Sandy did. We were actually hit worse during this storm than we were during Sandy. We were out of power for 4 days!

By making the first crop that I did, it makes the greenery look lush and almost romantic because it is all covered in snow. You can't tell that it is a fallen tree lying across my driveway!

For the second crop, I chose to focus more on the downed wire and the house across the street. By cropping out just this section, I feel like there is more of a focus on the disaster element. I also really like the way the line brings your eye into the picture. (I was really affected by the reading of the lines in pictures!)

Picture #4: This picture was taken at the NJ Balloon Festival last summer. I like the juxtaposition of the smallness of the people against the largeness of the balloons, but without cropping, I don't think this photo really stands out. 

This first crop I just think makes the picture look a little more in proportion and a little more interesting. It gives the photo more of a focus.

This final crop is pretty interesting because it isn't very clear that they are all hot air balloons. The balloon in the upper left corner is obviously a traditional hot air balloon, but it makes the other balloons look even bigger!

Picture #5: This is a picture taken down in Atlantic City looking out at the beach from Caesar's. I think it is an interesting photograph because of the red umbrellas which are so bright against the overcast, gray day.

I love this first crop because I took a closer look at my favorite part of the picture - the umbrellas. In the first picture, I never really noticed that there was a yellow umbrella. That one umbrella really stands out and tells it's own story. (I also love that they are both primary colors!)

My second crop was to take out the commercial aspect and just try to create a beach shot. I like it because it is not obvious that it is Atlantic City from this shot - the building could be any building near the ocean. I also like the angle that the building is at compared to the ocean.

Picture #6: This picture is of a fountain at the mall near my house. I chose it because I am interested in seeing if it is more interesting once I crop it.

This first edit is from the bottom of the ball and partial fountain. I feel like I was playing more with shapes. Once again, I am reminded of the readings we did with lines and it is interesting to see the softness of the curve of the ball compared to the straight line in the back. I also like the soft waves in the water.

My final crop of the girl who was in the side of the picture. I wanted to remove the fountain completely and zoom in on the girl. Again, I don't think the crop is all that interesting. 

Second Exercise:

For this exercise, I chose to take one of my pictures (of a pink rose) and try out different borders to see how it changed the picture.

I don't like the first picture with the thick black border. It is too harsh of a contrast. My favorite is the pink fuzzy border in the bottom left hand corner. I think the light pink is very complimentary and makes the picture look soft and romantic. I also really like the bottom right hand corner where it looks like a page from a scrapbook. I think the black looks better with the white so it is not so harsh. I am also not fond of the brown border. I don't think the color really brings out the brightness of the pink.

Third Exercise: Design a book cover for a story entitled "Flirting with the Bully".  My first cover is for a short story that is fun and a little silly - definitely a romantic comedy. The tag line reads "Even though she is a bitch, he still loves her". I chose to create the cover in mostly pink colors to convey a sense of flirty and fun. I also decided to go with cartoons to help carry this theme throughout. 

The second time I designed the story cover, I wanted it to have a completely different feel. I wanted it to take a more serious turn and have a darker tone. I chose more somber colors (black, red, and white) and I used a strong central picture as the main image. The tag line reads "One girl's true story of high school romance gone wrong..."

Blog Post #4

Mini-Art School Activity #1: 

The assignment was all about playing with different fonts. To be honest, I hardly ever use any font except Times New Roman 12 because it is required for MLA and APA. It was fun to be able to go through the fonts and think about them as personalities. Some of the fonts had obvious personalities. For instance, Earwig Factory looks like it is cut out of magazine letters so it easily reminded me of some creepy Hollywood movie with a stalker or serial killer. Stereodelic was also a fun font because it reminded me of the type of font that one might find at an Improv Comedy Club. It is definitely not a font for the academic world! Other fonts, however, were not as easy to think about. For example, Wickendern Cafe seemed pretty straightforward. Finally, I decided on coffee shop and cemetery (which I realized I spelled incorrectly - whoops!) because they have such different feels. 

Mini Art School Activity #2:

I completed activity #2 on page 56 which was to log on to the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Reading Room and analyze some different pictures.  Here is the first picture:

I like this picture because it definitely has a focal point - the dancers in the center of the picture. However, I like that they are small to show the grandiosity of the room in which they are standing. The difference in size between the couple and the room also provide the picture with contrast (principle no. 2). There is also balance in the picture (principle no. 3) because of the layout of the columns behind the couple. However, my favorite part of this picture is the lighting fixture hanging off-center at the top of this picture. It is my favorite part of the picture.

This is a picture of the Vietnam Memorial in DC in snow. I picked this picture because of the lines in the picture. I love that the focal part of the picture is the angular line (which is the structure of the monument). But I also enjoy the contradicting soft lines of the chain "fence" on the left hand side of the picture because it brings the picture some softness. Finally, I love that this picture is all black and white because of the snow, but I don't think it is actually developed as a black and white picture - it's just nature turning the world into a black and white photo.

I picked this picture because I was specifically looking for something that showed movement. The little girl is captured in the perfect moment of childhood. I know that movement means moving your eye across the page and not actual movement, but I think that this picture does both - it shows the little girl in a great childhood moment and yet the reader's eye still moves through the picture with the girl.

Finally, I picked this picture because it was taken in my hometown of Verona, NJ at Annin Flag Factory. I think this picture hits all of the principles of basic communication. The flag is obviously the focal point, but your eye travels through the entire picture taking in all of the women. It has a great contrast of color with dark and light which balances the picture out nicely. 

Overall, it was very helpful to look at these pictures when thinking about laying out a design. It helped to make sense of the different principles outlined by Golombisky and Hagen. I will be more aware of the overall look of my designs in the future.

Blog Post #3

Part 1: I chose the above ad for this assignment because I simply LOVE it and I was interested in seeing how it did when put up against the "rules" we read through in this class.

White Space is not Your Enemy:
1. Margins: I love that picture at the top has no margins - that it just takes you completely inside of the world that they are trying to create. However, the margins around the print text definitely work well because they are even all around.
2. Tags: I love the tags in this picture. Disney has a very easy to spot logo and even though it is only in small print at the bottom of the large picture, it still manages to stand out.
3. Center Everything: Even though this is listed as a sin, I think the text being centered all works for the ad. Perhaps this is particularly effective because the picture is so much larger and takes up most of the attention.
4. Trapped Negative Space: There is none - while there is negative space, it is evenly balanced and helps the wording stand out on the ad.
5. Busy Background: While the picture is busy, it has purpose and does not serve as the background to the text which was a smart choice.
6. Bad Bullets: There are no bullets at all, and no real need for them.

Rule Designs You Can Break:
7. Use a Minimal # of Font Faces: Disney does this very effectively. The basic font provides information while the magical Disney font really pops out.
8. Don't Use Too Many Colors: While there are great colors in the ad, I think they are very successful in using just a soft blue and black for the information.
9. Make Your Sites' Goal Obvious: Taking a trip and staying on Disney property is definitely obvious!
10. Use Different Colors for Text and Background: Again, successful! It is easy to read all of the print text and the ad is clear and obvious.

Part 2: I looked at letterhead that my colleague and I use for National Honor Society. I have always hated it because it is SO boring and I thought this was a great chance to remake it!      

My first letterhead was very traditional and very boring. While the information was easy to read, the letterhead was not memorable. By adding the graphic of the tiger (we are the Bloomfield Bengals!) I think it more memorable. I also like that there is still white space, but it all works with the design - none of it is negative white space. Finally, I like the softer font and think it is more interesting and more representative of our group. 

Part 3:  I opted to complete the final exercise listed (p. 87 of Design Basic Index)

 

This was my first ad which was very simple and straight forward. I used the basic design elements with the pictures lined up on front, the text in the middle and the title of the toy story at the bottom. I used a pink font for the middle tag line and the bottom to accent the title of the shop, but I like the black font in the middle because it is easy to read.

This was my second attempt at making a print ad for the Pretty, Pink Princess Shoppe. I think it is more creative than the first ad, but I had a hard time laying out the pictures and feel like there is a little too much white space in the upper right hand corner. However, I think having the pictures in "framed" circles is very effective for the feel of the shop (shoppe!) and I think that the point is still easy to get across.

This is my favorite ad out of the 3. I really like the added princess wand (even though it looks slightly off center!). I also like the change in font. However, I took what I liked about the others (the pink colored fonts and tag lines) and incorporated them into an ad that I really like. I think there is a little too much white space in this one when I look at it here, but it is pretty good for a simple Word document!

Blog Post #2

The first community that I am joining is a community on Thinkfinity that I stumbled upon called Reading & Language Arts. While I am still unsure about how the communities work on Thinkfinity, I like the posts that are on the site. In particular, the latest post there was all about mobile apps from ReadWriteThink.org. Since I am a high school English teacher,  my students are constantly using their phones. While many teachers become aggravated by this fact, I am interested in finding out how I can utilize SmartPhones in my classroom. In her article "Expanding the Concept of Literacy", Elizabeth Daley discusses the changes in literacy from the traditional print literacy to a multimedia literacy. Since students are using the phones, why not figure out a way to teach the students academic skills around incorporating these multimedia tools. One of the apps that I always suggest to my students is an app where they can have flashcards on their phone. In certain classes, one third of my students now take out their phones and immediately put their new vocab words and definitions into their phones so they can study right away. Plus, my students always have their phones on them so I tell them to flip through the words on the bus, or even during lunch to help them study.

The second community that I joined is called Everything Google on Thinkfinity. (I would have joined a community outside of Thinkfinity, but honestly I don't know how to find a trustworthy one!) I joined this second group because I think Google has so much to offer an educator and I only know the tip of the iceberg! I encourage my students to work in Google docs and I use their blogger site, but that is all I know how to do. My friend Jose actually uses Google maps to create a show of all of the locations in the literature that he teaches. I am hoping to learn how to do more in my classes. I didn't know about Google docs until I started Rutgers and it has certainly helped me through many of my assignments. Hopefully it will help my students in the future!