This week in class, we learned about many different ways that we can work with graphics to create cool and unique designs. We learned a bit about Trello, some photo editing software, PowerPoint and GoogleDocs design. We were also tasked to watch some how-to videos about editing videos on Mac and Windows, as well as audio editing via Audacity.
Growing up, I have used iMovie a lot. I always used it for any video projects I had in high school. I also used it more recently in a project for EPHE 311 where we had to record ourselves teaching a warm-up activity. I’m pretty familiar with iMovie, and feel that I can navigate myself around the software pretty well. I have included a video below that I edited for a marketing project in grade 12. My focus for that project was to make it look like a cool commercial, so I had an audio track that I tried to match the beats to the video.
I am excited to discover these new resources. I really like graphic design and I enjoy making things look aesthetically pleasing and just plain cool! I have added below some of the resources that I am excited to try, or have already tried but would like to keep them for future reference.
Some resources I have curated:
-Some open source pixel based software
-Some open source vector graphics software
-PowerPoint
-Some photo editing apps like Prisma, Brushstroke and Photofox.
This week, I decided to make some graphics using PowerPoint, Brushstroke and Photofox.
This picture was from Unsplash, which I edited a few times to show the different ways the photo can be rendered.
Photo by Kerstin Wrba on Unsplash
Below are the 3 ways which I edited this photo. The first photo I used Brushstroke to give it the appearence of a painting. The middle one I used a colour picking tool to write on the picture, and then a “magic” tool which added a cool bubble looking effect. The third photo I used Photofox, giving it a filter, then merging another filter on top to give it a 3D effect.
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- Painting effect using Brushstroke
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- Photofox writing tool and magic bubble tool
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- 3D effect using Photofox
Next, I inserted these images into PowerPoint, and used the “Designer” tool to get a neat layout of the pictures. I had to screenshot the slide to get it into this post. All photos are from Unsplash. The last screenshot of my slide was made by my own design. I used the girl throwing the leaves as the background, and altered the other pictures to show a cool gallery effect.
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash, Photo by quentin on Unsplash
Overall, I really liked this week’s class on graphic design. I am excited for the future where I can actually use all these sources as a teacher! I had no idea that PowerPoint could do all the cool things it does. I really like the design tool, because sometimes presentations can get boring. A cool looking slideshow can honestly help grab people’s attention a lot more than a blank page with some text and a picture. I plan to get some drone shots for my free inquiry project, so I’m also excited to play around in iMovie. I am definitely getting a lot more confident in my technological abilities, so that is very exciting!