I’m taking a long weekend! Off Friday-Monday which is pretty exciting and much needed after the short week I’ve had. Although I fixed the equipment problem we had last week, it shined light on a new problem with the machine I run that’s quickly starting to degrade the quality of my print. I ordered a part that should fix the problem but until it gets here I’m crossing my fingers that nothing puts a halt to my production.
Other than that, I designed and executed a project for a local farm that included putting big graphics on their delivery van. I ran lots of business cards for local businesses, designed a logo for a motorcycle racing team, designed signage for a new fire station, and even freshened up some signs for everyones favorite water park.
It was a busy short week, sorry I don’t have any pictures to show this week.
Published on September 2, 2010 9:13 am.
Filed under: coop.
This week has been a bit hectic. We had a problem with one of our machines that involved hiring a rental part while our piece got shipped out for repair. Two days of down time on the main piece of equipment that I run isn’t good for me. It was resolved and I was able to catch up. I also had to work on our file server because it was freezing up and causing some file corruption. As you can see my job involves more than just designing!
I’ve attached a video of some vinyl that I printed getting cut apart on a plotter. This works by adding crop marks around the graphics when you print them. You then load the material into the cutting plotter and send the cut lines to it. It will read the crop marks and cut out the graphic. It’s really a time saver, no more trimming by hand! – Watch this: Cut It Out!
Published on August 25, 2010 5:16 pm.
Filed under: coop.
This week I tied up a few projects for GCCC. They included some Critical Academic Literacy banners and around 22 Avenue style banners. The graphics were provided for both projects, but each had their own set of challenges.
The CAL banners were sent to me as a low-res JPG image. This means I have to redesign the entire banner as a vector so that it prints clearly. I started off with setting the dimensions in my software, adding the border, and setting the type in the same style as was on the provided graphic. I had the Gulf Coast logo on file so I was able to just place that in to the design without any modification. The QEP logo was a different story. I had to draw this one in my software and set all the lettering to match. It’s not difficult, but it’s time consuming. These were printed on 13oz white gloss banner material, and finished with a tape hem, grommets, and wind pockets. I think this one is hanging over the rail on the SU.
The avenue banners were also provided to me in vector format. They didn’t allow for any bleed so I had to go and add a 1″ bleed all the way around to each banner. Also because they are double sided and need pole-pockets for the mounts I have to allocate for that. This means that each banner got around 5-10 minutes of additional set up time even though the graphics were provided to me. It’s not that bad but when you’re doing 22 of them it really adds up. I only have one picture of these avenue banners, but you’ll see them hanging on light poles at every campus. =) These banners were printed on 13oz gloss banner material, and finished with a hem on the left and right side, a pocket top and bottom, two grommets, and then stitched on the pocket seams and sides for durability.
Published on August 21, 2010 11:08 am.
Filed under: coop.
My name is Tony and I’ve been working in the graphic design field since I was 16 years old. I started off doing web design and moved on to print work as I got older. I’m currently employed at a local sign company designing signs and other types of printed media, as well as operating a bit of printing equipment. My job is awesome.
This is going to be my blog for my school work. Since most of my classes and my COOP require me to keep track of what I do, I’ll make things simple and do it all on here.
I was most of the way through my Liberal Arts AA when I decided to switch to the Digital Media AS program so almost every class I will take will now involve computers or graphic design. Last semester was my first semester as part of the Digital Media program and I took three classes. One was a generic computer skills class (Computer Applications).
The second class I took last semester was Intro to Desktop Publishing which touched on Photoshop but focused in Adobe InDesign. Although I had used ID at my work, I’ve never felt comfortable with it or made it my first choice for any projects. The class definitely gave me a firm grip on what I can do with the software and how to do it, and has allowed me to make this the software of choice when it comes to certain tasks.
The third class that I took last semester was Techniques for Digital Illustration. This course was strictly teaching Adobe Illustrator. I didn’t learn many “techniques” but I did build a strong foundation on the program and I’ve been able to apply this to my current occupation.
This semester I’m going to school full time. One of my courses is COOP which allows me to use my work experience to earn credit. I’m also taking 3D Modeling which appears to focus on 3D Studio Max while touching on some other programs. I’m taking 2D Animation which from what I’ve read is an Adobe Flash class. My final class this semester will be Computer Graphics for Digital Design which looks like an in depth Adobe Photoshop class.
I hope to learn quite a bit this semester. It will be my most challenging semester since I’ve began college. Although I’m experienced in most of the software I’ll be taught, I’m hoping to push my limits. Let’s see how this goes.
Published on August 19, 2010 2:29 pm.
Filed under: blog.