Blog > Archive by category 'Comm Tech 2'
 Like Yiro’s picture to the left- A lot of you guys have no focus. Yiro did it on purpose for an artistic effect… But I suspect when painting or photographing with your life, you guys are probably looking for more clarity.
I hate to be a drag- but there is little focus on excellence across the board. I don’t even just mean in class… I mean in life. Everyone expects everything for nothing, and to do whatever they want with no consequences for their actions. It’s absolutely an epidemic in the US. Mediocrity is everywhere. I see it when I go out to local shops and restaurants, and especially in schools- from both students and teachers alike.
I don’t know who to blame. I’m not sure it would do any good to point it out anyway- because falling into mediocrity is a choice. You get to choose how high your standards are set for yourself. You get to choose if you’re amazing or not. You get to quit when YOU choose to quit.
Sometimes students get frustrated at their grades… but it’s not because they disagree with them- but because they just want a free pat on the back for mediocre work. Even that confuses me.. If you haven’t done your best- and someone says “wow- that’s excellent!”- why would you accept that as a compliment? YOU know it isn’t excellent. YOU know you didn’t do your best. so what does it matter if someone else says it’s great if you know it really isn’t? You quit before you gave it your all… no matter what anyone else calls it. So you’re OK with getting props for junk? How will you ever be more than you are? Only an absolute narcissist would be happy with that kind of treatment.
And the reverse is true. Who cares if you get a “D” on something you poured yourself into and did your best? If YOU know you did your best- then you can rest in that. So maybe you’re not a digital artist or a mathmetician or a scientist or a doctor. You tried your best- and that’s all you can do. It doesn’t reflect anything about YOU that it wasn’t up to another person’s standard… It just reflects how your WORK measures up to their standards. But if YOU tried your best- then YOU win. Maybe that vocation isn’t for you. Maybe you just need to practice more and learn more. Maybe you needed to learn where your weaknesses are and now you know. But it’s nothing to loose sleep over.
Be your own judge. Excellence takes time. Spending a couple hours on a photoshop document is NOT a lot of time. Excellent work takes a dozen hours or more. It takes the patience and excellence that is never satisfied with “good enough.” It keeps going until it’s just right. It’s about not stopping until you simply can’t pick out anything that’s not just how you’d want it in your work.
And this is not just about digital art. This is about life. Dancing. Cooking. Housework. Saving the planet. World peace. Being a teacher. Being a student. Being a Parent. Being a child. Being a friend…
It’s about BEING.
This is about life. What kind of grade do you deserve? What makes you any better than anyone else? You want to be treated like you’re special… What do you DO to deserve it?
I choose not to participate in the games anymore. I refuse to be mediocre in my own life. I refuse to accept it in my lab. You may get out of here with a D if you do the bottom limit of what’s required- but that will be the best. If you want higher than a “C” in here- you need to earn it.
This week- Finish your Certiport contest entry. DO NOT rely on what you already know. Learn something new to incorporate. I am giving you about 10 hours to work on this one project- I expect that your entry will reflect 10 hours of work- half of that should be new things you learned on your own. HERE IS A LINK TO TONS OF PHOTSHOP TUTORIALS TO USE. It is a great resource to get started on your trip to excellence. Of course, if you were really committed to it- you would not need me to point out the way- you’d be on it already.
UPDATE: I’m being called to the floor by students saying I don’t ever show you guys any of MY work… So I will complete a weekly assignment also- and I expect that your projects should reflect the time, effort, and energy that mine display. HERE is my first entry. Tutorial inspired, then tweaked to what I needed. Done today in one class period. Not finished, but a good start.
HERE is number 2 for the day… done during the next class period. If I can do these in 90 minutes, you should be able to knock ‘em down in about 2-3 hours, easily. I’m just following the simple directions on the tutorial pages and making modifications to suit my own image and my own style. I also often mix up things from earlier tutorials in the newer ones. Easy to do when you’ve done a bunch and have some great ideas! (Updated image after more work)
Another day, another image… I’m NO LONGER accepting excuses about how the more complex looking projects “take too long.” I have no more than 4 hours in any of the images here so far… And I’m just experimenting (with the same ideas, I know) with different textures and images. Next week I’ll go for a different “feel.” But If I can do three in as many days, you can do one in five.
 So last week I was feeling horrible, and this week is FCAT. You should all have your 5 page websites done (with flash headers and 2 examples of DHTML). This week is FCAT, so it’s a week to catch up on missing work (Self Portraits for many of you) or explore something new. I expect a tutorial a day to be completed by everyone, and each extra tut will be worth 10 minutes XC.
Specs for Dynamic HTML are available on the Comm Tech 1 Page. Click here for the project info.
When my head stops exploding, we’ll start playing with Flash.
3/12- TECH 2 Students- Here’s your new project:
Design a 3-up coupon page on Letter paper with 1/4 inch margins using the following info:
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Ok.. so there’s been a lot of change- and a lot of learning. Both for you and for me. I learned I’ve overextended myself with the committment to a daily blog, keeping up with new videos for every project, and more. Some of the problems will hopefully be solved after working with District IT personnel since a lot of it comes from the fact that I can’t update this site here at school with the videos. At home, my kids and life outside of school consumes my time. I’ll figure it out. Next year we’ll tweak the lab and the policies and figure out the best plan. Now that Palm Beach school district’s IT department is on board with some truly innovative ideas and helping us realize our goals- I think it’s coming soon to a screen near you. We’ll discuss the changes after we get back. I’m thinking a lot about our policies- what’s important to me, and what I believe we should stress. I’m also looking into new technologies that will help us really get an interactive presence in the lab- HOPEFULLY one that can also be accessed at home to show mom, dad, and uncle Richie your work, allow comments and interactivity, etc… I’m stoked about the possibilities.
You guys have learned a lot, too. Did you know that we’re already- assuming the same level of competition we had last year- #1 again for certifying students with the ACA test? Between my class, Mavrookas (who also uses this blog) and Moya (who hasn’t pushed testing much, but his kids are ready), we’ve already certified over 150 students this school year. Last year we certified over 230 and second place weighed in at just over 80. Granted, we have a lot more classes than most schools, but still, percentage wise, we’re certifying around 90% of our first year students halfway through the year. That’s incredible. You should be really proud if you’ve already passed the ACA test. Most schools don’t even test until after a full year of working with the program. Kudos to all of you. (if you haven’t passed yet, don’t stress it. Relax for the holidays and we’ll knock it down after we get back. I know you’ll pass it by the end of the year.)
EXAMS:
It’s Exam week. Most of you have worked hard all year. Your exam is simple. Write me a couple paragraphs that explain the three things you like most about this class- the atmosphere, the projects, the software, the equipment- whatever you think are the three best things about this class. We’ll make sure that when we re-think the class, we don’t sacrifice on any of these strengths.
The next paragraph, I want you to tell me three things you’d change if you were the TEACHER. This does NOT mean that you tell me we should be playing games every day. That’s you being a kid. Be a teacher for 10 minutes. Put yourself in my shoes. I love you guys, and I want what’s best for you. You have 5 hours to go home every day and play videogames. You only have 90 minutes every other school day to play with the software and tools we have in here. How can we make the most of that? How are we under-utilizing this? How come you WANT to play videogames sometimes in my class??? Seriously? Crummy flash games over playing with graphics, music, video, etc??? Linerider vs photoshop and linerider wins??? Even once in 100, that should never happen. Something must be wrong. Tell me what it is. Let me know what is going so wrong that with all the cool stuff we have in here, you launch a timewaster or just hang out and chat off task. What is going so wrong that you don’t want to take advantage of all that’s in here? Three things that need to change so that we can’t wait to get in here and hate to leave.
That’s how I feel every day (well, almost every day  ). I love coming in to school and experimenting with graphics and see what you guys can come up with. Grading exams yesterday I was in absolute AWE of some of the work I was looking at!!! Some of you have been holding out on me! Amazing stuff happens in here and I’m missing it sometimes. I guess that says a lot about how I, myself, can get distracted and miss the coolest part of being in this room… seeing you guys work and blow me away with your incredible ideas and the important things you have to say and to create.
You’re not kids to me. I don’t blow off your chatter. You’re artists and I love to be moved by your art and to hear what you have to say.
Let’s make this lab- even if it’s only for 90 minutes every other day- a place where all of our dreams come true… Where art, respect, life, beauty, trust, honesty, and meaning take form and get tangible. For your exam tell me 3 ways that’s happening for you in here. And three things we can change to make it happen even more.
So we’re close to holiday break. Happy Holidays (whichever flavor you celebrate). Things are winding down. I hoped to have everyone ACA certified by now and we’re really close. Well over 80%. All of you know the technical stuff in Photoshop, but the technical and project planning questions are throwing you off. Don’t worry about it. Everyone that hasn’t passed yet is scoring close to passing, and we’ll make it by the end of the year. No stress, enjoy the holidays.
We’re moving into Illustrator (both CT1 and CT2 students) and you;ll need to shift your way of thinking… I know it’s a little weird, and my videos are down for the day, so check out the MacLab’s illustrator tutorials. As a matter of fact, check those out even when ours are up again. Yes it will be a little redundant. Yes, you’ll still learn a heck of a lot from both.
Keep it going guys, make sure your journals are done! You should be keeping track of what you’re doing. Get into the habit now, since it is CRITICAL from here on out. Minutes and journals will be the way I grade for the rest of the year. Your grade is in your hands.
12/8- Don’t forget our talks in class about your character trait and cause that you want to focus on in your part this upcoming year. Everyone will need one, and I’d like to have them from you for your mid-terms. If you had 10 seconds to say something to the whole world about a cause or a character trait to make the world a better place, what would it be?
Cool Vector Tutorials for getting better at the pen tool: 1 | 2 | 3
Think you have the pen mastered??? PROVE IT with page 4. (thanks to GHSD teacher, Ms. Mandell for sharing on the web!!!)
12/9- I’m hearing lots of whining about the pen tool. I already told you it’s weird for a week. It takes practice, and you will need this tool for all the other projects you’re really going to want to do this year. Trust me, you want to have this mastered. I STRONGLY recommend doing the tutorials at the mac lab along with ours in the projects. The secret with the pen tool is to master it, not just understand it. I can understand how a brush leaves paint on the canvas, that doesn’t make me an artist. If you think you’re ready to move on, there’s a new project up on the CT1 Page- your self portrait in Illustrator.
I hate it that I’m so swamped with so many projects, I often neglect the common little ones. Like updating this blog daily. I’m turning over a new proverbial leaf and committing to starting as the time and life-sucking extra project I was working on is complete. So from now on, no new post for the day, everyone in class gets a minute of extra credit.
Things are changing. I made a lot of huge changes this year and it’s hard to adjust myself to many of them. You need to know that from here on out, now that Photoshop ACA testing is out of the way (those of you that haven’t passed need to work on it on your own time now), we are starting the truly new creative efforts. So you have much freedom, and wiht that comes much responsibility. You must document your time in here. Daily document in your journal what you’re doing and what you’re learning. The journal will be key to your success in here.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the elements and principles and the Synectic Triggers. These really are the secrets. The E&P will help you figure out what’s ugly in your work when it doesn’t look right. The Synectic triggers will help you think of different approaches and ideas for your project.
CT1 and CT2 students are both starting a logo design project this week. Use the triggers. Pay attention to the principles. Look at examples for inspiration. Go to your student pages and get to work. I expect some amazing and creative work!!!
12/1- CT2′s have new projects up with deadlines. Real contests with cash prizes. Don’t forget to use the synectic triggers if you’re stuck! They are the secret!
Hey gang… We’re at midterm. Most of you have passed the ACA test (we’re at aver 70% of first year students already passed). If you haven’t passed yet, don’t freak out… but start studying and working on certiprep in your “off time” when you finish the new projects. We’re REALLY focusing on the Elements and Principles for both first and second year students.
Grades are in based on minutes owed. I’m assuming that everyone’s portfolio is up to date as we’ve discussed if you’re past the ACA test. Document your work every day in your journals. I’m working on some new videos to help introduce the Elements and Principles to you in a easier, and creative way. This is your new paradigm. No longer will we accept ugly work (or boring work.) Excellence in EVERYTHING in this lab from now on.
Comm Tech 2 students have a new project where you can earn some cash and free adobe software. Vets have done this already, but there’s a new theme this year, so it’s a whole new project. I can only take 5 winner designs, so make sure yours is one of the top 5 if you want your entry officially entered and considered. Even if you don’t want to enter, this is a REQUIRED project.
More than half of the CT1 students are already certified and the number grows daily. So now we’re starting to branch out and cover the actual ART of photoshop and digital design. I want the CT1′s to start working on the new project experimenting with line. We’re going to do some projects that force a focus on all the elements and principles. The goal here is to SEE and to THINK in a new way. Make sure you get these rules. It’s the only way to move from technically proficient to artistic.
CT2′s should be finishing the self portrait (typographic) or working on your own inspiring piece of art. The wall of fame awaits.
10/12- No school yesterday. I’m sure there was a lot of COD2 going on in Palm Beach!!! Today, there’s a new project up for CT1′s working with a new program and exploring SHAPE!!! Remember- the goal is to let your mind shift. Become creative. Think outside the elemntary school ways of doing things. Start thinking and expressing yourself. Oh, and CT1′s and II’s that need something else to do, Knock one of these out…
So we’ve spent some time learning the basics- the technical basics. Now we’re on to the art basics. This is where you learn not only how to use the tools in a robotic sense, but how to use them in an artistic sense. CT1 students will be working on the elements and principles for a couple weeks and then we’ll be moving into Illustrator. Knock down the quick and easy Elements and Principles projects and then spend the rest of your time enhancing what you already know. If you need inspiration- check my bookshelf or some of the online resources in the Project Links area of the site.
Comm Tech 2- You should have a pretty darn good Self-portrait using text in the works. Make sure it will print well at 8×10 at least.
Ok- So I’ve decided to move toward a weekly post here with daily updates like my inspiration, The Mac Lab. I can’t keep up with a full post, especially with all that’s happening with the lab and with the testing. So here’s this week’s post, exceptionally late.
Tech 1′s are prepping for the test. Most of you are done with Digital You and are working on the review videos. Many are already testing and we have over 20 people certified already this year. Keep it up. Remember that as we spoke earlier, things will soon change and your commitment to working and being creative in this class will need to be demonstrated. We’re going to be exploring the Elements and Principles here soon in class and that will help you understand what ugly is.
Tech 2′s have been doing better since the turn of the quarter. Typographic portraits are starting to happen and looking good. I’ll post more next week on all of this. I’d love to see more people demonstrating the excellence shown by Brian Ms in this incredible self-portrait!!
9 weeks down after this one, gang!
Nothing new for you this week in terms of inspiration or challenge- I’ve offered you all you need to finish out this quarter. It’s “bookkeeping” week. Make sure you have everything done, add final touches to your projects and wrap up your journals.
CT1′s- the last video set is done (Digital You) and after this we’re ready to take the ACA Test (DOH! no review video!! That will be there next class). We’ll probably take that next week! Well have a review and just discuss the concepts again before you guys sit for it again. We also have a new preparation software for you installed in the lab that we’ll experiment with before testing as well.
CT2′s- Wrap it up as explained in the last couple posts. It’s your job to prove to me you deserve more than a “C.”
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Like Yiro’s picture to the left- A lot of you guys have no focus. Yiro did it on purpose for an artistic effect… But I suspect when painting or photographing with your life, you guys are probably looking for more clarity.
