The Final Two Assignments!

For the rest of the term we will focus on 2 assignments. You can do them in any order you wish; you can do as many of each as you wish or you can simply focus on one of each. This work will incorporate ALL the tools you've acquired in the first half of the course.

A special edition edible cookbook from German design firm Korefe and Gerstenberg Publishing,
the recipes are printed on fresh pasta pages that can be baked into a delicious lasagna.
(I'm not asking you to actually make a book cover out of pasta....)

1)
The first assignment is to design a book cover. This design MUST include text. Your text should be part of the design and therefore be BEAUTIFUL. The book cover will concentrate on design + advertizing concepts.

Here are some Photoshop pre-set plaid designs I found for you, in case you'd like to incorporate them -- you can always search for more like these online:
http://designbeep.com/2012/02/29/collection-of-free-plaid-photoshop-patterns-for-designers/


Here are some crazy and great book cover designs just to give you some unusual ideas:
http://flavorwire.com/277657/10-crazy-and-unusual-book-designs
and:
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/beautiful-book-cover-design/
also:
http://bookcoverarchive.com/

You can also incorporate an animated gif or a cinemagraph on your book cover. That could be amazing....

via http://cinemagraphs.com

2)
The second assignment is to create a self-portrait. This project is the more personal and "artistic" of the two, and less about "design" per se (although, feel free to reverse them if you are so inclined). You can use photographs of yourself, OR you can make drawings/paintings either freehand and then scan them, or draw yourself with a stylus in Photoshop (difficult!). OR you can take a Surrealist tack. OR: feel free to use and mix these all up!

At least one of these assignments (either one -- or both) MUST incorporate a cinemagraph INSTEAD of an animated gif. The above portrait is a cinemagraph, created by the people who invented the concept. Their cinemagraph website with more examples is here: http://cinemagraphs.com/


I will bring other examples of cinemagraphs to show you in Friday's class.

Here is the history and definition of the cinemagraph, from http://cinemagraphs.com/about/ :

A Cinemagraph is an image that contains within itself a living moment that allows a glimpse of time to be experienced and preserved endlessly.

Visual Graphics Artist Kevin Burg began experimenting with the .gif format in this style in 2009 but it wasn't until he partnered with photographer Jamie Beck to cover NYFW that Cinemagraphs were born. Marrying original content photography with the desire to communicate more to the viewer birthed the cinemagraph process. Starting in-camera, the artists take a traditional photograph and combine a living moment into the image through the isolated animation of multiple frames. To quote supermodel Coco Rocha "it's more than a photo but not quite a video".

Beck and Burg named the process "Cinemagraphs" for their cinematic quality while maintaining at its soul the principles of traditional photography. Launched virally through social media platforms Twitter and Tumblr, both the style of imagery and terminology has become a class of its own. The creative duo are looking forward to exploring future display technologies for gallery settings as well as pushing this new art form and communication process as the best way to capture a moment in time or create a true living portrait in our digital age while embracing our need to communicate visually and share instantly.

Both assigments MUST include remixed images and many layers. 
One or both must incorporate a cinemagraph.
You must use text as a design element on the book cover.
Be Bold. 
Get COMPLICATED.

Otherwise you have full creative freedom. Do what makes you excited.

BOTH assignments will count as your final exam -- each will be worth 50% of your final, in other words. So take your time and REALLY PUSH EACH PROJECT AS FAR AS YOU CAN.

ASK ME QUESTIONS if you like!