Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Final Stretch

We’re coming up on the end of the semester. Seems like most everyone returned from Spring Break energized for the last few weeks of class. The Capstone students are putting the final touches on their portfolios in preparation for the April 20th Portfolio Show. The MGD105 Typography and Layout class is busy working on their multi-component corporate I.D. final project. The MGD112 Adobe Illustrator class is creating designs for a commemorative silver medallion that will be produced with a dimensional die — a pretty cool learning experience, and a great way to explore the realistic rendering capabilities of Illustrator.

Speaking of Illustrator, I watched some preview videos for Adobe Creative Suite 5 today. Wow. Great new stuff coming, including a Flash Catalyst, a new simplified animation tool, and major enhancements to the other components.

The Capstone class just finished the last of the Graphic Design Program promotional posters (see the photo I've included in this post). The first poster presented the history of typography and design. The second poster is a glossary of print production terms. And the third poster presents “The Mathematics of Design”. These will be mailed out to high school art teachers at the end of the summer, just in time for back-to-school.

It’s hard to think of it as springtime here. While it’s been shirtsleeves warm here the past few days, it snowed this morning. The locals tell me the the weather will be unpredictable through May, and the settles in to three perfect months in the summer. Glenwood Springs is gearing up for the tourist season. My boys are hoping to get hired on at the Hot Springs or Glenwood Caverns for the summer. Sure beats my summer job of painting stripes on parking lots at Robert Hall clothing stores throughout the greater Chicago area.