Vantablack is a material developed by Surrey NanoSystems in the United Kingdom and is one of the darkest substances known, absorbing up to 99.96% of visible light. The name is a compound of the acronym VANTA and the color black. Wikipedia
Vantablack is made of carbon nanotubes – rods of carbon that are much, much thinner than any human hair – packed so close together in a maze-like matrix that light goes in,
but can’t escape. businessinsider.com
For Thursday please pin up your 10 x 10″ prints on the work space wall.
Post 1 translation of a sound and optionally 1 pattern.
We’ll give about 5 minutes feedback for each student.
After briefly browsing of the designs we will review each student’s work individually.
Everyone should participate in the critique, asking questions, making comments.
As we review and respond to work, rather than simply judging—“I like this” or “I’ve heard that this is good or bad”—I suggest that we ‘receive’ the work and question it. Approach the critique as a process of becoming familiar.
The Course Folder is available to store project submissions – Use the Public Folder and the sub-folder Project 1.1. Post only PDFs Smallest File Size.
To access the Course Folders, from pull-down menu: Finder > Go > Connect to Server
or from keyboard CMD+K
Use server address: smb://juno.design.upenn.edu/courses
Submit PDFs of Project 1.1 studies
Use the naming protocol: Last name.project1.1.studies.pdf
and submit PDFs of final
Use the naming protocol: Last name.project1.1.final.pdf
Here’s a Google Doc to sign up for the Illustrator Tutorials, this Sunday, September 8.
I strongly recommend that you attend. D
Here are instructions for printing on the laser printers and the large format plotters. You will be printing on these often this semester for your projects.
https://www.design.upenn.edu/printing
Check your print cost balance here
Sun. October 13th – Penn Fall Break
Sun October 20 – Photoshop II
Session 1: 1pm-3pm
Session 2: 3:30pm-5:30pm
Accept the invitation (email) to be an Editor for the class blog
Login to WordPress (create account)
Go to blog
https://2019foundations.home.blog/
Click on Write in upper right part of window
Or click on My Sites > Posts > Add New Post
USE CLASSIC EDITOR to edit
Write title, text, add images, links
Click on Preview and check post
If OK, click Publish
There are lots of ‘How to create a new post WordPress’ videos if you need help
Abstraction, figure/ground, pattern and other aspects of the work of a few artists and designers.
Sketches for a logo, Massachusetts College of Art (part of the state college system)
I-Jian Lin and Comberg
Optional – for extra credit: design an original emoticon in Illustrator – tutorial here and examples.
Our Illustrator tutorial is scheduled for September 8.
In the meantime here are a number of tutorials that may be helpful — those in bold are especially relevant.
To create a repeating pattern and some digital texture, check this guide.
Tutorials
Illustrator List of Tutorials
Basic Shapes
Drawing Shapes
Drawing With the Pen Tool
Layers
Stacking/Grouping
Rotating/Reflecting Objects
Isolation Mode
Pen Tool Game
Pen Tool (Extras)
Other functions/tools we’ll review in class
Pathfinder
Object
Transform: Move, Rotate, Reflect, Scale
Arrange
Group/Ungroup
Lock
Window (Dialog Boxes)
Align
Quick Duplicate (Holding down Option)
Color
Layers
Stroke/fill
Pen Tool
Shape Rectangle (Ellipse, etc.) Tools
Rotate
Scale
Brushes
Shape Builder
Clipping Mask
Pattern Tool
Pattern Brush
Scatter Brush
Art Brush
Live Paint
Art Board Tool
Using Kuler
Saving Swatches
The eye does not see things
but images of things that mean other things…
— Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
Project 1
What is an Image? How does it Mean?
Analysis of images, exploration of abstraction, basic non-objective shapes in a fixed space—three separate compositions addressing space, figure ground, relationships, reduction, and meaning
Project 1 has 3 parts. For each part produce 6 or more studies and one final composition for printing/submission.
1.1 Literacy 10×10” Black and White – Sound to Image Translation
Assigned 8.27 Due 9.12
1.2 Meaning 12×12” Wordless Product Pamphlet
Assigned 9.12 Due 9.26
1.3 Abstraction 12×12” Color Interpretation of an Invisible City from Calvino
Assigned 9.12 Due 9.26/10.1
Project 1.1
In this first exercise you will transform sounds to manual sketches and then into digital (vector) drawings, creating abstract, non-representational shapes and simple symbolic forms to express meanings in a fixed space, using a variety of tools, methods, and organizing principles.
Readings (for Sept 3):
Communication Models, Davis
‘Image’ definition, Wikipedia
Arranging Things, Koren
Why I Taught Myself to Procrastinate, Grant
Reading (for Sept 10):
The Nature of Representation, Davis
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Create an Adobe ID Password:
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Launch Illustrator and create a new Custom (10” x 10”) document:
Open Illustrator Prefs and set grid lines every .5″ with subdivision of 1
Use the Rectangle Tool and draw a 8″ square
Under View menu, turn on Snap to Grid
Center the square, position 1″ from the top of page and 1″ from the left edge
Outline the path of the square with a .5 pt black stroke
View grids so that you see a grid of .5″ squares
Under Object menu, Lock Selection and in Layer dialog box make a New Layer
Save to the Desktop/Local Data drive
Translate the sound into marks in your sketchbook
Transform the marks into digital (vector) drawings
Create digital compositions in Illustrator
Multiple studies – and a repeating pattern
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Foundations of Art, Design, + Digital Culture 
