What I Learned in this class

In the first couple days of class when we were going over the file of where we had to fix the file ourselves. I was completely lost.  I had no real idea of what prepping our files for print meant.  I didn't know there were so many steps involved.   I was completely lost when Christel was talking about placing images at 100%.  Over the next months of the class,  it became second nature to check all of the settings. 

I started to realize how important it was to have a clean file setup.  It makes it so much easier when you take it to the printers and they don't have to fix anything.  Such as color mode.  It is so important to have it printed in CMYK because that is what the printer understands.  It can make it a true color.  If it was in RGB, you're taking the chance of the coloring being off.  Resolution  is so important too.   You don't want a grainy image in your final printed piece.  It shows carelessness and not paying attention to detail.

Font management is also so important.  You need to know what types of fonts are ok to use in a certain project and where to store them.   How you package your file will also allow these fonts to be opened on other computers if they do not have the font installed on their own computer.  

I love being able to work in all Adobe softwares.  I think my favorite is Illustrator though.  I love being able to see what I can come up with and how much I can accomplish myself without having to go to the internet to get a reference for it.  It is essential to use all of these programs together to get the best looking project you can.  Do not limit yourself.  

In the end,  I think this has been my favorite class to come to.  I love that I was able to design everything myself while learning the valuable skills of setting up a file.  The on-screen critiques helps alot because you can get so much feedback and it can really help your design.   I definitely  recommend this class to any graphic designer! 

Final Project

For our final project, we were allowed to create whatever we wanted but it needed to have a fold.   I decided I would make my roommate's graduation invitations for her.  She is going to be needing them in the spring semester and was hoping to find a somewhat cheaper way and more personalized way of having her graduation invitations. Since she writes for the school newspaper, I decided I would incorporate some of that into the invitation.  
My price quote for the project is: 
Coated:Endurance 100# Coated book 12x7.5 White
Font:Color Back Color
Cut to Finish size with two folds = $31.49 for 50 copies. 

All photography was taken by me and there for copyrighted by me.   All other images are also created by me in illustrator and Indesign.

It took me a while to come up with a good sketch of what I really wanted to design for her. Here are the 5 thumbnails

This is the final rough that i decided to go with with two folds. 

Here are the final images or what I finally designed.

Here are screen shots to see it better

It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to do the cut out of the 2012 with the newletter type inside of it. I love the final version of the project!