Sunday, February 21, 2010
Reflection on Glossary
After finishing your revision on Glossary Assignment, convert it into PDF format and upload it to Google Docs. I will show you how to upload a file to Google.Docs and share it with others in class. You need also to reflect your learning experience in working on your project including the problems you encountered, how you solved the problem, and how helpful the peer critic was. I look forward to your revised project.
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Glossary Reflections 2/24/10 Stacy Reese
ReplyDeleteI found the peer review of our work very insightful. After considering comments about the “brightness” of the colors on my layout, I decided I needed to change the intensity of each color. The color scheme of the glossary page is basically the same, but I changed colors to a lighter shade of blue and yellow. At first glance, I wanted to change the text “Glossary” from a black font to a white font; however, this was not an option after the other colors were lightened. I had major problems changing the text box from two columns to three columns. It looked so easy in class, but that was not the case in my glossary. I enjoyed this project and even though I still feel a little lost, I know that practice will bring confidence.
I really enjoyed the assignment! Getting to know InDesign is really proving to be exciting. When doing the assignment I did encounter some problems, but I tried to limit myself to things we have already learned to do in class. I am confident that further instruction in the class will lead to my designs being that much better.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part of the assignment, for me, was probably alignment of the various aspects of the page. Aligning various boxes is made easy with InDesign, but aligning text within the text frames is a little more problematic. Another hard decision to make is that of color. It is difficult for someone with little experience in color theory to find the right colors for a document. I just had to try different colors to find one I liked.
The peer review was very helpful. Seeing the same document designed in many ways allowed us to see things we perhaps should have done differently. Seeing designs using three columns made me feel like it would be easier to read if it were done that way. Also it was very interesting to compare the use of color in the different designs.
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ReplyDeleteThe project of creating a glossary was quite a journey. I feel like I stumbled and got lost several times. In the end I did learn quite a bit, but am still very hazy on many of the tools in InDesign. It is important for me to realize that this was my first solo project with this software, and beginners always get confused. Although future assignments will be more complex, I feel confident that I can complete everything satisfactorily.
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, I started on the assignment early, and did not know we only had to do the first page of the glossary. So, I created a master page for consistency in the heading, page numbers, margins, and columns. I used a graphic for the heading which I found in Microsoft clip art. Since it is impossible to import Microsoft clips into InDesign, I inserted my chosen graphic into a PowerPoint slide which I saved as a jpeg file. InDesign will accept jpeg files. By using the Microsoft clips, I do not have to worry about copyright issues.
I wanted some color in my heading, so I created a purple rectangle background for the heading. By playing with the software, I figured out how to make the rectangle have a gradient effect, which I thought was pleasing.
Before I started the project, I looked at some samples of glossaries and decided I wanted three columns. However, I felt the introductory paragraph should stand out, so I chose to make it a single column. I recall one of the CS3 videos showed how to make a drop cap, so thought that would be a nice touch for the introduction.
I used semi-flow to place the glossary text from column to column. I tried for a while to figure out how to create and use paragraph styles because I knew that would save time. But, I was lost at that point. So, I manually adjusted the font, text size, and bold. Being satisfied with the project, I decided to stop.
The peer critique was extremely enlightening. It confirmed some of my design choices and made me rethink others. As a result I decided to make three changes to my glossary. First I made the text font much smaller and reduced the space between lines. Second, I added a narrow gradient color bar to the bottom of the page enclosing the page number. Last, I changed from a dull purple to a warm orange on the heading and footer. I think these changes improved my design greatly. I would not have thought to do these changes unless I had the chance to compare my design to others and see how small details can make a large difference in the overall appeal of a design. I really enjoyed seeing the creativity of my classmates and learning from them.
Note: I used a gradient fill in my glossary which does not display properly in the Google Docs preview. I recommend clicking the download button to see the glossary in Acrobat Reader. Thanks.
Glossary Assignment
Reflection on Glossary…
ReplyDeleteHaving completed my first glossary at the last minute, I will admit that not much time and thought were given to its design. Being allowed to revise my first attempt gave me the time to think about the project and its design. First of all, I liked being able to view everyone’s project and to hear the different points brought up by my classmates. I was able to review my project and adjust it following some of the comments I heard during class.
ID2 is a little different than ID3. One problem I encountered was inserting clip art in my design. With a little patience, I was able to solve the problem and finish this project.
Jeremy Wright
ReplyDeleteWhile working on the glossary project, I felt I needed to deal with the issue of keeping the information easy to navigate while giving it some visual interest. I didn't want the page to be overly sedate, or boring, but I didn't want the information (the most important part of the glossary) to be lost amongst a slew of colorful graphics and high energy design directions.
I decided to draw attention to headers with bolded, blue colored text. I repeated the blue-to-white gradient color at the top and bottom of the page to try to give the design a cohesive look. I also added some thin blue separators between the text columns to add another layer of color repetition and to visually break the columns. Column breaks were employed to eliminated widows.
It was hard to really gauge the effectiveness of the glossary with only one page, but I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do.
Unfortunately, I missed the day of our peer critique on the glossary project and can't comment on how helpful it would have been. I can only guess, after taking part in the peer critique of the flyer project, that getting to see where others succeeded and struggled would have a been a great help for revising my design.
Michael Mitchell
ReplyDeleteSorry, didn't realize this was up until now.
The Glossary project helped cement for me the lessons we’ve been learning on the four basic principles of design: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. Going into the project, I understood the principles but I was still a little lost about putting them together. Because of this, I made a very simple design that ended up being too simple and not too good.
In making my design, I was too unsure of myself to branch out and try, say, dividing the definitions into columns or lowering the font size to make more room on the page for more information. My biggest problem with this assignment wasn’t that I didn’t understand the lessons related to making the glossary. I could work the software just fine and I knew the principles. My worst problem was that I felt I had no example to go on. I felt I couldn’t be sure whether one choice would be more pleasing and make a better design over the other.
To solve this problem, I stuck with a simple, one column, one color design. I knew this was not the best design I could make, but I also knew that, with a simple design, I could be critiqued and better understand what separates an ok design, like mine, from a good or great design. This is exactly what the peer review process did for me and why I enjoyed it so much. I was able to compare my work with the others, see what they did to overcome spacing, coloring, and font issues, and how their results ended up looking on paper. This not only showed me ways to make my own project more appealing visually, it also gave me an idea of how to branch out and try new ideas, which will hopefully help me do better on our next projects.
The beginning of this project seemed simple enough. Before this project, I am not certain that I truly understood how much difference there is between desktop publishing and design. It was revealed to me during the first class, and the critiquing of the glossary that opened my eyes. The eye-opener was the first time all of the projects are posted on the board for classmate review. It was easy to see I was better at desktop publishing than design.
ReplyDeleteThis project did not take a long time the first time. I kept everything on one layer, so it seemed simple. Using the word simple is not accurate in what it took for me to complete the project. The revision brought out my creative side. I tried to get a little fancier, and to take some “unnoticeable” shortcuts. Little did I realize that once it was in print, it was more noticeable? I tried to space between definitions by sight, and it was quite noticeable to the critics. I will admit the picture in my mind for this project did not get on the paper.
Using the tools is not so hard, once I remembered what they did and where they are. It was the second revision that seemed to take way longer to complete. Practice, practice, practice is a requirement for the InDesign program. I also learned that I should always complete a project, go away for a couple of days, and then go back and look at it again. Also, I should not be afraid to be creative.
Our first InDesign assignment was to create a glossary. Easy project. Well, easy said but a little more work than originally thought.
ReplyDeleteMy first draft was okay but definitely needed work. I was pleased with my revised project. I inserted a clipart with a creamy beige background and a title with approximately the same colored background. The colors blended well together. Inserting the text was easy since Dr. Wang provided it in a Word document. The biggest decision was deciding how many columns the document should contain.
Glossary Reflection
ReplyDeleteWhen I first starting working on my glossary, making columns seem to be the hardest thing for me to
figure out how to do. The first attempt wasn’t so good because I was unable to create my columns.
When we got to class, I was able to learn how to create columns from my peers. I redid my glossary and
formed columns which made my glossary look better.