Maureen Neuringer | COMD 1162 - Section D030

08 Discussion

Each week you will need to respond to two questions posted. Your response should be a minimum of 150 words for both questions. You should also include at least one response to your fellow students. The responses are a requirement for participation part of your grade.

Question 01 –

Describe three items you have learned doing the Midterm Project.

Question 02 –

How will you remember what you have learned?

14 Comments

  1. Lindsey Perez

    Question 1: Three things that I have learned while working on my midterm project have been Layer organization, the power of the pen/curvature tools, and the option to stack different parts of your work on top of each other.

    1. Layer organization: Working with multiple layers in Adobe Illustrator can be a bit daunting at first, but it’s essential to keep your work organized and easily editable. By working on a project with many layers, I learned how to name, group, and organize layers effectively, which can save you a lot of time and effort later on.
    2. With the Pen Tool, you can create smooth and precise curves and lines by placing anchor points and adjusting their handles. The Pen Tool can be used to create complex shapes and paths, and it also has several keyboard shortcuts that can speed up your workflow. The Curvature Tool provides an alternative way to create smooth curves without the need to adjust anchor points and handles. The Curvature Tool works by allowing you to create curves by simply clicking and dragging on the canvas, making it a more intuitive tool.
    3. The option to stack imagery on the artboard in Illustrator allows you to place multiple images on top of each other and control their order and visibility. This feature is particularly useful for creating complex designs that involve layering multiple elements or creating photo collages.

    Question 2: Practicing regularly. The more you use Illustrator, the more familiar you will become with the various tools and commands. Regular practice will help you remember the most commonly used commands and develop muscle memory for using them. Create a cheat sheet or list of the most commonly used commands and tools, and keeping it handy for quick reference. Taking notes as I learn new tips and techniques in Illustrator, take notes on the commands and tools used, along with any relevant keyboard shortcuts. Use online resources as well. Many online resources, including Adobe’s official website and YouTube tutorials, provide detailed information and tutorials on how to use different commands and tools in Illustrator.

  2. Adaliat Iusupova

    I learned how to use pen tool , blurring effect and how to use clipping mask . I used before pen tool but I made a lot of unnecessary anchor points . Blurring effect was not that hard to manage .However , I needed to practice to get an idea of what right amount of blurring is .Clipping mask is easiest way for me to clean the sides of the art board. I will remember all of the tools by practicing and made notes how to use all this tools step by step.

  3. cesarb

    Question 1: The midterm project for this class was fun and some things I learned many things that would be used in future projects. One thing I learned, or at least improved in, was the use of layers. Before, I would just drop everything into one layer as I would think it was okay and it wouldn’t be any type of setback. That wasn’t possible with this project as I had to layer everything by outlines, colors, background, etc. And it was a big help and satisfying organizing everything into its assigned place. Another thing I learned was how to properly apply gradients. I applied a gradient to the background of the project, using specific colors to complement its surroundings. Something else I learned was how to properly use the pen tool. It was satisfying to see how shapes were created by connecting lines together, and also how to cut the lines and make them shorter, using the scissor tool.

    Question 2: I will remember the things I learned in this class through being consistent with my work. Practicing consistently will not only keep me creative without losing interest, but it will put my knowledge to work and keep it in rotation, preventing me from forgetting it. Not only that, I will write down the keyboard binds, so I could look back at them in case I happen to forget any.

  4. Jabez Brisueno

    There were many things that I had learned to do while I was working on my Midterm. First of all, was getting used to the concept of shapes and fill when doing characters or outlines of characters. One of my biggest struggles was doing details and upon realizing that I can outline details over solid filled shapes, the process became much easier. A second thing I started to learn or get better at was the use of Gradients and colors in objects and adding more colors to that gradient to make it stand out or make lighting. Finally, I wish I had learned to use brushes earlier because If I did, certain aspects of my midterm such as the water or even the outlines of the characters may have came out more artistic and accurate to the image I was doing.

    At this point, I can remember many of the things I’ve been doing in illustrator pretty well simply because I’ve been consistently doing them, and It was enjoyable doing those things. So naturally it would ingrained in my mind pretty well, However if I do forget I did type some key binds and other tools in my notes to make sure I can remember them for future use. I also can say that It’s easier to remember since many of Adobe’s key binds are at least somewhat similar so I can continue seeing them and be able to recall their use.

  5. Nicole Nunez

    Describe three items you have learned doing the Midterm Project.

    While doing the midterm project I learned how to use layers in a way that is beneficial to me. When doing a project with a lot of different characters or objects there will need to be a lot of layers so I learned to use sublayers within in each larger layer. However many of the skills I learned were before the midterm itself, since my poster was fairly simple. For example, I mainly just used the shape tools to create all of my background shapes and the pen tool to create all of my characters. For certain curves I had to toggle between the pen tool and the curvature pen tool to make the lines as smooth as possible.

    How will you remember what you have learned?

    I will remember what I learned by practicing these skills and using them in other projects and when the skill is something I may use frequently I will find out the keyboard shortcut and write it down in case. Usually if I use it frequently I will remember how to use it and be able to help others learn these skills as well.

    • Jabez Brisueno

      I agree with the idea that helping other people use the skills we learned actually helps us remember it better. I found myself being able to remember the key binds and tools pretty well just from reminding others, so it definitely does help.

    • Lindsey Perez

      I appreciate your response and your thorough explanation of what you learned during the midterm project. It’s great that you were able to learn how to use layers effectively and create sublayers within them. I also think it’s helpful that you plan to remember what you learned by practicing these skills and using them in other projects. Writing down keyboard shortcuts for frequently used skills is also a great idea to help remember them.

  6. Melissa

    Question 01 –

    Describe three items you have learned doing the Midterm Project.

    Throughout the process of the midterm, I kept doing the same process for making the figures as well as the small details. The beginning was difficult because I didn’t know where to start. However, I learned to start with a big shape and from there add on the smaller details. The way I did this was using the pen tool for everything. I started off with the pen tool and followed the outline of the shape. After that I learned how to use the gradient tool with the color picker. I’ve used alternative gradients such as scaling it or moving the center light to another direction. As well as adding more than three colors in one gradient helped me solve some issues. I also learned how to make object glow and making them transparent by using the effect menu and blurring my shapes. This made my objects three dimensional and not flat. 

    Question 02 –

    How will you remember what you have learned?

    I didn’t write anything down as I was in the process of the midterm since I just kept repeating the same technique. However, one way I can is to keep practicing and re-create other objects. An alternative would be to write it down. On the other hand, I don’t believe that I’ll remember where I wrote it down so the best way for me is to repeat the same process on other objects. Or I can explain my process to others who I show even if they don’t ask for it…

  7. Nathaly

    Question 1- During the process of the midterm I encountered various difficulties, but was able to come to solutions with them. An example would be when creating an extra point that I don’t need, in this case I would just undo all the lines until it takes me back to the beginning but instead I found that the pen tool with the minus perfectly helps resolve this action. I also learned how to use the inner glow tool to give depth to a shape using the multiply setting. Furthermore, adding gradients in various directions and using the feather tool to blur some solid shapes for a more blended look really aided me in my midterm.

    Question 2- In order for me to remember things I usually write them down in a step by step process inside my journal. That way if I were to forget something I’ll just take a peek at my journal and remember how to perform an action. Although it isn’t the most reliable option in case I don’t have my journal in an event I’m currently starting to upload certain pages to my photos app on my phone.

  8. Paulina Guadalupe

    1. While working on the midterm in Illustrator there were several things that were brand new to me that I was able to put to use and experimented with. For the most part, my poster required some gradient work and I learned how to work around with the Freeform gradient, it was fun and interesting to see how the colors would blend together and how I was able to control it. Another thing I learned was how to manage the layers on Illustrator, each little stroke could become its own layer and I learned how to manage them on the Layers panel. One more thing I learned is about effects. There’s not many textures on my project but while working I found a lot of options for blending shapes and styles or textures. Though I didn’t use them this time, I know for future reference.

    2. The best way for me to remember things is writing down what I learn to keep track of it. If it’s a keyboard shortcut I usually try to incorporate it a lot while I work on other things. If it doesn’t apply to my current project then I usually do it just to build some muscle memory. If it’s something like working with a gradient then I just mess around with it on a blank document for fun and it helps the concept stick a bit better in my mind.

    • Nahida Akhter

      I agree managing the layers was another thing that was new to us. Th e gradient tool that you mentioned was cool to hear, I saw your finished poster and see what you mean how it blends together. Your poster came out really good and is very identical to the original.

    • Melissa

      When you mentioned controlling the layers I completely agree. I forgot to mention that on my post but I also learned when and how to organized the layers so that it was more simpler. Also, finding those pattern texture effect is very useful I wish I could have found that effect sooner. My project had a lot of 3-D elements to it as well as lightning shadows so I worked a lot with that.

  9. Nahida Akhter

    Question 01 –

    Describe three items you have learned doing the Midterm Project.

    This was a really cool midterm to do and I really enjoyed it because I learned how to do something new. One item I learned was how to use the gradient tool and of how to play around with the gradient either radial or linear. I used linear radial for the blue parts of spider-man’s suit. Another thing I learned was the pencil tool, I manually drew out the poster on my ipad to make it look neater. The third item I used was the stroke and used the slash key. When fixing details with my computer to zoom in I did command 0.

    Question 02 –

    How will you remember what you have learned?

    I will remember because I wrote everything I did and the shortcuts in my notebook. Another way would be that practice doing this until its in my memory. Doing it over and over will be great practice for me and that’s how I also learn how to use these tools on illistrater.

    • Nathaly

      The gradient tool is something fun to experiment around with, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I like how Nahida constructed her poster design in her own way, by starting out manually and building up from there, sometimes your own style and way of doing things helps better your work. I really enjoyed your spider-man, it was very intricate and detailed. Great work!

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