2D Design - The Grade 7 Yearbook Mock-up: Creating the Solution

2D Design - The Grade 7 Yearbook Mock-up: Creating the Solution

We are a bit unsatisfied with our school yearbook and are therefore making our own in photoshop using the principles of graphic design. I have already decide how it is going to look in the previous phase. In this phase which is creating the solution, I will be both making the product and teaching you how to make it step by step. I hope you'll enjoy and that this is helpful!

This is the final product. Good, right? Ha ha!

Note:

1. Download Adobe Photoshop CS6 before doing anything.
2. Please remember to always save your work.
3. Feel free to do it the way you like. This is just a reference and the contents and for making my product.
4. The yearbook page in this tutorial will only be able to fit 12-13 mugshots.
5. Please try to name each layer carefully and detailed.
6. Depend on both the words, videos, and screenshots, and make sense out of it.
7. Please make good use of the sites provided.
8. Please read the changes and problems carefully and don't repeat the same mistake.
9. Please read everything carefully.
10. If you have a question about the instructions that you have another way of doing it, you can do it your way. However, the instructions are the ways I recommend and that I think is the best, simplest, easiest.
11. Please revisit and review previous text or videos if you do not understand or forgot how to do something.
12. Please finish reading all the instructions before starting to work on it.
13. If you are not exactly following my instructions, which means you don't have your measurements on here. Then, please take a note of your measurements as the project goes.

If you haven't look at my previous blog post about this project, the above is the planning drawing for the page. Therefore, it is going to turn out looking like that. However, please be aware that it is telling the story of my class.

Step 1 - New File

This is what we're doing in this step.

As one of the design specifications is to make the page A4 size, I tried to do so. One of the mistakes I did was that I was thought I would go to a document, then take a screenshot of a page and put it in photoshop. And the result to that is a FAIL. That is because you have to set the size of your background before you start working it. And then, I found a good youtube video that helped a lot, I hope it can help you too:

Remember the ratio of A4 size is 29.7cm to 21cm. After setting up the background, I would like you to make sure that the layer is named "background" just to make it more convenient for the future.

Before we go any further, may you please collect the mugshots (in this case silly portraits) of the people (in this case your 12-13 classmates) and arrange them in case you haven't.

Step 2 - Decorating and Finishing the Background

This is what we're going to finish with in this step.

Now use the paint bucket to paint the background but do not add new layer. You can choose the colour you like, but I'm using light sky blue (I did something accidentally when I take the screenshot so it looks greyish). Now use the round rectangle tool, which is right below the curser tool. You'll have to right click and choose the correct tool. Now draw a round rectangle: Radius 7, Stroke is 6 pt, Fill is yellow. Once again, feel free to choose your own colour. Afterwards, move it upwards until its top line is gone. Now, draw the two diagonal lines on the left and the two on the right, trying to make sure they are about 45º. Do so by using the grid and counting the spaces when drawing it. Now, Use the rectangle tool draw a rectangle that is going to fit in the lines, and just drag it in. Use "transform" to make adjustments if it doesn't fit. if you don't get it just use the paint brush or pencil tool. If it ask rasterize shape or what, just click "OK". Now you have the place for titles, use "text" tool to put down "Autographs" in the middle, and "Mugshots" on both corners. I'm using bold Verdana. Make sure you use the rotate tool in transform (in the menu bar) the "Mugshots" text to fit it in its place.

Step 3 - First 4 Silly Portraits, Decorations, Getting Use to Doing This

This is what we're going to finish with in this step.

We are now drawing the black round rectangle with the yellow gears on it. Now, use the round rectangle tool and draw a round rectangle: Fill black, stroke black, 20 px. Draw it so that the edges are all round. Now, we are adding in the gears, I recommend the 3 that is right below. I used the second one.

Here is a video on how to put the gear and other stuffs like the mugshots into Adobe Photoshop (CS6). Enjoy!

Scale the gear properly and move it into the right place as shown in the screenshot. After you've done that, you'll have to put in the mugshots or silly portraits of you classmate. We'll do the first 4 in this step. Now, watch the video below and learn how to put in the mugshots/ Silly Portraits correctly. Then, do it for all four of the mugshots/ Silly Portraits and then we'll go to the next step.

I mentioned in the video that take a screenshot so that all the mugshots/ Silly Portraits are equal, so that none have a different ratio, being wider or longer. Actually, you don't necessarily have to do that, you can just use the crop tool. Below, there's is a link to a youtube tutorial in using the crop tool. Both ways work as well, so it depends which one you like.

Now before we go to the next step, use the line tool which is in the same column as the round rectangle tool. Use the line tool to draw a line (it is the thick one on the right above the silly portraits, in the screenshot on top). The line should be: Fill black, Stroke black, No specific pt, Weight 8 px. Draw the line diagonally.

Okay, we're done for this step. Let's go on if you're ready. Take a break if you want :)

Step 4 - Working on the Second Row of the Page

This is what we're going to finish with in this step. If you see stuffs like the shoe and stuffs above, just ignore it, it's not part of the step.

In this step, we are going to work on the 2nd row of the school yearbook page, in other words it is also the centre of the page as this page have 3 rows. By now, I expect you to already know how to import, rotate, scale etc. for the images.

In the screenshot, there are two Silly Portraits on the left. On top, there is a black rectangle with arrows on it. That is what we are working on now. First, use the line tool to create the rectangle. Draw a line: Fill black, Stroke black, No specific pt, Weight 30 px, -15º. And then we will add the smaller lines with arrow-heads. But how do you make a line with an arrow-head? Watch this youtube video.

Draw 3 lines with arrow-heads: Arrowheads Start, Fill yellow, Stoke no, No specific pt, 3 px
Now, we've completed the rectangle with the yellow arrows on it. So now all you have to do is to: (1) Import all of those mugshots/ Silly Portraits that you have arranged previously to be in this spot (2) Scale them properly and rotate them to -15º. (3) Put them into the right place.

Let's move on to the 2 mugshots/ Silly Portraits on the left with the line on top! First of all, use the line tool to draw a line: Fill black, Stroke black, No specific pt, Weight 8 px, 10º. So now all you have to do is to: (1) Import all of those mugshots/ Silly Portraits that you have arranged previously to be into this spot (2) Scale them properly and rotate them to 10º. (3) Put them into the right place.

We're going to be doing this now.

Use the round rectangle to draw a round rectangle: Fill yellow, Stroke black, 7 pt, Radius 12 px. You can look at the size comparing it to the mugshots/ Silly Portraits. Use the same gear image and put two in there with the same size. Scale it so that the gear fit in the round rectangle on the sides nicely and that it is round not long or wide. And then, use the text tool to type "7-2" in black and in bold Verdana (that is what I'm using and what I recommend). Now use the line tool to draw a line under the yellow round rectangle a bit on the right. The line should be: Fill black, Stroke black, No specific pt, 3 px. Now, we are gong to draw the robot hand thing, or a mechanic clip thing, under that line. In order to that, we first have to use the Ellipse tool to draw an oval that is a little wide. The Ellipse tool is in the same column as the round rectangle tool. Draw the oval: No fill, Stroke black, 7 pt.

We finished step 4!

Step 5

As we get closer to the end, you will find that it will get tougher and a bit more complicate and a bit more to do. Also, for this step, I have circled the parts to make it clear what 'm saying, but do not misunderstand and think that is a part of the yearbook page, it's not.

You will first have the make the part with the red circle. It is the same things: Gears, lines with arrow-head, black round rectangle. Now, you changed the settings and sizes for the lines and round rectangles. You can refer to the arrows in the next step and the gears in the third step. The round rectangle should be -8º, as well as those lines with the arrow-heads.  It should be drawn a little bit wider than the other "conveyor belts" of the boxes. Now we are going to work on the shoe and the spring. Download the images below and just import them into photoshop. Afterwards, please watch the video below.

We'll get to the box and the mugshots/ Silly Portraits afterwards. 

Now we are going to work on the part in the blue circle. This time we are not using the line to to draw a thick line, we are going to draw a thin round rectangle. Use the round rectangle tool to draw a round rectangle: Fill black, Stroke black, No specific pt, Radius 30 px. Draw it so it's thin, thin, thin, just as shown in the screenshot. It should be 7º.

Now we are gong to add the 5 mugshots/ Silly Portraits. Import the mugshots/ Silly Portraits and scale them and rotate them according to the information provided previously. Now, the three mugshots/ Silly Portraits on the left are gong to generally have to be smaller and closer together even if the "conveyor belt" is a bit wider. Then, do the ones on the right, they are the same as all the other ones we did in the previous steps.

Now we are gong to do the part in the yellow circle. First of all, simply use the Ellipse tool to draw a oval on the very end of the "conveyor belt" on the left, as shown in the screenshot above. I would name it "Circle Entry" or something like that. The oval should be: No fill, Stoke black, 5 pt. Draw it as in the screenshot, a long oval. Now draw one using the same adjustments and settings, but draw it horizontally to the bottom of the last picture, as shown in the screenshot. I would name it "Circle Exit" or something like that. Now connect the two of the ovals with the Pencil tool. Draw the line very very thin. Then, colour the inside black using the paint brush tool which is in the same column as the Pencil tool. Then use the text tool which is right above the curser tool (actually called the path selection tool). Put "Final" as one layer: 11 pt, In yellow. Then put the "Exams" from the top to the bottom just simply by pressing enter every-time use enter a letter. If you haven't put them in the correct place, do it now.

Now we are going to work on the part in the green circle. First draw the line with the line tool. Press shift while drawing it horizontally so it's 0º (only let go of the shift button when the line is formed). According to the screenshot, draw it right next to the bottom of the "Circle Exit". The line: Fill black, Stoke black, No specific pt, 5 px. Now fit a round rectangle on that line. Draw the round rectangle: Fill dark brown, Stroke black, 7 pt, 30 px. It has to be long enough to fit. It has to be able to fit a text that is: Arial bold, 24 pt, in yellow. And we are going to type in the text "The End" now. Make sure the box fit. Do not change any settings or the round rectangle and for the text. Draw a round rectangle all across under the line. And then type in "Congratulations".

Step 6

We are now going to work on the boxes with your class in there. So if you haven't change any settings or stuffs since the last step, just go to the rectangle tool which is in the same column as the round rectangle tool and change the shape stroke to 7 pt. Draw a small rectangle. Then, if you haven't change any settings for the text, just open a new text a put you class # in there. Then, rotate both the rectangle and the text according to the angle of the "Conveyor belts", and fit the in the rectangle, with the layer text above the rectangle. And there you go, boxes with class # on them. Put all of them in the centre of the "Conveyor belt". Except for the one in the third row on the right. For that one, place it a little on the left to leave some space for the autographs as there's a shoe and a spring.

Step 7

In this step, we are gong to add in the autographs. First of all, simply take a blank A4 paper and collect everyone's autograph (I suggest you get them to use a marker or at least make the lines thick so it would be obvious in the page), making sure that you have enough space between each. Then scan it. Then, open it in photoshop 12-13 times (depending on the # of people). Each time you open it use the crop tool or eraser tool, and then the magic wand tool to select one autograph only. The other way of doing that is: Opening the file and taking 12-13 screenshots, each time with a different autograph. Whichever way you do it, you will then have all of the in you yearbook page. Then, you just have to arrange them to make sure the correct autograph is on the correct person (with the "Conveyor belt" in between). However, for the last row on the right there are 2 mugshots. You will have to adjust the places so that everything fits. Also, on the left of the last row, the middle mugshot/ Silly Portrait would need a different arrangement for the autograph. I would put it in the bottom of the mugshot/ Silly Portrait as there is still space.

Please take note that this yearbook page does not include name (tags) as the Silly Portraits are suppose to be able to tell who that person is.

Before we finish, make sure you have it 300 ppi. That is what my class have came up with after discussing. You can of course change it if you want. Watch the video below if you dont' know how to do so.

You can also watch a video from youtube about it if you prefer:

So now you have your own (school) yearbook page! Happy? I hope it's useful and have helped you. I also hope you like the product and have enjoyed the process!

Investigation - The Circumference of a Circle

As you may be able to guess from the title, this investigation is about the circumference of a circle. We are trying to find how many times a diameter of a circle can go into the circumference of a circle. Although some of us already know that before, we are asked to prove if it is correct. And it is of course 3.14 times.

The first task was to get a chalk and tie it to a string about one metre and something long. Then, we measure it and cut it to a meter (recommended to do so when stretched). Then, we draw a circle on the ground and that would make the diameter 2 metres as the radius is 1. However, we have to very careful to not pull the string or pull the string when drawing the circle, depending if the string's cut stretched or not. And then, we have to take out the chalk, cut the string into a metre when not stretched, and then lay it on the circumference perfectly and see how many times it can fit in the circumference. The string would fit in about 6 times as it's the length of the radius, which means the diameter goes into the circumference about 3 times. Technically, it should be 22/7 or at least 3.14, but approximately it is 3 times. (I do think it would be more precise and straightforward if we make the diameter a multiple of 7, and find out if the circumference is the multiple of 22. That would prove it too.)

Then, we did some exercises dividing the circumference by the diameter and finding out if it's around 3.14. Of course, again, technically it should be 22/7, but approximately it is 3.1 times. That's because the measurements are to the nearest tenth.

I had no difficulties and I have figured out the solution quickly before taking the task. I totally understand it also. However, I didn't use any diagrams. We did discuss the purpose of this investigation and the discussed that π is 22/7 with the proof from the numbers we found out in the investigation.

Introduction for PE Unit "International Games"

Our current and last unit for PE is "International Games". In the following video, I am going to introduce you what this unit is about and what we have done for this unit. Enjoy!

Outdoor Pursuits

We have four different outdoor pursuit where we go off campus every Friday. It is really fun, and the coaches are really good, we got a lot of attention, and we had a really good time!

Mana Mana Kayaking and Stand Up Paddle-Boarding

The first outdoor pursuit we did is kayaking and stand up paddle-boarding at Mana Mana. First we did kayaking. It was my first time but we learnt how to paddle in order to go forward, to turn left and right, and go backwards, and I learnt it really quickly with the help of the instructors and classmates. And I liked it a lot. It have also trained our ability to follow instructions and cooperate. Then, we did stand up paddle-boarding at Mana Mana. With the experience of how to kayak, stand up paddle-boarding was pretty easy to manage as I am good in balancing originally. Although I had some issues with gong forward with paddling only on one side and I keep on turning, it was training our muscles a lot but at the same time very fun. I enjoyed the time at Mana Mana kayaking and stand up paddle-boarding a lot!

Kinetics Bouldering and Rock-climbing

The second outdoor pursuit that we did is bouldering and stand up paddle-boarding in the Kinetics. This was really thrilling. For rock-climbing vocabularies, we learnt:

1. Double-back lock & Auto-lock for the harnesses.
2. Jugs: They are big climbing holds that have deep in-cuts, and are very easy to hold on to. 
3. Pinches: They usually stick out of the wall as half a sphere, and are very small and difficult to hold on to.
4. Slopers: Half a sphere that is big.
5. Crimps: Small-medium holds.
6. Belay: The action of using a rope to prevent the climber from falling when he lets go, for security.

And other vocabularies.

We also learnt the things we had to say before climbing - "Belay on?" "Belay on." "Climbing?" "Climbing." and then at the very top ready to come down "Tight?" "Tight.". We also learnt how we should straighten our arms instead of holding ourselves up, when not in the move for bouldering. That is because it would save much more energy and our muscles would be less sore.

For bouldering sideways, we also learnt we should - I think, I remember some - moving to the right, we have to put our right arm on the rock on the right hand side; then, we have to put our right foot on the rock on the right side; then, we have to move our left hand to the rock the same rock as our right hand; then, take our right hand and move it to the right one, then put our left foot to the same rock as our right foot. Something like that.

We also learnt the efficiency to swing to the un-reachable rock instead of stretching out our hands as far as possible. 

Mana Mana Sailing

We then went sailing in Mana Mana. This was very very fun. I enjoyed it a lot! I wasn't quite familiar with sailing at the start, but if you ask me now, I think I would know the basics and I would know how to sail with a partner by ourselves. It had also grab my interest and I might consider having extra sailing lessons! We learnt the parts of a sailing boat and what they are and what they are for:

• Stern
• Bow
• Dagger board
• Main sheet
• Boom
• Main sail
• Tiller
• Rudder
• Tiller extension

And there are much more I know. But those are the ones I know clearly. We also learnt the point of sail and the position of the main sail. If we are going towards the wind diagonally, the main sail should be away from the wind, and we are going to have to pull the main sail towards ourselves. If we're sailing with the wind on the sides, the main sail should be away, and we have to let go the main sail some more. If we are going away from the wind diagonally, the main sail should be released. With the back facing the wind, we let go of the main sail until it's way out. The below may explain it clearer.

We learnt that usually the crew member (the one controlling the main sail) is suppose to sit opposite the sail - which means to sit with the back facing the eye of the wind; the captain usually sit on the other side unless the wind is so big the boat is likely to capsize. If you are facing the wind to 90º to the wind, when the wind is strong, you pull the main sail to gain speed. The way to balance the boat is to lean backwards sometimes even using the hiking strap to hold onto the boat and lean to the full extent. If you really can't balance the boat, releasing the main sail would be necessary.

We also learnt that the port side is the left side of the boat; the starboard side is the right side of the boat.

Overall, I really enjoyed sailing and I found it really interesting and fun!

Kallang River Dragon Boating

I like dragon boating as we do get a lot of attention from this coach. Each time the coach would choose a captain each time. We have to be confident and lead the next we go there. We are all gong to be captains for at least once. As captains, we have to make sure everyone is prepared before we get off the bus. Captains also have to arrange the positions on the boat of our classmates, before we arrive. Captains first sort the people which are good in rhythm, and they are going to go in front; and then there are the strong ones, they are going in the middle as the engine; and then there are the pacers, who can really follow the pace and the beat and the rhythm. Afterwards, we would have to lead our fellow classmates to jog and do some warm-up exercises. Afterwards, we put on our life jackets, grab a paddle, and then hop on from the front to the back. And then, the coach will tell the commands, and we would do it. We did: Power 5s, Reach it out, strokes... That kind of stuff. The ones in font usually lead the counting, and the rest would follow and say it out loud. We learnt that we should always look up so get the perfect timing as we would get an idea of what the whole boat is up to. We learnt everyone would have to cooperate especially the two in front - the leading and following is really important. The timing is the key to get the boat moving well with power. We also do try to not splash water on the ones behind us. We would paddle along the river and sometimes do tag out in the river. Some captains also come up with new games. Then, we would go back and do cool down exercises and stretches. It really did train our muscles (we also had to do push-ups and stuffs) and taught us how important cooperating is. And it was really fun. I enjoyed it!

2D Design - The Grade 7 Yearbook Mock-up: Developing Ideas

2D Design - The Grade 7 Yearbook Mock-up: Developing Ideas

Develop Design Specifications

• The size of the page ought to be A4 size.
• The size should be 300 ppi.
• It should be portrait, not landscape.
• It should be funny.
• It should look beautiful and colourful but not boring.
• Effective use of the principles of design.
• It should be Unique.
• There should be relevant pictures of relevant people.

Design Ideas

 

The above is my first design for the mug-shot yearbook page. It will pair up the best buddies in our class and probably a group of three (as our class has an odd number). It also tells the story of this year for grade 7s in CIS TK: We have to use our energy to move the box at the start of the year – getting use to school after the holidays, and for some of us getting use to a new school environment. Then everything went smoothly until the big gap in between. Therefore, I put a “7-2” there to both put our class in the middle of the page, but also saying in the middle of the year we need some effort to bring us to a new level – having exams especially. Then, as we continue, that slippery slide made us unstable, so we’d give it a kick. And then, we again need our energy to move our box up to get to the final exams. At last, it’s “The End” and there are some “bye-bye” stuffs going on. The names would go on the slide/ track (where there are those xxx although I forgot to put on some). Also, I have the titles smaller so it doesn’t take all the attention.

There should be a range of fonts used here. The titles including the "7-2"sign in the centre of the page will be in bold Verdana. The "7-2" in the boxes is going to be in Trebuchet, while the rest is Arial.

The background colour should be light blue. It will give a more relaxing feeling but at the same time contrast with the yellow that's going to be used in slides and with the brown that's going to be used for the boxes.

The above is my second design, and the good thing is that it’s very neat and well-organised. It has a “comic style” big title that stands out and gives a thrilling feel. The flower background with 13 pedals tells that 7-2 will bloom/ is blooming with its 13 students/ classmates. The names would go below, following the arrangement and order of the mug-shots. Although I’ve drawn that the autographs/ signatures go to the bottom, I’ve just thought of a better idea: As to give a more comic feeling to suit the title, the signatures should be in a speech bubble of each mugshot.

The "mugshot" title and the "names" title of this one is going to be in Francois one in bold because it has the comic feeling. The names at the bottom of the page is going to be in impact to give that comic feeling.

The background for the "names" part is going to be in a wood texture. The flower is going to be in pink and yellow. The background for the mugshots are going to be in light blue, as it is the sky with the flower, it would look good. Around the "Mugshot" would be yellowish as to make it shine and stand out thingy.

The above is my third design for the page. It gives that royal, high-class feel with the (wooden) frames around the photos. Therefore, the fonts should also have that professional, high-class feeling, so it should be fonts like “cursiva” or “playball”. If you notice, it is lacking one mug-shot, which is just a mistake. The names should be on top of each mug-shot. And actually, it will have a curtain behind the mug-shots, only the mug-shots though, so they stand out and once again look professional. There would be some hill thingy with 13 figure on it. It represent us going out of school and running towards the nature, the society, the outside world… And under that are the autographs.

Playball in bold will be used in the title on top. The names on top of each mugshot will be in Tangerine. The "Autographs" will be be in Pinyon Script.

The title is going to be in black and the background behind the title is going to be in white. Of course, the curtains behind those mugshots is going to be in red. The autographs part is gong to be in light green to refer to the hill colour.

Please note that:

1. All of the above design have the photos to 1.5 inches in length, and 1.2 inches in width.
2. And they all should have regular distances between each photo.
3. They are all drawn in A4 size.
4. For all of them, the images I'm going to need is the silly portraits used as the mugshots.

Chosen Designs

Feedback:
It is very creative! It is good that I mesh the autographs and the mugshots together. Most of them prefer the first one. It is very cool and creative with that factory feeling and the boxes going through each step.

Chosen Design:
Me, myself, actually admire the first one. It has been the best ideas and effort too. So, it is going to be the first layout that I'm choosing. It tells a good story, it looks cool, it's creative. It looks the most interesting. Therefore, the first layout is chosen.

Planning Drawings

The pictures I'm going to need is obviously the silly portraits of our whole class - 13 people. I am gong to get the people to put a clear image of their silly portrait into one google doc. Now I'm gong to arrange the best buddies:

Jia Yang Umair
                                                                          Rex Sagar
                                                                          Morgan Kajsa
Paul Jonas
                                                                          Maizy Medha
Arnav Matthew Kevin

2D Design - The Grade 7 Yearbook Mock-up: Inquiring and Analysing

2D Design - The Grade 7 Yearbook Mock-up: Inquiring and Analysing

As said before, we are working on graphic/ 2D design using photoshop in this unit.

1. Explain and justify the need for a solution to       a problem

We have decided to make a silly funny yearbook (page) for ourselves as a project for this unit. This is a great decision. It is because:

1. We can have a yearbook that we own more (because we aren't very satisfied with all the serious pictures in our school yearbook).
2. We can be more creative because the yearbook isn't for school but for us.
3. We can learn and apply the techniques of graphic designs that we just learnt.
4. We can practise using the tools in photoshop and use photoshop to do some good job.

These things, all in one project! Perfect!

2. Primary and secondary research

The tools:

1. One of the is the concept of working with layers. This is really important and makes using Photoshop much easier than on paper. It's because when we can work on separate layers and arrange the layers, the layers can also be named so you would identify them, you can also create a layer. we don't have to think for very long and decide which layer goes first and which go second and which... Also, we won't mess up other parts (in this case layers) when we work on one part. However, I feel it might be hard to get use to it when you paint or do something, you have to work on separate layers. So it's sometimes inconvenient and sometimes take away your habit of thinking carefully before doing something because you can't do that in real life.
2. We can take import an image into the project from many places like internet or on the mac. With that, we don't have to draw or make our own image or figure or only get the image from one place. It makes it really convenient and allow people to get a wide range of images or figure or photo...
3. Now with the images imported, one good thing is that we can crop it and take only the part we want. This is really important because it allows us to choose the part we want from an image we've chosen.
4. We can also use the magic wand to take away the parts with same colour in the image. Not just that, we can change the sensitivity of it. Makes it a lot easier to just get the part you like.
5. We can also transform the images imported. We can rotate, scale, skew, distort... It allows us to make it fit in and make it look good in the project.
6. We can also erase or paint on a layer to get the colour we want and to take away what we don't want.
7. We can also make a layer which is for the brightness and the contrast and stuff and make it look good and beautiful.

The concepts:

1. For Gestalt principles, I'm going to use the Starbucks logo as an example: There are closures in many places. The "mermaid tail" is just a couple of white curved lines, but we see them as a "mermaid tail" with patterns, and our brain close it up. It also forms a circle around the body of the mermaid. Similarity: Although the logo doesn't show that the "mermaid tail" is connected to the body, the similarity that the hair down the body and the stripes on the tail let our brain relate and connect and group them together. Figure and ground: For sure, some of the green is part of the figure, but obviously, most of the green is the background which doesn't stand out as much as the white and the shapes in green aren't that special.
2. Closure. The adidas logo has closure in it. If you look carefully, you can see the shapes on the top are actually in three, and are separate. Also, the two lines in following and the piece in blue at the very bottom, they are all separate. However, when we look at them, they seem to be one whole, closed shape with three white lines on there. That is closure.
3. Movement: It is kind of like continuation. Internet Explorer and the windows 7 wallpaper is a good example. There seems to be a flow in the lines that, that make you see it's moving across the screen, while it's actually not.
4. There are also other concepts and principles we learnt. There is alignment, it is to keep related objects in a line.
5. Balance: When you distribute the objects on the surface equally in number, including the effect from the size of the objects. Many logos are so simple they have only a few objects to distribute, but they do put them in the middle (Balance is an important part for wallpaper designs).
6. Contrast. It makes the the people looking distinguish the object from object or from background... It can be done using the difference of contrasting colours, size, shapes...

We've also learnt lots and lots of other concepts and principles (graphic) designs.

3. Analyse a range of existing products

Now, I am doing the inquiring and analysing phase. We are asked to find a good yearbook example and a bad one. I have two main ones, but I'll also be talking about two other ones.

The one above is a one I chose as a good one. It may not be the best and we may not write a lot of words, but it's a good one. This is, I suppose, a sports (events) page from a high school year book. You may not notice very obvious Gestalt principles, but there are some parts that are remarkable and makes connections.

1. Those pictures are all around the text. You usually don't understand what the words are about until you read it out (boring). However, in here, with all the sports pictures around the text obvious it should be about sports.
2. The text are also usually much less attractive than pictures. However, in here, the big words just seems to grab or balance your attention to read it as it might be useful. (May be TRK means Track also)
3. The pictures are also quite similar. Of course when you take pictures of the same subject or event, they are alike usually, but when you look at the blue track background and the strong muscles, you kind of connect them all together as one event. Very successful!
4. The pictures themselves have a balance in the people (the faces, looks, bodies), and the background (the sports played, the event happening, the occasion). Nice balance! It also have bigger and smaller pictures and arrangement in place to let your attention go to some pictures more.
5. The "Indoor Track" on the left and right corner or the 2 pages are good. The colour is well-chosen: relating the blue with the track and make it feels calm, probably to balance the competition and eager in sport with a calmer colour. The left and right corner thing also makes it cool and most importantly, not take away the attention of the text and pictures.
6. Good balance of how they put the pictures. It's not like they stuck all the photos on one side or at the bottom or at the top, but they made it all around the place.
7. White space: It is a suitable amount of white space between the pictures and the texts. It doesn't look too plain but it gives the right amount of white space that you don't feel it's too busy but spacious.

The yearbook is not very bad, but the good one is much better for me. The picture looks cool and are well-organised. However, it somehow makes you feel weird when the whole page is packed with rectangular pictures and the titles are even in boxes. It does make a connection but it looks a bit irritating and should have some more space for decorating the page and make it look less packed. There is a lack of white space. They should perhaps remove some pictures or make them smaller or make the page bigger to increase the white space, so it would feel more spacious. It might also seem like the title is too less obvious and it just looks like a bunch of colourful boxes stacked neatly on the paper.

4. Develop a Detailed Design Brief

We chose and are given different parts and pages of the school yearbook to work on - events, special guests, mug pictures, class photos, daily pictures, lesson pictures, funny pictures, excursions and field trips... So what sort of page do I intend to make. I intend to make the mug shots and the autographs page. What is the target audience of our project. Of course, it is us as we are not quite satisfied with the school yearbook as we don't have much ownership to it, so we want to have one that is decided and made by us. I have decided to make this page because I think I am more stable with mug shots, but there's a better reason. I usually notice the mugshot pages in the school yearbooks especially boring. I want to make this yearbook less boring even in the most boring part. I would also like to challenge myself through the process and use my creativity. I was assigned to make autographs but I thought it was fine because it would also be a challenge to make it look interesting. I actually like collecting pictures from other classmates too, it creates more communication and cooperation. We just discussed it in class and it seemed like not much wanted to do that (they want to do the fun ones) so I thought I would give it a try. I also wasn't that confident I could get pictures of the other ones.