This week, I’m continuing to work on the final steps of my Cascade site. So far, I’ve gotten to add a multitude of things like color links, a contact page, embedded video, etc. Ideally, going through this Cascade assignment will help me with the Cascade Re-documentation project (Which I’ve started drafting on a Google doc).

 

Also, I had a bit of time after finishing my assignments, so I went ahead and illustrated my self portrait for the blog. I experimented with a cartoonish style and did the line work in Illustrator (alternating between Illustrator and Photoshop for lining and coloring). I kept it simple overall by using hard brushes to shade to keep everything flat looking (which seems to be my default style of choice). Overall, I had fun being able to relax and draw.

https://sta.laits.utexas.edu/blog/2018/07/02/23434-2/

I finished up Tate’s Cookies assignment pretty quickly. I followed the same process I used when creating the cookies. Overall, I’m enjoying learning Animate and feel like I’m gradually getting the hang of it.

https://sta.laits.utexas.edu/blog/2018/07/02/23418-2/

My finalized version of the This Is Democracy project ended up looking like this:

I rounded the corners (upon Suloni’s request) which I really liked because it matches the round and simplistic style of the image. One of the largest issues I had while finalizing this was that the Constitution in the background was clashing with the characters and speech bubbles. Suloni advised that I add a paper texture overlay to make everything look slightly like paper cutouts on top of the Constitution. I added a little bit of natural drop shadow in photoshop and I think the end result looks more cohesive than it did before.

Another assignment I finished was Kathy’s illustration test. 

Here’s an image of my process from sketching > line art > coloring:

 

The first idea that came to my mind when I was starting this drawing was something colorful and fun, so I went with a cowgirl riding a unicorn down a rainbow. I haven’t used a tablet to draw in photoshop in quite a few years, so my line art and coloring weren’t the cleanest, but I enjoyed the tone of the final illustration. Overall, I had fun letting my creative freedom drive this assignment.

Finally, I did Tate’s second object creation Animate assignment where I got to make cookie symbols! Again, I have to praise the thorough and detailed tutorials. They really helped me a ton with figuring out the layout and workings of Animate.

This past week was a pretty enjoyable and productive one. I’m loving learning all these new skills, and I can’t wait to complete more projects!

 

https://sta.laits.utexas.edu/blog/2018/06/28/23384-2/

I finished the character creation assignment in Adobe Animate. The tutorials were really helpful since I had no prior experience in Animate. The character I created was the pedestrian character. (Reference and my result shown below)

I also edited my This Is Democracy podcast cover taking into consideration the feedback Suloni gave me. I tried to add more detail into the wigs and made the characters’ eyebrows different colors to show that the wigs were fake. I also changed the size of the speech bubbles and enlarged the title and subtitle so it would be more legible in the mockup.

https://sta.laits.utexas.edu/blog/2018/06/25/23336-2/

Yesterday, I made my This Is Democracy podcast cover rough drafts. I went with a flat-design, cute, minimal looking cover. I also tried to use bolder colors and text to capture the listeners’ attentions (going with the whole youthful and bright tone that was requested). Looking back, I could’ve added more definition into the wigs to make it more obvious that they’re even wearing wigs.

Today, I started working on my cascade site; added the banner, some events, and made arbitrary body content.

I also worked on editing COLA IDs after Chloe walked through the process with me; here’s one example:

Hopefully, I can start working on the RUS412 assignments next week and continue to complete basic trainings.

Hi there! I’m Estella and here’s a bit about me: I am a sophomore Management of Information Systems major at the McCombs School of Business. I’ve loved to draw and design ever since I can remember. When I’m not working, you can find me listening to literally any genre of music, watching Netflix, or reading. I’m not too big on sports, but I can appreciate athleticism, and while I might come off as shy, I would actually really love to get to know you!

Today was my first day at work as an STA, and I am super excited to start officially working on projects with everyone! When I got in, Suloni taught me how to clock-in and gave me a quick run down of the STA Daily Plan. I spent a few minutes making my sharpie avatar (which was fun) and then went over the STA Handbook which consisted of all the rules about being a STA. I made my blog banner in photoshop, and now I’m typing out my first official blog post! I have to say, having been a PC user all my life, getting used to the layout of the Mac has taken me a bit of time (why’s it command instead of ctrl anyway??) but overall, I’ve enjoyed my first few hours. Ready to contribute and learn a lot!