How To Create A License Plate Using Photoshop

This link is brought to you by Devan Birch and his desire to create his own vanity license plate(s) as a final project in Intro to Media Arts.

Happy viewing.

-Mr. Hoban

Scenes from Media Arts Class: Construction of OTS Graphics

Section I busy making a media mess of the joint!!



Ava, the Designer Extraordinaire, pulling some strings.



Eddie's answer to Edvard Munch's iconic image or just a normal student expression during mid-terms? You decide.



Matt R's design for the OTS graphic for the winter musical "Tommy". (Reflected image is that of John Gutierrez, playing the lead in the winter musical.)



Group shot, with work on display, in academic hallway.



Another group shot.



Hey! Where'd everybody go? Oh snap!! It must be winter break! (Make it a safe one.)

Plans For The Final Two Weeks:

As promised students, this post will act as an "online prompt" to remind you of all the good work you've done and all the solid learning that went on during this past semester in Intro To Media Arts.

Below are the list of individual and group project-based assignments (as well as BIG concepts) that we covered in class. Use this information to help you decide what your FINAL CULMINATION PROJECT will be for this course. And of course, go back in time by reading older posts on this blog to help stir up the memories and to come up with something totally cool!

Have at it...and don't come to school "empty-headed"!!


Projects & Concepts:
Paper Airplanes
SMS Shorthand Poetry on Cellphones
Vanity License Plates: The First Ever Text Messages
The "I Wish For" Postcards
The Bic Pen (doodles, etc)
Newspaper Jargon (Ball of Confusion...failed project!)
Logo Initials
The Maul
Skype (Hoban Telecommutes!)
Media Artist Research Paper (Comic Life)
Over-The-Shoulder Graphics
The Media Art of Kevin Van Aelst

One Week Into Winter Break!

Wow! It has indeed been a while since my last post. Busy, busy times.

Three weeks ago (when school was in session!) the media arts students began their final "guided" lesson of the semester. For two weeks they studied the graphical design work of TV pioneer Mr. Ben Blank. To learn more about Mr. Blank's contribution to TV news broadcasting, you can view this video as well as read more about him in the New York Times obituary. Mr. Blank died in February, 2009. He was 87.

Ben Blank's seminal contribution to live televised news is the now ubiquitous "over-the-shoulder graphic". The concept was straightforward: draw the viewers into the news story through simple yet captivating imagery that summarized the import aspects of the topic in a single graphic.

This idea was what the media arts students devoted two weeks into studying and ultimately creating their own over-the-shoulder graphics for an upcoming HUN TV news show. The potential stories, for the month of January, were: Mid-term exams, the winter musical: Tommy, a piece on Myron Rolle and auditions for new HUN TV hosts.

The final 2-D graphics created by the students were well thought out concepts that become eye-popping imagery, ready for broadcasting! Photos of the students work will be posted soon.

Enjoy your break, one and all!!

Look! Over-The-Shoulder Graphics Lesson

If you have a spare moment tonight, or tomorrow before class, do a Google search of the phrase: "over the shoulder graphic" and immerse yourself in the world of the news story told in a single image. We'll pick up our exploration of Ben Blank's pioneering technique in the world of television graphics tomorrow.

Also, here is the promised link to Kevin Van Aelst's web site.

Enjoy!

-Mr. Hoban