Digital Media? Yes, Please

I would definitely say that, overall, taking Digital Media has been a good high school experience. Although, for me, the class was required, it was enjoyable. Not only did I learn a lot of useful information, but I also had fun. In order to fully critique the class, I have decided to make somewhat of a pro/con list.

Digital Media Benefits:

• Learning vital technological information
• Learning the basics of Photoshop and InDesign (which will surely help me in future classes)
• Learning about my First Amendment rights as a student
• Learning the basics of good graphic design

Most Enjoyable Aspects:

• Spending 45+ minutes every morning with my friends in an interesting and fun class
• Working with Photoshop and InDesign
• Becoming familiar with the ins and outs of good graphic design
• Learning how to create a legitimate yearbook/magazine spread

Possible Changes:

• Working more with InDesign and Photoshop
• Analyzing more graphic design (I really like that)

The past 18 weeks have been filled with information and fun times. I especially loved eating candy in class, posing for pictures on Homecoming Week, and the very beneficial work days. I will miss Digital Media!

Digital Media Class on Cowboy Day of Homecoming Week 2010

Graphic Design Critique

I had no idea so many examples of bad qraphic design existed! You would think that the creators of these websites, magazine spreads, and logos would be able to see their blatant graphic design errors…, but they don’t. Fortunately for the rest of us, we can laugh at their blunders. After searching bad graphic design on Google, I had a hard time choosing just three examples. Here are the finalists:

1.

An example of poor web design

 So, I don’t know about you, but this web design hurts my eyes. First off, there is just WAY too much going on. There are too many colors, too many fonts, etc. My eye has no idea where to look first. Another bad characteristic is that you can’t tell what is information and what is advertising. The LG advertisement just blends in with all of the other squares of color.

2.

An example of poor magazine design

This graphic design is a bit better than the last one. (But, it can only go up from there.) Much like the last example, this graphic design does not let your eye know where to look first. But, the large photo does help the eye focus despite the large amount of text. On the plus side, this design only includes two colors and a few fonts.

3.

An example of poor logo design

In comparison with the other two examples, this logo does not appear to be that bad. The colors are bold and grab the viewer’s attention, but the text can cause some confusion. You can’t readily tell what it says, and that’s a problem. For those of you who still can’t decipher it, this is the logo for the 2012 Olympics in London. Any logo, especially one for the Olympics, should be very easy to read.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a bit different from those of years past. This year, my family and I decided to blend some new traditions with the old ones.  Instead of letting us sleep in, my sister, Marian coaxed us into participating in the 10th annual Habitrot. This is a 5K (3.1 mile) run/walk organized by Habitat for Humanity. Not only does the run support a good cause, but it is also a great way to burn off some of the hundreds of calories that we all  consume later on Thanksgiving Day.

Although it was, in my opinion, a challenging run, it was a fun experience! I finished the run in 33 minutes and 58 seconds. I feel that this is a pretty good time considering the fact that I had not been training in the least for the run. In addition, I was the first person in my family to finish the race. 🙂

The logo for the 2010 Habitat for Humanity Habitrot

After the Habitrot, my family and I went to my grandmother’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving. This grandmother is my mother’s mother, and my sister and I affectionately call her “May-May.” Elmo, May-May’s fiancé, was also there along with my 100 year-old great-grandmother, Lillie Mae, who I call “Grandmommy.” Confused yet? 😛 

Grandmommy and Me on her 100th Birthday

At May-May’s house, we all gathered around the dining room table and enjoyed a feast. Turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet-potato casserole, cream corn, lima beans, green beans and red potatoes, cranberry relish, warm rolls, coconut cake, cherry pie, and ambrosia. And everything is homemade!

For those of you who don't know, ambrosia is a type of dessert consisting of pineapple and coconut

After we all stuffed ourselves, we all claimed spots in the living room and dozed off while watching football. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Neverland…

Hello all!

This past Tuesday I celebrated my 18th Birthday. While I always have, do, and forever will absolutely LOVE celebrating my birthday, this past momentous occasion was a little on the bittersweet side.

As everyone knows, once you turn 18, you are considered an adult by law. And while this coming of age allows you to participate in all sorts of fantastic things (voting, buying a lottery ticket, signing for myself, calling 1-800 numbers, going to big-kid jail JK!), I wasn’t completely looking forward to it. It has always been one of my goals to never grow up. And even though I am an adult by law and some of you will laugh, It is still my plan to remain a child at heart.

Peter Pan is one of, if not the, best childhood stories of all time. It is also one of my favorite movies. The concept of never growing up is simply enchanting. It has often been my dream to travel to Neverland with Peter Pan and live there forevermore with no worries about the future.

But, unfortunately, we all must grow up. Nevertheless, I have found a loop hole! While it is true that we all must get older, we never really have to grow up. Despite the fact that I cannot travel second star to the right and straight on till morning, I have made up my mind to never grow up by simply remaining a child at heart. ❤

All Hallow’s Eve

Happy Halloween!!

So, I don’t know about y’all, but Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays. I’ve always loved getting dressed up, meeting some friends, and going Trick-or-Treating. In addition, I love the spooky aspect of the festivities. I’ve never been one to shy away from the scary, and this holiday is a perfect fit for me. Did I mention that I love Halloween?  

Throughout the years, I have dressed up as a myriad of things for this spook-tacular holiday. For my first Halloween, I was a pumpkin. I’ve also been a clow, a cowgirl, a vampiress, and a princess among other things. BUT, my favorite costume of all time has to be a WITCH. I absolutely love dressing up as a witch! I honestly think I have been “a practitioner of witchcraft” almost everyother Halloween.

Here is a picture of my friends, Monica and Lauren, and me from our Halloween celebration last night. I am, of course, a witch.

 

The Indian, Witch, and Devil

 

The First Amendment

Before the past week, I never realized how little I knew about the hConstitution. I mean, I know facts about the Founding Fathers, but I have never comprehended how blessed we are to have so many freedoms.

The First Amendment reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ”

I think that it is so wonderful that we live in a country where we are free to express our ideas, feelings, and opinions. Without the First Amendment, I probably wouldn’t even be able to post this blog. In addition, this amendment protects my right to practice my religion of choice and petition the government peaceably. Now that I fully comprehend every right that the First Amendment protects, I will never again take it for granted.

“The Crucible” Countdown

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Fall Break! Mine hasn’t been the most relaxing due to the fact that it has been jampacked with college applications and study sessions on “The Crucible.” Nevertheless, it has been a very fun, much needed break. These two extra days have really given me a chance to sit down and memorize my lines. I am getting so, so very exicted about the Fall Play. Opening night is exaclty 3 weeks and 6 days away! For those of y’all who don’t know we are performing Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” a very intense, moving production about the Puritan purge of witchcraft in old Salem. To learn more about “The Crucible” and the Salem Witch Trials, you can visit http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm.

“The Crucible” The Movie

I am playing the part of Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor. In short, my husband has committed adultery with a seventeen-year-old servant-girl, Abigail Williams. Abigail now wishes to kill me and take my place as John’s wife; so, she accuses me of witchcraft. John goes to court to face Abigail and prove my innocence, but things spin wildly out of hand. This is a very intense production in which no one can be trusted and ulterior motives rule the day.

Elizabeth and John Proctor

To get a better idea of the play, please visit  http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1519059225/ to see “The Crucible” movie trailer.

Fonts, Fonts, Fonts…

As you can probably already tell from the title of this post, my Digital Media Class is studying fonts and their affect on magazine articles, books, media and web design, etc. I will admit that the topic of fonts is definitely more intriguing that I originally thought, and it got me thinking. Remember how years ago, when computers were just becoming popular, there were only a handful of fonts. Now, we have hundreds of fonts. Serious fonts, fun fonts, cute fonts, simple fonts, big fonts, small fonts…. Gosh, I sound like I’m writing a Dr. Seuss book, but you get the idea. Although my class is only dipping its toes into fonts, the subject is actually quite interesting and vast. You can check out more about the topic of fonts in the article, “Do typefaces really matter?” at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10689931.

Now onto the fun part! I really love most fonts. Although there are none that I just completely abhor, I will admit that I do have a few favorites. I am definitely a fan of the fun, crazy fonts, but I do understand the necessity of the more serious fonts.

One of my new favorite fonts is called “Gigi.” It’s just a fun, girly font.

Another font that I like is called “Freestyle Script.” I think that I like it because it is very similar to my own handwriting in the aspect that it’s not really cursive, but it’s not really print either.

One of the more serious fonts that I like to use is “Cooper Std Black.” It is a good, bold font with rounded serifs.

These are just a few of the fonts I adore. There are many more. (Oh gosh, more Dr. Seuss.)

Oh, if we were a movie…

Why, hello there fellow bloggers!

As you know, this blog is specifically for my Digital Media class, and each week we are asked to write a post on a certain topic. Well, the assignment for class this week is to post a 2 to 3 minute video on our blogs. The video can be on any subject- whatever suits our fancy. I was sitting in choir, musing about the assignment, and my friends and I came up with the amazing idea to make a music video. What a thought!  So, two of my friends, Matthew and Kaissling, volunteered to help me out. Little did they know what they were getting themselves into….

Now, I present to you the official music video for the Hannah Montana song “If We Were a Movie.”

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1551647911#!/video/video.php?v=1611295652904&ref=mf

I Spy With My Little Eye…

For the past week, I have been working on a project for Digital Media. The assignment was to make a photo collage that spelled out “Franklin Road Academy” with the letters found in everyday objects. One might think that this project would be easy. And that person would be wrong. Not only was it difficult to find some of the trickier letters, but it was also time consuming. Although the project was harder than expected, it was a lot of fun, and the finished product looks great. Searching for the letters, was like playing “I Spy.” It brought out the little girl in me.

Franklin Road Academy

I also had to do a collage of my name.

Malone