Are you a member of a student organization? Is your group looking to campaign on campus?Well, you've come to the right place for learning the DOs and DONT's of campaigning on your campus! 1. BEFORE YOU BEGIN CREATING MESSAGES:THINK FIRST COMMON TYPE OF MESSAGES ON CAMPUS.Choose the best one for you.
banners (broadcast a message like a billboard; all audiences welcome)
fliers / handbills / circulars (means the same thing, intended for the message to get passed around)
petitions / pledges (getting people on your team; looking for commitment)
literature / pamphlets (leisure reading)
signs / posters (intended for quick reading / seen from a distance)
social media (blogs, MySpace, FaceBook; intended for interactive participation)
promotional items (clothes, bags, stickers, etc.; intended to generate a buzz)
MESSAGE STRATEGYMEANS RESEARCH Know Your Audience Find out what makes them tick. Whether your audience is colelge students, young women, church groups, governments; whatever it is, the way you approach each one will be differnt. This means, the 'personality' of your message will need to addressed through specific colors, fonts and media. Where do these people hang out? Who do they talk to? What do they wear, etc.
Don't Reinvent the Wheel If you're tryign to come up with a way to communicate a particular message, chances are, it's been done before. Check with other chapters, and find out what already exists. Take their idea and make it your own.
Think about what you've been exposed to in the past. What made the light go off in your head? What was the trigger point that made you react?
What's the Desired Outcome? Basically this is the answer to, "What's the purpose?" With ALL marketing and adveritsing, whether you're selling sodas or diapers, the main objective is to create a call-to-action; which ultimately means, the audience will think, feel or do something.
"The purpose of all advertising is to establish or change someone's attitude."
An attitude is a predisposition to a specific judgmeent to a designated social situation; behavior pattern. The only way to change an attitude is repetition (frequency) and consistency.
This means, repeating the same message over and over again. Consistency means, doing it in the same way, each time it's repeated; i.e. same placement of text, same colors, same logo, etc.
Getting Credibility When you repeat the same message consistently, over time, your brand will start gaining credibility and trust with your target audience. When this happens, your audience will then be able to recall the name/purpose/campaign and, every creative director's dream, brand recognition.
Recall - remember something without seeing it. Recognition - see an element of thebrand, and be able to identify what it is.
REMEMBER
Always communicate one message at a time. One thought at a time.
Your message is not always about looking pretty.
Sometimes photos may be better than text, and sometimes illustrations may be better than photos. Depends on the situation, who your audience is, and what you're communicating.
You love cartoons, you love art, you want to express yourself, and you want to tell stories... You can! Animation is a magical instrument of expression, invented and evolved within the 20th century, looks like living its high times today with the new advancements in technology.
I’m an animation and illustration artist. Graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004, worked in New York studios for about 4 years, and continuing my career in Istanbul since 2008. I love all kinds of animation, and making movies in general. I’m particularly into character driven stories. Finding out what you really want to do as a job, is really half of the job. The rest is just research and training - which you’ll have the rest of your life to spend on. It took me until around age 22 to figure out that I want to make character driven animated films. It’s never late to learn what you want, and talent is nothing compared to determination
There is a great variety of positions in the film industry, many media to choose from, and infinite styles to work within. An art related background is always better, but not really necessary. You don’t have to be able to draw really good to become an animator, especially today; but being able to express thoughts by drawing in a simple way is something that anyone can learn - and should! I’ll try to talk about popular forms of animation, the jobs associated with them, and how to get into it.
Traditional (Classical) Animation: The roots of this historically most popular form of animation goes till the beginning of 20th century. Newspaper cartoonist Winsor McCay created "Gertie the Dinosaur" in 1914 over a bet.
Although it wasn’t the first animated film, it was the first project to develop some key techniques of animation that are still used today, and was the first animation with a character that had an appealing personality(*). Gertie paved the way for Disney studio, and pointed the direction that hand-drawn animation would follow for decades to come.
In a traditionally animated cartoon each frame is drawn by hand. Movies in USA run 24 frames per second, so 24 pictures needed to be drawn to create the 'persistence of vision'. Because animation requires an intense level of labor, high production costs, and lots of time, animating with 12 frames per second is widely used by lower budget projects. In 12fps films, each drawn frame is duplicated to reach the 24fps running speed. Going below 12fps usually creates jerky motion, where it gets less pleasing to look at and harder to understand for the viewer.
Later TV animation (limited animation that is) used this cheaper method for the series. In college, I heard once that some episodes of The Flintstones were animated on 6fps at the time! In traditional animation backgrounds are drawn once, character animation is drawn on paper over the backgrounds; the animation is then transferred to cels (a clear sheet of plastic) by inking or photocopying, to be colored by other artists.
For the past few decades computers moved into many areas of production, and eliminated the painstaking coloring process primarily. Today almost no one uses cels, and animation is transferred (scanned, photographed) to digital platform to be painted by a software.
Older techniques like multi-plane backgrounds are also handled within the computer software. In traditional animation the variety of job positions are roughly as follows: Director, Storyboard Artist, Animators, In-betweeners, Inkers, Colorists, Production Designer, Layout and Background Artists.
This form of animation is the one that requires the greatest fine arts skills. People who want to do traditional animation should improve their skills in one of these areas: Drawing, Tracing, Painting, Design. Although it dominated the market for a century, classical animation projects are getting harder to find these days.
With the help of computer technology drawing skills are not really necessary, the job positions are varied much more, and the visual outcome is more fulfilling when two production times are compared. No need to mention that computers generate much of the job after setting up the parameters right; such as lighting, coloring, effects, in-betweening (tweening/morphing) and etc...
Stop Motion Animation: In stop motion animation objects are physically manipulated to create the illusion of movement. Each small movement is photographed individually to create the animation when played as a sequence.
Clay models containing a skeletal structure inside (wires/armatures) are one of the most popular puppet types for stop motion animation; a technique referred to as claymation.
The term stop motion contains a wide range of styles and media such as: Cut-out animation (pieces of cut and painted paper are moved to deform the shapes), Pixilation (each small human movement is photographed individually, instead of being recorded real time), Pinscreen animation (a flat board with equidistant pins sticking out of holes, pins are moved in and out to create shapes on the board), Strata-cut animation (uses similar materials with claymation) and etc... Wikipedia did`t, but I’d add Sand animation to that list too. Where shapes from sand on a backlit or frontlit screen is moved around, and photographed.
In the beginning, it’s likely that stop motion was used more for the special effects scenes of a movie, rather than being the primary technique of the film itself. Creation of fictional or prehistorical characters to be superimposed over live action footage, such as the early King Kong and dinosaurs, were the most popular uses of the technique; however, soon the medium took on itself and formed one of the most popular types of animation till today.
A few general problems in stop motion animation are creating motion blur for a fluid movement on screen during fast moves, strobing issues, gravity, and effects animation like smoke - water - snow and etc. As each type of animation, stop motion has its advantages and disadvantages over its rivals. A good lit scene can have a photorealistic quality, which would be extremely difficult and inconvenient to create in traditional animation.
However, in traditional animation the animator can deform the subject in any way on paper to fulfill basic animation principals, like, squash and stretch. Another thing to tackle when doing stop motion is that the use of key frames is almost impossible; the animation needs to be shot in a sequential manner, which requires extra planning. The job positions for stop motion films are roughly as follows: Director, Storyboard Artist, Sculptors, Dressers, Animators, Set Builders, Cameraman, Production Designer...
Computer Animation (CGI): CGI refers to the general term computer generated imagery, which contains the sub topic computer animation. The use of 2D computer animation in movies goes back until 1973’s Westworld, and computers made a solid appearance using 3D (wireframe) graphics in the 1982 movie Tron. Computer animation in essence, is the digital successor of stop motion animation, and frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations (*).
The difference between 2D and 3D computer animation is that in 2D, images are created on a virtual plane represented by the (x,y) axes of the Cartesian coordinate system; where in 3D, images are created in a virtual space represented by the (x,y,z) axes of the Cartesian coordinate system. In 2D, (x-horizontal) and (y-vertical) values are used to determine the position of a point (vertex) on the virtual plane; and the points form the flat shapes eventually, much like connecting the dots. In 3D, (z) axis is added to the equation to determine the depth value in the virtual space; and points form the volumetric shapes eventually.
Visual representation of 3D objects/characters (models) on the computer screen is constructed by the edges that connect the points (vertexes), and neighboring edges form the faces known as polygons to create the surface area of the shape. This underlying structure of a model is known as a mesh or a wireframe. Computer animation is the most successful to replicate real world physics so far. For that, creating 3D animation on the computer is much like shooting a live action movie: You have a virtual space where you can start building your sets.
Characters and other objects are modeled much like sculpting virtual clay, starting from basic shapes and detailing towards the target shape progressively. A skeletal system is built inside, and bound to moving objects and characters with a method known as rigging. Controllers added to the moving parts of the rig, so that the animators will only deal with them instead of manipulating the actual skeletal structure.
In organic models these rigs look very much like the creature’s skeleton in real life. Virtual cameras and different types of light sources that imitate their real life counterparts are introduced to the set. Bare models are dressed with a technique known as texturing, in order to define their color, material, and surface qualities. There is a linear timeline representing each frame of the film, and models are posed with key frames and breakdowns on the timeline.
Computer then generates the images in between those keyed-poses of the object or character. Lights and cameras can be animated as well; and dynamic calculations can be used to imitate natural phenomena like snow, rain, smoke, eruptions and other types of natural/artificial effects. A strong understanding of physics, art, and computers is essential to good quality computer animation. In no other medium so far, science and art have been so closely intergated with each other.
It may take several years to grasp control over the technique, but it presents limitless opportunities for visual production as a result. Since the first feature length CG movie, Pixar`s Toy Story (1995), many animation studios around the world shifted their production towards computer animation. CGI is likely to dominate the market for years to come, although other types of medium are likely to survive by enthusiasts.
People who want work in computer animation projects should improve their skills in one of these areas: Animating, Modeling, Lighting, Texturing, Rigging, Programming, Drawing, Painting, and Design. The job positions in this field are roughly: Director, Storyboard Artist, Animators, Modelers, Texturers, Lighters, Riggers, Technical Directors, Character Designers, Compositors, Production Designer...
The essence of every motion is transformation. In animation, transformation refers to three different actions of a shape: Move, rotate, and scale. More complex animation will include complex deformations of the shape and its parts. In animated movies the production revolves (or at least it should) around the animation. Backgrounds, lighting, color, texture; even sound is usually there to support the animation.
This fact was understood better in the early days, when artists were dealing with drawings or puppets. Introduction of computers blurred the line between visual effects for movies, motion graphics, and animation for cartoons. Hyper level of realism it provides for perspective, color, light, texture, dynamics; and interactions of these within the scene over time can be a tricky eye-candy, as well as being spectacular imagery.
Footage that have pleasing CG imagery, but poor animation quality may have the power to impress the audience at first look; though, in comparison, films that have simpler visual quality but better animation are more likely to become timeless pieces (this is more a personal point of view than a proven fact). And of course, story is the most important thing in every film.
The question is, what makes good animation? What makes it captivating and memorable? Personality... But what is that personality really, how is it achieved? Well, pioneers Frank and Ollie already explained that... I`d recommend every cartoon lover to read the bible of animation: "The Illusion of Life - Disney Animation" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, if they really are in love with the art form, and want to reach higher grounds in the field...
Research on computer animation also bred the Motion Capture technology, where the movement of an actor -wearing a special suit with sensors attached- is recorded; this motion data is then transferred to the character in the computer. Where this may create very realistic motion quicker than actually animating the character, it may kill the means of expression which is essential to the art form (in a spoof video at YouTube with the title CalArts Producers` Show Intro - 2007, pioneers of animation mocks this situation perfectly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA7V6fwzJtI).
A similar technique known as rotoscoping is used in traditional animation -sometimes to reduce the intense labor of animating- by drawing over prints of live action footage. However, it never managed to replace the primary technique for cartoons. Motion capture and rotoscoping can be the best way to approach some particular projects; especially when imitating real life situations, and incorporating characters that are not really there into live action footage (think of Peter Jackson’s King Kong). But this usually falls under the category visual effects.
Overuse of these techniques, especially in cartoons, may sometimes help reduce production costs, but can never fill in the place of animation. Because the essence of good/expressive animation is also the shapes, as well as timing and spacing; and the magic of animation is in its power to show us what we can not see in real life. To be able to capture that, research, testing and improvisation is a must...
Various techniques of animation can be combined to create unique effects. This experimental approach is quite popular between independent artists and in short films especially. CGI may have great visual quality in result, but other techniques certainly have their own value and charm coming form their hand-made nature.
Plus, one can always make a better judgment by also considering how the artist reaches an outcome, rather than solely looking at the outcome. It’s easier for a beginner artist to concentrate self-improvement in a particular area of the production, such as, the animation, or the modeling, or the backgrounds, or etc. Especially in computer animation, artists can be eager to learn multi disciplines, since it is possible for one person alone to create a production quality film.
These artists can find jobs under the title generalists, work independently as freelancers, as well as concentrating in a particular area more than the others in order to find jobs. The tools, the softwares, the styles to choose from can be really difficult and confusing. But let me assure that one doesn’t need to know everything, or all of the software packages. A lot of successful artists learn only what they feel comfortable with, and push their skills towards that direction to create stunning work.
There is no one way to reach a goal in animation, especially in computer animation, but infinite ways! The trick is to work and research hard, to discover your own methods, to create your own solutions for problems, and to try perfecting these rather than putting your hands on everything.
Talent is controversial, persistence is essential, and hard work always pays in the end...
(*) Wikipedia.org is used extensively as a resource for this article.
This post is in response to a request to talk about handling taxes when you have your own business.
People from over 104 countries read the Subconcious Tonic blog. I can't answer this in one way to apply to all people. But regardless of where you are, and as I've mentioned before, if you're doing business, do it legitimately. In the United States, that means, get a Tax ID.
A Tax ID allows you, as a service/product provider to sell goods or services legally. You can get a Tax ID from your local state comptroller's office. But you must register a business name in the Assumed Name office first. They are also a great resource to answer any other tax related questions.
TO CHARGE OR NOT TO CHARGE TAXES Once you have your Tax ID, you are then able to use other vendors, such as printers, tax free! You're allowed to do this because you're going to turn around and sell that item to your client, and by law, you're supposed to charge sales tax.
For example. I am going to order 3000 brochures for a client. I've selected a printer, and once they are complete, I will pay for them. But if I show the printer I have a Tax ID, they will not charge me tax.
The idea is not to pay tax twice.
The sales tax you charge your customer will have to be paid to the state comptroller at the end of each fiscal year. Depending on how much money you make, you may have to pay taxes quarterly.
DO I HAVE TO PAY MORE TAXES DURING INCOME TAX TIME? Yes. Because the money you are receiving is considered an additional source of income. So you are required, by law, to report any income and pay taxes on them.
WHAT ELSE IS A TAX ID USED FOR? You're only allowed to use it when you're buying products that you will resell to a customer. I just made 15 hats for a client that had custom embroidery. I could buy those hats tax free from one vendor, and the vendor who did the embroidery could do it tax free as well. Get it?
Please post any questions you may have about your business below. Good luck! -Kelada
OKAY, so you've finished the artwork, and now you're looking to get it printed. Where do you go? What do you say?
COMMON TYPES of PRINTER REQUESTS FROM FREELANCE DESIGNERS In most cases, you've probably already talked to your client about what kind of paper quality, etc. they want. But then what do you do once you know?
First you need to determine what it is you're printing, here's a list of a few things you'll probably find yourself needing to print for a client:
business cards
fliers / brochures
post cards
custom promotional items
There are hundreds more to add to this list, but these are what you're most likely going to run into.
RULES YOU NEED TO KNOW These are my own made up rules from my experience. It's always good to be fair in business, but not everyone is. Here's your turn to show your good intention and start good habits.
1. Always get at least 2 different vendor bids Getting more than 2 vendor bids is usually best. I often do 3. What's the point? Just to make sure you're getting fair rates, plus it shows your client that you're really looking at his best interest.
This rule applies to all vendors, including promotional item vendors.
2. Determine the need to go to a print house or do it digitally from an online vendor
Online printing is because more and more common. I do most of my small print jobs like business cards and brochures through online print companies. You can always requests samples to see their quality. Most of the online vendors have a guarantee.
There are small franchise printers like MinuteMann Press and Kwik Kopy who are also digital printers. I just find them to be unreliable with extremely low quality assurance practices. Hey, I'm sure some people have had good experiences. I'm not one of them.
The difference between an online printer and print house is simply they're methods of printing.
ATTRIBUTES OF ONLINE PRINTERS
Mostly digital, requires less pre-press time
Limited paper /coating / color options
Cheap
Great for small runs (small quantities)
Works with simple files like pdfs
Usually out-of-state, so there's a shipping cost
Tax free if the vendor is out-of-state (at least this is true for Texas)
Reliability: they usually specialize in these routine orders, so there's less chances for variance
Online work-order management: you can always re-order, and upload files at a click of a button. It's hassle free, quick and you can manage your orders 24/7.
Skip the trip to the UPS store: Online printers offer blind mailing. That means, when an order is shipped to your client directly from the printer, you can choose to have your company name as the return address, instead of the printers' address. Which means, you don't have to wait for the printer to send you the finished pieces, and then go to the UPS store and send it yourself.
Offers standard binding and folding
If your client is short on money, you may be a hero if you choose a digital print vendor
ATTRIBUTES OF PRINT HOUSES
True print veterans. These people are experts with their craft, and do everything by hand. Mixing colors (Pantone, CMYK) to die cuts. They are extremely knowledgeable and have seen every strange print request possible.
You get a personal account manager to handle all your print jobs, and years later, you'll probably have the same account rep, who will remember you.
Specialize in custom requests, packaging, die cuts, special papers, inks.
Often takes longer than digital printing, because of the prepress time.
Print houses are great for large runs (large quantities, minimum 3000 pieces) Although, they can do smaller jobs, it's just more cost efficient to do larger ones.
Have loads of paper options
Can offer special requests for binding, folding, die cuts
Tend to be more expensive, because it's usually much better quality
3. Choose a vendor who has a responsive account manager
It make you feel pretty bad when you choose a company to do your print work, and you can't find your account rep., or they really don't care about your business. It makes you look bad in front of your client if you keep putting things off because of your vendor.
"Print vendors should be at YOUR mercy, not theirs."
"Account Representatives" are common names for "sales people" at a print production house. When you call a printer (also known as print house, print bureau, print shop, print vendor, printer) you will be assigned with an account rep. That account rep is responsible for listening to your requests and finding the best options to meet your budget constraints and special needs. Good account reps try to meet with their client face-to-face.
Account reps who build relationships with you are often more reliable. If they give you a price that's too high, show them your competitive quote, and they'll often match or go lower to win your business.
4. Know your stuff It's easy to place an order online to print business cards, but do you know what 4/4 is? How about aqueous? And 14 pt?
Do your research and find out the lingo of the paper and printing business. Working with a professional print house, they see people with no experience in the biz, but if you're claiming to be a designer, you need to know the lingo to speak to your vendors. Plus, it ensures they are doing everything you ask for.
5. Know how to charge your client
Let's say your client wants a bid from you to print their brochures. You tell them, you'll get it to them in a week. That gives you enough time to get 3 vendor bids back. Once you select a vendor, be sure they aren't charging you tax. (Because you are a legitimate business owner, with a tax resellers ID, you shouldn't be paying tax twice.) Meaning, the printer should not charge you tax, because you're going to turn around and charge your client the tax. (Proper way of doing business.)
Find out what your markup will be, 10%, 20%? Decide what the markup will be, and present that to your client. You have to get paid for your leg work in working with the printer. Sometimes, I give the client the option. Do they want me to work with the printer, or are they going to do it themselves? You'll be surprised how many times a client will have a printer already in mind.
6. Prepare the artwork properly
It's almost impossible to do this perfectly every time. Not your fault, each printer has different versions of software, or machines that require different parameters of your artwork.
The best thing to do to avoid working needlessly, is always ask your printer, before you start designing, what their preferred artwork format is. Some like compressed pdf, some like eps.
I tend to be safe and do all of the ways. I usually create my artwork in InDesign CS3 and package the artwork so that it includes all the links and fonts. I also export a high-res pdf. Most print houses will want you to print out a sample on your printer as reference.
The most common mistake printers have from freelancers are:
Fail to create outlines with the text/font
Fail to import only eps / tiff images with CYMK color mode (remember RGB is for the screen)
Wouldn't it be great to know what companies look for when you go to an interview? Here are some typical factors employers look at when interviewing graphic designers whether you've got less than a year of experience or you're a veteran. -kelada
[chapter 1] WHAT'S INSIDE THE PORTFOLIO
First thing an employer will most likely do is ask you how long you've been doing design, and where you've gotten your experience. When they open your book (portfolio) the interviewer will do one of two things: 1) go through your portfolio without saying anything or 2) they'll ask tons of questions.
Most likely if you're at a design or ad agency, you'll get tons of questions. Here's what they will ask in most cases:
THE DESIGNER'S ROLE They will want to know how much you participated in creating a piece. Did you just design the piece or did you actually concept it? Were you alone or did you work in a team of other creative vendors (writers, photographers, etc.) ? Did you have an art director?
If they ask you what you role was, be prepared to answer all these questions ON YOUR OWN, without them probing you. Just because designers communicate visually, doesn't mean they have to be impaired verbally.
PROJECT GOAL If you don't know the project goal as a designer, whether you were the art director or just the intern, you're screwed my friend. You might as well just thank them for their time and get out!
Remember, your role as a graphic designer is to be a visual problem solver. Tell them what the objective was in creating a piece, and why this execution is appropriate for this purpose and target audience. Let them know how well received this piece was when it entered the target's hands.
DEADLINES They will want to know how long it took to complete the project. More importantly, they're going to want to know how much support you got from the client. Did you have to research everything on your own? Your employer will want to know how proactive you are to meeting deadlines, no matter what it takes. They want to know you'll go the extra mile.
BUDGET As a designer, it's easy to get so creative, but sometimes those creative ideas can be very expensive to produce. An employer will want to know how far you can take your creative ideas without going over budget. If you've ever worked in a situation where you've had to work within a budget, let them know. This shows you can handle money and make smart choices.
[chapter 2] PROOF
I interviewed a man for a graphic design teaching job once. He was in his mid 40s with a daughter in college. He showed me a really nice portfolio with some brand name collateral and a variety of pieces. I was convinced he would be great. Unfortunately, the hiring manager (not me) didn't follow up on his references. As a result, he was hired, and completely failed within the first 2 days. He was a fish out of water flopping around for help. What an embarrassment!
Serious companies will want to know you're legit. You can bet your ears, a design or ad agency will call ALL your references. Be honest about your qualifications.
Here are some questions an employer will ask your references:
What was your relationship with [applicant name]? Was he/she an employee or a contractor?
What was your experience working with him/her? How would you describe [applicant name] personality and work ethic?
What type of work did they do for you? Were you pleased?
How involved was [applicant name] in working with group projects? Did they go beyond their required duty?
Did [applicant name] give the projects enough time and attention? Did they meet deadlines?
Best of luck on your interviews. If you have any questions or advice for other people, please don't hesitate to leave your comment below. -kelada
PART III - Here are some unusual business card formats and designs to help trigger your wild imagination. As cliche as it is, it's OKAY to think out of the box. -Kelada
