This week we watched Photoshop tutorial videos on Lynda. I've never really used Lynda until this semester and I've learned to really like it. The instructions are clear and I appreciate that there is a transcript to go along with the videos. Here are some new things I learned about Photoshop:
1. If you simply press "B" on the keyboard while using Photoshop, the brush tool becomes selected. 2. I liked the analogy that the layers on Photoshop are similar to a stack of papers. You can only see the top paper (or layer), but there can still be other papers (or layers) beneath. 3. I finally learned what the lasso tool does! On Thursday, Tiffany Haendel from OU's Recruitment Services lectured our class. She was really insightful. Here are some of her tips and pointers that stood out to me: 1. Utilizing leading with a smaller font is more easily readable than using less leading with a larger font. The leading allows areas of lots of text to not look as cluttered. 2. OU now sends an acceptance BOX (instead of just an envelope) to admitted students. This is a way to make the recruitment experience more exciting and personable. 3. The point of sending mass communication emails, text messages, postcards and other mailed items is to communicate a call to action. Printing is especially expensive, so if a piece of mail does not serve a purpose or encompass a call to action, it could possibly be a waste of money. These are some of the biggest takeaways I got from Tiffany's lecture. Thank you for visiting us, Tiffany! You were very insightful.
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An interview with "Sami the Foodie" by Sami Canavan
So 'Sami the Foodie,' what were you asked to do in PR Pubs this week? For this assignment, we were asked to create a letterhead for the same client we created a business card for. I chose Epic Pops on Campus Corner as my client because I think about birthday cake and red velvet popsicles literally all day long. So why not bring my popsicle passion into PR Pubs, right? How did you begin the design process? I started off by Googling letterheads. Then I began sketching designs in my PR Pubs journal. I came up with three designs that I thought would look good. Some of my classmates pointed out their favorites during our Valentine's Day speed "dating" exercise. It seemed that one design was the crowd favorite. Did you have any complications along the way? Well ... I got so distracted by my frequent popsicle fantasies while I was creating this letterhead that I had to actually go to Epic Pops and get a popsicle before I could continue my work. Other than that, the design process came pretty naturally to me and I didn't run into any major complications. Is there anything else you'd like to add? Wanna go get a popsicle? This week, our assignment was to create a business card for a company of our choice. I chose Epic Pops on Campus Corner since I've been researching the company lately with Lindsey + Asp. To get our minds in the right place for this assignment, Croom assigned us to create two Pinterest boards over the weekend: a business card mood board and a competitor mood board. For my business card mood board, I pinned a bunch of colorful business cards to get me in the bright, popsicle mindset. For the competitor mood board, I pinned a lot of photos of Steel City Pops - a popular gourmet popsicle shop in Alabama, Texas and Kentucky. My business card was inspired by the menu chalkboards at Epic Pops. I decided to make my business card resemble a chalkboard. I chose to use one font (chalkduster). I worked on my business card for approximately three hours total. It's crazy how much work goes into a 3.5 x 2 inch piece of paper! This week we learned the basics of using Adobe InDesign. On Tuesday, we mimicked Croom's actions as we created an annual report cover. Croom walked us through the steps and we did our best to keep up. I'm not going to lie, this was an overwhelming class period. Every student had about 30 questions (including myself), but by the end, the room was silent as we became more confident in our abilities. Also, my version looked very similar to the original when I finished up. So, yay! On Thursday, we learned how to create columns (or, newspaper style documents) with InDesign. Croom showed us the basics of column design at the beginning of class and then we were assigned to copy a preexisting document on our own. Croom advised us that the best way to begin a layout is to first create placeholders for the content - which can include headlines, subtitles, bylines, photos, captions and more. After you figure out where the placeholders work best, you can fill in your content. I have caught on to the basics of InDesign faster than I anticipated. I thought Photoshop had my heart, but the tables might be turning! |
Sami CanavanI'm a public relations junior and Italian minor at the University of Oklahoma. This is my journey through Public Relations Publications. Archives
May 2017
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