Digital File Preparation

Pittsburg State University | Graphics & Imaging Technologies Students

This blog is dedicated to the students of our Graphics and Imaging Technologies Department at Pittsburg State University. It is a space for our students to collaborate, communicate, create and commend the work of their peers. Feel free to comment and by all means compliment their work. The list of student blogs are categorized by course and were customized during class. Our Digital File Preparation student blogs are focusing on communication skills, where the Web Site Design class is focused more on design.

Monday, November 29, 2010

The Winning Design.....

Jordan Frederick | Image Composition 241

Our class was recently given the opportunity to utilize their Photoshop and Illustrator skills to create a poster for an upcoming event with Santa. This event is sponsored by both PHS Drama and the Mount Carmel Foundation. With a few minor tweaks, you will see this poster all over town. Great job, Jordan!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Addy Awards | Call for Entries

Rules & Categories>
Event Details>
Last year 4 PSU students won 11 awards, including Best of Show>

Christel Benson will hold a one-time information session about the event and how to enter the contest. All entries must be entered BEFORE THE END OF THE SEMESTER, since the final deadline occurs while we are on break.

Those of you who attended the Choice Marketing field trip will remember seeing their Addy Awards on display.



Awards on display at Brady Communications in Pittsburgh, PA


Friday, November 5, 2010

Think outside of the rectangle.....


80+ Creative & Unique Business Cards

Web Designer Wall

This immediately made me think of Senior Projects! Almost all of the proposed projects have a business card as one of their promotional pieces. These are great examples (especially if you are only creating 1) of how to really set yourself apart!

Color in Design Awards

Deadline: November 16
Cost: $40 first entry, $30 for each additional
Details Here.....

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Field Trip: Choice Marketing

You don't want to miss this! Sign up before 4 pm, TODAY, in the GIT Office!

Flexible Jobs that Pay Well


Career #2 - Graphic Designer

Graphic designers create and communicate ideas visually, verbally, and in writing. As a graphic designer, you could find yourself developing and designing publications, creating brochures for products, or even designing logos for businesses.

Freedom Factor: Freelance graphic designers often work from home offices and can set their own hours. If you're a creative person, you may find many jobs repetitive and stifling... but not this one!

Training: Earning an associate's degree or certificate in graphic design from a two-year or three-year professional school should qualify you as an assistant to a graphic designer.

Salary: According to the American Institute of Graphic Arts, staff-level graphic designers had a median salary of $45,000 in 2008.

Check out our Pittsburg State University!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Four States Regional Technology Conference


Four State Regional Technology Conference

The Four State Regional Technology Conference (FSRTC) has been a source for the professional development of technology teachers (college/university, high school and middle school), teacher educators, industrial technology teachers, engineering technology, school-to-careers, and multimedia technology teachers. A newer conference track now features human resources.

68th Four State Regional Technology Conference

Location: Pittsburg State University/Kansas Technology Center
Date: November 11-12, 2010
Theme: 21st Century Technology Showcase

For more details, check out the College of Technology site!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Anyone want to Intern with the Chiefs



Graphic Design Internship opportunity with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Job ID in Gorillas4Hire is: 11476
Job Description:
The Kansas City Chiefs are seeking a candidate for our winter internship in our graphic design department. This internship would start the beginning of December 2010. (Start time is subject to change depending on circumstances) This internship is for someone who is willing to work at least 3-4 days a week.

The internship includes working with the Chiefs Graphic Designer and other departments within
the organization.

Duties will include but are not limited to:
• Designing promotional material (posters, print ads, postcards, brochures)
• Web graphics
• Brand Management (Logo)
• Event support (invitations, signage)
• Illustration and photograph
• Assist Graphic Designer as needed

This is a very hand’s on internship. We are looking for someone who wants to grow and learn with lots of energy!
Qualifications: Education:
This internship is for college students. This is an unpaid internship and must receive college credit.
For candidates that are working towards a degree in Graphic Design.

Must know basic programs on a Macintosh computer. Including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat and Font Management. Excellent attention to detail. Comfortable working on multiple projects with tight deadlines in a fast-pace team environment.
*Application Instructions: If this sounds like you please send your resume, cover letter and at least 5 portfolio pieces to:
Ashley Mulready
amulready@chiefs.nfl.com


image source | http://www.nflfootballstadiums.com/Arrowhead.htm

Monday, October 18, 2010

Excerpts from an Expert

Several very lucky students, faculty and community professionals took advantage of a rare opportunity on Friday, October 15. In celebration of Homecoming at PSU, Brendan Murphy was on campus to receive an Outstanding Alumni award.

He presented several case studies on Brand Management, the development process that goes into restructuring a brand and some of the steps in implementing this process. He also emphasized the importance of our role as communicators. Regardless of the output we are communicating a message. Writing is extremely important in our profession, and he would not be a VP without his writing skills. One other element of his presentation I focused on is that when developing an icon/logo for a company they sometimes go through thousands of revisions before landing on "the one." Keep this in mind the next time you work on thumbnails.

I had the privilege to ask him a few questions throughout the day and he was generous enough to expand on his responses to me in an email.

Technology changes and rapidly.
While investment in technology and computer programs is critical to educational infrastructure, this should not be confused with the education of our students. We must constantly ask ourselves what are we preparing our students for? The shift from paper to screen is still in its infancy. However the fundamentals of good communication are constant.

The Technology Center.
The success of the technology center from a student and university perspective will be its ability to connect with all schools in the university, to nurture and if necessary force collaboration. This is both a challenge and an opportunity.

Internships
This is always difficult and incredibly competitive.
Frankly, we are unlikely to compete with the pure design schools for "design" internships.
However, we can expose broaden students perspectives through tours and with guest lecturers.

Finally…
One question that we must keep returning to is What makes us different?
It may be that we in fact want to be competitive and not different.
However its critical that we define who we are. This will help us define and refine the curriculum.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Show Your Stuff


Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas has offered to set up a
Graphics and Imaging Technologies student show
for the month of October in their main gallery, The Hindershot.

If you have print work you're proud of and would like the opportunity
to show it in a gallery setting, please submit.

It's free and will make an excellent item for your resume!

Here's what we want for the show:
- 2D or 3D printed pieces
- Poster and other single panel pieces should be mounted on some kind
of matt board or illustration board to be displayed on the walls.
- Folded pieces will be put in a display case. Include more than one
copy of each so viewers can see the front and inside view of your
folded work.
- Please include a post it note that has your name and the type of
work the piece represents (brochure, package, screen print,
photograph, et cetera)

Here's how to submit for the show:
It's easy, just drop your work off outside of David Oldham's office,
E110D. Lay it on the shelf opposite the door, next to the slide
projector.

Time is limited. The show goes up September 29, 2010.

We REALLY want to represent our department well, so please submit your
best work!

Submissions are subject to space availability and is limited to around 30 to 40 pieces.

Contact David Oldham, doldham@pittstate.edu, 620-235-6140, for more
information.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Impressive Student Submissions

My Image Composition class has been working on Typographic Illustrations and as I started grading files today I was really blown away by some of the submissions. Keep in mind some of these students are Freshmen and some of them have never used Illustrator before!

Angela Slater

Stephanie Eckert


Shahd Alhazzaa

Emily Smalley

Cassie Pierce


Jordan Frederick

Kathryn Shaw

Robin Mooney

Jentry Craig

Trenton Morris

Who needs $75?

The Business Education Alliance would like to extend invitations for graphic artists within the community to submit a new logo for the organization. We are offering a $75 prize as well as recognition (on the brochure) of the winning artist and company he/she works for.

A draft of the BEA brochure that states our mission and describes our events can be emailed to you as a PDF. Contact me for the file christel8500@yahoo.com

Please use this information to assist in your logo creation. The winning logo will be placed in the blank space on the front of the brochure.

We encourage and will accept submissions from students as well. If a student’s logo is chosen, his or her name and school will be listed for recognition.

The deadline to submit logos is Tuesday, October 5, and should be in the form of a .JPG image. Please send image(s) to Ruthie Muller (rmuller@pitsco.com) with a subject heading “BEA logo submission”. The winning logo will be chosen at the October 6 BEA Executive Committee meeting.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Internship?


Celltron, Inc. currently has a few internships listed on Gorillas4Hire, but we have a particular need for Marketing Intern that has experience in Graphics and/or Web Design. Specifically, this intern would be working with management and the CEO on Marketing related projects.

Any students who may be interested can send their resume, cover letter, and any questions they may have to norman.ashley@celltron.com

Friday, August 13, 2010

Who loves FREE?


As you download this gold mine of vectors, pay close attention to the user agreements. Yes, they are free, but some have strings attached....artist wants credit, cannot resell the patterns, etc. Use responsibly!

FREE Freelance T-Shirt design opportunity

DEADLINE: October 15, 2010

Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Crawford County has contacted us for another T-shirt design. I plan to make this a class assignment, but want to give everyone an opportunity. The only specifics I have are listed below. Adults will be wearing these shirts.

T-shirts should have the agency logo and indicate on the shirt that they are with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Crawford County. Ultimately there will be two versions of the same design, one for Brothers and one for Sisters:
Colors: Blue for Ask me about my Little Brother
Pink for Ask me about my Little Sister

I'm guessing the shirts will be white, and for budget purposes I suggest making the design 1 color. Bright pinks and blues would probably work best.

Please submit all designs as follows:
  • file name: your name_bbbs tshirt.pdf
  • Format: Illustrator file saved as PDF
  • Illustrator artboard size: 11 x 8.5
  • email to me: clbenson@pittstate.edu

Below is the GIT student design for their spring Tryathlon, which they loved! The primary audience for this design was the children who participated in the events. Graphics and Imaging student, Jerime Carpenter, designed the event logo and T-shirt graphic.

Also, this is the only version of their logo they provded:

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Poster Design Competition

This is a call for entries for the second Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) Promotional Poster Design Competition. The poster will be used in colleges, high schools and technical schools to promote the availability of scholarships available through PGSF.

Each year PGSF awards 200, or more, college level scholarships ranging in value from $2,000 to $5,000. The scholarships continue with the student as long as a 3.0 GPA is maintained, so that students only need apply once.


Many PGSF scholarship recipients received scholarships through their full college career. The new poster will be used beginning in academic year 2011–2012. A hard copy must be submitted by the instructor. The winner of the contest must submit all files required for reproduction.

Entries are due by April 10, 2011.


Judging will be in April and the winner will be notified by May 15. Please encourage students in your school to enter the PGSF Poster Competition either as individuals or as part of class assignment or project. Additional printed copies of the current poster will be available if that would be of help. Please contact me and let me know how many copies you would like.

Poster design entries must include the following;
  1. Prominent display of the name Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF).
  2. Emphasis on the availability of scholarships.
  3. List of applicant qualifications (see current poster for list)
  4. Visible dates when scholarship applications are due (see current poster for dates).
  5. Show address and contact information (see current poster for details).
  6. Posters will be printed in 11×17-in. size for display in schools. Poster will also be printed as small as 5½× 8½-in. in books or used as display on a webpage. Please consider these dimensions when creating the graphics or choosing a typeface.
  7. Include entrant’s school name and name of creative designer or names of team members. Please place near lower border in smaller type.
  8. Bright and highly visible colors are suggested.

The winning entrant will receive an award certificate and will be honored in a national news release. More than 2,000 full size posters will be distributed to other schools with graphics programs. If you have any questions or if I may be of assistance please email me at beckert@printing.org or call: 412-259-1740.

Sincerely,
Bernie Eckert, Program Administrator

Can you do better?

2010-2011 Winning Poster

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Teacher's Update | Our Final Day

In reflection mode, it's amazing to me what they were able to squeeze into a half day session, on the last day of the Teacher's Update session. Julie covered Social Networking for Printers. Byan and Dave discussed Variable Data and how they implement this with Digital Printing.


One toner drum....of course the big question was "how much do those cost"

Taking a peek under the hood



I was finally able to squeeze in a quick trip to the Andy Warhol museum before hitting the airport. It was worth it!

Not only was I entranced by the actual canvases, but the display of his history was impressive as well. It was a combination of great images and typography.



Instead of waiting on the shuttle I hit the pavement and walked back to the hotel. It was about a mile, but there was so much to soak in through the Cultural District, I barely noticed the walk!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Thanks for Dinner Joe

Tonight Joe treated our group, Greg and Tom to dinner at Rolands, in the Strip District

This was our first outing with Donna, she's local, so she has had the luxury of sleeping in her own bed every night!

Steve, Joe and Natalia having a very deep and meaningful conversation about JDF, MIS and CIP4....do you believe me?

Dinner was excellent! Stuffed shells, hot italian sausage, chicken, potatoes and veggies

Chi and Tom
Thanks to Natalia we had a little surprise for Joe.....his own 6 pack!

Natalia bought an extra apron the night we were at Hoffbrau, and we all signed it. You could see the joy in his eyes as she tied it around his waist....he stood taller, his chest swelled....I don't think he'll ever take it off....

Oh, and it feels so nice, too!

The waitress was nice enough to take this photo with 6 different cameras!

Dinner was great, Joe, thanks. The entire week has been an unforgettable experience for all of us. We have had many discussions on the content we have been exposed to and all of us are in awe that we have had the opportunity to experience this first hand. PIA is an amazing organization and the Teacher's Update conference is truly a gift to each of us. All of the instructors this week have done a great job and each one has had a wealth of information to share with us.