Tag Archives: School of Visual Arts
Learning Maya (Third Time’s the Charm)
It’s been awhile since I posted anything but I have a good excuse – I’ve been learning Maya the last two semesters at Middlesex County College in their new Gaming and Animation program which was started by Richard Thompson.
In the past, I’ve taken single classes in Maya at the School of Visual Arts and Mercer County Community College but I wasn’t able to continue any further for various reasons and as a result the knowledge that I acquired didn’t “stick” with me after the classes were over because I wasn’t using the program day-to-day. Over a year ago, I found out that there was an affordable 3D Animation program near where I lived so I decided that this was a good opportunity for me expand my skill sets by learning Maya again from the beginning and then sticking with the program so that I could continue beyond the simple 3D modeling and animation that I had learned in the two prior Maya classes I had taken. Now that I’m on summer break, I plan on updating and tweaking some of the class projects that I’ve worked and posting them for all to see.
The first project that I worked on was a 3D model based on a logo for our 3D Design class created by one of the students in the class (the class voted on their favorite after seeing all the students’ sketches). It was fun getting familiar with the interface again and then walking through the initial steps of working on the 3D model in class with the teacher. The interesting thing was later working at home along with the prepared Vimeo tutorials created specifically for the class. This was a new teaching approach for me and quite helpful since I could play the video over and over again until I got the model the way I wanted it.
In the end, the most interesting thing for me was taking the 3D model that I had created in Maya, converting it to a file format that that the 3D printer could read, and then printing the model. I’ve never had anything 3D printed before and I would be really interested in doing it again.
The final digital output for my version of the class logo with a simple glossy texture added to it.
The 3D Design class logo in the process of being printed.
The final printed output of the 3D Design class logo.
My Latest Silk Screen Prints All Together
With school starting up I figured I’d post a picture of what I did last semester in my Silkscreen for Illustrators class at the School of Visual Arts. There was a bit of a struggle with one of the prints which turned into another print but in the end I figured out what I was doing wrong and decided to attempt that “problem” print another time. I’m pretty happy with what I ended up with by the end of the semester and I hope to do more which I’ll probably be doing at home (I’m in the process of setting up a silk screen studio). Maybe sometime soon I’ll have a show?
One of the best parts of creating prints is signing the prints but you know what’s even better? Having your artwork hanging in someone’s home.
If you’re interested in purchasing one of these prints please check out the “Silk Screen Prints” page or you can send us an email or go to Through the Moongate in Highland Park, NJ.
First Silk Screen Print Done?
I thought that for my first print I would do a variation of a drawing that I’ve done a few times since I went to Parsons School of Design. It was based on a postcard that I bought of Oscar Wilde. Anyway, this first print was going to be an easy one – a two-color print that could be done fairly quickly and get me back into the printing groove. Alas, after looking at the print for a few days, I think it needs a third color. I’ll probably add that color in 2 weeks. Until then, my next print will be based on this drawing I did a few years ago and it’s going to be a little more ambitious – I’m going to try and do all three colors in one day. The SVA Print Shop opens at 10 am and I plan to be there soon afterwards. I hope it works out.
New Network Makers Logo
I’m sorry for not posting in such a long while but I’ve taken on a full-time job and it takes up a lot of my time along with the freelance assignments I’ve been picking up along the way. I do promise to post more in the future as I am continuing to teach myself Cinema 4D and I’ll be starting a silk screen printing class at the School of Visual Arts in NYC taught by Sara Varon. In the meantime, I figured I’d write a little about a project that I’ve been working on with my friend, Morgan Chen, and the owner of Network Makers, Nikola Stojsin. We’ve been working on the rebranding/redesign of Network Makers with the end result being not only a new look but new collateral packaging and new promotional items for Nik to give to prospective clients.
The first thing that I started with was the Network Makers logo. I just wasn’t a fan of what Nik had had before but I did think that it did have the beginnings of a better logo. The old logo looked like it was an “N” and “X” instead of an “N” and an “M”. It also looked kind of flimsy. I ended up sliding the “X” bar over to the right so that the “N” and “M” became one shape, I then went with a lighter blue, and added a second color – grey. I also made the “N” a little more dynamic. I think that it works better than the prior logo. What do you think? To see another logo treatment please check out the Network Makers logo page in the logos section of the M+PBG website.
Below is a sample of one of Network Makers’ employees’ cards. I intend to play off of the angles of N/M logo by utilizing slanted lines, shapes, and die cuts in the design of the letterhead and the other collateral packaging.
