# Log of Meetings (in reverse order) ## 20211129 How to make it easy for people who are not artists to use digital tools to create comics - 3D modeling something MK excited about. Possible projects: Queenie: Timeline to give some context for a concept in Chinese history (e.g., showing historical events that led to a particular idea coming into circulation) - Queenie could see this linking to the courses she's involved with Christine: Scene analysis from a film / reverse storyboard Jordan: Story of course support - rendering the LL flow visible Marcus: Analysis of a graphic novel Sharol: How to create a comic book and linking this to HGSE case studies used in courses Xiaomeng: wants to learn Clip Studio Esther: Webtoons-inspired autobiographical graphic novel Queenie led us through some Clip Studio basics ## 20211122 What proof of concept projects can we work on that might be useful to future courses? Came up with comic book prototype project idea after discussing a handful of models (e.g., Xiaomeng's Dan Rather graphic novel, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics). We read Ch. 2 of McCloud prior to the meeting and discussed some of its moves, what the graphic/comic form enables. ## 20211115 "The Story So Far": Because it was Christine's first full-time day at the LL, the cluster caught her up about the tools they were interested in or using already in courses/projects. ## 20211108 agenda: Procreate workshop with Xiaomeng ## 20211101 We set up 3 stations and go around and try them out. We will leave these stations up all next week for fellows to try out some prompts. 1. Procreate 2. clip studio 3. Fresco We brainstormed asynchronous prompts for fellows who will be trying these tools out over the next week. Some content to share includes: a cell, various objects from the disciplines Prompts: 1. at clip studio station (Adele), try out the workflow of bringing in a 3D asset, positioning it, and drawing on top of it. 2. at procreate station (iPads). 3. at the fresco station (iPads). remix: visualize a graph * gallery objects: create a person USING an object * archeological site of burial . . . position the body * processes * we need a bunch of simple visual prompts * recreating photos * processes * sketching in preparation for a Procreate demo * ## 20211025 Last week we are all in on POSTERS! This week we are taking a moment to think about the big picture goals of this lab, and what is on deck for the rest of the term. Visual Explanations, Graphical Abstracts, Posters, Slide Decks. **Workshop Demos to Do:** | Beginner | Pro Tools | Experimental | | -------- | -------- | -------- | | adobe basics | Shape Builder in Ai (Xiaomeng) | clip studio (Queenie) | |fresco tutorial(JK)|photoshop|| Create a pitch deck for Senior Thesis writers ## 20211014 ### Claire doing Workshop Test ## 20211007 first cluster 3 meeting!! **attendees**: MK, JK, Claire, Ammara, Emmy, Vanessa(animation-Ae), Aissata(screenwriting), Fechi(data in new ways), Marcus(visualization is more accesible than papers), Eduarda (brazillian cinema film poster workshop-recreating film posters or creating them anew, Ai), Xiaomeng (illustrations, procreate, Ai, Ps), Jordan (physical + digital illustration, chalk, and adobe fresco) ### notes * what do we want to work on, and what are some intial steps? * Procreate v Fresco Workshop! #### Poster projects Notes: * power point is not so popular. * Used InDesign to lay everything out * Visuals made in Ai * Indesign is surpisingly approachable, an easier one to pick up and complete a project within a day. * Indesign is really good for combining text and mages and charts * Id can be used for both print and digital stuff, has capabilities of digital platforming, like interactive stuff. Interactive elements like Buttons, sliders, etc. * all the adobe apps allow you to connect your work across them * in terms of layout it's easier to snap things in place on Adobe apps. * Ai is great for making visuals to put on Id * Can make an Id template * canva is "cute" -- its easier and the interface is opposite adobe, less options, feels more intuitive, is easier to use, but sometimes feels limiting. * Id is very good for text, tons of options of what you can do (like letter and line spacing) * basic toolset for this lab: * Canva (students know and love it) * powerpoint, slides, etc (it sucks compared to everything else but it's good for animation) * procreate, fresco and drawing apps on iPad * photoshop * illustrator * aftereffects * Other web-based ideas? * Prezi, PicMonkey?, Adobe Spark is like Canva, Figma * Downloading and learning new softwares can be really depressing and onerous for students if they've never encountered them before. canva feels more lightweight. once you've used the adobe suite once there is a basic grammar there, but if you're new to it it is hard. * How much time should be used to teach the tool vs. what you are doing with the tool? What feels like a good balance? * Shared concepts: * alignment * When courses offer an open-ended creative project it is often frustrting. Few students will use this as an opportunity to try things they've never done before. * we LOVE little video tutorials--but where to start?! curating a gallery of videos=a product! **Product:** a matrix that helps us understand our options and the pros and cons #### Movie posters saw examples of Eduarda's posters. the poster is almost as influential as the movie. Imitate and the remix! ##### up next: * MDFs will share examples of what students might make: Eduarda's 2 film posters, Claire- ## 20211001 we talked a bit about cluster 3 in the MDF meeting. ### the projects * graphical abstracts for faculty/researchers * explainer graphics for courses * graphical abstract assignments for students * explainer video assignments for students * explainer animation (Ae) for courses ### challenges you need to understand the material REALLY WELL before you can successfully illustrate it. ### the process/method begin by collecting references/models. create a draft that has more info and then you can work on simplifying more and more. use layers to reiterate.