Im a big fan of using stencils when it comes to artwork. A stencil is composed of two parts, the island and the bridges. Islands are sections of the material that are inside cut-out holes while bridges are narrow sections that are not cut out. There are many different ways to create  and use stencil designs...you can find out here : http://naldzgraphics.net/design-2/how-to-create-stencil-designs/

My Works

I few works i did when i found myself to be bored.........

This is an ad i did In Photoshop for one of the worlds best soccer matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona 

                                               An Illustrator design working with brushes.

A photoshop design of Kat Von D

Self Taught

Sometimes I like to consider myself a self taught designer because a lot of times when I'm bored and i have absolutely nothing to do, I get on my mac and work on random designs using illustrator and photoshop. A lot of those times i learn new things and i can see myself growing as a designer. Here are a few works that i found to be amazing from digital artist David Fuhrer who is also a self taught artist.

Nature Art Defying Gravity

Art done with nature is one of my favorites. I like that these particular pieces have gravity incorporated into them instead of just usually sculptures. I admire the use of snowballs especially because it is not a medium used by many.

Rashad Alakbarov

This is some work by the artist, Rashad Alakbarov from Azerbaijan where he uses suspended translucent objects and other found materials to create light and shadow paintings on walls. I love found objects incorporated into art. This is definitely a refreshing way to see it done.

Left or Right Brained?

These images make it visually clear what the differences between left dominant and right dominant brains. I can easily say that I am right brain dominant. Although I am analytical and super organized, my strive for creativity and passion in everything I do outweighs everything.Which are you?

http://www.complexification.net/gallery/machines/peterdejong/

ART

http://www.tululuka.net/alco/
More ART

Color Schemes

I'm really into using the eyedropper tool in Illustrator so I like how this shows the color scheme of the object. It is important to be familiar with color schemes because sometimes your color is limited and you have to go by a specific scheme just as we did for SPEAK.

Well designed homes

I feel that as design students, we all have a strong sense of creativity and it will most likely translate into our future home decor. At least this is true in my cousin's loft in Brooklyn. He is a photographer and lives with two other artists and their loft is set up well, has a distinct style, and is filled with artwork. These are some photos of actual homes that I stumbled upon that I hope for my home to someday look like. That would be amazing.

Jennifer Pedersen

Doing some research for different greeting and holiday cards.

Creating animals

I was strolling deviantart.com and I found these amazing vector animals.  They aren'y overly detailed but i find them really beautiful.

And then theres this tiger that I found.  The detail of the fur is so amazing and I can only imagine how tedious it must have been to create this piece.

Jennifer Pedersen

Famous musicians being illustrated, although they look like drawings they are very interesting 

Tim's Q paper

In class Q taught us a lot of cool techniques and shortcuts that we could use when designing things like holiday cards, or logos, and how useful symbols can be.  Out of all of the techniques and tips that Q taught us about the ones that I thought were most important were, using symbols, swatches/patterns, and color/work paths.  Although Q went through a lot of techniques the main thing I got from the workshop is to think outside of the box when designing and don’t always listen to what your teachers tell you.  In real world you’re not going to focused on doing things “the right way,” you need to get your work done and it has to be good. 

Coming in to class that day the only expectations that I had were that I was going to learn something from Q.  Whether it was about graphic design or good tips to upcoming artists about how to get themselves into the art world I knew I was going to come away knowing more.  Being what I consider to be an experienced designer and artist I was excited to know what she was going to tell us about.  Like her first visit Q made sure to say hello to everyone in the class and see how everyone was doing.  That’s something I focus on because I’ve gone to artist talks where all the person does is go straight to their work or what they’re going to teach which completely cuts off any good interaction with the audience; also the fact that she is very friendly and welcoming helped. 

            Out of all of the techniques that Q taught us, I thought that most interesting and most important ones were when she taught us about symbols/patterns and color paths.  She taught us how to create patterns and make them swatches and that when you make symbols to always save them because they could come in handy for a later project.  The other technique that she taught us was about were color and work paths.  This technique would come in handy when we want to create graphics from photos or other vector images.  Color paths allow you to grab certain colors and parts of an image.  This comes in handy when you want to make a photograph in to a vector image without image tracing the photograph.  Color/work paths make it easier to make more accurate representations of the originals for your designs.

            All in all I learned a lot from both of Q’s visits.  She taught the class how to “cheat” while still doing great design.  She told us about a lot of great websites to get ourselves into the art community and to keep making work; whether it’s your best work ever or just some side design put your work out there.  Although Q went through a lot of techniques the main thing I got from class is to think outside of the box and that everything your teachers tell you is not always right.  In real world you’re not going to be focused on doing things “the right way,” you need to get your work done when it has to done and it needs to be good. 

Jennifer Pedersen

Superhero's are always interesting, when they are redesigned just using simple colors and shapes make them even more interesting and simplified. 

Jennifer Pedersen for 11/27/12

Samy Halim is a french illustrator, website

I found illustrated animals extremely interesting after seeing more of Q's work and looking into more illustration of animals. I decided against posting more than one photo from Samy due to the fact that more of his images are on the website hyperlink and finding the images that catch your own eye is important, or i feel is important. 

Stephanie Hagin - Q.

When Q. Cassetti came in for the workshop she showed the class how to use many tools in Illustrator and some tools from Photoshop.  Not only did she show us how to use the tools that she prefers to use, but she also showed us some of her secrets for making simple but attractive designs.

            The first thing she showed us was how to make a simple three colored object from an image.  Q. put the image she wanted into Photoshop and used the ‘Color Range’ tool to select different colors.  Once she exported each color from Photoshop she could open them in Illustrator and put them together.  This technique is very useful because you can create a very accurate illustration of any complicated object, such as animals or people. 

            Q. showed us how to create any brush or swatch that we want and it is a lot easier than I had expected.  You can create any pattern, shape, or lines in a document and drag them into the swatches panel or brushes panel.  This is beneficial because if you have a pattern that you want to use in more than one object you can just make it a swatch so that you can use it as a fill.  It is also useful if you want to create something such as hair because that way you can create your own strand of hair to use over and over again.   You can also use this technique to create symbols by dragging an object into the symbols panel.  This way you can use objects repeatedly while minimizing your file size.

            One of Q.s favorite tools to use or play with is the ‘3D Extrude & Bevel’.  With this tool you can create bottles or other curvy shapes.  The nice part about this tool is that you can place text that forms to the curvature or angle of the object that you make 3D.  This can come in handy if your make an object such as a bottle that needs a label on it.

            Q. showed us a few ways to make text more interesting by using the ‘Envelope distort’ tool and by making text a compound path.  To make text warp to an object you use the ‘Envelope distort’, one word or a whole paragraph can be used for this and all the text will warp to fit within an object that is above it.  The other technique is putting an image within the text.  In order to do this the text needs to be an outline and a compound path.  Then you put a picture or whatever graphic you choose behind the text.  Create a clipping mask and you will have a graphic forming to the shape of your text.

             This workshop with Q. was extremely useful because she has experience using these tools for her job.  Her experience is noticeable as she knows simpler techniques that create satisfying results.   She did an exceptional job at teaching her techniques to the class and I for one learned a lot.

Q's Workshop

-->

Kelsie Foster                                                                                   November 28, 2012

ATS 240                                                                                          Writing Assignment #1

            Illustrator Q. Cassetti, offered up a lot of useful information, tips, and tricks as she took the time to do a workshop for our graphic design class.  I really admire her work and I am extremely grateful to have witnessed her in the act.  With each aspect of Illustrator that she demonstrated to us, I took it all in carefully and am confident that it will be valuable throughout my creative education and will translate into my graphic design career.  With over 25 years of visual art experience, I respect and admire all she has contributed to the design world thus far.

First, Q’s design is very well implemented in her conceptions.  She really has her style down and it is revealed nicely in her work.  She showed us numerous sketchbooks that she starts with before going into any work on Illustrator.  I like the fact that she does this because it is familiar to me since that is how I was always taught.  Expressing and playing around with your ideas and plans on paper first is always a smart idea before ever touching a computer and her sketchbooks made this evident.  Her designs tend to be very crisp, ornate, and visually descriptive.  I like that she has such an established design to her work and appreciate the fact that it shines through whether her client is for a jewelry collection or for a wine label.

Second, during her occupation, she has mastered logotype.  Logotype is an identifying symbol typically for use in advertising.  According to her website, (qcassetti.com) she has been actively involved for the following clients: Quest Diagnostics, Steuben Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, The Baker Institute for Animal Health, Cornell University, Tiffany and Company, Estee Lauder, Origins Natural Resources, Corning Incorporated, T. Rowe Price, Lightship Communications, Omega One Communications, Nantucket Paper Chase, and Free Rein Wines.  With all of her involvement with these clients, she has truly learned exactly what logos are meant to be.  She mentioned to us the more we illustrate in Illustrator, the more we learn the tricks of the trade and become familiar with what design really means to us.  So, with knowing the fact that she started out just like me and is a successful designer/illustrator gives me hope that I will someday be able to execute my design into work as well as she does.

Third, during her workshop she demonstrated a variety of tools, shortcuts, and effects.  As we all know by now, graphic design and anything involved with it is extremely time consuming.  So, when working, the main idea Q always has in mind is how she can save herself time and make things easier.  With that being said, one of the tools she used a lot was the pathfinder tool.  Although it is a simple tool and known to many, she showed us how useful it actually can be.  What it does is combine paths, divide objects, subtract shapes, etc.  Another act she taught us was making our simple designs and patterns into brushes and adding them into our brush library for later use.  Also valuable, was how she showed us how to make a shape look three-dimensional by going to Effect-3D-Revolve.  For example, when trying to show a client what the label will look like on a wine bottle, this knowledge comes handy.

In conclusion, the workshop with Q. Cassetti was indeed a treat.  She was able to build up my knowledge of the program, Illustrator.  In addition to the knowledge she helped me attain, she was also a joy to watch and listen to which increased my admiration for her as not only a designer but a person as well.

-->