Visual unit studio

Work to have done:

A short blog post about possible group projects
Work in pursuit of a final visual argument / rhetorical collage

Plan for the day:

Today is all about working on your individual projects! Layer images, apply effects, watch relevant tutorials. I know your lives are busy; take advantage of this dedicated time free from other distractions and obligations to move your piece forward.

At the same time, it’s worth noting that you’re working in a shared space, in a studio. If you have questions, or you want feedback on something, you have your classmates and your instructor on-hand. Try not to monopolize anyone’s time, but do be open to the possibility of getting farther together than you could on your own.

As in the past, I’ll ask you to spend about 5 minutes at the end of class writing me an email, letting me know what you’ve been working on (and recording that info for your future reflection-writing self, too).

Seeds of ideas I want to plant:

If your effects aren't showing up, try increasing the layer size.

Sometimes GIMP seems to promise the world, but when you apply the effect, it's like nothing happened. In these cases, it's often possible that you're just reaching past the edge of your workspace. See whether you get better results after Layer > Layer to Image Size (or give yourself more room overall with Image > Canvas Size).

Don't forget your README – and consider adding a title there.

A title can provide a context, a clue, a genre, a commentary; it can add an extra layer to viewer expectations. What will you call your collage? Not sure where a title would go? Think of placards in museums: alongside the image is pretty common. You can put the title in your README. Sometimes the title is obvious from the image itself; sometimes it's not. Likewise, ad campaigns often have titles, even if they're not referred to in the ads themselves.

Consider grouping and naming your layers.

GIMP doesn't let you select multiple layers at a time, but there is a workaround: as in PowerPoint, you can group objects (layers) together, and then move (or modify) the group as a unit. See docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-layer-groups.html. Note the opportunity to then further organize your workspace with good naming practices!

Help your text pop.

If you have text on your image, it can be tricky to get it to stand out against the background. Luckily, in a digital medium, we can collaborate with the machine to get some automated help. Play around with the Xach effect – a quick-hit combination of highlight and drop-shadow – as explained in this tutorial. NB: this works by adding two new layers (a shadow, and a highlight), one of which is masked; you can change the order of layers to affect only the ones you want.

Articulate permissions.

If you're using images you didn't make yourself, be sure to include enough information to recover where it came from: a direct link to the image and to the specific license (if there is one) is ideal. Where to do this? Ideally, somewhere small in the image file itself: along a border, say, in a 10-point font. If you have a lot of images, and can't fit the credits on your image even with a small font, you can instead link to a file in your repository. Link shorteners, like ow.ly and bit.ly, will help here. NB: If an image is under copyright, you can still use it if you can make a good case that it's a Fair Use. See _Writer/Designer_ page 156 to review the Four Factors you need to consider.

Okay, now go to!

Don't forget to save periodically as you go:

as a project file
as a git commit, saying what you've just achieved
as a screenshot

EXT: Feel like your project is finished, and not sure what to do?

Make sure everything’s pushed properly to GitHub
Make some lists: things I have learned about GIMP; questions I have about GIMP; things I have learned about fonts; questions I have about fonts.
Work with the Internet, or peers, or me to answer the questions from step 2.
Write a draft of your reflection; remember that you still have time to revise, though.

Quick report back

Before you leave, just as a way for me to check in, I’d like to hear more about what happened today: did you find images? Level up on a particular GIMP skill? Decide something about your project? Raise a question in a new way that you’d like some help with?

Write me a quick email. Depending on time or interest, maybe a few people can say out loud new insights they think would help others.

Homework for next time

If you haven’t yet done so, please download and install the Atom text editor; we’ll be using it for our upcoming web design unit.
By 11:59pm on Sunday, complete – at least for now – your visual rhetorical collage. Your repository (on GitHub or in a shared Box folder) should include:
- Your most up-to-date layered GIMP project file (.xcf)
- A series, now, of screenshots showing your GIMP project in progress. (Think about what moments are worth remembering as you go: where did you level up, or realize something, or get stuck?)
- An updated ASSETS.md (or CREDITS.md) file reflecting what you actually used, including documentation of any outside sources and your permission to use them (e.g. explicit licenses like CC, or rationales for claiming fair use)
- An updated README.md file introducing your collage to a new audience. Give your piece a title! Make it something to live beyond this assignment, if you can. :¬)
By Tuesday’s class, write a prose reflection that incorporates images from your feedback and screenshots of your GIMP project. As explained in the prompt for the assignment, this should include:
- At least 500 words
- Your own assessment of how you met the baseline criteria and goals for the unit, as well as any aspirational goals as appropriate
- At least one photograph of a notecard with feedback you used (and please say how)
- At least one or two screenshots of your work in progress (ideally, related to the discussion in the previous two bullets)
Post your reflection to the course site’s Issue queue, to make it easier to embed images.
- If you want to then copy the source code into a file in your repo called reflections.md, I won’t stop you!
- If you feel strongly that you’d rather keep your reflection private, you can email it to me instead. But my default assumption is that we learn from each other as much as from ourselves, so I hope you can find a way to write publicly about your experience with this project.