​Due Date:
Two weeks

Project:
Using Adobe Illustrator, create an expressive composition featuring figures (people - you and your friends) that tells part of a story in an emotional or dramatic way. This will be the main imagery for a comic book cover that later incorporates typography/text.

Media:
Digital Photography and ​Adobe Illustrator

See the slideshow for example of the layout of comic book covers.

This is the style in which you'll be working: vector-based drawings:

Steps:

1. Brainstorm ideas. Come up with an idea that is moody, dramatic, emotional, active, etc.
2. Draw a series of thumbnail sketches to develop your ideas.
3. Figure out necessary poses and find/enlist your models (You will be one of them.)
4. Take a series of good, sharp, well-lit photos of action shots of your peers posing. The more active, the better. Consider your point of view (Try photographing from below looking up, or downwards from up high.)
5. Using Illustrator, trace from one or more of the photos. Be sure to use layers and sublayers, and label paths, to keep your file organized and to help work more efficiently.
6. Arrange your traced drawings to maximize visual and emotional impact and to tell your story clearly.
7. Add layers, colors, textures, details, and effects as necessary. Experiment.

** Leave room for the comic book title, brand logo, captions and word balloons.**

Grading Criteria:

     CONCEPT
        Clear Communication of Story
        Inventiveness
        Expressiveness via Color, Shapes, Style, Arrangement
     DESIGN
        Image has Visual Impact
        Effective Use of Positive and Negative Relationships
        Clear Understanding of Principles of Art
     CRAFTSMANSHIP
        Proper formatting: Layers, Sublayers, Labelled Paths
        Skillful use of pen and other tools of Illustrator
        Inventive experimentation with technique
     WORK HABITS / PERSONAL INVESTMENT

Rubric: Studio Habits of Mind

​
Parameters:

• All parts must be entirely original -- You MUST take photos of you and your peers (using your iPad, camera, or digital camera) specifically for this project
• Do not add text in the beginning (That will happen later.), but leave room for it.

Tips:

• Have ideas before you leave to take photographs.
• Faces and figures in perfect profile will best convey as much information as possible. 
• Take photos in front of simple backdrops with no detail. It will be easier to trace them.
• The more active and emotional the pose, the better. Be dramatic. Use body language.
• Take action photos outside on a sunny day or under bright light. Action photos will be crisper and more in focus.
• Take many, many photos.
• Leave room for the comic book title, brand logo, captions and word balloons.

Must have:

• Title
• Subtitle and/or Story/Issue Title and/or Tagline
• Original Brand / Company Logo (Ex. Marvel, DC)
• Issue #
• Publication Month Year
• Price
• Room for Bar Code

May have

• Other graphic elements: bars, boxes
• Caption boxes and/or dialogue balloons

We've walked through a tutorial of complex drawing in Illustrator, using a variety of tools and techniques in Illustrators (You've now got more "tools in your toolbox," as they say) including: using layers and sublayers, labelling paths, using the pen tool, moving anchor points, modifying shapes, and using gradients and transparencies skillfully. Now, independently complete the face drawing that we began as a class by doing the following:

• Keep the paths organized by layers and sublayers
• Name paths
• Complete the head: Add hair, eyebrows, and other details
• Complete the body: neck, shoulders and clothing
• Foreground that helps to frame the figure and is decorative/ornamental
• Background that is either
•           representational (such as an environment that this person is in); or
•           decorative/ornamental and adds richness to the overall design
• Color scheme that unifies the design

Objectives:

• Develop skills with the pen tool for more skillful drawing.
• Organize digital illustration using layers and sublayers.
• Experiment and Explore

Grading Criteria:
This is an open-ended assignment that asks you to think creatively and add to the level of richness and detail. You will be graded on the Studio Habits of Mind, specifically:
     - your personal investment
     - productive use of your time
     - your willingness to experiment and explore with the tools and techniques
     - the overall quality of the design due to your additions, and
     - the level of detail you create.


Once Completed:

Turn in three files to the graphicdesign server folder:

• face yourlastname.eps (Illustrator EPS file, CMYK or RGB color mode)
• face yourlastname.tif (300 ppi at actual size, RGB color mode)
• face yourlastname.jpg (72 ppi, 12 in high, RGB color mode)

Checklist for Completion
​

• ALL paths are organized into layers (At minimum: Foreground, Head, Neck and Shoulders, Background, Guidelines; others as needed)

​

• All layers for the face have been placed in a layer called HEAD.

​

• I have named many paths (in addition to those we did together as a class)

​

• I have added hair, eyebrows, and other details

​

• I have completed the body by making neck, shoulders and clothing

​

• There is a FOREGROUND layer that
  • helps to frame the figure AND
  • is decorative/ornamental

​

• There is a BACKGROUND layer that is either
  • representational (such as an environment that this person is in); AND/OR
  • decorative/ornamental (with detail) and adds richness to the overall design

​

• I have worked with a color palette that unifies the design

​

• I have printed the design to the following specifications:
  • Scale to Fit
  • Size: Letter (8.5 x 11”)
  • Orientation: Portrait
  • Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte​

• I have saved the file as an Illustrator EPS titled “face mylastname.eps”

• I have opened that file in Photoshop and saved it as a TIF:

          When dialogue box opens, select:
          Open at 300 pixels/inch (ppi) resolution                         
          Color Mode: RGB
          Go to: Layer: Flatten image                   
          Save as: “face mylastname.tif”

• I have saved that image as a JPG:

                    Go to: Image: Image Size
                          Resolution: 72 ppi
                          Height (second box): 12 inches
                    Save as: “face mylastname.jpg”

• I have turned in the 3 files (EPS, TIF, and JPG) into the graphicdesign server folder.

 

• I have prepared the work for display:
  • Mount on black paper
  • Label flush against bottom right corner
  • Velcro on back (corners and middle)