Note To Self: REVIEW YOUR FREAKING NOTES!!!

Day 20

Currently Reading:  Done reviewing Visual Communication and now reviewing my notes.

I was wondering why I was having such a hard time retaining the information I had.  Seriously, I would write down notes, read diligently and highlight and forget the information I had learned by next week.  I forgot the simple thing: READ YOUR NOTES EVERDAY. *headdesk* Honestly, it is so simple and easy and yet it didn't even occur to me.  So I'm reviewing my notes aka: chicken scratch and everything I read came back to me. I am reading things that I totally forgot that I actually learned. WTF?  So let this be a lesson to other self-teaching folks: Review Your Notes Everyday.

On the other hand, I forgot to actually log (or blog) my progress yesterday. So I'm going to do that here.  I finished reviewing what I learned so far from my visual communication book. I tired to self test, but that didn't go well. Stupid google docs!   I'm going to go back to Graphic Design Principals and do some stuff for the portfolio.

Lucky for me, I have my sister dropping by a lot so that is taking a lot of time off my hands to study while she watches the kids.

Colors, Lines, and Shapes

Currently Reading: Graphic Design Principles and  Visual Communication pgs 21 -27

So I actually went to sleep early and didn't get up until late. I decided to get up and get some studying done.  I actually skipped a bit of last week due to the thanksgiving holiday.  I don't feel like I'm retaining a lot of information from Visual Communication. So I'm going to review my highlighted passages and make some notes.  I also went on a photoshop bender, and I'm ended up doing close to ten works in the space of a week. However, the theory is important and I need to remember that.  I can't do anything, if I don't know how the most effective way to do it. 

The Power of Color

Currently Reading: Graphic Design Principals Parts 5-10 and Visual Communication pg11-20

So yeah, today was all about color. I learned about the three ways to perceive colors.  Objective, Comparative, and Subjective. I also learned about how colors of the same hue interact with each other, and is perceived as well.  And how color can change the weight of an object in a composition. Going through this book is going to be slow going. The chapters are huge, and I will be happy to finish a chapter a week.  Anway, that's all for now.

Colors and illusions

Currently Reading: Graphic Design Principals and Visual Communication: Images With Messages Chapter 1 pg1-7.

So back to the studying. I missed studying friday, because I got too rapt up in photoshop and didn't stop making stuff until Sunday.  Now, I'm back to the theory. My two books Visual Communication and the typography work book came in on Friday. I just started but, I'm so happy that I am able to highlight and annoate in my own text books.  I couldn't with the design elements book so this is a happy change.

I'm going to look if there is a open course for Visual Communication.  I'm also really happy to review design principles because I needed it. This tutorial is long, but it breaks in down in simpler terms for me and I wish I found this site first, to be honest. I really like this book, it's pretty straightforward and it going more indepth into how perceieve things and about visual illusions work. The real visual communication lessons won't come until the next chapter though. This is going to be slow going, but I'm willing to do it.

I'm also going to put sometime going through photoshop tutorials at least once a week to keep up my skills and build up my portfolio. 

Value, Tint, and Shade

Reading: Chapter 18 of Language of Graphic Design

Another short chapter, but today I really did need some supplmental items. I found a site that broke down all the color terms for me in more simplicitic terms.  Because the book I was reading was a bit more complicated than I needed and I still need to work on how to use a color wheel more effecitively and I decided to use google docs for my notes.   I really love color and I really want to learn how to use it effectively in visual commuication.

Although I'll wait to go further into that when I study color theory in more depth. I'm still not looking forward to the hellish adventure that is revising, but it is very much needed.

But it feels all so complicated at times, and I often feel that I'm out of depth. I also have to start studying more, but I want to gradually up the time so i won't be overwhelm with too much information. I want to be fully trained this time next year and I want to be a working graphic designer in two years. So we shall see how I meet that timeline.