Logo

My two basic logo designs. Soon I'll have to settle on one.

The oil well, I blogged about in an earlier post. It ties into my name, Wells. It symbolizes tapping into creativity – creative ideas gushing out.

The other one, I was thinking desert Southwest (where I've lived my whole life), which got me to thinking Native Americans. I like the art of Native American pottery and rugs – in fact, I own several. That led my thoughts to petroglyphs and pictographs. It's a real treat to see them and usually requires some work. I do a lot of hiking, and I've seen (and photographed) many. They are interesting on three levels:

(1) Design. Shapes, colors, natural materials and natural setting.
I enjoy nature. I don't like my designs to look to sterile, like they were created by a machine. Computers allow us to do amazing things with design, but sometimes I think they make it too easy to make dazzling effects, but they have no soul.
 (2) Communication. What were they trying to say?
Isn't that what graphic design is all about?
 (3) Historical. They've been around for hundreds or even thousands of years. But what they were doing is basically what I'm doing.

The hand is often seen in this rock art. Staring at my hand, I realized, it's shape is a "J" and "W" – my intials. So I looked up some information on what the hand symbolized in Native Amercan art. To quote, "The Hand, represents the presence of man, his work, his acheivements, his legacy.  It also represents the direction of the creative spirit through a man, as a vessel for the Creators power."


Perfect.


My hand logo still needs work. I like the spatter outline. The JW doesn't quite work.


Whatever I choose, I need to find a way to make it work with my online portfolio.

Photo shoot & motion graphics

I got word that Ceci Vasconcellos of the Doña Ana Arts Council was looking for photographers to shoot the "Color Las Cruces" events this weekend. I volunteered. I thought the experience would do me good. I spent 5 hours Saturday shooting the Mesquite Gallery Walk on Mesquite Street and the creation of a coffee-mug sculpture on the Downtown Mall.

Besides Ceci, I met many artists including Norma Hartell (above), Penny Duncklee, Linda Hagen, Mildred Grossman, Mel Stone (photography), James Gamble (ceramics), Antoinette Hague (glass and mosaics) and Karen Dahmer and Judi Miller (fiber arts); gallery owners, Mel Stone of Mesquite Art Gallery and Victor Gallegos of Nopalito's Galeria; Preston Thayer, director of NMSU art galleries; and Chris Bardley, organizer of SumArt, "Southern New Mexico's Alternative Arts Organization."

Also, I spotted some festivities going on at Klein Park, so I stopped and took some pictures there too. It was some church function with lots of kids' activities and live music – good photo subjects. Then hours later, on the Downtown Mall, some guy asked if I had been shooting pictures in the park. I said yes. He introduced himself as "Pastor Bob" and asked if I would e-mail him some pictures. I said I would.

They're not paying gigs, but it's good practice and fun and makes people happy.

This evening, I received an e-mail from the motion group saying I've been accepted as a volunteer for the motion graphics conference in Albuquerque. I didn't think I would because I don't know a lot about that field. I guess I'll soon learn a lot about it. The bad news is I will miss a couple days of school, which could be a pain if I have to play catch-up.

Writing tips

Today two writing experts from the English/Communications Department talked to the class. Some tips:
Rhetoric – effective communication; art of persuasion. Remember: good writing doesn't have to be long.
Logos – the message or purpose. Be clear on your main point. Back it up with logic.
Pathos – Who's your audience? Appeal to their values, beliefs and emotions. Emotion and logic (pathos and logos) must work together.
Medium – In what type of package will you be delivering this gem? Report, essay, memo, PowerPoint, e-mail, etc?

Ethos of writer – gives an impression of the writer. Professional? Knowledgeable? Neat? Remember grammar, spelling and punctuation. Check your facts. Proofread. Don't get sloppy.

In other words:

1. What's my point?

2 Who's the audience?

3. How shall I package it?

4. Be credible.

Add 'em up and I get rhetoric.

They also gave us a fill-in-blank form. I filled in my logo process.

What is my task? Design a personal business logo.

What is my purpose? Create an image that instantly conveys my personality, and what I do.

Who is my audience? Potential clients

What type of document is best for this task? A graphic (gif or pdf)

What strategies should I use to achieve my purpose? Brainstorm. Who am I? Use key words. Sketch ideas. Play with them. Get on the computer and play with them some more. Try different colors and sizes. Get feedback. Refine.

I got the following e-mail from Becky at Student Services: "In researching your request I noticed that you also applied for a General Studies degree.  You have to earn the AGS degree first and then your other degree in the next semester.  For example, if you want the AGS, you can get it in the Fall and the Digital Graphics degree next Spring.  Or you can forget about the AGS degree and get the Digital Graphics degree this semester."


I guess I'll forget the General Studies degree and take the Digital Graphics degree. It still doesn't make sense to me. Seems if I earn both, I should get both.

Julie and I were trying to figure out how to access the SkyDrive storage at my.nmsu.edu. Julie e-mailed me: "Open up your NMSU email and sign in.
At the top header at your email click on the "More" tab
Then click on "Sky Drive"
you can upload documents from your computer from there."
A good thing to know.

On Tuesday, I applied to be a volunteer at the motion graphics conference in Albuquerque. I'm not sure when they'll let me know if I got it or not.

I finished my rough draft for my Career Goals paper. It actually made me realize I wanted to go into journalism graphics. All this time I've had a fuzzy image of the work I'd like to do.  I never saw myself going freelance or working on ads. It suddenly occurred to me – journalism! That's my niche. I can see myself doing that.

There's a group called Society for News Design. Memberships are $60 for full-time students. I'll think about it. I checked on some workshops they offer, but the closest is in St. Louis.