MELISSA GRANILLO, PART 3

This past week has been filled with finishing up the first project of the semester for each class. My logos are due next week and I’m really excited about how I’m going to present them to the teacher. He said we have to present it as we would to a future employer and suggested we make a little booklet of our logos that we’ve done. This weekend I’m having my logos printed and geting the right paper for the cover. I’m thinking something textured and bright orange or pink to draw attention.

My other class that I haven’t been able to talk about yet is 483E Computer Assisted Graphics. This is the second time I’ve taken it. That’s what’s really great about taking classes here. I can take some classes up to 3 or 4 times if I’m really interested in the subject and have them qualify as elective classes. In 483E last semester we started with an HTML site and finished up with using Flash. I started just understanding it toward the end of the semester and I was so interested in learning about it that I decided to take the class again to really learn it better and produce some creative websites. For our first project we are competing in an Anti-AIDS promotional piece held in Ukraine! It’s exciting to be apart of it and I’m pleased with my design so far. We had the option of creating a poster or an animation. I stuck with doing print based material and I’m just finishing the final toches. In two weeks, we are going to send them off to Ukraine to be judged by the panel. I have a working example of the poster, but it still needs a couple of things fixed.

Till next time,
Melissa :)

DANA TUSKEWICZ, PART 2

This week has been hell for me. Right now I’m trying to get a plaster mold ready so that I can slip cast some heads I’ve made. I have a crit (that is, critique) in sculpture in one week and I feel as though I am nowhere near ready. I made the mold on Friday and today is Monday and it is still not dry enough to slip cast into. I’ve tried pouring the slip into it but when I take the mold apart the piece keeps ripping. Our professor Nobu told me to speed up the drying time I need to circulate air around the mold. So last night I had two fans blowing on it all night, but it still hasn’t helped. All day today, I’ve been asking for advice in the studio. Shana, one of the grad students told me to try putting it in the microwave, but that just seems disastrous. Then I’ve been told to leave it out by the furnace in glass, then someone else said just leave it in a kiln that isn’t lit, and then someone said just abandon the mold and use actual baby doll heads. I’ll see what happens. Right now my roommate put the mold in the oven on low, on convection setting. I figure if it’s not dry enough by tomorrow then I’ll go to plan B. Then plan C. Then plan D and so on and so forth. Worst case scenario, I’ll go to the 99 cent store and buy a bunch of baby heads and spray paint them. It will be embarrassing to turn in such crap at the crit, but luckily our sculpture teacher, Jim, lets us resubmit pieces throughout the semester. So, at some point in life this piece I’m making is going to have the slip cast porcelain heads I so desire.

Dana

DANA TUSKEWICZ, CERAMICS STUDENT: PART 1

My name is Dana and I’ve been doing ceramics for the past seven years. The last three have been at Cal State Fullerton. To be honest, Cal State Fullerton was my last choice of university to transfer to. I had originally planned on going to Cal State Long Beach because I had been told they had a really good ceramics program. I changed my mind about Cal State Long Beach because the competition scared me. What sold me on Cal State Fullerton was, I was told you could drive right up to the back of the ceramics building and load your car so that’s where I went. I’m really glad that I came here though. There are enough kilns that you can do your own firing at least once a week. There is 24-hour access to the entire studio, which is perfect if you find it too distracting to work during class time. I think that the studio has a very friendly, almost family atmosphere. I think rather than competing with each other, we actually support each other.

The art department here has a great vibe. Every semester I meet some really great friends that are fun to hang out with and fun to make art with.

By the way, you can see some of my work and in interview with me in the Diversity in Clay video (link at bottom).

Until next week,
Dana
DIVERSITY IN CLAY

MELISSA GRANILLO, PART 2

So last week I’m going to my Special Studies class and I see some people standing outside of the class who say, “Class is dismissed today.” I thought bummer, I just drove all the way here. I tell them good-bye, see ya next week and I see another person in my class and I tell him class was canceled too. At this point I’m gunning it to my car thinking, “Hooray! I get a free afternoon!” Hah, little did I not know class was not canceled. It was quite funny actually. After I left the parking lot and rounded my way toward Yorba Linda Blvd. I got a call from my friend from class who told me everyone was there. Moral of the story: Make sure you check the note on the door to make sure that YOUR class was the one that was cancelled and not another one. Luckily, I found parking and made it back to class.

Since then, I’ve been working on the first project for my graphic design class. We are supposed to create a logo. I’ve chosen to create one for a made-up yoga studio that I named “ReJuv Yoga.” I’m glad I took Prof. John Drew design class. I utilized a lot of techniques I learned in that class to create this logo. My favorite methods so far have been using a modular system, overprinting, and creating a 3D plane. I’m really trying to go for a gestalt look, but I’m not succeeding all that well so far. It’s a tough method to get, but hopefully I’ll get it. I’ve been creating all my logos in Illustrator and some have been hand drawn then scanned into the computer. I find I work best with vector based programs.

Anyway, I’m off to create more logos for this Wednesday. So far I’ve done close to 200!

Eat, sleep and dream design.

Till next time,
Melissa :)

CHRIS ALLISON, PART 3

Ahoy there future Titans!

This past week was a busy one! Papers were flying in an animation storm as
I finished up the animation for a project that I am working on for
Nickelodeon Studios. Based upon the sheer talent and performance of CSUF
alumni, Nickelodeon came to our school with a pitch contest. The
competition was to see who could come up with a funny minute long short to
be funded by Nickelodeon. The great folks over at Nickelodeon selected my
idea, as well as the pitches from my two buddies Sean Kreiner and Mike
Williams.

It’s been a great opportunity for me as an art student to see this project
from start to finish. I first had to do storyboards and character designs,
working with network executives to see what they liked, and how their
process works. Now I know the expectations of what they’re looking for in a
storyboard artist and a character designer as well as a director.

I’ve got lots of experience directing from this project. First, I got to
direct professional voice actors Tara Strong, voice of Fairly Odd Parents
and countless other shows, and Conchata Ferrell, who’s in a lot of Adam
Sandler films. Look ‘em up! Also, I got to direct students who helped me
with a bunch of facets of the project, from layouts and painting backgrounds
to animation and cleanup/coloring. And finally this week, I went into
Nickelodeon Studios twice! I’ve worked with one of Nickelodeon’s talented
editors, and a musician who is going to do an original score for my film!
Super sweet!

The funniest thing about going to Nickelodeon was that while I was being
given a tour, I couldn’t go 2 minutes without bumping into somebody that I
knew from CSUF. There are so many graduates there from our program that
it’s just like a continuation of college with all my old friends in the same
place, as well as some new ones too. I can see myself feeling quite at home
working at Nickelodeon! They even have free bagels in the morning, and
classes sometimes during lunch lead by really talented artists!

I’ll keep you guys updated on how the project comes along, and some of my
experiences along the way. This is just one of the opportunities that Cal
State Fullerton has provided me to actively get involved in the professional
world. Stay tooned, and I’ll be talking about a whole lot more!

Oh, and feel free to shoot off any questions you have! I don’t bite (unless
I run out of Easy Mac… then I get really hungry).

Your pal,
Chris
TARA STRONG
CONCHATA FERRELL

INTRODUCING MELISSA GRANILLO, GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENT

Hello all! My name is Melissa Granillo and I’m senior Graphic Design student at CSUF. I’ve never written on a blog before but I'm am looking forward to sharing my artistic experience.

I transferred here from Saddleback College in Fall 2005. Being at a Cal State is a big step up from a junior college, but the transition was nice. I actually started my college life at Saddleback in 2001, where I spent the next four years wondering what I was going to do with my life! I was so confused as I’m sure we all have been fresh out of high school. After trying classes in nursing, interior design and English, I found my major: ART! At Saddleback I got my AA in Studio Art and that’s when I decided to further my education at CSUF. I knew that I didn’t want to travel too far from home and I heard great things about CSUF’s design program, so I made the decision to trek 4 days a week, 35 miles away, and 1 hour in traffic from my home in Laguna Hills to the city of Fullerton.

After a year and a half at this school, I’ve grown fond of the campus, friends, and classes. It’s hard for me to adapt to new places because I’m a shy person. I’m happy that I’ve learned to open up a bit more. I got in an art show in the Titan Student Union in Fall 2005 and received a scholarship this past fall. I even found my first graphic design internship through the career center here!

Going to school full time and working part time doesn’t leave much room for too much leisure time, but I always manage to squeeze some in for hanging out with my boyfriend and other friends. Currently I do design contract work for a company in Irvine and right now I’m taking a Special Studies class, Computer Assisted Graphics and Creative Photography.

I’ll keep you posted on what’s going on in those classes and classes that I have taken in the past. Hopefully those who read this will get some info about some great classes, design techniques, teacher’s advice that I’ve taken to heart and a little bit of my own piece of mind.

Cheers,
Melissa :)

CHRIS ALLISON, PART 2

Hiiiiiyo! Chris here. Remember me? I’m the first-year senior you met last week.
Yup, you read that right. “First year senior.” With so many classes to take, I don’t think four years will be enough. Shhh… don’t tell my parents.

The first week of school is past! Cal State Fullerton
doesn’t miss a beat. We’re really hitting the ground running, as I’m
already working on a fun project to be seen by Disney artists. Cal State
Fullerton participates in the ACME program (www.acmeanimation.org), a
non-profit organization that brings professionals working in the industry
together with students to talk about the student’s work. Every Thursday,
our class goes to the bottom of the library to teleconference with pros
(usually on their lunch break) from a plethora of studios, from feature film
to television to games to you name it. Last week, two story artists from
Disney’s new Short Film department came in to talk to students about a
challenge they issued on ACME. Students broadcasted their artwork and got
comprehensive critiques from the professionals. I’m particularly excited
about these two individuals because I’d like to become a story artist
myself. They gave critiques of artwork and will be back in a month to check
up on us.

ACME is great because it puts you into contact with the professionals who
you’re looking to get hired by. They get to see your face, you talk with
them, and you hear straight from the horse’s mouth what skill sets they’re
looking for in a prospective future employee. It’s a great program and it
really makes Cal State Fullerton unique in that there is a strong bond
between the academic sector and the professional industry that you might not
find at other campuses.

Back to the drawing board! I don’t want to disappoint these Disney folks!

Your pal,
Chris
ACME ANIMATION