Need help for School Project

N

Nitya Sri

New Member
I have spent hours researching how to go about this. I want to get into learning graphic design. I joined one other forum and they were less than helpful. I joined here because it said you were friendly.

I need to make a project for admission to a well-known diploma program. I know absolutely nothing about graphic design or any of its programs, except I really like to make Memes on FB. :) I have exactly one month to make a project. It will not get printed, it just needs to be the file for it.

I already have the idea..I want to make a simple billboard. I will need animated faces of people from different religions. And a big red X to go over them. Then add a little text and a word logo below.

I surely cannot make these animated figures myself. But I will need to get the animations from somewhere I think.

Can you please please guide me? Which program do I use? It seems Photoshop is mostly for photos. Any ideas where I can obtain these graphics from? Do you think I can manage to finish this in a few weeks time? I will not be an expert, just know enough to piece these things together to make the billboard. Thanks for your time.

This is really important to me. I do not know where to start. Please if you can take a minute to help someone less knowledgeable. Thanks.
 
Do you mean animated, or illustrated?

If it's on a billboard, it won't literally be animated, i.e. moving parts. Or maybe animated as in with lots of expression?
 
So you probably need illustrations, which will be trickier for you to source than photos. You can buy some quite cheaply
on a stock illustration site or you can try and do them yourself, which would be preferable and might be easier than you think. Google something like
'ethnic face illustration' or 'simple line illustration'. Simple graphic images need not take long. DON'T Google 'graphic heads' which I've just done!
Also do a bit of research for 'billboard advertising' etc.

If it's a simple design then you will manage with Photoshop. You will find lots of tutorials on YouTube for you to put a simple design together.
 
Thank you so much for the reply.
I will do what you said.
Is there any software I can make this in which is free...like the alternatives to Photoshop?
Yes, i want to insert pre made graphics to make a billboard with a few text words.
 
Gimp is probably your best bet, but have a Google, there might be others best suited for graphics.
 
Just use the tools you have available and be creative with what you have. Take pictures of friends and family on your phone and use those for the faces. Don't worry about them not looking like they fit a certain religion, people of all races practice a number of religions, so it's not a good idea to rely on stereotypes. GIMP is probably one of the better programs you can get legally for free. I wouldn't worry too much about technical skill at this stage, most course leaders will want to see creativity and problem-solving. That's what good design comes down to.
 
There's an isolated image further down the page. If you have time to trawl through Google, you might find a bigger image
maybe even without a watermark.
 
oh yes! I see what you mean...Is this type of graphic suitable for a billboard????
Maybe not someone else mentioned to me????
It does not have to be a billboard I am making...someone mentioned to me. I really like these animated illustrations... What is your thought? You would not really see these kinds of illustrations on a billboard would you????
 
Here is my assignment.. So maybe this type of graphic is not good on a billboard...
Usually you see real life images on billboards right?
Choose one real issue or problem you care about or that affects you
Be innovative
Have a tech, digital, data and/or marketing & communications focus.
Create a concept, campaign, product, service or experience that contributes to solving your community challenge.
 
You do see a lot of illustration on adverts, but you might be better off with photos if you can find the right
image for the right design.

I sounds like you need to do a lot of market research first, see what is out there and look at what others do in
their advertising. Google is your best friend, but it's often knowing WHAT to Google that counts.
 
Thanks a lot for your help. It means a lot to me You know, I forgot about youtube!
I can learn a lot from peoples videos! There is probably one there that can guide me how to do this! YAY!
Yes, I would not have thought to google "ethnic illustrations". I wonder if making a billboard design is too complicated and a standard facebook page or something would be fine. I am guessing it would be.
I can just make a FB banner...I think that is going to be easier than a billboard. What do you think?
 
An FB banner isn't really the same as an advert for a billboard or poster, it depends what your brief is.
A banner is normally just a header image with minimal graphics on it.
 
Yeah...You are right. I do not know if it is good enough. I saw other people are making five minute videos and stuff.
I like what I thought up...but without these kinds of graphic skills, I do not know if I can pull this off...Because if I make a banner, then I should make a brochure and other marketing stuff too...I really want to get accepted and there is definitely some competition. Maybe I should make a video like everyone else. I dont know.
My idea was to make a campaign for religious tolerance.
I wanted to make a cool billboard...but without knowing these graphic programs...how can I do it....
I posted the assignment earlier. Thanks again.

This is what it says..
What’s the best way to present my idea?
That’s entirely up to you. We suggest in whichever way you feel you can express yourself best. That could be in a short video, website mockup, .pdf or even in the form of poetry. It’s up to you!

Do I need to “create” anything?
We don’t expect you to actually bring your concept to life whether that be a campaign, prototype, a website, app, or service. We expect you to conceptualize your idea and explain how it attempts to solve the task.
 
If the course is for Graphic Design, then I think this should be to the fore of your assignment, so I think
an advertising campaign would suit better than a video, for example.

Choose what you think you're best at and go that route. If you think you're capable of getting your head round Gimp,
then have a go. Your English seems excellent, so a simple, eye-catching advertising campaign should be fairly easy for you.
The actual design need not be complicated, a snappy slogan and a bold image and you're almost there. Spend a few hours
just researching and scribbling down a few ideas, bounce them off your friends and family. Do yourself a simple mood board
of sourced ideas and images that inspire you.

It sounds like the idea itself is just as important as how you present it, so don't worry too much about it not looking
too professional in the end. For instance, a half-decent image (it could be a photo of a celebrity that you found, to 'head' your campaign) can be
transformed into something quite special with just a filter or vectorisation.
 
Hi Wardy.
It is a creative media school. I can do pretty much anything...I can write something, make a poem, anything about something that is important to me...which can solve a problem.
People are making super elaborate videos, and I wonder how on earth they are making them!
I am very creative, but I wonder about my competition.
How can people be making super elaborate videos with animations and blackboards? I started to think maybe a video is better to make because my thing seems to simple compared to the others I saw and I want it to stand out.
It will, I am sure, since it will be about religion and I am basically living in an atheist country...Sweden.
I would like to show you if possible, since you have been helping me. Thanks so much.
I thought my idea was cool but I saw the videos of the other people from last year and feel it is not adequate now. :(
But the advice I did get from others in the program were to do what I wanted, and not what other people were doing.

One question..If I try this GIMP, will I be able to learn photoshop easy later? Is it similar? Or not at all,do you know?
 
All I can say is follow your instincts and use whatever your strengths are.

I've never used Gimp, sorry.
 
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