What I Learned in Boating School Is...

The title should really be "What I Wished I Learned Before Boating School Is...", but that's not what Spongebob said so therefore that is why I have that title. Mr. Meinheit (you) is always telling me, and other students (but mainly me), that you have to have a reason that you do something, such as a specific design or color or idea. He (you) always tells me that it has to tie in with your work, therefore, it has to be connected in some way and can't just be a random color or graphic. So my title is revenant because one, it's Spongebob and he's cool, and two, it ties in with my first paragraph. (If this first paragraph didn't make any sense to you, then just ignore it because it made sense to me.)

Anyways, back to the real reason this post is about.

1.) I wished I had known how much fun it would have been my sophomore year because then i would have even more experience under my belt.

2.) I wished I had know about the joys of designing stuff. When I was younger, I was always fascinated by building stuff. But learning all the computer stuff and about Indesign, I wished I had spent more time constructing things on paper rather than in 3-D because now I find 2-D more fascinating.

3.) I wished I had known about keyboard shortcuts. That would have made my life so much better and easier during my freshman and sophomore year.


I can't really think of anything else, and this is due right now, so I'm done.

lol

Okay, Okay. For Real This Time.

So Deadline Day, or D-Day as I like to call it, was a bit of a panic and a blur for me. The "deadline" didn't just start at the last couple of hours. No it started at the beginning of the week of D-Day. My other fellow editors, Kelsey and Hannah, and I were all in Mr. Meinheit's room during lunch trying to finish up spreads that people never did. Kelsey was finishing up last minute touches on her Senior Pages, Hannah was just editing pages, and I had just finished my Thespian Society spread. Then chaos occurred, or as we like to call it "the page count panic". Meinheit was on Pictavo making sure there was enough room for everything (just casually checking) when all of a sudden he realized that oh no, we didn't have enough room for all our spread. One: we made too many group pages than we created in Pictavo. Two: We didn't have enough room for other spreads because we needed those pages for the Senior Class Pages. Then, there was the matter of getting the Senior Pages down from 26 to 24 pages. There was a bit of a panic for about 20 minutes before we came up with a solution. After looking at the group pages, I managed to fix it so it went from 6 to 5 pages; therefore giving Kelsey the extra page she needed after she moved it down from 26 to 24 pages. Also, after much debate, the four of us sadly decided to do away with Pep Rallies and Underclass Bloopers to make room for our Yearbook Staff page and another page that I can't seem to recall. And then we helped Kelsey rearrange the Senior Superlatives, so she could cut the pages down. That was the most panic I had during D-Day week. The second worst was when we tried to submit it and apparently we needed to approve all the pages, and we didn't do that. So instead of the yearbook getting turned in at 12:00am, it got turned in around 12:30am. THE END!

My Real Deadline Experience

I really can't even.

My Deadline Experience

I can't even.

Gabby Flores' Senior Ad

So this is Gabby Flores' finished Senior Ad. This version is the one her mom asked me to design. I am very salty about this ad because I do not like the design whatsoever. I created another (better) version that I also showed her mom, but she still chose this one. I would show you the design, but I don't know where it went. It was trashed, along with my dreams. 

Thespian Society WIP

So this is my Thespian Society spread. It's not done yet, as you can tell by the "WIP" in the title. I am still missing 2 photos, one being the dominant one, where Kristina is, and the other where Tate is. I am also going to change some out when I get more photos from Mrs. Pratt. I just put the photos there to see what it would look like filled in. I also still need to do my module. I plan on doing a four part picture of Kristina, so it looks like her face (like when it was done to Johnny Depp and Robin Williams. Then of course, I need to get quotes from her (and from other people. Those quotes also aren't real.) Also if you have any ideas on what to do about THAT white space (you know which one), that would be great. If you think it looks okay as it is, then....after I get all the above mentioned done, then I'm finished with it.

Happy Valentine's Day! (I'm mainly talking to Matthew and Shannon)

Alex Olivares

Alex Garza's Senior Ad

This is Alexandra Garza's finished Senior Ad. On the first version, I had the younger picture of her in the flowers switched with the older picture in the background. But they wanted it switched, so that was an easy fix. Basically, before I started the ad, Alex had told me a basis of what she wanted it to look like, and I went off of that. Also, the text box was purplish because I drew it from the flowers in the background of the younger picture when it was originally in the background. I forgot to change the color when I switched the pictures, but the parents still liked it, so I kept it as is.

Completed Feature Spread - Twins

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Completed Cross Country Spread

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Cross Country Girls Spread

Below is my almost finished Cross Country Girls Spread. The only thing (I hope) I have to do is get quotes from Amber for her module, from Ana since the quote is next to her picture, from Azalia for the title (since her pictures next to it), and from me for the dominant photo. I also have to cutout Amber's photo for the module.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Cross Country WIP, with photos

So this week, I have been working on the Girls Cross Country Spread. From my last post, I have added and changed a few things. Both the module and dominant photo placement have been worked out (maybe). I also added a ribbon across  I'm still working on the quote placement.

Suggestions? Comments? Concerns?

Cross Country WIP

So this week, I have started designing my spread for cross country girls as well as gathering the photos for the spread. Here are a few photos I plan to put in the spread. These photos are taken by Coach Eddie Castillo and Mr. Matthew Meinheit, respectively.

Below is the start of the cross country girls spread. I plan to use the gray space for the module and the blue space for photos.The "Anatomy of a Runner", the module, will be a cutout of either Amber Garza or Alex Olivares. The girl not used for the module will be in the dominant photo. These are my plans so far.

Twin Spread WIP

So this week, I have been working on my Twin Spread design and organizing the paperwork that will be involved in the Twin Spread. It's not finished yet, but this is how it will kind of look.

I like the use of the teal ribbon because it pops out compared to the rest of the page. It's a great place to have a module because then people's eyes will be attracted to it. I might move the names to the bottom of the photo frame depending on how the studio shots come out.

Unfinished Discovery Club Spread Design

Here is what I have been working on for the past week.

So I am still working out a lot of details with it, but for the most part, it is the essential layout. The quotation marks are where quotes will go, and the empty space is where a possible module will go. (something like: what is the weirdest thing you took to Boston) i am still working out the indented pictures and the colors as well. (Yes, the spacing looks very weird right now.)

Finished Templates for Class Dividers

So I finally finished the designs for the class divider pages. You may have seen my last blog post (or not), but if you did then you saw the unfinished versions of the pages. The senior page was the only thing complete.

So here are the other class pages dividers.

Freshmen:

Sophomores:

Juniors:



And the Faculty page will look like the underclassmen dividers as well.

If you have any suggestions (minor changes only), then please let me know.

-Alex Olivares

Class Pages Designs

So this week, I've been reworking the designs for the class pages. I designed them up last year, but I had to resize all of the spread to fit this year's template. I've also added in the theme colors and fonts to the spread. For the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, we will be using this template. (IT'S NOT FINISHED YET!)

And for the Senior class page, we will be using this template.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

So this past week, there has been mass pandemonium over the ALS ice bucket challenge. This challenge was created in honor of Pete Frates back in 2013 and has since then spread all over the world. Celebrities like Justin Timerblake, Jennifer Lopez, Pharrell Williams, One Direction, Cheryl Cole, Kelly Clarkson, Victoria Beckham, Pamela Anderson, Derek Jeter, Anne Hathaway, Shay Mitchell, and many others have taken the challenge of dumping ice cold water on their head in support of ALS. This once small, local challenge in Pete Frates' community has spread quickly, and it is now here in our community. Students and staff alike have taken the ALS ice bucket challenge, myself included, and many more are still to come.

Below are the shots I took at Coach Figeroa's ALS ice bucket challenge.

SENIOR PORTRAITS!

Hello fellow readers! Just kidding, no one follows me except for Meinheit. Sad face! Anyways, this will still be on the big screen, so you all are going to see it nonetheless. Well this week, I didn't really get anything done design wise, besides finish the template that I've been working on for a couple of days.

Side note: Yes, we now have a template that will be used for the yearbook pages. The measures are (or should be) all right for when we put the final product onto Pictavo. The color swatches are all available and the style sheets are all there. If you want to know how to get to these options, read my last post or ask me in person. I do not feel like typing it all out again. (So really just ask me if you don't feel like looking at my last post.)

But what I did do all week, as I'm sure the rest of you did, too, was help out with Senior Portraits. Every period that I was there, I helped dress the girls into their formals and graduation gowns. I also helped dress the guys for their graduation gowns. I refrained from dressing the guys into the formal wear because I am not a good judge of size for boys, and I would have just slowed down the process. And not only did I do the above mentioned, but I also stayed during 8th period on Tuesday to reorganize all of the guys formal wear (with the help of Xenia) because it was a complete mess to fix. I also did that during 4th period on Wednesday (with the help of Caroline S.) because by then, it was also a complete mess.

Side note: It was only on Tuesday that I didn't dress the guys in formal wear. All the rest of the days, I did help when needed.

Here's all the hard work we did for senior pictures!



Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Mackenzie Keeton hard at work while Alex Olivares takes a selfie the "wrong" way with Kelsey Osburn and Caroline Braslau.

 





Thursday, August 14, 2014

Picture of (left to right) Kelsey Osburn, Alex Olivares, Caroline Braslau, and Mackenzie Keeton in their graduation gowns and NHS stole and cords. Photo by Alex and photographer. Photobomb by Marco the photographer.

 



 Thursday, August 14, 2014

Alex Olivares takes a selfie the "right" way with Caroline Schwing and Kelsey Osburn.

 

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Alex Olivares takes a selfie the "right" way with Alex the photographer.

 

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Caroline Schwing takes a selfie the "right" way with Alex Olivares, Kelsey Osburn, and Alex the photographer.

 

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Best friends and brothers Caroline Schwing and Hanna Roberts take prom pictures with their dates and best friends Alex Olivares and Hannah Bratton. (Yes these are their real smiles) (Don't judge!) After these photos were taken, Caroline and Hanna ditched their dates and just took prom pictures with each other instead. (They had a very nice time at the dance while Alex and Hannah were left to fend for themselves.)

 

 

If you weren't there with us to experience this wonderful magic, then you missed out. We had tons of fun every day and always made each other laugh. And despite all the laughs, we were all focused and on task when it came down to it. We dressed everybody efficiently and nicely (does that even make sense together)(oh well). There were no mishaps to happen, at least when I was there. And even though I posted this with one day still to go, I would call this a very successful Senior Portrait Day! (:

 

Yours Truly,

Alex 

 

 

Yearbook Style sheets and Theme colors

These past few days, I have been working on creating the color swatches and style sheets for everyone to use when they are in InDesign. The top picture is about the sizes that we are using for the yearbook (subject to change) and the colors the words are in are about our theme colors (subject to change). The bottom picture is what Hannah created. It's just the Theme Colors and Fonts we are using for our yearbook this year.
So if you are working in InDesign on a spread for the yearbook, on the right side you will find a tab that says SWATCHES. Click on it and you will see all the basic colors that InDesign comes with. Scroll down and you will see our theme colors. Use them as you please. And also if you click on WINDOWS and then STYLES, a box will pop-up. It should have all the fonts on there. (It should be options like "Label", "Caption", and so on.)