I am happy to report that I am finished with my English course.  After the midterm we had 4 classes then moved straight into our final paper.  The professor set it up to where we had to give a presentation on our papers, but only a couple people would be presenting per night and you didn’t have to come to class until you were scheduled to present.  I gave mine just this past Wednesday and he gave me my final grade today (I got an A!).  The best part, once the presentation is complete, that’s it for your semester.  This definitely takes a load off my mind as we move into the final stretch.  I have one more art project, an audio tour (and accompanying paper), and two finals left to go in the next couple of weeks.

I finally finished my retail package.  I completed the design and print run about seven hours before it was due.  It took three attempts to get the printer settings correct (kinda hard with generic paper and no profiles) and it ended up being a matte finish, but that’s ok.  I cut the design and folded it and then realized that I screwed up on the placement of two words on the bottom.  As it was nearly 3 am when I realized this, I ran another print in the hopes I would get a chance to cut and fold during the class, but no such luck befell me.  It’s ok, I hope she doesn’t ding me too hard for that little design flaw.  I chose to make a wine box and made a fictitious little company called “In Vino Veritas.” The artistic theme for the design was to be something to do with self-improvement.  I chose “Believing in Yourself” and put little inspirational quotes over photos of things that we as human beings have accomplished.  The first was the discovery of DNA, the second was Mount Everest, the third was Neil Armstrong with the US Flag on the surface of the moon, and the fourth was a picture of the Earth as seen from the moon.  On the bottom I put “In Wine Lies Truth” (it was here I messed up the placement of the words “In” and “Lies” – they were partially covered by the fold flaps).  On the top flaps I placed a solid color and little scattered graphics of wine bottles.  Here is the template graphic for the project:

Click to Embiggen

Some of you out there may recognize the 366th Fighter Wing motto, but I digress.  The professor has the completed project at this time.  When I get it back I will take some photos to show what it looks like in its final form.  I wish I would have had time to take it to Kinko’s to have it printed on glossy cardstock as the matte finish doesn’t allow the colors to pop at all.  But hey, at least I got it done.

Now my wife is wanting me to design some boxes for the giveaways for her parents’ Golden Anniversary next year.  Is it unethical to charge this to my in-laws?

Now I’m on to my next project, which is to create a postage stamp.  It can be from any country, real or imaginary, and has to have at least one example of each of the following: a currency notation and price, a scanned texture, and an edge like you see on real postage stamps but this one has to be created using Photoshop’s vector pen tool.  I have a few ideas and will hopefully begin executing them shortly.

Sweetness came to me today in the form of a piece of plastic.  I have been wondering about pinhole photography for a while, but never really felt like buying a body cap and drilling a tiny hole into it to give it a shot.  The other thing that turned me off about that idea, too, was the fact that the hole would allow dust into my sensor while the mirror was up.  Well, I have to worry no more…  I found out Lensbaby makes a pinhole optic for their Composer lens.  And it is only $35 at Camera Co-Op.  Happy Birthday to me!!!  Tomorrow I will be taking it outside while the sun is high so I can see what my mind can create.  I am soooo looking forward to this.

At this point I have one more picture I can share with you from my gallery.  Feel free to comment at will.

Click to Embiggen and See Gallery

Well, my friends, I need to pop in that Celtic Frost CD and get back to work.  You all have a safe and happy Easter Weekend and I will see you all again soon.