Graphic Design II

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I have been meaning to write a follow up post after completing the short course in graphic design. I enjoyed learning a new programme - Adobe Illustrator - and have used it to create marketing material for Sprout.

I designed a number of business card options: I wanted the layout to be crisp with a clean, professional look. In the end I chose no.6/6 displayed below. I considered adding colour to the logo (Red and Green) but in the end decided that I liked the simplicity of the Black and White layout. I designed the logo before I learnt Illustrator so I actually drew it up in AutoCAD.

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This is an illustration of a landscape with some trees drawn in Illustrator.

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Here are some of the assignments we completed for the course:

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 Here is a picture of me showing off my certificate :)

Graphic Design Short Course

I am currently doing an online graphic design course and hope that the skills I learn will be beneficial for my new business. I have created a few mailers for marketing purposes on Photoshop and am interested to see how these compare with mailers that I will be creating after the course. The course runs for 10 weeks and teaches you to use Adobe Illustrator. Here are two flyers I made using Photoshop:

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The yellow colour is really awful... so these definitely need to be worked on! In the course we have been introduced to some contemporary designers who are currently leaders in their field.

One of the fmous Graphic Designer we learnt about is Marian Bantjes who makes very beautiful, sensual, detailed work. You can watched her TED talk below which is very inspirational.

[embed]http://www.ted.com/talks/marian_bantjes_intricate_beauty_by_design?language=en#t-25427[/embed]

"Sorrow" by Marian Bantjes was made from real flowers that were donated by a local flower shop for an installation at the Chicago Design Museum. She named the artwork Sorrow because the fresh flowers wilted and dried up over time while they were on display.  (see http://bantjes.com/work/sorrow/)

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I really like the way she used real leaves and flowers as materials to design with. So for my first assignment I also used this technique. The brief was to write your name using different tools in Adobe Illustrator and also make use of a raster image. The aim was for you to experiment and learn how how to the program. I took photos of leaves from my garden and incorporated them into the design. This is what my assignment looked like:

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Once I am finished with the course I hope to see a big improvement in the kind of marketing material I will be producing for Sprout Landscapes.

Babylonstoren

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One of my favourite places to visit when I am in the Cape is the beautiful winefarm near Paarl called Babylonstoren. Anyone who loves gardens and plants will be in their element exploring this formal vegetable garden- there is so much to discover! With its wide variety of herbs, vegetables, roses, fruit trees, indigenous plants and areas of interest all beautifully co-ordinated; combined with an incredible attention to detail makes this garden worth revisiting each season.

When I visited now in May was very different to the last time I was here in September last year: instead of the fruit trees having blossoms they are now heavy laden with citrus - naartjies, oranges, lemons, guavas. You can smell the citrus in the air and the sound of flowing water follows you everywhere.

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A lot of the fruit trees are deciduous and have lost their leaves which gives the garden a naked beauty that makes you aware of the changing seasons and the effect of time.

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The display in the "Puff Adder" (a snakelike tunnel made out of timber slats) is on the Spurflower plant or Plectranthus spp. with some beautiful plants on display. This is an indigenous plant group that belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Plectranthus is indigenous to South Africa and often grows in shady areas. On a previous visit they had a Clivia exhibition. But the exhibition is no longer necessary because they have planted a massive bed of Clivias running all along the pathway under the trees - the River and Clivia Walk.

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I love all the timber trellises and obelisks that they have created - it really gives the garden a lot of character and compliments the main wooden structure of the walkways.

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You probably can't see them in this photo because they are so small but there were Swee Waxbills here that I enjoyed watching. The whole garden was actually filled with birds and birdsong.

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Even though it was an overcast day we had such fun exploring this garden. I will definitely keep going back.

Cape Town...a beautiful city

The Mountain

Just some pictures of a trip to Cape Town...

Lions Head

Long Street

Gardens Give Joy

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Free Veggie Garden Outside this Church

Cobbles

Green Market Square

Funky Street Furniture

Rainbow Nation

Karoo National Botanical Gardens

In March we travelled to the Cape for the Tour De Boland Cycle Race. This is a cycle race that spans over five days and includes cycling between various towns in the picturesque Boland region. The first day the route went from Paarl to Worcester and while we were in town we stopped in at the Karoo Botanical Garden. ( see http://www.sanbi.org/gardens/karoo-desert) It was not the ideal time to visit because the annuals nor aloes were in flower, but it was still lovely to see the plants that were there. There is also a nursery where you can buy some succlents. The Big Bugs Expo was on while we were there and these artworks were scattered all over the lush green lawn. (for more on the expo see http://www.sanbi.org/news/big-bugs-expo-tours-sanbi-gardens)

Church in Worcester where the race ended on the first day and started on the second day

Some Big Bugs in the distance

Beautiful Succulents

Lovely Mountains all around

Bristlecone Nursery, Skeerpoort

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On the 21st of January 2015 Bristlecone Nursery held its annual Skeerpoort Market Day for landscapers and clients at their farm in Skeerpoort which is not far from Hartbeespoort Dam. It is always a real treat driving out to their farm beautifully located at the foot of the Magaliesburg mountains.  Each year they go out of their way to make it an enjoyable experience – besides the various suppliers exhibiting their products there is always an open bar, a talented musician filling the garden with atmosphere and a delightful meal. I must compliment their cooks - the food is always exceptional!

Leon & Elize Sholtz run this family business with its notable reputation for quality and this year it is celebrating its 35th year! Bristlecone is known for its variety of grasses and these are on display in an area specifically planted up to see what the species look like in their mature growth form.

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Some of the suppliers who were exhibiting included:

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Aqua Flora SA specializing in water plants

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Madibri Nursery specializing in Ericas, Proteas and other Fynbos plants

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Ngena Succulents specializing in Succulents

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The garden is full of plants used to their full potential and one of the highlights of the day is exploring the magnificent spaces that they have created.

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Around every corner is a new discovery and the variety of colours and textures is enough to make you want to buy your own farm somewhere nearby, fill it with plants from Bristlecone, and spend all day pottering in the garden.

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As you walk through the garden you will encounter several unique spaces which together create an impression of creativity and intrigue: a clump of tall bamboo forming a secret hideaway; a lonely bench for contemplation; a vegetable garden with enormous plants guarded by a cheeky scarecrow; an artistic collection of pots and buckets; formal beds of flowering plants; the tortoise enclosure and then finally crossing the wooden bridge edged with Crinum lilies to experience the most glorious sight… a large dam filled to the brim with Lotus flowers and Water Lilies.

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A magical place and always a joy to visit.

Please visit http://www.bristlecone.co.za/ for more information.

Jewish Cemetery

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We decided to visit a sculpture I had heard about situated in the Jewish part of the West Park Cemetery in Emmarentia, Johannesburg.

The sculpture commemorates the six million Jews that were killed in World War 2 and is made from Copper. The giant hands holding shofars are quite impressive. If you are looking for an interesting and humbling experience I would recommend visiting this sculpture and the surrounding cemetery.

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