Why do i need a personal brand?

After watching several videos from other students i want to add that for me personal brand is to make people see what you really are, not just the surface, the look, the knowledge etc, but the spark that is your personality and creativity and shows who you really are. Everybody has this hidden inner quality that sometime is buried under outside garbage and wanting to be what others are and not yourself.

Assessment on Alicia Fines Portfolio

Alicia on Adobe - fellow student in the class - allowed me to make my assignment this week on her Portfolio. All images from her work are just for demonstration and copyrighted by Alicia. Special thanks to Alicia, i enjoyed looking on all this variety of things you do and you manage to be a teacher and an artist! And you keep on learning! You did a lot of courses on the Edex and still keeping on. I wonder how you manage to do all the class homework besides your really busy shedule as teacher and artist. Amazing!

Assessment on Spark Video : Meet Alicia Fine

First I didn' t like the idea to make a video, video is not my case and when filming i feel i am in the Camera and not in life. But i love movies so actually somebody has to do the hard work....For people that have no idea how to make a video its so great to get the possibility in a very short time to built something that looks like a video and all without camera! I did learn once the same kind of video in PP and the learning curve there was very big i was astonished how i can get the same result in Spark in short time that once i got after hours of googeling, trying and failing and managing converting in PP. True is that Spark video stays simple and is very limited and will never be the tool for a filmmaker but it does what it has to do for everyone that just wants to show a little video, so its a great tool for teachers and students. The question i asked in the life class for transitions: they are inbuilt in themes. Luckily Adobes designers seem to be more artistic then web template designers.... But i don't like to use templates in general (themes i like) so i started my video from the scratch, i tried to find a theme that fits the character i found on alicia's profile.

As i am not a teacher its hard for me to do an assessment, but i will keep in mind the Israeli approach to assessment: First see the person- the human being behind all work - check the way - check the surrounding, try to get know him or her through the work and through his or her interaction with others. Any work can be good, but great work is always personal and personal in a way that catches the personality of anyone that is a little open minded. In Israel we don' t have ratings until high school (there we have it in order to get maturity to study abroad later as well) - i remember the nice little booklets my daughter got every half year where each teacher writes a one site! comment on what the pupil can, how he is in the class and in between other students, where he is good etc... and the teacher tries to map new ways and encourages. From very young age the pupils have to get an other pupil they can help with their knowledge and while teaching themselves the pupils understand how to get easy ways to learn. In Israel not the papers are important you can work even as a teacher without, if you prove you know the job in praxis. And you need to prove it daily. To be helpful is a rating in even higher percentage then the examines. And any student in any stage gets the help he or she needs. We had a student that did first university grade in maths before finishing school! Handycapped are integrated fully with personal teacher that comes to all classes and adds some special ones. So for my assessment i avoided rating by numbers or lists and tried to keep it "Israeli style". I did use only the forename, in israel pupils call their teacher with the forename only.

My issues with Spark Video and what i like most

What i found hard in Spark Video is the centered text in any theme that i can't change and the adjustment of the right time to show the slide not to be boring and not to be to fast... Also i found it not easy to deal with the strange shapes sometimes i get a pic. To showcase a portfolio i guess its better to have the focus on the content and not on the frame. But there are themes that have just the pic. It would be nice to get an empty theme with possibilty to choose and the possibility to switch theme from site to site. I couldn t find a way to undo a step instaed of deleteing all the last slide. Unfortunally i didn t find out how to get an inbuilt microphone on desctop i miss the voice on one site in my video but on the other side i really don't like to hear myself.

I loved the choosing pictures from everywhere under Creative Commons even if i didn t use it for this project. I like the simple handling and the layoutoptions and automatic transitions. I like the fast way to get something online so quick.

4th Assignement

The way to get me digital...

This is the link to my Portfolio https://susannetamir.myportfolio.com/

After the lesson i got many ideas and many options to try. A portfolio with Spark wasn' t really an option for me and Behance Interface is very confusing and it has many issues when uploading. I can't really get to something there because all looks a little the same. But Portfolio allows me to post to Behance and that is great because i guess Behance is important to be inside the Adobe family... But the cover image is not the same shape and all is cut off and needs to be fixed in Behance. Is there a way to get a focal point like in Spark?

In the beginning it was sure to me i will create my portfolio with Drupal the CMS that is my favorite but i decided first to give Adobe Portfolio a try and fall in love with it. I faced some issues but i was able to find the solution after a while. Portfolio is just like all Adobe tools full of surprises and ready for discovering more and more. The Responsive part works so well that i couldn't believe it. I missed in the beginning that i could not write CSS and edit in HTML but the system to change global is Sass Like (no code but the ability to change global for all the site) and really good. Took me some time to find out how and where to get my content placed. I like that you can have grey scale images when hovering and adjust the opacity. And i like the photo grid.

I did one page with photos that is pass word Protected because not everyone on the pics would like to be online- its for our internal use. Password works fine but i didn t find the way to get a nicer design for the password page itself. And also how i can add there content. and explaining text and my address to contact to get the password. For this homework i give the password to the participants to see the content: Susides

Playing around Portfolio is fun the integration with Indesign Publishing is so helpful and there are really many options. I still miss one to get text in columns may be there is and i just didn't find it. I will go through any link and tool and learn this platform really well its so easy to get a portfolio there if i compare to do it as a real website. And it looks professional. I think as a teacher i would like to present this tool and i am sure students will love it. It encourages to work and see quick good results so easy. Also it will be fun to continue it i just added afew things i did because right now i am making big changes and i want to go more for Printdesign mainly because i love Indesign . Also i think its better to get a few things that give a global picture in a portfolio. I am not sure i choosed the right works nut its still under construction and anyhow i think a web site and a Portfolio are living things you can't make them as final they need changes all the time from content and from Technical news. A website is never at is end its always on the way.

I wanted to embed my timeconverter with a widget that shows the regions with little clocks parrallel i can do it here http://localtimes.info/difference/?lcid=UKXX0085,USIL0225,USNY0996,ASXX0112 (i miss the possibility in spark to unlink and i can't write after a link without linking! Any suggestions?)

You need to go to Get clock widget and after adjusting just embed it in your website But its not possible in Portfolio the Code from this site is not supported even it is iframe i wrote to Adobe Portfolio and they suggest me to ask for it so may be once it will be... its a really nice widget and i never missed a class since i found it . It shows real time. i have embedded it in a muse site i use for all kind of things that i need http://tutsandtools.businesscatalyst.com/index.html

Last issue that i send an request to Portfolio as well is writing in rtl language its almost impossible and with many tricks i did find a way but it dosn t work with punctation. I asked Portfolio to add the little icon for right to left text:

I hope they will add it. I added the CV in theree languages by hiding the page in the navigation and linking to the language on the about page. If i use the hebrew as title it gives an error as not identicated page and i had to hide the title and add it in the text. And is there a way to add lists and tables in Portfolio?

I did a new logo i won't se it so much as a logo but i need it for the favicon and the Apple icon. I find it very important to have one in order to find a site quickly when you have an icon on the desctop or your advice. It was fun to learn Portfolio and i feel i got a start into theis application and will continue to add work there.

My new Logo

May be the first thing i did finish in Illustrator without escaping... Its still a lot of work to polish but the idea is to have a mouse that is a mouse in real and a computermouse i will continue working on it ....

3rd Assignement

I really think a logo is something like a name for a baby, you need to think it over and over again. I just had a few ideas and its not final at all. i want to see how fellow students are gone , learn from them and so i post mine not really in a stage i will us it.

I have an SVG file for vector but its not possible to share with spark.

Main idea is to have a logo that shows the labyrinth a designer is facing but is able to find the way out. I thought of a puzzle first but the maze pattern did fit it more . I used photoshop fonts that i bought and fonts from typekit (for me fonts is one of the main factors of good design and i think them over and over again and this version is the direction but not final).

Also i think it important to have a version slightly different for each social media, website or print you use it. The advice from one of the life classes (i think it was Mark's one) to get the logo first black and white was really good and helpful . And because i didn't get et an idea to a good name i used Shaloni's lesson to make it from the initial letters . i did try to get them into a shape by using outline font and convert to shape to fill. As background i used an image from our desert here that is a little like a labyrinth in its structure and i did the overlay with the maze pattern. Thanks for all the great lessons that pointed me to a very different approach to get my logo .

2nd Assignment Reflection

CV and/or Resume : International, web and print optimized

Started to google what kind of CV/ resume is relevant for different countries in the world.

I need one that works for Israel and Europe, for both Israel and Europe i need the English too. I want general resumes to embed into my new Portfolio website . If i am applying to a job i will do one that fits exactly to this job and change the main one i want to use as a basic background. Skills changing and new Technics are available all the time so the CV should be something i need to update always just being on the real new developments. I think its very important always to learn and to update. I have websites i did 5 years ago and most need to be adjusted to new development.

On one side its hard but on the other its a chance for anyone that wants to start late . I just went into Webdesign when responsive design started, i went on it from the very beginning and found myself old but new on whats going on- like this its with the CV or resume. I wanted to do three in all languages i need but won't have the time right now. I will embed all three in the portfolio site i will have hopefully at the end of this Course.

I am using Indesign daily and i have several big font, pattern and icon collections that i bought and i am allowed to use. i also use assets from the CC library and Adobe Kuler . For this project i used the Indesign color theme finder and the shades for colors in Illustrator. I copy pasted vectors from Illustrator and the workflow between both is really great. i can copy paste paths and redesign in Indesign and also recolor. I did a lot of research and checked images for resumes in google and on Behance and opened some templates . In general i never use templates but i learn from them. I learned that the resume should be between standard and some special adds. i did give my English text to a corrector ad most should be fine, if i use it in real i would ask for a very profound correction of all. its very important not to have typos.

Here is the link to the online Publishing https://indd.adobe.com/view/b72880a4-b2e6-4b79-93e8-1140562950c1

The Print Document is attached in Adobe Edex as well as the interactive PDF. I found that in Behance i can't upload PDFs. Is that true? As well i saw how old are all my social network Profiles. I started to update a little but none is really ready to be linked in the CV and my website is under maintenance. Can i use the Adobe Logo to link to my Adobe Profile?

First Assignment- Reflection

I did learn photography and even had a laboratory home to develop pics. I spent days without seeing light being fascinated by the pics coming out of the chemical bathes. But that was before the Digital age...I recently got back to take pics but i found myself lost in the new Technics its so hard with a good camera to get the right focus and the right light. I use the Cannon EOS 700 D from my daughter and i did take many lessons to handle it. But to take a pic from myself was the hardest part. To get Focus while actually not being behind the camera was a challenge and still i didn't get it perfect. But luckily there is Photoshop. I love Photoshop it reminds me little my laboratory.

Second struggle was with myself. I always hated to be photographed and i really have bad pics from my childhood expressing the anger somebody took a pic from me. Then i was beautiful, so that was not the reason i didn't like it. Now some hard years did their job quit well and i hate to see myself so to take the pics was a struggle with this and i took 100 at least until i got one i could work with. But it was a really good exercise technical and personal. Its also because of all you nice people in the courses i find the way to get over my problems with myself. The Adobe community is really a community i love to take part.

I did not do retouching because with all my wrinkles people know me i did try to dress according but still my shirt is wrinkled too... But this is how people know me and even with very short hair always some hair stands in the way. In Israel actually its less important specially when you are in a kibbutz. But i know for Germany that's different . I work a lot with french people and also there its important to dress well. But i don t like to clean up my face its what i am and i wont change it while changing it in Photoshop. Would be great to have a Photoshop for real look!

I did several versions for Twitter 400px X 400px, for Facebook 180px X 180px and 50px X 50px for google Plus 270px X 270px round png (that worked great for the adobe edex to i did load it there) . i did first try to get it in the thirds but i prefer to use the space and have the face in the middle. Profile pics in general are small and if they are round so he thirds will be very unsymmetric. For google plus and Facebook i added the Retina Version that is available to create in Photoshop i did use double resolution but i am not sure i did it right. I need to check and even found that new I-phones use 3x... In the beginning i thought to do something like Mark in the life class but i guess that won t be good for my profile so i will do it for fun for myself . And also i think the profile photo should be the same all over if you use it for the same purpose. I use social platforms only for work and i prefer the EDEX and XING over Facebook and Twitter.

In the end while uploading i found the exact sizes not very useful its better to have a bigger image in order to get it on retina right and to have a room to adjust while uploading - all Media give the opportunity to cut and adjust. So i did three images worked on them n Photoshop deleting the shade in the background and adjust colors and add frame and pattern for round uploads. Just adobe Edex adjust is strange and for a round image i need a square one adjusted! i don't get there and option to adjust , and PNG shows transparency there in black like in the old IE 6 explorer...

Final Reflection

I loved this course i end it with starting to get myself online. Its a course that at its end i am on the beginning of something new! I love the option to get all what you learned in a learning journal and actually the learning journal made me change my dislike of spark in the beginning. Its such a good tool for sharing fast and easy without technical knowledge just perfct for the classroom. As a teacher i would use it all the time.

The biggest take away was to learn about Adobe Portfolio that even with its limitations its so rich and so easy to get yourself online. I think students would love it. The connection to Behance is great and it solves me to go there- i just can post from My Portfolio. Still this course didn't solve my struggle with the Behance interface that i don't like.

I did learn a lot from fellow students : from their work and from their comments. I stayed with a lot of inspiration and saw outstandig works, most surprising was to see Sjaanis work adding so much to my picture of her as a teacher. I like the fact that tutors do participate sometimes thats encouraging! I wonder how they manage to see all assignements from all courses. I tried for this one to check all and it was very timetaking - the journal made it much easier and i have to admit i quit opening files...

I would like an option to get the reflection together with the final assignment and comment and rate for both together, The last additional assignement is always the hardest luckily its no more a lessonplan! Final Reflection is important and i liek it but not separated from the final class assignment.

Stayed with a big thank you to all the tutors and students ! That was a fun class ! See you in the next one!