Never Stop Improving

When I was a kid watching cartoons on Saturday mornings there were a series of PSA ads call The More You Know. They encouraged kids to get involved with their education. Well, in many ways those video shorts served as inspiration for this week’s project.

My topic for this semester is wrapped around the change in our school district from a junior high model to middle schools. It’s a big change for us. Big enough to have people picking sides.  With that in mind, I tried to create a visual collage poster (designed to be 8.5”x 11” finished size) that could speak to parents inviting them to learn more about how middle schools can help their student succeed.

I started with reviewing the pieces already in use by our district to get a feel for our district’s current image. My graphic narrative collage design starts with little children selected from the myriad of photos available from the district, because I believed it was better to truly represent our district using our own kids than random ones from online collections. They are placed at the top in four pictures, a blend of boys and girls, different racial groups to be inclusive of as much diversity as possible. I did change the cropping of some of the pictures to focus in on the children, and changed the cropping of the second photo from what it was in the first draft to showcase three boys rather than the two because I felt it mimicked the three girls, arms around one another, in the graduation photo, creating symmetry. The pictures were selected to show four different aspects of modern education in the elementary schools. There is math and writing (traditional education), but also work on computers/technology and the arts (aspects of the dedication to STEM and the Arts in our district (you can just see the displays in the background behind the boys in the second image).

The four images are showcased in a film strip as a nod to how we often take so many pictures of our children when they are young. It’s also a subtle subtext message of the development process by alluding to the start of the photographic process – we took pictures and they were on film before being fully developed into photographs. Below that is the finished full photo of the graduates in their caps and gowns. I selected this image because it delivers a powerful punch. We all want to see our children succeed in school. Graduation is the epitome of that success.

First Draft of Collage

One of the comments I received most in critique of my first draft was the background of the piece was too plain and the pictures in the film strip (and pieces of the film strip itself) weren’t lining up properly. Another comment was to play more with the font placement, type and color. I tried all of these with the final draft. For the basic design colors I chose the primaries of red, blue and yellow (another nod to our educational beginnings). I initially chose the red from the graduation gowns but found it was too overpowering. Yellow looked too weak and became muddy with the gradient layered over it. The blue I finally selected was taken from the district logo, then changed in opacity to lighten it. Layered on top of that is a lighter opacity of the film strip image, enlarged and set at an angle, and a gradient to make the background darker toward the bottom where the bulk of the copy is located, making it easier overall to read.

The text forms a type of pyramid structure, with the largest font size being the base and located where the most important information is, as well as the call to action. The message “To get them from here, to here, there must be something in the middle” refers to the educational process.  I moved “to here” onto the graduation photo to leave the middle visually empty of text subliminally emphasizing the “middle” through use of negative space. I deliberately chose the word middle and changed the color of it to allude to middle schools. Notice that the corner of the graduate picture points directly at the word middle. After all, middle school is the point of this piece.

Directly below that is the call to action “Learn more about how middle schools in the South Kitsap School District can help your student succeed.” I said student rather than child because by the time they are out of elementary we stop referring to them as children when we talk with parents.  I also used color to make the core message of this piece pop visually “middle school can help your child succeed”. Below the call to action is the URL to take them to the page on the district website that has information on how middle schools are different as a model and how they specifically support the developmental needs of students in the 6th to 8th grade age groups. In the bottom left corner is the South Kitsap School District logo to make it easily identifiable that this piece relates to our district.

Photos were used with permission from the South Kitsap School District, and the flim strip cell image by Nevit Dilmen was used under Creative Commons License https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Film_strip.svg

THE PROCESS

To create the design in Photoshop I used multiple layers. Images had to be resized from the originals (which I quickly found needed to be done in their own separate files before being copied and pasted into a layer or else it changed the entire piece). This also happened to be the biggest challenge for me because I’m not familiar with Photoshop, The film strip came in individual boxes designed to be layered over the top of photos so there was no need to multiply the image to get that effect. I rotated the graduation photo and the enlarged film strip sections using image/image rotation prior to pasting it into their own layers. Both stroke and drop shadow effects were applied to the graduation photo using Layer/Layer Style/Stroke and Drop shadow. The enlarged film strip segments in the background had the opacity reduced to 86%. For the school district logo, I had to take the file and erase the background of the image before being able to apply it. Overall I found Photoshop incredibly frustrating to work with the first time, even with our tutorials. It would help if there were a tutorial on sizing images.

Final Draft of Collage

The More You Know

When I was a kid watching cartoons on Saturday mornings there were a series of ads call The More You Know. They encouraged kids to get involved with their education. Well, in many ways this week’s project is much the same for me.

My topic for this semester is wrapped around the change in our school district from a junior high model to middle schools. It’s a big change for us. Big enough to have people picking sides.  With that in mind, I tried to create a visual collage poster that could speak to parents inviting them to learn more about how middle schools can help their student succeed.

It started with the little children. (Doesn’t it always?) They are the beginning and therefore placed at the top of the overall design. There are four pictures, a blend of boys and girls, different racial groups to be inclusive of as much diversity as possible. The pictures are selected to show four different aspects of modern education in the elementary schools. There is math and writing (traditional education), but also work on computers/technology and the arts (aspects of the dedication to STEM and the Arts in our district (you can just see the displays in the background behind the two boys in the second image).

The four images are showcased in a film strip as a nod to how we often take so many pictures of our children when they are young. It’s also a subtle subtext message of the development process by alluding to the start of the photographic process – we took pictures and they were on film before being fully developed into photographs.

Below that is the finished full photo of the graduates in their caps and gowns. I selected this image because it delivers a powerful punch. We all want to see our children succeed in school. Graduation is the epitome of that success.

The treatment of the text is planned as well. Notice the type face starts smaller at the top of each copy line and the font size grows larger. It forms a type of pyramid structure, with the base being located where the most important information is, as well as the call to action. The message “To get them from here, to here, there must be something in the middle” refers to the educational process. I chose the word middle deliberately to allude to middle schools. Notice that the corner of the graduate picture points directly at the word middle. After all, middle school is the point of this piece.

Directly below that is the call to action “Learn more about how middle schools in the South Kitsap School District can help your student succeed.” I said student rather than child because by the time they are out of elementary we stop referring to them as children when we talk with parents.  Below the call to action is the URL to take them to the page on the district website that has information on how middle schools are different as a model and how they specifically support the developmental needs of students in the 6th to 8th grade age groups.

In the bottom left corner is the South Kitsap School District logo to make it easily identifiable that this piece relates to our district. Across the bottom are the image credits and required attribution requested. Photos were used with permission from the South Kitsap School District, and the flim strip cell image by Nevit Dilmen was used under Creative Commons License https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Film_strip.svg

THE PROCESS

To create the design in Photoshop I used multiple layers. Images had to be resized from the originals (which I quickly found needed to be done in their own separate files before being copied and pasted into a layer or else it changed the entire piece of work). This also happened to be the biggest challenge for me because not being familiar with Photoshop, I was use to dragging and stretching images as needed like you do in Windows programs. The film strip came in individual boxes designed to be layered over the top of photos so there was no need to multiply the image to get that effect. I rotated the graduation photo using image/image rotation prior to pasting it into the layer. Both stroke and drop shadow effects were applied to the graduation photo using Layer/Layer Style/Stroke and Drop shadow. For the school district logo, I had to take the file and erase the background of the image before being able to apply it.

Overall I found Photoshop incredibly frustrating to work with. There were times when all I wanted to do was edit a piece of text and it would insert new layers when I didn’t want them. I also had to spend a lot of time in the resizing of photos. It might be because I’ve used Windows products for 20 years, or possibly because this is my first real experience trying to create something using Photoshop. Either way I found myself muttering that I could have done the project in a 10^th of the time in Microsoft Publisher. But then learning is a process and not always an easy one.

Don’t believe in Everything You See – the world by Photoshop

When I was younger I had this marvelous idea that I wanted to be a pre-press systems operator, aka someone who altered photos. Now that I’ve had an introduction to the amazing tools offered in Photoshop, I can tell you one thing for certain: don’t believe in everything you see. Seriously. I was able to erase scars on my daughter in her senior picture that she’s had between her eyes since she was three from an unfortunate accident with a swing set. I’ve made tigers more colorful, learned about layers, filters, ways to manipulate color and texture that would make your brain explode. And all of it is to do one thing: make these photos more appealing. Why? Because in the end everything isn’t always as it seems. Sometimes we like our vision of the world better than the real world itself. Sometimes we can’t help but wish it were better than it is.

Here’s a sample of my Photoshop tutorials.

Change is good. You go first.

Change is kind of a loaded word. We both like and hate change. Or rather, we like the benefits that come with change, but often despise the process of getting there. Recently a committee of community members, experts and educators came together to spend a year deciding what changes were best for improving the future of children in the South Kitsap School District. It’s where I live and work, and where my children go to school, so, yes, it’s true I have a personal, vested interest in the topic.

One change that was almost unanimously decided upon was the need to transform our three current junior highs into middle schools. Facts and figures from their meetings can be found here.(3)

(2) Graphic by South Kitsap School District, used by permission.

Based on the numbers, and information, it sounded like a good idea. We would transition our junior highs (and their corresponding elementary schools) into a middle school model one school at a time. But as we near the brink of implementing the first changes in the 2016-2017 school year, some parents and community members are digging in their heels. Some worry the change and resulting move of our sixth graders to middle school and ninth graders to the high school is too much, too soon. Others are worried that the phased in change planned over several years will give advantages to some ninth graders and put the rest, who are waiting to transition in following years, at a disadvantage when it comes to AP class options, electives, foreign languages and technology and lab resources.

(1) Graphic by South Kitsap School District, used by permission.

Another complication has been concerns over space issues at the high school that is already straining at the seams with more portables being a likely solution for overcrowding.  But this issue is bigger than just space or dollars. It comes down to how parents feel about the educational environment for their children and the influence it can have.

“I think I’m more worried about my 11 year old going into middle school with 13-14 year-olds, than going to the high school as a freshman. At least in elementary they still have a sense of innocence. Going up to a middle school I’m afraid he’ll miss out on his last bit of childhood trying to keep up with the older kids.” ~ Jennifer Hansen, mom of 4th grader in South Kitsap School District

Moving to the middle school model is a huge issue within our community, creating sharp divides between parents, schools, educators and administrators. During the course of this semester I’ll look at the challenges and opportunities we have to communicate why being one of the last two school districts in the ENTIRE STATE of Washington to still hold on to the junior high model has held us back from reaching our potential.(4) I intend to create materials that can be used to smooth the transition with clear and meaningful information that matters to parents concerned about how their students will fair in the transition and potentially benefit in the long run.

(1) “John Sedgwick Junior High / Overview.” John Sedgwick Junior High / Overview. South Kitsap School District. Web. 12 May 2016. <http://www.skitsap.wednet.edu/Domain/1008&gt;. Current logo from John Sedgwick Junior High, South Kitsap School District.

(2)Miller, Amy. “District Committees.” / Middle School Transition Committee. South Kitsap School District. Web. 12 May 2016. <http://www.skitsap.wednet.edu/Page/16237&gt;. New middle school logo for Cedar Heights Middle School, South Kitsap School District.

(3) Reid, Michelle, Dr. “District Committees.” / Grade Reconfiguration. South Kitsap School District. Web. 12 May 2016. <http://www.skitsap.wednet.edu//site/Default.aspx?PageID=15642&gt;. Excerpt from Dr. Michelle Reid’s Memo on Grade Reconfiguration.

(4) “Washington School Districts.” All School Districts in Washington, WA: A-Z. Greatschools.org. Web. 12 May 2016. <http://www.greatschools.org/schools/districts/Washington/WA&gt;. Information on all school districts in Washington state. Only the Puyallup School District and South Kitsap school district still have junior highs rather than middle schools.