Diego's poster

Halloween is the night before All Saints' Day, also know as the Night of the Dead. Children roam the streets in costumes of monsters, they do the trick or treating every house looking for candy. My poster is a mixture of art and halloween theme,  there are vampires, witches, full moon, an enchanted castle and most importantly, a zombie! The zombie is a dead artist hand-drawn and colored in illustrator, the background is done in photoshop  and the final work with illustrator too. The typography used is 321 Impact.

Adela's Poster

In Halloween the line between the living ahd the dead world becomes closer. In my poster an underworld creature crosses this line for eat candy, another symbol of this festivity.
I choose tipical orange colour for the light that cames from candy and make contrast whith purple and dark blue.

Jessica's poster

This poster is simple, as to the number of items it contains. 
This idea came to see many movies and horror halloween. Where the image of bare trees and dry is very present, representing the death and give it a more gloomy.
I just make a game out of type, creating types with tree twigs. After collecting branches dry, I made pictures and edited in photoshop. 
The white tipography is made by hand with pen and then processed in illustrator.

With these typos wanted to be a feature of Halloween, but in a more subtle, use objects as clear as a pumpkin.

Marta's poster

Some weeks ago, we were told to make a Halloween poster to take part in a contest.

After thinking about things concerning to this theme, I decided to use a threatening hand with zombie appearance. I took a photo of my own hand in a tense position and I altered it, giving to it more contrast and shadows and changing it into greenish and cold colors.

I included a metallic, worn and scratched background and I darkened its borders to give it a more mysterious look.

To the information text I used a broken type to emphasize the frightening look of the poster.

Patricia's poster

The poster applied for the Halloween contest had a message

simple and direct:I use a pumpkin, which is a typical symbol of Halloween,

with the symbol of the School of Art inscribed on it.

So combined the spirit of Halloween with a representative element of the school where would be exposed.

To compensate for the right side of the pumpkin poster on the left side, put the block of text that must be present, on the right side, in a color similar to pumpkin

 

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Natalia's poster

Halloween is related with fear. When I think in fear, I imagine people screaming. One of the most famous screams of the film's history is the scream of the film Psycho, when the protagonist appears in the shower.
I used many techniques in the poster. I used a photo of the actress and then I mix it with red circles coming from her mouth. The type was made by hand. Then I put it in the computer and I did many modifications with Photoshop and Illustrator. The red splash were made by hand too, with the same process of the type.

Finally, I chose the colors red, black and white, because is one of my favorites combinations in graphic design.

Christmas Quiz!!!

It's Christmas time students!!!!!! and I hope you'll have a good time and fun doing this Christmas Quiz!!! Perhaps it will help you to get in the holiday spirit! It won't take you long and you'll learn some interesting facts :) You'll have to surf the internet to find some of the answers.... Other times you'll just have to take a look at the blog (questions come in a different colour then) The answers to the quiz will be sent to the e-mail address: alejandraprofesora1@hotmail.com  (remember your name and course please)

HERE WE GOOOOO.........


1. Tell me the name of the original eight reindeers that pull Santa Claus's sleigh!!! (clue: there are 9 if you find the most famous one!!!)

2. What's the name of the  best sellinng Christmas Carol ever sold?

3. Where would you sent a letter written to Santa Claus?

4. What's the Boxing Day?

5. What does Frosty The Snowman have for a nose?

6.Why romantic couples meet at the mistletoe?

7. Name three things you hang on a Christmas tree!

8. How many sides does a snowflake have?

9. Who is Ebenezer Scrooge?

10 When were electric lights first used?

11. Continue the lyrics of this famous Carol as you sing it : You better watch out, you................Santa Claus is coming into into town  lalala!

I hope you celebrate this Christmas with your family, friends and loved ones!

CHRISTMAS ANECDOTES

^{Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.}

The traditional three colours of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.

Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850.

Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

Ancient people, such as the Druids, considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die. Druids would cut the plant with golden sickles and never let it touch the ground. They thought it had the power to cure infertility and nervous diseases and to ward off evil.

It is estimated that the single "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.

Christmas is a contraction of "Christ’s Mass," which is derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter "X" in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and "Xmas" has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the mid 1500s.

In 1962, the first Christmas postage stamp was issued in the United States.

Father Christmas has two addresses, Edinburgh and the North Pole. letters addressed to "toylandd" or "snowland" go to Edinburgh, but letters addressed to "the north pole" have to be sent there because there really is such a place!

WHITE CHRISTMAS: England has only known seven white Christmases in the entire twentieh century. according to the records of the Meteorological Office in London, snow fell on Christmas Day only in 1938 and 1976.

The definition of a white Christmas in England is when one snowflake falls on the roof of the London Weather Centre in the 26 hours of 25 December.

MORE FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS DAY...

25th december was not celebrated as the birthday of Christ until the year AD 440.

The Queen's Christmas speech was televised for the first time in 1957.

ELECTRIC TREE LIGHTS were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison had his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. Thomas Edison's assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric lights for Chrismas trees in 1882. His lights were a huge hit. It took quite a few years, however, before they would be made available to the general public.

In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feastina and revelry on what was supposed to ba a holy day to be inmoral. anybody caught celebrating Christmas was arrested. the ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1550.

Raquel (not Rachel)’s poster

This was my idea for the Halloween Poster Contest. It’s inspired in the traditional Halloween legend that tells how that night the line between the world of the living and the realm of the dead is broken and it’s believed that the souls of the dead wander the earth, in a last attempt to make amends, tend unfinished business or execute vengeance -that being the reason why people started wearing masks, to avoid being recognised by the spirits. This is an image of what I imagined a procession of souls in the night would look like. People found it scary. I’m used to it.

It was entirely painted in the computer with photoshop, and originally in black and white. Some trouble with the printing process made it greenish and much darker but I had to leave it there (deadline and no more patience left among other reasons). I used a typography called Bleeding Cowboys, inspired also in the american style, that seemed to fit well, in white to contrast with the dark background.(This is one of the versions)

Sonia´s poster

This is the halloween contest poster I did  with mixed technique. On one hand I used watercolor pencil and then I scanned and retouched it with photoshop and on the other hand I painted it in the computer with the program sai and added the typography with the illustrator.

In the picture you can see a monster looking up because somebody has thrown a big pumpkin trying to hit him in the head but fortunately failed, so the pumpkin is smashed on the ground and the hands of the person that threw it can be seen in the window pane.

Irene's poster

I love scared films. And one of my favorite directors is Tom Burton.  When I was a little girl I read a lot of fantasy books and saw his film, Charlie and his chocolate factory.  And since then I think that Jonny Depp is a great actor.  

I heard jealousy about Halloween’s day because here  the carnival isn´t dismal, and the young people don’t visit cemeteries. That´s why, when Alejandra said ` In the school of arts we will celebrate Halloween´ I liked this idea.

My poster is inspired in many things. I like the Mexican skulls and the colours that the artists use for the ornaments.  In this case, I made a thin and tall man; he wears a jacket as vampires. And a pair of tights grated as witches. I added blood drops, and one lollipop in his pocket.

 I put a red rose on the left-hand and a black cat which merge into the bottom of the paper. It occurred to me that the gigantic white soon can make with paper crumpled texture (but the poster has more textures).

 The typography was made by me. I only needed Indian ink and one paintbrush. And the letter `o´ is a balloon and it looks a pumpkin.

Well, I think that it looks good.

 

 

This HALLOWEEN POSTER is about Frankenstein and her girlfriend because I think that he’s typical in a terror contest and it’s perfect for Halloween.

First I drew the characters with a pencil and black ink. Then I scanned the picture and I manipulated it with the computer.

I did two versions of the poster. Finally I chose the second version because I think it is more simple and modern. It has only three colours: green, white and black.

                                                                                           

Inspiring tips to learn English

1. Join a Daily English Tip Website
Joining a daily tip newsletter will help keep you inspired in your English studies. Each time you receive the email it will remind you to keep learning and you can go to bed every night knowing that you have learnt something new.

2. Listen to English Music

 When we’re having fun we remember better because our mind is open to receiving more information. So go on, choose your favourite band and learn what their songs mean.

3. Fall in love with learning
If you have a hobby or a passion, you probably learnt how to do it without studying, right? It didn’t feel like studying because you were having fun.

This is essential to learning English. If you hate studying, or if you dislike practicing, it will be very hard for you because your brain will be saying “I don’t want to do this” all the time. Solution? Learn to love learning English.

4. Make time for learning
Choose a time when you’re relaxed and have nothing to do to practice English. Maybe Saturday morning at a cosy caffe? Maybe every evening for 30 minutes before supper.
Make a routine and keep to it. It will greatly improve your chances to learn English.

5. Watch English language films in English

6. Make a vocabulary list

Buy yourself a notebook and keep it as your personal English Learning diary.

Write what your goals are, what motivates you to learn and, most importantly, make a list of the interesting vocabulary words you learn. Write down proverbs, idioms or curious phrasal verbs. When you have time, open your diary and try to remember some of them!
Also, writing notes is a great way to remember vocabulary, much better than just reading and forgetting

7. Online communication

Learning in a social atmosphere is always more fun!

8.  Record yourself or talk outloud

A lot of students are embarrassed to speak outloud in English, they worry their accent isn’t good enough or that they are making grammar mistakes.
A good way to stop being embarrassed is to talk outloud. When you’re doing your homework say the exercises outloud. When you’re reading an English book read outloud. When you’re listening to English songs sing outloud.
Why? You’ll get used to hearing your own voice speaking in a foreign language. The more you do it, the more natural it will seem.
Oh, and if you worry about your accent, remember this: your accent is part of you, it reflects where you come from and its part of your past. Learn to love it, it’s unique.

9. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes: practice, practice, practice

Perfection will come with practice.
Learning a new language is something that will make you feel very proud of yourself. Don’t worry about making mistakes, people will appreciate your effort to talk a new language, they will not judge you for making a small mistake.
Remember that a lot of English speakers do not speak a second language, so isn’t it fabulous that you do?

Design for Obama

The Oviedo School of Art offered an exhibition on Thursday, the 17^th of November, in its exhibition hall, called "Design for Obama". There were many important people, such as: the General Manager of Universities and Investigation, Mrs. Pilar Castro Pañeda, the Director of the of the United States Embassy’s Culture Department, Mrs. Laura Gould, and the Headmaster of the Music Conservatory from the Principado de Asturias, Mr. Alberto Ventanilla.  

The exhibition presents eighty posters selected by Spike Lee and Aaron Perry-Zucker. All of them made for the United States presidential campaign of 2008. 

President Obama used the internet and social networks to unite all his followers and make his government program known. This made him a favorite amongst younger voters and changed the way electoral campaigns were handled in The United States.


The 2008 campaign of the democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America is now considered a communicative phenomenon, for using new technologies and for motivating mobilization and public intervention.

The website "designforobama.org” was a smart and democratic contribution from the North American design and visual arts sectors towards this campaign. North American designers participated without charge, using this free access website.

This exhibition is not only about North American graphic design. We present evidence of what Barack Obama’s presidential campaign meant, and more specifically, what it did for democratic communication.
 All activities related to this exhibition and its itinerary through Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Las Palmas, Zaragoza, Malaga, Oviedo and Murcia can be followed through http://designforobama.artediez.es from May 2011 until January 2012.