While undertaking intensive courses in Photoshop and InDesign, our tutor has not only supported our learning of two highly valuable tools but also best design practices. The course covers terminology in design, design practice and how to use advanced features of Adobe software.
Accessibility and design are two essential practices in games development. How to use the controls for the game for example, access power-ups.
We covered some animation and interactive documents in InDesign. Interactivity allows your readers to be engaged and entertained, you will see a higher level of engagement and with infographics, videos and links you can pack detailed information into your document. With interactive PDFs, you can create portfolios, marketing materials and prototypes. It would be interesting to see if I can create an interactive informative PDF file that also functions as a mini-game. The intensive course also goes over some simple animations you can create in an InDesign document.
In January 2021, I have signed up to further my development practice in Illustrator, Premier Pro and After Effects.
SMART Goals
- Specific – Complete the intensive course and ACA exam for Illustrator, and After Effects
- Measurable – Pass my exams
- Attainable – The intensive courses are designed for beginner’s, I have some experience in Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator but my After Effects course require no prior knowledge
- Relevant – Adobe Creative Cloud skills are desirable for many jobs including 2D illustrators in games.
- Time-bound – I have planned the courses in between work (Photoshop/InDesign November and December 2020) (Illustrator and After Effects in January 2021)
- Specific – Use my Adobe skills in a game jam
- Measurable – Choose a game jam, create UI screens, mini-game or something with my new skills
- Attainable – I will have completed 5 intensive courses and passed my exams
- Relevant – Adobe Creative Cloud skills are desirable for many jobs including 2D illustrators in games.
- Time-bound – I will complete this goal after completion of my exams in January 2021
Reflection on my Adobe Creative Cloud journey so far
Photoshop
Reflection in-action
My Photoshop course is intensive, I am currently attending Team meetings every Monday evening from 5 pm to 8 pm. I miss my son’s bedtime and some evenings it’s hard to stay motivated and focus. I am enjoying the materials and my knowledge of Photoshop is being solidified and there are some new things I have learnt.
Reflection on-action
Passing my ACA exam in Photoshop gave me a lot of confidence in using the Adobe Creative Cloud. I have been using Lightroom and Photoshop within my photography practice for a few years. I have also been using Adobe Draw and recently Adobe Fresco as part of my digital illustration practice.
Reflection for-action
My knowledge of Photoshop has been expanded by completing the ACA course with Falmouth University and I feel more confident about my skills, I now have something to show employers to demonstrate my skills.
InDesign
Reflection in-action
I am enjoying the week-long intensive course format over the once a week in the evening’s format for Photoshop. I have scheduled out more time to focus on the course and can take my exam soon, while the information is fresh in my mind. I am not as familiar with InDesign as I was with Photoshop but the software is similar in many ways, so I am picking up the information well. I have really enjoyed creating our own interactive PDF documents and learning a little bit about animated images and text for EPUB documents.
Reflect on-action
The course has been valuable and I can now make interactive documents. Unfortunately, I failed my exam (although I was one question from passing). I have contracted flu, and I have decided to retake the InDesign exam next year.
Reflection for-action
Next year, I am going to prioritise my time better, and take on a little less.
