Week 6: Photoshop

Photoshop created by Adobe is a computer program used to enhance, create and produce images. It uses a layer system to manipulate and create pictures. Users can create images themselves or edit old ones. It offers a wide variety of capabilities from creating fire, a grass like paint stroke, the ability to change the brightness of photographs and much more! It is a complicated program that takes time to learn how to use. Journalists and media companies have been criticized for changing pictures that created and gave off false pretenses. It is used by professionals to create advertisements, t-shirt proofs and create images and logos for other business purposes. Photoshop can be used by everyday people to improve the quality of photos or to add a missing family member in a photo. It can be used in education to create interesting images and allow for the creativity of students to grow.

In advertising Photoshop plays a huge role in creating advertisements for clients. Without Photoshop many of the print ads that people see would be impossible to make. It is so important that it is required to take a class on how to effectively and responsibly use it if you are an Advertising major at the University of Florida. It quickly allows advertising agencies to create spec ads and mock ads for clients. The final product is hopefully a well polished image only made possible by Adobe Photoshop.

Since Photoshop is difficult to learn how to use I have posted a video below detailing basic controls. Hopefully it paints a clearer picture for those of you that might be confused! Enjoy!

Week 9: Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the internet. The name was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used to represent the Internet in flowcharts and diagrams. A cloud service is elastic a user can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time and the service is fully managed by the provider. The goal of cloud computing is to provide easy access to computing resources and IT services. It allows for the sharing of data between two or more parties. Without having to send the updated information back and forth it saves money and time. It allows for people working together to update information in real time and for people all over the world to see their work as it is being updated. It saves space on computers because it is not physically stored on the users computers but on the internet. One of the most popular programs is Google Documents which is a word processing could computing program that allows for the sharing of spreadsheets, word documents and other materials.

In advertising cloud computing really pays off because typically advertising is produced by at least two companies. The advertising agency and the client. Communication back and forth between the two companies is so important. Cloud computing allows for the companies working together on campaigns to share information rapidly and quickly without using valuable space on their computer hard drives. This communication saves time that advertising agencies could not have even thought about years ago.

I have posted a video of Larry Ellison the CEO of Oracle discussing cloud computing. He is a great source because he is trendy and is very successful in the field of technology. Enjoy!

Week 8: Podcasting

Podcasting is technology that allows listeners to subscribe and listen to digitally recorded audio shows. If you choose to subscribe they are automatically downloaded to your computer by software throughout the day. Consumers can also put them on their MP3 players and take them with them on the go. This new technology allows for an innovative way for people to pick up subscribers and listeners. In schools lectures can be downloaded and put on MP3 players and students can view them while they are traveling. This allows for so much more flexibility and adaptability in education. Apple has introduced enhanced podcasts that allow listeners to see pictures on their iPods. To create a podcast you will need a computer, internet access and a microphone.You use an audio editing program to record your podcast, then upload it in MP3 format to a Web server using an FTP program. Then you create a blog and paste the URL of your MP3 as an entry in your blog. Make sure that you have permission to use content before you mix it into your podcast.

In the field of advertising podcasts can be used to distribute free information about products and services. It can be used to create discussions amongst consumers and answer questions. It is valuable because it is not very expensive and can give a plethora of information for people who are looking for it. It is a unique way to look trendy and have your companies message get out there.

I realized that podcasting might be confusing so I found a credible video to show how to create a podcast. One of the best things about podcasts is that it gives everyone a voice and they are so easy to make. Enjoy!

Week 7: Digital Story Telling

Digital Technologies are changing the face of education. There are issues and obstacles to consider when using these technologies especially in the classroom. Digital Photography eliminates processing costs, allows for huge quantities at low resolution, easier image manipulation, and for immediate viewing. This is beneficial to everyone because it saves money and time. Also if the picture is bad you can just retake it! In education it can be used to develop creativity, document experiments and field trips. Digital Photography and Digital Video allow for students to capture and record what they are learning. With the advent of digital video and communications growing rapidly on the internet digital story telling has emerged. It allows for ordinary people to share their stories in a new unique form over the internet. It is a broad term that ranges from web based stories, to videos and much more.

In Advertising this really pays off because it use to be much more costly to do photo-shoots for print ads and commercials. Now photographers can immediately look at their work and what they did. They can see how the light affects certain shots and adjust accordingly. If a shoot turned out bad before digital photography they would have to have another one, which would waste lots of time and money. Also it allows for new ways to share images and videos over the internet quickly and efficiently.

I chose a digital story from a student telling people to step up take risks and be the best teachers they can be. I chose it because I think it is unique and inspiring. Here is an example of digital story telling here:

Concept Map for the Adveritising Field

View my concept map for the advertising field here!