Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Thing #10, Image Generators



I have had fun checking out some of the different image and text generators that are available. I spent a lthe most time with FD Toys.
From here I was able to try lots of things like jigsaw; magazine cover; mosaic maker; warholizer; trading cards; cd covers, and more.
I also spent time with the Comic Strip generator and Image Chef.
All of these sites were fun and easy to use. I have a large folder of images I created during this investigation, and I am proud to say they are all tasteful.
I uploaded some of the images to Flickr and put the rest of them into iPhoto.
I know that kids will have fun on these sites and I think that teachers will enjoy them too. This is the perfect thing to do on a rainy day.

2 comments:

Katie said...

Yes, this has to be one of my biggest time sinks so far. Oh, to have the opportunity to share this with some students and digital cameras. I see no reason for students to use other peoples images really. It is so easy to come up with perfectly adequate decoration...maybe not artwork right off the bat but visually interesting.

Here is where I wish our art teachers spent more time with the students so they were more aware of composition, balance, positive and negative space, etc. as they start taking those photos. All of a sudden our students need to be visually educated as well as literate if they want to compete in the digital world.

Unknown said...

Yes indeed, the image generators can be a huge time sink...I almost feel guilty because it is so easy, with the technology at hand, to create(?) something that is spiffy, intriguing, all in all, very professional looking. I fear that by making it so easy we are not giving students the chance to truly develop their creative skills...or our own for that matter.

As to the presence of art teachers. They certainly do teach the elements of art that you mention, so perhaps we need to continue exposure to those concepts in the library. I sat in on one story-time where the librarian managed to reinforce the concept of warm and cool colors by reading "This place is hot" and then comparing it to "This place is cold". Technology, being the double-edged sword that it is, requires us to teach our students how to use all of these tools so that they become more competent, not less. Perhaps we, as purveyors of graphic tools, need to make sure we are providing them with a basic set of design tools and techniques, much as we want them to use certain tools and techniques when they search for information.