Introduction to James Gibbs


I chose to do my profile on James Gibbs. I first met James when I started doing Broken Box, the Acting II class at Los Altos High School. Every time I talked to James, he had so many interesting stories to tell and I knew that he would be a perfect candidate for this project. Although I did have to overcome a few obstacles, I had a great time working with James on this project.

The Profile Project was almost an extension of the Documentary Unit from last year, but on a whole new level. This time, our documentary was focused on a person instead of a location. I was able to use my previous experiences during this project, and I also learned so much more through my three classes, English, Design, and WebAudio. In English, I was able to experience a new type of writing and develop my skills further. In Design, I learned more photography and graphic design techniques. In WebAudio, I learned an entirely new program, After Effects. I also learned JavaScript, allowing me to implement animations into my website.

Magazine
thumbnail of my magazine





Creating my magazine was much easier than creating my book because I already had experience in Adobe InDesign from last year. Once I had a clear vision of what I wanted, I found that I was able to design my magazine much more quickly than I was able to during the Documentary Unit.

I chose to use a blue and orange color scheme to reflect the colors of AIDS/LifeCycle Ride, an organization that James is involved in. My main design elements included a diagonal blue stripe, which can be seen throughout all the work I did on this unit.

Click the thumbnail to view my magazine!

Presentation

After writing out paper, designing our magazines, and creating our websites, we had to put together a slideshow that introduced our subject and discussed what we learned through the process of profiling them. I needed to combine both content and art in the presentation so I used the design elements I had been using throughout the project to tie all my work together. I also had to present my project to my teachers and peers, explaining what I learned in each of the classes and how I grew from this experience.