Design Competition

I selected the Communication Arts Design Competition. I did a photo shoot of Pandora charms. I have often said Pandora is like an addiction. To create the image I used both Illustrator and Photoshop.

In Photoshop:

• The marque to copy and paste a couple of the charms to make the image a little more full.
• I used the burn tool to take some of the shine off the charms and the glass.
• I adjusted the color levels slightly.

In Illustrator:

• I created the "Brown's logo".
• I recreated the Pandora Charm by drawing out the crown over the "O". For each letter, I created outlines and adjusted the letters to make each one line up to the original Pandora logo. For starters, I used the Arial font and then worked from there.

Pink Floyd - The Wall

I kept with the basic theme of Pink Floyd's, The Wall, album cover. I used an image from Wikicommons of a a brick wall. I created 3 new layers of the same image adjusting each one so the bricks lined up as perfectly as I could get them after I flipped it horizontally. I then merged down each one of the layers to create 1 new layer. I copied the new image to create another layer, then tried to get a font as close to the original Pink Floyd font (using Yellowjacket) and adjusted the kearning to -50. I created a Clipping Mask by dropping the font into the brick image. I wanted to highlight, "Another Brick in the Wall" so I made another layer, used the Polygonal Lasso to highlight the one brick, inversed the selection and deleted it. I upped the opacity to make the brick stand out more.

Pink Floyd Album Cover: http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Pink-Floyd/dp/B000006TRV

Brick Wall, Wikicommons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brick_wall_old.jpg

Album Redesign

I decided to do a redesign of two of my favorite singers - Enya and Carrie Underwood. Enya is a classic perfectionist, Carrie Underwood is more of an energetic, clean and fun type of singer.

With the Enya redesign, I decided to redesign her album cover, Paint the Sky with Stars. I merged an image of her on the cover of her Amarantine album along with an image of stars in the sky that I found. I used the following tools:

• Dodge and Burn
• Pen Tool (Illustrator to duplicate Enya's 'logo')
• Magnetic Lasso
• Magic Wand
• Eraser
• Eyedropper
• Clone

With Carrie Underwood's, I redesigned her Some Hearts album cover. Carrie Underwood has a clean, energetic image. I decided to go with a simpler design. The color of the background is symbolic of energy. I tried to select an image of her that was more carefree and comfortable. The tools I used were:

• Dodge and Burn
• Magnetic Lasso, Polygonal Lasso and Pen Tool in Illustrator for the Hearts.
• Eraser
• Eyedropper
• Paint Bucket
• Clone
• Smudge

Enya

Enya, Paint the Sky with Stars: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B000024V8E/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=229816&s=music

Enya: http://www.uulyrics.com/music/enya/album-amarantine/

Night Sky: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000910.html

Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts:

http://www.amazon.ca/Some-Hearts-Carrie-Underwood/dp/B000BGR18W

Carrie Underwood image: http://impulsemagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Carrie-Underwood-photo-768x1024.jpg

Heart pillow image: http://www.romanceher.com/hotandcoldsoothing.htm

Tree Globe

Today I played around with a Filter in Photoshop under "Distort" called "Polar Coordinates". First I took 2 photos of the same tree that I shot a couple weeks ago - one during the day, one in the evening. I put the two side by side, put it through Polar Coordinates. After that I rotated the image, and used the Clone Tool.

Peppers

Through Adobe Illustrator, I recreated this image using a variety of tools in Illustrator. I have included both the original file and the recreated file for comparison.

• The primary tool used was the pen tool. I made adjustments with the Direct Anchor Tool to smooth out areas.
• In several areas, I created a gradient look using the Mesh tool.
• I also painted in areas using the Blob Brush Tool.

Capturing a Memory

One of my greatest passions is photography. I love the ability to capture a moment, recording a memory in time. From these moments, creativity and fun can follow. Most images, remain untouched; however there are those that I alter for jokes and fun, a digitally altered Mese en Sene. In addition to a print, I also like taking the images making short videos set to music. Dropping in the right images at the right parts of songs creates a creative challenge, but one I enjoy figuring out. The design work I do, I try to think of the audience and topic of the information to present, and create something that is a good representation of the visual message.

In my photography work, I typically try to capture the moment as best I can. Use of different angles, experimenting with lighting and composition to be able to present the subject in the best manner. When it comes to design work, I think of the audience and how I can capture their attention. This is done with both print and digital media. Using the right font style is as important as using the right graphic image. The designs that I prepare for work are more traditional style as it typically is given as a task, and needs to be done immediately.

My current work includes photography, graphic design and digital storytelling. In the past, I have always used PhotoShop. I have begun to explore the use of other art through illustration and animation. These two areas are extremely new to me, but presents a new way to think outside the box, or outside the image. I am looking forward to developing new techniques and vision with the typography and its use in visual design. With more time, I like experimenting with visual metaphors, exploring different uses of symbolism in the message as well as applying the use of color theory.