Q4 W2

My company doesn't have a name quite yet (Lauryn said the Flying Sandwich.... and I like it. :D), but I've FINALLY thought of an idea for it. I want to have a t-shirt/sweatshirt/clothing company that has the whole, "quote from a movie or tv show" thing. but I want all of the things to be "kosher" so no cussing and such, so they're ok to wear whenever. (Kudos to Stacey for the idea. :D)
I want my logo to include a lot of modern culture kind of references and t-shirt things so people will immediately be able to tell what my company is about. I want the whole company to have a kind of retro, bright-colors-and-abstract-shapes-kind-of-feel.

Logo 1- The name of the company so it looks like it's bursting out of something
Logo 2- Using an abbreviation for my company (first two letters or something) and have it on a background that's abstract shapes and lines.
Logo 3- If I use the name Flying Sandwich, then I'll have a picture of the sandwich with wings. :D
Logo 4-
Logo 5-

P08 - PSA

P07 - EOD

P06 - EOD

Week 7

During this week we started working on pages 6 and 7. Which have to do with the Elements of Design; page 6 is a basic description, and page 7 will be a album cover showing the use of the elements while showcasing music. I'm really enjoying it, even though I'm still a little lost about what I want my cd cover to look like. I think that as I do a little more research on the Elements of Design, and look a little more into the thousands of songs and album covers at my discretion, I'll get a better idea of the direction I want to go with my cover art. and I think that this is going to be a very fun project.

P05 - Watercolor

P03 - Color and P04 - Heart

I didn't get the chance to post my pages on Friday... :(

P01 and P02 - Principles of Design

Just a note: As you may or may not be able to see, the word "Contrast" starts on the first page, and then carries over to the second page...

Week 2 - What I Learned This Week

This week we worked on creating a star field from scratch in Photoshop. I thought it was really fun seeing a totally blank canvas turn into what could look like, with a little more work, a picture from Hubble. We learned how to turn a simple filter, like the noise filter, and with some level adjustments, make it look like a starry sky. I also learned that if we add certain effects to different layers, and then make copies (or apply it a second or third time) the effect becomes more intense and pronounced. and I also didn't realize that you can apply gradients and filters to layer masks, and that gives you a lot more flexibility when you're trying to tweak something to get it just right. annnnnd, that's what I learned this week.

Kelby Training- Nebula Starfield

Week 1 - What I Learned

This week we looked up different digital artists, and their art. Which really didn't teach me much, just that there are lots of different sorts of art that can be created on a computer, much of which, I don't know much about.
That was on Wednesday. Today, we learned how to make a lens flare from scratch, which I found really interesting, and I can see a lot of ways and places it could be used. And it's quite simple. I learned a lot about combining different gradients and blending modes; we used key shortcuts that I didn't know about, and we also used some tools that I really hadn't thought about using before (Smudge Tool, Single Row Marquee Tool). We also used a lot of different filters, some of which I was familiar with, and others, like the Lens Flare and Polar Coordinates filters, I had never seen used before, and didn't know how they could be useful. So overall, I think I've learned a lot this week, and it was a fun class.

Link to my Digital Artist, Steve McGhee

Steve McGhee- http://vectroave.com/2009/11/illustrations-by-steve-mcghee/illustrations-by-steve-mcghee-13/

Paa Logo

Selection Tool Tutorial

Elliptical Marquee Tool:

My opinion of using this tool to select things is that it's nice if you want a general shape around something, not for if you want to be super accurate in what you're selecting.

I would use it if you are selecting something that doesn't really matter how specific you are on the outline.

Magic Wand Tool:

I, honestly, wanted to strangle myself while using this tool. One wrong click, and half of the lake was selected; I understand that the magic wand tool can be very useful for certain things, but using it here made me dislike it.... a lot.

Use the magic wand tool if you are selecting something that is all the same shade or color, and if it contrasts sharply with the background, that's even better.

Magnetic Lasso Tool:

In my last Photoshop class, we used the Magnetic Lasso Tool all the time, so I like it and am familiar with it also; that put it second on my list of "favorite tools to use on this assignment".

Just like the Magic Wand Tool, use the Magnetic Lasso Tool if you are selecting something that is contrasting to the background; it makes selecting your selection a much more enjoyable process.

Quick Select Tool:

My favorite, by far. It worked well, it was fast, easy, and it worked really, reaaaaaallllly well, for being so quick and easy.

Honestly, I'd probably use it on everything. New favorite tool, right here. 

gradient poster

In this tutorial, I learned about using a gradient to make the bubbles look like they really are bubbles and have light reflecting off of them. I also learned how to put a stroke around things so that the edge is more visible. I also learned how you can change settings in your gradient so that they are more or less "smooth" in the color transitions.

Thankful Posters

So this is my "Thankful poster". I like it, because I think the idea that we have so many things to be thankful for, but we don't often realize how much we truly have. And if you were to go out and have a leaf for everything that you're thankful for, I think you might run out of leaves first. So I put that concept into my design, and the things I'm thankful for are on the leaves.

Thankful Posters

This is the rough draft of my "Thankful poster".

Logo Tutorial

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/2008/10/31/papercraft-text-effect/


http://psd.tutsplus.com/designing-tutorials/create-rainbow-logos-with-warped-grids/


http://www.tutorials-photoshop.com/graphic-design/basic-logo-design/index.php

Monograph

Principles of Design Poster Critique

So, we're supposed to do an individual critique of one of the movie posters in the room.

I'm choosing to use The Godfather poster for my critique. Mainly, because it caught my eye since the only two colors on it are black and white. That, even before I added in the storyline of the movie, makes the movie seem like there's a definite line between the "good guys" (white), and the "bad guys" (black). The poster is really simple; it just has the title, a few things about how many awards it's won, a picture of a bunch of guys in suits, and a list of the cast. 

The way the title is written, it has a kind of "puppet master" hand above it, and so that makes me think that in the movie someone gets manipulated by a more powerful person. Just that little detail in the title gives the "guys in suits" a malicious background and feel about them. And that gives the whole poster a feeling of mystery, and you start to wonder who the men pictured really are.

Principles of Design:

Balance

Everything is pretty centered on the poster so it feels balanced and not like anything isn't where it belongs.

Contrast

The background is black, and the writing and picture are white. So that immediately draws your eye to read what the poster says, and form an opinion about the guys in the center.

Pattern

I really wouldn't say there is a pattern in this poster. Except for maybe the font being the same, or going together.

Proportion

Everything is pretty much proportional to everything else, nothing is super big, nothing is super small.

Rhythm and Movement

Your eye naturally wants to start at the middle (the title) and then kind of go either up or down to read what else is on the page. I think that it makes sense, and helps you to understand the poster and make it easy to read.

Emphasis

Your "focal point" or "center of interest" in this poster could be one of two things: It could be the title, with it's weird puppet hand; or it could be the men in their suits. And since these two things are so close together, your attention will probably just be drawn to the middle of the poster, where both of them are.

Unity

All of the separate things on the poster tie together with the general "black and white" theme. Like what I said in the part about balance, everything seems to go together and nothing doesn't belong.

So yeah.

that's my critique of The Godfather poster... :)