Floating Mountain

This project I completed was all about Photoshop; using layers, de-fringing methods, and blending modes. My idea was to create a floating mountain and put different layers of clouds around it and to add a moon. I wasn't sure what else to add to this project, but then I thought it would be enlightening and slightly less serious if I added a man falling off the mountain. All it took was some resizing of the image I traced out, and some de- fringing to make the man look more realistic. I am very unpleased with my moon. The de-fringing methods were not co-operating with me at the time, and I tried to reach out for help but nothing was working. Normally, I would never turn in something I wasn't 150% proud of, but this project was not at the top of my priorities. This was more for me to mess around and experiment with the different tools that were accessible through Photoshop. Next time I might try something that isn't so outlandish and do something more realistic, as fantastical images are not my forte. Overall, I found that this project helped a lot with learning things about Adobe Photoshop.

In the Clouds

Through this project I learned how to use the many tools in Photoshop. For some frustrating reason it would not get rid of that pixel fringe no matter what I did. I learned about short cuts when using this program. The quick selection tool is W, move tool is V, brush tool is B, and lasso tool is L. You can use the refine edge tool to create a seamless, fringeless image.

Concrete Jungle (Extra Credit)

I decided that I was going to use Photoshop some more and learn more about masks when it comes to actual text instead of images. I had never worked with masks and texts together before, but the process ended up being much simpler than I had originally expected. I download a font with various buildings built into the letters, because it looked like New York City at night. I then found an image of Times Square at night because that is my absolute favorite sight in the entire world. (Can you imagine having one of my designs put up on something in Times Square?) I then typed the words New York City on one layer, and created a mask. It was that simple! After adjusting the positioning of the words for awhile, I was finally satisfied with what I had accomplished.

The Difference Between a Red Sphere and a Red Sphere

I created two spheres that are very similar in appearance, but made with different programs. When using Illustrator, the size of the art board is infinite. Instead of using pixels like I did when making the photoshop one, Illustrator used a bit-map. I found illustrator a tad bit easier when it came to the gradient tool because i'm used to using it and although Photoshop has a very similar gradient tool, Illustrator allows you to do more creative inclined things. The pen tools are very different on Illustrator and Photoshop, but I didn't have to use anything other than the initial shape tool and then the gradient tool. I think that gradient is an okay way to make something look like a sphere, but knowing about the 3D Revolve effects you can use on Illustrator just made these gradient spheres look amateur. I added my (kinda) signature onto my Illustrator sphere, and put a gradient inside of it. On my photoshop sphere I made it bouncing.

A Circle is Never Just a Circle

Spheres symbolize unity and infinity. The can be balanced or unbalanced as we learned through that wonderful video we watched. I learned that every circle has a story behind it and different designs and techniques can determine the overall outcome of the art. The work flow for these projects were fairly similar. I found Illustrator slightly easier in making simple designs on spheres, because all you had to do was add a 3D Revolve effect and then add a symbol to the Map Art, but Photoshop has a lot of advanced 3D mechanisms and the textures were more extravagant. Illustrator used inches and I had an infinite amount of space to work on, where as Photoshop used pixels and I was limited to the space I requested when opening a new project. When I saved my Illustrator work, I first screenshotted it because that's the easiest way to guarentee that it was saved, but it saved to the server as a PDF.  I saved my work on photoshop as a screenshot as well, but then saved it to the server as a jpeg but could also be saved as a png. I learned a lot about custom pens, symbols and shapes when completing these spheres. I need to learn more about shapes and lines because they always have some little thing wrong with them in my experience and it can be frustrating.

Illustrator Tutorial: http://pixelrockit.com/create-stylish-3d-shapes-with-adobe-illustrator/

Photoshop Tutorial: http://layersmagazine.com/3d-texture-mapping-in-photoshop-cs6.html

Zentangular Art

For this extra credit I drew a zentangle in my free time at home. A pentangle is basically a drawing with lots of shapes, lines, and designs that calms you down while drawing. I then brought my sketch to school and scanned it. I tried multiple times and even had Ms. Lofquists' help trying to figure out how to fill it with Illustrator, but we couldn't make it work. So I used Photoshop to fill it in and I think it makes for a very cool logo-looking thing. I used a cool color scheme because it represents trust.

My Personal Logo

The reason I chose to use a circle for my logo is because a circle represents a constant row of energy, thoughts, and creativity, which is exactly what I want to accomplish in graphic design. I put two rings with arrows at the end around the circle and the arrows represent how I want to spread my ideas as well as the traits listed before to many people. The arrows are also a representation of moving forward. I used the colors blue, red, and yellow, but not the typical primary colors you always see, because I like to be different. The blue represents trust. This lets you know that you can trust me and my ideas, which will be helpful if I ever become a professional graphic designer with clients. The red represents boldness and vibrance, which really shows my personality and the way I approach things. I used a light yellowish store on my lettering to show the warmth and happiness. The letting looks a little odd, but I hand drew it and it's a backwards B, backed up to an R, which creates a t in the middle, thus creating my initials, which is the name of my blog. My process includes creating art boards with grids, and just used the shape tool and made lots of circles and shapes with different ways of creating appealing logos. I learned how to use the tablet to draw things and how to use the graphic styles tool to create new brushes. I also learned how to use a symbol sprayer and create your own symbol, but I id not use this while making my logo. I think I did really well on the lettering, the color scheme, and the general appearance of my logo. If I could do something differently, I would probably try to make the stroke look different and maybe make the ring a little thicker. I feel like it will look odd if the logo is in a smaller resolution. Overall, I'm very pleased with my outcome and I loved the process of making a logo. Making logos is my favorite thing to do in graphic design.