Website Mock Up

I used layer comps to showcase the different components of my personal website mock up. The first layer comp features the home page of the website. To create this I used a picture I took as the background, I changed the picture to black and white. I used the shape tool to create two rectangles, one at the top and one towards the bottom. I filled both rectangles with white color, but I played with the opacity with the bottom rectangle. I downloaded the font for "Hi, I'm Lee Ann" and adjusted the color accordingly. I dropped on the pictures of the social media as well. The second layer comp shows a hover link. I dropped in a point and placed it over "About Me". I changed the color of that phrase to show what it would look like if one hovered over a link. The third layer comp shows the actual About Me Page. I hid the layers I did want shown and dropped in a picture of myself and added a drop shadow. I used the shape to create a rounded rectangle and adjusted the opacity before adding in the filler text. 

Photo Editing

This assignment was a little of photo editing fun. I took this picture in Central Park in New York City. I really love how candid it is and I wanted to give it an old and/or polaroid look. I added a color balance layer and adjusted it as is. I also added a hue/saturation layer to brighten the image. 

Dreamy Business Card

The sky has always been one of my favorite things in the world. I was excited to do this assignment because it allowed me to put a little piece of me within my design. This business card allowed me to be professional and creative. Originally, the background was white and the moons (which are paint brushes I found online) were black. Switching the background to black and the moons to white really changed the feel of the design. The stars as well as the blueish clouds are paint brushes. I felt the font had a dreamy feel to it (I also downloaded the font into photoshop) as well. Lastly, I added the LinkedIn,image, just to simply communication I can be found on that social outlet.

Love Infographic

It was pretty difficult for me to come up with a concept for a infographic. I went through a couple of different topics before I ended up with the Love VS. Lust concept. I found an image of a 'real' heart online and dropped the image into illustrator, then I traced this image and dragged it into photoshop. The color palette is an array of reds and pinks with a touch of purple here and there. I wanted it to have a Valentine's Day theme almost. Different component of the 'real' and 'artificial' heart have characteristics of either love or lust. I used the pencil tool to connect each characteristic with its corresponding part. I wanted the lines to look a little out of place, so I purposely made them a bit slanted. I took a lot of consideration into the font I choose. The word 'Love' in the title is a font I downloaded, I wanted it to look authentic and formal. 'Lust', is presented in a more childish font (including the font with the artificial heart).

What will you conquer?

My client was NewBoxCity, an up and coming gym that features new and innovative ways to get fit. This gym has a variety of different classes, but its focus is on boxing. My client wanted the advertisement to be simple, yet inspirational. One thing in particular my client wanted to implement was a motivational quote or question. My heading text is the question "What will you conquer?" and the secondary text featured is the company's name at the bottom. I included this question all throughout the design to really stress the motivational message. The reader will stop and look at the main image and ask their self ... what they can conquer at this new gym. The main image showcases movement, I did this by duplicating the female in the picture and adjusting it to line up. I also adjusted the opacity to truly give the image movement. The client also wanted me to implement the colors: red, white and blue.  I took that into consideration while applying the text and the image.

Making Moves

Blur filters can add depth and movement to your design. I really love this tool and I wanted to utilize it in a unique way this week. I have two separate blur effects within this post, the first one being the picture above. I took this picture in New York City, it is a graveyard connected to a Catholic Church. There is something special about this picture already. The graveyard is beautiful, in a way. The headstones are old and rustic while the flowers are blooming and colorful. I wanted to add to this with a lens blur. I selected the flower that stood out most to me and selected it using the magnetic lasso. Then, I inverse selected and modified the image to 'feather'. I selected the lens blur and adjusted to the settings I felt appropriate. It is easy to add some symbolism to this photo. Singling out a blooming flower in a graveyard easily provokes emotion. 

I took this picture on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. I let my American pride get to me with this design. I used a radial blur to create my area in focus, the American flag. This was quick and painless to do. I simply clicked 'filter' and then 'blur'. I choose the 'zoom' method and it gave the image a moving effect. To single out the American flag, I had to create a layer mask and lower the opacity. I used the paint tool to to color over the American flag. I increased the opacity and finalized this design.

Alice's Playing Card

  

This week we experimented with brushes in photo shop. This assignment was to create the back of a playing card. Automatically, I knew what concept I wanted to apply to my card: Alice in Wonderland.  This assignment was probably my most detailed yet. I wanted the design to be creative and odd, just like Alice's adventures. 

I found a couple of Alice in Wonderland paint brushes. But, the ones I ended up using for this design came from:  http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/157665723. These brushes can be found off the adobe website as well. 

I uploaded these brushes. I selected the Alice brush (the picture in the middle), I adjusted the size and changed the color. I put this on a separate layer so I could go back and adjust, if needed. I made the inside and outside borders using the paint tool while holding 'command', to ensure a straight line. The border designs is what was most difficult about the design. I focused on repetition for the borders. All the image seen are brushes, but I had to adjust them differently than I would a image. To rotate or flip images (which are seen throughout) I opened a new Photoshop document. I dragged the layer into the new document. Then, I rotate/flipped the image and dragged back into the original document and adjusted as needed. The top and bottom are identical (just flipped) and the sides are identical (just rotated). The star like brushes on the left-hand and right hand of the border are not identical. They were added on, after the fact. I did this to add something unexpected to the piece, and I think it gave it a nice touch as well. As far as the colors I choose, the red and black reminded me of a deck or cards as well as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Leo Vision Logo Contest

This week we did some work in illustrator. I really like the program because it is much easier to create items. This particular assignment was unique because we are creating a logo for a client.

I had a couple of different aspects of inspiration for this assignment. First, I looked at other film related logos and developed a feel for common trends. I noticed that film companies either liked very extravagant logos or more simple/less complex ones. As you can see, I liked the simple look.

I choose the simpler look for basically one reason, it gave it a student/amateur feel.  The fact that the design looks like it is painted, reminds me of education. I chose the image of a basic camera because the image gets straights to the point. The image is a camera, the club is a broadcast and film club. Simple as that. And, of course I added a touch of our Saint Leo colors, green and gold.

I accomplished this through a variety of different tasks. I dropped in this clip art image of the camera and traced it via the bamboo tablet. I traced the image with green because the outline was originally black and it is easier to trace this way. Also, I wanted this to be the end color anyways. I used the paint tool to color in the yellow within the circles. I liked it, but I felt like it was missing something. I tried a glow, it didn't look right. I apply a drop shadow and it truly made the image pop. I think the drop shadow really put the logo together. I experimented with many different fonts and I felt these two were bold and clean.

I learned that in illustrator it is important to fix images rather than cover them up. I had used the paint tool to cover over details in white. It ended up negatively affected the drop shadow. We went back and deleted those lines with the pen tool and adjusted the problems I originally tried to fix.

Overall, I love the final image.. hopefully our client likes it as well!

Magazine Covers

My father inspired this magazine cover. I wanted to do a magazine cover that represents him and his interests. I used a stencil theme for the title of the magazine, "NEWBOXCITY" because I felt that gave it a military look. I arched the words using the flag option simply because it indirectly represents a waving flag and adds to the American theme. I also added texture to the font to give it a strong and distinct look.

I have two announce headings/articles. One on the top left and one on the bottom right. I added different effects to both articles while keeping with the American theme I'm going for. I added color, inner glow and bold to the top article. And, I added color, all caps and italics to the bottom article.

My dad boxed professional for the U.S. Navy, so I added a clipping mask of the red boxing gloves. The main image is this old photo of my dad before he retired. I really liked the effect it gave the magazine cover.

I changed the kerning on the bottom right article because I felt that it was originally to far apart. And, I added text on a path around the clipping mask.

Fantasy Composite/ Self Portrait

My love for running inspired this picture. I don't think I will ever to be able run with a group zebras, but creating this picture gives me the ability to put this fantasy to life. I was able to experiment with many different tools and aspects of Photoshop during this mini project. First, I found this awesome picture that was featured in National Geographic and dropped it in Photoshop. Then, I dropped a picture of myself racing as well. I used the magic wand to select just me and the racing flags. The most difficult part was the racing flags (green and white flags). I cropped a section of the original picture and duplicated the picture several times and adjusted them as needed. Lastly, I added a drop shadow to the racing flags and to myself.

Sunset Color Palette

I did not use a website generator for this palette. Instead, I took inspiration from a natural Florida sunset to create this color palette. I found a blank paper image online and dropped in Photoshop. Then, I used the paint tool to create each circle. The colors having a calming effect and are not too hard. I wanted the feel of the palette to be similar to the feeling of seeing a Florida sunset. The blues and lavenders represent the actual sky and can it changes with the color of the sun setting.  I wanted to add a variety of pinks because I think it is the most memorizing part a sunset. The fact that the sky can create such colors is extraordinary.

A Pictogram: "Elephant in the room"

Personally, the word was new to me. I didn't even know there was a name for pictograms. Commonly, they are seen to differentiate between the men's or women's bathroom, but in class this week we took these simple designs and gave them new life. Within this design, we incorporated the pictogram and gained inspiration from Viktor Hertz. I choose the popular phrase "the elephant in the room" to portray in this design. If you didn't know, this phrase basically describes a situation when two (or more) people are experiencing some type of awkwardness within an exchange of communication. This awkwardness is usually because of the "elephant in the room" or, in other words, an obvious truth that no one wants to talk about.

So, I chose the man and woman pictogram in the center of the design to depict a couple or just two friends with some type of attraction to one another.  I chose this because, simply, I just couldn't do my first pictogram without these two. I almost laugh while looking at the design because the figure are as stiff and awkward as it is. It only adds to the underlying message. Then, I created another layer and dragged in the elephant that is shown. I used the crop tool to slice the elephant and I also created an additional layer for each half of the elephant. I used the magic wand to take the original color of the elephant away. It was originally a grayish color on the inside. Simply, I clicked on half of the elephant with the wand and pressed delete on the keyboard. I placed one half of the elephant on the left of the design and another on the right. I took away the color to stick with a more basic design. And, I cut the elephant in half to better portray the phrase I'm trying to express. The elephant cut in half is just awkward and almost hard to ignore.