Retouch Assignment

For this assignment, I took the statue from the in class retouches and placed it into a wooded background. After that I added an image of tinkerbell to be sitting on the roof of the statue. I gave her a slight shadow that made it look like the sun was shining on her using the drop shadow tool. After this I added an image of mushrooms to the forest floor and using a layered mask I added the radiant tool to make it blend into the back drop and then used the paint brush to refine it even more. At first I had an additional fairy in the top left corner, but I decided that I did not like her there and after trying several different locations I decided to eliminate her all together.

Using a Lynda.com tutorial, I was able to make text from grass. To do this I first selected images of soil and of grass that I wanted to use. Then after creating a text layer, I filled in the text with the grass image. After this, I duplicated the grassy text layer so that the GR was in one layer and the OW was in another that way when playing around with the edges of the text, the letters were not blending together. I added a slight drop shadow underneath the letters, and blurred the edges a little so that it was not as straight cut.

Smokey Text

Using the Lynda.com tutorial I learned how to make smokey text. It required finding a picture of smoke and then adding a text layer on top of it. After selecting the word "love", using a bunch of different techniques such as wave, and blur, I then played with the opacity and fill to get the word to what I thought looked best.

Waterfall drive (layer masks project)

This was the last layer masks project that I completed. For this one, I used the gradient tool to combine a waterfall image with an image of a road. Then, using the paintbrush, I softened the edges and altered some places where I wanted the road to show through instead of the waterfall. It took me a while, to figure out exactly how I wanted the waterfall to be placed, but I am happy with where my final decision was. After this I found a car to be placed on the road. I wanted a car that would stand out against all the earthy colors, so I chose red. I am happy with this choice, because I like how at first your eye is drawn to the red car and then you notice the fantasy behind the landscape and how it is surreal.

Discover (layer masks project)

For this project, I took the image of the Quinnipiac library that we all know so well and added more to it. Using the gradient tool again, I combine the landscape of Quinnipiac with an image of space. Then using the paintbrush I went around the edges of the building to make it softer and more accurate looking. The next step that I took, was added the planet of Saturn because I thought that it went well with the space themed sky. I altered the opacity and fill again to make it better blend in with its background. After this, I wanted to add a bunch of different things that I thought could resemble education to also be floating in the sky over the library. I used the same steps again, and made them fade into the sky. When I saw this, the word discover came to mind because it looks like the library allows you to discover all of these things. So once again, I added a text layer and duplicated the sky background to fill it with.

Imagine (layer masks project)

This was the project that I made while learning all of the new tools within photoshop that I did not know how to use. The first thing that I learned how to use was the gradient tool, in which I meshed the island scene with a night sky scene giving off the appearance that it fades from night to day as you move left to right. It took many tries to get to where I wanted it, but once I got it, I was very happy with the results. Then I used the paintbrush tool to soften the blend a little bit near the water so that the edge wasn't so straight and clear cut. After this I inserted the elephant to where I thought he looked best. Once I had him in place, I made a new text layer. I chose the word imagine because it seemed like a fantasy to me the way the picture looked and it was not realistic. Then duplicating the night sky layer I used that to fill in the text, and then played with the color a little to make it somewhat different.

Live (layer masks project)

This was one of my favorite projects that I have completed so far. The first thing that I did was find two images that I liked. In this case I picked my two favorite places, NYC and the beach. After this I used the gradient tool to make the two images flow into one another. Once this was complete I added the woman standing there, using the paintbrush tool I was able to make her blend nicely into her background. For the final touch I inserted a text layer, and typed the word live. I thought that this word was fitting because I feel alive in both of those places and if the beach were ever to meet NYC like that, the word live would be one of the first words that came to my mind. I duplicated the NYC layer and used that to fill my text, but selected a portion of it that was not already there (a taxi driving). Then, using the layer tools I dropped the opacity and fill to make it blend in to the background a little more.

Updated Flower Pot (Selections Project)

There were a few important changes that I made to this image. The first change was adding a horizon line and making the pot rest on something. This completes the picture because it does not make it appear as if the flower pot is just floating in the middle of space, but rather it is on a surface. I was happy with this change being made. A second change that I made was using the paintbrush tool, I selected the colors from the pot and went around the white edge that used to be there and painted it darker, to give off the impression that the flowers are going into the pot instead of just behind it.

Updated Duck Wedding (Selections Project)

There were a few changes that I made with design that make it differ from the other. While they may be small, they really make a difference. First I went around the bottoms of all of the rubber ducks and using the gradient tool I made the ducks appear to be submerged and floating in the water as supposed to just placed on top of it. I also did the same thing with the tree, so that it appeared to be growing out of the water instead of just place on top as well. Another change that I made was to the veil on the female duck, using the paintbrush I went around the edges so that they were not as hard and softened them.

Week 3 reading (Pages 46 - 81)

The first thing that caught my attention about this section was the interview with Chris Hacker, who talked about package design. This was a whole new field of graphic design that I had not thought much about. However, it is really important because it can make or break a product and determine if it is bought or not. This section talked a lot about typography and its importance in the field of design. The specific typography used is very important because you need to use it to draw attention, but not be distracting and at the same time to be creative looking, but also legible. In one section they related to marketing. This was interesting to me since this is what I want to go in to the field of. It discussed how the designers will design what they think is pleasing and looks great, however marketers who nothing about design will tell them they have to change it, because they know what sells. This is why I decided to take an IDD course. I think that as important as it is for the designers to listen to what the marketers tell them what will sell, it is also important for the marketers to understand a little about design. I think that by understanding a little about design I will better understand where the design team is coming from and what they are thinking when they design an ad. 

Layered Image 2 - Duck Wedding

With this layered image assignment, I had a lot of fun. It consists of 14 layers, because each duck and accessory is a separate layer. With this assignment I learned how to take pieces from several different pictures and put them together to look like one. For example: the female duck, white roses, and veil were all from separate images but I combined them into something that looks like one. I also learned how to turn an object the opposite way. The top hat image that I used was turned and rotated at a different angle than seen here.  Overall, I learned how to work using many different layers and incorporate them into one final image.

Layered Image 1 - Flower Pot

This is my first layered image assignment. This piece consists of 8 layers (one of which is the background). With this I learned how to extract objects from their original backgrounds and put them into a different scenario. I also learned how to move layers up or down so that way they were either on top of the others or behind them.