This piece was primarily designed in Adobe Illustrator, setting up my artboard appropriately while using grids and guides for layout purposes. The file is in a print-ready format and shows the necessary trim and bleed marks. Elements of design are laid out in the placement of text in appropriate spaces relative to the content embedded within the image, making use of negative space to cement the text in relation to the implied action of the falling cheese. I created physical sketches prior to translating them into Adobe illustrator, while gathering copyright free images in an ethical fashion. I knew I wanted an attractive image dominating the page with text to compliment it. Feedback I received in a prior course was using a rectangular box in the background to make the text in the foreground more readable to the audience. I adhered to all given directions and assignment specifications in the creation of this design. I followed the instructions carefully and made sure my work met all the requirements. I also made sure that my work was original and creative. did not decide it was necessary to deviate from the original directions or change the intent of the work in any way. The original work was strong, and it accurately represented my skills and abilities as a designer. However, I did make some minor changes to the work to improve the overall presentation. For example, I updated the colors and fonts, and I made some changes to the layout. I do see evidence of excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail in the presentation of my work. The images are clear and high-resolution, the colors are accurate, and the grid and format are well-understood. The typography is readable and easy to understand, and the file types have been converted appropriately for print and screen publication.
This typographic portrait is representative of Harrison Ford, in his characteristic form of Indiana Jones. For the typeface I have chosen, I envisioned how they would look in a movie starring him. How would his name look in the film’s introduction with the opening credits when it introduces his name? I settled upon choosing Didot by Firmin Didot, as I feel like this is how I would see his name in a movie about himself. It is a serif font that comes off as classy, timeless, and professional, which are words that can describe Harrison Ford himself. I would even imagine a business card with his name printed in this font style. I remember reading about the history of Didot in our class textbook, “Firmin Didot of France cut the first Modern typeface in 1784—a dramatic font with thin serifs, extreme contrast, and a vertical angle of stress” (Rabinowitz). These physical characteristics reflect on Harrison Ford in his roles; they can be dramatic, formal and have extreme contrast in personalities. Firmin, “used opposition of visual elements (like thick vs. thin and short vs. tall) to create a high level of drama in their typefaces. The fonts they cut had a mechanized aesthetic—they were very precise and featured a vertical angle of stress” (Rabinowitz). A typeface that contained incredibly thick stems, ascenders, descenders and so on would come off as too much for him, and something incredibly light and thin would not represent his rugged nature in his portrayals in his movies. y use of type is composed of different bold and regular forms, with different scale sizes as well as different taglines from his movies like Star Wars, “Laugh it up fuzzball” and even his movie titles, like “Indiana Jones” and “Blade Runner.” These movies are extremely popular in American culture, and many are familiar with the Star Wars and Indiana jones franchises. This helps me connect with an audience that is aware of his movie role portfolio. My design elements are composed of using type to fill in the minute details of not only his face, but his hat as well. I started by editing my type by outlining it, then using the envelope mesh with grids option to wrap my text to express its distinctive features. His hat stands out well compared to his face, specifically because I used my largest text size here to separate from his face. For the rest I used a smaller scale of type for his face outline, as well as using simple periods, and letters give shape to something as simple as his ear. I warped letters, more specifically the letter “I” to give his eyelids and mouth definition. My message was to represent Mr. Ford’s acting career through his iconic roles, move titles and most famous phrases from his roles. The mood I wanted to set was reflective Harrison Ford’s personality, he is a creative individual but he as a real self can be different from his on-screen personas. I chose to have a black background with the white type to show his real self instead of his different acting personalities that most people acquainted him with. This is the real Ford, a genuine side of him that the world does not get to see. It is going against the grain of a white background with black text, and the way he is looking at us is telling the audience “This is who I am, this is what I’m known for.” The tone is mostly dark, reflective of his deep emotional input we see onscreen. The lightness of the text represents his heroism and braveness he brings to the world. What stood out to me was the dramatic difference in the tall vs short, thick vs thin elements of the type that represent the attributes of being an actor. Harrison Ford played various roles, and his career in drama reflects on Didot. Firmin developed a typeface that has stood the test of time and has been a baseline for many modern typefaces we see today. “Along with Italy’s Giambattista Bodoni, Firmin Didot is credited with establishing the use of the Didot or “Modern” style of serif typefaces. The types that Didot used are characterized by extreme contrast in thick strokes and thin strokes, using hairline serifs and by the vertical stress of the letters. Many fonts today are available based on Firmin Didot’s typefaces and are often called Didot as a result” (TypeRoom). Another thing to note about Didot in representing Mr. Ford is that it is in two words and not an entire story in the font choice. This is because Didot is best used in headlines or sub- headlines, not for paragraphs of text. “Modern typefaces, including Didot, are generally unsuitable for body copy due to their high contrast level (which makes them difficult to read), and are preferred for display or semi-display purposes. When used in small sizes or for large bodies of text, a “dazzling” effect may occur, where the thick lines overwhelm the hairline strokes, rendering them all but invisible” (Harvey, Amanda). Due to the circumstances, Didot is best used for these purposes because the distinct qualities can be lost when used in surplus. Firmin was also accredited with setting the standard for modern typefaces, and Harrison Ford has set a standard for actors alike with his recognized acting achievements. I explored different typographic portraits around the web, including google and reddit, in addition to the fellow artists in my class. This served as a good starting inspiration for my work, and retrieving a headshot of him, bringing it in to Adobe Photoshop, converting the colors and reducing the geometry to make a baseline for the art to follow. Then I brought this image into illustrator to start drawing his face with text. I created envelope meshes of the typography to scale their size and warp them accordingly around his face to imply the details of his features. The feedback I received from my fellow peers included adding in more text to try and eviscerate more detail out of his notable facial features, as well as using different tools in illustrator. I feel that I adhered to all given directions and assignment specifications in the creation of this design, series of designs, or project. I followed the instructions carefully and I made sure that my work met all of the requirements. In reconsidering or reworking this work for inclusion in my portfolio, I did not decide it was necessary to deviate from the original directions or change the intent of the work in any way. I believe that the work is strong and effective as it is, and I did not want to make any changes that would compromise its integrity.
Sources
Deer, Rabinowitz Tova. Exploring Typography. Cengage Learning, 2016.
Type Room. “Firmin Didot: 10 Things to Know About.” TypeRoom, https://www.typeroom.eu/firmin-didot-10-things-to-know- about#:~:text=The%20most%20famous%20Didot%20typefaces,of%20the%20Age %20of% 20Enlightenment.
Harvey, Amanda. “Didot Typeface.” Medium, Medium, 7 Mar. 2016, https://medium.com/@redheadedmandy/didot-typeface-d38ee7c02c4c .
I created a drawing of Marlin from finding nemo, using a reference photo from the internet. I created an outline of Marlin from the source image, then used a color picker tool to get the colors as accurate to the source material as possible. I used the paintbrush tool to paint with different hardness and softness, then refining the painting with blending and smudging the colors to add final changes. I used a copyright free image depicted God rays to show light shining through the ocean. This piece highlights my talent to paint and draw in Photoshop from scratch, using the necessary tools in photoshop to construct a finished and professional piece of art. Elements of design are apparent, we have a great amount of depth implied by the vast blue background representing the sea, with our main figure, Marlin, in the foreground which is the main visual. The colors have an intense saturation, contrived of lines and forming textures from the smoothness of eyes and ridges of his fins. I received feedback from both my instructor and fellow classmates on areas that needed more attention in my art before it was ready to be finalized. Areas around his eyes needed to be smoothed out and buffed to not have any jagged edges that would deviate from the original character artist’s vision. I also added in the god rays later to give the impression of an ocean, which some texture added in instead of a flat blue background that would not of portrayed the ocean as well. It is important to be respectful of the original directions and assignment specifications when creating work for a portfolio. However, it is important to be creative and to make changes that will improve the work. In this case, the original work was strong and effective, so I did not make any major changes. However, I made minor changes to the formatting and presentation to make the work more visually appealing. I feel that I adhered to all given directions and assignment specifications in the creation of this design, series of designs, or project. I followed the instructions carefully and made sure my work met all the requirements.
These photos were captured professionally on a Canon. The three main settings of the camera have been adjusted for each photo to be taken, this includes the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. The main setting that is tampered with for landscape photography is the aperture, which should be set so everything that is in the photo is in focus without any blur, intentional or not. This fell between f/10 and f/16 usually, and the shutter speed was adjusted so the proper amount of exposure was captured. These 4 photos are compiled on Lightroom Classic within the Adobe software suite and were formatted in an appropriate and even layout to display the four landscape photos professionally and formally. Before they were finalized in Lightroom, there were touch-up adjustments made in Photoshop. Firstly, each photo was converted to black and white, which was an inspiration from the popular Landscape photographer Ansel Adams, who was a huge inspiration for the project. Minor tweaks were further made when it came to the amount of exposure brightness. Brainstorming these photos, I thought about my local area and neighboring towns where their less travelled roads posed an opportunity to pull my car over, whip out the camera, and capture a moment in time. The natural landscapes intertwine with human nature itself, with the manufactured structures. When it came to shooting the photos, I paid careful attention to my framing from my positioning on the tripod and zoom levels. When giving feedback, I was able to focus on the work itself, rather than the person who created it. I was also able to provide specific examples to support my feedback. I was also able to take the feedback on board and consider how I could improve my work. I adhered to all given directions and assignment specifications in the creation of this design, series of designs, or project. I followed the instructions carefully and made sure my work met all the requirements. In reconsidering or reworking this work for inclusion in my portfolio, I did not decide it was necessary to deviate from the original directions or change the intent of the work in any way. The work is strong and effective as it is, and I did not want to make any changes that would compromise its integrity. I see evidence of excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail in the final design, series of designs, or project. The clarity and resolution of the images are excellent, and the absence of colors are accurate. The presentation of the photos is clear, and formal.
Macro photography is a type of photography that captures close-up details of small objects. It can be used to photograph anything from insects to flowers to food. Macro photography can be a challenging genre to master, but it can also be extremely rewarding. The closer you are to your subject, the larger it will appear in the frame. This is why it is important to use a macro lens, as it will allow you to get closer to your subject without distorting the image. A low f-stop will allow more light into the camera, which is important for macro photography, as it can be difficult to get enough light when you are close to your subject. Manual focus is essential for macro photography, as it allows you to precisely focus on your subject. There are many ways to compose a macro shot. I experimented with different angles, viewpoints, and lighting to create unique and interesting images. There are many different things that you can photograph with a macro lens. I looked for small objects in my environment, such as flowers, insects, leaves, and water droplets. Again, these photos were edited in Photoshop. Adjustments were made to their hue and saturation levels, either adding more saturation or subtracting to enhance the overall composition and entice an emotional response from the viewer. I explored the areas in my backyard, being closer to home and taking a closer look at the fine, antiquated details that would otherwise go unnoticed as they usually do. I showed thoughtful and appropriate critique skills when receiving and giving feedback to others. I was able to provide constructive feedback that was specific, actionable, and helpful. I was also able to receive feedback in a positive and constructive way. I was also able to give feedback in a way that was respectful and encouraging. In reconsidering or reworking this work for inclusion in my portfolio, I did not decide it was necessary to deviate from the original directions or change the intent of the work in any way. The work is strong and effective as it is, and I did not want to make any changes that would compromise its integrity. However, I made minor changes to the formatting and presentation of the work to make it more visually appealing and easier to read and understand. These changes were made to enhance the work, not change its meaning or intent. I do see evidence of excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail in the final design, series of designs, or project. The clarity and resolution of the images are excellent, and the colors are accurate. The images are clear and sharp, with no visible pixelation and the colors are accurate and consistent throughout the work.
This is the Amethyst banner advertisement I constructed in Adobe photoshop, created the foundation of the image, and then effectively created an animated gif with different layers. Here shows the effectiveness of balancing my typography with my imagery, making the use of negative space in the image to embed the text, giving it a background with a complimentary color to make readability sufficient. This allows both the imagery and text to have relevant proportions of one another, giving an overall balance and sense of visual hierarchy in the format. I went through different revisions in my drafts before the finalized version was presented, and it started out on paper on how I wanted to present my imagery and text to make an effective and engaging advertisement. I showed thoughtful and appropriate critique skills when receiving and giving feedback to others. I was able to provide constructive feedback that was both helpful and respectful. I also listened carefully to the feedback that others gave me, and I was able to incorporate their feedback into my work. Adjustments were made in the color choices and imagery placement and selection. The image again was retrieved from a copyright free database, following ethical guidelines. The original work was strong, and that it accurately represented my skills and abilities as a designer. However, I also felt that I could make some minor changes to the work to improve the overall presentation. These changes made the work more visually appealing, and that they made it easier to understand the message of the work. The imagery is high resolution, and it is one of my strongest works in my portfolio, encompassing a lot of what I learned in my design courses. The typeface pairs well with the brand identity and the execution through the photoshop medium is thoughtful and thorough.
Italy Typographic Portrait
This was made in the Adobe Photoshop program, and shows the skills needed to warp text into a desired shape, finding an outline of Italy first and using it as a basis for the design. The main element of design here stems from typography, it implies a shape on a massive scale taking up the whole composition. There is text that fills in empty space to hold the suggested shape together, while having little negative space between the letters. There are a variety of typefaces used, rather than sticking to one and having the words all look similar, this permits distinction between all the words. I googled different word clouds to see how people arranged their letters and words to convey an image and replicated these practices in my own. Many people used typographic portraits while I used a country for mine and decided to make use of warping the text to make it adhere to the guidelines of the territory. I received feedback from my instructor to fill in empty space of the design, so I added more words and warped text-based objects even further to make the image more unified in its design composition. It is important to be creative and original when creating work for a portfolio. This shows that you can think freely and produce new and innovative ideas. It also shows that you can solve real problems creatively. The typography is readable and easy to understand, and the file types have been converted appropriately for print and screen publication.
This piece features a mockup draft of a space themed magazine cover. The file is print ready, displays all the correct bleed and trim marks, and is in CMYK color mode for printing necessities. The deep black background represents the vast emptiness of space, the moon’s lit crescent gives balance to the text that overlays in the foreground. Different typefaces are used throughout the piece, and the visual hierarchy leads from top to bottom as intended. I drew inspiration from other examples of science-based magazine covers, but decided to put my own creative spin on it with a minimalistic approach that plays on the theme of space itself. The image was a copyright free image, so ethical guidelines were followed. When I was receiving feedback, I was able to listen carefully to what others had to say. I did not interrupt, and I did not get defensive. I also asked clarifying questions to make sure that I understood the feedback. It is important to adhere to the original directions and assignment specifications when creating work for a portfolio. This shows that you can follow instructions and meet the expectations of others. It also shows that you can get feedback and improve your work. The images are clear and high-resolution, the colors are accurate, and the grid and format are well-understood. The typography is readable and easy to understand, and the file types have been converted appropriately for print and screen publication. The magazine page spread was developed in Adobe InDesign. For the main body of the text, I created a large text box, applying three columns to it. After inserting the body of the text, I removed hyphenations under the paragraph options. In addition to this, I made a sizeable drop cap to the starting letter of each paragraph and increased the leading to not have an imbalance to unused space as the text ends in the bottom of the third column. To make the text more readable against the background, I changed the background color of the text to black, keeping the typography in white. The typeface is Helvetica light, and this uniforms the font on the page as they are all in the Helvetica style in different forms. For example, the main title, “The Question Stated” is Helvetica regular, and “Part 1” is in bold, offset to the right side of the page in the headline. The headline has had adjustments made to both the tracking and leading to occupy negative space to bring balance to the top portion of the page. “Part 1” has a tighter tracking adjustment made to contrast with the main headline. I extracted a copyright free image from the web to use as a backdrop, to represent the stars seen in space, as this is a space themed magazine. Having all the text be part of the same typeface emphasizes elements of uniformity and repetition. I did explore and commit substantial time and effort to ideation and brainstorming techniques during the development phase of this design project. My main inspiration was seeing other magazine page layouts, not just from science-based magazines, but all forms. Seeing magazine page layouts covering different topics and exploring different themes contributed to their design attributes, and I sought to take inspiration from all of them, then putting my own unique creative take on them. I showed thoughtful and appropriate critique skills when receiving and giving feedback to others. I was able to provide constructive feedback that was specific, actionable, and helpful. I was also able to receive feedback in a positive and constructive way. When receiving feedback, I was able to listen actively and ask clarifying questions. I was also able to take the feedback on board and consider how I could improve my work. I adhered to all given directions and assignment specifications in the creation of this design, series of designs, or project. I followed the instructions carefully and made sure my work met all the requirements. In reconsidering or reworking this work for inclusion in my portfolio, I did not decide it was necessary to deviate from the original directions or change the intent of the work in any way. The work is strong and effective as it is, and I did not want to make any changes that would compromise its integrity. I see evidence of excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail in the final design, series of designs, or project. The clarity and resolution of the images are excellent, and the colors are accurate. The grid and format are well-understood, and the typography is readable. The original file type has been converted into the appropriate deliverable for print and/or screen publication. All settings were made visible for printing, including bleed and trim marks.
All Stars Sporting Goods was established in 1925 and is known as a well-respected retail store. New management has taken over the store. They would like have a new, contemporary look to appeal to a new generation without alienating their existing clientele. The mission is to provide good quality sports products and a memorable shopping experience. When visiting All Stars Sporting Goods, you will be impressed in the shopping experience by trying out products in simulated scenarios with
our certified and trained staff.
The objective is a new, contemporary logo to reflect the retail storeʼs mission and vision.
The logo is to include text of the business name as well as a symbol. The logo needs to
be scalable and used on a wide variety of media formats. The current audience is older adults, primarily men; however, the business would like to appeal to younger adults (ages 25–45) of all genders, while still keeping their current customers coming back. The colors red, white, blue and black were selected to align with the businessʼs reputation as an established American sports outlet that has stood the test of time. The company has solidified itself as a staple among the sporting good stores.The Futura typeface was chosen as it was designed in 1927 by Paul Renner, around the same time since the birth of All Star Sporting Goods. Given the length of the name of the business, the typeface was the most important aspect in the design approach. It is divided by one line segment contained within a rectangular box. The top futura font style is medium italic, to imply the movement of sports. The bottom is futura bold, although smaller in size the boldness allows itself to balance well with the larger medium italic.
This allows the weight to be balanced in unison. I chose the minimalistic approach of having a star symbol between “All” and “Star” to take the place of a dash. This star is a subtle yet important symbol that gives the logo its own personality and aligns with the name well. All Stationary items are designed to coincide with each other to form unity.
The Perfectum design piece was primarily designed in photoshop, the skills of my photoshop expertise are on full display with the incorporation of various images, placing and arranging them in the layers panel in a balanced manner while editing the color characteristics such as hue & saturation levels. Guides and rulers were used to reflect imagery over the vertical axis. Text is placed perfectly in the center, and the title itself is reflective of the balance throughout the composition, with the balance being equal on both sides of the design. The typography is large in scale and sits in the foreground of the composition, in a white color with darker tones in the back to let it stand out and not blend in. The typeface is Futura italic, and the italic gives a hint of progressive motion in which the perfectum brand strives to achieve for itself. Various drafts were made before the finalization was made. On paper, I planned out accordingly that I wanted heavy imagery with an assortment of colors and textures to have in the background to captivate the viewer and draw them in. To polish off, I planned a thick and dominating text in the front for the brand’s name to be distinguishable. I received feedback on how to arrange my imagery to achieve the sense of balance and scale that was intended. Classmates first noted some readability issues with the text stemming from the scale compared to the imagery, and various typefaces were practiced seeing which paired well with the abstract imagery. In reconsidering or reworking this work for inclusion in my portfolio, I did not decide it was necessary to deviate from the original directions or change the intent of the work in any way. The original work was strong, and it accurately represented my skills and abilities as a designer. However, I did make some minor changes to the work to improve the overall presentation. For example, I updated the colors and fonts, and I made some changes to the layout. I believe that my software and digital tool choices, techniques, and content creation/editing choices are technically appropriate for the completion of this design. I have used a variety of software and tools, using photoshop to arrange all my images into a coherent assortment, and making use of photoshops editing tools in imagery to make color corrections and implement gradients.
Being that Didotʼs most effective use is in display and semi-display purposes rather than body copy due to its extreme contrast in nature, I had to use a more conventional typeface for the paragraphs. I settled upon Times New Roman for the descriptions for the historic information, purposes, and characteristics. I modified the text box in the upper left corner to have three columns and removed the hyphenations in the paragraphs panel to have a nice clean and coherent look. I divided Didot in the upper left corner, having “Di” and “Dot” separated but balanced in weight even with “Di” being larger, but aligning with “Dot.” To achieve this, I had to reduce the tracking and leading for the letters to fit closer in uniform. This draws the viewer’s attention due to the sheer size of it, grabbing awareness immediately due to its impact and emphasis. For the empty space in the bottom right, I used the letter “D” in the Didot typeface but highlighting it is form in regular, italic, and bold editions. For these, I had to adjust the tracking as well to fit them closer together. Having these letters in the lower corner fills up an empty void of the composition. I aligned the headline “Purpose” in the center, in Didot bold, and left aligned the body copy. I placed this below the large “Di-dot,” and to the right of this paragraph I put in the characteristics of Didot with centered bulleted points. Same as before, I made the headline Didot bold, and for my “Sources” headline as well. The sources were listed in Didot italic since they were just two lines of text. Both my sources and characteristics are aligned vertically on top of one another, and I chose to align both the paragraph and headline in the center for uniformity. I have some negative space between my text boxes, allowing room to breathe and forbid any cluttering of the text that can make things harder to read. The visual hierarchy comes off as balanced due to heavy weight in both the top right and bottom left corners, with text filling space between in well composed manner.
There was a lot to learn about the overall workflow process of website development. The course provided a good foundation for the design process that goes into building a website. Initially, we retrieved influence and inspiration from other web designs that were attached to other portfolio websites. Building upon this, we started at the roots of setting up a basic, yet effective sitemap design to layout the fundamentals of the website. Gradually building upon this, we developed a concise wireframe. With each step, we add more to the layout, incorporating the design concepts we learned throughout the course as well as previous courses. This involves reorganizing the placement of the text and images and changing the colors of the background and navigation bar, Typography is a pillar in graphic design and reflecting upon a brand’s or person’s personality using color, type, and layout build this envisioned character. The digital mockup gave me a good rough draft of what I wanted my final design to look like. I stuck with most of my design concepts, and then it finally time to grasp the WordPress program. At first, I felt intimidated since I never used it before, but using trial and error of learning what worked and what did not I became more comfortable and worked more efficiently with it. A graphic designer is an expert translating of communicating ideas and invoking feelings through so many art mediums, and the web is one of them. Earlier in the course, I assumed that WordPress was a program that enabled a designer to forgo the backend work, like coding, and allowed the designer to have an easier time adjusting the text, image placement and overall layout. I believe that both routes have their place in the designer’s toolkit, and I think both outlets are entirely usable and need to be used when appropriate. Having complete control down to the minute details when constructing a site through coding, although challenging, provides the most creative freedom when it comes to building a website, although this could take more time and hold up the development. With WordPress, the coding is already done as the templates are provided, this allows a designer to skip the steps of coding, which streamlines the workflow and eliminates the backend. I think having knowledge of both coding in cooperation with WordPress gives a better understanding of the work that goes into it, and having a more transparent view of the site itself.