the end of the semester

So, it's the end. It's been a journey, and not always enjoyable one. But, despite the struggles and setbacks and disappointments, I feel like I really learned some things. I had never used PhotoShop before, and now I feel a little comfortable with it. I'm excited to explore more. I also have 4 solid pieces.

I've decided to keep this blog going for the future. I already promised pictures of my fuzzy letter bag, but I've also got some other plans in the works. I'm going to be working on some wood sculptures over the summer, hopefully for submission in an art show at my church. I'm also painting a picture for my cousin and his fiancee for their wedding. So, fun stuff in store.

the results

These photos don't really do it justice, but here they are anyway. The fantastic lady at Staples did a great job figuring out the double-sided printing. I stitched the pages together with black floss. I made the envelope out of a piece of this great textured paper I found at A.C. Moore.

I'm really proud of this piece. I think it's my best work yet. Mostly, I think this is because my heart was really in it. I really like those fuzzy letters. They make me happy.

I tried to make a tote with fuzzy letters, but it hasn't turned out like I imagined, so it's back to the drawing board on that. I'll take pics when I can.

a sample page

The color is a little off because I forgot to save this for the Web in RGB color. Ignore that. This page is included as an example of the complexity of the layout. The W is on the 8th page of my book, and the drawings and paintings are on the 5th page.

some help with layout

I created this little rough copy of my booklet to figure out how to lay out the pages correctly. Making a book is more complex than laying out page one, and then page two, then page three. So, this little sketchy copy helped a bunch.

self-promotional beginnings

Our final project was a self-promotional mailer. This piece needed to display my previous work and also include a logo/brand that incorporated my name.

After exploring a couple different options, I decided to use the C I had created for the form-matches-content piece. I explored the AIGA website for some good ideas, and came across some nice little books, and ran with that idea.

Here is the first layout I drew for my little book.

more stuff I didn't include before

These are the thumbnails and rough for my self-portrait. I played around a lot with various foot ideas. Z really wanted me to do the unraveling head idea, but I though it was too creepy to be an accurate reflection of me. That and I couldn't draw what I saw in my head for it, anyway.

For the rough, I I had more in mind an ocean/beachy scene with seafoam and ripples and such. Alas, no good pictures of that could be found anywhere from the angle I wanted. As a result, the comp was much different from the rough. It still had some of the same elements though - feet, a reflection/shadow, and words following the ripples of the water.

a few things I didn't include before

These sketches were the beginnings of the form-matches-content assignment. I played around a bit with making "hot dog" an actual dog, but decided I liked the food/ketchup idea more. My "cowboy" idea changed a lot, too. I wanted to make a more sophisticated design than I had origionally thought, and moved on from just a hat. My "osmosis" idea was pretty set from the beginning.

that's better

I kinda knew that was the problem. I had to change the color from CMYK to RGB. Gotta remember that for next time.

let's try this again

Umm . . . I have no idea what happened to the color on that last one. And I tried to link the file again, and it looks like the same thing was happening. OH NO!! And right when I thought things were going so well. Darn. I'm gonna go get the thing printed and see what happens, and then try again later.

self-portrait final

Here's the final. I just finished it, and I had extra time (which is super amazing seeing as I didn't think I'd get it done by the due date), so I thought I'd up load it before it's even due.

I think it turned out well. I'm pretty proud of it. It looks pretty much how I imagined. I think I'm getting better at tweaking things with Photoshop. My confidence is definitely improved.

I'm anxious to see what everyone says on critique day . . .

self-portrait comp

This project is a typographical self-portrait - "to identify at least five words that describe who you are and use the words and a piece of you as design elements to create your self portrait."

Here is my comprehensive for this project. I really wanted to use a beach photo and some sea foam and such, but couldn't find one at the angle I wanted. So, I ended up taking my own picture of the river. I didn't have access to a computer, so my comprehensive is a color print-out of the river photo with the design elements drawn with pencil and colored pencil on tracing paper and glued on. High-tech, I know.

The plan for the final is to get rid of the creepy Muppets thing in the upper L corner and put an actual Muppet graphic in there somewhere, instead. Also, I'll be copying one of the rocks from the lower part of the picture and pasting it up top to be able to move the gummi worms up to maintain good visual balance.