Tag Brush

 

Tag Brush

                The assignment started by creating a brush and then using that brush to create a design. The brush was given to us by the professor. However, we had to make the brush ourselves from the images. It allowed us to make our own devotions of the brush. We were able to blend the images together in a unique way.

                The first step was to place the sketch. Then, we made masks and selections from the following images. We embedded the images in order to make the edit. Eventually, the brush image came together. We then had to make the image into a brush. After following the steps provided, the brush was now able to be used in other documents.

                We used the brush to create a unique design. I wanted to make my design look glitchy. The idea to make my design have this look came from the spray paint look. I thought the best way to make this come to life was by use of color. I used different color schemes on top of each other with slight position changes. I attempted to use opacity to make this monochromatic; however, I didn't like the way it was turning out. It was then I decided that the multi-color look would be best.

                Overall, I thought this was such a great tool. It sparked the idea that making my logo into a brush would be useful for my artwork. It would make stamping my images so much easier. I love when I learn new tools and easier ways to use the Adobe Suite. I would say that Photoshop, in comparison to the other programs, is my least utilized program. I didn't prior have the same experience and knowledge that I have had in the other programs. I found this assignment to be harder then other ones. One thing I did take away was how easy it is to work with the images when using masks. I actually really enjoyed this assignment. Furthermore, I am satisfied with how it all came together in the end. 

Propoganda Poster // Self Portrait

        The project was a "Propaganda Poster" using our "Self Portrait." The objective was to pick a topic, examples include anything political, humanitarian, etc., that would be the basis of the poster's meaning. I choose to make a politically based poster. It was mainly inspired by the Obama campaign posters. I choose to not make the poster support a single political party, but I wanted it to be more of a reminder to have young people like ourselves just go vote. I thought this message made sense to have more self portrait included in the poster, separately from the guidelines of the project.
        The first task was to create a a self portrait on Adobe Illustrator. I choose to make mine by using highlight/color changes to create shapes that would come together to make my photo come to life. We used a selfie to be our base of the self portrait. The tools mainly used was the pen tool and the paint brush tool. I did use other tools like pathfinder or the eraser, but you can visibly see the other tools at work more. I chose to pick colors that would like realistic to the shade range found within my original selfie. Black was the darkest color used; white was the lightest highlight color. The picture came together to make a more realistic replication of the selfie. From there, I choose to make the background a light green shade. The reasoning for making the background green was due to my eye color. Any shades of green typically on my body makes my eyes pop out. I choose to use this idea to create the background. I added blocks of colors ranging in greens to connect the style of the selfie to the background. All together, I found the selfie to be a strong representation of the selfie/myself and the colors made the perspective more realistic. 
        From the self portrait, we used our original work an converted them into propaganda posters. I choose to only use shades of red and blue to focus on the political meaning of my poster. I choose to use blue to focus on the darker parts of my selfie like my shirt and face. The hair converted into shades of red, due to the colors being lighter. I choose to make any of the darker spots in the blue section to be the darkest shade of blue; the highlights of the area are either the lightest shade of blue or white. I used the same idea to create the hair. I found it important to properly choose the color changes to make sure the self portrait stayed realistic, even though the colors are not. 
        As for the background, I choose to keep message simple. The word "VOTE" has a commonly understood message. Especially after the most recent election, I found that the topic was strategic and important to today's society. To keep the poster neutral, not affiliated to a political party, I choose the background colors to be the brightest red used and the darkest blue used. The word "VOTE" needed to stand out in the back; I choose to put it on-top of a color that would make the word pop. The font chose to use "Impact" was strategic to make the word really stand out. I did not want the message to get lost in the background. 
        All together, I was extremely proud of how the poster turned out. It conveyed the message while still clearly representing my self portrait in a realistic manner. The convincing message to go out and vote became clear in the color and font choice. It represent my own views that people showed be pushed to vote not bullied into voting for any specific party. I thought the use of myself as a young voter used my message even further. The inspiration for the poster from the selfie to the Obama champaign posters carried through. It was a successful use of the portrait and theme to relay my message to go vote. 

The Self Portrait

Personal Logo

LOGO

        The assignment was to create a personal logo that represents yourself or a passion. I have done an assignment very similar to this in my past, so I wanted to do something different. Furthermore, I wanted to actually recreate a logo that could be used on my artwork. For those reasons, I thought to create a logo out of my signature. It could be used to place on my artwork or represent myself.

        In order to bring my logo to life, I had to first draw out my signature. Obviously this is my signature, but I wanted to make sure that it was a perfect representation. I drew it out a few times and then picked the best one. Following, I took a picture of the signature and embedded the image into Adobe Illustrator. The next step was to decide the best way to go about making sure the lines were all perfect. I decided the pen tool would be the best way to make the line precise. The simplicity of the logo wasn't actual so simple to make. It took many attempts, rearranging points, line weight, etc. I went back and forth on the ends of the lines. Finally, I created the logo in black and white.

        The logo was presented in our first critique. I got good reviews; however, there was a concern on the line weight. It seemed to be to thin if reduced in size. It was decided that the line thickness needed to go up. After playing around with the line weight, I decided that the thickness needed to be around 13. I then reduced the logo in size. I loved the way it looked and then moved onto color.

        I came up with many color options. I wanted to see what it would look like with a mixture of colors with black, color schemes, monochromatic, etc. After playing with the line colors, I decided that it might be interesting to see the fill colors. From there, I played around with those same ideas but including fill. It turned out really great. I went as far as to remove the line to see what that would look like. 

        In the critique, I got a mixed review. Everyone enjoyed the logo in color, but everyone had a different favorite. My professor actually saw the potential of the logo in different formats and how that could be applied in the future; meaning, it could be used in different ways. The logo with no lines but fill could be used for background work. The one that is monochromatic could be used to represent something by color. The multi-color one could be used for other situations. However, it was agreed that the black line with a bright fill color stood out the most. 

        From that critique, I gained a great insight to how to use my logo. I wouldn't ever change the line weight or the placement of the fill, but I did see how much could be used with the logo. The simplicity of line work turned into a full piece of art. I love that the logo is so unique to myself. Furthermore, I enjoy that no one will replicate my logo (it is literally my name). Overall, I would say that the logo was extremely successful. I will definitely use my logo in the future. 

 

CALLIGRAM

 

CALLIGRAM

    The design reflects back to my overall goal for my career. The assignment was to write a letter to your future self (twenty years forward). I have known for quite sometime now that my goal is to start my own clothing company. To what extent that goal can lead to; I'm not sure. I took sometime to think about how this can be represented. I figured that doing a physical shirt and pants would reflect back to my letter. 

    

    In order to achieve this design, I created a mock up sketch. I decided to add a clothing rack to give the design some depth. In addition, the placement of hangers on the pieces is to help showcase the outline of each clothing piece. Being a fashion intern, I work with racks all day long. We use them to style outfits and advertise the clothing. It felt almost personal to me that this is where my mind went to. I believe this too connects to my letter and to my design to showcase my future self. 

 

    In order to bring the design to life, I used Illustrator and tools within it. Some tools used were the shape tool, line segment tool, pathfinder tools, color, warp (mesh warp), etc. I used line work to create the rack, along with the shape tool. I utilize color to represent the clothing and myself (pink being me). I then used text to fill in the clothing pieces and part of the rack.

    I found that the text tools worked best to do the clothing pieces when filling in the area. It can take some practice to make sure the words fill in the way you want. I decided after some difficulties to create my clothes with the shape tool. I played out the shapes that would create the pants and the top; I then used the pathfinder tool to add them all together to make one shape. When using the area text tool, I think it's best to create one shape to fill in the area with text. It worked out great after that point. 

    

   The goal to bring to life my fashion related dream came to life in this design. I think the colors help represent my design in a more 3-dimensional way, rather than black and white.  The sketch really did come to life in the design, as well. I would say that this piece was successful while meeting the goals to utilize the text tools found within Illustrator. I personally enjoy warping text; however, my style of design typically is more out of the box. Overall, I would say this represents my future self.