Final Project

This week’s project was very general in its objectives; as the only thing we were supposed to do was impress the professor with what we have learned during the semester.

Sketches

At the beginning, I wanted to create Medusa from Greek mythology. However, later when I was sitting in my room and looking around, I thought that I might try to make my music machine.

Draft:

For my draft I mostly focused on the small details like the buttons. I wanted to make them look as realistic as I could. I used many gradients and transparencies to show highlights and shadows. I used the rotation tool to make lines on the radio monitor. I decided to have a light source on the top right that comes on an angle. I created a pattern for the speakers. I also made a wood texture in Photoshop and masked it to the machine.

Final:

After gaining critique, I decided to change almost everything about my project. I redid the gradients on everything. I changed the wooden texture to be more visible. I also made metal, leather, and speaker textures in Photoshop. I decided to change the pattern that I made for the speakers to a texture, to make it more detailed and visible. I cut the shape of the speakers with the shape of leather part using the shape builder tool. I wanted to make the buttons look more 3D, so I added more highlights and layers to make them pop out. Lastly, I added the signs for each knob and a shadow below the lid of the music machine.

This project was more demanding that I have thought at the beginning, but I’m satisfied with the results considering I’ve been using Illustrator for a very short time.

Illustration

The project was to create an illustration for a t-shirt or a poster using the maximum of four colors. The design was supposed to show our interests, but we were given complete freedom on the design’s subject.

Sketches:

From the very beginning I wanted to design a T-shirt based on the Avatar anime for children. I was branching out between the first series about Aang and the second about Korra. I thought about making the T-shirt funny and so I wanted to combine two seemingly unrelated concepts. For example, Avatar in PowerPuff Girls’ style. I also tried joining Avatar with Doctor Who and Harry Potter, but overall I decided to go with an outline of Korra’s avatar state.

First Draft:

At first, I made the outline of Korra’s hair and face using Pen Tool. Then I manipulated the lines to vary their thickness. I decided to go with a white design on a black background so that the shirt could be printed as glow-in-the-dark. I wanted to make Korra’s eyes the focal point, which is why there was nothing more on her face and the lines were thin.

Second Draft:

After gaining some critique, I decided to add eyebrows, nose, and mouth to Korra’s face. I also added thickness and shape to her hair to make it more realistic. I completely remade her bunches.

Final:

For the final illustration, I made Korra’s banks and nose highlights thicker. I also added a shade on her hair to make it more realistic. I used only one color for the design, which makes it cheaper to print, and I was still able to show Korra’s avatar state. The design is easy to recognize for people who’ve seen the show.

Icon Set

The project was to create a series of icons. The icons were supposed to have one theme implemented on all of them and to follow one design style. Both the theme and design could be freely chosen.

Sketches:

After looking at many examples of icons online, I decided that my two favorite ideas were kitchen and music themed. I went to my kitchen and looked at each of the tool and then sketched them. Then I asked my roommate, that is a Music major, to lend me some of her music sheets to get the most accurate images of musical symbols.

Draft:

For the project, I chose to go with the musical symbols. I wanted to inverse the colors of the music symbols and the background, which led me to creating black circles around the symbols. I decided to let the symbols bleed outside to the left, which became my concentration point. To make my draft I used both the shape and pen tools.

Final:

Since some of my objects were off, I had to work on my tangents. I made sure that the lines in my notes started exactly at the end of the ellipses and that everything looked like a continuation of itself within the shape. I also worked on the bleeding off of my symbols. I wanted to make it more significant of a bleed than it used to be.

My next step was to make another six icons. I added text “2” and used the option create outlines to manipulate it to look like a musical text. I also added two more icons with notes, and three more musical symbols. Most of the time I used shape builder tools and then manipulated them to a certain shape.

I had a big problem with adding color to my musical symbols, but after some time I decided to go with the classical black & white, not to detract from the symbols and to stay within the traditional color scheme.

Overall, I created 12 musical icons that were blending off from a black circular background and had their concentration on the left part of the circle.

Typographic Poster

The project was to create a poster with the main focus being a word or a sentence and to follow the principles of typography.

First Sketches:

The project didn’t start well for me. At the beginning I had a very busy week and didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to spend on this project, which ended with Shakespearean quote about hell.

First Draft:

My first draft was rushed through, because I didn’t have much time to put into it, but I was content with the gradients on the devil’s horns, tail, and the fire on ‘&’ symbol. Still, I was aware of the amount of work that should be put into it.

Sketches:

When I rested a little bit and got some time to look at my previous draft, I decided to change it altogether. I looked for more inspiration on Pineterest and googled Shakespearian quotes. Finally, I decided to go with the quote from Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. I was looking at different ways that central alignment could work and decorations for my poster.

Draft:

For this draft I used peach color for the background and many different fonts (too many). However, I was really content with the decorations I came up. I used the alignment tool to distribute the circles, squares, and lines evenly and aligned the words and decorations to match each other.

Final:

After gaining critiques, I changed all of my fonts, this time using only two different ones: Lucida Grande and Arrus BT. I Changed the color of the background to red to better represent a love message, and the color of the letters to light beige in order to make them look more vintage. I had some problems with hierarchy, but I decided to make ‘LOVE’ the most important message and then ‘MUSIC’ second.

Bike

The project was to create a detailed two-wheeled vehicle with blending layers and transparencies. Many decisions were left for me to choose, like the type of the vehicle and its style. With so much freedom, I decided to branch out in every possible direction.

Sketches:

I wanted to design some kind of bike. I started by sketching any kind of bicycle that came up to my head. At the beginning, I was leaning mostly towards the typical bicycle, but it didn’t go well with my personality. Then, I remembered vehicles I rode as a child, like scooter and children’s bikes; but it still wasn’t it. Finally, after looking at many examples of bikes on the Internet, I decided to go to more vintage bicycles.

Draft:

I started my bike with wheels. I decided to make both a tire and a rim for each of my wheels. I crossed two lines and rotated them to create spokes. I added a circle in the place of hubs. Then, came the time for the body. I created part of it with a pen tool, to make it more oval, and for the second part (the one with handles on it) I made a square and manipulated it with Direct Selection Tool.

With the base of my bike done, I began the work on more detail parts. I created the seat with Pen Tool and placed it on a simple line to maintain simplicity of the design. Next came the trumpet. I created a circle, an ellipse, and a square and manipulated them with Direct Selection Tool. The handles were a simple line with ellipses on the ends.

The hardest parts of the design were the pedals. I first created the base by joining a circle and a triangle. Then I created three circles of different sizes and masked them. Lastly, I added a rectangle with circular ends. I joined all the elements and created a rotated copy, so that the pedals would be on opposite sides.

Final:

After gaining the critique, I decided to get rid of the curl in between the wheels and the spring below the seat. I made the stroke on the wheels and body of the bike thicker. I also completely redid my handles to make them look more realistic. I tried making the bike as simple as possible, so that it would be pleasurable to look at.

Timepiece

The project was to design a timepiece, of any kind, in Illustrator. It could look realistic or more children’s book like. The timepiece is supposed to be professional and polished. It left a lot of freedom to choose what kind of timepiece I wanted to create and let me branch out and play with my imagination.

Sketches:

Since I could choose any timepiece I wanted to make, I draw a lot of different kinds of clocks. I started with solar clocks and vintage clocks, and then advanced to watches and wall clocks. I went through the history of timepieces, ending with laser ones that shoot the time to be shown on walls and ceilings. Next step was to commit to one single idea. I decided to go with a wall clock, but still leave some vintage aspects.

Draft:

I started my clock with the frame. I placed one circle on top of another and made it smaller. Then I masked them and was left with the frame. I copied my frame two times and made one bigger and one smaller and put them on the outside and inside of my frame. Then I added a gradient to all of the parts.

Next, I made a circle to fit the inside of the frame and changed its color. I created another two circles, with only strokes, to start working with marks. I created a line in between the lines and used rotation tool to place it as minute marks. I did the same thing with hour marks, but I increased the stroke and made them stand out from between the circles’ strokes.

Then I added three basic hours in roman numerals and the ‘TIME MASTER” sign. I used Latin Extra Condensed. I rotated the numbers with the rotation tool. Having made the basics of clock face, I went ahead to do the handles. I simply put in two lines and increased their stroke and put a small circle in the middle of the clock.

Lastly, I placed two circles on top each other and moved one just slightly. I masked them and was left with the moon-like shadow. I copied and rotated it. I made one smaller than the other and placed both on the opposite sides.

Final:

From the feedback I received, I decided to add a bit of depth into the face of my clock. I added half of a circle with white to transparent gradients, so that it would look more realistic. I also added shadows to the handles.

That way, I created a wall clock with vintage aspects.

P9: Portfolio

Portfolio (Scribd.com):

 

Project Corrections / Time spent:

I’ve spent around 15-20 minutes on each of my project, except the brochure, which I didn’t change, and the montage, which I spend around 30 minutes on.

On my flier I tried changing the font of the title, but came back to the same one. I made it bigger and brought it down and to the middle of the black square.

For my event ad I redid the logo in Photoshop by putting a mask on it, which I couldn’t have done before. I have resized it and aligned it to the D-T-P. I resized the title to bring it to the middle and let more breathing space on the sides. I made the red squares thinner.

For the photo design I didn’t save the changes I made before, so I needed to redo most of my project. I added the waves at the bottom and aligned “joy” to the rest of the text.

For the montage I was playing with the text a lot. I aligned most of it to the left, but aligned “LOVE Him” to the right to show how important the last part is.

I changed my first logo. I put the circles more to the left to align the right side to the end of the logo’s text. I also aligned the subtitle to the left.

I changed the size of the anchor on my letterhead. I was testing different sizes and colors to see which one would look the best.

I redid one side of my business card. I made the logo bigger and changed the mask in Photoshop and then placed the design to InDesign.

For the Web Page I resized my photograph and made another screenshot of the page.

 

Message:

I wanted to show my work in a professional way, but still include my personality with the use of minimalistic design.

 

Audience:

Potential clients and employers.

 

Top Thing Learned:

The use of master pages.

 

Future application of Visual Media:

Keep a creative journal to expand imagination and design ideas.

 

Color scheme and color names:

Black & White.

 

Title Font Name & Category:

Oldstyle: New York

 

Copy Font Name & Category:

Sans Serif: Lucida Grande

 

Thumbnails of Images used:

 

Sources (Links to images on original websites / with title of site):

http://bp3.blogger.com/_tlFG6OoNWSw/RbbdgAzzlZI/AAAAAAAAAGo/djiOtcik9oA/s1600-h/branches.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/012/1/8/hanging_branches_02_png___by_alzstock-d5r86c7.png

http://th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2013/012/5/2/hanging_branches_01_png___by_alzstock-d5r85sv.png

Project 8: Brochure

Front

 

Inside

 

Back

Description:

A two sided (duplex) folding brochure.

 

Process (Programs, Tools, Skills):

I set up a fold in Adobe InDesign. I split up my first page into two sections and my second page into three sections. I found all my pictures online and cropped them in Photoshop with Eliptiqual Marquee Tool. I decided to shape them into ellipses. I used Polygonal Lasso Tool to show only the statue of Fryderyk Chopin with no background. Then I added masks to all of my selections. I placed the pictures into my brochure.

Later on, I added the title and previously written text about the main attractions that can be found in Warsaw. I styled them with the Paragraph Style tool. Then I wrapped the text around the pictures by using Text Wrap.

Lastly, I created my logo in Adobe Illustrator. I wanted the logo to show easily that it is a tour company that only shows the capital cities. I added three blue lines and shaped one of them to match T. I placed it into one of the ellipses that I created in Adobe InDesign.

 

Message:

Warsaw is a city full of history and attractions.

 

Audience:

Mostly single people who like to sightsee.

 

Top Thing Learned:

How to wrap text in InDesign.

 

Color scheme and color names:

Monochromatic: Lime.

 

Title Font Name & Category:

Script: Edwardian Script ITC

 

Copy Font Name & Category:

Old Style: Minion Pro

 

Word Count of copy:

322

 

Thumbnails of Images used:

Sources (Links to images on original websites):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/FB_Warszawa_panorama.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/27317066.jpg

https://www.warsawtour.pl/sites/default/files/imagecache/atrakcja_big/repozytorium/zdjecia/muzea_warszawa/lazienki/lazienki_04.jpg

https://zel12003.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/38651-warszawa-lazienki-pomnik-chopina.jpg

http://www.holidaycheck.pl/data/urlaubsbilder/images/155/1158035857.jpg

https://zel12003.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/996a8-dsc05268.jpg

 

 

Project 7: Web Page

Description:

A web page designated to show a personally created logo.

 

Process (Programs, Tools, Skills):

I created this web using HTML and CSS in a Text Wrangler. First, I put all the needed content for the HTML (like: html, head, title, body, and so on). I inserted the picture of my logo and divided my information into paragraphs and bullet points. I attached a pre-made CSS document to my HTML. I changed the colors and fonts so that they would match my logo. I used the Eyedropper Tool from Photoshop to get the exact same colors I used in my logo.

 

Message:

Four Seasons hotel is high quality and nature friendly place to stay and rest.

 

Audience:

Anyone who is interested in staying in a hotel or my process of making the logo.

 

Top Thing Learned:

How to change the colors and fonts in CSS and the ways to find the fonts online.

 

Color scheme and color hex:

Complimentary: blue #6dcad6; orange #3a2314 and #e9e2d6.

 

Title Font Families & Category:

Old-style: Palatino Linotype, Book Antiqua, Palatino, serif.

 

Copy Font Families & Category:

Sans Serif: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif.

 

Changes made to the CSS

I changed the font families, colors, and centered my image. I also added a few comments into the CSS.

Project 6: Stationery

 

 

 

 

Letterhead:

Business Card (8.5in x 11in Layout):

Business Card (Large Layout):

 

Description:

Matching letterhead and business card designed using a personally created logo.

 

Process (Programs, Tools, Skills):

First of all, I found a picture of an anchor online and placed it in the Adobe Illustrator. Then I locked the picture and by using the Pen Tool I made my anchor logo. I added a rope with an Arc Tool and changed the color of the anchor to indigo. Next, I opened another page in Adobe Illustrator and made my ‘Anchor sailing equipment’ sign.

Secondly, I found a picture containing paper texture on the Internet and opened it in Photoshop. I changed the size to 3.5in x 2in (the business card size) and added a mask. Then I used Brush Tool to lighten the middle of the document while still maintaining the texture. When that was done, I placed my logos and added the information.

Finally, I opened Adobe InDesign and added my logos. I used only the left half of the anchor logo and used 5% opacity to make it a watermark. I added my information. On the second page, I made two rectangles with the Rectangle Frame Tool and placed the previously prepared (in Photoshop) business cards.

 

Message:

The company sells sailing equipment. The anchor is a symbol of reliability and stability. Indigo is supposed to symbolize the sea.

 

Audience:

Anyone in need of sailing equipment.

 

Top Thing Learned:

How to make a watermark and importance of matching.

 

Color scheme and color names:

Complementary: Indigo and Gold.

 

Title Font Name & Category:

Script – Shelley BT

Sans Serif – Tamil MN

 

Copy Font Name & Category:

Sans Serif – Tamil MN