Cait's Blog

Digital Imaging Module Assessment - Hero Shots

2011-06-14T00:19:00.000-07:00

To test our abilities with Photoshop and our understanding of Design Fundamentals we were required to produce (design & create) 5 "hero shots" to fit into the 5 web pages (supplied)

Second Attempt with more emphasis on 'Euphoria'

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 12 Populating a Wire Frame

2011-06-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Working with an existing wireframe, we were required to choose a web page theme of our choice (Tasmanian Beaches) and fill in the gaps which means providing:

an original hero shot (using your camera) with accompanying text over the top
4 big thumbnails
12 small thumbnails
background to sit behind the footer

Would really love anyones feedback on this :)

First Attempt:

Second Attempt: I changed the background to a photo of sand, which provides a less dominant effect than the drift wood.

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 11Shooting Motion

2011-05-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

The goal here is to maintain the subject in focus and blur the background or in the case of the water, make it look like silk.

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 10 PNG logo

2011-05-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

Make a logo, make it a .png image with transparency, place it on a web page and take a screen shot.

My first attempt had too many "jaggies" haha. So here is my resubit after I changed the mode to RGB... OOPS!!!

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 9 Making Backgrounds for Web Pages

2011-05-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

1. Find 3 examples where a background image has been used on a website. Take a screen grab of each, save them as .jpgs 50 quality 800px wide.

http://www.hbo.com/

This HBO (Home Box Office) website is an American cable television site. It is highly interactive and promotes different movies/documentaries/comedies etc everyday. That picture background changes daily.

I like the gradient around the outer edge of the page, which helps to distinguish the face as the focal point, ie the eye is drawn in to expression on the mans face. This website is rated as one of the top 15 sites of 2011.

http://www.marcecko.com/#/

Another interactive website, I like it how the image moves around the page. I also love the image of Marc standing against the wall with all the framed pictures surrounding him. Each of these pictures are links, which is definately more appealing than a simple list of links.

http://heathholdenphotography.com/

Heath is a good friend of mine, and someone I look to for tips on taking photos. His images are amazing, I just adore the way he captures a story with every photograph! I love his website, it is simple to use with a classic and classy look and feel.

2. Take your "tell-a-story-with-a-flatbed-scan" image and change it to make it into a web page background using Method 2 (where the image receds into the background colour). Save it as a jpg 50 quality 930px wide.

This is my flat bed scan from LA # 3

I used the gradient tool set on 'foreground to transparent' and just clicked in maybe 2cm drifts along the outer edge of the image. I'm thinking now that using a grey rather than black may look better, but I got the effect I was after for now. I also did a layer mask incase I want to change it later.

3. Make a background for a web page using method 4 (1920px wide jpg, a few pixels tall, save as 100 quality).

The photoshop part of this was really easy, to obtain this effect I used the gradient map.
I found it a little tricky trying to overwrite the original bg.jpg file but got there in the end :)

4. Make a seamless tile using method 5. Save as .jpg or .gif, whichever gives you the best quality for the lowest file size.

As you can see i used purple grapes :) I saved it as a jpg file, it's the lowest file size and gives a great standard of quality considering.

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 8 Web Image Formats

2011-05-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

Aim: To take 10 photos that reflect the notion of 'being green'.

I originally had 10 pictures, but was naughty and removed 5 as I felt these photos were more significant and told a story alone.

We then had to experiment with formats (jpg, gif and png) and compare the image qualities and files sizes of each. I found the png format proved a higher quality picture, but was also the largest file at 2.78MB. The images became slightly distorted when using the gif format, and the file was 1.04MB. My default format of jpg proves to be the best comparison with a reasonable good picture at only 362KB, which is what I have uploaded above.

I wasn't happy with the original 'being green' so I changed the layout a little. Still not completely happy, but with more practice, I'll have another go in the future.

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 7 Combining images using layer masks

2011-05-24T00:41:00.000-07:00

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 6 making selections & combining images

2011-05-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

Method: Download the image of Kathy's car into Photoshop, select the car using the quick mask method and paste it into an unusual scene

I picked a photo I took while 4x4ing the Mount Bulla area.

I found this very very challenging to get started but once I watched a few youtube tuts I kind of got the hang of it. Not completely satisfied, but with more practice I'll perfect it one day :)

Design - Promote Your Blog

2011-05-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Blog promo re-submit :)

Design - Promote Your Blog

2011-04-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

I loved doing this...love being creative, making up silly little poems and playing with type, making shadows and with this activity I found the 'bevel and emboss' tool which gives it a 3D effect...
Whoo hoo!!

Loads of fun, has helped give more insight into how I can use Photoshop...Now I can't wait to show off whenever I do party invitations :)

Design - Learning Activity # 8 - Grid Layouts

2011-04-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

Two magazine layouts that adhere to a grid layout

Two magazine layouts that don't appear to follow a grid

This is one of David Carson's that was hinted by Chris to checkout. I love the way he used type to depict the shape of a face. Although the typing could possible follow a horizontal grid, there is no verticle grid as it follows the side of the face.

This is a layout from one of my favourite magazines called LINO. It is actually developed by a collection of short non-sense articles from a news paper which have been layered and thus created a very effective poster, which is part of a poster series.

Two examples of my choice that adhere to a grid design.

A classic example would be an architectural design of a house on paper...I realise I didn't get the best photo of this house (it was a quick snap as I felt rude) to justify the grid, but I just think its a great design. The windows at each level follow the same suit and also with the pitches of the roof, the angles etc.

With the exception of the dust, dashboards in cars are a classic example of a grid design.

Design - Learning Activity #13 Poster Design

2011-04-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Task: Choose a quote and design a layout based on it. I used photoshop and the quote "Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow" Swedish Proverb

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 5 Adjustment Levels

2011-04-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Photos with low and bright lighting

Before

After

Before

After

Design - Learning Activity # 12 Good and bad type

2011-04-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Five good type use in logos, signage, graphics etc

A great restaurant, with simple advertising. It's tasteful as per their meals, and readable.

I designed this for my parents business. I think the type is welcoming, readable and with the smaller text I changed the type completely as it did not require the same attention.

'Disney' & 'Pixar' have such a distinguished type where the individual letters are modified, but not over done. They also relate to both adults and children, as per their terrific movies and short films :)

I really like this type, the colours and mirror image create tasteful variety

The controversial change from 'Futura' typeface to 'Verdana'!! Many type critics were not happy with the change! But, I don't mind it, the broadness of the letters increases legibility and it has proven to be cost effective for Ikea as this type works well with both digital and print media.

Five bad type usage

This is an advertisment in the local Advocate newspaper. Although they're trying to portray a 'fun' time, I think they have completely over done it with so many different types. I find it very busy and 'bleh' and it grabbed my attention for all the wrong reasons.

Even doing flyers on a budget can surely be resulted with a little more creativity than this! How BORING!! Plus I find it difficult to read the smaller writing.

What does this say ? 'Quamby', right hmmmmm... It looks like they have done the type using strips of electrical tape and yes the 'Y' has turned into a 'corner', clever or cliche ?

Yes it's simple, readable etc but certainly not appealing to me. It is boring type and certainly does not fit with the great brand that it is.

Awesome brand, my favourite camera to use, yet such a boring text! Sure it has a great bold background, and their latest logo has white rays through it, whoop de do!!

The Nikon corporation states that the new logo is "a symbol designed to help reconstruct the Nikon brand so that it better meets the needs of our current era"...sure!

Design - Learning Activity # 9 Sketching Layouts

2011-04-10T03:17:00.000-07:00

Using a ruler and grey lead pencil, sketch 3 layouts using a grid system.

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 4 Cropping an Image

2011-04-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

Before and after editing and cropping an image

Before

After

I cropped this image of my wonderful nephew as in the back ground there was a foot and a lot of blur. I played with the contrast a little to emphasise his eyes :)

Before

After

This is my gorgeous niece, I cropped this photo as I felt the previous image was too busy and the background was very distracting.

Before

After

Another of my beautiful niece's!! I cropped this as there is a hoop sticking into the picture and a bit of rope behind her head whcich made her look like a puppet. I also altered the saturation and contrast to emphasise her green top, the rope and her amazing blue eyes.

After again...
Using the clone stamp tool and a 20px brush I was able to take the swinging log out of the photo. My first attempt at this left behind the 'predators effect' but now that I practiced on Kathy's car, I thought I would attempt Ruby's picture once again. I'm pretty happy with the result, and it only took me 30 seconds :)

Before

After

The top one is the edited version. I took out the power-lines, for some reason I don't notice then when taking the photo!! I wanted to leave the bench seat in the photo as it adds a little story to it.

Design - Learning Activity # 10 Typeface Panel

2011-04-07T04:45:00.000-07:00

Find a typeface and represent it using sizes and styles. My preference of application was Paint.Net

Digital Imaging - Learning Activity # 3 Flatbed Scan

2011-04-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

We were required to choose 9 objects that tell a story. Using a flatbed scanner set at 200dpi, scan the items in, play with the quality and size, then post to our blogs. Here it is!

Design - Learning Activity # 7 50 Apples

2011-03-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

I used Picassa/Picnik, being so new to this digital imaging concept, I found that I became more experimental with each apple. It was somewhat a challenging exercise at first, but once I had the grasp of it, it got a lot easier. I did consider changing the first lot of apples that I designed, but decided that they show where my starting points were. I would love to try this excercise again when I get photoshop :)

Design - Learning Activity # 6 Whitespace

2011-03-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

Learning effectiveness of whitespace advertising. Whitespace does not necessarily need to be 'white' space, it can be any colour, or any texture.

In my opinion, Apple have always portrayed effective whitespace in their prints and TV adds. They're often loaded with whitespace to allow focus on the products design and message.

'Whitespace' - gaps in between the visuals on a shop front/billboard - is crucial for effective advertising. This shopfront presents a modium amount of whitespace which enhances the appeal of the advert and delivers a quick message.

Because motorists have only a few seconds to read a street sign, they need to be clear, precise and not distractible. It's also important for the colour combination to retain plenty of contrast when viewed by those who are colour blind. Unfortunately, not everyone takes notice, no matter how bold the signs are.

Design - Learning Activity # 5

2011-03-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

Design 3 logos that feature negative space

Design - Learning Activity #4 Using shapes and space to convey meaning

2011-03-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

'Two dimensional design principles'

Design - Learning Activity #3 Identifying Elements & Principles

2011-03-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I have left out plenty more of the design fundamentals, so practice is definately required!
I found this activity particularly challenging as I have never been required to take this amount of attention to an image, I have always taken them for granted. I don't think I will be able to read a magazine from now on without reading into the 'principles' and 'elements' of the images, goodbye simplicity!!

Design - Learning Activity #2 Identify focus & hierarchy

2011-03-11T03:07:00.000-08:00

I have included two images from two different covers of the same magazine. One cover is earlier and the other is a later cover. This just shows how technology has improved the depth, contrast and lighting over the years!

Not looking back!!

2011-03-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

And here I am, sitting, typing and thinking that I have FINALLY found what I've been looking for! It's a new year and I'm looking forward to enduring whatever pleasures or obstacles may come my way on this next journey, not wanting to ever look back!! Unless its of course to see how far I've come!
It's not going to be easy, but what good things ever come easy?