Up on the wall...

Getting back to Graphic Design, I would like to present some posters I’ve created. I have five that I would like to share. These were all class projects from various classes I took in college and all were created with Photoshop. I will present each with a brief description about the piece.

First, for a class, we were all given a collection of Photographs to use for a project. We then had to choose a number of them to create a poster for a fictitious film. I chose five of the images to work with and pieced them together to seem like one image. Along with working with the composition of it all, I had to work with the colors. The window sill was originally Black and White so I colored it to fit with the others.


Next, we had to develop a poster to advertise a fictitious event featuring Kyle Cooper and his work. I did some research to learn about Cooper to try and figure out what would have been the best image. He has worked on the type treatment for many films and was considered to have had a dark mind by many. Considering that, I decided to create an image outlining the man himself with a list of the films he work with to symbolize how it all came from within. We were not given a venue for the event but I did mark where that information would have gone.


For a campaign assignment, we had to develop collateral concerning Snow Safety. I decided to keep it simple and used an image of a road near snowy mountains with copy that should be kept in mind. I used Illustrator to develop the slogan/logo for the campaign I created and put it all together in Photoshop.


For another compilation assignment, we had to develop a poster for two contrary music performers; a project the instructor loved to do. We were given a show that would feature Ludacris with Steve Lawrence and had to determine what would have been the best way to present it. I gathered some images of the two along with one of the venue and had to piece it all together. I had to create the title of the event along with the rest of the copy with what we were provided with for the project. Typography did play a role in this project.


For the last project I’m presenting, I am displaying a poster relating to Print Design. It was required to use the logos for the Institute I attended along with Adobe’s. Print Design has been around longer than we may realize so I wanted to display the fact. I decided to portray how it all started with typewriters. I wanted to make reference to how long they’ve been around with a brief timeline that gradually degrades over time. I also worked with Typography to showcase the transition we had with typefaces over the course of time. I had to do a photo-shoot with the typewriter I had as well to gain the right image for the poster.


Until my next post.

On the side...

Now I would like to show a project I’ve done not completely related to my field. In my spare time, I do work with Animation and this is a video I made by request. This was for an unsigned band from Portugal by the name, Girl meet Girl. It was a great project because I talked with the band online to discuss the right concept that we all felt was best for the song. I gave them a pitch on what I believed the main story should be after they gave me the main concepts to work with and they suggested what the main setting should be. The story of the video is loosely based on a true story of mine and they loved the idea. I then had to create the characters/extras, settings, accessories/props, and dialog to tell the story. I tried my best to duplicate the band the best I could for when they were on-screen and modeled the main characters after myself and a few friends of mine. Not drifting away from my field of work, I did have to do some Graphic Design work for some elements you’ll see in the video. I also had to scrub the audio for the band when they are shown and pay attention to the lip-syncing of the main characters. I also added a line of dialog myself for the opening. Overall, I used iMovie, Flash, Google SketchUp, Photoshop, and Illustrator for this video. It is based more on the story than performance, as the band requested, and they were very pleased with the final product. I do look forward to the next time I make another animation with Flash and will put in as mush work/effort, if not more, as I did with this one.

“X Flowers”
Girl meet Girl
Love.Demo.Tapes
Directed by: Paul Seavey



Until my next post.

Using brushstrokes...

Now I would like to display some paintings I’ve done. I currently only have a few in my possession at the moment but they seem to be able to display my skill with the brush. I have three pieces that were done in a painting class I’ve taken along with two I’ve done in my own time.

First, I would like to show a piece of a model that posed for us in class. We mainly just had to get the body structure without too much attention to the little details. We also had to create an object from our mind to add to the scene so I used a park bench for the model to sit on rather than the chair he was using. Lastly, we had to use a Monochromatic Color Scheme using a Neutral color.


Next, we had to choose an image of a recognizable celebrity to do a Black and White portrait. The main thing we had to focus on with this piece was trying to get the values correct without blending the paints. I chose a headshot of Christopher Walken for my project.


For the final class project I’m presenting, we had to do a Still Life of three objects concentrating on a dominant local color for each. I used a cup for Blue, a computer mouse for Red, and a stuffed pumpkin toy for Orange. I tried to sneak a Double-Complimentary Color Scheme for this piece using the Green patch at the top of the pumpkin with the mouse and had to pay attention to detail/values.


In my own free time, I created this image of a solo, leafless tree. I was trying to go with the concept of something alone and without decor can be something to focus on and admire. The mountains in the background seem to imply how company can appear so far away as well.


For the final painting I’ll be presenting, I would like to display this Spiral Galaxy I created for my best friend, Ash. She’s an avid lover of space and really loved this piece. I paid close attention to detail and used a mix of an Analogous Color Scheme of Warm Colors with a slight Compliment of Cool Colors for this.


Until my next post.

Wanting to instruct/help...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I would like to talk about a user manual I created. The Institute I attended received some new equipment during my time there and for a project, an instructor of mine assign me and another student to create a manual for the said equipment. He believed that the manual that was provided with it wasn’t of the best and thought that we could do a better job. However, the other student (who shall remain without a name) didn’t do that much (if anything) for the project so I had to go at it on my own and was able to accomplish the task myself.

To do the project right, I had to learn how to use it myself before I got started. It was for a Digital Scanning back Camera along with it’s required software. It was great to be one of the first to use the equipment and I really got a good idea on how to go about it. Once I knew how it all worked, I started to formulate what would have been the best way to present it and started working on it. I had to create the copy for the manual first so that I would know what would have been the images I would need. Once the copy was written, I took the needed photographs and screen-captures to display what was being talked about. Some photographs didn’t turn out the best they could have been so I had to create some Digital Illustrations for those images. The photos that were taken well needed a little work so I had to correct some of the images. After all of that was done, I simply just had to decide what would have been the best format for the manual and put it all together.

For the most part, I had to use everything I had learned up to that point for the project. I had to create the proper copy to be used in the manual which dealt with Copywriting. I had to do some Photography and correct the images in Photoshop along with taking some screen-captures. For the photos that didn’t come out as well as they could have been, I used Illustrator for some Digital Illustrations; along with recreating the logo for the cover. Lastly, I used InDesign for the layout of the project and set it up for print. As I know far too well, Graphic Design is not just for one application or aspect of a project.

Here are some samples of the pages I created for this manual, including the cover and a photo of the printed manual:



Until my next post.

Since my beginning...

It seems like it’s time that I post some illustrative work I’ve done. Here are a few pieces of mine, aside from the Pencil sketches that accompanied my Sculpture work. I will present these in categories that tell the medium that was used along with a brief description of the piece.

Pen and Ink:

-Ash Stipple:

This is a Stipple drawing of my great friend, Ash. This was done on plain White paper with a fine tip pen. The fine tip pen was a great asset to ensure that each dot was as small as it could be to make the lighter values easily noticeable. Dot for dot, I make sure to pay attention to the smallest detail.


-Dry Voyage:

This was done on Sepia-toned paper. The main concept for this piece was to combine two separate images for an illustration. I chose to use a scene of a desert and added a man with his rowboat. A man surveying what lies ahead to see what is in store for him is something we should all see and take into account. The main challenge for this piece was taking the lighting/values into account.


Colored-Pencil and Marker:

-Close, yet Faraway:

This piece displays the concept of how different the world can seem depending on the situation at hand. I used Grey-toned Markers for the inside of the room the subject is chained up in by a window to develop a morbid theme to portray the feeling of being trapped and away from happiness. I also applied an aged, scratched film look for the room to add to the concept. On the outside of the room, I used Colored-Pencils to show how the outside looks and to demonstrate what freedom must seem like.


-Creator’s Block Struggle:

This piece illustrates a concept many of us have put ourselves through. Our subject here is struggling and staying up late at night in front of a blank sheet of paper with a pencil at hand trying to come up with his next concept. Colored-Pencil was used for the subject to set him off from the background done in Marker to create this dark look. Lighting/values were another important part of this piece.


Colored-Pencil:

-Ragtime:

Here is a portrait of a character I created. I had to work with making the background appear blurry along with making the subject’s body appear to be made of rope.


-How it can Feel when it’s Gone:

This is a piece that goes along with a series I created titled, “The Power of Love.” I had to determine what would have been the best image for this concept and this was done on Blue-toned paper. It shows the subject dealing with how it can be when a loved one is taken.


Dry Pastel:

-Absence of Reality:

This piece represents a strange dream I had. In the dream, there was this big Blue eye floating around and it was giving of the impression that it was happy. Then, when it approaches a cliff to look around its world, it passes a skull on the ground. The mood seemed to change and it became curious of the skull and why it seemed so small for it. It seems to portray that even in a strange world, you’re bound to find something stranger and fill you with questions.


-My Paradise:

Finally, we have a simple background illustration I’ve done. I mainly worked with Earth-tones for this piece. I just wanted to create a simple, peaceful landscape of a place far from troubles.


Until my next post.

Kept in time...

These don’t deal with Graphic Design as much as my previous posts but they seem to fit right in for a gallery. These are sculptures I’ve created for a college course. Each will be displayed with the original concept sketch done in High School along with a video that will revolve around the figure. These were done with Sculpey Polymer clay housing a wire frame skeletal structure and covered with acrylic paint once finished. Design is not just for two-dimensions, after all. The pieces are displayed with their respective titles.

Emeraj:



Lullaby:



Until my next post.

Cover me...

Now I will take some time to post some cover work I’ve done. This will display some covers from books, albums, and a magazine I did. There will be a brief description to go along with each and they all required some work with Typography.

First is the magazine cover I’ve mentioned in my previous posts. As I said in those posts, I had to create a logo for the demo along with retouching the main house image. I also worked with some stock photography along with copy that I was provided with to use. All in all, I used a mixed combination of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign for this project.


The following are class projects from college. The first one of this set is a cover for a Citizen Kane book. For this one, I had to determine what would’ve been the best choice of imagery. Once I decided on the subject, I had to arrange the elements I chose to use for this project as well as positioning/determining the lighting for photography. After the image was taken, I played with the orientation/layout of the image, worked on covering the actual text of the newspaper that was used, and generated my own copy to make it appear like the newspaper was part of the story without giving anything away. This project mainly consisted of Photography and Photoshop.


Next is a cover for a user manual I had to create. For the manual, I had to create the copy, take the needed photos, determine the layout, develop Digital Illustrations, take screen-captures, and fix the photos when needed in Photoshop. The cover consists of one of the photos taken, some Illustrator work for the logo/title of the manual, and some layout work done in InDesign. I will go more in depth of this manual in a later post.


The final piece is an album cover I had to create combining several images. There were more images I was provided with but I used those for the inside of the booklet. For this, I had to alter the signage of the store in the background and replace it with the band’s name, add the album title to appear as part of the store front, and delete the inside of the store so that I could place an image of an empty Diner for the inside that I was provided with for the project. This project was completely done in Photoshop. I named the band Solemn Collective and titled the album “No More Joe’s” to go along with the imagery


Until my next post.

Worth a thousand words...

Here are some examples of work I’ve done retouching photos. I used Photoshop for all of these files and paid very close attention to detail. I will display these in “Before and After” sets with a brief description of what I did to the photo.

First is a photo I worked on during my internship a few years ago. I mainly had to work with fixing some hair over the subject’s forehead along with removing some equipment in the background.



Next is an image of a house for the aforementioned cover of the magazine demo I created. I removed a signpost in front of the house along with its shadow and a tree branch on the side, fixed some roof shingles, cleaned up the driveway, cropped, and leveled the image.



The following are head-shots of a great friend of mine. For all of these, I mainly fixed some blemishes, corrected levels, adjusted shadows on some, and dealt with flyaway hairs.







Until my next post.

First and foremost...

I should start my gallery off with logos I've created over time.

First is my own, personal logo; created in Illustrator:


Another logo of mine, under the moniker of PhaselesSmoon, was done in a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop:


Here is a logo I developed for a magazine sample a local Real Estate company asked me to create; again, in a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop. I will post the sample cover I created shortly:


These final two are from class projects I had to work on during college. I used Illustrator for both. Of course, both names are of fictitious companies:

One, a home furnishing store:


The other, a clothing brand:


Until my next post.