Personal Portfolio Home Page

For the portfolio home page project, I decided to keep the navigation and composition very simple and clean.  I used a neutral textured paper background because I wanted the artwork to immediately be the focus once viewers landed on the home page.  If I had more time, I would have liked to experiment more with the text and logo, but overall, I am happy with the result.  I used the stroke effect with varying opacity to give the logo and navigation bar more prominence.  I copied certain elements as a black shape, and then applied Gaussian blur and placed it behind the original object to add depth.  These effects are subtle, but - I believe - add important detail.  The thumbnails are meant to be on a "carousel" that scrolls through the images and enlarges the front image, while the next and prior images have lower opacity and fade a bit into the background.  I did not use a home button on the navigation; clicking the logo will bring you back to the home page from other areas of the site.

Source:
http://paper-backgrounds.com/category/natural-paper-backgrounds/

Personal Portfolio Home Page - Sketches & Concepts

          For my final project, I will be designing a personal portfolio home page.  I sketched a number of options for the layout and navigation below.  Some of the options include sliders, and some do not as I haven’t decided yet whether to include this feature.  My plan is to create simple navigation, and create a clean background, probably with light texture.  When viewing the web pages of various designers, I liked the ones that had a gallery look – with a simple base - as I think it’s especially appropriate for a designer’s website to have the artwork as the focus, and have the utilitarian components be clear and stylish, but fade into the background.  I have some experience in interior design, and I personally find compositions that employ less in the way of color, but have plenty of interesting texture, very visually appealing.  I’m hoping to incorporate this concept in the home page design, and have the art/thumbnails be the main focus.  I’ve learned that I’m not as intuitive with text as some other aspects of design, so it is actually going to be helpful to me to only use the limited options outlined in the tutorial that work well for web applications.



Layout Options 1 & 2

Layout Options 3 & 4

Layout Options 5 & 6

Fantasy Avatar Project

Original Photograph
 

          For my Fantasy Avatar, I started with a photograph I found online (I had hoped to use a photograph of my daughter, but did not have a good digital camera available).  I found out later that this is a photograph of a Hungarian actress.

        For the eyes, I followed the steps outlined in the Avatar Na’vi – Photoshop CS6 Tutorial, including feathering, moving the reference point, and increasing the size to 116% width & height.  The nose was flattened and elongated using the bloat and warp tools.  The color of the irises was changed by adjusting hue/saturation, brightness/contrast, and color balance.  Her skin color and texture, lips and sparkle effect were also achieved by using the guidelines in the tutorial.  For the markings on her skin I decided I did not want to utilize the same type of markings used in the tutorial, so I used a tattoo template, and modified it to remove extra components that weren’t needed.  I added the tattoo below her neck as a final touch as I thought the composition could use a bit more detail.  A photo of a rainforest was used in the background, with a dark vignette effect around the border.  I’m not entirely satisfied with the transition around her hair - and need to hone my skills in this area - but overall I am pleased with the result.

 

Final Image - Fantasy Avatar

 

 

http://allstarpics.famousfix.com/pic-gallery/andrea-osvart-pics.htm

 

http://www.tattoosdaily.com/tribal-tattoo-designs/

 

http://previews.123rf.com/images/pixxart/pixxart1202/pixxart120200015/12487336-tribal-butterfly-tattoo.jpg

 

http://tourists360.com/tropical-rainforest/

Fantasy Avatar Project - Sketches & Concepts

For my avatar, I plan to begin with a photograph of a female - perhaps one of my daughter Kate.  I'm undecided about the embellishments to her skin, but like the idea of doing something less like animal markings and more along the line of a henna tattoo effect.  Adding fantasy elements such as elf-type ears and unusual texture in the hair would be something I'd like to experiment with as well.  This project is way outside my comfort zone, and I'm anticipating it will be the most challenging for me so far.

Vitamin String Quartet Book Cover

 

For this project, I decided to feature a group of classically trained musicians who play covers of pop and rock hits; the Vitamin String Quartet.  I liked the idea of melding both traditional and contemporary elements in the composition, much like what the group itself represents.

I chose an interesting photo featuring a group of youngish musicians to represent the group (the members of the Vitamin String Quartet are actually an ever-evolving lineup).  I used the blue/green color from the bench the group is seated on as the base color for the sound wave in the title, used a levels adjustment layer, and filters to enhance it. I decided black would be an ideal base color as it would work well with the photo and blue/green components I incorporated, as well as white text. On the back cover, a simple graphic with a curve reminiscent of a stringed instrument was used. 

Sources:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/vitamin-string-quartet-mn0001002995/biography
http://www.vitaminstringquartet.com/
https://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2006/convos-quartet.jpg
http://tomcobbcreations.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/sound-waves.jpg
http://pichost.me/1711375/

Vitamin String Quartet Book Cover - Sketches & Concepts

     The classical/jazz/folk artists I chose for the book cover project is the Vitamin String Quartet.  This group is difficult to describe, but essentially they are a group of classical musicians who play rock and pop hits.  Music by Vitamin String Quartet is featured in a current Target commercial:

http://www.vitaminstringquartet.com/blog/2014/06/hear-vsqs-semi-charmed-life-in-new-target-commercial/

     Because this group is a fusion of classical string instruments and rock/popular music, my goal is to combine traditional with edgier graphics.

     I would like to feature stringed instruments, either as the primary feature on the cover, or incorporated in a loose line drawing or within silhouettes of musicians.  Another idea that appeals to me is to use a bold color on black as a visualization of sound waves, and have the text appear within the "noise" of the graphic.  After viewing the Photoshop Creative Effects and Filters course, I was particularly intrigued by sketch effect, crystallizing pixel effects, surface blur, film grain and vignette effects.  I look forward to experimenting with them to come up with an interesting result.

Book Cover Sketches 1

Book Cover Sketches 2

Project Concepts Module 4

 

 

Autism Acceptance/Neurodiversity Poster

 

     I decided to use the Neurodiversity concept for my awareness poster, because I was excited that it offered an opportunity to do something clean and modern, and quite different from my previous project.  I changed the text message slightly, but pretty much kept the layout the same as my original concept sketch. I wanted to make the colorful brain be the most visually interesting element of the composition, with the text being secondary.  My intention is that when someone looks at the poster, the brain image will grab their attention and arouse curiosity about the meaning, prompting them to explore further.  I kept the text itself fairly simple, and only added a subtle bevel and drop shadow effects.  The brain was created using multiple photos of ribbons and cords with varying opacity, and adjustments to the vibrance.  My original plan was to keep the background of the composition white, but after the main elements were placed, I felt it was too stark.  I decided to add a color blocking on the top and bottom to highlight the text and give it a bit more impact, yet be understated enough not to compete with the main brain image. 

Sources: 

http://archive.anthonymattox.com/2007-2011-blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/particles_ribbon-1901.jpg

http://thecomputernet.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ribbons.jpg

http://www.fabricandart.com/web_images/silk-ribbons/silk-ribbons.jpg

https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5291962/il_fullxfull.152468917.jpg

http://charlesstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/brain.jpg