2-Sided Brochure

This project is about setting up a 2-sided trifold brochure. I chose Roaring Camp Railroads which is located near my home. So I was able to use a combination of my own photos along with a few off of their web site. This was first and foremost an exercise in layout, so I used the ruler, grid, and guides.
I went back and forth from Photoshop to Illustrator constantly, as I used Photoshop to format the images before I brought them into the Illustrator layout. I embedded all the images so I wouldn't have worry about linked files. I framed all the images with a 5 pt. path and added a drop shadow to unify them. The background on the inside is a live trace of one of my images of a bank of trees bordering the property. I used the high fidelity photo preset in the live trace options and then took the opacity down to about 40%. Due to embedding the images, and the high fidelity preset on the live trace, the file size is huge. If this was a print project I would've handled it differently, but it's easier to upload without attaching all the extra files.

Google logo

This project is my variation of the Google logo. I am somewhat infatuated with the canine species, so I decided to use various aspects of them to represent the letters. Not much fancy work involved here, just straight illustration. I developed each animal separately and composited them for the final image. I never would have attempted to pull this off if I hadn't seen all the variations on the Google logo that have been documented. Some are a much bigger stretch than this.

3d Feature in Photoshop

This project involved creating a line drawing and converting it into a 3d object, then placing it in a 2d image. There was a separate assignment to work with text in 3d, so I went ahead and incorporated that in the final image as well. The line drawing must have a fill before it can go into 3d, and the text must be rasterized. The 3d feature itself is very handy and manipulative, but I would like to see a greater range of materials for covering the surfaces. I also found that it can be a challenge to successfully place a 3d object on a 2d background without it looking awkward. The text stands on its own pretty easily, but I ended up using the multiply blend mode for the arrow so that it didn't look pasted on. I ended up with the arrow taking on the texture of the asphalt, which was really what I was looking for in the materials list of the 3d feature, (kind of a speed bump effect), so it worked out pretty well.

HDR Imaging

 This project showcases the HDR merge feature in Photoshop. A composite is made using six copies (in this case) of the image shot at different exposures. This image is the result of the preset for high contrast photorealistic. But the feature has sliders for custom settings for everything from color to tone and detail to edge glow. On the right is the original, to the left is the composite.

This assignment was to create a graphic descriptive of a dinner I would have with someone, (not living), of my choice. I set the image up as a tri-fold hard-cover menu. I used the emboss effect in the layer blending panel for all three panels, and the pillow emboss for the photographs. I believe the center page was promotional copy for Cafe Society, the nightclub in Greenwich Village where Billie Holiday's reputation as a jazz vocalist really took off. I used the style and colors of this image to inform the opposing pages. The background for those pages was created with a watercolor filter and reduced opacity to compliment the table cloth on the center graphic. The photo on the left page is of the inside of the club. I adjusted the hue on both that image and the photo of Billie Holiday to create the duotone effect, and used the multiply blend mode on both layers. There are a couple of things I integrated from my research for the menu. I found some programs for the shows, (lists of the songs that were going to be played), so I decided to integrate that idea into the menu.  I also noticed that many menus are dated as the offerings change. I found a font (Sachiko) that was very similar to that of the tag line "The wrong place for the right people", and used that for the fixed parts of the menu text. I found a menu for the Cotton Club that appeared to come off of an old typewriter. I downloaded an old typewriter font, but when I tried it on my menu it didn't work with the script I had used for the rest of the menu, so I compromised with Didot, a cleaner type. 

Web Page

This is a mock up of a web page I might design for myself. In the interest of time and aesthetics, I kept it a simple as possible. The background is one I designed earlier in this course which utilizes the half-tone effect. The 'faux' Adobe icons would operate as buttons linking to a gallery of work I have done in each of the respective applications. The email address would link to a self addressed email page for anyone wanting to contact me. The entire page was created using the snap to pixel command, to avoid any distortion on uploading.

Graphs

This project involved learning to use the graph tool, and using the 3d effect. The company and statistics are fabricated. But if the company did exist, I believe the inverse relationship indicated on the second graph would indeed exist.

Icon

This is my icon project. I was stumped for an idea, because everything's been done. This little fellow sits on my desk, he's a wind-up toy that unwittingly became my muse. Each part of him was created using the shape tool. I used the draw behind command to keep the shapes in the right order. I ended up putting each shape on a different layer anyway when I was working with the gradient mesh. That way I could lock the layers I wasn't working on so that I wasn't picking up the mesh from nearby shapes. The colors are all web safe.

Self-Portrait

I can't say I took a very organized approach to this project, it emerged. The brick wall background was an image off the internet. It already had the bike sculpted into it, and I had planned to use some kind of bike image anyway, so it seemed like an obvious choice. I looked it up again to find the original source of the image, but it's disappeared. I can't find it anywhere. I did discover in working with the layer blending panel that I can achieve the same effect by taking the opacity way down and applying the extrude and bevel feature. I used the mixer brush to paint the dog from an image I downloaded off the internet as well. Of course it occurred to me after the fact that I should have just used one of my own dogs, but I like the way this dog looks anyway. The fish are from otattoos.com, and are a tribal tattoo design. The shoes were painted using the mixer brush from a photo I took of my orange Chucks, then I applied the watercolor effect to them. The layer was blended using the multiply setting. I like Chuck Taylors, I have them in different colors, and I have a custom pair that I designed myself. They've become my signature footwear and generally personify any 'style' that I might have. The bubbles are from kaaz.eu, a site offering free underwater wallpaper. I used the pen tool on the wall to create a selection, then pasted the bubbles inside. I like all things water: the ocean, a river, a swimming pool. I just feel better when I'm in or near water. I was also trying to give the fish some kind of context. The welder chick was created with the mixer brush from a scan I did of a sticker that someone gave me back in my welding days. Her layer has an overlay blend and a drop shadow. For the text, or my 'tag' if you will, I used a font called graffonti.3d.drop that I downloaded from dafont.com. The word 'mutt' has two references which have meaning for me: one being to the mixed breed canine who I love to champion; and the other a tip of the hat to Marcel DuChamp, who used the signature R.Mutt on some of his work.

Children's Book Illustration

 This project was created strictly from imagination. Ergo, it was time consuming and challenging. With no goal in sight, there was a lot of staring, contemplating, and revising involved. I used the water color brush quite a bit, which made for slow saving. But I liked the effect, and rasterization results were poor. I also used the blur and ocean ripple effects, along with a grain effect for the sand. I used the flare tool for the sun. My regret is that I wasn't able to colorize it. I might have done better to use a gradient mesh on a yellow sphere.

Subscription Card

This subscription card was created based on several actual card designs by Wired Magazine. I chose the colors for their eye-catching qualities. Pink and orange have always offended my aesthetic sense, but sometimes I enjoy doing things that stretch the boundaries of what I like. The layout of the form side was my design, but the layout of the front of the card is as nearly identical to the original as possible. I used the grid and several guides for both sides. The logo on the form side was made using the shape builder tool for the block letters, and then a drop shadow on the blocks and the freestanding letters. For the logo on the mailing side I found a font that was as close to what was needed as possible, then converted the letters to outlines and altered them as necessary with the pen tool and the subselection tool, (white arrow).

Making Backgrounds in Illustrator

 This is a monochrome I created. There is a solid base layer. The fan shape is a blend of an irregular brush stroke. The shape in the opposite corner was created with the pen tool and a gradient.

 This was created with the arc tool and the blend tool. Then I duplicated and reflected it and changed the colors. The bottom layer is a gradient blend.

 Here I used text to create the background. I just played around with different fonts, sizes, colors, and opacity. I decided to have some fun with. It's hard to work with words without giving them meaning.

 This has the orange base layer, then the green layer has the halftone effect applied with a gradient transparency mask.

This has a red base layer with a halftone gradient transparency mask. The horizontal bars were made with the blend tool and a gradient. The circles were made with the shape tool and an irregular brush. They have a gradient transparency mask as well.

Color Adjustment and More Masks

Various methods of selection were used on the fries (magic wand), the milk carton (lasso tool), and the lettuce (quick selection) to create new adjustment layers and enhance or alter the colors. In the case of the fries a levels adjustment was made, and a drop shadow was used as well. For the milk carton the colors were inverted. A hue/saturation adjustment was made to turn the lettuce into red cabbage.

 This image is a composite of the background, which is an image I took near my home in the Santa Cruz mountains, and the dove. The dove was selected from it's background using the color range command, which was very simple since it was against a solid blue sky. I used the refine edge tool to decontaminate the blue out of the edges and clean up the margins. I also brightened up some of the greens in the background using a layer mask and the hue/saturation adjustment.

These statues from Easter Island were dropped onto a background with a more dramatic sky than the one they came from. I used the color range command to select them, which again was very simple because they were in front of a solid blue sky. The refine edge tool was used to reset the radius of the selection, move the edges and increase the contrast. After they were moved onto the new background I used the magnetic lasso to clean up a few spots that came with them.

More Drawing in Illustrator

Cityscape & Landscape

Drawing in Illustrator

Rocket Science

This image was taken at the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The color was manipulated using Alpha channels to mask and create the individual selections, then creating adjustment layers. The rocket, the boy, the sidewalk, and the bricks in between were each masked, selected, and adjusted separately using the hue/saturation tool.

Collage

This image was created in response to an assignment to create a collage centered on an artist or artists from the 19th century. All of the images in this collage are of or by the pioneer women in the field of professional photography, including the background image. I worked with the opacity of each image as I brought it in, to maintain the integrity of the torso as canvas. Because photography was limited to black and white at that time, there was no need to work with color adjustment. The text is from an advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle I found during the course of my research.

Magazine Cover

This is a simulated magazine cover I designed in the poster style because I prefer a clean, uncluttered format. The cover image is a composite of my face, (several of them, actually), and a photo of Marlene Deitrick, sans Marlene. Once the image came together it was just a matter of selecting the fonts I wanted to work with and experimenting with different fx to enhance the magazine's theme. I kept the cover lines simple and symmetrical to keep the focus on the image. I have always found black and white photos capable of creating the most striking visual effects. The red makes the image pop, and is a classic compliment to the black and white combination.

Masks & Overlay Blending

This was my first attempt at using the calculations tool to blend color channels to create a mask. I used the pen tool to include parts of the image that the mask didn't pick up. Then the overlay brush is used to finesse the selection. This is a very effective method for masking a tricky subject. The air guitar/tennis racket player was lifted from his original background and placed on this green field. I failed to address the shadows on his legs, however, creating an odd lighting discrepancy in the overall image.

Business Card 6/11

This is the design I created for my current business card. I created the ligature on the front of the card from my initials.

Business Cards & Logo Design

This was an exploration in logo design. The top set was for my brother's woodworking business, which no longer operates under this name, (oh well). Below is for my hopefully-one-day-not-so-fictional graphic and website design business.

Portrait 12/10

This is a portrait of my daughter which was created in Illustrator. It is not what would be considered the classic Illustrator style, where the various tones are broken down into more obvious shapes. I worked, instead, with the gradient mesh tool, to create a more fluid, realistic image. This method was extremely time consuming, and somewhat tedious at times, but I was satisfied with the results. Unfortunately I spent so much time on the subject that I had very little time or energy left for the background, and I had a deadline. So the background is very stiff in comparison.

Poster 10/10

This assignment was to create a poster/document about an artist of our choice. The objectives of this project were to wrap the images with text, and to copy the artists style using the illustrator tools. As you can see from the photos, Wodiczko's earlier work was creating the Homeless Vehicle, so I recreated that in the lower right hand corner of the page. His more recent work involves large projections on public monuments, ergo the slide projector in the lower right hand corner projecting his name onto the upper left hand corner.