mikes portfolio
TRANSCRIPT
Mike’sPortfolioComm 130: Visual Media • Spring 2016
Magazine CoverPrezi PresentationPhotography ProjectPhoto MontageBusiness IdentityInfographicHTML & CSSWeb Page MockupBrochure
Table of Contents
Magazine CoverDescriptionThe assignment here was to create a magazine cover. Many students (including myself) used an actual magazine name.
Programs UsedPhotoshop and InDesign
ProcessAfter a few pen and paper sketches, and taking a photo of myself, I just started laying things out in Photoshop. I found a font matching the MAD magazine font, a UPC graphic, and basically just threw some funny headlines here and there. The color scheme is just a simple one using strong, bold primary colors.
Prezi PresentationDescriptionWe were introduced to the Prezi program for this week and assigned to create an animated “slideshow” on a topic of our choosing.
Programs UsedPhotoshop and Prezi
ProcessI simply looked up some fun facts about spiders, put together some interesting “factoid” graphics and used Prezi to animate from picture to picture across a webbed background image.
Prezi Presentation
Photography Project
DescriptionI’ve always loved sunsets! I wish I could take amazing photos of them. Though I wouldn’t claim to be a great photographer, I think I got a nice shot here.
Programs UsedPhotoshop
ProcessAfter taking the photo and noting some nice contrasting colors therein, I enhanced those colors by making a few minor adjustments to the photo. The scene made me think of what a beautiful world we live in, so I thought a few lyrics to “What a Wonderful World” would be appropriate. I added a few more elements to bring out the color scheme.
Photo MontageDescriptionOn this assignment we were to merge at least 2 different photos together in Photoshop. It had to be spiritual in nature and use masking to “blend” the photos together, avoiding hard edges. This was a lot of fun to do.
Programs UsedPhotoshop
ProcessI did everything in Photoshop. I used the masking tool to control how the edges blended from one to another. Masking is nice because (as opposed to just “erasing” edges) you can move around the image OR the mask independently. It’s nice that you don’t have to “undo” to get the original photo back.
I used a blur filter on the cloud photo to get it to transition into the main image. I also desaturated one instance of the original photo and used a mask to bring out thefrog subject.
Business IdentityDescriptionFor this assignment we were to create a business identity including a logo, letterhead, and business card.
Programs UsedIllustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop
ProcessWe were to use Illustrator primarily for the creation of the logo, and then InDesign for the layout. I basically just used the pen tool to make fun curvy shapes for my simple “loon” character. When you examine it, I really just used simple shapes. The head (mostly), the body, and the eyes are just circles, and the wings are just circles, cut into by other circles to make football shapes. This is applying Gestalt to create unity in it. I also paid attention to contrast with the colors, different fonts, and took alignment into consideration.
InfographicDescriptionAn infographic, from my observation, is just the marriage of information and graphics. Here is my take at one.
Programs UsedIllustrator
ProcessEverything was drawn out using shapes directly in Illustrator. The icons were just put together combining shapes and using tools in Illustrator to combine them.
After creating each of the elements I just played around with laying them out in different ways until I was happy with it.
I used principles of contrasting fonts, colors. Also, I took into account alignment, balance, and white space.
HTML & CSSDescriptionWe were tasked to code a custom web page using HTML and CSS. The Business Identity graphics were used.
Programs UsedIllustrator, Photoshop, HTML, and CSS
ProcessFirst I created my logo in Illustrator. This was done for a previous assignment. I created my HTML file and started adding my content and tags. I then created my CSS and adjusted the CSS and HTML until I got it looking the way I wanted. I then validated my HTML and CSS using the links provided and adjusted things until they validated with no errors or warnings.
Web Page MockupDescriptionThe “scenario” for this assignment was that the CEO of your company asks you to create a web page layout for a new company website to communicate the executive committee’s vision to the web developer.
Programs UsedPhotoshop
ProcessI sketched out a few ideas, created a wireframe, and then found a couple of nice photos. I chose my color scheme based on the colors found in the background photo. The other images are just thumbnails of some of my paintings.
I received some nice comments on this from the instructor and classmates. I was pretty happy with it.
BrochureDescriptionThe assignment was simply to create a brochure with a topic of our choosing. We used several principles and tools used throughout the course.
Programs UsedIllustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop
ProcessAfter a few sketches I simply went about searching for a few nice photos of wolves. I found several on Pixabay, and used a photo of one of my paintings as the cover. I also created a simple logo in Illustrator.
I ended up choosing a tri-fold format with some of the brochure cut out to create interest. I was really happy with how the photos blended together and how the piece as a whole ended up.
