Portfolio

How safe

The projects with less text seem to always be more of a challenge for me. It has to do with having more of a problem to resolve. Balancing space, controlling text and imagery can be difficult with so little content. This composition is supported by the large full page photography. It consists of great colors and balance. I struggled with how high or how low to start the body copy on the right. I originally had it higher, as well as the image, which made the entire spread top heavy. I originally had the text on the left farther out to the left. It appeared to be unattached from the rest of the content and was just floating alone. After tucking in that text and finding the appropriate balance, the composition of the spread came together nicely. I started this design one other time with a completely different design. I used multiple photographs, attempting to use more of the space. The spread looked cluttered. I learned that simplicity (although it may not feel simply) looks better to the viewer. Clean and clear is effective.
Total Time: 2.5 hours

Native American Heritage Month

 

My original idea for this poster failed miserably. I tried and tried to make those darn arrowheads work one way or another and it just wasn't happening. My problem was that my first arrowhead poster was so good. I really liked it, but this particular project is a series and if one is bad, they are all bad. They need to be uniform yet hold their own importance and my arrowhead series wasn't doing that. After finding these drawings, i began rearranging text and layout. I ended up with the above poster without the texturized background. The poster looked empty and borrow. Solid brown. Solid black/white. The texture really livens up the series and gives it that Native America feel. I learned to really work outside of my desired ideas. I would never choose to do a Native America poster, so this assignment really got me out of my comfort zone and better prepared me for future projects I may be assigned.

Total Time: 7.5 hours

Stress

 

This layout was a pain in the butt. I started with the stressed out title going vertical down the left side of the left page. It created some awkward negative space. If I put the header at the top of the first page, it left too much text together. The compromise was to put it in the middle where it is. It still lacked attention and the fist coming through the paper really made it pop. I originally had the guy in the chair much smaller, but as suggested by Rusty I bumped it quite a bit, giving the spread some flare, some color and some scale. I really learned a lot about proper packaging and assembling from this assignment. 

Total Time: 8 hours

Smokey

This concept came to me one morning as I was waking up and starting to get ready for school. I really wanted a concept that REQUIRED you to see all three ads. Since these three ads would be together in a magazine I didn't want them to be redundant. The idea of One day it's here, the next's its not really works for this particular assignment. It is a bit of a shock factor and causes people to think. The third poster was the problem poster. Getting the right photo was diffifult, especially since we have limited access to professional, high resolution phoography. Although this image is a bit cheesy, it gets the point across. It's a group of people together looking positively on the idea of preventing forest fires. I would have liked to use a more serious/solemn photograph but they were hard to come by unless the people were dressed in business attire which I feel like wasn't appropriate.

Total Time: 7 hours

This is my favorite piece from this semester. I really like my concept. I also like it because I didn't have to fight with it much. The only change made from the original was moving the text in a little closer to the turtles and aligning the p to the h a little better. I combined them to make one path so that would appear to a unit. The thought of doing a herpetology poster was daunting at first, but once I realized I got to play around with Valentine's Day as well, my concept really started to come together. From this project, and this class so far, I have learned a lot about photography and how much weight it can carry. It is a great tool to use without appearing messy or cluttered. 

Total Time: 4 hours