Architecture Project

The architecture project had to be the most time consuming project out of them all. When first diving into the project, I chose a mansion that was very detailed. I soon realized that the image would require many hours of careful attention and I felt the illustrated version was absolutely goofy and awkward when compared to the original image. I think an illustrated version looking goofy and cartoonish is okay, and can be desirable with some images - but for the mansion it just wasn't working. I then decided to use this image of an adobe house. I liked the western look and clay, red colors involved. I created the image mostly with the pen tool and organized each layer carefully. Upon receiving some important critiquing, I agree that the finished product can use some better attention to finer detail. I feel that the background my appear out of place a bit and can use some better blending techniques. Realizing what needs correction and improvement, I feel this assignment was crucial in order to help develop the essential skills needed to be successful in Illustrator. I also feel this assignment acts as a good spring board that will allow me to create better, cleaner architural images in the future.

Type Portraits

When approaching the Type Portrait assignment, I wanted to do something that I felt was popular, a little rebellious, and edgy. Whenever I view a type portrait, I automatically get a "wild side" type of vibe, no matter what the subject is. When I was younger and began playing guitar, a major influence was Saul Hudson, better known as Slash from the group Guns and Roses. I was a fan of the the original line up, and when I was doing the project, incorporated lyrics from mostly the first album, "Appetite for Destruction", as well as some later albums and quotes taken from interviews. To me, the first album is the trademark image for the band. The album is raunchy, and rebellious, and does depict the pitfalls of the stereotypical rock and roll life style. I felt that the subject was perfect for a type portrait because of the shock value that would come to the audience, and that the subject would be known among older and current generations. In no way did I want to promote the destructive behaviors represented by the early group, but again felt that the brashness of the subject was well suited for a type portrait (The man should be counting his blessings for still being alive). I really like the shape portrait a lot. I used numeric 8 characters repeatedly to create Slash's trademark hair. I was happy how I was able to create the "yeah whatever" look in the face in both value and shape portraits. By far, the value portrait is the one I sweated the most. I thought it came out horrible and was going to get shot down the most. After reviewing some honest critiquing, it turned out that the value portrait was pretty successful and well-liked, which was totally unexpected by me.

Logo Project

When going about the logo project, I wanted the logo to be very simple but create an impact. I wanted to try to incorporate some earthy, natural colors being that the company was a distributor of organic dog food. I wanted the fonts to look welcoming, yet "serious" to give the message that
the company is not just a dog food company - it's a company that understands the bond people do have with their pets, that they are actually members of the family. Such a relationship deserves attention, and the pet deserves high quality nutrition. Before the paw print graphic, I was considering a silhouette of a golden retriever. To me, that breed symbolizes a nice family dog - very loyal, good with kids etc. I then felt that the image pigeon holed the bare foot biscuit company into something that catered to "leave it to beaver" house holds and would deter other pet owners, such as owners who had dogs for a means of protection or as an aid for the disabled. I than decided on the paw print image. I felt that it was universal enough to represent most breeds. I felt that the colors were very "John Deere", and that was noticed in some very helpful critiquing. The colors were meant to serve as earth toned indications of natural organic products, not "get err done" undertones, although maybe we can say: "Feed your dog right - Just get it done!", but I doubt it!

Cherokee Jewerly Static Website Interface

With the website interface project, I wanted to present the Native American culture with a deep sense of respect, and virtue and not so much the actual jewelry itself. I felt that the audience would be more attracted to the jewelry not only because it looked nice, but because of the honorable history that was attached to it. The first image on the top was the original interface created, the middle is a revised interface, and bottom image is a screen shot of the actual running site for the Cherokee Jewelry company. When I was approaching this project, I had the movie "Dances With Wolves" engraved in my mind. I haven't seen this movie since probably the 5Th grade, but it just stuck out. I wanted to incorporate leather texture as much as possible. To me, it represents toughness and endurance, as well as being flexible. To me those are characteristics of the Native American people - they endured horrendous trials and tribulations, and yet seem to overlook and forgive injustices of the past. I wanted the site to not only honor the culture for it's endurance, but I wanted it to convey peace and a welcoming feeling. I created the letter in Photo- shop by using a canvas texture and sporadic selection and erasing techniques. I also used the burn tool quite a bit to create a worn down, western looking parchment that would hold a personal message from Jimmie, the founder. I really wanted the font to look like it was written late at night by candle, using a feathered pen - but it turned out that in order properly size the whole message and keep it readable, I had to settle on a font with less "feet" and "hooks", but was still happy with what I saw. In the first design, I incorporated a silhouette from a painting my parents had since I was a kid. It was of an Indian Warrior on horseback. Whether this warrior was returning from a battle, mourning a loss, or just resting I do not know - but I always liked that painting. After some good critiquing, I decided to lose that image and incorporate some of the actual jewelry. I think it was good balance of Native American texture that complimented the product nicely. I created the double sided spear out of a stock image, and added the hanging arrow heads with creating the rope and coping the image several times. I tried to change each arrow head slightly in order to eliminate a "cookie cutter" array of arrow heads. I placed the gazelle skin to the left, serving as the menu board. I changed the levels a bit in order to make it blend well with the leather texture.

Dreamscape Project

When starting out with the dreamscape project, I wanted to incorporate an underwater feel because I think we can all relate to "dreams" whither in sleep or being awake having a weird feeling about them, like being underwater. I incorporated the liquify effect quite a bit here - I felt the distortion was perfect for the theme. The various subjects in project represent memorable dreams I can recall that still to this day stand out in my my mind and many of the items used are rich in symbolic meaning. The large, gray being towards the left is character from the comic book "Concrete". I had a disturbing dream which involved this fellow standing over my bed watching me sleep. In the dream I woke up and saw him and tried get out of bed and run away, but could not and felt very helpless. The television in the left cornor represents those dreams when we are viewing a situation or characters without them knowing. The image on the screen is a photograph from the Vietnam War. I had a dream when I was younger that I was in Vietnam. I tried to fire my weapon, but it turned into one of those battery operated water guns and was useless. The man running in exposed muscle anatomy represents those dreams when feel like we want to run or move in our dreams but cannot. The old Honda Accord on the bottom represents those dreams when we are driving, but also serves as a reminder of a dream where I was trying to drive my black Honda accord at the time up a snowy hill with balled tires. The intrusive image of the silhouette of a man walking out of a door way reminds of times when I would tell myself I can wake up from a disturbing dream at any time. I had some good feedback from others expressing how that image seemed to clash with the rest of the dreamscape - good. You are walking out of a setting into a completely different one, and the transition would be dramatic. It may not be aesthetically pleasing, but I liked the feedback given, and in the future will try to convey the meaning of something a little more clearly. The sunflower that seems to come out of no where symbolizes the times when we dream about something completely off the cuff and wake up pondering "what was that all about?" The floating twin bed is there just because.

Magazine Project

When doing the magazine project, I wanted to lean more towards a "New Yorker" magazine type of vibe, wanted to stay somewhat clean and incorporate white canvas - what I ended up with was something a little different. I enjoy the guitar, and figured that focusing on the classical genre would present the guitar as an instrument with rich history and class, and not so much a contemporary, trendy instrument. The cover image on top with the blue music notes is a revised cover I created, and the cover below it without the notes is the original cover that was first created. I started out creating the name plate and viewing that against the white. I liked the font face and white space starring back at me - It reminded me of a canvas and I wanted to try to incorporate as much of it as I could without overwhelming the viewer. I didn't want to use a photograph, but instead wanted some sort of sketchy illustration that would present a sense of awe and provoke the imagination of the audience. I took an image of a classical guitar and traced it using Adobe Illustrator. I than copied the trace and overlapped the second layer with a different color. I was trying to recreate a "wire look" I saw in a painting of a New Orleans jazz guitarist. At the time being a beginner using Illustrator, the unfamiliar interface caused me to "explore" the various tools available. Somehow, I created a new brush image unintentionally, and dragged my mouse with button held down.
I dragged for a while and ended up with image on the cover - excluding some minor liquid effects I used in order to present some titles. It probably is one of the few times I would be proud of a mistake. I liked the abstract distorted image. To me it was still recognizable but had a strong sense of movement against a plain white background. The image seemed a little overwhelming in some areas, and even a bit risky - but those aspects go along with some amazing guitar players I seen, so I liked it. The revised image with the blue notes and changes to headings was created after being challenged to incorporate some cool colors within the image. Some headings were adjusted for easier readability for the target audience.