Learning About Design 9

Using layers and masks can be pretty confusing at first! I thought I had it down, but then the results were never what I pictured. After rewatching our class about layers and checking out some YouTube tutorials, I was reminded of that saying: "If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again." Solid advice for sure!

So, here’s what I’ve picked up:

**Layers** are awesome for stacking and organizing stuff in your projects. They work like transparent sheets, so you can make edits without messing up the rest. To create a new layer, just hit up the Layers panel—go to Window and click on Layers or smash that `+` icon at the bottom. You can also press `Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + N` for the shortcut. Want to change the order? Just drag layers around in the panel.

When it comes to layer properties, you can easily adjust the **opacity** and **blend modes** for effects like transparency or mixing layers together. And if you’re looking to tidy things up, just select multiple layers, right-click, and choose `Group Layers`.

Now onto **Masks**! They let you hide or show parts of a layer without deleting anything, which is super helpful. There are two main types: **Layer Masks**, which control a layer's visibility, and **Clipping Masks**, which limit a layer’s visibility to the shape of another.

To use a layer mask, select the layer first, then click the `Add Layer Mask` button (the rectangle with a circle in it) in the Layers panel. When you’re ready to paint on the mask, grab the Brush Tool (`B`). Just keep in mind: black hides, white reveals, and gray gives you transparency! Make sure the mask thumbnail next to the layer is selected before you start painting. If you want to refine the mask, right-click it and choose `Select and Mask` to smooth out the edges.

For **Clipping Masks**, place the layer you want to clip above the base layer, right-click the top one, and select `Create Clipping Mask`. This way, the top layer only shows where the base layer has pixels. You can even stack multiple layers with masks to create some really cool stuff. Adjusting opacity and blend modes for each layer opens up a lot of creative options, and using gradients or selections on masks can give you those smooth transitions!

And don’t forget the shortcuts like `Ctrl/Cmd + J` to duplicate layers or masks and `Ctrl/Cmd + G` to group them. Naming your layers is a great way to keep everything organized too!

Have fun with layers and masks! 

Emotional Piece

One of my favorite artists is the Deftones their music can be hard and angry to peaceful and serene. One of my favorite songs by this group is called Passenger. 

 When ever i hear this song plays i feel relaxed like  i  think of the night air hitting my face and the headlights on a long stretch of road as it disapears into the horizon . complete tranquility.

The target audience would be anyone who loves music and is looking for something that helps the consumer decided if the song is something they should listen to  or purchase. 

The intention is convey the emotion i feel when i  hear this song in a series of images and text in hopes that it helps pursude someone to wana hear the song.

 I initially picked an image of a woman who had a  look on her face that i felt matched the way the song makes me feel. I then used the quick selection tool and selected the subject and made it a mask on a new layer. I then duplicated the layer and added a layer to the the subject mask and the copy of the subject mask i  chose  black and white as my forground and backround color.  i inverted the color of the layer on the original subject mask  and chose the filter liquify then used the brush to stretch the edges of the subject out to the edges of the frame.  I used the explosion brush in black on the white layer and then used the explosion brush in white on the black layer to create the effect that she was disolving into the night lost in the music i created the night sky image with the road traveling into the distance behind the subject using the AI generator feature in photoshop and then found an image of music notes  and lowered the transparancy a little more then  halfway down and placed that layer on top of the back round image but not over the subject. i then chose the oil painting and wind filters to give the effect i  felt worked well  together . Last i used the pen tool to create a path and typed the name of the artist and song title along the path i made to flow  with the image  and    used colors i felt  worked complimented the colors used through out the image i then chose outer glow and used the color that worked well with the colors used in the image.

I. strugled the most with  getting the splatter effect it seemed that finding the right brush size in relation to the size of the subject and chose the right angle to acheive the effect i desired was not as easy as it seemed when i first watched the tutorials. I  had alot of trial and error and came a long way but plan on working on it  till   i get it perfect.. practice makes perfect or well close to it ;-)

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One of my favorite artists is the Deftones. Their music ranges from hard and angry to peaceful and serene. One of my favorite songs by this group is called "Passenger." Whenever I hear this song, I feel relaxed; I think of the night air hitting my face and the headlights on a long stretch of road as it disappears into the horizon—complete tranquility.

The target audience for this piece would be anyone who loves music and is looking for something that helps them decide if the song is worth listening to or purchasing.

My intention is to convey the emotions I feel when I hear this song through a series of images and text, hoping to persuade someone to want to listen to it.

Initially, I chose an image of a woman whose expression matched the way the song makes me feel. I used the quick selection tool to select the subject and created a mask on a new layer. I then duplicated the layer and applied a mask to both the original and copied subject layers, choosing black and white as my foreground and background colors. I inverted the colors on the original subject mask and applied the Liquify filter, using the brush to stretch the edges of the subject to the edges of the frame. 

I used the explosion brush in black on the white layer and then the explosion brush in white on the black layer to create the effect of her dissolving into the night, lost in the music. I created the night sky image, with the road stretching into the distance behind the subject, using the AI generator feature in Photoshop. Then, I found an image of music notes, lowered the transparency a little more than halfway down, and placed that layer on top of the background image, but not over the subject. I applied the oil painting and wind filters to enhance the visuals.

Lastly, I used the pen tool to create a path and typed the artist's name and song title along that path to complement the flow of the image. I chose colors that matched the overall color scheme and added an outer glow that harmonized with the tones used in the image.

I struggled the most with achieving the splatter effect. Finding the right brush size in relation to the subject and selecting the appropriate angle to achieve my desired effect proved to be more challenging than I initially anticipated. I went through a lot of trial and error and made significant progress, but I plan to keep working on it until I get it just right—practice makes perfect, or at least close to it! 😉

Creative Challenge 19

Hello! I’m glad you stopped by! Are you ready for another creative challenge? I have recently finished reading *Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain*, and I found it incredibly helpful and inspirational. I highly recommend it! However, I believe it's time for me to explore other creative challenges and resources outside of this book, so this will be the last exercise I share from it. Today, I’d like to introduce you to a fun challenge that helped me get my creative juices flowing. It’s called  "What's Next?"

The challenge is designed to encourage us to examine patterns and disrupt the automatic flow our brains tend to follow. This involves taking two given sentences that establish a pattern and then introducing a third sentence that diverges from our assumptions about what should happen next.

The following five examples each provide an initial line and a second line. The challenge is to create a third line that is unexpected and breaks the pattern our brains try to complete. Ready? Here we go!

1) A man walks into a bar.

2 An angry woman with a bat follows behind.

3) The woman asks the man " Would you like to play baseball with my friends and me?"

1) A kid gets on the bus to school one morning.

2) The door closes when he realizes there's a grizzly bear in the back of the bus.

3) The kid approaches the bear pointing at the seat next to the bear and asks" Is this seat saved?"

1) A man finds an iPod in the streets.

2) It has a note attached that says "Play me".

3) The man hits the play button  and hears this message will self-destruct in 3, 2, ....." BOOM!.

1) A Woman. is preparing a TV dinner one night.

2) The woman opens the dessert portion of her dinner.

3) The woman reveals a black hole and was never seen again.

1) A man stumbles across a convenience store robbery.

2) He sees the man about to run out the door carrying a large duffel bag that is very full.

3) He asks the man with the duffel bag " Do you need help with your bags?"

Creative Challenge 18

Hello, hello :)! We meet again for another creative challenge. This week, I found one that I decided to include my nephew in. I found this challenge in what is becoming one of my favorite books, Caffeine For The Creative Mind: 250 Exercises For The Creative Mind. This creative exercise is called Where's This Going?

In this challenge you are to begin writing a story but just the introduction. Then you pass the paper to the other person ( it works even better if you get two or three people in on the action ;). ) Each person is to write two sentences. The person you pass the paper to then reads the last sentence and adds two more sentences. You take turns back and forth until you fill-up the entire page. The only rule is no leading or hinting at what the person should write after you pass the story to the next person.

My nephew and I had a lot of fun. We even decided to make the story rhyme, which made it a bit more challenging and fun simultaneously. We found it incredibly challenging not to say anything while the other was writing haha. We were bursting at the seams trying to contain ourselves.

This is so silly but here is what we came up with.

The White Knight By Charity and Lee

It was a beautiful night. The stars are shown bright. There was a white knight, reaching new heights. As he climbed to the summit he felt sick to his stomach. The raunchy feeling, made him look to the ceiling. He dropped to his knees; begging god, please!? The Lord said, "Put on a jacket or you will Freeze!" But the princess; fair of face, attacked him with a can of mace! The knight then looked at the woman with red in his eyes and said "Woman, you have met your demise!" The knight then rose to his feet; drawing his sword without missing a beat. He then shouted "Wench you don't know my keep, you don't know my streets. I'll kill you right now and not lose sleep. The princess pleaded for her life. The knight felt sorry and lowered his knife.

The End.

Post Cards

This week in class, we were tasked with creating six postcards centered around a common theme. I chose the pumpkin challenge, which my daughter had been discussing with her friends. This theme reflects both our community's pop culture and offers a fun seasonal activity. 

As I’m still working on becoming more proficient in Photoshop, I found this project a bit challenging, but it provided me with valuable practice. I started by taking photos of my daughter and her friend in various locations around Lakeland, Florida. I utilized the tone curve feature and adjusted the black and  exposure to balance the colors without overexposing them on the histogram. After that, I cropped the photos to ensure the lines were even and tried to incorporate the photography techniques I had learned.

The pumpkin challenge was perfect for the season and added an element of fun. I experimented with different angles while applying the rule of thirds, and I used Lightroom to give the photos a cinematic feel, aiming for a cohesive look across all images. 

I did encounter some issues with the orange color of the pumpkins. To address this, I utilized the healing feature in Photoshop to correct dark spots and areas that were too bright. I also used the dropper tool to sample pixel colors and even them out. Additionally, I created a frame and added text using stroke effects, including outer glow, bevel, and drop shadows to enhance the overall design. I centered the text and designed a postcard back with the help of AI image creation in Photoshop. Here is what I came up with.

Learning About Design 8

I have learned quite a bit about graphic design during my time at Keiser University, but I have so much more to explore. In fact, I plan to learn as much as I can every day until the day I draw my last breath! That said, I am finally delving into Photoshop, something I’ve always wanted to do but just never got around to.

Photoshop is a fantastic tool for graphic design, packed with features that help you create, tweak, and enhance your images. Let’s dive into how Photoshop can make your graphic design journey smoother and more fun!

**Photo Manipulation and Retouching**  

**Editing and Enhancement:** With Photoshop, you can easily adjust colors, contrast, brightness, and sharpness, making your images pop or fixing any little imperfections.  

**Retouching Tools:** Tools like the healing brush and clone stamp allow you to effortlessly clean up your images by removing blemishes or unwanted items, resulting in polished and professional-looking visuals.  

**Layer-Based Editing**  

**Layer Management:** Layers give you the freedom to work on different elements separately without messing with the rest of your design. This flexibility makes it simple to change colors, textures, or layouts in no time!  

**Masking and Blending:** Using layer masks lets you hide or reveal parts of a layer without any permanent changes, making your adjustments non-destructive. Plus, blending modes let your layers interact in fun and creative ways!  

**Typography and Text Effects**  

**Text Styling:** Photoshop has some great tools for creating and styling text, from choosing the perfect font to adjusting spacing, size, and color. You can seamlessly integrate text with your images!  

**Special Effects:** You can spruce up your text with shadows, gradients, textures, and 3D effects, adding depth and flair to make it stand out and grab attention.  

**Vector and Raster Integration**  

**Raster Image Editing:** Photoshop is particularly great for working with raster graphics, which are ideal for photo editing and detailed color adjustments.  

**Vector Shapes:** While it's mainly a raster editor, Photoshop allows you to add vector shapes and paths too, which is super handy for designing logos and icons or mixing vector and raster elements in one design.  

**Custom Brushes and Texture Creation**  

**Brush Versatility:** The brush engine in Photoshop is versatile, letting you create custom textures, patterns, and effects that add a unique touch to your artwork.  

**Painting and Illustration:** You can even create hand-drawn illustrations directly in Photoshop, making it a favorite for digital painting and concept art.  

**Efficient Workflow with Presets and Automation**  

**Actions and Batch Processing:** Automating repetitive tasks using actions can speed up your workflow, especially when working with lots of images.  

**Presets and Filters:** With built-in presets for colors, gradients, and brushes, you can make your design process quicker and easier. Filters also allow you to apply specific styles or effects with just a click!  

**3D Design and Animation Capabilities**  

**3D Modeling:** Photoshop supports basic 3D design, so you can add simple 3D objects to your graphics, like product mockups or text effects that really pop.  

**GIF and Animation Creation:** Its timeline feature lets you create animated GIFs or short clips, perfect for sprucing up your web and social media graphics!  

**Compatibility with Other Adobe Tools**  

**Seamless Integration:** Photoshop works wonderfully with other Adobe tools like Illustrator, InDesign, and After Effects, making it easy to share files for all your design needs.  

**Creative Cloud Libraries:** You can store and access your colors, fonts, logos, and other assets across Adobe apps, keeping everything consistent and on-brand.  

All in all, Photoshop is a powerful and user-friendly toolkit that boosts your creativity and efficiency in graphic design, enabling you to produce stunning, professional visuals you'll be proud of!

Creative Challenge 17

Welcome to another creative challenge! I am starting to enjoy these creative challenges. I feel like they truly get the creative juices flowing and help me to think outside of the box. I was Reading through Caffeine For The Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain and found so many great ideas. Some really make you think hard and a lot of them are enjoyable. My son has even helped with a few of these challenges and I think he also enjoys them. 

This week I have i found an interesting exercise entitled " I didn't know I had it in me"  The challenge is to look around your environment and find a noun. Then you are to write fifty words that pop into your head when you think of said item person etc. 

I  was holding my notebook and pen and began looking around the room. I said to myself" What should I choose?... what to pick? What to pick?...hmmm" 

Then I thought oh, my notebook! 

So I looked at my notebook and began to jot down all the words that popped into my head as I stared at my notebook. This is what I came up with.

1.  Doodles.                                              26. Secrets

2. Sketching                                            27. Dreams

3. Blank Paper                                         28. Friend

4. Countless Possibilities                        29. Foundation

5. Creation                                               30. Organize

6. Emotion                                                31. Chaos

7.  Art                                                        32. Clutter

8. Fresh Start                                           33.  Peace

9. Journaling                                             34. Attempts

10. Notes                                                   35. Aspirations

11. Goals                                                    36. Plan

12. Naked                                                  37.  Empty

13. Freedom                                              38. Truth

14. Expression                                           39. Soul

15. Safety                                                   40. Life

16. Outlets                                                  41. Exposed

17. Comfort                                                 42. Bare

18. Begining                                                43. Childhood

19. Story Time                                             44. Memories

20. Confide                                                 45. Recount

21. Poetry                                                    46. Relive

22. Brainstorm                                            47. Forgotten

23. Release                                                 48. Eyes

24. Escape                                                  49. Journey

25. Confide                                                 50. Organic

Try it !