Vector Illustration

Pre-Production
For this assignment, I instantly knew that I wanted to pay homage to my dear sister Ruth; I even knew what picture I wanted use! I chose a radiant picture of her smiling while the hot Chicago sun bouncing off of expose her rich melanin. I decided to go with the more organic approach rather than a geometric one. Because of my need for detail, I decided to posterize the image to the point where lines could be made but a variety of colors were present. In stead of going back and forth through Photoshop and Illustrator, I was advised to make two art boards: one with a lower opacity and the other with full opacity.

Production
I had to redo this project 3 times for multiple reasons. The first time around, I didn't connect a single line, which would later lead to the fill tool having a mental breakdown since there were no shapes to fill. The second time around I created some shapes, however, I connected my new shapes with old shapes aka didn't really make complete shapes. This also led to my fill tool having a mental breakdown. After going through these failures, I was determined to complete all of my shapes and color as I go instead of coloring after I finish creating my shapes. Because I was more skilled with the pen tool, this project didn't really take as much time as I thought it would. I knew exactly what shapes I wanted to create. One of my main problems aside from the shape incidents was figuring out how much the colors should contrast, what colors I should use, and exactly how much detail I wanted in the end. Some design elements I used for this are color, value, and shape.

Conclusion
At first I wasn't, but now I'm very pleased with the final product! I love the amount of flow shapes there are, how the work with each other, and how the illustration genuinely looks like the original. I learned the importance of creating a full shape, and how to balance (skin tone) colors together. If I were to do this project again with this picture, I would experiment and try to see what a more simplistic approach would look like, then I would try to see what a geometric version would look like.

Typography Project

This project was super fun to do! I loved the whole process, from picking out the quotes to figuring out what hue of color to add onto a word. Picking out the quotes was easy at first, but got harder (especially when I had to pick my final four quotes). I wanted my quotes to reflect me in some way. One example is the first quote, "Masterpiece of God". This quote is the meaning behind my name (Yabsira). Another quote that reflected me was "The eyes are useless when the mind is blind." I resonated with this because I strive to live a life full of perspective and wisdom. 

The next step was to choose what fonts to use. This was a tad difficult, because it felt like it took 472834720 different font pages to find what I was looking for. This was especially difficult with this font: "Doubt kills more dreams than failure will." During the production it was also tough figuring out how to arrange the words. Should it be heavier on the vertical or horizontal alignment? Should it be stacked or more free? Should it feel like the words are interacting with each other? I thought about all these questions, and tried to answer them throughout the project. 

Working in color was very different than working in black and white because I had to really think of which color correlated with which word. Color is important in the sense that it could change the meaning or tone of a word. Though there was a little bit of stress when working with colors, I did enjoy working in it than I did with black and white because it really helped portray what I was going for and looked less boring/bland. I'm very pleased with how my project came out! Though I think they aren't the best they could be (perhaps because of the lack of framing and graphics), I like the fonts I chose and how it turned out in general.

Graphic Design Final

Projects

This semester, I created a plethora of projects that were extremely fun to produce. Some examples are my panorama and collage I created on Photoshop and my fall graphics and raccoon I created on Illustrator. My panorama was a collage of my splendid trip to Japan I took over the summer. The goal of this project was to blend pictures personally taken by the creator to make a seamless pan that looks like one whole picture, not multiple stitched together. This took me around 1 1/2 weeks to create because I kept being indecisive over what pictures I wanted to add to the panorama and how to make the transitions seem less abrupt. At this point, I was much better at managing photoshop; the magic wand tool and inverse keys were practically my best friends. Some other challenges I faced was how much of a picture I wanted to keep and what colors I wanted to be the focal point of this project. Along the way I learned the importance of masking and how much time it could save up. I also learned how to trick the eye into thinking multiple images are actually one. Towards the end, the only intense changes I made was the seamlessness of the images next to each. Overall, I'm very pleased at how much my skills in the graphic design department have grown!

I had a strong love hate (mostly hate) relationship when I started working on Illustrator. The first every graphic I created on this software was my raccoon. It took me around 1 1/2 weeks as well to create him. There were MANY challenges I faced. The first one was how I didn't know what tools to use or how to use them, even though I was following along with a pictorial. I kept rereading the steps, but felt like I was still going nowhere. Another challenge was how I unwary I was with how many layers I kept using and how I could've grouped them to save soooo much time. Along the way though, I started to understand the keys and what a tool was meant to be used for. Some feedback I received was to lessen the amount of layers I used and to smoothen my edges more to make him less pointy and cuter. My initial idea was to create a simple raccoon, maybe even make it Halloween themed. But because I was so fed up with Illustrator, after I completed the actual graded portion of this project I just added a "Congrats Yabi" celebration hat and some balloons to commemorate the end of my hardships.

Another one of my projects was the autumn graphics project. In this project, I had to follow along with a pictorial to create 9 autumn nut/leaf/berry graphics. Some challenges I faced was how to create  a decent looking maple leaf and how to make everything look clean and accurate to its original. Along the way, I learned how to use copying to my advantage and how to create clean curves with the anchor tool. Some feedback I was given was how aesthetically pleasing every graphic was placed and  how overall I did a good job. I didn't make any changes to my original idea since I was following along with specific instructions and didn't have as much freedom as I did with my other projects. All in all, I was and still am very happy with the outcome of this project.

How I Used My Class Time

In class, I used my time to work on projects I was assigned in this class and tried to help people if they needed an opinion or didn't know how to do something on a software; I also received help every time I asked for it. Any time I finished early (which was pretty rare, since I spent as much time as possible trying to perfect a project) I would start on the next project and/or scroll through Behance to see what the world has been up to lately. Outside of class, I ask what my friends in different hours are working on and ask for any tips and tricks they have for me that day. I also try to create ideas for future projects. Currently, I'm working on multiple logos for my dad's businesses.

Strengths

Some of my strengths as a graphic design student is how I can problem solve and get around challenges without asking for too much help. I also think I'm quite creative and come up with col concepts instead of doing the bare minimum. I believe I need to improve on my time management skills since I take a long time on each project I work on. I also need to work on my technical skills because I tend to make a lot of my pieces unintentionally pointy or use tools I shouldn't for a certain challenges.

Summary

I loved how much we got to be working and how there was always something to work on. I also enjoyed the videos we watched at the beginning of the semester because I learned a lot since I could work at my own pace and could rewind whenever I pleased. I also loved how we got to create Behance profiles and show the world our progression in this field. I genuinely wouldn't change a thing about this semester, since I moved every bit of it! Over this past semester, I learned how to use Photoshop and Illustrator and the similarities and differences between these two softwares. I'm so thankful for how much I learned this year, especially compared to last year!

Links

https://www.behance.net/happiyabief83

Watercolor Transfer Prints

First, I figured out what dimensions I had to change my model to so that it could fit beautifully onto my soon to be watercolored paper. After printing out a colored and black and white version, I carefully cut them out and went straight to the painting station. At the station, I imagined what my prints would look like on different backgrounds; would it look good with cool toned colors? What print should I associate this color scheme with? After hopping over those stumbling blocks, I whipped out the paintbrushes and got to it! I had a blast painting, especially because I was conversing with my friends as I was doing so. Once my papers were done drying, I yanked out the Mod Podge and started applying it onto my prints as I was told (apply it onto the inked side of the print, then gently place it on your watercolored paper and press it in with a squeegee). Later on, I shared a cup of water with my peers and dipped my hands into it. Why? Because the next step was to scrape off the paper of your prints so all that was left on your paper was the watercolor and the prints. Last but not least, Ms. Beaudoin was kind enough to go over my print with a clear substance that enhanced the colors of my prints an secured it into the paper.

Creating the prints was super fun! Though tedious (and slightly painful) I loved incorporating one of my previous photoshop projects into my latest project. One of my favorite parts of the process was figuring out what I wanted my color scheme to be and what style of painting I wanted to pursue. I think I did well painting, and wasn't the worst when it came to scraping off the excess paper in the end. I definitely struggled with what to do with each print (i.e Which one should I hang up? Should I do this with that? etc). Overall, I really enjoyed and learned a lot from this project!

Photoshop Challenge

For this challenge, the goal was to revamp this clean image of "Nature Man" (aka Jerid) by using blending modes, layer masks, adjustment layers, and whatever else you please. You could not, however, scratch out his face; his face MUST be visible. I was very happy that this challenge was overall open and I could pretty much do anything I want with it. When I first saw the image and the name given to it, I knew that I wanted to stay far from the palm of nature. I wanted to bring something new to the table, but didn't quite know what it would be. So, as I was scrolling through unsplash.com, I thought about what I did the in the previous class. That's when I had my "eureka!" moment. I instantly typed in words like "Italy,"  "Italian Churches," and "Renaissance" until I found a beautiful photo of some artwork based from the Sistine Chapel. I immediately inserted that picture into my photoshop layer and it all was history from their!

Like I said, I tried to keep the renaissance and holy vibe alive and for it to emit into the viewers mind. To do this, I made the color balance so that Jerid was as fair as Snow White and looked more like a statue rather than a human. On different layers, I added a paint esque filter and drew some tiny cracks all throughout his face. I also exchanged his dark suit for the previously stated Sistine Chapel picture, and the background for a painting created during the appropriate period. I was initially going to make his hair gradient into Italian architecture, but decided that it would seem overly edited and wouldn't fit nicely with the final piece. Going back to the holy feel, I attempted to insert a glowing effect so that Jerid could be seen as spiritual.

Overall, I once again learned so much through this challenge and am pleased with my end result. The ending wasn't what I 100% envisioned, but I definitely am proud of my work and can't wait to see what I could do in my next challenge! ☺❤

Adobe Photoshop Experience

Man oh man, was this assignment a journey. A time consuming but very needed one at that. What assignment you might ask? Well, in this assignment, you are given 6 folders filled with educational videos you had to follow along with the images you'll soon end up editing. The extremity of the assignments from easy to hard caught me off guard.

In the first video, I was taught how to use the handy content aware tool to get rid of unnecessary or distracting objects in the background. In the image given to me, the background was rather plain aside from the chair and backdrop. To get rid of these unwanted elements, you'd click the m key to select the marquee tool and drag it over the elements. Then you'd click delete and apply the content aware option. In the second image, the goal is to get rid of the logo largely displayed on a surfboard. In this case, the lasso tool did a better job than the marquee tool when it came to content aware. In the last image, I learned how to get rid of many unwanted background elements all at once by holding down the shift key and doing the previous procedures.

In the following video, I learned about the art of the patch tool and how to use it for your advantage. With this tool I was able to swiftly discard the debatably hideous graphic from a man's shirt. First, I made a tight selection around the unwanted area and used the patch tool to drag the logo away. Because the man's shirt had repetitive wrinkles and random light patches, I used this tool in even tighter and smaller areas so that the overall shirt looks realistic and not weird to the eye.

In the third video,  I learned how to incorporate the clone stamp and healing brush to get rid of a tag a woman accidentally left on her clothing. How exactly did I move it though? Well, I first created a two new layers. In the first layer, I selected an area of the garment with the clone stamp and brushed over the tag. I repeated this a couple of times so I didn't have one odd areas of the same dark color. Then, I painted over the new area with the healing brush so it could look more natural. Once I was happy with that, I created a new layer and added a grainy texture so the new area could flow better with the original image. And that's it!

In the video after that, I teamed up the clone stamp and patch tool to once again get rid of possible distractions from a background. In this case, it was a large pole that was behind a man's head. To get the finished result, I started off by selecting his head with the quick select tool and made sure it was an inverse selection. Then, I created a new layer. In that layer, I grabbed the clone stamp tool and dragged it over the distractions in the background. To blend out the harshness of the new area, I merged all my work together and, after selecting the area with the lasso, I used to patch tool to make the sky more even.

In the fifth video, I learned how to use the spot healing brush to diminish minor and major blemishes. The image I used to hone this skill was of a little boy who had dirt and freckles speckled over his smiling face. Using this brush was a tad tricky especially when you get to wider surfaces because the bigger the area, the rougher the spot healing brush blends the surface out which led to discoloration and inconsistencies.

Now, here comes the final boss: the sixth folder. Though those videos in kicked my butt, I came out wiser than ever. In this folder, there are six videos. The point of this mini assignment was to make a beautifully flowing collage of a model; two body profiles on each side of a gorgeous front shot. To make this a reality, I had to use all the tools I acquired in the previous videos and use them to the best of my ability so three images could become one. From getting rid of background distractions to extending the woman's sleeves, it seemed like finishing this assignment would never happen. There were so many little details I had to pay attention to and fix. But, through the inner tears and tantrums, I was able to get an end result I was proud of.

Overall, I really liked watching these videos and how hands on I could be during this experience. I definitely learned some new handy dandy tricks and look forward to learning even more!

Final Project Analysis

                                          
This has been one of the funnest projects I have ever done. To summarize what this assignment was, there were groups of 4-5 that consisted of people with various Myers-Briggs types so that each team could be balanced and would perform well. Once people were in their designated groups, everyone was getting down to business! The objective of this project was to create a product and be able to advertise, commercialize, and make graphic designs and a website for it. Since we started after Spring Break, this project took around 8 weeks to develop. 

Embrace Global's (my team's) product was called the LI; it stands for Language Interpreter. To sum up the point of the product, it's a pair of earbuds and glasses that can visually and audibly translate any language. It retails for $350.99 together. But, if some were to want only one aspect of this two-for-one deal, then they can purchase the items separately; the earpiece would cost $186.99 and the glasses would cost $172.99.

To showcase our design and how it's used, EG created a Romeo and Juliet spinoff where their families weren't the problem; their lack of understanding each other's mother tongue was. In the commercial, Juliet is given the LI earbud and can finally understand what her lover is saying. In the end, the lovebirds skip off into the distance to signify a happily ever after.

With our ads, Nandini, Steven, and I tried to incorporate our global feel into the outlay. We used colors like green and blue to give an earthy and inviting feel that would catch our audience's eyes. This also applies to what we were going for our website and graphic designs. We wanted to display a universal, sleek, and welcoming feel. 

Some challenges Embrace Global faced were creating the perfect logo that would strike our favored audience and creating the perfect commercial that would peek everyone's interest. Throughout this dilemma, however, everyone in the team was trying their best to progress and obtain results by stating their ideas and giving good criticism. Some critiquing my team gave me was on my advertisement; they told me it wasn't bad, but needed a little fixing up here and there. They helped me better my ad and get more comfortable using Adobe Premiere Pro, so I'm thankful to them. They also gave me their opinions on how I should shoot the commercial. Without their commentary, I believe my shots for the commercial wouldn't be as good as it turned out.

Overall, I think I did a pretty good job during 4th Quarter (especially compared to my grade during previous quarters). I did my work, made sure everyone was always included during each process we were in, and led the group into the direction we ended up on. I felt like the leader of a well oiled group that was ready to rumble! During class time, I was always working on something related to the Shark Tank project. If I was done with my given work, I would constantly check in on my fellow group members and see how I can either improve the work I've already done or lessen their work load. I always made sure EG was happy with my outcomes, and would go back to business if they wanted me to edit anything.

Outside of class, however, I never really went out of my way to do work except for the lunch prior to the day we were going to present and the morning of our presentation. My team and I never felt like we needed to meet up that often outside of class.

After one year, I really do believe that I can use my e-Communication skills in the world. Now, I see more of the beauty, creativity, and work put into animations, graphic designs, and even movies. I come up with better ideas for my own projects I hope to showcase in the future. Though I see my prowess expanding, I know there's definite room for improvement. I need to get better at using the programs given to us, and need to speak up more to the teachers when I'm confused or need help (I am getting better at both of these problems though! I'm getting it now; slowly but surely!)
I loved how this quarter really made me think by creating any device I wanted and to work off of that. It gave me an infinite amount of options for product ideas and really pushed me to think outside the box. I'm quite pleased with the final outcome of our designs, but I would for sure change the website banner and the color scheming. To me, the banner and the website color scheming really threw off our initial "sleek and classy" feel. Next year, I plan on pushing myself once more to create a product by myself and/or with a group of friends and see if I can implement the last criticism I got for this project to the next. I'd like to see how far and how well I can make this future task turn out.