Final Project

11 x 17 Poster

5 x 7 Announcement

6 x 4 Postcard

These are the finished pieces of my final project. My idea was to create a project that was connected to my education. The end result is a poster indicating when I will be finished with school, and an announcement and postcard designed for when I complete my Bachelor's degree next year. My target audience for this project is family and friends, so I really wanted to show some of my creative side, by creating a design that is reflective of my personality. The finished project is the culmination of three cohesive pieces.

I used Illustrator and Photoshop for this project, and many, many tools in each one, switching back and forth between them. In an effort to maintain ethical standards, I drew the tree and owl myself, and created the gradient. The only piece of this project I took from another source was the font, but I was sure to check the permissions on it first and it was free and usable in any format. Overall, I am quite pleased with this project.  It pushed me farther than any other project has so far, and I have gained quite a bit of knowledge in both programs, but particularly Illustrator. I had not used it before this class, and now know my way around it.

Tools and features I used for this project:

Photoshop: move, selection, brush, eraser, gradient, brightness/contrast filter, paint bucket, scale, magic wand, quick selection, image size

Illustrator: selection, magic wand, text, line segment, pencil, blob brush, eraser, gradient, eye dropper, pathfinder-exclude, live trace, expand, live paint, reflect, create outlines, scale

Preliminary Designs - Round 2

11 x 17 Poster

5 x 7 Announcement

6 x 4 Postcard

Above are my three designs for the final project. I have reworked the original two designs, and added the postcard for a third element. All three designs are cohesive, and will come together completely when they are submitted for my final project.

Preliminary - Round 1

11 x 17 graduation announcement poster

5 x 7 graduation announcement card

For this preliminary round, I have begun drawing the poster design in Illustrator, and I have added a sketch for a graduation announcement card. While both designs are related to my graduation, the poster was created for when I complete my Master's degree, and the card is for my Bachelor's degree next year. The overall design between these two pieces will continue to be cohesive by utilizing shared creative choices.

Creative Project Proposal

Creative Project Proposal

Project Title: Coming Soon

Project Summary: This project will be a poster that makes a statement about my education and where I expect to be when I am finished. It will be subtle in some ways while dramatic in other ways to reinforce the idea of a major event.

Project Format: My finished project will be a poster in the JPEG format.

Software Applications: I will use Photoshop and Illustrator to design and create the poster.

Project Goal: For this project, I wanted to find a unique way to share my target finish date for my college education. To do this, I found movie pre-release posters as a major source of inspiration, and created my own poster showing when I will be finished with school.

Presentation: I will present the poster on my blog.

Design Competition Final

Design Competition Final

This is my final creation for the design competition project. I started in Illustrator drawing and working with the Live Trace, and then moved it to Photoshop where I applied textures, adjusted brightness, contrast, and shadows. I worked with the pencil, eraser, paintbrush, and healing tools, along with layer styles, masks, and filters.

I set out with my design to create a finished project that encouraged the viewer to look at things a little differently, as Surrealism often does. My end design combines the mixture of both a 2D and 3D view, with the faucet popping while the metal stays flat, but is arranged with shadows to add depth. The use of metal for the waves creates a new perspective in my surreal world.

Design Competition Sketch 2

Design Competition Preliminary Sketch 2

This is my second preliminary design for the design competition. I kept much of the original concept, and plan to keep my work as a surreal digital artwork. Surrealism often focuses on the placement of objects or ideas that are used in new ways. My intention for either design idea is to create a surreal world.

Design Competition Sketch

Design Competition Sketch

This is my sketch for the design competition for The Lumen Prize Exhibition Award. This competition is for fine art created through digital means. My plans for this design are inspired by one of my favorite surrealist artists, Rene Magritte. When finished, this project will be a surreal digital artwork.

Redesign an Album Cover Final

Final Cover Design

This is my final cover design for the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack. I had a rather hard time with this project, and I feel I may have taken on a larger project than perhaps I should have. I drew the design in Illustrator with the pencil and transferred it to Photoshop where I painted it, added the Gaussian blur, and text. Painting this took quite a bit of time and many layers as I attempted to capture as many highlights and shadows as possible. My goal was to make it a bit ominous. I had also downloaded and used the font from the old series for the title.

The Eye of Jupiter

Redesign an Album Cover

Original Album Cover

Redesigned Album Cover Sketch

For my album cover, I chose to redesign the cover of the soundtrack from the television series Battlestar Galactica. I decided to focus on the Cylon (a cybernetic organism), which is a major part of the story line. I also incorporated an addition into the eye of the Cylon, the Eye of Jupiter, another important part of the Battlestar Galactica storyline.

Recreate Using Illustrator

Original Photo

Preliminary Sketch

Final Project

For my project, I chose a photo of a flower I had taken some time ago. I started by sketching over the flower in Illustrator with the pencil tool, then transferring it into Photoshop where I used the eyedropper, bucket, and paintbrush over multiple layers. I ended with the gaussian blur on the hand painted background to recreate the blurred background.

Artist Statement

My Art is my identity. Every piece I create carries a part of my soul with it, brought to the surface, and expressed through various mediums. My work is constantly evolving, taking me to new places, while teaching me more about myself.

I have been inspired by many great artists, and have come to love Surrealism. I feel that Surrealism best describes how I see life and Art. No matter what art form I am using, I try to bring the Surrealist style in to play, creating an interesting finished work of Art.

Art will always be a tool of expression in my life. It enables me to share my thoughts and feelings with others. My artistic knowledge also allows me to share with others the ability to create a way to express themselves in all that they feel and experience.

Dry Carved Mortar, Bobbi-Jo Talboys, 2012