What did you learn?

Overall, this project brought together many different techniques that we have learned throughout the semester, but it also introduced me to some new ones as well. For example, I learned how to add a second stroke to an already existing stroke in Illustrator. Also, I learned how to make the second or first stroke a dotted or dashed line to enhance the overall appearance of my work. Additionally, I learned how to warp text in Illustrator, and I was able to practice this technique when I created my town banner.

What was easy?

When reflecting on this project, I thought that one of the easiest steps was adding the final finishing touches to the project. Throughout the project, I was able to be very creative, but I found that towards the end, I was really able to mess around with the overall appearance of the map. I ended up designing a flower, a house, and a church that I added to the map to bring it to life. I was able to create whatever I wanted that would fit with the map, and I decided on these three elements. After re-watching class tutorials, I realized that I could use the shape tool to create some of these objects, which made it easy and fun as well.

What was challenging?

The most challenging part of this project was placing all of my symbols, legend, town banner, and scale throughout the map because I wanted to ensure that it didn’t feel overcrowded and so on. Throughout the course of this project, I had to constantly change the size or the location of some of these elements, and it was hard to decide what to put where.

How could your submission be improved?

To improve my submission, I would have changed some of the colors included in my color scheme. At first, I thought all of these colors went well together, but after finishing the project, I have noticed that the orange is too harsh in comparison with all of the other colors. I think I should have toned this color down a bit.

How could the professor improve the assignment for next class?

After completing the project, I thought it would have been helpful if we also completed a lab that focused on symbol design. The skills gained from this lab could then be applied to our final infographic.

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

Similar to other projects, this knowledge can be applied to my future career in journalism. As a journalist, you’re expected to have a wide range of skills, and the skills gained from this project can be applied to creating graphics to accompany stories. Many times journalists create infographics similar to these to showcase data, which makes it easier for the reader to review and understand the data.

How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

To get some inspiration, I looked through the PowerPoint with other student examples and also took a look at Behance. On this website, the map infographics were really detailed, and it made me inspired to also include extra details in my own infographic. For example, I decided to use the pen or shape tool to create the flower, house, and church to add to my infographic. Also, I found it helpful to review the class videos and took some inspiration from the tutorial on creating a compass rose.

What did you learn?

Before this project, I have never really experimented with Adobe Illustrator, but now I feel more comfortable using this software. Now, I know how to create patterns and create logos using Adobe Illustrator. Also, my skills with the pen tool have greatly improved since I used the pen tool to create the Byrne Dairy logo and the coffee cup.

What was easy?

I was surprised to find that making the pattern for this project was the easiest part. Due to other labs and projects, there were many techniques that I was able to apply to this process as well. For example, in the previous project, I created a pattern from a photo I took and was able to use my knowledge and skills from this project to apply to my current project.

What was challenging?

Overall, the hardest portion of this project was creating the Byrne Dairy logo and also drawing the cup. Throughout our other projects and labs, I have struggled to master the pen tool. For this project, I was challenged to better these skills, so I could create the final product for this project. In the previous lab, I ended up having to redo the cow layer many times until I realized that creating the least amount of points possible with the pen tool allows for you to have a better and cleaner final product.

How could your submission be improved?

To improve this submission, I believe that I could have made the Byrne Dairy logo better. When closely examining the logo after putting together the mock-up, I have started to notice that the letters could have been enlarged to more closely reflect the original logo. Also, some of the letters overlap and I could have moved the letters a little further apart.

How could the professor improve the assignment for next class?

To improve this assignment for next time, I think it would have been interesting to see a demonstration on how to create more patterns in Adobe Illustrator or to learn other techniques to enhance the qualities of the patterns.

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

I can use this knowledge and apply it to my future career in journalism. As a journalist, you are expected to have multiple skills and I can apply these skills to create logos or artwork to accompany articles. Also, as an editor at The Griffin, I can use this knowledge to help our layout editor to put together our paper since we use Adobe Illustrator.

How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

For this project, I was inspired by a class video that I ended up re-watching to help me with this project. In the demonstration, the final product had swirls in the background and used a font that appeared to be brush strokes. By taking into consideration, the product that we were creating, I thought it would be appropriate to incorporate into my own project. Also, I did some research online and found a drawn image of a coffee cup that I ended up re-creating for my own project.

Diversity and Inclusion

https://www.figma.com/file/3QmRhpeLlKGHeWU18MU8BB/Lab-5-Vector-Graphics-Copy?node-id=1%3A5

What did you learn?

By completing this project, I learned a lot about Photoshop. For example, I learned how to create and save textures, create shapes, use the gradient tool, the brush tool, and so on.

What was easy?

When reflecting on the processes I had to use to create this project, I thought the gradient tool was easy to use. Photoshop was able to do a lot of the hard work for me, and all I had to do was click on the right layer and use the cursor to create the gradient. Then, I used the brush tool to clean up anything or reveal parts of the image that I wanted to show.

What was challenging?

I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to create a shape layer using one of my images. I am not the best at using the pen tool, which made this more challenging and it took me a few tries to get it right. I had to some more research to figure this out and also used the videos from our class sessions.

How could your submission be improved?

I think that my shape layer could be improved because some of the edges on the butterfly shape are rough and could be cleaned up. If I were to revise this project, I would make sure to go back to this portion of the project.

How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?

Since I have little experience with Photoshop and creating appealing images, I think it would be helpful to go over how to successfully composite an image. Even though we went over in-depth how to do this, I think I lacked skills in how to make the image more aesthetically pleasing.

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

As a journalism major, it is more important than ever to have skills other than writing. In the future, if I decide to stay on this path, I will have to be able to have some basic skills mastered in Photoshop or other software. For example, I might have to create a graphic for our social media account, and by having these skills I will be able to create a graphic.

How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

To get some inspiration, I looked at one of the links provided in the slideshow for this project. I ended up scrolling through Behance and came across an image that used colorful flowers to draw the viewers’ attention to the subject. I decided to use some of the flowers I included in the previous project and I also ended up making my project my project colorful similar to the one I came across on this site.

What did you learn?

Before taking this course, I have never used Photoshop or really any other digital software like it. Through this project, I learned some basic methods which are used to optimize photos in Photoshop. For example, I learned the importance of making layers when either changing the levels, the brightness and contrast, and so on. Overall, I have learned many different techniques and ways to optimize an image.

What was easy?

For this project, I rented out a camera from the media center, and it took me a few shots to figure it out, but overall, taking and scanning the photos was the easiest part of this project for me.

What was challenging?

The most challenging aspect of this project for me was Photoshop. It took me a while to get a hang of it and learn where all the certain tools are located. It took some practice and some extra help to get through this portion of the project because I have never used Photoshop before.

How could your submission be improved?

When looking back on this project, I think I could have improved the overall quality of some of the images. As I move forward in this course, I think I will get better at it because it just takes practice. For some of my photos, I wanted to use the clone tool, but I was coming across a lot of issues using it, so I decided to stay away from it and focus on other ways I could enhance the photo.

How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?

Even though we did have a workday where we could ask questions, I thought it would also be helpful to go over the project as a whole again. For example, I had trouble with Brackets, and I think it would have been helpful if we went through this part in more depth.

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

Since this course focuses on 2D design, I think that I now have built a basis of knowledge about software like Photoshop. Now, that I have some basic knowledge it will be much easier to get through some more complex tools on Photoshop or software programs that I will come across in this course.

How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

While going over how to retouch images in class, I thought it would be interesting to focus on house plants for this project. I remember during a class demonstration we went over how to retouch a flower drawing in Gimp, and I thought with some editing, the result turned out really nice. Therefore, I decided to focus on house plants. There are many plants around my home and many different variations, which made this compilation of photos more interesting to look at. Overall, I knew that I would have a lot of content to take photos of or images to scan. More importantly, I was drawn to this theme because each plant is unique and the colors are vibrant, so I thought these images would transfer well.

Compare your photo with the one from Unsplash. What are the differences? Why is one “better quality” than the other?

After examining the two photos, it is obvious that the Unsplash photo is of better quality than the photo I captured. The Unsplash photo of the volcano is a sharper image and is more clear, while my photo is grainy because the pixels are too pixelated.

Compare your photos with the scans. What are the differences? Why is one “better quality” than the other?

Unfortunately, the scanner I do have access to isn’t the best quality scanner, but I was still able to scan the photos and compare them. The photo of the coin was blurry and not as clear of an image when a closer look is taken. The scan of the coin changed the color but did make the image sharper in comparison to the original. In the magazine advertisement, the color in the original photo is more distinctive than the scan and the large pixels that are apparent in the original are blended together in the scan, and less visible. For the old photo, the scan is sharper even though the color is a little off because the image appears darker. During our lesson from class, it was made clear that the scans usually came out better because the images were sharper, and I think if I had access to a better scanner that the scan versions would have been of better quality than the originals. From the examples you provided the scans always appeared to be sharper images. Overall, the photos are of better quality in this case.

What could you do to improve the quality of the images acquired by each method?

To improve the quality of the photos that I took, it would be necessary to have a higher quality camera such as a DSLR camera. In some of the photos that I took of the original copies, the photos would have turned out better with proper lighting considering the reflective qualities of the printed photo and the glossy magazine page. To improve the quality of the scanned photos I would need to have access to a better scanner. Overall, it also would be helpful to have access to Photoshop to touch up the images and make them even more clear.